Orpheus: Out with a whimper, part 40
Feb. 15th, 2005 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassThere was Orpheus last night. You all know what that means.
Orpheus: Out with a whimper, part 40
Early morning, day six after Orpheus fell.
Lakuna has snuck off to get more cyanide for Chet, from the same source the cop got it, a water filtration plant. Though dangerous, Lakuna gets through it swiftly and returns with no one the wiser. She returns to sit by Stacey, who is stabilizing but far from better.
Stacey, meanwhile, is having flashbacks to a hospital in Iraq. Her face is burned and blown off, so is her chest. She feels every knife-cut, every needle, every pinch of pressure. The doctors had thought that the burns would provide their own anasthetic by their pain. They were wrong.
Lakuna watches as Stacey mumbles in her sleep. For a few moments, she slips into lucidity. It is just long enough to find out that Trish has seen her in this condition and is not taking it well, and to get Lakuna to promise that no one will leave the house. Then she goes back into her labored sleep.
As Stacey goes back to sleep, Lakuna brings the cyanide up to Chet. Instead of the "thanks" Lakuna was expecting, Chet becomes morose and accusative because Lakuna left the house without permission. The two argue about whether Lakuna was right to leave, and about how Chet has done so in the past. In the end, Lakuna leaves and returns to the den. Stacey is not there.
Meanwhile: Charles and Spike are playing in the backyard. Unexpectedly, Spike transforms back into Benoit with a rubber ball in his mouth, which he promptly spits out. He looks around, realizes he's back at the house, and jokes, "I guess nobody died, then." Charles explains that no, no one died, but that Stacey is stabilizing. Benoit takes a minute to absorb this information, and finally asks what the hell happened to Stacey. Through other such verbal blunders on Charles' part, Benoit learns:
- Stacey has cyanide poisoning by trying to carry cyanide back with her when she projected. She was close to death but is now stable.
- The group has discovered yet another personality inside him: someone linked to Chet. (Benoit theorizes it's a past gay lover.)
- Charles is able to control when Benoit shifts between forms. Benoit is surprised and not pleased.
- Apparently the whole group is able to control when Benoit shifts, to an extent. He is not sure, however, why he shifted to Chet's associated person when it was Stacey in trouble.
After this conversation, Benoit returns inside. Not quite knowing what he's doing, he scavanges the medicine cabinet and the nurses' med-kit and goes to Stacey's side. He injects her with a mixture of advil and a certain steriod, along with an adrenaline shot. Stacey wakes up with a start and a gasp. Benoit firmly tells her to project (he looks like Benoit, but his voice is deeper, some part of Stacey's mind registers). She tells him to find her a mirror, and he does. She projects. He grasps her hands and shares vitality with her, then unprojects and injects himself as well.
Stacey, suddenly, is feeling much better. Still confused, but at least lucid and able to move. She looks to Benoit, who seems just as confused as she is. Benoit goes off to wash out the shotglass he was using and to get another drink. Stacey goes to find her sister.
Trish is playing Halo with Dave, who also seems to be recovering. Stacey waits at the door and says hi, Trish says hi back. Dave looks confused and gets taken out by Trish. Stacey finally realizes she is still projecting, and that she does not have her shirt or dog-tags on. She goes back downstairs to put them on and stop projecting, then comes back.
After a few tense moments (at least for Stacey), she finally tells her sister that if she needs to talk, Stacey will be downstairs in the kitchen. And away she goes.
Benoit, meanwhile, has gotten his drink and gone to the library to discover what the fuck he did to Stacey. It turns out the concoction he gave her was the base of a neutralizer for cyanide, meant to be taken in small doses over a long term. Instead, with the adrenaline shot, it went through her system in a matter of minutes. The risk to this procedure is that it risked giving her a cardiac arrest. Though he now knows what he did, Benoit still has no idea why he did it or how he knew to do it.
Lakuna, confused, finds Stacey up and about in the kitchen. They speak about what has happened since last night, and Lakuna asks if Stacey, too, will yell at her about leaving without telling anyone. Stacey just sighs, not in the mood to argue, and acknowledges that it worked out. She asks Lakuna not to do it again.
