[Nexus] Memorial Hospital

[Kaelaroth]

Welcome to the clean and beautiful Nexus Memorial Hospital!

This thread, as one may have guessed, has been made so that all the those in Nexus, can have a hospital. This place is most likely better than any base's infirmaries, and will treat anyone for free, as they receive money from... a state.
Standing on top of a large hill, looking down onto Freedom Glades, and the nearby organisations of NO and GLoG, there is a new, large building, big, grey, dull, designed by Thorul Ltd. to cater for the the local residents of the Nexus, built over what remained of the severely damaged "Imperial Hospital" of briefly lasting fame. Several storeys tall (and thick as it is high), the new hospital dominates a chunk of the horizon, surrounded by low-hanging cloud and fog, with its big, repetitive windows, its outflowing balconies, multi-storey ambulance and car parks, and hundreds of wards, rooms, and operating theatres.

Woodland presses into and onto it, on multiple sides, giving the lower levels a worrying, creepy, disturbing atmosphere, as the shadows of branches and leaves whisper and dance through the windows. Roads lead into the hospital's main (and typically frantic and busy) Accident and Emergency unit, and basic visitors' carpark, from both the budding high streets of Taverna Generica fame, and the other main Acronym organisations (the road from AMEN being strangely splattered by egg yolk).

As soon as one enters (assuming one is entering through conventional means), you arrive in a very, very large waiting area, passing, most likely, several old ladies nattering to each other over cups of sludgey hospital coffee, and a big purple-pink and off-white sign displaying a cadeceus. The waiting room is capable of seating a thousand or so, and is lined with row upon row of chairs, some filled. Potted plants, plastic and otherwise, and slightly rusty (second-hand, see) Nuka-Cola vending machines are dotted about this area, but nothing really brightens up the flourescent-lit green and just-about-white slab-linoleum floors, or the zany green plastic chairs, drenched in tiresome graffiti, save, perhaps, for the receptionists who deposit helpful information, and relay messages, and the like, for the average customer/injured-or-ill-person/relative, all with a cheery smile, and occasional wink, and the oft-repeated commercial pointing visitors to the Café upstairs.

Winding staircases, several of which have broken or missing steps, lead both up and down the building, as do several rather slow elevators, many of which stop randomly at inoppurtune moments, stinking of urine (or other bodily fluids). A cheery white and orange plastic sign (in fact, several signs) show you to the different parts of the building.
Basement: Store-Rooms, Empty'n'Mysterious Offices, Parking, Paramedics, Pathology
Ground Floor: Reception, Nurses' Stations, Medical Supply Rooms, Accident and Emergency, Café, Gift Shop, Temple of Indiscriminate Faith, Occupational Therapy
First Floor: Anaesthetics, Cardiology, Gastroenterology
Second Floor: Urology, OBGYN, Pharmacy
Third Floor: Sexual Health Clinic, Rhematology, Physiotherapy, Neurology
Fourth Floor: Oncology, Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Ear/Nose/Eye Department
Fifth Floor: Mystical Mishaps and Maladies, Nutrition, Geriatrics
Sixth Floor: Paediatrics, General Surgery, Haematology, Renal, Animal Attacks
Seventh Floor: Wards (both ICU, and long-term), RnD, Adminstrative Locales
Eighth Floor: Psychiatrics, Veterinarians' Office, Maternity, Microbiology
Roof: Big, Open Space for Climatic Events
Locations marked in bold are those which I assume are most likely to be visited by the local PC residents of the Nexus, and thought you might most want your attention to be drawn to.
The roof at the top of the building, accessible via the stairs, yet not the elevators, looks out over most of the nearby countryside.

Each department is well-staffed by a variety of typically friendly NPC doctors, paramedics and nurses, both of whom will speak in Blue, what with them being medical personnel. Orderlies, Religious Officials, Cleaners, random HazMat wearing BioHazard folks, and panicked relatives are also fairly common NPCs found all over the building, normally speaking in gray.
Rooms are normally clean and nice, fairly large, and quite bright, most wards and offices having windows and lighting. Unlike the standard of this dimensional quadrant, the hospital has turn-of-the-millenium era medical equipment, specially imported in.
A spell over the building prevents the entire place being destroyed in one go.

IC Rules:
1. Euthanasia, in this hospital, is illegal.
2. Medical Personnel are not to moonlight.
3. All doctors must work under the Hippocratic Oath of RL fame.
4. Basic laws apply, such as no killing, raping, thieving, and the like.
Rule breakers can be reported to various authorities, fined, fired or attacked.
OOC Rules:
1. No godmodding. Though it is permitted in some threads, it is not here.
2. One is permitted to control NPCs when the threadmaker (that's me, folks) is not here, yet please don't make them act in any way they wouldn't without graduating them into a PC of your control. For example, no making the doctor randomly kill patients. Because they wouldn't, not unless they were an evil PC, or somesuch. Get me? :smalltongue: Of course, one could make them act extraordinarily, if, say, they were being mind-controlled by a PC.
3. One is permitted to decide whether NPCs of the hospital pass or fail saves. For note, following stereotypes, doctors and nurses are more mentally resistant than the norm, but other hospital folks are not. In fact, orderlies are weaker, mentally, than other hospital folk.
4. Obey all forum rules. Those who do not will be reported. No exception.
5. IMPORTANT: Make sure that, if there're multiple events taking place in the thread, you start each post with where you are, or make it abundantly clear.
OOC Guidelines:
1. Be nice!
2. Keep OOC banter on the approved Nexus OOC threads, please. Some here is fine, but all OOC posts are not, and we'd prefer it if there was little, bordering on none, here, please.
3. Both silly and serious are welcome here, don't force either on those who don't want it, though, please.
4. Please keep sexual antics down to a minimum.

A small note on evil spirits:
Since this new hospital's built on the remains of a hopsital that had been badly destroyed and infected with horror many a-time over, this new building, with its winding corridors and friendly staff, is of course blighted by a terrible curse. A foul supernatural force lurks here, bringing evil with it. The effects of this can be roleplayed by anyone: those who stay here for extended periods of time can be pushed towards evil actions, or driven insane by quiet whisperings, or even visited by ghostly remnants of that which scares or matters to them...

[Murkus]

Dr. Rein shows up for his shift, dark circles forming under his eyes, gait weary and downtrodden. He must've had a long day.

The Doctor barely checks at all with the receptionist, striding past her, oblivious.

And so begins the average work-day for a doctor who specializes in infectious disease.

[Kaelaroth]

The hospital's undergoing rather a busy day, the doctor might note, as it has been for some time, really. Many a patient doesn't seem to be improving much as their stays in the hospital lengthen, and more and more are being brought in due to demonic attacks - while over in a nearby village, a virulent common cold had turned out to be a particularly nasty strain of a newfangled ebola...

[Murkus]

The Doctor commences drug tests on this new strain of ebola, and starts whatever treatments the Nexus might have available. He also sends some samples to microbiology, as well as for his own examination.

Work, work, work.

[Kaelaroth]

Thankfully, Memorial Hospital's budget and technological enterprise is far more advanced than that the rest of the Nexus has to offer - most'll just simply tell you its because the hospital has "funding", others might deign to mention the "Thorul" corporation or enterprise that's pumping cash into healthcare at the moment, but one just can't get more than that with kind and friendly questioning alone...

... but yes! Ebola. It's nasty, and seemingly mystical in origin - it looks more and more likely this is the result of demonic activity, some nasty beasty attacking people with disease, or carrying infectious pathogens with it as it was forced out from Hell...

... The Doctor's assistant, a pretty young girl called Lydia, pops her head round the door, her intern-esque fresh young face smiling, to remind him lunch's on the roof today, as they're finally having some good weather...

... just as, outside, the clouds over GLoG form, and Lydia thanks whichever spirit she currently thinks is watching over her that said storm isn't busying itself on this area.

[Murkus]

Oh, Gods. Unless it can be treated like standard Ebola, it looks like the Doctor might have to use his disease-removal abilities.

The Doctor, currently hunched over some lab equipment, turns to smile back at Lydia.

Adrian thanks her, and will head up to the roof as well. Hopefully, this place has a cafeteria, as he didn't bother bringing his own food.

[Kaelaroth]

Presumably Adrian's purchased his lunch from the cafeteria, indeed, as, once he's headed up top, he sees the regular collection of doctors and nurses he tends to lunch with, mostly composed of the remainder of the Infectious Diseases department, a few lonely scraps of the somewhat depressing Pathology wing, and the good humoured masses of Orthopaedics. Lydia, chatting to a friendly enough vampiric intern in the basement, waves Adrian over, before resuming her conversation.

[Murkus]

Adrian sits and thinks as he slowly eats his food, obviously not very hungry. The Doctor also appears far less chatty than he would normally be. Distracted, maybe.

