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[Synik]

"Your friends are in there, yes," Eve replies. "We've made then as comfortable as we could."

Nae is closest to the door and he pushes a large robotic arm against the handle. "I had hoped what worked for you, would work on them." There's an ever-so-slight dip in the war droid's posture. "But it was not to be. Instead, they sleep. Their conscious minds protected from the meme onslaught."

"Would you like to visit them?" Eve asks. It is an open question, one aimed at you all. "Please, do not attempt to wake or disturb any of the medical equipment we've had to use."

[Early Bird]

"Yes, I'd like to see Sally" said Ophelia stepping forward. "Would it help if I talk to her? Like they tell you to with people in a coma, do you think she would hear or understand me?"

[Synik]

Nae's robotic face adjusts as if he's about to say something, but Shift beats him to it. "I think that is an excellent idea." His voice is soothing and respectful. Perhaps the most human you have seen him. A strange turn of events really: a man who says he talks with machines stood next to a man who almost is a machine.

The door swings open as Nae presses on it. It swings back and the war droid seems to fold in on his (?) heavy legs and slide through the gap. He looks like a metal octopus climbing through a square cut in a wall. Eve signals with her hand: "Please, after you."

Inside the room's ceiling is quite high, allowing Nae to stand without stooping. There are around half a dozen beds, although they look more like the work of a plastic obsessed artist than a traditional base and duvet. Each bed rests on six feet than end in a cluster of tiny spherical wheels. The smooth legs merge into a clear plastic frame and within that, a transparent mat of expensive chemical gel sits. On top of the mat, a patient rests. Various tubes and feeds disappearing under the thin blanket that preserves their modesty.

The beds nearest you contain two people you do not recognise. On the far side of the room, you can make out Sally and Jo girl. There faces are serene and they appear to be resting. A number of cables and tubes run under the sheets. A single red ribbon line runs from a small machine by the bed side and into the back of their necks. Each person's chest rises and falls as they breathe. After a moment, you realise they are all breathing at the same time.

Shift and Eve are the last people to enter the room. The technomancer undoes the buttons on his coat and leans against the wall by the door. "A moment. Please." Beads of sweat break out on his bald head and his breath comes in sharp gasps.

[Early Bird]

Ophelia had started towards Sally, but paused. "Are you alright" she asked Shift sharply. "What's wrong? Is there anything we can do to help?"

[Synik]

"A - A moment. Please... Ophelia. There is so much." Shift's eyes are pulled tight shut. "So much data... I - " He holds up a hand, fingers upward in a stop gesture and then in takes in a long, slow breath. His composure returns and he adjusts his very long coat. So it is a coat, not a set of robes that you had thought of way back at the train station. As he moves from the wall, you glimpse an outfit of black: tie, shirt and sharply creased suit trousers. All as dark as pitch.

"It was," he ponders out loud. "As if I was stood in Century Square and everyone was chanting. Please, visit your friends. I will observe."

Century Square? There's a name from the past. The last time the square was open was for the Old Man's celebration of the opening of Magdalene. Security have kept most of the public out as it was a common place for demonstrations and, sadly, for the odd riot.

[Early Bird]

Ophelia nodded quietly to Shift. He must be picking up everything from the patients she realised. It must be.. painful she thought, incapable of understanding what it must be like for the, man? Ophelia went to Sally and sat down by the bed. She automatically reached for her hand but pulled back remembering the instruction not to disturb anything. "Oh Sally" she said softly. "What have they done to you? I hate to see you like this. If you can hear me, if you even know I'm here give me a sign. Anything, if you can".

[Dehoffren]

Fi attention was immediately grabbed by the still shape of Jo-Girl lying so still on the bed. The vision was so opposed to the vibrant trix that Fi was so fond of, that a lump rose in her throat. The patient was so still that you would have assumed she was dead except for the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. The prone form of Jo was so consuming that the voices and movement in the room just faded into the background. Slowly she walked to Jo-s bedside and stood transfixed by the tranquil beauty of her friend. “She’s not in any pain is she?” Fi asked quietly without moving her eyes from their target “I mean she looks…well fine except that she isn’t jumping all over me, telling me stories about her latest trick that is going to take her away from it all” Fi stopped abruptly and turned towards Nae “You are going to make her better aren’t you” it was more of a statement than a question.

[fury]

Cass stood back from the people laying before her and her friends, she wrung her hands together and nibbled her lip. This kind of scene was soooo far out of her comfort zone!

[currymaniac]

Hayden stood, leaning against the wall as if he were trying to not be there. He didn't know those lying on the beds, at least, not to talk to. Yes, he certainly had some information on Sally, but she was a job, not a person to him.

[Synik]

Ophelia

Sally's breathing remains steady. You search her face and hands for any sign of life, but other than the breathing. There is none. She seems a prisoner in her own body. Do the numbers rage inside or is there peace as Nae promised? How can you know. There is only the machine's word.

