Society of Justice 3: Crisis on the Earth

[tsatoma]

"Everyone just needs to take a moment and calm down. I know that all of you are frustrated with the recent events, but being moody, little toddlers about it will not 'elp," Renee spat while keeping her attention on her phone.

"I can handle this Renee. I know a thing or two about dealing with moody, little toddlers," Roman said, trying to keep the situation from turning into anything volatile. His daughter didn't say anything in reply, only gave him an unamused look before going back to her phone. With that settled, Roman turned to the Society to answers their questions.

"Your teammate is fine. I just had to send him to a place to cool off you can say," he started, slightly chuckling at the little joke he made, "I'll bring him back in a few minutes; though I'll have to keep an eye on him during your stay here. I do think you are all taking this a bit in the wrong way. We are all on the same side here, as my reading just proved. No one here is going to do anything to harm you; no sense hurting allies, right? We'll do our best to get you back to your own universe, but some things are a bit more important on our plate than that, you have to understand."

"Now that we have got this understanding going on, I'll answer that question of yours Jason. While I may be strong, there are still things I cannot surpass. Whether it be artifacts or spells older than even myself. United America invaded New Eldorado many years back, and since then they've had ways to stop anyone magical in their lands. Magic does not exist anymore in that land. Everyone magical has fled to their own cities, where they have been hiding instead of preparing themselves for the war they are going to be dragged into. The damn mage council makes me ashamed I ever was one with how they currently govern things nowadays," Roman stated, his tone changing to a serious one talking about what has happened to the magical world.

"There are some that are helping out in their own ways though; being product where there brethren are not. I, myself, am an ambassador to the magical world; not that it seems to make them listen anymore," he added, remembering a certain someone and sending a thought about what is going on there way.

"Once I finish clearing all of you, I believe the plan is to get you into a permanent lodging in Paris. From there it will be meeting some of the people who might be able to help you here, and see if there is anything you can do for us," Roman said after the pause to send his little thought email to his friend, about to continue his train of thought before a phone could be heard ringing.

Serdar sighed as he took it out of his pocket, handing it straight over to Renee as the two got up and left the room.

[hr]

"I am assuming this means you got the promotion," Renee said smugly, leaning up against the hallway wall as Serdar started to wander around pretending he wasn't listening in.

"Yes I got the promotion. No I'm not going to take that leave time, or any leave time until the corpses of the leaders of United America are buried in the ground. Now it's four in the morning over here and I have a lot of planning to do, so can you just give me the information about the mech you want?" Bishop answered Renee, not even bothering to beat round the bush about why he was calling.

"Of course. Outside of Columbus is a national forest that Patriot has yet to tear down for some odd reason. Past that is a small town named Athens, which is practically in the middle of nowhere. If you 'ead south to thirty-nine point one four, negative eighty-two point one four you'll find a nice bunker that is currently 'olding an A.A. mech. They are still trying to get it to work if my sources are correct. I'd expect nothing less from those United American scientists," Renee told Bishop, having memorized all the info she had been given beforehand.

"If you need more precise coordinates I shall 'ave them sent to you today once we start moving the group over to Paris," she added.

Bishop flipped through a book of tactical maps, before finding one that contained the area around, and including, Athens, Ohio. He traced his finger across the coordinates until he found the rough area of where the bunker was supposed to be. He grabbed another book and looked for the military bases in Ohio and made a large circle outside of Dayton, Ohio. A wicked grin grew on Bishop?s face.

"No that will be enough information. I'm sure our local members can me the final destination. Although I should inform you, that this one is going to go down in the record books. I know exactly what I'm going to do and it's going reset the scale for large scale resistance operations. I'm also going to need to put in a very large order in the next few days." Bishop stopped talking and swore at himself in his head. He just put himself in another bad position again, due to his cockiness.

"Consider the supplies paid for and sent," Renee replied giddily, looking forward to such an endeavor that this mission could be. The transport of the stolen mech to the European Union would be a difficult process, but that would have to be something figured out once the mech was in the Resistance's hands. "While you are busy retrieving the fine piece of machinery, I will do my best to figure out ways to pilot such a complicated machine. I think my one chance of getting the information might be coming up soon," she told Bishop, thinking about the ambassador the Asiatic Alliance was supposed to be sending in a few weeks time.

