We pick up as Brune and Jack have both been hospitalized with serious wounds after the scrap with Brother Seapo, and Alex and Darrion are headed back to the university, waiting for some news on their hospitalized friends, noticing along the way that a certain vehicle from the church can now be found close to the hospital.
Alex and Darri, is there anything you would like to accomplish in between heading back home and nightfall? You do get a phone call telling you that neither of them will be released today and will be spending the night in the hospital.
Darri will text Kiko to meet up & then rendezvous with her after his shower to infodump at her. [we don't have to actually play that through, just assume she gets caught up]
Jack, you are neither allowed to see Brune nor allowed to leave at the very least until tomorrow.
@bobble (thumbsup) She seems very concerned at the prospect of an insane knife-wielding priest running around loose with potentially world-ending objects, as any reasonable person would be.
Darri nods sagely at her post-infodump worried rant while sipping more tea from her infinite stash. He'll probably crash at her place tonight, he doesn't feel safe sleeping alone.
@Mithical Alex will ask the receptionist if their servers have been working correctly, and in the very likely event that she knows nothing they will head back to their office
Jack, as you drift off, you find yourself in an empty room. The walls and ceiling are a flat gray, with no visible light source, but a dim light illuminates the place anyway. A flat metal door with a simple knob sits slightly ajar at one end.
After a moment, you are joined by Alex, and then by Darrion.
"I'm guessing you're both the real yous?" And Jack goes to give them a hug, "I thought I'd be facing my dreams alone," he says by way of an explanation for the hug
You are being kept unconscious, and yet your consciousness is still active. You open your eyes to find yourself next to yourself - next to your own body stretched flat on a bed, your dream self in your chair next to it.
"Besides that time I got knocked out by the seaweed, I mean. I skipped dreaming, right? But that doesn't count because of the EVIL SEAWEED that sent me to the HOSPITAL."
Brune stares hopelessly at his unconscious body. Seeing himself from the outside feels like looking at a stranger, like he's seeing someone he doesn't recognize. He looks around for Dr. Krath, or anyone else.
"I wish I could have skipped dreaming... Has anyone seen this dream before? All I remember from my dreams are boats, and islands and some monster thing."
@Mithical what is Jack wearing, his age and if he has his cane still?
@Sciborg You can see your own mangled shoulder, not yet stitched up. All of your other cuts and bruises are there, whatever's not covered by the paper-thin gown you're dressed in.
You're all wearing the clothes that you would wear on a normal day. You all look, for the most part, as you do normally - although perhaps a tad taller, or otherwise how you see yourself that may not be entirely accurate.
Brune rolls slowly over to his own back - he was always a side sleeper - and gingerly reaches as if to touch the faint surgical scar winding down his own spine. He draws back, feeling a strange stinging in the corners of his eyes. He's never been anything but broken, and that hasn't changed now. He let them all down. Again.
Darri squints at his pretty green skirt decorated with daffodils and the crisp polo with the Bardot Lab logo on the pocket. "Well, it's not a bad outfit. The world can stay on probation for now."
This is how he dressed when he last went to a conference. Yes, it was on the west coast. He saved the picture of himself because he thought he looked particularly science-y
The squeak of a door rings in the ears of all four of you. Brune, you look up and see the door to the theater open. The rest of you hear it coming from just outside the door to the room you are in.
"What's the chance that refusing the engage with the dream will make it be normal?" Darri smooths his hands, with perfectly manicured nails that have tiny chemistry beakers painted on, down his skirt. "Never mind. Zero. The answer is there is zero chance this dream will be normal. I'm following Jack."
@AncientSwordRage You open the door, and find another door immediately outside it, now open. There's a scrubbed figure standing in the doorway, but past that, you see two Brunes.
Brune, you see Dr. Krath standing in the doorway. Behind her is Jack.
Brune digs his fingers hard into the armrests, the color draining from his face at the sight of her approaching his unconscious body, almost not even hearing Jack. She can't be...
"Jack, I - you have to stop her," Brune says, hoarsely, faintly. His eyes are full of terror, locked on Krath as if seeing a ghost. "Stop her. Do something!"
Julia pulls on a fresh pair of gloves, almost automatically, her eyes locked on Brune. The shadowless lights are turned on, illuminating Brune's ruined shoulder.
@Sciborg She doesn't give any indication that she can see or hear you or any of the others.
"No - no - please - STOP!" Brune is hyperventilating now. He tries to throw himself at her in an attempt to put himself between her and, well, himself.
Both of you experience the same thing - your hands pass right through, insubstantial and ineffective.
Slowly, methodically, and professionally, Julia begins to work on the shoulder. The wound is cleaned, removing dirt and bits of fabric from the makeshift bandages. Entirely disconnected tissue is pulled out and the blood washed off.
@AncientSwordRage You come into contact with the walls and floor, as well as your friends. You find yourself unable to interact fully with anything else - you can feel that they're there, but if you attempt to interact with anything in any meaningful way, you pass through it like smoke.
@Mithical Jack growls in frustration, "Whatever is out there, playing with us, now would be a great time to give your chess pieces some help" he says to no one in particular
Meanwhile, Krath begins the process of suturing the wound, stitching the slash closed, pressing the skin against itself over the wound. It's not pretty, and the stitches will have to come out when it is more healed, but it should prevent infection and help speed up the healing process. Brune, if you're paying attention, you know that so far she's done everything properly and successfully, even if against regulations by not having anyone to assist or supervise in any way.
