2025-03-27: The Doctor Is In
- Log: 2025-03-27: The Doctor Is In
- Cast: Aurora Dusk, Lilium Valerie, Minerva Ashton
- Where:
- OOC - IC Date: March 27th, UC 0100
- Summary: The Heaven's Base Newtype Labs have a new overseer of "Enhanced Person" operations. Aurora, Lilium and Rebecca meet the new boss, Minerva Ashton, and her flunkies.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Heaven's Base, the Gaia Sabers headquarters, is a sprawling complex on the coast of Iceland. With facilities for construction, training, mobile weapon and warship storage, personnel lodging, administration, diplomatic reception and more, the base covers practically every use case an elite paramilitary force administrating the Earth could have.
The gathering today is in one of the top secret non-acknowledged facilities quietly sorted under 'and more' - a complex for the creation, training, and maintenance of ...enhanced personnel.
A Newtype lab. It's a Newtype lab
Because of course they have one.
The group we're focusing on now is sitting in a conference room that could give the lab complex a run for its money in terms of being sterile, in its own way. Aurora's eyes flick over the room. Potted plant. Projector. Table. Chairs. Did she take her medication today? She thinks so. She, and a few others, have been called to meet... somebody. Details have been sparse. It's probably not a test subject, anyway, from the way they talk about her.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium for her part, has been here for... well, some time. Her new career has required her to be taken to this conference room before several times, even.
Record label meetings, briefings on some function they built into her she hadn't been told about yet--they've told her everything now, at least she hopes--image proposals... costume design meetings... She didn't really get much input, but it was nice that she could sit in.
She's not been medicated today... which was a good sign, usually. She glances across the table to Aurora. Why was she here..? She was... a similar project, as far as Lilium is aware, but...
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
As Aurora and Lilium sit in the conference room, they're kept waiting for a few minutes - not much of anything happens, really. The two are left to make small talk, or just awkwardly stare at teach other.
Eventually, the door to the conference room hisses open, and a woman in a dirty white labcoat with bleached-white hair and rounded glasses steps in. There are some flecks of soot in her hair, which she shakes a bit to clear, before readjusting her glasses.
"Ah, there you two are!" She claps her hands together with a smile, tilting her head a bit. "It's nice to meet you both. I'm Dr. Minerva Ashton, and I'm your new. . . let's say, caretaker, shall we?" She crosses her arms behind her back.
"I'll be overseeing Enhanced Persons operations here from now on. And that, of course, includes you two lovely ladies~!"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora looks at Lilium. "...since we're both Cyber-Newtypes, I should reintroduce myself. I'm Aurora Dusk... or NT-294." No better time like the present to do this. 294 blinks. "...Do you have a number yet?"
------
Minerva makes her entrance, and the teal-haired girl's head swivels to face her, but she mostly remains still aside from that. The patch on her left sleeve notes that she's a member of the Newtype Corps, and a name tab on the front of her uniform identifies her as number 294. Blue eyes pass themselves up and down the eccentric woman as she introduces herself. She's... well, she scans as the 'mad scientist' type to Aurora. She seems... friendly... enough, though. It's friendlier than a lot of the people in this building, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium tilts her head slightly to one side. Aurora being a Cyber-Newtype wasn't a surprise, not really. (Did she know already? Keeping track of the things her newly-installed senses let her intuit was a pain...) But the numbers... she hadn't been given a number, had she? Around the time Minerva enters the room, Lilium places a finger on her lower lip and tilts her head further to the side. She's not sure why. "Ehhhh... I don't know if-"
You were YNT-777 for a while, but I think they call you Angel IV now.
Wait, how do we know that?
Don't worry about it. I have my ways.
"Ooooh, right... They call me Angel IV now, I thiiiink..?"
Dr. Frankford's eyes narrow slightly--Had someone told the subject that? It was something that was supposed to be kept to the records...
Still, the doctor has more pressing things to worry about. For example, this new... consultant? Specialist? Advisor? Whatever she was supposed to be that'd been brought on... for the regular forces that would be all well and good, but for the specialist projects? Had she even been briefed on what Lilium--what Angel IV--what the Boosted Songstress program was?
She hardly seemed professional, either... Not that Rebecca was really one to talk, but still--
Lilium's face, meanwhile, lights up slightly (in the PR-approved, focus-tested manner, of course). Most of the doctors she'd been overseen by had been... somewhat dour. There was nothing wrong with that, not really, but Lilium felt like this woman was more on her wavelength--or at least, the one she'd been on since she came out of her initial surgeries. She's less sure about how she was before that. That should be worrying, probably, but she's sure it's fine.
"Ooooh, hiiiiiii!!"
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
Minerva turns to Dr. Frankford. "Oh, Rebecca! A pleasure." Minerva extends her hand to her coworker. "I look forward to working with you in the future."
