Chapter I: In the Beginning...
As noted in each of your histories, you have all found yourselves intrigued by the promises of “free” money not to mention a good deal of aid directed towards your studies at Century City University. The story begins a few weeks after you have each submitted your applications for the study.
It is early Monday morning, your timepiece displays 7:30 AM, and depending on your class schedules, you phone rings, waking you from a deep slumber or catching you just as you are about to leave for class.
Answering the phone, you hear a brief pause of silence before a grainy recording of a woman’s voice begins by congratulating you on behalf of Amalgamated Radiational Medical Research & Development division of Amalgamated Industries, Incorporated, as well as Century City University’s Wendi Mason, Collegiate Advisor and Guidance Councilor.
The woman’s voice continues the research team reviewed your application and found it to be complete and accurate, there will be an informal, yet mandatory seminar held this afternoon at the DeLorean Performance Center; for your continuation in this application process, your attendance is expected as well as required.
Prior to the call’s termination, the voice reminds you that this is an entirely voluntary experiment that you may withdraw from at any time and that it will not reflect negatively on your continued education at CCU.
Checking your watch you estimate that you have four and a half hours before the scheduled meeting is to commence, the recording hadn’t mention whether lunch would be provided, although prior to disconnecting, the voice requested you bring your student identification card to verify your identity.
57 comments:
Van hangs up the phone and checks his schedule. Fortunately, all that he has at that time is a calculus class, and Van figures that he can afford to skip it. After all, how on earth could calculus help to sew someone back up?
Grabbing his student’s kit of surgical tools, Van steps out of his dorm room. One hour until his first class of the day, chemical engineering, Van figures that he can stop in the dining hall for breakfast first. He grabs a manga book and leaves to go eat.
Rhys drops the phone next to him after hanging up. "Lousy school calling me at 7:30 in the morning, why do I have to wake up before my science classes start?" Rhys mumbles to no one in particular. Considering for a moment, Rhys starts getting ready to leave his room, since less than an hour of sleep won't do him any good now. 'Well, at least I'll get breakfast for the first time in two months,' Rhys thinks as he tries to convince himself that waking up eariler than he wanted to isn't a bad thing.
He throws on his patched-up vest and leaves the room, making sure to grab his cards and dice on the way out.
Van sits down with a tray of vaguely food-looking items. Apparently not turned off by the sight, he begins to eat as he reads through his manga novel.
OOC: I find it very entertaining that at this very moment I am at a break between chapters in the manga I'm reading.
IC: Rhys passes on the warm breakfast being served and instead settles on the less risky bowl of cereal. He sits down in one of the quiter corners of the cafeteria and begins to try to tabulate how much of the money he can gamble with and still expect to have sufficient spending money left should he lose.
Dan goes back to sleep for a few hours. When he awakens again, he sees that he has about 15 minutes to get to the meeting. More than enough time to grab something to eat on the way. He slips through the door at 12:01 holding a slice of pizza, looking a bit rumpled, and takes a seat.
Van etas his food and goes to his chemical engineering class. He continues through the day until the meeting, arriving about fifteen minutes before he has to.
Rhys attends both his monring engineering classes, then skips his 11:00 math class to eat an early lunch. He arrives at the performance center more than 40 minutes before the start of the meeting, sets his cell phone alarm for 10 minutes of noon and sleeps the next half hour away, regretting not having gone back to sleep before his first class.
The weather warms throughout the remainder of the day, as each of you arrive at the DeLorean Performance Center; Wendi Mason welcomes you and congratulates you on your acceptance to the study. Ms. Mason, as you are all aware, is an employee of CCU and works in the guidance department. She stands slightly over 5’9” and clothes her slim yet athletic frame in the newest fashions, and if rumors are true – her continued employment has more to do with certain mutual relationships with administration officials than her intelligence level.
Checkering the DeLorean halls are vast planks of corkboard, pockmarked, and jagged from many years of overuse; flyers, health notices, maintenance schedules, and miscellaneous scraps of torn posters hang loosely and disorganized. The air smells faintly stale as this building boasts a chaotic patchwork of ductwork and ventilation shafts that never tend to work properly.
Rhys, the halls reflect a tranquil quietness; you attribute this to your early arrival. As you enter the main hall within The DeLorean you see, to your surprise that a good number of students have already found their seats and while a few of them look back towards you at your entrance the majority of them engross themselves in book work or quiet chat circles. You easily find an open row and find yourself nodding off having only slept a few hours this morning before your phone rang.