[Kaelaroth]

Adrian sits and thinks as he slowly eats his food, obviously not very hungry. The Doctor also appears far less chatty than he would normally be. Distracted, maybe.

Is something wrong? Lydia asks, her voice, tinged with its Received Pronunciation accent, equally filled with the notes of slight concern, turning her warm smile towards the doctor. Adrian, you, well...

... Seem somewhat less chatty than you'd normally be. Vlad, the vampiric pal of Lydia's (who always seems to sit slightly too close to her, and can be seen staring into her eyes when thought not to be seen doing so). What's distracting you?

[Murkus]

Adrian blinks a bit, turning his gaze to the two of them. Ah, Vlad. Adrian doesn't really trust that intern. But, if Lydia doesn't mind his company...

The Doctor doesn't show his distrust in really any way. "I've been thinking about my wife a lot lately. It's just been wearing on my mind, that's all."

His eyes fall back to his food. Not like he can tell them he's really just stressed because, well... he's resurrecting/remaking his unborn daughter as what will eventually be one of the most powerful beings in the Multiverse.

"It's nothing, really."

[Kaelaroth]

Vlad looks as if he's about to say something, but a sharp poke from Lydia's elbow to his ribs shuts him up. Well, we're here if you need us, Adrian. Smiling brightly, if in a slightly forced manner, she changes the subject. So apparently those werewolves down in Renal came in for a simple check-up, and just died of this ebola right in the waiting room! Vlad shudders, at the horror of the idea, and Lydia gives him a friendly, though.. slightly pitying pat of the shoulder, perhaps to make up for her elbow-jab.

[Murkus]

"Thanks, Lydia." Adrian smiles briefly before turning back to his food.

And then he bolts straight up at the prospect of an Ebola outbreak. "What? Just how widespread is the strain? Do we know what species are vulnerable to infection?"

[Kaelaroth]

They've got no idea, but the folks down at the Nurse's station this morning were whispering that it's only hitting a couple of villages right now, so I wouldn't worry too much - most victims die too quickly to spread it, and the virus dies surprisingly quickly. Kaleb Marsh thinks it's not even ebola! Lydia says, shrugging, seemingly too concerned with other matters (her chart is bulging with notes on recently-admitted patients) to give the worry masses of thought.
I think it's probably mystical? Vlad adds, his eyes returning to Lydia's fair face...

[Murkus]

Adrian calms down, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Oh. Alright then."

His eyes find Vlad's face. Hmmm.

After about a second, his gaze falls once again. "Well, if it looks like ebola, spreads like ebola, kills like ebola, it's probably ebola. But maybe not the kind we're used to. I mean, this is the Nexus."

[Kaelaroth]

Downstairs, Kaleb Marsh had had enough, damnit. Bloody zombies, everywhere, these days, he thought to himself. Well, not zombies, per se, but patients! Everywhere! Dead things on legs, moving about, when, should they have any grace or social acuity at all, they ought to have been long dead already. Sure, he was a doctor, and a good one, but that didn't mean he had to care, did it? All he saw, each and every day, was patients coming in and coming out, bleeding from one side, mouthing off from another, or filled up with germs that made him want to retch, as he wondered how the hell they'd managed to get hold of such things in the first place. For god's sake, who gets sexually transmitted infection through a couple of cuts in the ear, anyway, and how the did these idiots get themselves filled up with broken glass...

But amid this horror, he'd continued, hadn't he? He'd persevered, in his smart white coat, and striped shirts of black and white and blue. Always a smile on his darkly bearded face, beneath his silvery spectacles, from behind which he watched the walking dead pass, smiling and talking and gabbing away when they only had days, weeks, months or years, left, withering away as they moved, discussing the children they insisted on producing (born with a death sentence as soon as they arrived on this verdant earth), their college plans (hives of dead things swarming together like ants to honey, taking in knowledge as a corpse sucks in smells and odours and infectious maladies), their wants and dreams and desires - all impermanent, meaningless, and unlikely to last. It was disgusting, but he had endured.

'til today. It was just too horrible to bear today, in a way. A man had come in, lycanthropic in his claims, giggling about how he was a wolf in the few nights when the moon hung full and pregnant in the dark, purple-tinged sky, and how even when "human" (as if he wasn't always) he had this feeling of being better than normal men, of being right and kind and good and powerful. He claimed he was able to leap buildings in a single bound, howl like the best wolves in the best of packs, and smell blood from miles away, all the while never having to take a vitamin supplement. Kaleb had nearly died of envy. As if someone could be so stupid they thought any of this magical rubbish actually existed, actually mattered. It was all so stupid. So.. childish. Comets falling from the sky. Ghosts walking the streets. Men vanishing up ropes into the sky. It was all damned ridiculous.

And, frankly, he couldn't take it. Smiling at the "wolfman", humouring him, asking him how long he'd been in the "Nexus", he quietly walked over to a nearby test tube, filled with blood from a recent patient of the Infectious Diseases department, and took a tiny sample from a syringe, mixing that with plain old water as he listened to the "werewolf" babble on about moving here from America (wherever the hell that was), bringing his kids with him, discussing how he hoped they inherited his powers, as long as they could survive this damned "apocalypse". Whatever. Kaleb had damn well had it with this idiocy. Injecting the man smilingly, he watched as the ebola, "demonic", as they'd called it upstairs, took root in his bloodstream, and worked his way around his body. He watched him wail, and watched him convulse, and closed the door to prevent nearby people passing hearing the screams. He didn't want any fuss.

He watched the body stop moving, and laughed in his mind at the idea that this was ebola. Who the hell'd be so stupid to think that? But it wasn't demonic, or magical, or mystical. It was nature, purging people. Doing what it did best - hurry things along. Stop the living pretend to be anything but what they really were. Smiling to himself, Kaleb took off the body's clothes, bundled them into a plastic bag, and put them in the waste, before placing the body on ice with an order for incineration. Then, taking off his gloves and washing his hands carefully, he cleaned his glasses, opened the door, and strolled away, whistling, a lingering darkness in the halls watching him go. Kaleb smiled full of joy. He'd done the right thing. Dead things should know their place. Dead things should just stay dead.

Upstairs, Lydia and Vlad smiled, eating their lunch, nodding slightly to Adrian's words, but not quite sure how to respond. But they smiled all the same. Wasn't the day just lovely?

[UncleWolf]

Dr. "Cutter" pulls on his labcoat as he enters the emergency room on his first day of work. He had heard rumors of a virus spreading around, and hopefully, he was prepared enough to deal with anyone coming in.

But, regardless of what was going around, he was thankful to have another job as a doctor after he was...pressured out of his hold one. He hums to himself cheerfully as a scalpel spins idly in his right hand.

(Meant to do this a few days ago. >.>)

[Kaelaroth]

Dr. "Cutter" pulls on his labcoat as he enters the emergency room on his first day of work. He had heard rumors of a virus spreading around, and hopefully, he was prepared enough to deal with anyone coming in.

But, regardless of what was going around, he was thankful to have another job as a doctor after he was...pressured out of his hold one. He hums to himself cheerfully as a scalpel spins idly in his right hand.

(Meant to do this a few days ago. >.>)

The ER is full of people. They all need help, for various maladies. Please, won't you help them? :smalleek:

[UncleWolf]

[ER]

The blade in his hand vanishes as he takes the clipboard, analyzing the patients and organizing them from highest priority to least, setting those who'd been there the longest and have the worst maladies at the top of the list. He sighs a bit, wondering what the hell the day shift had been doing all day if there were this many people...

He gives the people in the waiting room a gentle smile. "Don't worry, I'll see each of you in no time at all." He calls the one at the top of his list first.

But only after he tells an orderly to make some coffee. It was going to be a long night.

[Kaelaroth]

The first man to be called in, smiling nervously, obviously in pain, has a range moon shaped scars across his dark-skinned face which stand out, reliefs, embossed onto his flesh, almost.. glowing in the dingy light. My name's Ezra Grey. I.. I need help. He sits down on the nearest chair, shivering.

[UncleWolf]

[ER]
Cutter nods, trying to give the man a bit of a reassuring smile. "Do you know what the problem is?" He asks as he reads the man's file and preps the various test equipment. "And do you have anything you feel I should know about you?"

[Kaelaroth]

A witch cursed me, sir. Ezra says, shivering. I was once terminally ill, but this hospital's treatments clearly made that a misdiagnosis. He seems at a loss as to what to say.

[UncleWolf]

The doctor raises an eyebrow. "What is the curse? And while I won't be able to help you, I can send you to the Magical Mishap ward. Up on the fifth floor, but I need details first."

[Kaelaroth]

The doctor raises an eyebrow. "What is the curse? And while I won't be able to help you, I can send you to the Magical Mishap ward. Up on the fifth floor, but I need details first."

