I'm not quite dead yet! I see you ROFLCopter and Rebel Skeleton!
"I'm glad that you have been so cooperative with us so far, Jasper," spoke a balding doctor as he stepped into the clinic room. His fancy dress shoes clacked on the tile as he crossed the threshold of the 'Employees Only' side door. With a quiet *click* the door to the staff side hallway latched shut behind him, as he continued. "The others in the trial have been a lot more anxious about the details and the questions and the tests. You've been providing us with good data."
Jasper, who was sitting on the examination table and allowing his eyes to wander around the room, snapped to attention. "Oh yeah, no problem! Honestly, making problems for you would probably only make problems for me," he said. He folded his arms across his chest and shivered. "Though I don't know why you always leave your office so cold," he added. His frost and ice themed Victorian style winter jacket lay discarded in a chair nearby, leaving him in his undershirt for the time being.
The doctor chuckled at Jasper's discomfort as he rearranged the papers on his clipboard. "I prefer to keep the room cooler. The others find it more comfortable to work in here," he said, finishing up his organization. He sat his clipboard down on the desk in the corner of the office, and started washing his hands in the sink across from it.
"It's a little too cold though," Jasper bemoaned through chilled lips, "I can feel the goosebumps forming under my shirt."
The doctor chuckled again. "You will be fine," the doctor brushed him off. "You will not need to leave your jacket off for much longer, we just need to do one more test and we can start to finish up here." With that he put on a pair of blue nitrile gloves and turned to Jasper.
Jasper sighed before getting off of the table. "Are we doing the ball fondling thing again?" he asked despondently, "Is it really necessary every time?"
The doctor shrugged. "Yes. It's part of the procedure. Not like anyone wants to do this."
Jasper rolled his eyes and quickly undid his buckle, before lowering his pants. "Even with the suppressant, and all the times you've done this, it doesn't make this any less awkward," he said.
A short moment later, and the doctor was done. He pulled off his gloves and threw them into the trash. Jasper redid his pants. "Anything different or wrong this time?" Jasper asked sarcastically.
The doctor scribbled something on his clipboard. "Nothing different, which is good."
"Well, that's always good to hear! Can I put my jacket on now?" Jasper asked, "Ever since that event with the Ice Queen, I've not done well with the cold." He folded his arms again, and rubbed himself, trying to warm up some.
The doctor nodded at him, then started reorganizing the papers on his clipboard. "Go right on ahead, I don't need to do anything else except ask you some final questions," he informed. He took a seat on the stool that was under the desk, and spun it around to face Jasper.
Jasper had one arm in his jacket already, and was fighting with the other when the doctor's attention fell on him. He looked up and blushed lightly, getting caught failing to put on the exceptionally puffy jacket. "Oh… uh- shoot?"
Choosing to ignore the attempt to get a jacket on, the doctor cleared his throat. "Well, to start, how has the-" he contemplated his words, before clearing his throat again, "-new addition to your person been affecting you?" he questioned, "It wasn't there the last time we spoke." He set the pen tip to the paper.
Having finally put his jacket on, Jasper's attention turned to the shards of ice that were partially fused with his cheek. "Oh this? This just kind of… appeared, I guess?" Jasper said, running his fingers along his cheek, feeling the blue crystals embedded there, "They appeared after another encounter I had with the Ice Queen."
The doctor jotted something down. "Is it painful? Cold? Does it melt?" he prodded.
Jasper dropped his hand away. "Other than feeling a little cold on my face, and when I touch it, I've noticed nothing other than feeling a little bit more invigorated than normal," he rambled.
The doctor wrote down his response. "It's interesting that it is only appearing now, even though your encounter with her was months ago."
Jasper frowned. "Please don't remind me of that," he said, "We came way too close to dying that time, and I'd rather not be reminded of it." He then muttered 'fucking Dick…' quietly under his breath.
The doctor leaned forward. "So when did you get the icicle on your face?"
Letting out a puff of air, Jasper put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "I had to fight her again just a few days ago, unfortunately. A person who was new to the Anomaly made a misstep and had to be rescued," he retold, "When I defeated her this time she made some… 'remarks' and this," he gestured to the ice on his face, "was on my face afterwards, along with the outfit."
Although in reality, after he dueled Queen Carmillia for the second time and won single-handedly, she threw herself at him, promising to him anything he would ever want just so he would stay there with her as her prince consort. Even though he had just defeated her, she still had plenty of strength left to force him to the ground from the dramatic fall. The mark on his cheek formed- to his theory, at least- from the full makeout she forced from him. At least the frozen clothes she created to try to bribe him with, and the glacial spear he had to steal after his staff broke remained after the palace melted away. He shuddered at the memory of the molestation; the taste of her frozen lips will forever be permanently (and ironically) burned into his memory.