Bishop's blood melted and ran warm again. It seems like she wants this mech more than me. I might be clear for a little while longer. "This goes a little bit beyond supplies. I'm going to need some specially trained personnel. In addition to them I'm going to need my double from another universe. Speaking of which, if you're nearby could you put him on the phone?? Bishop asked as he started to scribble down a list of things he'd need and an immediate plan of action.

"I would, but 'e is currently indisposed. Not in a bad way or anything like that. Not sure what is entirely going on with 'im, but my father sent 'im away to calm down before 'e shall bring 'im back. Supposedly it is bad enough that my father actually plans on keeping an eye on 'im during 'is stay 'ere," Renee replied, not particularly liking that she couldn't give an exact explanation for what had happened.

"You were correct on your judgment on this group. They are who they say they are; which means quite a few things. We'll be moving on soon enough, but once your 'double' is brought back I'll be sure to let the two of you speak about this. 'Onestly I much prefer you over your own counterpart. You don't turn all crazy and yell in such an inhuman way like 'e does."

"Your father?" Bishop replied with a pause. "Given what he told me before he left I shouldn't exactly be surprised. Alright just make sure he contacts me once he isn't as indisposed. You should also try and get along with him better, sounds a destructive; and when you aren't acting like an omnipotent dictator you can be a bit cute and endearing. I'll talk to you later, bye." Bishop said as he hung up the phone. He had a lot of planning and calls to make for what he was try and pull off.

"Understood," Renee muttered as the line went dead, tossing the phone back to Serdar. "It is certainly going to be busy the next couple of weeks."

"More than normal, you mean?" he asked jokingly, looking over his shoulder at the sound of some hurried steps behind him. Sergeant Hadley was coming up to the two of them, a concerned look on his face. "Sergeant."

"Pleasantries can be after. The one who was brought with that group and put into the medical ward has awoken. She was unstable when I was last informed. The nurse said to let you know, and to have someone named Levi sent," Sergeant Hadley told the two, watching Serdar go back into the conference room to grab Levi.

"You are needed," he told Levi quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder to make sure he understood that this wasn't just a simple matter.

 

[Captainguy42]

"Everyone just needs to take a moment and calm down. I know that all of you are frustrated with the recent events, but being moody, little toddlers about it will not 'elp."

"So only a toddler should be upset when his friend turns into a black-eyed psycho, pops everyone's ear-drums, and then disappears, I guess this happens more than I thought." Tommy spat back at Renee. Like everyone else Tyson's episode had snapped what little patience he had left for this process. He then said to Roman, "So you took a problem and teleported far-far away, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Recalling the number of times Leland solved a problem either by teleporting everyone away or moving the threat.

"Once I finish clearing all of you, I believe the plan is to get you into a permanent lodging in Paris. From there it will be meeting some of the people who might be able to help you here, and see if there is anything you can do for us."

" Roman, I apologize but I won't take a step towards Paris until you explain some things. You are in the middle of war with the UA and yet you're willing to put aside vital resources to help us return home when that wouldn't help you in anyway. Now I'm stupid, but I'm not so stupid as to think you're doing this out the goodness of your heart, not when those resources could be saving the lives of your men and women." Tommy was willing to accept his old Boogieman could be good, but that didn't wash away the warnings his father had given him. " I'll tell you know, I have no interest in fighting your war. I will not be your soldier. So tell us Roman, what do you seek to gain by helping us? You wouldn't make us go through this utterly insane vetting process unless you had plans."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In an office in Paris, a tall, slim, and dark-eyed man was reading through a stack of interrogation reports. His name was Dustin, and the office was part of the one-bedroom apartment where he lived alone. His reading was interrupted when he received a mental message from his employer, Roman. The message relayed the events that were happening in the conference room, in particular Roman told him about a man name Tommy who claimed to be Dustin's son. His response was brief.

Concerning Bishop's double. It's a well known fact that incredible power often comes with mental complications, it's difficult to have a normal mind when you're body is that powerful. I'd say you should know better than to poke around the mind of someone like that so casually, but of course you're brazen as ever.

Dustin returned to his reports, redoubling his focus so that he wouldn't look at the picture of his wife.

