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+---- Thread: put me back together (/showthread.php?tid=4937)
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put me back together - Aamu - 01-26-2021
Aamu slips into the Temple after dark, his padding footsteps echoing softly in the vast stone building. It's not that he hasn't wanted to come back, it's just—there's been other things, and for someone with no need to sleep in the darkest season, he's found himself oddly busy.
He's liked it that way, though. Less time for thinking. Less time for remembering.
But with battle preparations soon underway there's one aspect of it Aamu cannot put off any longer: himself. Is he actually functional? Reliable? Only the Voice can truly answer that, but he's not ready yet—nor is he certain not being ready is a luxury he can afford in these times.
He doesn't know why it would be so terrible to hear the truth from her, when he's already pieced most of it together already. It's not like he doesn't know it's been at least three hundred years.
With a sigh he gently pushes open the door to Isla's freshened-up clinic, slipping inside. [say]"Isla?"[/say] he calls out, softly, waiting by the entrance. He doesn't want to disturb if she is busy with someone.
RE: put me back together - Isla - 01-26-2021
The clinic is sleepy at this time - most of the Grounds are Ascended and have no need of it, and those who are present are fast asleep by the time Aamu arrives. Isla, though? She doesn't sleep and she doesn't stop, and contrary to what some might think, she is thoroughly enjoying her time there. Her office has been rearranged and she's been reading, mostly, and researching her own small projects.
So when a voice calls her name, she's quick to respond; emerging from her office at the back of the clinic with a book in hand, she offers Aamu a friendly smile. [say]"Good evening,"[/say] she greets him, marking her page with a slip of paper and shutting it properly, setting it down on a storage compartment near the edge of one of the empty beds. [say]"How are you doing?"[/say]
RE: put me back together - Aamu - 01-27-2021
He is not left to wait for long; there's immediate sound coming from her office, a door opening and admitting Isla to the world beyond. Aamu greets her with a small smile of his own, stepping slightly further into the clinic to take a moment to appreciate the work he and the other Ascended put in to clean up. It's so different from that first peek past Isla's shoulder at the start of the season.
[say]"Evening,"[/say] he responds, curiously eyeing her book for a moment as she sets it down. Fidgets slightly, in the sense that he restlessly twines his fingers together. He's not uncomfortable with her—but he is slightly uncomfortable with the idea of her actually finding something wrong with him. All of his systems seem fine, but he feels he has degraded a little. [say]"I am well enough, despite seeking out a Doctor."[/say] He says it with a slight hint of irony and a small tilt to his head. [say]"And you, how are you?"[/say]
RE: put me back together - Isla - 01-28-2021
It's not a textbook that Isla sets down, which might prove interesting in itself given the medic's somewhat workaholic nature. No, this is a history book pertaining to the Grounds. Still not particularly riveting stuff, but it is as much as she can get when it comes to the land where she's rediscovered herself. [say]"I am doing very well,"[/say] she tells Aamu with a sunny smile that proves it not to be mere pleasantry. [say]"Since the infirmary reopened and I was able to set up my office again, it is like I never left."[/say]
Most other people have left, though, and therein lies the difference. [say]"How can I help you this evening? Assuming you have come for help, of course. If you'd just like to chat, I should be reasonably free providing an emergency doesn't arise."[/say]
RE: put me back together - Aamu - 01-29-2021
His eyes linger on the book, surprised to find her reading such a thing, and suddenly wondering where she's actually from. Not that a native can't show interest in their own history, but... One of his fingers twitch, but he lets go of it, for now. [say]"I am glad to hear that,"[/say] he answers, quiet and mellow as usual, but equally honest. He's very happy to see her settling back into life so well. [say]"And I'm glad I was able to help you with it."[/say] He mostly means cleaning up the Infirmary: leading her back to life had been more akin to confused sleepwalking and all the Voice's doing, anyway.