Van, when you arrive at your C.E. class you see on one of the large sliding chalkboards closest to the door, a large notice informing the students of the professor’s absence due to a previous engagement. Beneath this notice, in slightly smaller writing an additional note has been made requesting that your assignment will be to continue reading the selection from your course text: “Frontiers in Chemical Engineering: Research Needs and Opportunities” paying special attention to the section on Synthetic organic fibers, excluding of course cellulosic fibers.
You take a moment to make note of this assignment and with a slight grin on your face duck back through the doorway. Checking your watch, you realize that you have nearly ninety minutes before the meeting at the DeLorean Performance Center and cannot help but notice the tantalizing smell of freshly baked bread wafting from the Neal Amundson Cafeteria (affectionately known to those that attend CCU as the “ChE Café”).
As your alarm goes off, Dan, you stumble out of bed and after spending close to five minutes looking for them, you cannot find a pair of socks. Tossing on a pair of flip-flops, you race to the DeLorean Performance Center, stopping just long enough to grab a couple of greasy slice of cheese pizza. You panic at the time, as you check your wristwatch, but as you sprint to the main entrance, you see a number of students still filling in.
Entering the main hall, you are shocked at the number of people within. A large group of students stand along the edge of the room, some sit in recessed window sills and have opened a few of the old tilt-out windows, the slight breeze from outside penetrates the room but offers little in the way of comfort. As you glance quickly around the room, you spot a chair currently unoccupied. It strikes you as odd that no one has claimed this spot, but not knowing the duration of this assembly, you chance it and twist, twirl, and wedge your way down the aisles until you reach it.
Just as you begin to rest your full weight in the chair you feel a sudden shift, the soles of your feet lift from the floor for a moment and suddenly the seat buckles beneath you, dumping you and your greasy pizza-pie slices onto the cold linoleum-lined floor. From this vantage point you notice two things over the growing mass of laughter from your fellow students; one, the curtain on the stage is slowly opening, and two, beneath the seat in front of yours you spot a crumpled green trash-bag with the stenciling “Broken” written across it a few times. The previous locale of this warning, no doubt, was your seat that unceremoniously dumped you to the floor not even a moment ago.
I guess I'll stand, then. If my pizza is still edible, I'll munch, otherwise, I'll look for a trashcan nearby. I'm not going to move far with the show about to start.
Van sits in his seat, not terribly interested in the formalities. While waiting, he works on the homework for his C.E. class
Rhys listens somewhat attentively, though quickly becomes bored with the speaker, and drifts in and out of sleep
The curtain opens, and upon the elevated stage sits a long folding table, stacked high with reams of paper. An older man with a slight limp walks out into the light from somewhere behind stage and stands off to one side of the table, resting his hand lightly upon the papers. He is dressed in casual attire, worn loafers nearly hidden beneath a tan pair of slacks, offset by a rather wrinkled dark green short-sleeved golf shirt. He grins wryly as he carefully looks out upon the sea of faces, patiently identifying each one in the crowd before moving to the next face, or so it would seem. The gentleman seems to favor his right leg over his left, as he shifts his weight slightly before speaking.
“Good afternoon,” a slight Australian accent dapples his intonations, he continues, “and thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice. Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Dr. Delbert Blanchard and I am the Senior Research Scientist for the A.R.M.R.D. division of A.A.I., my purpose today; however is to give you a brief glimpse into the fundamentals of my research as well as introduce you to the successes and benefits that Amalgamated Industries, Inc. have pursued since it’s founding.” Dr. Blanchard walks to the foreground of the stage and motions towards the windows where a dozen or so students sit perched, “Excuse me, could you please find another place to sit? We will be drawing the blinds shortly and I wouldn’t want for you to end up on the wrong side of the dividers.”
“Before I continue with the presentation, allow me to explain to you how this leg of the process will work. I am sure you have all, by now, noticed the long table stacked with a monstrous amount of paperwork. Those papers are the applications that you each submitted for consideration to this project. Once we have completed the introduction to this study and take some time to answer any questions that you may have, you will have the choice to continue with this or leave. To continue, you should come to the front and present your student ID to either Ms. Mason or myself; otherwise you are welcome to leave and thank you for the time you have already given us.”