 

[tsatoma]

"I suppose I should have just let the teammate who clearly has a gigantic problem only two of you knew about be handled by all of you. Now does this happen before, or after he rips out my throat?" Roman asked Tommy in a mocking tone, adding that he doubt they would be able to handle Tyson even if they had managed to restrain him. "You have to factor in all the injuries everyone would have, and how you all planned to have him change back if you managed to get him tied down. I think I have a bit more experience in things such as this than you, no offense. I am keeping track of him now, waiting until he has calmed down enough and reverted back before I bring him back here."

"And believe me when I say that, if it were completely up to me, I would make this like a vacation for all of you where you can all just relax here. However that is not within my power. I will do my best to make you all not have to do much though. I have some influence there that can hopefully help out," he said, eating another piece of toffee before continuing, "I know you won't want to hear this, but you will be put to some work. I believe the things will be played to your strengths though; which I suppose makes it better. Renee will tell you more about it once she comes back."

'You know me well, buddy. Haven't died yet from my brazen ways though,' Roman responded to Dustin's brief reply.

 

[CounterAttack]

"And what if we refuse?" Katie shot back at Roman, ignoring Renee's barbed comment about the Society behaving like children. "Oh, wait, you'll just drop us somewhere in the Arctic or something. People keep saying 'it's not up to me'. I'd like to know who is in charge. 'Cause for God's sake I hope it's someone who we can talk to to get this mess straightened out, without any more god-damn mind-probing or forcing people to do as they say. Fucking sick of it all."

Her piece spoken, she sat back in her chair and glared at Roman, entirely unimpressed with the recent events.

 

[tsatoma]

"I really have absolutely no idea what would happen if you refuse," Roman admitted with a shrug, "I would assume that you wouldn't have a place to stay anymore, nor a place to go to. Unless you have the means to make the device to send you back to your own universe that is. I would also guess that you would be watched for the rest of your time here just in case you try to go to United America or the Asiatic Alliance."

"There are many tiers of people who are in charge; especially if you include people who are out of 'official' command like Renee or General Tanning who leads the Resistance. The three main top people running the European Union are General Bernard Alasdair, Prime Minister Kei Kallon, and my wife. We can make it for you all to be able to talk to them, but I doubt they would be as understanding of your situation though," he told the Society seriously.

 

[Captainguy42]

" I wasn't knocking the strategy, it's served us well in the past." Tommy apologized, realizing just how irritated he had sounded earlier. In the back of his mind he could hear his father's voice, "Temper Tommy-boy, temper." He took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. " I understand what you're doing for us. You've provided us with shelter from the UA who would still be hunting us otherwise. At your expense you're willing to help us create a way home, when we have no idea how much that could cost or what it would require. I'm not ungrateful for these things." Tommy told Roman, his voice calm and ringing with sincerity, "But please understand, for the last two days we've been moving from base to base on your organizations direction. We've been told only the barest details of where we are going and why. You've vetted us thoroughly and you say you trust us, but you haven't given us much of a reason to trust you. You used hypnotism to interrogate us, and probed our minds without our permission. If we can't trust you then we are better of leaving, we're alone here, we can't afford to walk into anymore traps.

" Finally if you had listened to Tyson he wouldn't have flipped, and I know a few of my other friends abhor having their minds intruded. So I'll say this, if you invade my team-mates minds without their permission again. I will kill you." The last four words slipped out of Tommy's mouth like an errant glob of spit, shocking himself more than anyone. He had meant to say he'd stop Roman, but somehow kill replaced it naturally. He gulped, worried he'd written a check he couldn't cash, but he didn't take it back. Deep down he knew with absolute certainty the threat was sincere.

 

[elementsoul]

A path of fallen trees followed Tyson?s body as Vesper trudged forward throughout the Alaskan forest. The snow was deeper than the top of the boots he had been wearing and each step forward seemed to have more resistance than the last. Tyson could barely notice this from the back of his mind, and Vesper didn?t even bother acknowledging it.

Beyond anything Tyson?s mind was starting to get overloaded with how he was ?seeing.? The returning echoes gave more information than his normal vision would have. The depth and detail of everything was overwhelming; nothing was overlooked. There were no shadows only dark spots where the sound waves were to jumbled to return any information. It was beautiful, but scaring; enlightening, but bewildering; clear, but ambiguous.

Suddenly Vesper heard a sound that wasn?t an echo of its own produced sound waves and looked behind it. The echoed sound waves returned and a grizzly bear charging towards them generated in their mind. Being completely unarmed, both Tyson and Vesper came he same conclusion; run!