Your friend; the one who was there for you when all was lost, rests immobile in the bed in front of you. A knot of anger rises within. The cause? Hopton. Bad luck orbits that man as if he were the Devil's own. Somehow none of it sticks to him. You find your hand bunched, knotting and balling the fine cloth next to Sally's hand. Maybe it is time to address that balance.

Fi

There is a whisper of servos as Nae stands next to you. His shadow falls over Jo-Girl's bed like a cybernetic Grim Reaper. The surgeon come to claim his own? Jo never told you when she was re-made. Wait. Haller? Didn't Nae say something about Winston Haller? Oh gods, Jo is Winston's kid. Something tugs at your mind, but the grief won't let it through.

"She feels nothing. I promise you that." Nae's electronic voice seems to jump the distance from on high to be right in your ear. Big wow, that's an old DJ trick. A giant hand of metal settles as lightly as a feather on your shoulder. It is Nae's. Within the large fingers you can make out knives, cell-knitters and other medical nightmares. You and Jo have felt their touch once before. "Jo needs to live so that we all will." Nae's hand remains on your shoulder, an anchor to keep you from falling into the pit of loss.

Cass and Hayden

Ophelia, Fi and Nae all move away from you to go and stand by their respective friends. In their loss, your own thoughts turn inward. Who would mourn you if the situation was reversed? You have business partners, yes, but friends? Real friends? Someone to sit by your bedside and talk of the good times. The dark shade of depression tugs for attention and you swallow, looking to the others. What of them? Will this be the glue to bind a relationship or are you just motes caught dancing in the light together?

A gentle cough behind you breaks the introspection. It is Shift. "There is something we can do." He seems uneasy and his finger and thumb on his right hand rub gently together. "They are asleep in this world, but in other places they are not." He looks to you both. "If you are willing, there is something you can do for the friends of your friends."

[fury]

Cass jumps at the sound of Shifts voice and clutches her chest, [color=#6666CC;]"For a big man you sure can be quiet..."[/color] For a couple of seconds she catches her breath, [color=#6666CC;]"Something I can do...I am sure none of my skills would be any use in this situation. But hey"[/color] she shrugged, [color=#6666CC;]"Don't have anything to do, so I'm up for anything!"[/color]

[Early Bird]

Ophelia felt rage surge inside her like a malevolent bubble. Nothing. No reaction at all, she might as well not be there for all Sally knew of it. Hopton. It all came back to him didn't it. Her own murder, Sally had been there for her then, she had to do something to help, anything.. and now this. Sally had been targeted for whatever this was, but probably just because she was convenient, expendable. Hopton wouldn't care a damn about any life she might otherwise have. Ophelia unclenched her hand from the fist she had unknowlingly made, releasing the soft sheet she had been clutching and rested her hand gently on top of Sally's, careful not to disturb her. "He'll pay Sally I promise you. Hopton. It's all down to him you see, I found out about it. He had you targeted. I don't know what it's all about, but I'll get him, for you.. for both of us".

[Synik]

Cass and Hayden

"We are all valuable," Shift replies. Yeah right. How many times have you heard that in a tweenie bop song or in a fortune cookie? "Do not sell yourself short, Cass. Perhaps you have yet to have the chance to find your true calling." Ah, there we go! The sucker punch. That's more like it... but no, there is no malice or patronising tone; Shift's words are unusually genuine.

"As Nae deals with the physical world, I.." His voice trails off as if he's listening a tune only he can hear. "...deal with. How can I put this?" He smiles at the pomposity of it all. "Other places. Realms that we have forgotten how to visit. You four are all keys to the riddle and together we can resolve it." He blinks in a cat-like way. "Can I count on you? On both of you? You are both.. solid? Yes?"

Ophelia

The words pour out of you. Whispered promises carrying so much more weight than sound. Was that? Yes. Yes, there it was again. The slightest of movements of Sally's fingers against yours. You hold your breath but the motion does not come again. You climb down the ladder of tension, your hand still against Sally's cool fingers. There is no further movement, but there was. You want to believe that she heard you.

[fury]

[color=#6666CC;]"Oh I've already found my true calling Shift, maybe if you get lonely sometime I could show you just how good my skills are..."[/color] she let the invite hang before adding, [color=#6666CC;]"I'm up for visiting other places, anywhere is better than here. As for being solid, I am actually rather jiggly and soft in places."[/color] She fondles her ample chest in mock seduction.

[Early Bird]

Ophelia released the breath she had been holding. It had been there, it had happened.. that slightest hint of pressure that proved the person known as Sally Herald was still there. Still keeping the contact with Sally's hand Ophelia looked across to Nae. "I got something" she said, trying to keep her voice controlled, but emotion coming through clearly to show how she felt. "Just the faintest pressure from her fingers as I was talking to her. Please tell me that means there's still something of her left.. something that can be brought back.. please..." This last whispered pleadingly as if she could make it so just by asking.