Week 67, late: Mixed Medicines

For all that the World View was; in space, public transport and an entirely sealed environment it was much the same as any EI territory, so long as you had money you could get anything you wanted. Of course having friends helped too and Hugo was good friends with Coraline. When he had contacted her about removing some cybernetics the nuke probably hadn't envisaged being operated on by a one metre floating sphere, while the plague doctor sat limp in a chair over by the corner. And yet here they both were, the MDX 2.0 gazing down at Hugo's exposed muscles with its massive central eye whilst chatting to him in a dull monotonous hollow voice. It spoke with Coraline's mannerisms nonetheless and although she had almost certainly explained what was going on beforehand it was probably still quite unnerving.

"... You understand, we were so glad to get "The Show," it's got a rep good enough to get important EI through the door, no problem. Which was a great relief and Asier and Betty are doing absolutely fabulous work with the outfits but....." The droid's speakers faltered for a moment although its work on Hugo's arm continued without missing a beat. Hugo had already been given an introduction of Anasigma's staff, though it had been delivered at break neck speed. "Poor Skarn is having such trouble finding models on Varstaag who aren't fully booked. And well, I had wanted to ask you to model for us before we even knew there was a problem, you know how dashing you are Juice. So, uh, there is already an outfit in your size. And we'd be happy for you to have it certainly, especially since well sweetie I don't really think I could afford your usual rates. Hehehehe." Hearing this particular robot giggle was not easy on the ears, by any measure.

It had taken Hugo a few hours to get completely adjusted to the robot working on him as it changed his muscles back to their usual size. It was a time consuming process, and it would take far longer than Coraline and Hugo had time for this week but... It was good to make a start. Good to get back to normal and not snap his guitars or... ..anything else.

He looked into the glowing eye of the possessed medical droid, and then back to the unconscious Coraline, who somehow even managed to look graceful while asleep. "..I'll be a bit smaller after this, so you might need to take it in." He managed to smile convincingly at the robot, shrugging the arm it wasn't working on. "But you know I'd love to help. I can't say I've modeled much, but it'll be fun."

He shook his head, looking over the robot again.

"Oh super, thank you so much darling!" After this the droid fell silent for several moments. Hugo knew Coraline well enough to know that she was only excitedly coming up with ideas and keeping them to herself rather than splurging words wildly about. The robot bobbed as it resumed speaking. "If you could arrive an hour and a half beforehand, that ought to be enough time to get you fitted and run you through modelling. I had invited Stephen you know, hoping to get to meet him but unfortunately he declined. I suppose it may have been too much, asking an ex fed some of us just met to hop on a starship and fly away with us to a pleasure planet. But the mission, oh you all did so well! What was he like? A real professional, I take it?"

"Oh, yeah. Professional. A Fed. Same glassy stare I had when I joined up with us. He did watch El Chulo and I argue in sign for a few days, didn't say much. Quiet. Stealthy. And handy with a sniper, too." Hugo went to shrug again and stopped as he looked down at the knife and needles deep in his arm. He opted for a smile instead. "I like him. He's a good guy. Dunno why he'd turn this down, though. Might be too much too fast."

"Must be. Mm, hopefully he'll start to open up a bit. He does sound like a decent fit though, I certainly don't mind a professional sniper having my back." The droid made no sound at all as it injected more chemicals into Hugo's arm, shoulders and lower torso. Its precise movements were unerring and showcased one of the many reasons why Two Snakes dominated the health industry. "Oh, but, speaking of new people what do you think of Mieko and her being assigned to us? I saw your reply, first naturally, naturally but didn't it seem like she was making fun of CEO Lee?"

"Was she? She just seemed happy to me. I mean, I dunno how happy the CEO is, but he's not a real emotional sort. And it seems like not a big deal, for blowing a station up." Hugo chuckled a little, bending to give the robot, well, Coraline in the robot, more access to his muscle. He knew she was removing an augment, but it felt like a.. repair. It was leaving him in high spirits. "What can she do, really? And even if she could... If she works with us, maybe she gets paid like us. That is what I would do. Money makes everyone.. happy."

"Perhaps, personally I'm a little concerned by what ethical conduct entails. And if she is going to get paid like us, she ought be risking her life like us I'd say!" Coraline did not mention how the fact that it seemed like not a big deal for what they had done only made her more concerned about what this Mieko woman might mean. Nor how Mieko had mentioned former corporation when the UIG was very definitely not a corp, but a government. The plague doctor didn't mention that one because it was her brain arguing over semantics, rather than anything actually suspicious. "Though I suppose 'interviewing' some of our fellow agents, she might be doing just that."