"And Aurora and Lilium, is it? Lovely names. Lovelier work done with you, as well. Your teams should be very proud." She gives them appraising glances, like she's looking at particularly impressive pieces of equipment.
"Now, as excited as I am to get started working with you all, does anyone have any questions? I think it's important to build trust between doctors and their patients, after all."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"Angel IV..." Aurora tries the name out. "Got it." She nods.
Aurora, who previously had been content to look at Minerva with her soft, enigmatic eyes, nods in response to Minerva's rhetorical question about her name. Lilium's energetic greeting inspires her to say 'hi' herself, quieter than she did.
She's used to being appraised like equipment, because that's basically what she is. Something about Minerva's comment about teams makes her feel proud, though. The pride of equipment.
She isn't quite sure what to think about trust-building questions, or what to ask, either. (There's a lot she isn't quite sure what to think about, so she doesn't quite think about it. It's not what she's for.) She raises her hand. "What kind of doctor are you?" It seems like a stupid question, but 'doctor' covers a lot of ground. There are doctors of equipment and doctors of Equipment.
"What have you been briefed on?" 294 doesn't really emote all that much. She does fidget idly, the same as most people, but she's remarkably well-behaved, as far as Cyber-Newtypes go. That sense of quiet introversion is easy to interpret as passivity. (She DOES have a fairly placid personality when she's not on the job.)
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Doctor Frankford accepts the offered hand, shaking it... firmly. "Likewise." She says, coldly. She does mean it, at least on some level... but somewhat begrudgingly.
"Oooh, thank you!" Lilium smiles her usually fake-but-genuine smile. She tilts her head to the side slightly at the latter half of the comment. "Uuuhm.. I think? I guess that's less... my department..." The discomfort doesn't show fully on her face, but something inside her hates the way Minerva is looking at her. For just a moment, Lilium feels her gaze carving into her like a rusted knife--she's more than just Equipment, more than a machine--she's a person, even if she's a person who knows exactly why she was-
And then, just as suddenly, she feels fine. She can't remember what she was just stressed about, even. She must have let her mind wander too far... picked up a feeling from someone else.
There are more pressing concerns now, anyway. For example... what exactly is she meant to ask Minerva? She can't... really think of anything. Unless...
She raises her hand. "Uuuuhm... are you, like... involved with the public-facing side of the project..?" She doesn't specify which. She's still aware enough to know that only one of the projects here has any public-facing side.
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
Minerva gives Dr. Frankford a looser handshake, eyebrow raising a bit at the firmness of it but with smile unwavering.
"What kind of doctor. . . well, I have several PHDs - just about anything you can think of really. Mechanical engineering, neuroscience, chemical engineering, robotics, and I have a particular specialty in cyborgs. So, we can just go with "doctor", okay dear?" She closes her eyes and smiles just a bit wider. It's hard to guess what she's thinking, even for someone as in tune with emotions as Aurora.
"As for you two, I know youuu are one of our top Cyber-Newtypes," she motions at Aurora, and "you, my little songbird, are our one and only Boosted Songstress and current merchandising icon," she finishes, pointing to Lilium with a lazy finger.
"Not that I'm involved in much merchandise. I'm a behind the scenes woman. The spotlight has never been my forte. I'm just here to make sure that expensive little brain of yours is kept in tip-top condition~" Minerva winks. "Its contents are oh so important."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Again, she nods as the doctor recounts her specialties. Minerva mentions cyborgs, and Aurora briefly thinks of Gatsby. How is he, anyway? Ah, well. He'll turn up. Minerva is a very multidisciplinary doctor... Aurora is impressed. She usually only meets specialists.
Aurora is definitely empathic. That's a quality of Newtypes in general. General purpose empathy might not be what she's best at, but she can sense the atmosphere, usually. Minerva, though, is... a little impenetrable. Her intentions and mood are hard to gauge. A little like how the Colonel is sometimes, without the benefit of their long-standing relationship and the bond they share.
On that note, this new doctor seems a little... manic. Aurora appraises her, expression sitting in its neutral position. Definitely outgoing. Does she go out much, she wonders?
Aurora accepts Minerva's praise, acknowledging it with... another nod. She does score fairly high on the scale of Cyber-Newtypes. Her emotional reactions are a little hard to distinguish under her... personality, but Lilium can definitely tell it's affecting her.
She can definitely understand being a behind the scenes woman. That's her job, too, in a different way.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Frankford releases her... colleague's hand, folding it behind her back. Her expression remains the same, at least until Minerva begins to list off her expertises. Mechanical engineering... neuroscience, although maybe not neurosurgery... chemical engineering, robotics... and she supposes that would be some form of biomechanical engineering. Useful skills, at least, provided her qualifications checked out--but if they didn't, Minerva wouldn't be in this room.