Everytime I.. I break a vow from my wedding, I will suffer another sympton of a disease most foul, and long dead. But.. My wife is dead, and I've always had an eye for the flesh of men, and.. I suffer the male gaze, and I do not mean to, sir! I truly don't, but... Ezra breaks down into tears, his hands, with.. knotted fingers gesticulating wildly at the welts of his face, which seem to be moving, under the skin's surface, slowly growing and wobbling.

[UncleWolf]

"Are you sure she died?" he winces even as he asks the question. "I know it sounds bad, but could you be sure that she's dead and has stayed dead? You know how people tend to come back here..."

[Kaelaroth]

"Are you sure she died?" he winces even as he asks the question. "I know it sounds bad, but could you be sure that she's dead and has stayed dead? You know how people tend to come back here..."

You think she's alive? I.. I watched her die, sir! I saw cancers swell up like rotting fruits under her flesh and kill her inside out, her skin turning from deep chocolate to frail papyrus, her eyes orbs to ashes! Ezra, waxing lyrical, exclaims, clearly shocked and disturbed by the idea.

[UncleWolf]

Cutter nods. "I understand. I'll send you to the Magical Mishaps department, but while you're there, I recommend making a call to make sure she stayed dead."

[Kaelaroth]

Cutter nods. "I understand. I'll send you to the Magical Mishaps department, but while you're there, I recommend making a call to make sure she stayed dead."

But.. Who would I contact? Ezra asks, worried, standing slowly.

[UncleWolf]

"The Cemetery she's buried in." He says as he writes down a note to one of the doctors in the MM department. Cutter gives the man the note, as well as the file of his situation to him. "Give that to the front desk at the MM Department. They should be able to lift up the curse."

[Kaelaroth]

Ezra nods, and does as he's told, eventually leaving Cutter alone.

[UncleWolf]

Cutter sighs and shakes his head after the man leaves. You'd think people would learn to double check these things on their own...

After sipping from an absolutely terrible cup of coffee, he calls on his next patient.

[Kaelaroth]

A girl, maybe just out of her teenage years, if even that far in life, quietly enters, hair and makeup dishevelled, wearing something sequinned and tiny, her face severely bruised under the blusher. She limps, uneven, and whimpers and winces slightly as she moves inside, barely looking at Cutter, avoiding the light so bright above her.

[UncleWolf]

Cutter winces when he sees her and tries to pick her up to gently set her on the medical table. "Who beat you?" He asks point blank. It's obvious that someone or something decided to mistreat her.

And while he doesn't show it, he obviously wants to bring punishment to anyone who did this.

[Kaelaroth]

My.. My... He's called Randaine. He.. works me and three other girls. It's not safe now that the streets are full of demons, and.. There's no House of Play anymore, it's not good money, and he got upset, and...

The girl bursts into quiet, wracking sobs.

[UncleWolf]

Cutter holds her for a moment, trying to calm her down and give her someone to cling to. "Where at?" He asks. He was going to make sure that the man didn't hurt her, or the other ladies again.

[Kaelaroth]

Under the Rainwell Bridge, near Trog's? He.. He said he'd hurt me again if I went to the police, but my back was killing me, so...

The girl snuffles, quietly, clearly in a great deal of pain.

[UncleWolf]

Cutter gives her a soft kiss on the forehead and slips a hand into his pocket to remove a syringe full of a sedative. "I'm sorry, you'll feel a slight sting, but everything will be better in a minute..." He'll try to inject her in the neck with it.

[Kaelaroth]

She's injected, and falls asleep, swiftly, only momentarily worrying that Cutter's creepily personal for a doctor, before darkness engulf her mind.

[UncleWolf]

Cutter calls for an aide and explains to take her to a bed elsewhere. He also tells him that he was going on an errand.

Unless stopped, he'll leave to the address told to him. (To Inside?)

[Kaelaroth]

((That's the way, young sir!))

An orderly takes the girl upstairs, confused.

[Murkus]

Adrian is walking the halls, looking for the bodies of those werewolves who died in the waiting room. Hopefully they weren't already shipped off towards the morgue. Whitecoat and gloves on, naturally. This might be seen by some employees as the Doctor being something of a germaphobe, as he is rarely seen without these gloves.

Of course, what sort of germaphobe specializes in infectious diseases?

[Kaelaroth]

Those bodies are long gone to the morgue, put on ice to be poked and prodded by pathologists in basements.

[Murkus]

The Doctor sighs upon hearing this, returning to the treating of 'ebola' patients and working up a report on the new strain.

[Kaelaroth]

The Doctor sighs upon hearing this, returning to the treating of 'ebola' patients and working up a report on the new strain.

Outside his lab, the sounds of Lydia being chatted up by Vlad as they both study for an internalised exam can be heard..
.. while outside the building, a quiet rainstorm make a constant, endless, perpetual pitter-patter sounds against the walls and floors and roofs and trees, partially obscuring the noise of hospital life and death.

How the days pass, eh?


*

But as time passes, things get worse. The ebola strain's far more virulent, resembling a potent form of bacterial meningitis in children, while also spreading from person to person now in a number of villages. Meanwhile, patients intake's ripening by the hour as hordes come in demanding help from severe burns, acid-caused injuries, earthquake-caused trauma, or, in the vast majority of cases, severe cases of hypothermia and frostbite from Inside...
The reception areas are now filling as the main wards did hours ago...

[Murkus]

Dr. Rein proceeds to work himself to the bone over the next 24 hours, refusing any requests by fellow employees or comrades to go home. He works wearily (with some help from his special disease-sensing abilities) to identify the virus's components and put together a vaccine.

[Kaelaroth]

It's not a disease, he'll eventually discover. It's a spell - but the Magical Mishaps department are swamped with people today, huge numbers having badly injured themselves buying shoddy anti-apocalypse invites.

[Ashen Lilies]

Meanwhile, Care Williams, MEDICAL SECRETARY EXTRAORDINAIRE *insert Reinholdtesque flourish here* is reporting for her first shift in her new job. Maybe. Perhaps.
...
But she has an anti-ghost field generator in her pocket! Which is also a Death Ray!*
...
Well, it was a Death Ray. Unfortunately Death Ray was entirely too lethal, morally reprehensible, impractically gratouitous and most importantly, made the device a bit on the large side, so she replaced it with a Stun Ray. It's still technically capable of killing someone, but only if they have a history of heart problems, and it doesn't leave any nice big holes through people.


*As in, a weapon that shoots beams that kills things, as opposed to a small man named Ray who kills things.

[Kaelaroth]

She'll likely get swarmed by people needing help for apocalyptic wounds. Ouch!

[Ashen Lilies]

Eeeeee! People bleeding to death! This is not what Care wanted to see! She was expecting, like, sick people, not brutally mauled people!
Of course, she doesn't want to see sick people, either! She might get coughed on and then contract some mutant version of Tuberculosis or something!
...
Yeah, she reeeeaaaally didn't think through this job well at all.
She'll try to do her best to point them out to the right floors and departments.

[Kaelaroth]

Ah, well. People come, people go. They're, for the most part, rather icky.
...
Early lunch break? :smalltongue:

[Ashen Lilies]

YES. Very much yes. :smalleek:
...
She should have worked in that school that opened up. >.>
She'll head over to the lunch... eatery... cafeteria... thingy place the moment she gets a brief lull in people accosting her.

[Kaelaroth]

The pretty intern, Lydia, who'd be helping her this morning, smiles and waves her over, as she sits with some tall, hulking, handsome, pale guy, who grins sheepishly at her, too.

[Ashen Lilies]

So Care, should you accept the invititation, or do the total loner thing and rebuff them?
...
She'll flash a slight smile in their direction and head over.

[Kaelaroth]

Hi! Lydia says, smilingly, making room, for all the world acting as if there's nothing tiresome going on, what with the END OF THE WORLD I mean.. She smiles at Care. Vlad, the big guy, does, too, staring at Lydia's neck as he does so.

[Ashen Lilies]

THE END OF THE WORLD is distressingly common in Nexus. Care's been around long enough to know that. More smiling from Care as she sits in the offered space.
"Thanks."
Noticing Vlad's gaze, she glances quickly at Lydia's neck, wondering what he's staring at. :smallconfused:

[Kaelaroth]

Her beautiful white flesh, under which lies blood, beautiful, coursing, tasty, wonderful blood, that'll flow and make everything so, so, soooo much better...

... Anyway.
Lydia coughs, and Vlad looks sheepishly, back down at his food (an almost raw stake, complimented by a pathetic and feeble single sprig of lettuce), while Lydia speaks. It's Care, right? I'm Lydia.

[Ashen Lilies]

Straaaaaaange.
"That's right. It's nice to meet you."
She looks at the suspiciously vampiric person. Or he would be suspiciously vampiric, if Care knew what a vampire was.
"What's your name?"