The doctor noticed his reaction, and jotted down a quick note to not mention the Ice Queen around Jasper again. "Interesting. This definitely isn't the first time the Corporation has heard of employees being given these 'Gifts' from the Anomalies," he informed while finishing up a note, "You're not the first person to receive one, but thankfully, as far as we can tell from the currently documented Gifts, they are not dangerous."
Jasper felt his face again in silence, thinking about just what this 'Gift' he received from Carmillia was. "That's… comforting at least. I'm sure I'll be fine, but I'll make sure to let you know should anything change."
The doctor nodded in response and adjusted himself on the seat. "As I would expect," he agreed, fixing his glasses on his face. "Moving on, we do have the standard questionnaire to fill out. It should be familiar to you by this point," he flipped the pages on his clipboard, "Same as last time; remember to share extra information if you have it."
"Ready when you are, doc," Jasper said, relaxing onto the examination table.
The older man cleared his throat, and read from his clipboard. "Have you felt like having sex or doing anything sexual over the past month?"
Jasper exhaled sharply. "Straight into it?" he commented, "Well, not really, even despite being so busy with all of the extra workload."
The doctor jotted down his response. "None at all? Not even to masturbate?" he asked for clarification.
"Nope," Jasper confirmed, "I am even roomed with my old trainer, Liz- you know her, right?" The doctor nodded, prompting Jasper to continue. "Well, she commonly walks around half or completely nude all of the time, even… er," he racked his mind for a way to put the next part more delicately, "'buzzes' herself with me around. Nothing affects me, at all."
The doctor hummed and scratched at the page in his hand. "That's… definitely informative," he commented awkwardly, "Maybe not as much information next time?"
"Right, sorry. Just forget I said all of that," Jasper said, face turning red.
"I'll try. Also, I've only written what was necessary to answer that question."
"Thanks. What's next?"
The doctor adjusted his grip on the clipboard, and repositioned his pen. "Have you felt yourself becoming more distant than usual from your coworkers?"
Putting his hands behind his head and stretching, Jasper responded. "Hmm… not really?" he guessed, "No more than the usual amount at least. No more than recommended."
"That's good to hear. There's been an observed side-effect where individuals started to isolate themselves due to the drug," he mentioned, while writing down Jasper's response, "On the topic, that's the final question: have you felt any of the listed potential side-effects since your last checkup, or any other potentially related side-effects?"
Jasper thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "Other than having some problems sleeping, no," he said, before adding, "Though I'm still not used to the capsule in my arm." To emphasize his point, he pressed on a point on his upper arm, causing something to poke against the skin from underneath. "So weird…"
The older man grimaced from the sight, and averted his gaze back to the paper. "Alright then. Unless there's anything else you need to discuss, we are done here for today," he concluded, reorganizing his papers on his clipboard for a final time.
"Nope, nothing I can think of," Jasper stated, standing up from the examination table.
Extending his hand, the doctor said, "Well, if that's the case, I will be seeing you again in a month."
Jasper shook his hand. "We'll see if I make it," he smiled.
The doctor laughed as they broke away. Jasper pulled open the sliding, misted glass door of the office, and stepped out of the room.
In the drab hall outside of the examination room, Jasper checked his watch as he rushed past uninteresting paintings of flowers and bland 'modern art' pieces. He was practically running towards the reception desk at the speed he was going. "Crap, that took longer than I thought it would," he muttered to himself, sidestepping a nurse and patient combo, "Hopefully I won't be late to shift. Maybe the elevators will be quick today." He chuckled quietly at the sentiment as he approached the checkout desk.
A quick checkout later, and instructions to come back in thirty days, Jasper found himself waiting impatiently for the elevator to reach its destination. 'It's always when you're on a time limit,' he thought to himself as he checked his watch for the umpteenth time. While his Supervisors knew that he would be meeting with the doctor for lab testing today, it did not excuse him being terribly late for his shift with the colloquially named "Child of the Galaxy" in the Safety Department. After all, they still needed him for the rotating shift or else nothing would get done.
With a *ding, the elevator finally arrived at its destination. The dull metal doors slid open, revealing the fern green hallways of the Safety Department. As the part of the Corporation that supervises the creation of new safety and preventative protocols, along with establishing guidelines surrounding what to do should a breach happen, the team there was incredibly diligent when it came to their work, being extra precise when it came to compiling, perfecting, and implementing safety plans with efficient impunity. Nearly all of the Corporation's guidelines for dealing with dangerous Anomalies, Employees, dangerous Employees, and how they interact with each other were either created here, or were sent here to be reviewed by the team.
