Text/Action // 04 I've Got the Remedy

[scientize]

[The following text has been sent out to absolutely everyone the morning of July twenty-fifth:]

ATTENTION RESIDENTS OF ALIUNDE.The city's medical staff will now be administering an antidote to the poison that has spread throughout the city. Please proceed calmly to the hospital if you have come into any contact with the frogs or someone who has

Comments

[cinnamoncocoa]

audio to all

If anyone needs assistance getting to the hospital, or helping any of their friends, I can help if needed.

action
[ Emma walks up to Naomi, crossing her arms. The other female didn't look to worse for wear. ] You get bit?

[scientize]

Action

[Naomi's just sent off another patient with their cure, pausing to catch her breath at the front desk of the hospital just in time to spy her friend stepping through the door.]

No, not me. I've been holed up here for most of it. [Her dark eyes flick up and down Emma's feminine frame quickly.] What about you?

[cinnamoncocoa]

I've had some close calls. [ She shakes her head though. ] Almost out of bullets though. I'll be damned if I got close enough to those frogs.

[scientize]

It's quite a day when the police are using their weapons against the deadly thread of frogs, but I'm glad to hear you haven't had to deal with the lovely effects everyone else has been.

[Taking a quick glance over towards the still full waiting room, Naomi's dark eyes roll up, a slightly irritated sigh slipping from her lips.] You wouldn't believe how many people we've had to sedate just to get them calm down long enough for us to give them the antidote.

[chose_death]

[ACTION]

[It is a very subtle change in bearing that plagues Javert.

He stands alone on the main road to the hospital, back straight as a titanium rod and his hand grasping air at the small of his back. An irrepressible spasm contorts his lips into a twitching grimace, and he glances around with a manic, glazed stare steeped in suspicion like a lunatic on the run. In his huge fist he grips a small slip of paper, the following words scrawled across it in wide, looping, feminine script:]

Go to the hospital by 10:00am. Don't ask questions.

[It is 9:55am, and Javert squints to the top of the massive hospital building, frowning fiercely. His whole mien screams unconvinced, yet he is far too compelled to satisfy his burning curiosity despite the doubt that plagues him about this mysterious errand. He mutters to himself imperceptibly, mouth forming low curses and indistinguishable words to an invisible somebody that only he can see, hear, and feel

[nestingdevil]

[It's another business entirely that has Greed visiting the hospital; he's not here for the usual run-of-the-mill smiles and jeers. An entirely different matter has come up now, reared its ugly head after the turmoil of the last couple of days. A matter of personal achievement really and one that he's kept locked up for a while since his arrival. But now the gates have been opened and every dirty desire is twisting in the homunculus, pushing him towards a goal most have steered clear of.]

[He's here to talk shop with Doctor Hunter - to discuss in detail some matters that need to be explained. But what he catches is entirely different prize; the morning dawn sets on the familiar shadows of his would-be owner. And it is not obvious at first that something is plaguing him.]

[So, Greed has his jollies on - full frontal view of deadly jaws, the cant of his skull that screams confidence. He laughs from the streets, strolls up to meet the Chief head on.] Taking a morning stroll to see your wife? She's a little busy at the moment. Think you

[chose_death]

[Javert's eyes palpitate, pupils dilated like a junkie on speed, and recoils from Greed's sudden lurch toward him like a man fearing a burn from a hot poker.]

What are you doing? [he howls like a cornered beast. The words bleed together in a wolfish, ferocious, and violent snarl. His mouth twists in a hideous, wild grimace.] What the devil have you to know about that woman? Damn spook!

[Javert draws himself to his full height, beady eyes glowering suspiciously at Greed. There is something unfocused in his gaze; occasionally those gray irises dance and pulse, never settling on a particular feature on the shorter man's face.]

Don't. Touch me, [he emphasizes curtly.] That was our agreement, for you to continue as you are.

[nestingdevil]

[Greed halts completely - his whole body seems to go stark-stiff before he's retracting. He raises a thin brow to Javert's outburst and all the gears click. A certain moodiness seems to befall the homunculus then. It cuts deep at his face and his eyes settle with a glare behind his sunglasses.]