[Kaelaroth]

I'm Vlad. Vlad Bloodsucker? I'm an intern too, but I always lose the straws, and have to help the orderlies, hence.. He nods down to his outfit, scrubs, ugly, covered in blood (some of which looks, well. A tad licked). I'm a doctor, though - not as good as Lydia, though. He smiles at his friend. And her neck.
Then back at Care, as Lydia does.

[Ashen Lilies]

Bloodsucker? Wierd name. She doesn't seem to notice the lick marks on the blood. Who would lick away blood? Maybe he tried to get rid of it with a sponge, and it didn't quite work? Care's had to clean blood out of clothes before, she can sympathize with how hard it is. Not quite in those quantities though. That's an awful lot, actually. All over his clothes. Probably all of her skin too... :smallyuk::smalleek: Quick, think of something else!
"You're both doctors? Wow!"
She laughs.
"I'm not smart enough to be a doctor." Says the woman who built a Death Ray ON HER KITCHEN TABLE!!! With a BOX OF ITEMS EASILY PURCHASABLE FROM ANY HARDWARE STORE IN INSIDE!!! Eh. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as the Tony Stark version.
"I'm just a secretary."

[Kaelaroth]

Nah, I bet you're really clever. Lydia says, in that every so slightly patronising voice all nice girls have when they're slightly stumped as to how to respond. Besides, um, it's not so much about brains, really, as hard work. And resorting to dusty old book and Google, when you have no idea what's going on. She smiles, slightly, turning to Vlad. Right, mate? Vlad's a little bit busy staring at CARE's NECK to respond, so Lydia just smiles, a tad awkwardly, before he eventually says, Um, yeah. Google. Totally.

[Ashen Lilies]

"Oh." Google solves everything! Care should have known. But then again, does Google even exist in the Star Wars universe? :smalltongue:
She doesn't seem to notice Vlad's obsession with her oh so vulnerable neck, protected only by the single silver chain that loops round once before it plunges down the front of her blouse.
Or maybe she has notice, but hasn't commented. What would you say anyway, without being rude? "Oh excuse me sir, but I could not help but notice that you seem to be staring at my jugular with a sort of deranged, predatory intensity, would you kindly cease?" Talk about awkward.

[Kaelaroth]

So what're you doing after work, then? Once we've dealt with the afternoon's reserve of ill folk and injured fools? Lydia asks, her tone a tad flinty when referring to her patients. Let's hope her bedside manner's somewhat better. Vlad doesn't seem to notice. JUGULAR STARE.

[Ashen Lilies]

"I'm not sure... I didn't really have anything planned..."
She rubs her neck slightly, vaguely uncomfortable due to Vlad's STAAAARE.

[Kaelaroth]

Well, we're going to head down to the Taverna and take advantage of their free drinks, if you want to come? Lydia says, smiling. The rumours about young meds' true, I'm afraid, we all drink like fish. 'cept for Vlad. He's more a vampire! She bursts into laughter, and Vlad smiles awkwardly at Care's FACE while clearly wanting to keep his attention on her NECK.

[Ashen Lilies]

"Ha! Sounds good."
...
"What's a vampire?" :smallconfused:
Care, you live in the Nexus. There really is no excuse. Go back to school.

[Kaelaroth]

They're bloodsucking, pale monsters that look human, have a bunch of creepy powers, and go for the neck. Lydia says, as Vlad, tall, large, pale, stares at her neck. I've never seen one, though.

[Ashen Lilies]

"Oh. That sounds... spooky."
So now Care knows what a vampire is! But she's not exactly about to accuse Vlad of being one. After all, Lydia claims to have never seen one, and she'd know more about it than Care does!

[Kaelaroth]

I think they are. Say, what do you think about playing hooky, and heading down to that Tavern now? I'm sure they won't need us. Lydia says, her face lit up happily by the seeming spirit of friendly conspiracy.

[Murkus]

Doctor Rein is about, still not sleeping, still working at keeping people alive. The usual.

Despite the focused gleam in his eyes, the Doctor looks very tired.

[Kaelaroth]

In the doctor's office, there's a sudden, huge, crashing sound.

[Murkus]

Adrian bolts up, reaching for his case and looking around. The paperwork he was finishing falls into his lap.

He looks around for the source of the sound.

[Kaelaroth]

The world has rippled, the air is buzzing thick and angry with the smell and sound and touch of a reality distortion, as blood explodes from each and every gaseous atom surrounding a certain point, in the centre of which a girl has appeared, bleeding heavily, screaming in pain. Her hair is pale gold, her skin pale white, though covered in blood, and her eyes flicker, bright, like lights, between universal pale blue, to heterochromatic feline-amber and purple.

Her scream for help is loud enough to break nearby pieces of glass, and she limps towards the doctor. Someone appears to have brutally stabbed and slashed through her torso.

[Murkus]

The Doctor hesitates for all of a second, not at all used to this sort of thing. He's pretty new to the wide world of the supernatural, too.

Adrian grabs his white suitcase with a gloved hand, rushing to her. "What? What happened to you? Nurse! Nurse! Get a bed! We need to get this woman to the ER!"

[Kaelaroth]

A nurse rushes in to help, panicking, as the blonde girl chokes and bleeds.

[Murkus]

Unless stopped, she will be promptly strapped in, the Nurse will start tending to her bleeding as they move, and the lot of them will move to the ER.

Where they will do the best they can to save her life, bandage her, and patch her up. All that general stuff. Meanwhile, Adrian will assist (despite being an Infectious Disease doctor) to the best of his ability.

Lack of descriptiveness: that's what I get for not being an actual doctor.

[Kaelaroth]

They patch her up, but she's very badly hurt - but, strangely, is healing much, much faster than she should be - close example can actually see her wounds gradually knitting themselves together and healthy - and further examination would reveal more and more oddness..
.. but for now, she's stable. And in pain.

[Murkus]

Adrian observes, with intense interest, her extensive healing abilities. I mean sure, they get monsters and superheroes sometimes, but not a lot with such extensive regeneration.

He watches her from outside the room as the nurses finish, and finally, leave her be. With some pain meds and other things to help keep her alive, of course.

Dr. Rein takes an empty hypodermic needle and a clipboard and steps inside, sitting down beside her bed.

If she's still awake after the meds and the swift saving of her life, Adrian smiles at her. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

[Ashen Lilies]

I think they are. Say, what do you think about playing hooky, and heading down to that Tavern now? I'm sure they won't need us. Lydia says, her face lit up happily by the seeming spirit of friendly conspiracy.

"Hmm... I'm not so sure... I mean, it's my first day, I don't think it would look so good we're found out..." Says Care, evidently unsure, and desperately trying to be the voice of reason, though Lydia can easily tell from her expression that it won't take much poking at all to get her out to the Tavern. It might even be a good idea! With Cynthia in the building, the life expectancy of everyone inside probably just went waaay down. Especially if one of them were to, say, look almost exactly like someone who's just been doing her level best to kill Cynthia, and also stuffed her brother into a pot.

[Kaelaroth]

Adrian observes, with intense interest, her extensive healing abilities. I mean sure, they get monsters and superheroes sometimes, but not a lot with such extensive regeneration.

He watches her from outside the room as the nurses finish, and finally, leave her be. With some pain meds and other things to help keep her alive, of course.

Dr. Rein takes an empty hypodermic needle and a clipboard and steps inside, sitting down beside her bed.

If she's still awake after the meds and the swift saving of her life, Adrian smiles at her. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

Alive. Alive? I am alive? Cynthia looks around, as her wounds knit themselves whole, anew, her pale eyes darting as the pain meds settle into her synthetic being, rendering her calm, if a tad dreamy. Are you..? Am I in Helllllven? She blinks at the doctor, confused - above, a light explodes radiantly, pulsing out fire in a brief moment before superheated glass tinkles gently onto the plastic-tiled floor. Nurses hurry out and away, grumbling about idiotic superheroines.


"Hmm... I'm not so sure... I mean, it's my first day, I don't think it would look so good we're found out..." Says Care, evidently unsure, and desperately trying to be the voice of reason, though Lydia can easily tell from her expression that it won't take much poking at all to get her out to the Tavern. It might even be a good idea! With Cynthia in the building, the life expectancy of everyone inside probably just went waaay down. Especially if one of them were to, say, look almost exactly like someone who's just been doing her level best to kill Cynthia, and also stuffed her brother into a pot.

Ah, well. You have fun here, then, and me and Vlad'll just head down all by ourselves, to have a few drinks and be all bored and lonely by ourselves. Lydia says, not the voice of reason by any means, her mischievous expression making her face somewhat less pretty. Right, Vlad? Vlad vaguely, vaguely nods.

[Murkus]

Adrian's eyes flick up to the exploding light, and he becomes significantly more cautious. "Not even close, I'm afraid. This is the Nexus Memorial Hospital. I'm Doctor Rein. And you?"