[say]"Both?"[/say] he admits with a slight chuckle. [say]"I thought of what you offered, when you brought me to the Grounds. About looking me over, seeing if you could find an explanation for why I shut down. I have my theories, but.. with taking on the LongNight monsters-"[/say] He says it as if he knows what they're all about, but he doesn't, he really doesn't, just knows enough to know bad Voice experiments can be terrible, terrible things and that the Grounds have been plagued for centuries [say]"-I don't think I should be taking any chances."[/say]
RE: put me back together - Isla - 01-29-2021
He is a very polite individual, Isla has found, and it reminds her in some ways of the dukes and barons of Northaven. Being a former duchess, it's a role she slips back into comfortably, offering Aamu a gentle nod of gratitude for all of his help in setting up the infirmary. To chat and also to check up on something for him? Her curiosity is piqued, and the reminder that she'd look him over has a smile blooming over her face.
[say]"Of course. And you're right - with LongNight coming up, we can't afford to leave any stone unturned,"[/say] she says, gesturing for him to follow her into one of the empty examination areas, and she draws the curtain around them and motions for Aamu to take a seat on the bed. [say]"I'm hoping to upgrade the place soon to have more privacy for patients,"[/say] she explains, feeling as though she needs to for some reason, [say]"but hopefully this will do for now."[/say]
[say]"How have you been feeling since you came back? Have you had any problems?"[/say]
RE: put me back together - Aamu - 02-01-2021
He follows her obediently, smiling slightly to himself at the memory of Nate wrangling the curtains. Truly, it had been a sight. That entire evening had been a respite from the world, and as he easily hops up onto the bed he's all the more glad for partaking in it. It's a good memory to have when the darkness comes.
[say]"I don't mind it at all,"[/say] he assures her, and if he sounds hushed it is out of respect for anyone who might be sleeping in another bay. He wants to ask her what her plans are, but saves it for later. Instead, he lets his feet swing a little as he mulls over her question for a bit. (Sitting like that makes him seem young—a boy, like the face he's wearing.)
[say]"Hard to say,"[/say] he finally admits with a little bit of a defeated sigh. [say]"My memory is a lot better, but quite vague in certain areas. I know I had more upgrades than I can access now, but I don't remember what they were. It's the same with a lot of things, honestly. I remember that something was different, or existed, but not the specifics of it. Physically, I feel—weaker. Slower. Like I've degraded, somehow."[/say] Helpless to be anything but vague, Aamu spread his hands in apology.
RE: put me back together - Isla - 02-02-2021
Isla watches him out of the corner of her eye as she moves to get her tools - only basics, since she'll be relying on her upgrades, mainly, to look Aamu over. She notices the little indiosyncrasies; the way he smiles and swings his legs, so unexpected for a man who literally led a horde of Ascended out of Mort's realm and back to the waking world. It draws a smile to her own face, one that she tries to stifle as he starts to explain about himself.
Drawing up a stool so she can sit before him at the side of the bed, she nods in as much understanding as she's able. [say]"Well,"[/say] she says, [say]"I have an upgrade that can let me see through flesh, to the bone and other matter beneath. If you hold still, I'll try to see what has happened. But I do not have much experience with examining our upgrades, so I apologise if I cannot offer you much in the way of an explanation."[/say]
She can at least check if he's degraded or continuing to degrade, the medic settling in to activate her upgrade and get to work.
RE: put me back together - Aamu - 02-02-2021
And what do you say to that, honestly? Let me just consult my book full of cases about Ascended accidentally going into stasis for centuries on end? No: there's no precedent for this, no procedure. He wonders if this daunts Isla, or if she's used to forging into the unknown.
At the very least, he hopes he can be of some amusement and interest to her. He didn't come here with any expectations anyway (which has nothing to do with Isla: he believes her to be very competent, just that this might not be a medical error).
[say]"Oh,"[/say] he sort of—blurts out, uncharacteristically. [say]"No worries. But that's pretty cool. What—what does that look like? What do we look like? To you? I've never thought about it, I just know what someone looks like if you cut them op- oh, sorry, maybe I should be quiet."[/say] In his defense, he did sit very still while rambling, having ceased to swing his legs and folded his hands into his lap.