Dr. Blanchard clears his throat, and walks to the side of the stage where he calls, “We are about to begin, this presentation should take roughly thirty minutes and then we will open this to a Q&A session where you can ask questions about A.A.I. or A.R.M.R.D., if there are no objections we will begin.”
nope, no objections here. Van closes his book to pay attention.
I'm all ears.
"swa..." Rhys awakes from dozing off and sees they're ready to begin. He sits up and listens as attentively as he can.
The good doctor glances across the room, and seeming content, calls for the lights and blinds to be drawn and for the production to begin.
There is a slight pause, and as the house lights begin to fade a large and newly installed automatic projector screen descends from the ceiling above the front apron of the stage. It takes nearly thirty seconds before it unravels to its full dimensions, and Dr. Blanchard plays with a small device in his hands, turning it over absent-mindedly until the screen stops.
Looking down and fiddling slightly with his wristwatch, Blanchard points the device towards the rear of the hall and a bright blue light streams onto the flat white surface on the screen. Within a few seconds, the blue image focuses itself and the familiar Amalgamated Industries, Inc logo appears with a slideshow montage of many different products ghosting in the background behind the image.
The logo fades, and a light interlude of instrumental music plays in the background as the streaming line of images slowly magnifies until the products, achievements, contributions, and non-descript faces of employees, and citizens of the world fills the screen. A grainy snippet of audio taken from what sounds like an antique reel-to-reel audio tape plays spoken is the personal philosophy of the founder of A.A.I. from the first board meeting of the now poly-continental company.
“A time has come, gentlemen, where the world requires the ingenuity, and ground-breaking innovations of a new generation. We arrive upon an apex in the historic timeline of man where the nation, the world, and the very cosmos lay before us. We must act, think, and live with the best intentions of our fellow man seeded deeply within our hearts, for the day draws nigh where our children and our children’s children will supersede our weary bodies and cultivate a society which our very hands have sown.”
After this, a few high ranking VPs of the company are interviewed by an unseen camera operator, where they spout PR-filled positive comments about their time at A.A.I., the products that they have seen released, and the overall benefit A.A.I. has made to the world, as well as the recent interest in Century City.
The short film ends after nearly twenty minutes; there is a brief pause as Dr. Blanchard touches a few controls on the remote, and the screen goes white, however the projector is still running and the room stays dark. While its difficult to determine the sources, a few murmurs break out among the collected student body. In addition, a good deal of noise reverberates from the walls and ceiling as some students lean forward, others turn sideways, while others simply shift their weight.
“Gentlemen, and ladies, please allow me to continue with this presentation. As I mentioned at the beginning, there are a good deal of projects always being worked on, dreamed up, or supported by A.A.I. and one such project is a little something that I’ve dedicated a little over ten years of my life to. While I cannot get into the details of what this project is, as it will be directly affected by the few of you who make it through the interview process, I can tell you that this could directly impact the very world… a literal fulfillment of the first CEO of A.A.I., Mr. Barrett Marsh’s philosophy.”
A large diagram appears on the screen, it displays a great deal of schematics, cross-sections of computer-generated models, formulas that trail off the side of the screen, and double-helix cell structures. The screens shift every few seconds, none reveal the name of this secretive project nor do they explain what exactly is expected from those in the room that choose to continue along this path.
Dr. Blanchard speaks while the images flip across the large display, “For the next few minutes, I will be happy to speak to you about any questions you may have, any concerns you feel, or anything else for that matter. I only ask that you respect one another, as there are a good number of people here and those who do not have questions should not drown those that do. So, are there any questions?” The projector continues to display the final slide; it is a sketch of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
Van raises his hand. “Excuse me, but I’m not quite sure what this procedure is intended to do, or more importantly, what is expected of us. Could you clarify please?”
"Certainly, certainly,” Dr. Blanchard looks out into the audience and directs his attention at Van. The doctor continues, “You see, we in the Research & Development division have dedicated a significant amount of our lives to seeing this project through to completion. Certain factors have finally come together, finally, allowing us to offer the educational scholarship as well as the financial compensation to those of you that fulfill our requirements.”
The doctor looks outwards at the crowd, “I wish I could go in depth about what exactly will occur to you if you are chosen. However, for us to benefit the most from this study we must insist on following certain procedural guidelines set forth by A.I.I., A.R.M.R.D., and above all else the scientific method.”
