cut our teeth and make our bones right here

Ronin

welcome to the playground, follow me
tell me your nightmares and fantasies

It is nice, because you aren't dead yet, Remi. The key word there being yet.

Although he might not know it or hear it, there is quite the kerfuffle going on outside the room he's being contained in. The voices primarily belong to Ronin and Slimerdingo, and they are very raised (mostly Ronin) and very unhappy (mostly Schwiftydazzle), but interspersed with the terse, calm notes of Doctor Lockwood.

But until they come to some sort of agreement, well, there's always Susan.

More appropriately named Doctor Grimm, she is still clad in a facemask and armed with the tranq gun as she closes the door behind her (letting in, for a moment, the tail end of Ronin's --about as useful as nipples on a breastplate). Noticing that Remi is awake but not acknowledging it in the slightest, she feels very much in control of the situation here as she moves towards the IV bags.

"These won't kill you, but we both know that," she remarks gently, already twisting the clip on one of the bags to release the poison. "We've tried that before. But it will hurt." The second and third clips go next, and she moves to stand before Remi, her arms linked behind her back. "You are going to tell me what you did to that boy. From the top - off you go."

sink into the wasteland underneath
stay for the night, I'll sell you a dream

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

The buzz of words from the hallway is like hearing the ice cream truck coming down the road when you're grounded; the bright thrill of recognition is immediately blackened by, not four walls and an unhappy parent in this case, but reinforced concrete doors and shackles. Fuck, Remi has time to think before Susan pulls the first plunger. Unlike in normal cases of lethal injection, this first IV bag has been replaced with pure adrenaline. No use in having him quietly fall unconscious, now is there? The second bag is meant to immobilize him, but of course it's nowhere near strong enough. Still, it has the effect of sending pins and needles all throughout Remi's body that he's unable to shake, thanks to the shackles.

Then there's the final bag.

"I alr-d-y t-ld y-" Remi's eyes roll back into his skull and fire burns in his veins. Surviving this was not effortlessly done as Susan well knew, and somehow the inability to move made the pain so much worse. There was no way to distract himself from it, no shelter in movement or screams that he could hide behind. Blood began to trickle out from his nose and ears as his eyes rolled up into his head. The adrenaline kept him conscious as his heart raced faster than it had any right to do, sending the monitors he was attached to into a beeping frenzy.

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin

welcome to the playground, follow me
tell me your nightmares and fantasies

"I know you already told them," Susan says softly, sounding all the calmer for the effects that the concoction is having on the monster strapped to her table. "And I know you convinced a Hunter of what you told them too. And I know that Doctor Lockwood believes you. And that just isn't good enough, I am afraid." As she speaks, she's hanging up a new IV bag, one that the wendigo will not have seen before.

It isn't long lasting - that's just silly and dangerous - and so as she attaches it to his arm and turns the plunger, the effects won't be present for more than a minute or so. But that might well be enough for Remi, for this particular blend of nastiness will, in addition to the adrenaline, pain and pins and needles, make him ravenous. Outside, the reinforced concrete reduces any noise to a mere hum or murmur - so even if he could scream, it wouldn't make a difference.

"I have wanted to try this one for a while," Susan remarks.

sink into the wasteland underneath
stay for the night, I'll sell you a dream

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

It's astounding just how quickly Remi's body is able to overcome the poison being pushed into his veins, but that isn't to say that he's all there as Susan begins speaking again. Wondering what fresh hell he's about to endure from a blackened corner of his mind, he's not at all prepared for what comes next.

The hunger doesn't start out as an itch or a polite request, no, no. Instead, it starts out as a crater in his consciousness that grows so swiftly that every bit of rationality he has is immediately swallowed. The runes on the shackles keep him from shifting, though it's hard to say if this is a blessing or a curse. Remi might have chewed off his own arm to desperately try and satisfy this overwhelming need, but at least it would be something.

Something other than this vortex of emptiness that howled through him, making him sweat and shiver and foam at the mouth.

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

we're always running scared but holding knives

Remi writhes and Susan takes notes, as any good scientist ought to. She's not really interested in whatever lie he has to tell her (because for what it's worth, she pretty much believes what he's said to begin with, but it's amazing what someone will admit to in order to feel better), but the effects of this new medicine are potent to say the least. Reaching out, she turns the plunger back ever so slowly, humming out a breath and putting down her clipboard.

