[Nexus] Elexxion Industries Transhuman Clinic

[Beans]

[Halls]
Vesa shuts the link off, shaking her head a little.
"Working up" unlikely. AI use may be necessary. Unfortunate.
She frowns behind her bell, not liking the fact that she couldn't handle the input. Nothing she could really do about it, of course, but that didn't help any.

[Murkus]

[Halls]

"I'm surprised, honestly. You should've been knocked unconscious instantly, according to our scans," Iaito says, marking something down on his chart.

[Beans]

[Halls]
Rerouted excess input as best as possible. Already experienced with multisource video input since before Clinic employment...
Issue still stands. Dissatisfying.
She checks and re-checks her standard video inputs.

[ThirdEmperor]

Accountant's Office

"Oh, they tried. Spent quite the effort on it." If the memory of imprisonment bother him, Badger doesn't show it, keeping up his regular jovial attitude as he discusses it. "If'n I was one for rampant speculation, I might make the guess I weren't the final product they were after, 'n that their real goal was to improve the human intellect, but, alas, me own overdesigned brain's robbed me of the answer to that one, for I puzzled my way out before I could know for certain what was intended for me."

[Murkus]

[Core] Whoops. Wrong tags.

"You know, Vesa, with some upgrades... we might have you overseeing the whole automated security system," Iaito suggests, raising his eyebrows at her. "The Assault beasts and the other drones, even. Might make for a helluva show, when that convention gets organized."

Accountant's Office

"Oh my. You must've been some sort've lab animal. How awful," Tia says, surprised. "How did you escape?"

[Beans]

[Core... I think...]
She considers that for a moment.
But would it also not present a fairly significant risk in that interference with me could negatively affect the entire security system as a whole? Perhaps that is more centralization than is practical.

[Zefir]

[Andy's Lab]

"I'll call Dexter right away, Mister Emeral!" Emma promises, her eyes flashing as if to signal the neural transmission of data. She looks at his new arm and says, "That's an impressive piece of equipment. What will we need it for?"

[Andy's Lab]

Andy looks straith at Emma, not sure if she already did it. Actually he more meant it in a funny way, but he won't deny having it.

"Near everything." he answers her.

"Since the commone stuff you can buy won't fir the suit, we will need to produce everything ourself."

[Murkus]

Andy's Lab

"Alright! How do we start?" Emma asks, grinning. This can be handwaved, or we can simply go down the process with Emma asking lots of peppy questions.

Core

"You're kidding," Iaito laughs imperiously. He's very confident. "I doubt anyone for three worlds could crack our systems. Especially not with me around."

[Beans]

[Core]
Vesa shrugs and nods, conceding the point silently. She still feels her point has some sort of general sense to it, but no point in arguing with the man who knows his stuff.

[Zefir]

Andy's Lab

"Alright! How do we start?" Emma asks, grinning. This can be handwaved, or we can simply go down the process with Emma asking lots of peppy questions.

Core

"You're kidding," Iaito laughs imperiously. He's very confident. "I doubt anyone for three worlds could crack our systems. Especially not with me around."

Andy's Lab

I think we can handwave it. As said they will start building basic things like resistors and such. The process will need a long time and Emma may be confused. Andy is building something more looking like a Helm than the whole suit.

For the questions. Andy will answer her at the beginning, but with time he get's annoyed and will answer them in a short way. He has some patience, but still there is a line to step over.

[The Alexandrian]

[Surgical Wing]

"He did, ma'am," Gary admits, face flushed. He brushes some curly hair back behind his ear and looks at the ceiling, thoroughly embarrassed. Unfortunately for him, it's not about to get any better. He stammers, "I can try, ma'am..." He starts to do just that, trying to act professional, but notices her arm and stops. "Oh. I hadn't realized you were augmented, Miss Spec..." Gary starts to work on the clasp, his knuckles brushing Spec's back while he jimmies it apart. "Why're you so nervous about it? If you've had it done before, I mean."

[Surgical Wing]

"Not to be untoward but..."

"You don't have to be reasonable with this thing. Do whatever you have to to remove it."

Depending on the number of times Gary has practiced the art of unfastening clasps and how gentle he is with it, the clasps and hooks will either click apart with ease as he jimmies it apart or they will snap if he attempts to brute force the fastening gadget apart.

Spec's blushing persists as she claps her hands over anything that might make her even somewhat indecent. Her eyes focus on everything in the room that isn't Gary. She's desperately trying to distract herself from her situation.

Light conversation will help immensely!

"I guess that my phobia of surgery seems untenable given that I have a vaunted On-board Heuristic Intelligence wired into my nervous system via my spine and my brain, huh? It is beneficial and all but I assure you, I'm no intractable, intransigent child; it's more that..."

