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Post by Jordanna on May 5, 2009 22:20:29 GMT -5
"Uh... huh." Vance scowled. "So what are we looking at in practical terms? What kind of care do we need to give him--and is he strong enough for some very unpleasant conversations about what he and his pals have been up to?"
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Post by skybright on May 5, 2009 22:28:08 GMT -5
Caddy sighed and straightened his back slightly. "Well, like I said, you're going to need someone to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't develop an infection. Antibiotics probably wouldn't hurt -- I brought some in my bag. And pain relief might make him more likely to be coherent."
Daws made a faintly chiding noise in the back of her throat. "You're dodging a question, Caddy."
Caddy sighed. "It depends on what you mean by 'unpleasant conversations'." He said. His jaw tightened underneath the ski mask. "I'm a doctor. There's some kinds of unpleasant conversations that I took an oath against signing off on."
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Post by Jordanna on May 5, 2009 22:38:14 GMT -5
Vance looked over at Voegel, ascertaining that the man wasn't awake enough to hear them. Then he lowered his voice.
"Look, Caddy, we're not gonna be taking the hot irons to him--not with Proteus involved, especially. You know that." He sighed. "If we're lucky, just asking him our questions will be enough to put his mind on the answers; then Cole can do the rest, like he did before. So we won't be doing Voegel any physical damage in the near future... but I'm not promising it's not gonna be an ugly, stressful business for everybody concerned."
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Post by skybright on May 5, 2009 22:49:00 GMT -5
Caddy relaxed and shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, well. So's traffic in rush hour, right?" He spread his hands. "Like I said, his heart's not bad off enough that he's in imminent danger of dying -- but I'd avoid any big, sudden shocks to his system, just to be on the safe side.
"The injuries to his ribcage are probably going to keep him from being much good at putting up much of a fight -- but he might still try and put one up, just for the principle of the thing." He continued. "You can probably sedate him safely if you need to, but don't use the full dose of that stuff Tiernan uses. A third of that should be plenty to keep him from trying to walk off on you."
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Post by Jordanna on May 5, 2009 22:53:52 GMT -5
"If he's unconscious, he won't be much use for answering questions--even just thinking them." Vance shrugged. "What about restraints? Think he's liable to hurt himself if we need to tie him down by his wrists?"
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Post by skybright on May 5, 2009 22:58:00 GMT -5
Caddy frowned. "He might -- that left forearm's got quite a bit of damaged skin, even if it's not as severe as his other injuries. I don't think he'd do anything permanent to himself, though."
"It'd be a better option than two of us holding him down, I guess." Daws shrugged.
At that moment, the man on the bed let out a long, low groan, and she shot a concerned glance sideways at him. "Sounds like we better get it figured out before too much longer."
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Post by Jordanna on May 7, 2009 23:16:45 GMT -5
"We'll be careful with him--sedate him if it looks like he's gonna hurt himself." Vance moved to one of his bags of gear, found a blanket, and started tearing strips of cloth from it. "We can use this instead of cuffs or rope, anyway. Handy, Sid--tie one end to his wrists, and the other to the bedframe. That way he can move around enough not to put any stress on his wounds."
He passed the strips of flannel to Handy and Sid, who proceeded to carefully but securely tie down Voegel's hands.
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Post by skybright on May 7, 2009 23:23:39 GMT -5
Voegel groaned again as the restraints were fastened, and after a moment his eyes cracked open. He grimaced as he glanced at the masked figures gathered around him. "Wha . . ."
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Post by Jordanna on May 7, 2009 23:29:01 GMT -5
Vance folded his arms as he looked down on Voegel.
"Not to worry, Doc, you're still among the living... for the moment." He stretched out his hand, popping a spark of energy in his upturned palm. "We want to get acquainted."
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Post by skybright on May 7, 2009 23:33:10 GMT -5
Voegel gave a start, sucking air through his teeth as the movement jostled his injuries. His expression hardened, and he once again glanced at the masked figures around him -- this time with an unmistakable expression of loathing.
"Mutants." He hissed.
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Post by Jordanna on May 7, 2009 23:46:37 GMT -5
"That's a brilliant deduction," Vance replied coolly. "We've been doing some deducing ourselves, pal. We know what you and your friends are up to. We don't like it--and we're going to make sure it's stopped."
He turned a chair to face the bed and calmly sat down. "There are two things that can happen, Doctor Voegel. Your operation is going to get shut down either way--but if you help us, there's a lot less chance of people getting hurt. If you refuse..." He shrugged. "We're not the only group of mutants who know the score... and if the other one gets to your colleagues first, it'll make what happened at Mount Bliss look like a birthday party."
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Post by skybright on May 7, 2009 23:55:43 GMT -5
Voegel scowled and gingerly shifted his weight. "If you know about Mount Bliss," He said coldly, "Then you already know how interested I am in cooperating with you."
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Post by Jordanna on May 9, 2009 22:32:07 GMT -5
"That's about what we figured." Vance shrugged coolly. "We gave you the chance to help us save the lives of your colleagues, Voegel. Remember that. Crazy as it sounds, we're still going to try--but if we can't get to them before the competition does, it won't be anybody's fault but yours."
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Post by skybright on May 9, 2009 23:34:59 GMT -5
Voegel let out a short, bitter laugh that turned into a pained grimace. "Save your pretensions of nobility for someone dumb enough to fall for them, mutie." He replied. "You don't care any more about me or my colleagues than I do about you and yours."
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Post by Jordanna on May 10, 2009 23:00:04 GMT -5
"Maybe he doesn't... but I do," Proteus said quietly. He was seated beside the bed with his fingertips resting on Voegel's arm, doing what he could to lessen the scientist's pain.
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Post by skybright on May 10, 2009 23:04:17 GMT -5
Voegel studied Proteus through narrowed eyes. "Doesn't matter what side you're supposedly on." He said. "I don't trust any of you people."
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Post by Jordanna on May 10, 2009 23:27:08 GMT -5
Proteus chuckled thoughtfully. "I wouldn't trust you an inch, myself. I don't like you, Voegel--but you're a living person. If I have anything to say about it--and I do--you're going to stay that way."
Uninterested in further demonstrations of Voegel's contempt, Vance turned to Daws and spoke quietly. "It might be a good idea to check in with Cole again. The sooner we can coax what we need outta this guy's head, the sooner we can figure out what to do with him."
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Post by skybright on May 10, 2009 23:35:21 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "I'll use that pay phone across the street -- less chance of sunshine here picking up on anything we don't want him overhearing." She gave Vance's shoulder a quick squeeze and turned for the door. "Won't be long."
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Post by Jordanna on May 10, 2009 23:49:15 GMT -5
"I don't think you're gonna miss much." Vance watched Daws leave, then turned to scowl at Voegel.
"Most of us don't care if you hate us, Voegel--so long as you leave us alone. But we take it kinda personal when you lock our kind in labs to be cut up, pumped full of drugs, and turned into things meant to kill people. It's not neighborly."
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Post by skybright on May 11, 2009 0:01:37 GMT -5
Voegel chuckled grimly. "What do you expect, an apology?" He shook his head. "We're putting a natural resource to good use. I suppose splitting the atom wasn't too 'neighborly', either."
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