Lakuna also asks Stacey about Trish. Lakuna thinks that Trish somehow knows something about what's going on (eg: the tattoos she painted on Charles), and Lakuna wants to find out more. She suggests talking to Trish, and possibly teaching her. She assures Stacey that she does not need to make a decision now, but that she wanted to bring up the topic.
Towards the end of this conversation, Benoit returns to the kitchen to join Stacey and Lakuna. They talk about nothing in particular. Stacey mentions that now that it seems everyone is recovering, the group could take a few days off without panic. As she turns to the radio to get Ripley's confirmation, Lakuna and Benoit slip off to the other room.
There, they both are in firm agreement that the group should not take off a few days. Instead, they are now able to do some proactive planning, perhaps finding other crucibles, or discovering more about Kildaire. Lakuna confirms that she was far more lucid and stable when taking care of other people, than when they were worried about her. To Benoit's questioning, Lakuna confirms that his latest personality is Chet's father (not his gay lover), and that he's a doctor.
The two continue talking about potential plans, and then return to the kitchen, where Stacey continues to sit at the table. They start making breakfast.
Meanwhile: Chet has his ingredients, but not the equipment he needs to mix them. He finds Dave and they come up with a plan to send him (Dave) to a nearby university campus to hire some students to "acquire" some equipment from the lab. Trish volunteers to go along, as Dave can't exactly drive. They also decide to ask Charles if he would be willing to inhabit the car and go with them. Chet gives Trish a list of things he needs, and then goes off to consult Charles.
Charles is in his study playing a new song (another one, incidentally, which he has written for Lakuna). Chet enters towards the closing strains of the song and tells him about the plan. Charles agrees to help and goes down to the garage to meet Trish and Dave. The trio head off.
Stacey, Lakuna, and Benoit hear the sound of a car leaving from the kitchen. Lakuna rushes to one window, Benoit to another. Stacey stands up to rush to a window, grabs the table for support, and sits down again hard. At this moment, Chet comes in and tells them what is happening. Predictably, Lakuna, Benoit, and Stacey are outraged.
Stacey is, perhaps, most upset. She asks Chet how he could let her sister go off without telling anyone. Chet explains that Trish volunteered. Stacey doesn't care: Trish is only seventeen! It doesn't matter if she volunteered or not, because she doesn't know what's good for her!
Finally, Stacey realizes it is no good to argue, as the three have already gone. Instead she sits down and waits for them to come back. While they wait, it turns out that Ripley has finally managed an internet connection. The keys sound like bones popping and the screen has the texture of eyeballs, but it is at least a working connection.
Benoit and Chet begin going over news stories, find the one in which Chet is accused of murder (a story which, incidentally, lists many of his other misdemeanors and accuses Orpheus of hiring disreputable people and criminals). Stacey and Benoit quickly decide the video they are playing is both doctored and wrong, but that it would convince ignorant people. Chet eventually leaves the computer and goes back to his room.
After some time, the trio of Dave, Trish, and Charles return. Dave nimbly hobbles along on his one-arm crutch. (Stacey vaguely calls marching next to an old veterened drill instructor yelling, "Come on, ladies! Can't you keep up with a thirty-five-year-old muther-fuckin' cripple! I've got one leg! What the fuck is your excuse?!")
Trish helps unload the equipment into Chet's room (and Dave covertly passes Chet a carton of cigarettes). Trish and Dave are dressed in matching dark shades and trenchcoats. Stacey thinks about yelling at Trish, thinks better of it, and simply contents herself with the fact that she returns home all right.
Charles finds his body hanging in his closet, his arms spread out and tied to the clothing bar, his feet bound together, in a stange kind of crucifixion. He sighs and returns to it, trying to figure out what happened, but in the end blaming Trish (not that he'd tell her that).
The session ends with Lakuna reading in the den, Trish and Dave playing video games, Chet in his room working on concocting the serum, Charles playing music in his study, and Stacey doing stretches in the gym. It is mid-afternoon on the six day since Orpheus fell.
LC, remind me next time that we have to roll CBR for each other. As usual, Orpheus people, feel free to correct me or fill in gaps that I've missed.