Dr. Blanchard pauses to wet his lips, “You see, what I can divulge to you all is that our project has reached a point where we must make observations of those participating. To best do this, we will subject you to certain tests and activities before, during, and after this study to understand you and your overall health. For the most part, these activities will be either physically or mentally taxing to you, and sensors will monitor your levels of stress as well as fatigue and overall your general success rate versus your failure rate.” At this divulging of data a good number of students in the crows begin to talk amongst one another and Dr. Blanchard does his best to regain control over the large body of people talking about twenty-four hour surveillance for the duration of the study.
“People, please! Allow me to limit your concerns. The monitoring of your health and fitness will be minimal during certain periods and near nonexistent for a good deal of the other times. We certainly do not intend to create a “Big-Brother” styled surveillance network where your everyday actions get review by a team of crack professional - not by any means.”
Bringing his attention back to Van, Dr. Blanchard asks him, “Does this answer your question?”
"Yes thank you."
Rhys raises his hand next. "Is there any chance of harm coming to the subject, in other words, is this experiment ethically reasonable?"
So, are you going to be testing drugs on us? Or some sort of surgery? Or some sort of procedure, something more like x-rays? Maybe you can't tell us what this is intended to accomplish, but you should at least be able to tell us how you're going to go about accomplishing it.
That was intended to come after the previous question gets answered.
Doctor Blanchard points to Rhys and nods his head, “I understand your concern. I can assure you that it is highly improbable that anything dangerous will befall any of the participants in this study. For the most part, we are mainly looking to identify certain protein markers within the DNA of each participant. With the datum collected during these tests, we will be able to make magnificent strides in discovering what it means to be human.”
There is a short pause, and another student calls out for a little more clarity in the procedures that will take place during the study. Doctor Blanchard glances at the man, who seems to have a large oil stain on the lower half of his shirt. “Sadly, I cannot offer much more to answer this question, as doing so would negate the scientific process and outright waste the ludicrous amounts of money that have been spent so far on this study. However, as I said just now, the chances of any dangers befalling any of the participants of this study are minute. Many, many precautions have been taken and will be strictly followed by all members of the research staff; under no exception will anyone be placed in a situation where specific dangers present themselves.”
While the doctor’s voice remains firm he does present a demeanor of compassion otherwise unseen in the research world. “Are there any other questions that you would like to ask before we move onto the next phase of this application process?” A few hands go up and the doctor chooses a petite woman near the front. Her question to him is about the final number of core participants, and he explains to her as well as the rest of the group that A.I.I. has bankrolled for at least four members to remain as participants of the study if not more depending on the overall success.
The remaining hands slowly disappear over the span of twenty minutes, each question is given a fair amount of time by the Doctor, he never seems to loose patience with the series of questions that attempt to pry more information about the process used to evaluate the data collection or the participants overall health before, during, and after the tests. Finally, no more questions are asked and Doctor Blanchard informs those still in the room that while, none are guaranteed a place on the test subject list, that each and everyone of them have a fair chance as the tests will plot a massive number of data sets.
The room lights come back up and located at the rear of the room, stand two identical student identification kiosks, each displays a small LCD measuring six square inches with the A.I.I. logo, the Vitruvian Man, and the C.C.U. school logo. The front of each kiosk glows blue where the card reader tallies and identifies the Radio Identification Chip stored within the plastic card.
Doctor Blanchard speaks up once again, “Thank you all for being a part of this momentous moment. As you see, located in the rear of this room directly before the exits, are two student identification kiosks. Each linked directly to a mainframe containing a database of all of the original applications for this study, if you believe you are prepared to take the next step, and would like to be considered, please swipe your ID at the front of either kiosk. The display will go from blue, to green to let you know that the scan has succeeded in registering you for the next phase of the application. You are all welcome to stay and mingle; I will be available for a short period to answer any questions that you may be too embarrassed to ask otherwise. Moreover, please know, I truly am glad that you attended today. Thank you.”
Van, at this point bored with the formalities of the operation, stands up and stretches. He works his way into the line and tries to make conversation with a student near him. “Hey, how are we looking for the game Saturday?”
Rhys, who had been sitting near the back of the room, quickly stood, and was one of the first in line. He quickly scanned his card, making sure the screen turned green. He then waits outside the door, fingering the cards in his pocket and looking for some of his friends to play poker with.
OOC: My bad, my bad, I managed to triple click the post button...
OOC: Just to clarify, does Van get up while the doctor is still speaking or does he wait until after the devices are introduced?
Dan gets his card scanned, then looks around to see if anyone he knows is nearby.