"And how about now? What happened with the boy?" she asks - which, of course, is exactly when the reinforced doors clack open their metal bolts and swing open.

"No one authorised this," Isla is snapping as she sweeps inside, her hair half loose from her bun, the sleeves of her white coat haphazardly shoved to the elbows. Behind her, out in the science wing, there's a scuffle going on, and... well, the next time Remi and Ronin see each other, the Hunter will be a little worse for wear. (He's got nothing on his partner, though).

Isla

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

Whatever the opposite urge of vomiting is, is what Remi feels. He doesn't want to let a single atom leave his body, but instead wants to inhale the world around him. Metal, pens, fucking glass would at least be a start, and thank...well, thank someone that Susan pulled the plunger for Remi was very nearly about to begin drowning on his own saliva. Instead, it began to dribble down the sides of his face, frothy and flecked with blood and something black.

"-si-r-n." He chokes out, blinking against the sweat in his eyes - or was it tears? Though if she asks again, Remi will tell her anything she wants to hear. He did it, he killed the boy. Sure he did, and why not?

The sound of Isla's voice brings as much shame as it does relief, for somewhere in the madness of all this Remi has wet himself (you fuckin' would too.

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

we're always running scared but holding knives

Luckily (for now, at least), even given the state of Remi, Isla's attention isn't on the wendigo. He'll probably only hear fits and starts of Doctor Grimm sounding chillingly reasonable and Doctor Lockwood sounding just chilling, and regardless of whatever is going on in the torture chamber examination room, the door clanks shut again a moment later.

And clearly rank has won out over scientific desire, because it's Isla he's left with, the doctor hurriedly unhooking the IVs and wheeling away the half empty bags of horror being forced into Remi's veins. "I am so sorry," she's saying, a tremor in her voice that didn't exist a moment before, and she finally arrives somewhere by his side with a cool, damp cloth, wiping away blood and foam and tears and anything else streaming from the wendigo's face.

"Gods, this is so fucked up," she hisses, stepping back for a moment to pinch at the bridge of her nose. "This isn't science. This isn't helping anyone."

Isla

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

Though the physical feeling has subsided, Remi's mind is not entirely convinced that he isn't ravenous. Indeed as Isla moves near him he strains against the shackles, bearing teeth that remain pathetically human even as he glares up at her with nearly yellow eyes. He's like a rabid animal, deranged and broken. Maybe Susan has finally gone a step too far such that Isla's pet monster will have to be put down. Maybe that was the goal all along.

"..dd..on' ..." Speaking takes great effort just now, as Remi's jaws feel nearly locked in place by agony and primal instinct. "..d'n r'lea's m-mmm-" His eyes roll back just then as his body goes into sudden convulsions.

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

we're always running scared but holding knives

Flinching back - because she's not stupid - as she realises that things are not entirely the status quo with her favourite project, Isla has just enough time to try to decipher whatever the fuck he's saying before the seizure takes hold and, well, if everything wasn't chaos before, it absolutely is now. What happens in the next few minutes is a blur; Isla slamming a hand against the main alarm to bring everyone in the vicinity running; measuring sedatives and vitals and how is the machine beeping so quickly; voices talking over each other.

There are a lot of hands, too - some unfastening the restraints, others putting new ones on (maybe some of them belong to Ronin, but who the fuck could be sure at this point) - anything to try and turn Remi on his side to stop him from choking on his tongue or saliva or blood or vomit. Who honestly knows?

And when all is said and done, it's the sedatives that take the baton, though whether they are enough to keep Remi under is beyond anyone's comprehension, at this point. "Can you hear me?" Isla is asking him from somewhere overhead, and there's a sound like squeaking wheels. "You're being moved to your room. Do you understand?" Gods, let him not have sustained brain damage.

Isla

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

What Remi understood was that one restraint had not been done up in its entirety. Instinctively he knew that should someone get near enough on that side, he could slice at their femoral artery as they took a step, and judging by the frantic breathing and the smell of sweat lingering on the air, the likelihood of someone being that careless was fairly high. He might have let it go, might have let the medical staff reap the rewards of their own foolishness were it not for Isla. Godsdamn Isla and the way she always looked at him like he wasn't the monster he knew himself to be.