Orpheus: Out with a whimper, part 40
Early morning, day six after Orpheus fell.
Lakuna has snuck off to get more cyanide for Chet, from the same source the cop got it, a water filtration plant. Though dangerous, Lakuna gets through it swiftly and returns with no one the wiser. She returns to sit by Stacey, who is stabilizing but far from better.
Stacey, meanwhile, is having flashbacks to a hospital in Iraq. Her face is burned and blown off, so is her chest. She feels every knife-cut, every needle, every pinch of pressure. The doctors had thought that the burns would provide their own anasthetic by their pain. They were wrong.
Lakuna watches as Stacey mumbles in her sleep. For a few moments, she slips into lucidity. It is just long enough to find out that Trish has seen her in this condition and is not taking it well, and to get Lakuna to promise that no one will leave the house. Then she goes back into her labored sleep.
As Stacey goes back to sleep, Lakuna brings the cyanide up to Chet. Instead of the "thanks" Lakuna was expecting, Chet becomes morose and accusative because Lakuna left the house without permission. The two argue about whether Lakuna was right to leave, and about how Chet has done so in the past. In the end, Lakuna leaves and returns to the den. Stacey is not there.
Meanwhile: Charles and Spike are playing in the backyard. Unexpectedly, Spike transforms back into Benoit with a rubber ball in his mouth, which he promptly spits out. He looks around, realizes he's back at the house, and jokes, "I guess nobody died, then." Charles explains that no, no one died, but that Stacey is stabilizing. Benoit takes a minute to absorb this information, and finally asks what the hell happened to Stacey. Through other such verbal blunders on Charles' part, Benoit learns:
- Stacey has cyanide poisoning by trying to carry cyanide back with her when she projected. She was close to death but is now stable.
- The group has discovered yet another personality inside him: someone linked to Chet. (Benoit theorizes it's a past gay lover.)
- Charles is able to control when Benoit shifts between forms. Benoit is surprised and not pleased.
- Apparently the whole group is able to control when Benoit shifts, to an extent. He is not sure, however, why he shifted to Chet's associated person when it was Stacey in trouble.
After this conversation, Benoit returns inside. Not quite knowing what he's doing, he scavanges the medicine cabinet and the nurses' med-kit and goes to Stacey's side. He injects her with a mixture of advil and a certain steriod, along with an adrenaline shot. Stacey wakes up with a start and a gasp. Benoit firmly tells her to project (he looks like Benoit, but his voice is deeper, some part of Stacey's mind registers). She tells him to find her a mirror, and he does. She projects. He grasps her hands and shares vitality with her, then unprojects and injects himself as well.
Stacey, suddenly, is feeling much better. Still confused, but at least lucid and able to move. She looks to Benoit, who seems just as confused as she is. Benoit goes off to wash out the shotglass he was using and to get another drink. Stacey goes to find her sister.
Trish is playing Halo with Dave, who also seems to be recovering. Stacey waits at the door and says hi, Trish says hi back. Dave looks confused and gets taken out by Trish. Stacey finally realizes she is still projecting, and that she does not have her shirt or dog-tags on. She goes back downstairs to put them on and stop projecting, then comes back.
After a few tense moments (at least for Stacey), she finally tells her sister that if she needs to talk, Stacey will be downstairs in the kitchen. And away she goes.
Benoit, meanwhile, has gotten his drink and gone to the library to discover what the fuck he did to Stacey. It turns out the concoction he gave her was the base of a neutralizer for cyanide, meant to be taken in small doses over a long term. Instead, with the adrenaline shot, it went through her system in a matter of minutes. The risk to this procedure is that it risked giving her a cardiac arrest. Though he now knows what he did, Benoit still has no idea why he did it or how he knew to do it.
Lakuna, confused, finds Stacey up and about in the kitchen. They speak about what has happened since last night, and Lakuna asks if Stacey, too, will yell at her about leaving without telling anyone. Stacey just sighs, not in the mood to argue, and acknowledges that it worked out. She asks Lakuna not to do it again.