Oh, after the devices are introduced. Van's a little slow about getting up too, not in a terrible hurry to confirm his I.D.
Rhys, sitting near the rear of the meeting room, is one of the first people in line to scan his ID card. The reader blinks from blue to green, and a short message appears on the screen thanking you for showing interest in the project to the left of the message appears the original photo of Rhys taken during his orientation to the school, it is the same image that also resides on the face of his ID Card.
Van stands and makes his way to the main aisle, there is a short row of fellow students lining up at one of the terminals, and he begins to make small talk with a co-ed standing before him. She is a small waif of a girl, who stands no more than 5’4”; she turns slightly to face Van and smiles at him as they discuss the upcoming sports games. Century City University proudly boasts a highly successful sports department, making significant personnel contributions to numerous professional leagues; she gives her name as Wilda, Wilda Crosby, and is currently majoring in Funeral Service and Mortuary Science. Their friendly banter goes back and forth until she surprises Van with an invitation to an upcoming party hosted by the large sorority, Delta Zeta.
As Dan makes his way to the rear of the room, he notices a good deal of the students still sitting in small groups, they seem to be chatting about the presentation that Doctor Blanchard made, the possibilities of hidden dangers, and the well-needed financial promises if picked. Glancing over his shoulder he notices Edwardo “Skin” Stanley speaking to Dr. Blanchard at the base of the curtain, the good doctor has since gotten down from the stage and has a small number of students surrounding him, while Dan cannot overhear their discussion, he can tell that Skin is happy about whatever Dr. Blanchard has said.
Over the next five or six minutes, the hall has cleared out significantly, Dan readies himself as he approaches the kiosk and as he scans his ID he feels a few fingers tap him on the shoulder. Turning, he greets Skin and asks him what he asked the Doctor during the personal Q&A. Skin smiles and gives a noncommittal grunt about preexisting conditions that may reflect negatively on the study, he is no doubt referring to Vitiligo, the condition that garnered his nickname.
Skin mentions to Dan that whatever Blanchard and A.R.M.R.D. has planned, it is going to be very interesting for whoever is chosen. Skin reaches behind Dan and scans his ID at the terminal as well and the two head outside into the noticeably cooler and fresher air.
Rhys calmly sits beneath one of the shady trees, enjoying the cool breeze after being shutter in a small and poorly ventilated hall for well over an hour. While he certainly did not dawdle in scanning his ID, Rhys can identify at least twenty students who must have been sitting near him and must have skipped out on scanning. He smiled knowing that his chances just got a bit better, and nothing excited Rhys as much as knowing that the statistics had just gotten better.
Van stares at Wilda for a moment, slightly taken aback by the invitation. “Yeah, yeah, sure. What’s the time?” Van continues to talk to the girl as he makes his way through the line, basically killing time. He asks what drew her to her profession, asks about sports, whatever he can pass off as being normal conversation topics.As he does so Van begins to fiddle with the needle in his pocket.
Rhys rests under the tree for a while longer, counting the people that walk out of the performance center to try to get an idea of the remaining applicants. Once most of the students have left, Rhys starts heading back to his dorm lounge and tries to contact some of his friends to get a poker game together later that night.
Once Van's done talking, he decides that he should probably get going. He's working as an assistant in the infirmary and he figures that he can't be late for that.
On the way, Van decides to check in at the computer lab. If a computer is free he picks one, signs in, and checks his account. He looks through any updates to the news sites and articles he has tagged, looking for any interesting changes.
OOC: Sorry for the delay, I had to catch up on some school work. Not to mention waiting to see if Dan was going to post.
IC: At Van’s acceptance, Wilda smiles warmly, she tells him that the party begins around 7:00 PM, but that the party will not pick up until nearly 9:00. As the line grows shorter and shorter, they talk briefly about the sports teams but Van gets the idea that she has a very weak grasp on the specifics of each sport. Van wisely changes the topic back to her and what interests her about her major, she tells him in no small way, that she has a very strong respect for those that have walked the same streets, and byways of yesteryear. Moreover, Wilda feels that it is only proper to direct a vigilant remembrance of their contributions to the world through appropriate preparation, burial, and memorial.
They both scan their IDs and as they are leaving the hall, Wilda grabs a hold of Van’s hand and quickly jots down her phone number on the fleshy part of his palm. She reminds him to call her before arriving, and asks him to invite any friends that he thinks may enjoy the festivities.
