forum experiments and sacrilege in the name of public good (hopefully a larger group RP, mad scientists and test subjects and conspiracies, always open)

Started November 15, 2020 by Deleted user

tune

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Ooh wait what if your flirty bastard was Cassandra’s personal project? That would be funny. Oof I need to get a starter up lol.

Cassandra had decided to finally get around to inspecting the Subjects, making sure that they’d be well-taken-care-of at the very least, at least by her standards of taken care of, but ultimately it would be a headache. Experiments and scientists alike were always trying to get on her good side, which was one headache, and the other was keeping track of them all and making sure nothing was out of order. She was a detail-oriented person, when there was an unauthorized change, she’d notice. The subject unit was separated into two parts, the subjects who could be trusted to socialize or didn’t require any other conditions to live. Subjects such as TZEnvironmental-85, aka Nobody, compared to other subjects who were unusually violent or needed special conditions, like Subject TZAsylum-93. The TZE’s and TZA’s were always at each other’s throats, the TZA’s thinking they were better than the TZE’s and vice versa. Really, it was a pain in her ass, she was just trying to do her job. So when she entered the wards, she went down expecting some pain and suffering for roughly an hour to three hours.

Cassandra had decided to finally get around to inspecting the Subjects, making sure that they’d be well-taken-care-of at the very least, at least by her standards of taken care of, but ultimately it would be a headache. Experiments and scientists alike were always trying to get on her good side, which was one headache, and the other was keeping track of them all and making sure nothing was out of order. She was a detail-oriented person, when there was an unauthorized change, she’d notice. The subject unit was separated into two parts, the subjects who could be trusted to socialize or didn’t require any other conditions to live. Subjects such as TZEnvironmental-85, aka Nobody, compared to other subjects who were unusually violent or needed special conditions, like Subject TZAsylum-93. The TZE’s and TZA’s were always at each other’s throats, the TZA’s thinking they were better than the TZE’s and vice versa. Really, it was a pain in her ass, she was just trying to do her job. So when she entered the wards, she went down expecting some pain and suffering for roughly an hour to three hours.

Anywhos, here’s the starter again.

Ares aimlessly ambled around the one subject wards. A black binder was tucked under his arm carrying papers on vitals and previous sessions. Once in a while, he would get out of someone's way then lean against a column reading the binder's contents. He could spend all the time he had before meeting with a subject writing up simple vague reports, but what's the fun in that? It is not like the head of this place will be needing them right away anyways. Sitting in that bleak dim office was terrible. Not to mention, the room only has one small window. Besides, walking around this place glancing around at everything is just as interesting as the day before. Best part of working at this lab is how there never once does a day go by without something interesting happening. The place is never boring at all despite his office feeling like an island away from everything else. Nothing has occurred yet but the day is still young; Ares would be intrigued to know what's next.

"Good morning, Mr. Zhang. How's the work?" Cassandra asked when she spotted him. Despite being shorter, she had such a domineering presence that she seemed like a giant in the scope of things. She'd done a good job building up a reputation for that, making her presence the biggest and most influential in the room no matter what. "I take it you must have an appointment, yes?"

"Mr. Zhang, Mr Zha- oh, hello, Miss Norman. Mr. Zhang, I'm so glad I caught you. Subject TZE-85, they keep asking about you. I was wondering if you could see them today?" Katharine asked, running up to the two. "And Miss Norman, uh, ahem, so far you've ignored my 107th formal request to have TZE-85 transferred out of my care, I was wondering-"

"There is a reason for that, Miss Green. I expect you to properly take care of your messes, not throw them in the wrong bin. Besides, the Subject is already mainly used for cloning and disease studies, yes? I would think having them be in a split care situation would be satisfactory enough for you."

"Yes, Miss Norman."

"Good. I really must be going once I finish this unimportant conversation with Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang, have a good day, I have work to do as do you. I will be seeing you for your performance review tomorrow evening, I take it?"

Zoriya looked up when Cassandra walked in. "Miss Head Scientist," she said, as if she were the doctor. The alien wound some hair around her pointer finger, giving Cassandra a look that was somewhere between curious and sneering. "It's been a while. Do tell, what brings you to our… what's the expression? 'Neck of the woods'?"