She doesn't admit to it, but Rebecca Frankford is, likewise, impressed.
On the other hand, the sheer breadth of Doctor Ashton's expertise sails directly over Lilium's head--or at least, the parts of it that were definitively still Lilium. She knows a lot of the terms, of course: almost all of them have come up at least once in her various (if perhaps not entirely accurate) briefings about the nature of her new self; but from the perspective of the girl who was essentially a mechanised infantrywoman mere years ago, and whose mechanically-enforced personality demands a certain level of airheadedness, such things seem to blend together into one overarching discipline.
Minerva hadn't been talking to her, but it feels right to Lilium to reply with "Oh! Okaaay, Doctor..!" She... can't really tell much from that smile. It's a strange feeling--and feeling strange from not being able to read someone is itself a strange feeling, still. The Boosted Songstress smiles back, though. It, too, feels right. Maybe this is the Empathy...
She blushes slightly on reflex as her importance is once again piled onto her. "Ehehehe... I guess I am... waaait, is my brain thaaaaat expensive..?"
She hasn't been told just how high the price tag for her Procedures was, evidently. Her gaze flits to Aurora out of curiosity... and finds her, somehow, easier to read. Maybe it's just that she knows her better... but she seems happy. That's good, she thinks.
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
"Oh, very much so! You cost quite the pretty penny, dear." Minerva doesn't give an exact number. Everyone in the room either already knows, doesn't need to know, or wouldn't be capable of comprehending the number in the first place.
"As for you, Aurora, I'll also be overseeing general Cyber Newtype management - I am quite experienced, after all." Minerva smirks a bit. "Oh! That reminds me. I should introduce my assistants." She pushes a button on her watch and opens a communicator.
"Seven! Thirteen! In here!" Two people of indeterminate gender in full bodysuits and eye-obscuring helmets walk in through the door. One of them has a slight jerkiness to their movement, while the other strides in flawlessly. Other than that, they're identical.
"These two are my very helpful assistants, 307 and 413. They'll be stationed here with you two as well, so play nice, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
To Lilium's senses, Aurora is about as readable as anyone else she's met. Pride from Minerva's praise. A little concern for Lilium (did she always act like... this?). Aurora's not particularly stressed right now. She's calm, as usual.
"Mhm. I've seen some of the presentation documents. There were a lot of zeroes." Lilium is a billion-gilla project. Aurora, by comparison, was a fixer-upper. Literal recycling. Not that that seems to have affected her performance.
Aurora nods towards Minerva's assuming leadership over Cyber-Newtype management, and turns her head to look at the new people. Jerky movements... another cyborg? She nods again towards Minerva. "Okay."
She turns her head back to look at the newbies again. "I'm 294." She introduces herself by her number. It doesn't concern her yet that they're not talking.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium's eyes shift imperceptibly as she tries to intuit Aurora's feelings. She was... concerned for her? Was that right? She did have a lot more responsibility now, that was true... but she's handling the pressure well, isn't she? At least she's calm. That's good, there's no reason to be anything else.
The conversation around her cost continues--She really was that expensive? Or her brain was at least... Aurora seemed to concur, too. She'd tried to ask Doctor Frankford--who, incidentally, is currently burying her head in her hands and emitting some form of exasperated sigh--but she'd never really seemed to give a straight answer... and seemed rather uncomfortable discussing the topic to begin with.
She feels a little guilty, all of a sudden. Surely there were more pressing things for NUNE to work on than simply producing a hit Idol? There was so much aid to distribute... and so little of it was available to begin with that surely any increase would help.
She thinks back to a battle the previous year--of the old man and his Gundam, the flames claiming the supply convoy. In a world in such great need, surely something like her--
But when we bring peace... won't it all be worth it?
All doubt vanishes from her mind instantly, and her attention turns outwards again just in time for Minerva to introduce her 'assistants'. She can't tell much about them visually--or even which is which, if there's numbers printed on them she hasn't noticed--but surely she can Intuit something..?
Still, though, since Minerva was asking her to play nice, she should at least...
"Oooh, hi! I'm Lilium!" She tilts her head to the side for a moment, placing a finger on her lower lip. "Or... ehhh... if we're all giving numbers..." She turns to Frankford. The Doctor groans.
"...No, you're not supposed to do that, Lilium..."
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
The two cyborgs stand still, but do nod to the two of them.
"Well, if there's no other things to discuss, I have some more records I need to look over. It's been very nice meeting you all! I look forward to a productive and cooperative relationship in the future." Minerva gives them another wide smile, and one of the cyborgs holds the door open for her.
Minerva leaves the room, and the two bodysuited figures follow her, leaving the group without her presence once again.