Hey there, sorry for the huge delay. Life happened. One of us had to work a lot while the other wasn't feeling that good. A timeframe like this won't happen again. Promised! I hope you like this chapter, reviews are always appreciated and encouraging. =)
HorrorSquid, over and out!
Jane.
She barely stirs at the voice, too tired from long nights in the lab, and only mumbles a vague response of either acknowledgement or demand to leave her be. Both responses are debatable and even her own ears wouldn't have been able to get her own drowsy mind's input because of the low rhythm of her music coming from her ear buds.
"For Christ's sakes, Jane. Wake. Up!" A slam against the surface she's currently using as a rest for her elbow – which is, in turn, holding up her head – startles her awake with a jump and a yelp. She quickly jerks out her headphones, dropping them as if on fire, and looks up to the unmoved Dr. Lawson, his arms crossed at his chest.
"Uh, sir." She stands and wipes her face with a hand, to both check for any possible – and embarrassing – drool and to rub the sleep away from her features. "Sorry. I must have slipped off."
"Not surprising." He takes a deep, long breath as he partially rolls his eyes, but Jane doesn't really mind it. She's used to his unique form of belittling attitude and she's really more interested in the large box he brought. Seeing her interest, he reaches in a grabs a wrapped piece of beef as well as a whole, raw chicken. "It's been five days since that thing," he motions to the glass cage behind her, "has been here. What were your reading from that food you found?"
She brightens at the thought of 575 showing her yesterday where its food stash had been and stands, moving to the readouts from the computers. She hands her boss the file she's put together on the alien's supposed food. "I've run secondary tests to be sure, but it seems like it contains the supplemental equivalent of what a carnivorous species would need to function. Sure, there are some weird levels that wouldn't necessarily work on Earth, as well as some things the computers can't pick out. And then there's the different DNA structure of what I think are dehydrated meat chunks, but it seems like we might be able to-"
He waves a hand. "Yes, yes. We can supplement its diet here." He turns away and her expression falls, her excitement dissipating. "I had already assumed that. Come here." She sets aside the readouts and approaches him at the laid out meats, their backs to the glass cage. "I am to have a meeting with the General to introduce our findings so far. I am confident he will finally lift the ban on contact directly with the creature." He pulls out a syringe from the box and injects the piece of beef with half before moving to the chicken.
"Uh, what is that?" she asks in curiosity as he hands her the empty needle to cap and dispose of. She twists the cover on as she ask, "Is this for 5-"
"Quiet!" he snaps and she can't help the slight jump in surprise. He gives her the coldest glare and she drops her eyes, biting her lip. "It can hear us," he says lowly through gritted teeth.
What? Everyone has known, but me? Typical… still would have helped to know.
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't know." Well, she did, but she wasn't going to openly admit to interacting with 575 even though they've been told – threatened nicely – not to go near it.
Dr. Lawson rolls his eyes. "Of course not. I didn't think you'd blab out like a schoolgirl, Jane." She nods in silent apology as he motions her to throw the syringe away as he moves to the sink to wash his hands. "Feed the thing before collecting those readouts from the tests I ordered before I left last night. I will be attending the debriefing and I'd like to have everything to present to the General." He wipes his hands and tosses the discarded paper towel. "With luck, the insipid man may finally let me do my job and examine the creature."
She sees him heading out again and blinks in surprise, hating herself for asking even as the words are slipping out. "Where are you going?" She inwardly cringes.
He looks to her, a brow raised slightly. "You expect me to approach the General in my lab gear?" He motions his slightly worn button up and slacks, typical of what he usually wears while working. "Am I not to tryand gain some respect, Jane?"
"Of course," she responds, biting her lip as she tries to avoid his eyes with something veryinteresting on the scrolls screens of dancing triangles that make up the computer's screen saver. "You're right, Doctor." She sees his slight shake of head as he leaves the room, letting the door slide closed and seal behind him.
She sighs, her shoulders drooping, and moves to the cabinets to grab something to put the – now contaminated – meat on so it at least looks like she isn't feeding 575 directly on the dirty floor. She'll warn it of the possible sedatives injected in the meat, but at least laying the food out will make the Doctor think that the alien just didn't want it. Better than whatever else he had planned should his proposal go through with General Hackett.
Looking up at the only available tray big enough being on the top shelf, she huffs in frustration. "Of course," she says to no one, being nowhere nearclose enough to reach, and looks around for something to stand on. Turning around, she locks eyes with 575, its head tilted slightly in interest, and that's it – nothing to stand on for a boost and nothing that could help her reach.
"Want to see something entertaining?" she deadpans and one of those things along its jaw twitches. She takes a deep breath in exasperation and turns back to the shelves, shoving her hands on her hips when she sees only one option besides just throwing the food on the disgusting floor. "Dang it."
Dropping her hands with a huff, she moves to the counter directly below the cabinet. Putting her hands first, then one knee, then the next, she climbs up on the raised surface. That down, she grabs a set of shelves higher up and uses them to pull herself to her feet on the counter, like a child.
Right… child. Except I'm in my twenties and still too short to reach the top shelf.
Still to short, she uses the shelves to support her weight a bit as she lifts to her tip toes and reaches up for the tray. Something falls, but it doesn't shatter, so she leaves it for later as her fingers just barely nudge the bottom of the tray. She cheers mentally in victory, wiggling the tray further and further off the shelf until she thinks she can grab it and pull it down. Moving her hand, but not fast enough, the tray slips off the shelf and thumps off her head, bouncing off and clattering to the ground.