Di cursed under her breath as she pulled into the lab, making sure her cherry-red moped didn't stop too suddenly. She was late, but what did anyone fucking expect? Four scientists–four!–had given her coffee orders this morning. Did they not understand how far out the nearest town was? Di took her helmet off and moved her glasses to her forehead and entered the building, ID sticking out of her mouth for the scanner to read, drink holder in her right hand, and helmet tucked under her left arm. After making most of her stops, she made it to the subject unit. "Last one, I think it was…Dr. Green?"

"And Zoriya. Don't make me have to transfer to the high-security TZA ward for bad behavior, you know I would." Well, maybe Cass would, maybe she wouldn't, but ultimately the threat was there and that was what counted. "How has your day been? I hope you haven't gotten too many blood samples taken, after the last time one of the Subjects fainted I've been very peculiar about how and how many samples are taken."

"Ah, Di! Thank you so much, you're a goddess." Kath said, taking her coffee. She then turned away from Di, to Ares, and said, "Now, Mr. Zhang, er, Dr. Zhang, could you possibly see my recent Subject? They keep on acting out, refusing to talk or eat. They say you "treat them good", whatever that means."

Hearing his name, he came to a halting stop. Wasn't hard for him to figure out who's voice it was, Miss Cassandra Norman. Out of all his previous bosses, Miss Norman had to be the most interesting one so far. While Ares does have respect for her, he is still very curious; it's hard for him to piece together what is going on inside her mind. Taking a deep breath, Ares covered his expressionless face with a soft beam before turning around. "Morning to you too Miss Norman.", he grinned, "I'm afraid I do not have one right now, I was just buying some time outside my office."

Apparently everyone else is gathering in the first ward. The unexpected congregation made him sigh quietly to himself. Ares pursed his bottom lip back holding in a chuckle. "I'm so sorry I made you chase after me, Miss Green.", he apologized. Subject TZE-85, he has never met with them at all. Well, he has seen them from afar or would hear about them from Katherine or Miss Norman. The subject also goes by Nobody, from what he's heard since they were created just recently. side from that, it is a complete mystery as to how the subject knows about him or his practice. A shame, Katherine should've given it more humility by giving the subject a name despite everyone still calling them by their label.

"I'll see what I can do. Have Subject TZE-85 sent to my office at your convivence, just let me know ten minutes in advance. Also if you've having trouble with them, I don't know if a joint-care with me would be possible. It is out of my line, but I wouldn't mind; of course that is up to Miss Norman after all.", Ares winked then faced Miss Norman, "And yes you will, I already have all of it prepared."

"Well, apparently you smiled at them in the hall or something and now they're all over you an- sorry, I'm interrupting, I'll be on my way." Katharine made her way out of the ward, down to her office. She was just making a fool of herself here.

"Hmm. TZE-85 is an interesting case, if you want to study them you have my full permission to do so. And I'm glad you have everything ready. I really do need to be going." Cass said.

Meanwhile, Nobody was in their ward, the only sort of door a thin curtain you could just see through if the light hit it correctly. "Hello, Dr. Scribbles," they said to their friend, the one the doctors here said was made up and that they'd "grow out of", whatever that meant. "Do you want some tea? I'm not thirsty. No? Okay!" they conversed, while their friend simply sat on the bed and shook his head or nodded as they spoke.

Zoriya let her earlier remark go and shrugged. "Aside from being bored out of my mind, my day's been quite alright. Thank you for asking." Though she hid it well, Zoriya was always a bit surprised when someone asked her a question like that. Aside from the psychologist, Zhang, none of them really had much reason to ask such things. "I did notice that there were fewer of those." Zori certainly wasn't about to thank Cassandra for stopping the reckless tests–really, they shouldn't have been happening in the first place–but she was grateful that she would be seeing less needles in her future.