Angered by the loud sound the grizzly bear started to charge after Tyson?s body. Vesper made the sound wave louder and more powerful as to destroy the trees farther ahead of them. The detailed echolocation allowed him to plan ahead and not slip up along the path of falling trees, while the grizzly bear was slowed down by the irregular path.

Suddenly there was a short opening in the forest that lead to two cliff edges. Vesper stopped Tyson?s body just short of the edge. The echoes showed a twenty meter deep gorge with a ravine at the bottom. Vesper turned around and saw that the grizzly had slowed down and was closing in on them.

The sound Vesper produced enraged the beast again as it stood on its hind legs and swiped at Tyson?s body. Vesper tried to step back but found air under half of Tyson?s foot as the bear?s claws ripped through Tyson?s chest and tore out a good chunk of flesh. Vesper didn?t go down and the bear prepared swipe again. This time it laid all its force into the attack and Vesper rolled under it, a flayed strip of flesh coming off along its back.

When the bear landed back on all fours, its weight caused the ice and rock beneath it to crack. When Vesper looked back the rock broken ice and rock crumbled away from the edge and the bear plummeted into the gorge on top of the broken off rock. The surrounding snow soon followed and Vesper rose to keep moving forward. It took a step forward and slipped on some now exposed ice, falling backwards. Everything went black as the back of Tyson?s head landed first and he was knocked unconscious.

 

[tsatoma]

Roman burst out into laughter at Tommy's threat, having to turn away from them all to try and regain his composure. Garrus, meanwhile, looked offended that Tommy would dare to even threaten his father like that.

"Oh, that was hilarious. Just give me one more second," Roman said, taking a couple of deep breaths before responding, "Well, first off don't ever say Renee's power is hypnotism to her face; she hates that term for some reason. Second, I don't really see how else we could have gone about finding out how to truly trust you all. There are other ways, yes, but I imagine you would prefer the safe, non-harmful ways compared to the...other ways we've had to get the truth out of people before. You also have to understand, we have to check all of you. We have to know you are not an enemy, because unlike all of you, we have things to lose. This is our home, and we aren't just going to allow people in who could very well destroy it."

"Until we could be sure that we could trust you, we could not let you know where you would be going and why. It was already a risk to even bring you back to one of the Resistance's bases, let alone to the half-dozen you have been brought to."

He paused after that and looked over at Tyson's chair as he brought back the, now unconscious and bloodied, individual. "Probably shouldn't have distracted me so much. Should be a simple fix," Roman said, clapping his hands together and separating them as white light seemed to start emanating from Tyson's wounds.

"Bears," Roman added to explain where the injuries came from, turning back to the Society as he healed Tyson. He was quiet for a few seconds as he figured out what he wanted to say back, finally speaking up, "I don't normally do this, but I'm going to have to answer your threat with one of my own. I think mine has a bit more basis though. First, though, know that I won't be delving into your minds anymore unless you give me a reason to. So don't give me a reason. Now, if you ever do something that could even potentially hurt my family or the EU; I will do things worse than just kill you."

"I'll open it up for questions now since my daughter hasn't come back in yet to tell you what is happening next, and you all seem to have some in mind," Roman told them calmly, as if they were still having a pleasant conversation.

 

[Captainguy42]

Tommy burst out laughing as well, as if he and Roman had just shared a inside joke that went back decades. He knew how ludicrous the threat was, he was a thousand years too young to even think about something like that. So he just giggled and giggled, ignoring the offended look on Garrus's face. His body shook so much from laughing that he broke the back of his chair off. It took him a good deal longer than Roman to stop laughing, he was still giggling silently to himself when Tyson was brought back into the room. The sight of his comrade covered in blood killed what mirth remained. "Tyson!" Tommy yelled, getting up from his chair and running over to Tyson's side, getting there just as Roman finished healing him, " Tyson, does it still hurt?"