[Kaelaroth]

Cynthia shivers, as if cold, as her wounds finish pulling themselves together, and her eyelids flutter. ปวดเป็นชื่อของฉัน She turns, slightly, and the floor ripples, becoming more liquid than solid, as the lights flutter blue and briefly gold as her eyelids flutter open and shut. Nie jestem w piekle. Why am I here? Memorial? I am... Not dead... Νοσοκομείο? I am hurt?

[Murkus]

"You..." Adrian pauses, searching for a better word. "Teleported. Here. Into my office, oddly enough."

He gestures to her healed wounds. "And no, you're not hurt. Not anymore, anyway."

He pauses, observing the strange phenomena surrounding this girl, before speaking up again. "I'm sorry to bother you after your little ordeal, but wanton reality-warping and psychic disturbances are not appreciated here, miss...?"

[Kaelaroth]

My naaaame in Sinnnn... Sinnnthheeeeyaaaa... Cynthia says, eyes blurring as her words slur, the drugs definitely affecting her somehow under her nanite-composed frame, as she shivers, slightly. Cynthia name.

[Murkus]

Adrian scribbles the name on his notepad, figuring he'll get the surname later. "I think the drugs are starting to kick in. Please, try to stay with me for just a bit longer, Cynthia. Now, Inside will probably want me to report an assault. So I'll need to know what happened to you."

Whether Inside would really care is anyone's guess. Dr. Rein is more just curious himself.

[Kaelaroth]

Daddy hates.. me... Cynthia says, before being kicked into a chemical sleep, the reality-warping effects slowing to a halt as her eyes close under her pale, unruly fringe of golden hair.

[Murkus]

Adrian smiles. Oh well, he could get her statement when she wakes up. For now...

The Doctor sets his clipboard aside and withdraws a syringe from his coat pocket, approaching the bed quietly so as not to disturb Cynthia.

At which point, he attempts to dab around a vein with cotton and rubbing alcohol before plunging the needle into her arm.

Her blood seems like it would be valuable.

[Kaelaroth]

Her blood's taken. It's a shade too pale.

[Murkus]

Adrian will leave Cynthia be for now, and take her blood personally to his own private cold-storage locker. He gets one for the holding of infectious disease samples and such.

There are experiments to be run!

But for now, I must deadtime.

[happyturtle]

A telewarp portal opens in a storage closet near Dr Adrian Rein's office - possibly in the basement? Would he work in Pathology?

In any event, wherever his office is, one of the nearby storage closets suddenly crashes open as Ingi breezes through the portal, finds himself in another enclosed space, and reacts violently by ripping the door off its hinges.

[Murkus]

He works in Infectious Diseases. I don't know if that's a department, but I know it's a specialization. I suppose it doesn't matter.

Dr. Rein jumps from his work once again, trying to squeeze something in before going and working with some other patients.

His hands flare up with almost tangible disease. If you ain't wounded, you aren't welcome to be ripping doors off in Adrian's clinic.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

[happyturtle]

Ingi, who is in his invisible wind form, doesn't answer. Adrian will feel a breeze go past him. I don't know if he has the power to detect if the breeze is alive.

[Murkus]

A look of surprise spreads over the Doctor's face. He had assumed someone was there, but... then what happened to his office door? It was torn off the frame. And what superhumans they had working didn't work this late, at least, not usually. "Is... is anybody there?" He asks, quirking an eyebrow.

He turns his head left and right as the breeze flows past him, almost catching on to the fact that Ingi is invisible.

[happyturtle]

Since I suspect a horde of other characters are about to charge through the portal, Dr Rein should probably pause here.

[Ashen Lilies]

Ah, well. You have fun here, then, and me and Vlad'll just head down all by ourselves, to have a few drinks and be all bored and lonely by ourselves. Lydia says, not the voice of reason by any means, her mischievous expression making her face somewhat less pretty. Right, Vlad? Vlad vaguely, vaguely nods.

"Well, if you're putting it that way. I'd hate to make anyone feel lonely..." :smallsmile::smallamused:
"Let's go!"

------

Like KR, f'r'instance? Though she isn't barging through yet. Gotta let the meatshields run through first. And she did kind of dawdle on the other side. If there's some sort of confrontation in here, KR's likely to appear after it ends, just in time to kick at the good Doctor's remains.

[Darkcomet]

DC soon follows Ingi. How he arrived before those that entered the portal before him will never be explained. "We're here because someone here is trying to end the world. Any unusual newcomers lately?" His tone says that if he's not given an answer, he's liable to start tearing through the place to find Cynthia.

DC's not charging out, of course. Ranged type and all that. But he's there, and he's talking! Whoo.

[Murkus]

The Doctor shoots DC a glare, annoyed at having his office invaded for a second time. And, no less, by vigilantes who are not wounded.

"If you mean the odd girl, my associates and I just saved her life. She's sleeping peacefully." He quirks an eyebrow. "Now what's this about ending the world?"

[Darkcomet]

DC returns the glare, especially since this guy apparently saved her. "Idiot. Assuming her name is Cynthia, then yes, she's likely the one we're looking for. She and her...brother are the ones behind the recent apocalypse symptoms, such as the freezing areas of Inside and all the demons. If you would direct us to her current location while she remains unable to stop us, it would be much appreciated." A sleeping target can't exactly defend itself.

DC doubts that the Doctor will be very cooperative, though.

[Murkus]

The Doctor places his hands on his desk, and DC may start to feel a bit faint. He shouldn't be able to tell it's from Adrian, though. "And you intend to kill this girl? That's how you plan to end this?"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. So long as someone stays here, I'm going to make sure they don't get hurt. If she's really as bad as you say, if she can't be changed or captured..." The Doctor still appears not to like it at all. "Then you can take it outside."

[Darkcomet]

"What choice do we have? We thought she wouldn't turn out like this once and look what's happened now. Doing anything other than finishing her now will just give her time to end everything. And, in case you've forgotten, that includes everyone else here." It's quite clear that the Doctor's defiance is not doing anything for the psychic's patience. If DC's affected by the faintness, he's not showing it.

Or he might be cheating via psychic shenanigans.

Either one works.

"If you must have her removed from the premises before we deal with her, do so, but you won't let her kill us all." It might be hard to tell if that's a command or a threat.

[Murkus]

"Your fight can be taken outside." The Doctor steps around his desk, walking towards DC. The aura of faintness does not lessen, but no other diseases are exercised. For now. "I don't care how important it is. This hospital is my life. These patients are my life."

He eyes the Watchman angrily, leaning close. "And if she should be awake by now, if you start attacking and putting my patients in danger before we're outside, I will personally do my best to kick your ass."

DC may get the hint that, while the Doctor isn't the most powerful, he can do some significant damage.

[Darkcomet]

DC doesn't seem to react very much to the Doctor's own counter-threat. Mostly because he doesn't feel like dragging this out longer than it has to be dragged out.

End of the world and all that.

"I merely hope that your declaration also applies to her, should she be awake to attack us on sight. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Where is she?"

[Murkus]

The Doctor steps briskly past the psychic, whitecoat swirling at his back, gloved hands folded. "The ER ward. Follow me."

He still sounds miffed. And now we should probably wait for Kaelaroth.

[billtodamax]

Is she here? Asks Terrance/Rebecca as they come through the tele-warp portal in the office. Who is this? They ask, looking at Dr. Adrian.

Terrance/Rebecca look like a 16 year old girl with clothes. Their hair is long and black (I think? I'm pretty sure her hair was black. *shrugs* It is now.) and they're glowing bright yellow. Her eyes are the same colour, light practically exploding out of her eyes.

[Murkus]

Dr. Rein turns to look at Terrance/Rebecca. "I am Doctor Adrian Rein. I assume you're with vigilantes and the world-destroyers and whatnot?" The tips of his mouth curl downward in a sour line.

"In any case, yes. Cynthia is here. I saw a dying girl, and I helped her. I did my job." Dr. Rein turns to the storage closet that they all keep coming out of. "Now, get anyone else who's along and let's get to the ER ward. I don't have all day, and I would guess the Nexus needs its 'protectors' for something more important than murdering sleeping Satanic girls in hospitals."

Dr. Rein snorts a bit contemptuously.

[Morty]

Wenomir has been listening to the conversation with irritation that turned to resignation. Great. The one time someone actually does their perfectly normal, useful job that doesn't involve something incredibly horrible happening or being prevented from happening, they save the apocalypse brat. Awesome. Maybe the real gods exist after all, and are bastards.

[The Bushranger]

Shawna's thoughts, as she stands behind Wenomir and then follows, are...well, along much the same lines.
Exactly.

...oh hey, she's still carrying Jeremy's soul-sword, too.

At least she deactivated her plasma blade.

[Kaelaroth]

How Cynthia sleeps, so beautiful in a state so like death, her eyes closed, her chest barely moving.

[Murkus]

Dr. Adrian stands quietly outside the room, looking through the large window. The Watchtower fellows are presumably behind him. "Alright. Let's take her outside, behind the building, and you can wrap up this little disaster."