Lakuna also asks Stacey about Trish. Lakuna thinks that Trish somehow knows something about what's going on (eg: the tattoos she painted on Charles), and Lakuna wants to find out more. She suggests talking to Trish, and possibly teaching her. She assures Stacey that she does not need to make a decision now, but that she wanted to bring up the topic.
Towards the end of this conversation, Benoit returns to the kitchen to join Stacey and Lakuna. They talk about nothing in particular. Stacey mentions that now that it seems everyone is recovering, the group could take a few days off without panic. As she turns to the radio to get Ripley's confirmation, Lakuna and Benoit slip off to the other room.
There, they both are in firm agreement that the group should not take off a few days. Instead, they are now able to do some proactive planning, perhaps finding other crucibles, or discovering more about Kildaire. Lakuna confirms that she was far more lucid and stable when taking care of other people, than when they were worried about her. To Benoit's questioning, Lakuna confirms that his latest personality is Chet's father (not his gay lover), and that he's a doctor.
The two continue talking about potential plans, and then return to the kitchen, where Stacey continues to sit at the table. They start making breakfast.
Meanwhile: Chet has his ingredients, but not the equipment he needs to mix them. He finds Dave and they come up with a plan to send him (Dave) to a nearby university campus to hire some students to "acquire" some equipment from the lab. Trish volunteers to go along, as Dave can't exactly drive. They also decide to ask Charles if he would be willing to inhabit the car and go with them. Chet gives Trish a list of things he needs, and then goes off to consult Charles.
Charles is in his study playing a new song (another one, incidentally, which he has written for Lakuna). Chet enters towards the closing strains of the song and tells him about the plan. Charles agrees to help and goes down to the garage to meet Trish and Dave. The trio head off.
Stacey, Lakuna, and Benoit hear the sound of a car leaving from the kitchen. Lakuna rushes to one window, Benoit to another. Stacey stands up to rush to a window, grabs the table for support, and sits down again hard. At this moment, Chet comes in and tells them what is happening. Predictably, Lakuna, Benoit, and Stacey are outraged.
Stacey is, perhaps, most upset. She asks Chet how he could let her sister go off without telling anyone. Chet explains that Trish volunteered. Stacey doesn't care: Trish is only seventeen! It doesn't matter if she volunteered or not, because she doesn't know what's good for her!
Finally, Stacey realizes it is no good to argue, as the three have already gone. Instead she sits down and waits for them to come back. While they wait, it turns out that Ripley has finally managed an internet connection. The keys sound like bones popping and the screen has the texture of eyeballs, but it is at least a working connection.
Benoit and Chet begin going over news stories, find the one in which Chet is accused of murder (a story which, incidentally, lists many of his other misdemeanors and accuses Orpheus of hiring disreputable people and criminals). Stacey and Benoit quickly decide the video they are playing is both doctored and wrong, but that it would convince ignorant people. Chet eventually leaves the computer and goes back to his room.
After some time, the trio of Dave, Trish, and Charles return. Dave nimbly hobbles along on his one-arm crutch. (Stacey vaguely calls marching next to an old veterened drill instructor yelling, "Come on, ladies! Can't you keep up with a thirty-five-year-old muther-fuckin' cripple! I've got one leg! What the fuck is your excuse?!")
Trish helps unload the equipment into Chet's room (and Dave covertly passes Chet a carton of cigarettes). Trish and Dave are dressed in matching dark shades and trenchcoats. Stacey thinks about yelling at Trish, thinks better of it, and simply contents herself with the fact that she returns home all right.
Charles finds his body hanging in his closet, his arms spread out and tied to the clothing bar, his feet bound together, in a stange kind of crucifixion. He sighs and returns to it, trying to figure out what happened, but in the end blaming Trish (not that he'd tell her that).
The session ends with Lakuna reading in the den, Trish and Dave playing video games, Chet in his room working on concocting the serum, Charles playing music in his study, and Stacey doing stretches in the gym. It is mid-afternoon on the six day since Orpheus fell.
LC, remind me next time that we have to roll CBR for each other. As usual, Orpheus people, feel free to correct me or fill in gaps that I've missed.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-17 04:49 am (UTC)Shouldn't it be "Lacuna", not "Lakuna"?
The planning we did (Lacuna and Benoit) will come to grisly fruition next game.