"You got, DISTRACTED!?" Tommy bellowed, now standing eye to eye with Roman, " You sent a nearly mindless man into the wilderness and just let him slip your mind? How can you even- I mean the - GAH!" Tommy's blood was boiling, his hands balled into fists. Roman's hubris and flippancy was simply proving too much for his patience, " You let yourself get distracted when his life was in danger, when you should have been taking every precaution to keep him safe. I know you've learned at least hundred spells and incantations that could have made his skin tough as stone to protect him, or made him intangible so he couldn't be struck. You could have at least made sure he went somewhere that there wasn't any danger but you did not. Instead you dropped him in the middle of a bear's territory and forgot about him. If you had waited a second longer he be dead, dead because of your carelessness, and then even your magic could not fix this. And don't give me any of that 'but he didn't die' or 'if fixed him' bull-shit, the fact that you put his life in such danger to begin with is inexcusable considering how easily you could have avoided this." For the last and final time Tommy took a deep breath and swallowed his anger. His posture relaxed, and he opened his hands, but he knew he was at his limit. Roman had invaded his friends minds, sent one of them into a rage, and then left him to get mauled in the woods; and was now treating the incident like it was a silly mistake.

"I would say the you should know better but it's obvious, you really are simply too powerful. You don't worry about these things because you think you can always fix them with enough magic, of course you think so, you're Roman, the Roman, greatest mage in the world. And this makes it dangerous to be near you. I've seen what happens when you're careless with magic, the destruction the simplest mistake can cause, I have been guilty of it myself. " Tommy said, " But for someone like you who wields so much power at any given time, and who has lived with it for so long. How, how can you let mistakes like this happen? How can you endanger someones life so casually? I can tell that you're a good person Roman, I can tell that you don't do these things out of malice. How can I trust that my friends will be safe around a man with such immense power but is so irresponsible?"

 

[socialtangent]

Levi held his glare at Roman. "I don't trust you, and something tells me you already know that. But given that we don't have a choice in the matter, I'm going to hope you're at least an honest man, Roman. I'll go to Paris. I'll do whatever it takes to help. But in turn, I expect that you and your contacts will do everything possible to help us return home, and that Tyson will be brought back to us unharmed. That much, I hope, is reasonable."

Before Levi could hear Roman's response, someone nudged him from behind. He turned around and recognized the man as Serdar. "You are needed," he said discretely as he placed a hand on Levi's shoulder. The man's tone and expression didn't bode very well. Whatever he was needed for, it wasn't good. He followed Serdar out the room where Renee and a soldier stood, apparently waiting for him.

The soldier stepped forward. "Levi? Sergeant Hadley. Your partner, Taryn...she regained consciousness, but she's been unstable ever since."

A cold dread gripped at Levi. "Unstable?" he asked. "How?"

Hadley shrugged. "I don't have the details, but the ER's completely trashed. She's been transferred to a separate room where we have her under surveillance." He paused. "The nurse figured that...you would want to see her."

Levi's response was instant. "Take me to her."

 

[tsatoma]

"Serdar, go with them for now and make sure everything is peachy. Once she is stable and able to leave we will all go," Renee told Serdar, watching as he nodded and followed after Levi and Sergeat Hadley.

[hr]

"Bringing him back a second later would not have killed him; the bear was already long gone by that point. That bear should not have been there, but checking out the surrounding area right now shows that it was being chased by a certain government hunter up in Alaska. Otherwise it would have never had been there; did not account for her to have already started the day's hunt," Roman admitted after standing up. "I'm surprised you even care so much about what happens to your teammate. I've read your minds, I know what all of you think about him," he said, looking like he was ready to trade blows with the taller man.

That was cut short by Renee reentering the room and ordering both men to stop it. "Father, Thomas, go back and sit down in your chairs. Now is not the time for this," she told them in a chastising voice, unamused at what seemed to be going on. It only took a few seconds to put the pieces together, and once the two men were sitting back down she continued, "Father, you don't need to check the last group member. No real point to do it anymore since they rest are all cleared. We'll be leaving shortly to Paris once she is cleared to leave from the medical staff. I'm not sure 'ow you all want to travel over there..."

She took a seat back down in her chair, keeping an eye on her father and Tommy after looking over the unconscious Tyson. "Look, I just...I forget things sometimes. I never really noticed it until my wife started to give me speeches like the one you just gave," Roman said after the room became quiet, mainly focusing on Tommy with his reply, "It's gotten to the point where I'm no longer allowed alone with my youngest; just in case."

 

[NeoAC]

Everyone was happening all at once, so it seemed. Tyson suddenly appeared again, battered and unconscious. Tommy was in a state Brian had never seen before, angrier than a suburban hockey mom at a near-sighted referee. Levi got called out of the room and hadn't returned. All Brian could really do was what he had been taught as a child. He could still hear his mother's words clear as day in his head. Sit down, keep quiet and let was needs to be done be done. So he sat tight, trying to comprehend everything the French lady was saying. It sounded like they would be heading out soon anyway.