He pauses. "I really hate this. You know that? Apocalypse or no, you're asking a doctor to help you kill a little girl behind a hospital." Not directly, but he guided them there, and he has to get her off the grounds. "But I suppose I've got no choice. You'll destroy the hospital if you have to to get her. Won't you? For all that it matters, you lot could be causing these catastrophes. And I'd still have to help."

He sighs, grimacing, and goes to open the door. Unless the Watchmen/world-saviors stop him and have other ideas, of course.

[Kaelaroth]

Cynthia sleeps on, dreaming. The world around her lies in wait.

[happyturtle]

Ingi attempts to pick up the bed she's in and head for the nearest exit.

[billtodamax]

Indeed I am. Terrance/Rebecca say as they fly after the doctor, their hands moving like a blur. Apologies for invading your building.

[Morty]

Look doctor, I understand how you feel and I don't like it anymore than you do, but it has to be done. More or less true. Although Wenomir sees Cynthia as nothing more than a rabid dog that needs to be put down and that has also acquired apocalyptic powers through sheer accident, dragging an unconscious person behind a building and killing her in cold blood still leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

[Ashen Lilies]

"Well, if you're putting it that way. I'd hate to make anyone feel lonely..." :smallsmile::smallamused:
"Let's go!"

------

Like KR, f'r'instance? Though she isn't barging through yet. Gotta let the meatshields run through first. And she did kind of dawdle on the other side. If there's some sort of confrontation in here, KR's likely to appear after it ends, just in time to kick at the good Doctor's remains.

???

-------------

KR comes through the portal (finally) and tracks down DC's mental signature, joining the party at large.

[Murkus]

Look doctor, I understand how you feel and I don't like it anymore than you do, but it has to be done. More or less true. Although Wenomir sees Cynthia as nothing more than a rabid dog that needs to be put down and that has also acquired apocalyptic powers through sheer accident, dragging an unconscious person behind a building and killing her in cold blood still leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

The Doctor turns to him, sizing Wenomir up. "For the sake of your perceived righteousness, I hope that's correct. Let's hope it's the only way."

[Kaelaroth]

Cynthia shifts in her sleep as she's moved - and the air around her crackles, explosively, like a small bomb going off in a perfect blooming flower about her bed.

[The Bushranger]

Shawna, standing a ways back, jumps back in surprise at this, activating the plasma sword in her left hand...

[happyturtle]

Ingi manifests, injured. "She attacked first!" he points out in a tone so aggrieved that he could rival a pouting 4 year old. He then tries to reach into her lungs and stop her from breathing.

[Darkcomet]

On Ingi's prompt, DC immediately raises a hand, bringing up a forcefield to block Dr. Rein from interfering from Ingi's attempt at finishing off Cynthia. "Sorry, Doctor. But that's usually how these things work."

[Murkus]

On Ingi's prompt, DC immediately raises a hand, bringing up a forcefield to block Dr. Rein from interfering from Ingi's attempt at finishing off Cynthia. "Sorry, Doctor. But that's usually how these things work."

"No!" The Doctor shouts, hands suddenly seething with disease. "She could kill everyone here!"

He whirls on those people outside the forcefield, fire in his eyes, disease slowly flowing off of his body. Syphilis, some sort of superflu, and a couple other dangerous plagues. "If anyone is harmed..."

[Kaelaroth]

Who needs air.. when you can have Ingi? Him? His rage? Or the light? Or the sound? Cynthia opens her eyes, arching her back in a terrible, silent scream, before trying to tear Ingi into a few large pieces, and suck the life out of hte nearest one to power her.

[happyturtle]

She won't find much rage. He's having a sulk rather than a tantrum.

The rest of the response has to wait. What is she using to try and tear him apart? :smallconfused:

[Ashen Lilies]

Care looks back and forth shiftily, not quite sure what she's said wrong. What other explanation for this awkward silence?

-------

Meanwhile, her twin/duplicate/whathaveyou is blasted back by an explosion and slammed into a wall, blacking out momentarily. So now, not only issue burned out, injured, wet, exhausted and being blasted with a magical headache wave, but now she's got a possible concussion as well. Just as well she's in a hospital. Hopefully she won't catch any of that super-flu as well.

[Morty]

Wenomir, standing in the front, is also hit badly by the blast, but it doesn't have quite the same effect on him as it does on KR. He manages hold his ground and not get slammed against the wall. The blast does succeed at making him pissed of though; and the only reason he's not trying to chop Cynthia to pieces is this pesky "no man can kill me" thing.

[Ashen Lilies]

Well, it wasn't that dramatic. I mean, it's not like KR was flung across the corridor and smashed through a foot of concrete. More she was already standing next to the wall and the explosion shoved her roughly into it like an abusive lover. Which is probably one of the stranger similes I've come up with, actually.
She steps away from the wall, attempting to blink her way past the suddenly too-bright lights and the double-vision as she draws her pistol one-handed.

[Murkus]

Some critical patients start to have increased blood pressure, and those nurses and doctors that aren't running away are attempting to keep them from getting any worse.

And yes, this is about the time employees have started backing off or making a break for it. KR, and anyone else holding a weapon, might find their shot blocked by employees or patients in the halls. And there are several patients who couldn't fit in actual rooms, as the apocalypse has been causing a lot of injuries.

Adrian, meanwhile, starts to walk towards KR, not yet expanding his aura of disease to harm anyone. "Put that gun away!"

[Kaelaroth]

Vlad attempts to grab Lydia and Care, and fly them to the Taverna. He succeeds in flying Lydia, at least... Seriously, how has she not realised he's vampire yet? :smallmad:


Cynthia's just using sheer telekinetic force to attack Ingi, still sleeping, while she dreams of something terrible...

[Ashen Lilies]

She never grew up with vampire myths. The oomph information she got was from Lydia, and that's not enough to start forming assumptions. Well, it is, but only if you're paranoid enough to suspect everyone you see of being a vampire. Like, you know, if you'd spent your childhood hearing mighty creepy vampire stories.
She does think Vlad's mighty creepy though, especially now that he's superstrog and can apparently fly.

------------
"No." Says KR, standing upright despite not having fully gained consciousness.
"Your integrety is admirable, but now it's a matter of life and death for this entire planet. If you want to make yourself useful, start evacuating everyone in this part of the building." :smallannoyed:

[Murkus]

Adrian takes pause and, still glancing towards her gun, nods. He turns to his remaining fellow doctors, and does indeed command them to start evacuating patients. Starting with the ones in the halls.

Unfortunately, not everyone can be moved, as many personnel are panicking or moving away swiftly, and many patients are in too critical a condition to be transported.

Dr. Rein himself grabs an occupied wheel-bed and moves swiftly away from the combat zone, returning a moment later to assist further.

Crowding in the hall, thanks to the other employees, drops sharply. However, there are still many patients in the adjacent rooms. Best be careful with those heavy weapons, KR.

[happyturtle]

Collateral damage. :smalltongue:

As soon as the telekinetic hands grab him, Ingi flees, remanifesting on the far side of the room, missing a small bit of flesh, about the size of a woman's hand. His eyes are wild and scared, and he hugs his crippled claw to himself, remembering the battle with Astir.

"Telekinesis," he says. "Hrafn, why aren't you here?"

"There were wounded."

"There are always wounded!"

*sulk sulk sulk*

[The Bushranger]

Shawna, meanwhile, is no man.

And therefore, she's now stalking torwards Cynthia in her bed as Ingi teleports, pressing a button on her gauntlet, a bubble of force surrounding her.

"Make way," she says, her voice now cold, Jeremy's dark, wrong sword in one hand, the glowing blue lightsabreplasma blade in the other. "The slayer approaches."

[billtodamax]

Terrance/Rebecca's hands blur into sight again, both forming a fist. Terrance/Rebecca are now glowing significantly less than they were before. Ominous.

They'll wait until Shawna approaches and tries whatever she needs to.

[Kaelaroth]

Hush little baby, don't you cry.. A sleeping Cynthia says, under her breath, as a variety of events stream out from her, blooming outward, flowerlike. Waves of power try to melt organic life nearby, warm and rosey at first, then burning and painful. This is before the sleeping girl, the female End-Bringer dreams out huge shards of attacks, bright and glowing and so lacking basis in science or the real world that they shiver in the air, power which attempts to translocate Shawna, nearby, and that which surrounds her, force-bubble and all, into another thread in a wrenching grasping throw of reality-bending.

[Murkus]

Do the waves of melty power reach through walls? Cause if they do, the remaining ER patients are in trouble. Also, some people are still being moved, and a pair of doctors start to melt from the attack.

Dr. Rein, personally, gets one of the last patients out of the hallway as the power starts, and he retreats for the moment.

[The Bushranger]

Shawna, thankfully, is not organic.

