2022-05-21: REA Medical is never a pleasant appointment to keep
- Cutscene: REA Medical is never a pleasant appointment to keep
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, The Nega Force
- Where: Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Date: 2022-05-21
- Summary: The REA doesn't make its plans obvious. It takes a great many actions, while appearing to take none at all. As it happens, Yuliana Dispersal is a unique asset -- and an ongoing experiment. And when something changes about her, a certain project takes notice. She couldn't get away with it forever. (CW: Medical trauma.)
The Major's office, in Sri Lanka, is a relatively calm affair; he isn't a flashy or ostentatious man, and in any case, he hasn't won many awards worth displaying recently either. The chairs are comfortable, even if they're a hair undecorated. But there's a photo of his family, on his desk; it's big. They look happy.
Major Vinh Pham leans back in his chair, as he conducts his interviews with his team. At the end, there's one particular question: "... did you notice anything particular about Captain Dispersal's behaviour?"
... and when Parminder Chaudhri is sitting opposite him, he shrugs. "Towards the end of the party, the Captain was more engrossed in a book than any conversation."
"A book? Anything of note?"
"Looked to be your standard penny dreadful, sir. Some sort of sci-fi -- I didn't get a good look at it. She didn't have it coming back, so I'm thinking she just grabbed it from the hall. Guess she'd rather read than deal with people, with the mood she was in." Parminder's the sort of person who would notice those details.
... but when Wen Yuan is sitting opposite Major Pham, she sighs. "The Captain was getting more and more, you know, more, as the night went by," she says, frowning. "I mean, it was easy to ignore, for most of it? But I guess she hit her limit at one point there... she stepped out, and when she came back in she was totally unleashed. At least she was distracting herself? I managed to get us out of there, sure, but..."
The Major nods. "And Miss D'Cruze?"
"She'll need some psychological support after our trip back, I think." Wen hesitates, for a moment, before she asks: "Was this -- really necessary, Major? I really doubt offering her father help on his engineering work constitutes the sort of talent leak that would need this sort of course correction..."
"Her father is Britannian," Major Pham says, closed-topic. "It's for her sake, and the sake of the Republic."
"Sir." Wen may not be happy with the explanation, but she knows when to accept it.
... so when Cascade Wattana is sitting opposite him, their eyes narrow. "The Captain was making everyone miserable," they report, with clear distaste. "I think she even ruined one woman's day just by walking by her. She was terrifying another girl just by staring at her. She had some verbal targets, too... including Miss D'Cruze."
As it happens, Cascade was stress-eating the whole time because of their mission parameters: the Major instructed them to observe, rather than intervene. With their empathic capabilities, they're singularly equipped to make a certain kind of observation, looking at the effects of Yuliana Dispersal.
"So you would say she was particularly active, given this exposure?" The Major presses.
"I'd say she was targeting every high-awareness individual who fell into her line of sight. Sir." Cascade replies, remembering their manners at the last moment, with a frown. "And since we invited so many high-profile pilots, it was a target-rich environment. ... look, Major, I don't --"
"That will be all, Cadet," the Major cuts them off, before they can talk about how little they enjoy this assignment again.
... Yuliana's interview, strangely enough, doesn't ask this last question at all.
Coming back from her talk with the Major, Yuliana -- in her typical dark suit and flashy scarves, again, it's not a special occasion any more -- finds herself interrupted, by a man in a lab coat, approaching her. "Captain Dispersal," he says, at a careful remove. "You're needed in Medical."
"Ridiculous doubtful," Yuliana denies him, two tracks of nuance clambering over each other to escape her lips. "I keep such very very careful track of my appointments! I'm not called to the albescent halls for two days, yet!"
She moves to walk past him, only for him to grasp her upper arm, firmly. "Doctor's orders," he insists, just as stern.
All the fight and tension saps from Yuliana, at that; she sighs, shoulders falling, and jerks her head in a nod. "Oh, very well. But hurry it up, would you? I've a frightful cacophony of paperwork to attend to, present day, present time." She's in no position to bargain, but attending to the illusion is important.
Like string about the elephant's ankle, the indefatigable Yuliana Dispersal is easily steered to the medical facilities. Easily strapped to a chair, electrophysiologic activity leads placed, a clip on her finger, a line through her veins.
"Readings high," one scientist reports. "I'm getting sharply increased premotor activity -- disturbed signals from the emotional amygdala -- tachycardia. Core temperature elevated, holding steady at 37.8 degrees."
"Tell me something I don't misconstrue know," Yuliana grumbles, teeth grit against the poking and the prodding. She doesn't know any of what they're talking about, of course. She's never been one for medicine.
"We're concerned by these readings, Captain," another scientist replies. "Even with our adjustments to your regimen, your condition is escalating." Without their input, he's written, and does not say.
"All's for the exhaustion of your tired tale!" Yuliana snaps, jerking in place. (Always, they're poking and prodding, these people.) "Escalation?! Don't tell me to bite and bemoan the blood! And what have you ACHIEVED, less the leash?! No scrap of imagination shared between you. Ever it sunders, tearing down, yet I am left to my grasp..!" Her arms wrench, against the straps; she's quite well secured. "--- ugh! Will you ever hold me to place?!"
They make their notes. A nurse reaches over, to loosen the tight edges of her clothes, unties the scarf from her neck. At once Yuliana's expression tightens, teeth grit together. "Wait, you don't need to --"
She takes her necklace off, after all, before her appointments.
She didn't have the chance, today.
Three fold crystals, shining darkly, hidden under her bright cloth. The sickly green immediately catches their interest -- with immediate direction, that's removed from her neck, as well. One of the scientists holds it up, by the chain, in front of Yuliana. "... and what is this, Captain?"
"I'm plain clothes," Yuliana insists, which isn't a lie, for all it comes out strained. "You got a problem with women wearing gifts jewellery?"
"And are you aware that you are wearing fold crystals?" The scientist presses. "Where did you get these, Captain?"
"I..." Yuliana falters, and someone swings the theatre lights around, eclipsing their white coats as she finds herself staring into the light, instead.
"Talk faster, Captain." It's an instruction to match the way her heart races, perhaps, as something feeds into her veins.
"... gift -- and proposal!" Her voice snaps more like a rope than a wolf, and she is all worn grooves. "These are my affairs! Why must you meddle?! You would not understand the matters of my heart, too blinding to your eyes!" Is it really them, blinded, right now?
"Who gave them to you?" He demands, not shaken by a moment by the way she tells them.
"Idiots!" Yuliana spits out the word, teeth flashing in the light. "The offering is mine!"
The scientist doesn't miss a beat. "All right. To whom?"
"The one scrap of sense in this nonsensical existence! Where I am seen -- known through! You couldn't possibly understand--!!" She's screaming, voice torn raw.
He isn't. "A name."
"No!" Yuliana snarls, chest heaving against the chair. "You tear so much from my flesh and my soul! And I let you, damn you -- I LET YOU, for the sake of the Republic! But not this! No! This, now, is mine!"
"Readings reaching critical levels," another scientist notes, behind the blinding light. "We should take measure of her cerebrospinal fluid before she has a chance to return to baseline -- get a fresh look at the orchid cells. Exposure to these crystals has a definite effect."
"Those, again!" Yuliana yells, tears stinging her eyes. These mechanics tell her nothing, and oh, she hates the reminder. "What are they? What ARE THEY?!"
Rather than answer her, the chair is laid flat.
"Wait, don't..."
It's never pleasant, being awake for these sorts of things.