Meanwhile, Rhys continues to relax, propped against a tree just outside the entrance of the DeLorean Performance Center, he continues to watch people as they leave the center making educated guesses about their chances within the project. After about half an hour, Rhys determines that only a few people remain within the building and decides to return to the dorms to find some of his comrades and see if any of them may be interested in a pickup game of poker to pass the hours. It takes a few minutes for Rhys to get to one of the campus shuttle stops, and he patiently waits for the next approaching van to drop him off at the residential area of the campus. While he waits, Rhys considers some of his friend’s tells and wonders what his is… sometimes they always seem to tell when he has an incredible hand.
Nearly an hour has passed since the doctor concluded his talk; Van quickly approaches the campus clinic, and with a quick observation of his wristwatch determines that he can stop by one of the Student Centers to check his email. Pulling up to one of the unattended terminals, Van places his ID on the smart-reader and the screen flashes from it’s energy-saving screensaver to the generic campus-wide desktop layout. Loading up the email client, Van quickly scans the senders before checking the subject lines. He filters a few of them into his junk mail folder and makes a quick memo to himself to alter the settings on his campus box to restrict the displays to only those he can identify. One email, in particular, catches his attention, the timestamp indicates the end of the meeting with Doctor Blanchard, and the message is a simple one; “Thank you for your continued interest in A.R.M.R.D. & C.C.U.’s joint student study, you have been identified as a candidate of continued interest. Please await our message; you will be contacted in the near future instructing you of your next steps.”
Alright, Van copies the number onto his account, worried that he’ll lose it in the infirmary if his palms get sweaty. He goes into the infirmary and walks up to the head doctor, fully dressed and ready for surgery. “Sir, I’m ready to do my duties. Any chance of letting me fly solo today?”
So I'm still wandering around with 'Skin?' All right then.
"That so-called informational meeting told us nothing. It kills me that I have no idea what they're going to do to me, and that I'm gonna let them do it anyway. What're you going to do with the money, if you get in?"
Not much to say really, if Rhys can get friends together he plays poker, if he can't, even though he believes it pales in comparison to real life, he plays online.
Well, if Josh has no objections, we could decide that Dan and Rhys know each other. Would Skin be up for a game of poker? Dan would be, as long as the stakes are low.
No problems here, Dan and Rhys knowing each other is fine by me, and low stakes are fine by Rhys.
OOC: No, no problems here with you two knowing each other. Sorry for the delay, I should hopefully have something posted either today or tomorrow.
"Sir? Are you going to have me assisting today, or handle a patient alone?"
So we're in Rhys' room?
"Hey Rhys. What's the game tonight? You met Skin? Good guy, he wants to play."
We'll sit down and get started. If you want any money to actually change hands, tell us how to decide how much and to whom.
"I saw you at that meeting for the experiment earlier. Very mysterious. What did you think?"
OOC: Wow, sorry about that everyone. I don’t know what happened there.
IC: Van’s boss – Dr. Waldheim Umgato – the head of the campus health department nods as he enters the health center. Quickly checking the time on his watch, he cocks an eyebrow at Van, “You’re a bit early today Van; I wasn’t expecting you until near 4:00 PM. This is a very good thing, having you here. It shows great,” he pauses looking for the right word, English is not his first language, its closer to his forth, “exuberance in your desire to impress and garner many knowledges.”
Van smiles at Dr. Umgato’s pleasant demeanor, “Sir? Are you going to have me assisting today, or handle a patient alone?”
Waldheim contemplates Van’s request it appears he is considering this question, “… No, I do not think today you should be on your own. I understand you wish to show your skills, but I wish for you to assist me in a few of my ‘rounds’.” That term, rounds, which holds significant weight in a normal medical setting is mainly a running joke at the CCU medical center, most patients are students who have overworked themselves physically or mentally and require a few hours of rest. Rarely a larger issue occurs where a student may sprain an ankle or have a STD outbreak in which case Dr. Umgato works his years of medical wisdom by administering the proper prescription and sending them on their way.
As they walk the halls of the medical center, Dr. Umgato turns an eye towards Van, “Word is that you’re entertaining the idea of providing yourself to A.I.I., is what I hear true?”