The bot paused for a moment, Coraline had to be lost in thought. "About the rest of us, how was everyone in Jerusalem? Shinobu called me, seeming somewhat out of sorts and well. If Shinobu was messed up, the people recovering... Fernis...." The fashionista-come-robot trailed off, evidently unsure of how to continue.

"There's enough money to go around." He laughed again, relaxed. He let the robot work on him, listening to Coraline talk. He didn't know what everyone was so worried about. So there was gonna be a UIG officer. Whatever. There were always officers.

"And everyone is.. Fenrir was..." He sighed, and as always, found it easier to be honest with Coraline. "She's fucked up. She couldn't stop crying when she thought I couldn't hear. I don't know what they did to her.. Or everyone else. Shinobu didn't spend much time with me in Jerusalem, but I don't know what he was feeling. He made me a cake, so he couldn't have been that upset. Silvia seems... ..better, but I don't know."

He looked down. The benefit to him being sad was that he moved less. His hands clenched into fists. "Leaving them for a week was too long. We should have moved faster."

"Maybe, but if we had gone in sooner we would have been less prepared. That might have meant more things going wrong and that may have made the result... less favourable. We could have lost some of them, or us. Hell Juice, we were only as prepared as we were because of you. We got them back safe. Now all we can do is be there for them and no-one has been there more for them than you. So there." The robot said, monotonously, as if that settled the matter. It bobbed up and down on the spot, midair, as though mimicking a nod.

"I'm sorry to hear that though, about everyone. Hope the cake was nice though." Despite her contrition, the plague doctor seemed to be attempting to cheer Hugo up. Not something that went well last time. "How was.... how was Ace doing, on the mission? I think he and Positron were.... close."

"He stayed back until the last minute looking for.. some sign of the moon man. Nothing. He got all quiet and then... After that, it was all the mission. Didn't even mention him in Yellowknife, not for all those days." Hugo sounded a little sad at that, shaking his head. "He knows he's dead, but.. I didn't see him react. Dunno how he is. Did well enough besides that."

He sighed, shrugging. "No idea where his body went, anyway. Seemed to just.. disappear. Maybe they threw it into space?"

"And then, while we were rescuing everyone, they grabbed only his equipment from those tamper proof sealed bags and threw that overboard as well?" The droid shook from side to side slightly. "I think maybe Positron had more secrets than anyone knew. Poor Ace though, maybe someone should speak to him. I wish I could say I can't believe he didn't come."

"Bosses don't normally associate with their underlings." He cracked a smile, and sighed. "No, I'm being mean. He just.. is somewhere else the whole time. You see him and he seems like he's not even there. Like how people look on their internal computers, looking somewhere else, except.. All the time. So focused he can't see. ..Nah, now I'm just rambling."

He looked at the droid, giving it a smile. "Maybe the moon man had secrets. I wouldn't know. But if someone can take to Ace, it's you. He needs more.. warm people in his life."

The bot paused for a moment. "Thanks, I'll.. see how I can help. Though I don't think you can ever have too many warm people in your life. Though I have to wonder.... what is he so focused on? Oh, ah you're nearly done Juicey. For this session anyway." The robot continued to hover and work as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said.

Hugo nodded, giving the droid a coy look. "What is anyone focused on? Gridae--he's the night DJ on Tuesdays--of BRUTAL says it's either money, power, love, work, revenge, or faith. Did a HUGE interview with Kleptropatra after her album dropped, which was called OBSESSION. ...No, not faith, I think it would translate more to.. ideals. And it's all the same thing." He looked up, thoughtfully. "Obsessively thinking about being.. more. ...That makes sense, right?... That's why Kleptropatra says in Being More. Heavy, but good. Lots of synth vocals and stuff. You should listen to it. It's lighter than most of BRUTAL's fare."

"Yes it does and you know, I think I will have to. It does sound very interesting. I try to... think of things to do that will achieve two things at once. Especially on missions now. Heh, who knows, perhaps it'll help my think of things." The droid pat Hugo companionably on the arm before it began to stitch up his skin. "So.... are there any other bands like that? I must confess to a fondness for synth."