"Brune, look, you might be an idiot for what you did," and the big man heaves out a sigh, "But you did exactly what a good doctor would do. And we need you to hold it together."
Brune shudders, and some tears drip onto Darrion's sleeve, but his hand stays on Darrion's cheek, as if trying to cling to Darrion with everything he has left.
Finally, Julia finishes the sutures. The shoulder has now been cleaned, treated, and stitched. The shoulder done, she stands there, looking at Brune. A vein pulses in her neck, and her face shifts as if she's repeatedly clenching and unclenching her jaw.
Darri clears his throat. "Not to ruin the moment, but now that you're, um, hopefully slightly less panicked, can we figure out what we're doing in this dream?" He turns to look at Alex. "You got a plan, IT wizard?"
Darri attempts to imitate his father, whispering "shh" and "mmm" while squeezing Brune's hand. He tries to remember what else people do to comfort the distressed, since his standard technique of saying "You're a good doctor" apparently wasn't enough
"The lung was perfect, of course." She spins around to stand directly over Brune, still stretched out on the table. Her eyes are open wide, her face twitching. "Such a shame you decided he didn't need his liver anymore."
Brune's face twitches, in silent revelation. His chest slowly rises and falls with harsh, ragged breaths. He feels as if he's finally staring his sins in the face. He couldn't run away from it after all.
She clenches a scalpel, her knuckles going white. "And he wasn't the only one, was he? All those people, all those organs, Brune. And where did they all go? They went here, Brune. And now it's your turn. Fuck Hippocrates and fuck you, Brune. You're gonna feel what it's like to have your liver dumped in a pit to be fed on by monstrosities. You're a monster yourself."
And with that, she leans over and begins making an incision in Brune's side.
All of her words are just noises to Darri; he's decided that everyone else is dealing with weird doctor lady so he should deal with keeping their own nice doctor man grounded
Brune crumples slowly in his chair, unable to speak or move or do anything in the face of the words. He lets go of Darrion's hand and buries his face in his knees, unresisting. He wants nothing more than to be holding that scalpel himself.
"I told you I was a monster when you met me, Jack." Brune's voice is so weak it's almost inaudible, muffled by his hands. "You didn't seem to believe me."
@Sciborg "I need to hear it from you. Not whatever nightmare doctor is operating on you now. Do that for me at least, and I'll let you know if I believe you're still a monster."
Brune makes a feeble sound, something between defeat and acceptance. His eyes are still fixed on Julia with a guilt-stricken, beseeching expression, watching her hands.
The incision made, layers of skin, fat, and muscle peeled back, Julia begins tying off branches of veins and arteries, isolating half of the liver in preparation for a partial hepatectomy. Normally this would be done a while in advance, but these are hardly normal circumstances.
Carefully, slowly, in direct contrast to the anger and energy she had displayed earlier, she methodically works on the task at hand.
Darri startles at the realization that one of the people in the "dealing with weird doctor lady" column has now moved into the "needs comforting" column
Something about seeing Jack finally break down - after so long of seeing nothing but strength from such a tall, gentle giant - makes everything painfully real to Brune all over again. He shivers and ekes out a mumbled, "sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Jack looks up at Darrion, his eyes red and bloodshot. "Does this look ... Look... look like any of the other dreams? Why are there two of him ... If.... If one isn't real?" His breath is still heaving between sobs, but he looks like he's pulling it together slightly
"Jack..." Brune murmurs, feebly, and finally musters the strength to speak. The horror that Julia is enacting on him mere feet away seems so far away. "I couldn't bring myself to... by God, Jack, I hadn't felt this way for anyone in so long that I couldn't..." He trails off, hesitant, and seems unsure of what he's even saying. "I deserve it, Jack. I deserve every damned moment of what she's about to do to me. And you deserve better."
Jack stands, and facing Brune says, "I was ready when Seapo had the knife to me, but I'm not ready... You're not off the hook yet. I just... We can't stop her..."
Turning to Darrion, "How do you know we aren't the ones who aren't real... I don't get any of this dream stuff... I don't know how it works..."
"The average human can survive with only a quarter of their liver intact. It is the only organ in the body that can regrow itself. Prometheus and the eagle indeed." Brune stares at her dully. "She has chosen a marvelous method of torture."
"What better way to torment an organ surgeon?" Brune smiles humorlessly. "I suppose she'll let me recover before she removes it again. It will make for excellent practice."
Brune's liver is wrapped in plastic and placed in a waiting, plain, unassuming cooler bag, which itself is waiting in a similarly unassuming backpack. Changing her gloves, she then goes to begin the task of closing the incision.
Brune averts his eyes at last, finally unable to watch any further, and unceremoniously crumples forward in the chair and - for the first time in quite a while for a doctor who has assuredly seen much worse - makes a strangled retching noise as he holds back his lunch. Apparently watching himself be cut apart is enough.
When you hurt people, shot living things, Darrion thinks to himself, it was to defend your friends. It wasn't this - cold-blooded - crime that she's doing. Just defending yourself. That's all
(i.e. Darri is having minor character revelations)
The incision is closed, the blood is washed off, and Brune is stitched back together for the second time that night. Finished, Julia stands there, staring at him, and then picks up the backpack, zips it closed, and exits the theater, leaving the door open and Brune stretched out on the operating table.