'st-p' Remi murmurs, though his tongue and lips feel thick from the sedative. "st-r--p" He tries again, and though his facial muscles are slow to be released from the sedative, the fingers of his left hand aren't. Already they've flexed themselves into claw shape as elongated fingers twist outwards, clutching the side of the wheelie-bed.

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

we're always running scared but holding knives

"S...wh-- oh gods fucking damn it," Isla snaps as she - luckily, as it happens - notices the warping of Remi's fingers and the careless restraint against his wrist. A commotion occurs over the wendigo's head at that point, as someone frets about his claws, dithers with the straps, and then finally Isla's own hands fasten the restraint properly to the bed.

"Thank you," she echoes back to Remi, and soon enough the wheels are back in motion properly, the walls turn Pepto Bismol pink, and a radio begins playing rain sounds. A few voices argue about whether or not it is safe left in here, only for them to promptly be dismissed by Isla and for the door to slam shut behind them.

Heaving out a long, shivering sigh and shaking the trembling from her fingers, it feels like a hundred years before she can do little more than sag back against the closed door. And when she finally does straighten up, it's with a sad smile across to the gurney Remi is strapped to. "If I come close, what are my odds of being bitten?" she asks, for all the world sounding reasonable about it.

Isla

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

ThaNk yoU Remi wants to snarl back, but instead he squeezes his eyes shut and tries to remember what life had been like before all of this. That, as it turns out, is a horrible idea, and soon Remi's rapidly increasing heart rate is all his own doing.

Years pass, and when Isla's voice breaches the rain-soaked silence, Remi has to fight to remember where he is and who is speaking to him. He'd just been somewhere cold if the layers he was wearing were any indication, though the skies were a brilliant blue. The air was refreshing and crisp, and nearby someone was laughing.

"...h-igh." Swallowing down a mouthful of saliva and blood, Remi peels his eyes slowly open. Gods, he stinks, both inside and out. "Wh...whatever it was she gave me..." Slowly he shakes his head. "m-made me feel...so..so..." Hungry wasn't the right word, but nor was empty. In truth it was something like being a collapsing star exploding inwards on itself, or perhaps a black hole. But Remi had only been a mechanic back in the Before Times, so none of those images were available to him. "I..d'not know, Isla." He admits on a sigh.

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

we're always running scared but holding knives

"I thought so," she murmurs softly, peeling away from the door. "I'm going to have to get close to you, though, so I can check you over. And I don't want to sedate you again, so I'm afraid it's the usual method." And she can't be more sorry about it than she already is, and so Isla puts that part of her to bed for a while and proceeds as a doctor might.

Remi has seen the mask before, because - like the boiler suit, and later on tonight when he's clean, a lovely warm straight-jacket - it might have leapt straight out of a Hannibal movie. And Isla is tragically practiced at twisting herself around the wendigo to avoid his teeth as she adjusts it around his nose and mouth, strapping it in place.

"I confiscated it - whatever it was she gave you," she mutters. "It hadn't been verified or through any testing. It was home brew, by the look of it." Her teeth clench. "You won't be seeing her again for some time, if I have anything to do with it." As it happens, Susan has the ability to glide over any and all disciplinaries, but they don't know that yet, so it's almost like hope.

"I'd like you to try to take some deep breaths for me," Isla continues. "I'll be cleaning you up and cutting you out of your clothes. You don't need to talk if you don't want to."

Isla

Remi

Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains
Welcome to the war, we've only begun

Remi can only stare up at the ceiling, blinking softly at the tears of shame despair that scratch at his eyes. "Home brew just means she can make more." The wendigo interjects in a surprisingly soft voice, the sounds tragically like acceptance.

"Deep breaths.." Remi muses. "Is that to keep me calm? Or because it is unnerving when I stop breathing?" Indeed, repeated tests showed that the wendigo could hold his breath for a very long fucking time. Sometimes in situations of high stress, it was like his body just turned off his breathing functions to dedicate the resources elsewhere, which most found incredibly unnerving.

"The hospital should really invest in locks that can be remotely opened or closed. If you had those, you could just leave me here for the night."

Higher and higher you chase it
It's deep in your blood, go and take it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!