"It's no problem," Di replied to Katherine, then decided that it was probably best to leave the researchers to their work. "Page me if you need me," she said, then left the ward, keeping her head down. Being in there made her stomach turn, both from pity and guilt. She'd taken an oath at graduation to do no harm, and technically she hadn't strayed from that yet, but she still felt it gnawing at her. Wasn't standing by just as bad as actively participating? Di honestly felt like she didn't really have a choice, though, between the nature of the place and the vibe that Dr. Norman gave off. Besides, she could do her best to make sure that things weren't too awful for the subjects. Even if she didn't have any real power, Di could still report things to Dr. Norman. Whether they were actually taken into consideration was completely up to the head scientist, but Di could–and did–still make the effort.

"I'm boreeeed. When do we get to go to the exercise dome?" Nobody groaned. They really were bored, and talking to Dr. Scribbles wasn't helping one bit. "Is anyone there? Hello?" suddenly, they started wondering if everyone had left them on accident and would never come back, or had been eaten by the shadow monsters, or some other terrible fate and then Nobody was alone, which was probably bad because all the doors wouldn't open unless the doctors put a square in a thin slot to make the door go green and open up. Otherwise, the doors were just red. Then Nobody remembered their lesson on colors, and started naming each color they could see. White walls, white ceiling, blue sheets, red cup, purple blinking monitor… the list went on and on, and Nobody forgot all about their current dilemma.

"Fascinating, I'm looking forward to meeting them.", Ares chuckled, "We can talk some other time when you're not busy Miss Green. Till then."

All it had to take was a simple smile. How feasible. Every other patient he's ever come across typically takes a disliking to him. Most of them were very hostile towards themselves and him, so it wasn't much of a surprise given their circumstances. TZE-85 is going to be a very special case to work with for sure. Ares glanced up at the ceiling mentally sorting out all the things he will have to do in order to prepare. Every subject and person is different when it comes to preparation. Sometimes he'll have to be more strict and firm even as he smiles. Other times Ares is more experimental yet cautious. "Thank you very much Miss Norman. Enjoy the rest of your day.", he said with a short head bow. Having to study TZE-85 is going to be a ball.

He glimpsed over at Zoriya and Di, giving them a simple grin, "You two have a good day as well." Adjusting the binder under his arm, he headed west. His office was very far from the wards making everything inconvenient to begin with. Personally, Ares himself can speed walk over there in five minutes. It takes longer for other scientists or subjects that have to be escorted. Walking each patient over on his own would be tiring. All the time he would waste could go to other work or a smoke break.

Taking out his keycard, he slid it in the slot next to the door. The light lit up green. His eyes watched intently as the door handle turned down on its own. Ares touched the bleak silver handle, gently holding it down as the door opened. Inside the place was reticent; a pen could fall from his desk and someone can hear it from the other side of the lab. He kept the lights lightly dimmed then mad his way over to his desk. "Another day…", Ares mumbled to himself.

A few hours passed before Kath got back with Ares on the matter of Nobody. She walked to the man’s office after her lunch break and stood there waiting, tapping her foot impatiently. She wanted to get in contact with the man as soon as possible to find out why Nobody was acting so strangely, especially because it made getting a straight answer out of them for experiments impossible. “Dr. Zhang? Are you available?”

Reclining back in his chair, he finished up some notes from the last patient seen. Beforehand Ares was reading over files he requested five months ago on a failed project. The subject was there four years ago, it is the only one that managed to escape the lab. Sadly it was found but never seen again. The previous main psychiatrist let the documents be part of the archive; if only the majority of them weren't redacted.

Ares cannot even remember why he had put in an order for them. Possibly to examine how a subject would ever think to escaping this place then doing so. Or maybe he just wanted to know how to recreate that mentality in others without notice. If any other subject gets out of hand, it isn't his responsibility to take care of it. Nothing from the papers are giving him a single idea for anything. Shame. All the trouble he had to go through for these useless things. Later he'll need somebody come over to take them back.

Sliding the papers in a desk drawer, he sat up taking a glance over at his telephone. Above the numbers there was a little rectangle that would light up when there's a call or voicemail. By now Ares expects someone to call him, or now, come over to his office. He got up adjusting his lab coat and fixed his hair then went to open the door. "Good to see you again Miss Green.", he greeted, "What can I help you with?"

“I was wondering about my subject. They’re just… frustrating. They don’t make sense on good days, even, I just… I was wondering if you could see them for a minute? That would be lovely, if you could.” she said, looking a bit embarrassed.