[hr]

"Good morning..." It sounded like Catherine was in somewhat decent spirits. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Eet was fine," Briân answered. "Compared to ze conditions in ze Montreal ghettos, zis is a palace." Now fully dressed, he stood up and adjusted his jacket to even it out. "Did zey give us any itinerary for today? Or are we still in limbo while zose other worlders are checked out?"

 

[Captainguy42]

" I see," Tommy replied, finally understanding Roman's situation. Roman's young appearance didn't convey the true nature of his age. Then realizing the other's might not understand, Tommy explained " We magic users, can live for hundreds, even thousands of years, but we're still human. We're simply not meant to live forever, and eventually other complications arise, especially in the mind. At some point the brain can't cope with the stress of holding so much knowledge. And we never know when we'll reach our limit. Some only last a hundred years, others thousands of years. " And as a telepath, he's been absorbing several times more information than a normal mage would at during their life. The fact he's kept it together this well is no small miracle. "This is why many long lived mages began seek ways to make their minds eternal and perfect, through phylacteries, ascendence, transformations and more. But these things costed you dearly, they would preserve your memories with crystal perfection, while they rotted soul or drove you mad. It was a terrible trade, to remember your life in perfect detail while you turned into a monster. Still some succumb to the temptation, often their hubris leads them to believe they can perfect the process but no one has. The fact that you haven't committed such an act of hubris despite all your power and experience means you mind is still very much intact." The last part he said to Roman directly, before looking over to Tyson to change the subject, he imagined Roman didn't want to linger on it any longer.

"Concerning Tyson," Tommy said, " Well, frankly Tyson's high-strung and difficult on good days; the rest of the time he's just an asshole; and frankly I haven't really known him for that long. But, I know he's a good man because he joined the Society to protect the innocent and bring justice, and that's all I really need to know. You know how it is to have something you'd gladly give your life for, you have your family and the European Union; I have my family, the Society of Justice, and the world."

 

[elementsoul]

Tyson slowly woke up from his position in his seat. He didn?t bother opening his eyes at first and heard the end of Tommy talking, starting at where he was talking about Tyson. Slowly Tyson opened his vision and the at first blurriness, slowly cleared to reveal a white light glowing from the wounds on his chest.

Magic.

It hurt to breath and his head throbbed, but Tyson still has things that needed to be said. ?You,? Tyson said in an attempt to use a raised voice, but only resulted in a slightly louder tone for the one word before stopping; his left arm was raised to point at Roman. ?Don?t ever enter my mind again. It doesn?t like trespassers. I suggest the same thing for your power Rent.? Tyson said at a barely below normal speaking volume.

?Also Tommy you confuse high-strung, difficult, and being an asshole; with being worried, cautious, and getting annoyed at childish dangerous behavior.? Tyson finished in an even lower tone, before entering into a painful coughing fit.

 

[socialtangent]

Escorted by Hadley and Serdar, Levi headed down the hallways. This base was bigger than he thought; it took them a little while to reach the medical wing. But once they got there, it wasn't much longer until they reached Taryn's room. Hadley opened the door and gestured inside. "We'll be waiting out here," he said. With an understanding nod, Serdar added, "Take your time."

Inside, it looked like a standard hospital room, with two beds separated by a curtain. Taryn lay in one of those beds, only hooked up to a heart rate monitor and an IV drip. She seemed to be unconscious, or at the very least asleep. The steady rise and fall of her chest was the only indication of life.

A woman, who Levi surmised was the nurse, was looking over Taryn, writing down a few things on a clipboard before turning to face Levi. "Hello Levi. I'm not sure if you remember me, my name is Joy. I've been taking care of Taryn, along with the doctors here."

His gaze shifted to Taryn and back to Joy. "What happened?"

Joy was silent for a moment. No doubt trying to make the story digestible. "Her vital signs are stable for now. But your friend did have a seizure which lead to cardiac arrest. We were able to stabilize her heart rate and...she's been given a sedative to help keep her calm and so we could run some tests. We're continuing to monitor her for any more arrhythmias or- well we're monitoring her."