"When this unit was installed in my arm, choice was not my prerogative. I didn't volunteer for the operation and I wasn't given the chance to request anesthetic to mitigate the pain as they raked all but the nerves and blood vessels of my arm away. See, there was a disparity between the poor and rich of the reality I'm from. When my parents died, it was this and assignment of gladiator status or my sister and I starve to death."

"In short, I never asked for this..."

Spec hails from a...grim and all too bleak future. But she's not angry about it anymore. Her tone is matter-of-fact. That life is behind her. She's ready to move on. If anybody tries to drag her back to her old lifestyle of living to kill and killing to live...she'll wipe the floor with him/her for free for old times sake.

But Gary is an employee of this clinic of his own free will. He was augmented because he wished for it.

Hmm...

"But you did. What's your story, Gary? You're not native to the Nexus either, I speculate. Why'd you get augs? And what was life like when you were growing up?"

[ThirdEmperor]

Accountant's Office

Now this, Badger does feel the need to lie about. Besides the unsavory light it casts him in, there's no need to bother Tai with the gory details. "Oh, that? Bit of a story, that. A modern odyssey you could say, taking place entirely within the confines of a single cell. Leaning back on his elbows Badger takes a long breath, trying to disguise his desperate attempts to come up with a story as a mere dramatic pause.

"I didn't get out on the first try. Oh, no. No no. Took me several. My first plan was... Ah, well, it was a bit silly. I thought I'd go on a diet, slim myself down and wiggle through the slot they gave me my food by. Worked 'till abouts halfway through, when I got stuck. I suppose I'd not stuck to my regiment as close as I should have, for my hindquarters wouldn't fit through no matter how I tried, and when I tried to going back, I found no progress that way either. Had to ask a passing guard to shove me back, of all the indignities."

[Murkus]

Andy's Lab

I think we can handwave it. As said they will start building basic things like resistors and such. The process will need a long time and Emma may be confused. Andy is building something more looking like a Helm than the whole suit.

For the questions. Andy will answer her at the beginning, but with time he get's annoyed and will answer them in a short way. He has some patience, but still there is a line to step over.

"Is something bothering you Doctor?" Emma asks, in between one of the many processes. She has to wonder if all her questions are getting to him, given his short speech and likely furrowed brow.

Surgical Wing

((Hah! I totally caught that reference!))

Gary's done this a tunna times. Dozens. Taking clothes off women is what he does. At least, that's probably what he'd try to tell you. Still, he gets the clasp off easily enough, leaving Spec with a conspicuous lack of garments to cover her. Gary takes a step back, smiling sheepishly.

His smile fades rapidly at her explanation. Blood-sport without cloning? Forced augmentation? A weapons system for an arm? Good gods. "Uh, no ma'am, I'm not. Everybody's augmented where I'm from. Right up from the day you're born." He strokes some of the glowing lines under his eyes, strange lights that signify his neural uplink. "I needed some for the job, you know? But others I got just to impress girls..." He chuckles awkwardly. He's embarassed, even if he shouldn't be. He got augs because he liked the way they looked. Spec got them to survive. The Clinic's services just seem... very petty, now. "Muscle growth stims, mostly."

"I, ah, grew up in a city called Anchorage. It used to be pretty remote, before the war, but it's the only free city on Earth now. A lot of augments. A lot of chrome and neon. It's a... really bad city. Drugs, crime, big business. You must know how it is. My parents wanted to keep me out've all that, so... I was kind of a shut-in." While still awkward, the chuckle that follows is much more warm and genuine.

Accountant's Office

Tai laughs a little at that story, putting a hand over her mouth. The corners of her eyes crinkle with mirth. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. That must've been humiliating."

[ThirdEmperor]

Accountant's Office

"Ah, go ahead and laugh." Badger even forces a chuckle himself, waving a hand dismissively at Tai's concerns. "A few giggles won't kill me, so what's the harm in it? It's a damn humorous tale."

[Zefir]

"Is something bothering you Doctor?" Emma asks, in between one of the many processes. She has to wonder if all her questions are getting to him, given his short speech and likely furrowed brow.

[LAB]

He sights, but doesn't stop work.

"I'm not a teacher and don't want to be one."

[Murkus]

[LAB]

"Well then don't think of me as a student, Doctor," Emma says, a little peeved herself. She just doesn't feel very welcome working with Mr. Emeral. "Think of me as a monitor for the project. I have to know these things."

Accountant's Office

"So? If that didn't work, how did you make it out?" Tai says, leaning forward and propping two of her many slender arms on the desk.

[Zefir]

[LAB]

"Well then don't think of me as a student, Doctor," Emma says, a little peeved herself. She just doesn't feel very welcome working with Mr. Emeral. "Think of me as a monitor for the project. I have to know these things."