(I feel like I'm not keeping up the energy for this, do you guys want to add any ideas for plot?)

(This sentiment still stands.)

Frustrating? From the looks of other subjects, he wouldn't have assumed that. Not really unexpected on the other hand. Although this subject they're talking about is relatively younger in a sense. Having the duty to create the "perfect" human all while having to take care of a failed attempt is stressful; also given the fact that Miss Norman is very pressing about it too. Part of him sympathizes with Katherine on that matter.

"Don't be too hard yourself. You're doing all that you can.", Ares reassured, "Just send them over to me, I already have approval to take them in as my patient."

He kept his hands inside the coat pockets. Momentarily his eyes were averted away taking a glimpse down the hallway. In the corner was a security camera with a small blinking light on it. Ares never really seen it previously. Maybe this uneventful day is making him notice a lot of things he hasn't before.

Suddenly his attention went back to Katherine and Nobody. Right. Gazing back, Ares gave a more optimistic look. "One more thing.", he added, "May I ask why they're frustrating? How do they act?" Perhaps asking the caretaker first can give him some insight. Sadly he will not be able to tell most of his findings to her, confidentiality rules. He can work with the subject which might make them more bearable or understanding.

“Hmm, well, they’re always talking to that imaginary friend of theirs. Offering them small tokens of affection, even when they know the thing won’t take them. Dr. Scribbles, they call it. They also have a very strong avoidance to pain beyond what a normal child would, and I say child because that is in effect what they are, at this developmental stage. They get too distracted with things, are always asking strange questions about the nature of things, not uncommon but certainly difficult to deal with. I had to sew them a whole gown just because the one they were in was too itchy, even though no other patients have ever complained of that to my knowledge. I suspect some form of neurodivergence at play here, but what I could only guess.” Katharine said, explaining in-detail her grievances with the Subject. “Really, I just need a name to the issues and some help making them more manageable. They often refuse to eat or sleep or cooperate when they’re upset, and often have meltdowns if they don’t get what they want or if they don’t understand something. It’s… tiring, to say the least, and they’re always using words I know I never taught them. They say they learn them from this Dr. Scribbles, but I think it’s just simply eavesdropping.”

As Katharine spoke, he slowly nodded carefully taking in each word. So far in his career, he has worked with serial killers, sickly traumatized soldiers, and now artificial human test subjects. All the things she said does not match any habits or behaviors other subjects have. Time doesn't act that way for sure. The fact that Nobody is two weeks old has already made him draw to a conclusion. They're a child, if not toddler, in a young adult's body. Also they are stuck in an abnormal environment for a child to develop in with no parental support. An imaginary friend is quite interesting too, he never had one when he was younger; only a stuffed lamb.

"Katharine, you're dealing with a child. It's perfectly normal for them to behave this way. I know you're trying to make the superb human, keep in mind being neurodivergent is also perfectly normal. My assumption is that TZE-85 isn't though, they're only what I said before, a child.", Ares explained, "Creating and raising them here is going to be a challenge, especially if there isn't some sort of parent figures and loving support. Being that we're in a lab with certain guidelines and protocols, this is will be difficult. On another note, I'll still gladly take them in, but be aware I can only tell you, Miss Norman, Di, and everyone else so much; psychiatrist rules."

Ares turned his face to he side to clear his throat. Adjusting his tie, he looked back giving a small grin as an apology. "Send them to me right away, I have plenty of time for the first session.", he nodded, "Also if you ever see Di, please ask her to come here as well. I just need her to return some things to the archive room."

“I will check in with Di. Thank you for your time.” she said, exiting the room. Kath wandered down the halls aimlessly until she remembered she had to retrieve TZE-85 from the ward to pass off to Ares. She eventually managed to make her way there, and entered the small nook the not-quite-human rested in. “Hey there, kitty. You up for a little visit to Dr. Zhang’s office?” she asked, trying to act as sensitively as possible to the kid.

“Is the Doctor a nice person? Are they the nice person? Who smiled at me?”

“I believe so,” she laughed a little, patting Nobody’s arm. “He wants to listen to you for a little bit. And then he wants to see what he can do to make being here easier.”