"Ouch!" She lets go of the shelf, having enough mind to at least not fall from the counter, and clamps her hands over her head. "Crap on toast… that really hurt." She rubs with a hiss at the lump forming and glares down at the stupid tray. Movement across the room shows her 575 has moved to change its angle of sight to get a better look and she sighs, dropping her hands. "That's not what I meant when I said 'something entertaining'."
Figuring she's done enough damage for now, she grabs onto the shelf to help herself sit on the counter before hopping off. She picks up the metal tray and drops it back to the counter to deal with later as she also finds a set of test tube stands she had knocked out of the cabinet. She grabs that and puts it where she thinks it was, but doesn't bother with the specific location because it doesn't stop the doors from shutting when she closes the cabinets.
She takes the tray, one hand rubbing at the sore spot on her head, and puts the meats onto it. "Now, don't tell anyone I told you, but you shouldn't eat these." She carries the food to the cage and squats down, slipping it under the edge of the opening. "Just pretend you don't like them." She stands and, knowing it might need something to eat, she heads to the sink to wash her hands before grabbing one of the foil-wrapped bars she mistakenly tried to taste. God, that was disgusting.
"Here. I don't know if rationing is something you need to do, but I'm putting my foot down." She unwraps the bar and breaks it in half. "You shouldn't be drugged every time you get hungry." She crouches down and places the piece of food down for 575 to get under the glass wall. She smiles when it grabs the little square of brownish… something and puts it in its mouth, tilting back its head to swallow.
"Now," she says as she stands, 575 having eaten its food – and covered any evidence that she didn't follow Dr. Lawson's orders. "I have to go to a meeting with Dr. Lawson, so you're going to be alone for I don't know how long."
She collects the files she's set up from last night and piles them all up on top of each other in a tall tower she can carry all at once. She lifts the pile with a soft grunt and heads for the door. She gives one last look to 575, standing once again and moving away from the wall – most likely to rest again once the lights go out. "Don't get into any trouble, now, while I'm gone," she jokes before she moves the few feet towards the door, activating it to open, and stepping out into the hallway.
He couldn't stand the elder doctor, treating Jane like she's some infant. It was hard for Garrus to keep his vocals under control, to not growl or snarl at this Doctor Lawson. Everyone with two eyes could see that Jane needed sleep, she looked exhausted, spending almost every hour of the day in this lab with him.
His stomach growled as he saw the piece of meat Dr. Lawson brought with him and he hoped it was for him. The ration bar he ate yesterday helped but wasn't enough. Dehydration wasn't a problem anymore but his hunger made him weaker.
He was alone in the lab for almost a half an hour, well almost alone. A steak on a tray was his company and he knew he couldn't eat it, no matter how good it looked and smelled. She warned him that they planned to drug him. At least she gave him one of his nutrition bars, what helped against the hunger. For now. He knew he was running short on rations and he was sure at one point he had to eat the food they brought him, drugs or not.
Worry about that later…
Walking around in this small confined space, a bit training and staring holes in the ceiling can occupy your mind just so much and he felt the need to do something. He moved to the ground to make some pushups, feeling the pain in his back getting worse from the inability to move properly.
Down. A painful growl.
Up. A painful growl.
Down. I have to get out of here.
Up. And maybe see a doctor.
He repeated this for a few minutes until the pain in his lower back was so immense that he collapsed to the ground with a groan.
'Spirits…' With a hand pressed to his back wanted to stand up as he saw that one of the small ear bud she always used to hear music was in his cell. He looked at it and picked it up.
Strange anatomy. He chuckled as he held it against his ear canal.
How this fits in her ear?
He run his hand over it, and took in every detail. No power cord so he assumed that it had to run with an internal power source and suddenly he had an idea. Not sure if his plan would work he tried to stand up what was easier said than done. It took him a while, a lot of cursing and pain before he managed stand. He walked backwards and fell in his bunk, groaning. In his armor he would have had enough painkillers, but it was unnecessary to think about it now. If his plan would work though… It could be very helpful.
And it would make things easier…
His omni-tool came to life has he placed the ear bud in his hand, running an analysis. A vibration let him know that the analysis was complete and he looked at his tool for the results, trilling and with a smile. Some commands later ha was notified that it would take around thirty minutes to finish the task, so he figured he could try to nap a bit as he closed his hand. Shifting in his bunk, he sat against the wall and felt his mind drift away.
It was raining, he was in a room and with one hand he pushed away a curtain as he was looking out a window. Not sure where he was, Garrus looked around. The lightning of a huge thunderstorm brightened the night. His chest vibrated as the loud thunder rolled over them. But there was something else. It sounded like someone was… crying, sobbing. Determined to find out what it was he let the curtain go and turned around. There was another room behind him, the door almost completely shut and the flickering of a muted video screen. The sound get louder as he walked slowly towards the door. This smell was familiar. He opened the door, his eyes got wide and he opened his mouth
*bzzzzz, bzzzzz, bzzzzz* His eyes snapped open as he felt the vibration in his hand. Shaking his head, trying to make some sense of what he just dreamt he opened his hand. A message on his tool stated "100%! Installation Complete!"
His mandibles flared as he smirked and his chest rumbled. Now he just had to wait for Jane to return. He wondered if she would like what he made for her.