[LAB]

Andy isn't a bad person, but during work he is totally different. Work took his childhood and since he allways worked alone he dosn't like it if people look over his shoulder the whole time.

"So you are more like a paparazzi revealing the life of celebrity? That's not better."

He looks up with his human eye.

"Technologie, like the thing we do here, shouldn't be a produkt like Bread. Everyone who want this should build it himself. The fact is that every person is uniqe so their suit needs to be uniqe as well."

[The Alexandrian]

Surgical Wing

((Hah! I totally caught that reference!))

Gary's done this a tunna times. Dozens. Taking clothes off women is what he does. At least, that's probably what he'd try to tell you. Still, he gets the clasp off easily enough, leaving Spec with a conspicuous lack of garments to cover her. Gary takes a step back, smiling sheepishly.

His smile fades rapidly at her explanation. Blood-sport without cloning? Forced augmentation? A weapons system for an arm? Good gods. "Uh, no ma'am, I'm not. Everybody's augmented where I'm from. Right up from the day you're born." He strokes some of the glowing lines under his eyes, strange lights that signify his neural uplink. "I needed some for the job, you know? But others I got just to impress girls..." He chuckles awkwardly. He's embarassed, even if he shouldn't be. He got augs because he liked the way they looked. Spec got them to survive. The Clinic's services just seem... very petty, now. "Muscle growth stims, mostly."

"I, ah, grew up in a city called Anchorage. It used to be pretty remote, before the war, but it's the only free city on Earth now. A lot of augments. A lot of chrome and neon. It's a... really bad city. Drugs, crime, big business. You must know how it is. My parents wanted to keep me out've all that, so... I was kind of a shut-in." While still awkward, the chuckle that follows is much more warm and genuine.

[Surgical Wing]

The Clinic improves quality of life across the board. Through surgery it restores sight to the blind, legs to the crippled, hearing to the deaf, and etcetera. Spec doesn't view the Clinic's services as petty! The cosmetics are central because the business must generate income somehow!

Speaking of lack of garments, oh my word is Spec coated in scars!

"Hold on..."

"Earth hadn't been obliterated by corporate warfare where you're from? What did it look like? I've always heard stories about how pretty it was. I lived in Titan and was shipped to the fifteenth terraformed planet, Xerces, to fight."

Earth has always been something of a mythological paradise to Spec. To chat with someone who was born on the real McCoy is an experience she'll never forget!

[Murkus]

[LAB]

"I hardly think you a celebrity, Mister Emeral. I have to know," Emma says, and the tone of her voice advises Andy to stop stonewalling her questions. "As for the suit... are you saying each person will have some hand in the suit's design?"

[Surgical Wing]

Gary tries not to stare at his customer, but the scars (yes, Gary, I'm sure it's the scars) make it hard not to. He simply averts his eyes after a second or two, not wanting to seem rude. "It's very beautiful," he agrees. "Parts of it are scarred, from the war, but you can still see the old world in a few places. Lush and green, clean water... it's, um, nice."

[Zefir]

[LAB]

"Each person needs to have a hand in HIS suit. That requires them to make a suit themself."

He doesn't sound very friendly right now, but tries to clam down. He hates people who look over his shoulder, especially if he assumes them to just sabuse his technologie.

((The Alexandiran wasn't on since you posted here or more didn't post anything. Oh and what's up with the girl with the robot?))

[Murkus]

((I suppose I'll wait on Alexandrian's reply then. And which girl would you mean?))

[Lab]

"Fascinating. This will be a... very desirable product, in that case, for the more prosperous security officers. You're going to make a lot of money, Andreas," Emma says, putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling a smile that's supposed to be charming.

[The Alexandrian]

[Surgical Wing - HAL Is Gainfully Employed! ]

First, there was Doctor Mario matching colored pills to cure diseases. Now, there's HAL the surgeon dissecting humens and augmenting them with legal biomods (I never asked for this! )! Progress! What else is in store for the medical field? A hellishly kind ninja doctor?

Wait... HAL shall to be operating on Spec this day!

... Why didn't she reason that out beforehand?!

"Have you escaped to Outside yet? The land there is like Earth-land, if the pictures of Earth I've been exposed to were accurate representations of...well anything, really."

"... Hey. Um..."

"Are you... Are you interested in falconry? Because there's this gyrfalcon that I take care of and while it hunts in the wild we could chit-chat about this and that and explore the Forest of Giants. But not as a date or anything! As friends! I have a girlfriend!"

That's true! Spec does have a gf she's in love with! But she's always in need of friends! Or, as the case is, a friend. Don't wanna send Garry the wrong signals as friendship buds and all!