As part of their continued effort to minimize loss and potential risk factors, the department is more sparsely populated than normal, with the hallways having fewer people populating them than what would be expected. Along with that, the punctual nature of those working there meant there was little time to be spent meandering the halls at one's own pace, contributing to the reduced congestion. They worked to the ticking of the clock, getting to where they are needed, when they are needed. Which made it all the more problematic for Jasper as his watch ticked steadily past the time he was supposed to report at.
He was jerked from his thoughts by the blaring of an alarm tone over the PA system, followed by an urgent message by the male Tiphereth. "Attention all personnel!" began the announcement, "A Large Scale Containment failure has been reported in: Central Command Department! The First Trumpet has been played! System is now locking down elevator access to the Central Command Department to all Employees below the rank of WAW. If you are located in the following departments, follow standard Shelter-In-Place protocols until Anomalies have been recontained: Information Department; Safety Department; Welfare Department; Training Department; and Disciplinary Department." With that, the PA System signed off, and played an upbeat jingle. A little ironic considering the circumstances.
As the message finished, Jasper materialized his EGO weapon and began moving through the halls of the Safety Department, assisting the other Agents with moving Clerks and other 'civilian-class' personnel into shelters and safe-zones throughout the department. As he worked, higher ranked Agents would be paged to respond to the threat occuring only a Department away. The halls emptied, as everyone of a lower rank to Jasper would soon find themselves in a shelter, waiting out the catastrophe.
"What's going on? Is everything going to be okay?" asked a short, blue haired Clerk that Jasper found under a desk in an evacuated office. The young lady was fidgeting with the cuffs of her fern green scrubs as she followed Jasper down the empty halls to a nearby Shelter. Her eyes darted all over the place from behind her crooked glasses, trying to check every nook and cranny for anything that may jump out at them as they passed. She nearly jumped out of her shoes when the speaker they were passing crackled for a moment, making a loud squeak from feedback somewhere in the system.
Jasper shot her a nervous side-eye as they proceeded at a steady pace down the hall. 'A panicked Clerk or Agent is a dangerous one,' was one of the first things the Corporation taught new recruits when they joined. They are entirely unpredictable, could be dangerous, and are always a liability, especially when in or near a fight with an Abnormality. A breach event was never made better by someone who lost their cool and attempted to off themselves, or their Coworkers. A lot of care was put in to emphasize that fact to everyone at the orientation.
He gave her a gentle smile, and a pat on the back. She jumped from the contact, but settled down a bit after looking towards Jasper. "Don't worry, it'll be fine," he tried to console her, "the other Agents have everything handled, and the elevators are locked down. Nothing can get here."
They approached the nearby shelter, and Jasper depressed a button on the code panel that was near the door. "Hello, hello, anyone in?" he spoke into the receiver in the panel, "I've got a Clerk out here, can you open the door?" He released the button.
A short moment later, the speaker started buzzing, and a strained voice responded to him. "Who are you? What are your credentials?"
Jasper cleared his throat. "I'm Jasper Turel, Rank He, from the Training Team, on shift in the Safety Department with subject Oscar dash Zero-One dash Five-Five," he dictated clearly into the device, "I am accompanied by a Clerk looking for refuge, do you have space for One?"
The device was silent for a moment, before it cackled to life. "We have plenty of space. I will unlock the door, come inside." The door audibly unlocked, and slid open, revealing an androgynous individual who was around two heads shorter than Jasper. Their brilliant blue eyes scanned him through a messy brown bobcut, which they pushed behind their ear to clear their sight. Their suit was wrinkled from exertion and activity, though they themselves looked none worse for wear. Fern green armbands identified them as part of the Safety team, which was to be expected.
"I'm Akira," came the same voice from over the speaker, "I'm a Teth rank working in this Department. I was left in charge of this shelter when the Waw in charge was called away to help with the containment breach."
"Will I be safe here?" interjected the Clerk, shifting her weight. "Will everything be fine here?"
Akira nodded. "Ye-yeah, you two can come in, there's only a few people in here. I think the rest went to the other shelters."
As the Clerk hesitantly walked in, Jasper remained outside the door. "Sorry, but I can't. I was told by another person to take over their shift in the security office while they went to check something out, which is when I ran into the lady," he shared, preparing to leave, but stopped for a moment, "Oh, uhm… where's the security office anyways? I wasn't given directions."
"Uuhh it's just down the hall to the right, around the corner…" they stopped and thought for a moment, thinking to themself before continuing, "it'll be on the left, there's a sign above it showing where it is."