It took all the reserve Levi had to keep his composure. Anger, fear, and helplessness mixed unpleasantly in the pit of his stomach. "Are you sure she's stable?"

"Yes. She has been stable since we moved her and we're hopeful she will stay that way. We'll know more once the latest lab results come back."

Levi nodded towards Taryn. "May I?"

Joy took a nearby chair and moved it next to the bed. "Of course. I'll be just outside if you need anything."

"Thank you," he replied quietly as he approached the bed and sat down. He reached out with his hand and placed it gently on Taryn's arm. "Taryn...it's me. Levi. Can you hear me?"

 

[CounterAttack]

At Tyson's comment, Rowan's expression momentarily soured. Childish? I raised one concern about you bugging me and you tore me a goddamn new one. Who the hell gave you the right to do that. Was entirely uncalled for.

[hr]

Katie, too, was unimpressed with Tyson. Even in what had looked like a critical state he was still an ass. What would it take to get him to be civil to everyone, she thought. "You might think that way, but that doesn't mean you have to go jumping down people's throats about it. We're all on the same team here." And it's not your team to command, especially since most of us have been part of the Society longer than you, was the unspoken end of that sentence.

Inclined to think that there was not much more to say, she got up from her chair and took a spot leaning against one of the walls, drumming her fingers out of both impatience and annoyance.

[hr]

"As far as I know, we're waiting for our counterparts to get checked out again," Catherine answered as she pulled on the last of her own clothing. "Did you have any plans? Because all I have is keeping an eye on them, unless we are called to other duties." She stepped up to Briân and gave him a quick peck on the lips; it only lasted a second or two. Long enough to send the message she wanted, but short enough to prevent his power from starting to hurt her.

 

[NeoAC]

Things were getting testy in the room. Tyson's little detour hadn't mellowed him out, and now he was sounding worse after that coughing fit. Katie was the one to take him down from the sounds of it, but the only thing going through Brian's mind was his adopted mantra. Sit down, keep quiet and let what needs to be done be done. So it continued.

[hr]

"Did you have any plans? Because all I have is keeping an eye on them, unless we are called to other duties."

Briân was about to answer before the kiss kept him quiet. For the brief moment that it lasted, it was wonderful. He barely even felt any energy from it, so it was all good for Catherine as well. "Well, I was going to 'ave a look around to see what zis group 'as going for it. 'Owever, if you desire, I can accompany you. Eet is up to you, mon amoure."

 

[tsatoma]

"Everyone this is no time for all of this animosity. Can we really not be at each other's throats longer than ten goddamn minutes? Enough, understood?" Garrus told the Society after finally becoming fed up at the constant bickering amongst the Society. 'We are really going to need to work on our relationships between each other once we get back to our universe,' Garrus thought to himself as he mentioned that he would prefer just a quick teleport as a means of travel rather than another drive.

[hr]

Renee looked up from her phone and over to Tyson after hearing him talk, giving him a look that could only be described as '*****, please'. Roman, however, spoke up after conjuring a pen and notebook.

"No guarantee there young man. If it comes to the point where I feel it is necessary to enter your mind again, than I will do so for the safety of others. If you prefer, I shall send you back to Alaska as a first resort; though at this point there could be the potential danger of hunting season and you looking like a very valuable and rare prey," Roman told Tyson as the pen started to jot things down onto the floating notepad.

 

[Pm0n3y]

The animosity displayed by Jason's teammates seemed appropriate in the eyes of the boy. The constant hoop-jumping and condescending talk brought about by his team's latest captors would wane on anyone's nerves. He'd admit, if this were any other frame of time, he'd hoot and holler alongside Tommy about the whole thing. Instead, he reclined a bit in the seat he inhabited, crossed his arms, and stayed silent. It was obvious that complaining was getting the team nowhere. And even then, there wasn't much else he had to input on the situation. His previous question had already been answered, and with Tyson returned from his Alaskan expedition and healed of his injuries, the concern of a missing teammate had dissolved from him. All in all, he was just ready to move on.

"Can we really not be at each other's throats longer than ten goddamn minutes?" Garrus exclaimed in frustration, due to the laser-guided rabble-rousing brought on by Tyson's chiding words. Jason agreed with the team's leader, though not verbally. Instead, he looked ahead, turning his attention towards Roman, half hearing his demand to enter Tyson's mind whenever he needed.