"If I survive reformed HAL the shackled AI's treatment, that is. Hee."

Spec jests under her breath. She doesn't want to go through with this! She doesn't want to do this! She can't do this! She can't do this!

Hyperventilation commence! Every surgeon subconsciously or consciously wants nothing more than to tear her limb from limb and paralyze her with massive pain and agony! She knows this to be so!

[Zefir]

[Lab]

((Cornelia or Cathrin or alike. The one with the little robot guy))

"The material is high explosive during the creating process. I don't think many people will go risk their live for that."

Since he is currently working he tries to shake off the hand.

"One mistake now and this building will loose some storey."

[Murkus]

Surgical Wing - I wouldn't say gainfully

"Um, yeah, sure!" Gary says to the affirmative. That drew a smile out've him, even if it's not a date. The other bits - beautiful terrain, falconry (not that he knows what that is), and a forest of giants - is just icing on the cake.

Well, now that he's been offered a not-date, perhaps it's time to help Spec along. He laughs a little. "'HAL' is perfectly safe, ma'am. Why don't you sit down, and I'll walk you through it?"

[LAB]

Emma looks a little suspicious, now. "Then stop a moment, Andreas. Why is it you're making this suit, if you don't think it'll make a profit?"

((Right now, I'm just having her glare at her robot and try to figure it out. I was figuring if anyone wanted to interact, they could. Why do you ask?))

[The Alexandrian]

[Surgical Wing - 'S Much Better Than That Gig As a Karaoke Machine]

When the one and only song you're programmed to know the lyrics of is "Daisy Bell," you don't ever get tipped well!

It'll be a scenic adventure if nothing else!

"Okay..."

Spec nods, cautiously taking a seat and relaxing for an instant before tensing up again.

"I'll... Are you available this Sunday at noon? And... And are you certain that you're certain that this won't hurt, Gary?"

Spec's social skills deficiency shines through once more!

[Murkus]

[Surgical Wing - I bet karaoke machines love their jobs]

"Doubly certain, ma'am," Gary says, almost servant-like in his mannerisms. A gentleman, to be sure. Still, he can't help but grin in amusement. "And I can do Sunday. Now, I'm going to give you a tranq, alright?" A metal arm descends from the ceiling and hands him a needle. He grabs it without looking, sensing it through his neural uplink. He thinks Spec will feel better if he applies the sedative, and it won't matter once she's asleep. "You'll be out for about twenty minutes, but you won't feel a thing."

[The Alexandrian]

[Surgical Wing - 'S Much Better Than That Gig As a Toaster Oven ]

"I guess I could use some shut eye..."

Spec swallows hard. This is risky! HAL better not smother her in her sleep or she'll file a strongly-worded complaint against Elexxion and post it on the wall as a ghost! Because being a ghost would be extremely unfun!

And after/as Gary applies the sedative, Spec can be godmodded for the duration of the surgery!

[Zefir]

[LAB]

Andy can't stop now. He is in the mid of something that needs time and concentration. He answers slowly making brakes between his words.

"I'm an inventor. I want to ceate something in the first place."

[Murkus]

[Surgical Wing - Toaster Ovens Are Laaaame]

Much as I'd like to see that wall post, everything will turn out fine. The needle goes into her arm, she drops out've consciousness, and the AI goes to work. A legitimately terrifying network of arms mounted with small energy-projectors descends from the ceiling. Spec will find, when she wakes, that all her scars have been blasted away and replaced with smooth, living tissue.

When the sedative haze lifts, Gary's standing off to the side, beside a metal cabinet upon which Spec's clothes are folded. His hands are clasped behind his back. A mirror is mounted above the cabinet. Little else is visible in the dark room.

"Careful getting up, ma'am. The tranq is still in your system," Gary says. Should she still seem dazed, Gary will hurry over to help her.

[LAB]

"Well, Doctor, if this project isn't successful financially, I'm afraid Maxwell may cut your research budget," Emma explains, a little annoyed. She knew Andy wasn't telling her somehthing.

[The Alexandrian]

[Surgical Wing - Yeah Toast!!!]

I like toast!

And I changed my mind! HAL didn't operate on Spec! GLaDOS must've. That terrifying network of arms...

Spec babbles incoherently as she comes to! The first things she identifies when her vision clears up are her lack of garments and Gary, a human male!

"Um... I... Uh..."

"Did we, y'know..."

"I need my clothes. And I'm not this ma'am you're looking for. I'm Star Princess Ezzah Chrinthos, famous gladiator and singer! I think! Is...is that who I am?"

Wow! That tranq serum be paralyzing Spec's motor functions and her mental functions somehow! She attempts to stand, but is unsteady on her feet, and will topple over backwards if Gary doesn't catch her first!