...well, not totally. And the nanites in her bloodstream start self-repair routines, assuming the attack managed to penetrate the force-bubble.

...which, as it is also an anti-magic field, annulls the translocation magic used upon her...

...and she raises both blades over her head as she reaches the bed.

Ready to plunge them both down into Cynthia, plasma blade for the heart, and Vengeance's soul-blade to formcut off the head! :smalleek:

[billtodamax]

Terrance and Rebecca watch on, waiting for Shawna to finish.

Can't risk firing the spell in here, too much collateral! Probably. Terrance hasn't used anything this big in a while and can't remember its precise effects.

[Morty]

Wenomir is standing in the back, apparently resisting the various magical effects and not having anything to do since he can't kill Cynthia and there's nothing else to fight.

[Darkcomet]

DC feels the wave at first and immediately moves far back before melting commences, a blurry red psionic forcefield of sorts coming up to cut Cynthia and Shawna off from the rest of the group. And hopefully block any further effects

The last one he put up is already gone, of course.

[Kaelaroth]

Cynthia ripples in her sleep, sleep-porting, as it were, to another side of the room, a crumpled heap on the floor, which screams as she dreams, a shout loud enough to throw back men and break down walls, as her eyes flicker open, and her nose starts to bleed.

[Murkus]

Disaster ensues in the surrounding bedrooms as walls are blown inward. Beds are toppled, patients lives at risk, bits of concrete shrapnel blown all over the place.

Those doctors brave enough to come close are trying to help the other patients. Perhaps Wenomir could assist in their evacuation?

Dr. Rein comes running back, surveying the heavy damage with a stunned expression.

He whirls towards Cynthia, murder in his eyes, and sends a blast of invisible, deadly pathogens towards the world-ender. She may find her throat clogged with phlegm or vomit, tumors spontaneously sprouting in her brain, or even parasites growing at rapid rate and playing havok inside her body.

Does 'can't be killed by a man' count when it's deadly diseases doing the work?

[Ashen Lilies]

Does 'can't be killed by a man' count if it's bullets doing the work?

KR, in serious pain now from being battered around by sonic shouts, shoots at Cynthia with frightening accuracy for someone halfway dead.
:furious:

[Kaelaroth]

Cynthia screams in pain, her veins pulsing out from under her skin, bright and imposed on her flesh from underneath, a peculiar tattoo system snaking up towards her faith, as faint foam starts pushing its way out of her mouth, and her eyes fill with darkness and muddied blood. Coughing heavily, she trips forward, clothes wrapping themselves around her form, as she writhes, slightly, on the floor, pushing KR's bullets back at her with furious telekinetic swipes, while screaming in pain, steam issuing from her orifices, for a time, pathetically, before lightning starts to crackle, ominously, around her fingers. (http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn217/Holammer/test5.png)

She forces this lightning up, towards the sky, starting to seriously scream now, her voice reaching the same crashing decidels as earlier as disease starts to overcome her feeble, hardly-real frame.

If I can't live here you shall all die here.

There's a gonging sound, as lightning bursts out from her hands towards the others in the room, and darkness starts to fill the sky above...

[Ashen Lilies]

KR doesn't let a cry of any sort escape her as her own projectiles are sent rocketing back towards her, tearing viciously through flesh, bone splintering like an standard inch-thick plank of wood unfortunate enough to come within half a kilometer of a martial artist's rock hard fist. And if that's not enough, lightning begins to engulf her too, though the effect is not quite as deadly as Cynthia might have been expecting. This goes doubly so for the other people in the room, as KR reaches her arms out slightly, ignoring the bullet holes or the pain as she diverts Cynthia's attack and channels all the lightning into her own body, where it dances around her, a deadly nimbus of energy that every so once in a while flicks a little bolt inwards, cruelly scorching and gouging at her skin. She walks forward slowly, accompanied by her little entourage of lightning bolts nipping at her flesh, soul jar in one hand and a dagger in the other, which she'll attempt to tear through Cynthia's neck with.
If there was a time for defiant statements, it would be now, but KR's entirely too busy concentrating on not dying.

[billtodamax]

Terrance/Rebecca raise their arm with their fist closed in front of them, jerking it out towards Cynthia, uncurling their fist.

Die. They say, as a thin white beam flies out towards Cynthia, aimed at completely destroying the very atoms that make her body, even as Terrance and Rebecca are not wracked with lightning, their body not sustaining major burns. The spell should be able to destroy a large chunk of her being, about the size of a basketball. Of course, she's an End-Bringer, which might make it harder. They're using all the energy drained from Cynthia's shield in this spell.

The thing is though, breaking Newton's laws is pretty damn difficult, and the resulting release of energy will make a sizeable explosion. Comparable to an RPG.

((EDIT: A seamless edit.))

[Ashen Lilies]

((Eep, I forgot to mention, KR's trying to channel all the lightning into herself. So if you want to edit yor post so that Rebecca's not getting smacked by lightning, you can.))

[Morty]

Wenomir is protected from lightning, but Cynthia's attacks has finally made him as absolutely furious as he never has been. Especially since KR's now almost dead. Why won't you just die, whore?! He roars and lunges, aiming his sword at the end-bringer's neck, forgetting this whole "no man can kill her garbage" in a fit of pure rage as the bottled up anger, frustration and hate pour out. How can this... thing have enough power to throw lightning and kill people? It did nothing, nothing to ever f*****g earn it! She was just born with it because some deranged idiot somewhere else decided to end the world for s**ts and giggles! She's worse than all the godlings, supermages, psions and cyborgs combined! And instead of lying down and dying so the world can be mostly normal again she's throwing lighting around like she ***** owns the place! Yes, he's mad. At least he's not screaming.

[happyturtle]

Ingi whirls forward again in a gust of wind, his intention to grab Cynthia and hold her in place for KR's dagger to work.

[Murkus]

If KR is successful in absorbing the lightning, then Dr. Rein keeps up his assault, trying to break down the very systems that make up Cynthia's body. With the nature of Nexus diseases, this could prove deadly, even if her vital organs are different from ours.

If KR is not, then, well, he probably gets hit in the chest and tossed backwards. Cutting off said assault.

[Darkcomet]

"Not on my watch, bitch." DC's now loading another white power cell into that gun of his-what, you thought he only had one? It only makes sense to keep spares, you know.

And he aims the beam rifle at...

KR?

A low-intensity positive energy beam gets fired this time. Shouldn't be high enough concentration to spark those nasty side effects like rapid cancer growth.

Yay, healgun. Should be helpful!

[Kaelaroth]

All the lightning's channelled into KR. It may hurt, even with DC's heal, as Cynthia's pumping out insane amounts of energy, a lightning storm pumped up on summer lovin', a Gulf of Mexico thermal current, and a whole big box of suspiciously glowing amphetamines, her eyes melting from her face, leaving blood and juices glowing on her veined skin, with the energy of it all, as more and more of her bodily systems break down into collapse, falling apart and breaking as diseases take hold.

And then her torso starts to cease to be. As one might've thought, she's somewhat poweful enough to suffer smaller amounts of damage comparable to your average basketball, but the pain is still glorious, and.. and.. Enough that she falls into Ingi's grasp, letting KR attack if and as she must.

Just as Cynthia's attempts to end the world get somewhat distracted by Wenomir's good slice to the collarbone.

The dark clouds above do not spread to cover the rest of the multiverse and end it all.

They fall.

As a torrent of pressured, hot, lava-like fluid, dark and destructive, down, onto the hospital and everything in it.

[Ashen Lilies]

Yay for Care, Lydia and Vlad then, who must be making their way to Taverna as we speak. She'll be so crushed when she finds out her job got vaporized.

The other PCs are probably not so lucky. KR has no ideas, at least. I think she's pretty much beyond rational thought, actually. The only thing running through her mind is probably some variation on 'DIE BITCH, DIE!' Certainly, that's the phrase best able to describe her facial expression as she descends upon Cynthia with a frenzy, attempting to stab her in the face again and again, until it more accurately resembles a hamburger than anything human.

[Morty]

Wenomir also has no fudging idea how to survive it, so he also keeps mauling Cynthia while someone else figures it out. He's at least rational enough not to hit anyone else with the sword as he does it.

[happyturtle]

Well the lava has to destroy the upper levels first before it kills us all. We have a few actions at least, I imagine. :smalltongue:

"Capture her soul," Ingi hisses to KR.

[Kaelaroth]

Infectious Disease, though, is on the seventh floor, attached to the wards. The lava's heard, foul and angry, hardly lava at all, more a mess of atom-sizzling stuff, that noticeable by the screams it makes as it cuts and boils its way through the flesh of the patients on the only floor above, and the objects surrounding them.

Cynthia's stabbed. Over and over again, bolts of lightning exploding from her skin every time a new puncture's made, as she screams louder and louder, a sonic blast to break glass each and every time...