RE: put me back together - Isla - 02-06-2021
On the contrary - Isla lives for this sort of mystery, the medic finding endless curiosities to be explored beneath Aamu's skin, based on what he's told her. Of course she doesn't expect to find much of an answer - given how the Voice usually works, she has the feeling that her fellow Ascended will be as pristine as the rest of them. But of course, only a good look will tell. And so she sits before Aamu, offering him a polite smile before she begins.
[say]"Please - you don't need to be quiet,"[/say] she assures him. [say]"It is nice to meet someone with as much interest as I in this sort of thing. We look like... a puzzle, very carefully put together. It's like a system that shouldn't work, but does,"[/say] she explains - and that goes for ordinary humans as well as Ascended. But then she engages her upgrade, Isla frowning gently as her eyes flash with something almost metallic, and she leans in for a closer look.
[say]"Do you mind if I touch you?"[/say] she asks, having stopped just short of reaching for his arm.
RE: put me back together - Aamu - 02-08-2021
A system that shouldn't work, but does? It's an interesting way to put it, that's for sure, but he still struggles on envisioning it in some way that actually makes sense. He mulls on it for a second, thinking he'll probably never be able to guess what she sees without experiencing it for himself. And he's fine with that—mostly.
[say]"No, go ahead, I don't mind at all."[/say] He's busy watching her eyes, the strange glint of them with her upgrade activated. It's fascinating, truly, and he wishes he could somehow tap into her visual feed. [say]"And please tell me what you see, since if you couldn't already tell, I'm quite curious about it,"[/say] he adds dryly, remaining stoic and still in the hopes of easing her examination.
RE: put me back together - Isla - 02-09-2021
Isla is concentrating too much to give Aamu a verbal response at first, but she does smile to hear him, nodding and moving to press her fingers gently against one of his forearms. She lifts the arm to have a real look at it, furrowing her brow, and glances over him once more as if trying to keep track of something. When she does speak, at first it is just a careful description of a skeleton, of bones she doesn't know the names of but will read about soon enough, no doubt. And then, eventually,
[say]"I can see two upgrades here - I am not sure how many you may have had before. But comparing what I see here to my internal systems, I can't track any degradation or differences."[/say] Isla pats his forearm. [say]"There are blades in here - did you know about them? And there's something feeding a reflective surface in your skin. I'm not quite sure what that is..."[/say]
RE: put me back together - Aamu - 02-11-2021
He listens to her lecture about bones with interest, mapping it to what he knows of bodies (from war; too much war) and animals. Occasionally he glances down at himself, or studies her, envisioning those off-white bones and how they fit together inside of the flesh. Really, it's quite the thing, even without the process of ascension. He thinks it must be very useful for a doctor to be able to just peer through the skin and soft tissue and go 'ah, this bone's broken'.
Two upgrades? Aamu frowns slightly as he sits there, feet dangling a little again. He thinks he must've had more. Like, a lot more. [say]"Oh,"[/say] he says when she mentions the blades and touches his forearm. He obliges by turning his wrists up and tensing, and the blades seamlessly slide out.
[say]"Reflective?"[/say] Aamu's frown deepens as he closes his eyes. Was there something..? [say]"I think,"[/say] he begins slowly, then doesn't get much further for a bit. [say]"I think it's protection, of some sort."[/say] Kind of lame way to put it. [say]"But I can't really feel it, if.. if that makes sense?"[/say]
RE: put me back together - Isla - 02-12-2021
[say]"Remarkable,"[/say] Isla says softly as the blade slides so effortlessly from his forearm; with her upgrade engaged, she's able to map how the blade works, how it aligns so as not to nick any bones or muscles. Honestly? It's fascinating, and were it not for the nature of the exam (reassurance, primarily), she'd likely spend hours trying to get a better look.
It's interesting that Aamu cannot put his finger on what the second upgrade might do either, and Isla finally blinks herself back to reality, releasing him so she can step back and offer a gentle smile. [say]"Perhaps you need to try and experiment with it,"[/say] she suggests. [say]"It might be a good idea to try and figure out what it does before Longnight. Speaking of that, though, I can't see anything that you should be concerned about."[/say]