Prior to the arrival of Dan and Skin to Rhys room, Rhys’ sees a notice on his screen informing him that he has new mail. A few routine announcements submitted via the student/advisor direct mailer, which sends short announcements of campus activities, potential work-study positions, upcoming celebrations, etc. to the entire campus body. A few replies to correspondences, but most interesting to Rhys is a message from an unknown sender – “Thank you for your continued interest in A.R.M.R.D. & C.C.U.’s joint student study; you have been identified as a candidate of continued interest. Please await our message; you will be contacted in the near future instructing you of your next steps.”
“That’s right sir, I signed up today. I already got an e-mail, and they said that they were interested in me. The scholarship is quite attractive, though they didn’t say what exactly we were going to be doing.” Van scans the hallway, thoroughly bored with the “rounds” but eager to see Dr. Umgato at work. “I’m hoping to catch a glimpse at some of their medical equipment, for the amount of money they have, they’ve got to be kept well stocked with the latest gadgets. That’s actually why I’m signing up, I’m hoping to use the money to buy a higher-quality microscope for analyzing blood. Why do you ask, have you had any experience with A.I.I. before?”
"Ah, nice to see you," starts Rhys upon Dan's entrance. He grabs poker chips and cards off his desk. "I've only met 'skin' in passing, but he's welcome to join. We can play poker if you want, and however much you'd like as stakes is good by me, I just want to gamble."
"Anyway, that meeting today seemed a little fishy, but I can understand the need to hide specifics. Well, I'll be able to find out a little more anyway, since I just got notification that I got into round two. If you want you can use my computer to check for the same."
@Van:
“Ah, that is a truly astute question, Van.” Dr. Umgato slowly reads over a chart before placing it and the clipboard it connects to back in the patient chart stand. “I have had a few experiences with A.I.I., all in the past, and most… pleasant.”
“There are things you need to understand when dealing with anyone at A.I.I., they may offer you the world, but they will expect an equal payment… eventually. To say I am inexperienced in business would be a fair assessment of my skills, but even I can tell you that a company doesn’t become an industry leader in as many fields as A.I.I. without some questionable choices.”
Dr. Umgato seems a bit grim while he speaks; he continues to walk the halls checking in on a few patients. The treatment rooms are mostly empty, a janitor rounds one of the far corners with a bright yellow mop bucket and quietly begins cleaning the floor, he glances about and decides against placing the “Wet Floor” signs out. There isn’t anyone in the vicinity to warn anyway.
“You have a good head on your shoulders, Van. I trust that you have enough common sense to avoid placing yourself in any agreements without fully understanding the seriousness of what they have to offer you,” Dr. Umgato goes on to say.
Dr. Umgato stops and peers towards the wall-clock, then back towards Van before he asks a question that seems to be troubling him. “Van, tell me, who is the gentleman in charge of this study? Do you know his name?”
@Rhys:
Skin glances about Rhys’ room for a moment before smiling and settling down at the table, “Good to see ya ‘gain, Rhys. I don’t know how to feel ‘bout this study.”
Once Rhys mentions his acceptance and offers the computer to Dan, Skin arches his eyebrows, “Ya mind if check? Quick acceptance could mean a real good thing.”
"Oo yeah. After Skin, I'll want to know too. Of course, my curiosity is killing me. What are they gonna do to us? I wonder if we could shake down the research assistants for more info..."
“Umm…I think it was a Blanchard, Dr. Blanchard. Weird guy, just showed us some video, avoided any questions and had us swipe our cards. Fair payment for offering us the world you say? Well, you don’t need to worry about me sir, they may be offering the world but I don’t want it. My aims are not so…gluttonous I guess is the word I’m looking for. They can keep the world for themselves, so long as I have enough room to move.”
"Of course you can check, I don't mind... I gotta say though, I hope to get more information soon, the fact that we're almost completely in the dark here is a little unnerving."
Sorry for the quiet front, I've been working on finals this week and will be traveling out of the US this weekend. I should be back to my normal postings on the 12th, give or take.
Hey, did we still need a fourth player? I still may be able to pull one in, if you guys still wanted one.
Dang... I'm really sorry everybody. Things have been a bit... insane (promotion at work, harder classwork, goal of building quality time with the wife, sleep somewhere in there.)
I'm very excited about this game, I don't want to give up on it.
A forth player would be stupendous!
I completely understand about the quality time. Wifes require a lot of time and energy, just like any other pet. And promotion? Congratulations.
Thanks, the life of a temp will finally be a thing of the past. I'm gonna have Business Cards!!!
Sweet. When I'm up in August, you'll have to give me one. You're moving up in the world.
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