[UncleWolf]

A familiar (and likely a bit comforting :smalltongue:) wrongness pulses through the room once before Vengeance's sword rips itself out of Shawna's hand. It flings itself into a wall, the blade sinking deep without any effort, and the scrawling red script slides about it's surface as shadows pool along the wall.

The shadows swirl around the wall, forming an inky black stain on it before the sword falls through the portal...

Where it goes? Well, you'll just have to see.

[Ashen Lilies]

KR stabs over and over, ignoring the pain and the lightning even as it blasts throuh the sleeve of her coat and tears at the flesh of her arm and face. Soon though, either the agony or Ingi or the lava or a combination of the three breaks through the fog in KR's mind, and she lets go of the knife, leaving it in Cynthia's face perhaps, as she focuses on the soul binding spells in the jar. No time for fancy wards or safety nets either. It's going to be quick, it's going to be messy, it's going to be painful, and it might possibly be lethal as well.
"DC, Ingi?" Says KR, through scorched lips. "We have to be lower. Take us through the floor, please."
Oh look a convenient portal. KR's a bit busy though.
"Go through. Now. I'll join later."

[The Bushranger]

Shawna, battered by the various waves of attacks, advances once more, only to have KR and T/R beat her to it.


...then, stuff happens. A lot of stuff, in fact. Climaxed by her sword developing a mind of its own. :smalltongue:

The 'wrongness' is indeed familar, and as Cynthia's sonic attacks batter her, she shouts, somehow being heard above them.

"Through the portal! Now! I will guard the rear!"

[Kaelaroth]

Wow, what a convenient portal.
Better be quick, kids - darkness is hissing its way through the ceiling, as Cynthia's soul explodes out towards KR for the spell to work, her foulness tangibly bright and burning, needing to be captured...

... As her "human" body explodes, in an inhuman blast of pure white light.

[Morty]

Wenomir stays near KR, waiting to grab her and get her through the portal when she's finished capturing Cynthia's soul. He has a feeling she's going to need help.

[happyturtle]

Ingi does not go through the portal. Instead he hovers over KR and Cynthia, buying time for the soul trapping to work at the expense of his own body. Might protect Wenomir a little as well.

[Ashen Lilies]

Soul capture soul capture soul capture.
It's almost as if KR hasn't just been blinded and then nearly torn apart by a blast of white light.
"Through. Now."
But it's so quite she may not be heard by anyone but herself. Hopefully Shawna won't be an idiot and step through. 'I will guard the rear!?' Against what. That kind of selfless stupidity really does grate on KR's nerves. At least she has a reason to be risking vaporization. And now Wenomir and Ingi are staying behind as well. Oh these pointless heroics. Though if KR stil had the capacity as of right now, she might have been comforted to have Wenomir with her. As of right now, all that matters is the soul transfer. Damn these explosions, damn the apocalypse, damn this body.

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy steps through the portal entering the place, sword in hand. His teeth clench in effort as he tries to reinforce the room with shadows to buy everyone some more time. He doesn't expect it to last long, just long enough. "It goes to Watch, hurry."

Of course, he's still near the portal in case things go horribly wrong. :smalltongue:

[Kaelaroth]

Cynthia's soul, a weblike mess of glowing lights and flickering stars, grows brighter and brighter in the room, as KR works her magic, while Jeremy's shadows start to fall about the room. The soul's bare presence does odd things to the world around it as it bares its teeth, angry and hungry and huge, the floortiles turning into burning plains of hot mud, the nearby bed exploding into venomous trees which throw off their spines like needles, the air filling with transformative spells that turn men to beasts and do stranger things to everything else...

... but KR's spell's working, the soul siphoning into the gem, just as the ceiling starts to break down completely, strands of atom-destroying fluid falling just now onto the floor.

[happyturtle]

And in the middle, in a cocoon of wind, KR is protected.

[Ashen Lilies]

The soul thingy, which is a ceramic pot as opposed to a gem, similar in appearance, actually, to an old Egyptian canopic jar, only without the cutesy animal heads and made of fine white china. Anyway, the soul thingy starts to leak black wax from the top, which slowly oozes down the surface of the jar, swimming with shining runes as it forms the last parts of the binding spell.
KR, meanwhile, is screaming, perhaps for the first time in history, as raw magic surges through her system, filling her veins (almost quite literally) with fire as it burns her from the inside out, but still she pushes it through, dropping wards and safeguards as she pushes for more speed. Faster faster faster fasterfasterfasterfaster...

[Morty]

Wenomir deflects the spines and withstands the heat and all the other hazards. He's ready to grab KR and make a run for the portal as soon as she's finished.

[Murkus]

Dr. Rein looks around at the devastation as patients die, people melt, and the whole place generally goes to hell. He ceases the disease attack, figuring without a physical body the Doctor can't do too much.

Several nearby employees run for the portal, screaming for their lives. Dr. Rein walks slowly over, a look of rage and shame at his failure to protect his patients plastered across his face. He appears not to fear death, as he believes he cannot die.

Then he realizes something.

That girl's blood. It could be...

The Doctor runs off without a word, deeper into the building, towards cold storage. He can always just jump out of a window to save himself. It'll hurt, but Dargaia's Nectar should keep him from dying.

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy will warp his and other shadows to block the flow of the atom dissolving fluid, trying to protect everyone from it's effects.

[Ashen Lilies]

Dammit people, listen! Why won't they listen!
:furious:
"I said THROUGH!!!"
And a massive telekinetic force, entirely unsubtle in its application attempts to shunt Wenomir, Shawna, Ingi and whatever other idiots decided to stay through the portal, perhaps lashing at them with a little bit of lightning and fire for added 'motivation'.

[Morty]

Wenomir is shoved through the portal, then. He wasn't expecting anything from that direction.

[Murkus]

The Doctor hits a flight of stairs and dashes down, even as the ceiling above him (presumably) begins to dissolve. He gets the feeling... the strangest idea... that Cynthia's blood could be important.

And so, he'll try to get to the basement (where Cold Storage would be, I presume) without interruption.

[Kaelaroth]

As from the inside, Cynthia's soul starts to decimate all the world around it, and from the outside, the atom-sizzling fluid starts to push its way completely through Jeremy's shadows and into this room, there's a scream, as Cynthia's whole soul gets sucked into the canopic jar, with a magical "recoil" to cause somewhat of a bite.

As the dark fluid falls into the room, and the air burns away.

Rein'll have some trouble getting to Cold Storage, amid the hordes of screaming people and panic, but he'll get there. There's the blood.

[Murkus]

The Doctor rips open his personal container, appearance now ruffled and disheveled. He smiles a bit, despite his hospital's imminent destruction, and draws the blood's vial forth.

Why do I feel this is of value? Because of that girl.

Just imagine the things that could be done with this little vial of blood... Adrain places it in his coat pocket, for safekeeping.

The Doctor will go back to the ground floor and head for an emergency exit. Ushering other employees with him.

If he can make it outside, the Doctor immediately heads for his car.

[Kaelaroth]

The black stuff's falling outside, trickling around the side of the hospital's walls, and destroying much. Does his car remain? It's up to you.

[happyturtle]

Because Ingi was buying you time to do what you needed to do, foolish mortal. :smalltongue:

The telekinetic awesomeness does not push Ingi into the portal, since he's surrounding her in a bubble, but it does make him go "OW!" Though why that made him go ow when he was already being burnt by the lava is a mystery.

And once the recoil thingie indicates the soul is sealed, he'll try to grab KR and the jar and fling himself through the portal.

[Murkus]

Well, if it's only trickling down the walls, Dr. Rein's car should be fine. He parked pretty far out when he came for work two days ago.

The Doctor, through the adrenaline, is suddenly reminded that he's exhausted.

Weary and caught between annoyance and scientific curiousity, he'll run and get in his car.

And drive away, without any other interruption. Down the road to Outside.

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy, breathing heavily, is knocked back through the portal. The shadows continue reinforcing themselves though, trying to keep the fluid from seeping in too much.

Anyone who enters the portal will find themselves in the main room of Watchtower.

[Ashen Lilies]

The wax sets, and KR is flung through by Ingi, thus ruining what would have been a totally awesome death scene. :smalltongue:
KR's too unconscious to care though.

((much needed deadtime. Unconscious!KR godmoddable.))

[Kaelaroth]

And the black stuff explodes about the shadows, falling down swiftly to engulf the hospital, or much of it.

As if it were never there. :smalleek:

You'd think. I mean, those inside still have a fighting few seconds.

Just.

[billtodamax]

A transformation spell hits Rebecca/Terrance in the arm as they run for the portal, screaming in pain from the liquid which drips onto them. Their arm shifts and changes, the skin hardening and the muscles stiffening. They hurl themselves through the portal.

[The Bushranger]

And Shawna, her shield eroding mightly and staggered by KR's telekinetic push, tumbles back thrugh the portal!