"Well, that's fucked up. Just imagining telling someone that. 'Oh, i'm gonna go in and out of your brain whenever I need to, whether you like it or not.' S'not like being a superhero would already make you paranoid enough, but then you'd have to worry about some magician with his wizard Alzheimer's wandering though your mind." He thought as he studied Roman's actions. As the old man began to write on his hovering pad, Jason began to think more on the man's mental capabilities, wondering if it would play any negative factors in the future.

 

[RBMidknight]

The darkness lifted but she was still lost in the barrage of data. There was no self. Just the data. The waves of data. She couldn't think. She couldn't remember. She couldn't...

[color=339966]~ 525.600. [/color][color=grey] Taryn [/color][color=339966] passes off to Sunderland but he's tackled [/color][color=grey]Levi[/color][color=339966] Hold still right before we crash 'cause we both know[/color][color=grey] Hear [/color][color=339966] It's our newest formula, guaranteed to ~[/color]

Wait...

No. It hurt too much to think. It was better to just...drift. The world was hurting her. Why should she return?

Listen...

But it wasn't just electronic words in the turbulent waves. There was something...something else.

Focus!

"Taryn...Levi...hear...?"

Pieces of a whole. What was the whole? It doesn't matter. She can't go. Back...she had to go back. What was that? It was more than white noise. There was something else there.

Pushing aside the data was like swimming through glass. Sharp pain that left bits of her self behind. But she found it. The anomaly. The difference.

"Taryn...it's me. Levi. Can you hear me?"

Something she knew...no someone she knew. She had to go back. She had to...

---​

From her vantage point at the doorway Joy noticed the patient start to struggle. 'Damn' Two more minutes of quiet, that's all she'd wanted. "Move" she snapped at the man in her way. With the residents once again absent Joy took it upon herself to ready the most probable medications.

"Three ccs..." Joy recited as she drew the appropriate dosage and moved to inject it into the IV line. She glanced down out of habit and froze when she saw the patient's eyes were open.

---​

The data was still streaming. But she could see! Almost. The world was a blur but there was light. Light! No...no. No the light. The light hurt. Please no more. No! She wouldn't be trapped any longer.

---​

Joy muffled an unprofessional shriek when the patient grabbed her arm.

"Taryn?..." Joy set down the syringe carefully but kept her arm still. The patient's head turned towards her voice but there was no recognition in the gaze. There was just confusion, which wasn't unheard of after a coma. It was probably just normal disorientation, the nurse decided. A result of the anesthetic or medication.

With a slow, deliberate motion Joy took the patient's hand and lowered it gently back to the bed. Confusion changed to something like horror and Joy feared she'd done something wrong.

"Are you hurt?" There was nothing on the scans, there shouldn't be any pain. So what's wrong?

"How?" The patient's question was quiet but Joy didn't have time to respond before the patient lunged backwards, rattling the frame of the bed and almost pulling the IV pole over in her haste.

"Easy! It's okay." Joy reached out to steady the IV pole. "You're in a hospital. Do you rem-" Joy stopped herself and shook her head. Foolish. She'd forgotten for a moment how her patient became a patient in the first place. She took a deliberate step backwards and raised both of her hands, palm out. "You're okay." she said quietly. Keep the patient calm, keep the patient aware. "I'm not going to hurt you." The patient - Taryn - pulled at the IV taped to her arm and made a frightened sound when it didn't immediately come free. The jerky movements worried Joy.

"Please don't-"

"Nurse?" An unfamiliar voice broke into the calm environment Joy was trying to preserve. Turning her head a fraction she saw a uniformed officer just outside the door, waving a sheet of paper in her direction. His stance rigid and his boots very clearly -not- in the room the man was probably a passerby-turned-messenger. "This is for you."

"I'm a little busy, Officer..?" Irregardless of rank this was her domain and Joy was not happy to have it invaded. The bed rattled again and Joy turned back to see Taryn had abandoned it completely and was now crouched on the floor. Half hidden by the blue dividing curtain Joy spotted a streak of blood and the removed IV line on the bed's blanket. Damn!

"It's urgent, ma'am, I'm sorry." The officer looked nothing of the sort as his eyes constantly shifted from Joy's face to the patient and back again.

"Just...try to keep her calm. I'll be right back." Joy addressed Levi before quickly walking to the messenger.

"Give it here."