With a quickly spouted 'Thanks!' Jasper hurried down the hall, following Akira's directions. While he was worried about leaving the shelter alone with such a new person, he didn't have much of a choice. When he was still in training, Jasper found himself in a similar situation as Akira during his first containment breach. He was panicked, he was worried, and he was uncertain. At least he had two people by his sides that day as he was sheltering employees: Kain- with his stoic attitude, but steadfast resolve kept Jasper grounded, and Liz- with her reassuring bright smile, eyes that shined with confidence and compassion, and a positive outlook that was infectious. She was an amazing, shining beacon when he was clouded in his anxiety and stress. Jasper shook the thoughts away.
Jasper rounded the corner, and travelled down the empty hall with only the ever so happy music playing over the PA system, and the thudding of his feet on the cold metal ground keeping him company. He scanned the door tags as he passed them, hoping he wouldn't miss the door he needed.
But it was just as Akira said; the office had a sign jutting out of the wall over it, proudly and obviously showing the office to anyone passing down the hall. The glowing green sign shined brightly above the bulkhead door, making it stand out compared to the surrounding doors.
'Like a sore thumb,' thought Jasper as he punched in the override code for the door. With the tapping of the enter button, the locking system of the bulkhead audibly unlocked, the grinding sound of metal on metal reverberating down the hall. Then the door swished open, showing the inside of the brightly lit security office.
A short line of workstations were set against the right-hand wall, facing it, and all looking like they were abandoned in a hurry, if the open drinks and discarded papers were anything to go by. Above them was an array of monitors, watching over the halls of the department, every camera angle labeled, just like inside the control room for the containment units. To his left, in the middle of the room was a set of large control stations, positioned in a semi-circle for easy access from a security officer who would be sitting in the middle. Against the wall behind that was a folding table- the kind which wouldn't look out of place at an outdoor barbeque- with some light snacks, water bottles, drinks, and a coffee maker with a fresh pot of coffee left on the warmer, untouched.
Jasper walked into the room, ensuring he sealed the door behind him, and collapsed in the chair at the center of the room. He looked over the monitors on the wall in front of him while he spent some time collecting himself. It had been a while since he thought about his first days at the Corporation. He was a lot more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed back then, but the past year and a half has definitely been an eye opening experience. He learned quickly just exactly what he got himself into after the first couple of containment breaches, along with an on-the-job training that would have made a pre-first cascade legislator have a field day. He's just happy the trial drug in his arm made things easier, at least.
He shook away the thoughts, and properly focused his attention on the screens in front of him, scanning over the displays for anything that could be considered suspicious. Suddenly, there came a tone from the console in front of him, dragging his attention towards a lit bulb on the old style panel. "Anomaly Containment Unit D-01-110?" he read the nameplate out loud to himself, "There shouldn't be anyone doing work right now, why is someone accessing a Unit?" He looked up at the screens again, and found the camera feed monitoring the cell.
To his horror, out of the door came a grotesque being masquerading as a person. It crawled along the ground on spindly arms and legs, its bloated stomach swaying inches above the cold metal of the hallways. A large wooden rosary hung from a thin, craning, neck. Its freakishly large head scanned the hallway, its mane of receding hair swished as it looked side to side. Its dinner-plate sized eyes darted around in their sockets, seemingly looking for something. It opened its much too small mouth and smelled the air like an animal, before it turned down the hall, and crawled off frame.
"Holy shit…" Jasper gasped to himself in shock. He rushed to the alarm button on the desk, however he was stopped by another notification bulb blinking on. This one read 'F-02-58'. His eyes shot to the corresponding monitor, just in time to see an Agent shove another Agent into the cell, and flee. Just a few moments later, a scarred, mangy, and bloodied wolf of monstrous proportions leapt out of the cell. It let out a deafening howl that Jasper heard all the way in the security office, causing the electronics to flicker, and the light bulb above his head to shatter, the glass shards landing in the diffuser and leaving him in partial darkness.
In an instant, Jasper slammed the emergency call button, and yelled into the nearby receiver. "ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL, THERE IS AN AGENT IN THE DEPARTMENT CURRENTLY RELEASING ABNORMALITIES!" he composed himself, licking his bone dry lips before continuing, "I REPEAT, THERE IS AN EMPLOYEE IN THE SAFETY DEPARTMENT RELEASING ABNORMALITIES, AND HAS RELEASED TWO ALREADY!"
Then in a fluid motion, his fist smashed down on an emergency lockdown button. The once peaceful background music was replaced by klaxons, as he made for the door, leaving the room in a hurry, hoping to catch the Agent and prevent him from causing further damage…
Meanwhile in the Welfare Department...
I was going to do this chapter all in one go, however I wanted to upload at least something regarding the story by the end of the month. The rest of the chapter should be finished by the end of next month, I hope.
And yes, I didn't do any work at all on this over the past half-year. I only just restarted work on this over the past month, around the time I updated Chapter 3 with the revised ending.
Mi rerenkontos vin ĉiujn post monato.
Ĝis la revido!