“Okay! Do I hafta wear the bracelets? They hurt my arrrms.” Nobody complained, acting a little giggly and softer than usual.

“The cuffs are required for patient transport, yes. I’m sorry, kitty, it’s the rules.”

“Okay, but can I have them off in Doctor’s office?”

“Maybe. Only if you’re good, and follow me. I know you like exploring, but you can’t here, there’s a lot of dangerous stuff and Dr. Norman would kill me if you got injured.”

“Kill? What’s that supposedta be?”

“Uh, not something for you to worry about, kitty. Now let’s go!” she said, hoping to hype up Nobody enough for cooperation.

Nobody nodded and followed, willingly heading into the “bracelets” to be dragged along by Katharine. They followed dutifully, only getting distracted about six times, a record low for them. When they reached Zhang’s office, Kath didn’t bother to knock, instead simply heading in with Nobody unthinkingly.

(dslknvka I could totally see Di being Nobody's surrogate mom-figure)

Di stretched her right hand vigorously. Taking notes for that last doctor always made her hands cramp up. He was just…so fast when he talked. She was glad that she'd at least been able to drop her helmet off in the lounge before being called by everyone in that god-forsaken building to do some task or another. For now, though, it seemed like she had nothing to do, so she headed to the break room for the time being. If anyone needed her, they knew where she tended to be found when she wasn't busy.

Ares stood facing the window with his head tilted down. After going inside his office, he paced around patiently waiting for Nobody to arrive. It had to be over twenty minutes because the patience grew weary as he started to look around the room for a lighter. Not being able to find his, he opened up the window behind his desk then just stared outside. He never really opened it up when there were patients around. Something about it dealing with curiosity is the reason why he can't have it? Hell he knows, succeeding in getting these projects right might do better if they let these subjects think freely.

The creak in the door made his shoulders tensed up in surprise. Shutting his eyes for a brief second, he let out a small sigh. Time for another patient, again. Ares shut the window pulling the curtains over. The corners of his lips turned up. Waiting had made his bright expression a little bit dimmer than usual. Not knocking or any sign of coming over did bother him a little. The somewhat sincere smile got better as he faced Katherine and Nobody.

"Pleasure to meet you TZE-85, I'm Doctor Zhang. I'll be your psychiatrist.", Ares smiled then turned to Katharine, "Should I go over the basic producers?"

(If you're still looking for some plots idea, I think I might have some. Maybe there is a major backfire at the lab which leads to conflict between the scientists like a random subject causes a lot of trouble, goes missing, or something.)

“Procedure?” Nobody asked, tilting their head.

“It’s how you do things, kitty. I’ll leave hem here with you. The code to the cuffs is 8683, if you feel safe enough to take them of. TZE-85 is fairly tame, they won’t cause you much trouble.” Katherine said, then turned to leave. “Just ping me when I need to pick them up.” and with that, she left.

Nobody sat down in the chair in front of Ares’ desk, looking around with wide eyes. It had been a while since they had been let anywhere but the exercise area and the ward, so this was very exciting. “Hello, Dr. Zhang. Dr. Scribbles couldn’t make it here today so I can’t let you meet him, but he’s kinda shy so I think he wouldn’t have come here anyways.” they said,

Ares said nothing, only giving a small wave of goodbye. With his finger, he traced the numbers 8683 on the desk to remember the code. Typically he does not remove the cuffs on the first appointment, even the second and third too. Bad memories of being attacked by patients still lingered in his mind to this day. Not like it makes him anxious or what, but the possibilities are endless. Speaking of which, he'll have to find a way to explain the protocols with these sessions to Nobody without confusion. Really every one was just formality, but telling this to the subjects gave them a sense of freedom and personal decision.

Doctor Scribbles, must be that imaginary friend from before. Interesting how other subjects have visions or come up with their own friends. Slowly, he nodded deciding to just roll with it. Ares would've rather gone with asking some questions or going through simple tests, but having a discussion seems that it will do for now. "What a shame that is.", he sighed while sitting down, "Tell him there's no need to fear me, you both can trust me. Is there anything you're scared of, Nobody?"