[He drops his hands and stands up straight. Marches around the Chief, ducking low enough to examine his palpitating eyes and the crazed pulse at his throat.] You too, huh. [It isn't a question that he poses, but a statement.]

Do as you will, but I'd suggest you get to your wife.

[nervetonotkill]

So, why should we trust you?
For all we know, it could be something to make things even worse.

[Maybe he likes being difficult. Maybe you don't need the word 'maybe' there. How could it be even worse? That's a good question!]

[scientize]

[Which is precisely the point she makes.]

Don't be stupid. How could anything I have to give you possibly be worse than the effects brought on by the poison?

[nervetonotkill]

It's called being stubborn. Do you really want my to answer that? ...So, what's the poison or whatever that brought all these effects to us?

[scientize]

[Stupid, stubborn, it's all irritating to deal with in the end.]

If you want a thorough, detailed lecture on what we've discovered, I'm afraid it will have to wait until everyone has been treated. I don't have time to waste.

But the short version is that the frogs secrete a type of hallucinogenic venom through their gums, which obviously enters the bloodstream via bite. I've dealt with similar reactions from plants, but never anything like this with a living creature. Especially not with the variety of different effects we are seeing.

[proudlooney]

[ Campbell takes awhile to make the decision to head to the hospital. He's been holed up in his apartment since he was bitten and he had gradually gotten worse. He isn't the sanest of people at the best of times, but added the voice of his dead best mate into the mix? Really messing with his head. So eventually he drags himself to the hospital looking worse for wear. He looks exhausted and paler than ever. Poor thing. ]

[scientize]

[With the other doctors bustling around to attend to other's in need of the cure (or worse in some cases), it is just by luck that Naomi happens to approach Campbell this time around. Dear, he isn't looking too well at all, is he?]

Have a bad encounter with a mean frog?

[proudlooney]

I uh... aye? Mebbe. [ He's a little incoherent. Sorry Naomi. ] I... can you hear it?

[scientize]

[Not to worry. This kind of reaction is absolutely a pleasure to work with compared to those suffering from uncontrollable rage.

Naomi waves over a plump nurse to get another dose of the antidote prepared. As she bends to inspect Campbell's face, her reply comes casually and detached.] Hear what? Tell me what you are hearing?

[morbidmausoleum]

[Seeing dead people? Not really a new thing for Dinah.

[But that doesn't make it any less unpleasant, when the dead people in question are the only two human friends she's had since she moved to Bizenghast. They've done nothing but stare at her, sad and faintly accusing. And they aren't the only ones. There's Hides and Cagey and all the other ghosts who came out to support her in the battle with Maphohetka. There's Edaniel and Edrear and their poor dead sister Elala.

[She'd swear she even saw Maphohetka herself, heard the bitch laughing and laughing as the others ask why she abandoned them at the final battle.

[She doesn' t have much love for hospitals or doctors (particularly not here) but after a few days of the staring and the whispers and the laughter, she figures that whatever they're putting into her can't possibly make things worse. So shortly after the announcement goes out, she can be found curled up in a chair in the waiting room

[scientize]

[There was something about a young girl curled up and looking vulnerable that just struck a soft chord with Naomi Hunter. She may be exhausted from the long week's unendingly difficult work and desperately wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed at that very moment, but a tender look passes over her tired face as she approaches the girl.]

Are you injured? [Naomi kneels down, beside Dinah, moving to rest a delicate hand gently to the girl's knee.]

[morbidmausoleum]

[She flinches at the unexpected contact, and when she looks up, her eyes are distant at first. It takes her a moment to focus in on Naomi and register the question.]

Um. The post mentioned an antidote for the frogs' venom...?

[scientize]

Then you came just in time. When were you bit? [Waving over a nurse, Naomi keeps her dark eyes and attention on the younger girl in front of her. Her gentle, reassuring touch doesn't move in the slightest.]

And tell me, how do you feel? Are you having difficulty focusing?