SIXTY NINE ✖ VOICE & SPAM

[wedonot]

[Filtered from Alpha, Riddick and Creed]

I've got Rogue. I'm bringing her to the infirmary, and I've been able to flush out Alpha's handiwork. She should be back to normal once she wakes up.

And for the record, I'm more than willing to do the same for anyone else who's been affected.

[Private to Ned]

Any luck determining who the remaining victims are?

[Spam for Raven, backdated to after Zane's been healed]

[Once Zane is out of the woods and taken care of, and Charles finally feels like he can leave him to recuperate without feeling like he's abandoning him, he heads back to his room to wash up and change. He throws out the sweater - actually, he's almost considering throwing it over the side, because even if he could get all the blood off of it, he doesn't want to wear something that feels - and looks - more like a bandage now than an article of clothing.

He's so tired of this. He just wants his little circle of people to be safe, to stop having to deal with the reality that they're probably never going to be, no matter where they are.

It's an exhausting reality.

Once he's cleaned up, he throws on another sweater and just takes a moment to breathe, rubbing his temples with the pads of his fingers. This entire thing is just one giant headache, and he wishes it was less of a liability to just reach out and immediately find the other damaged people.]

[Spam for Touko]

[Charles heads to the library when Touko's shift is ending, just as Anya requested, and he's not... really sure what he's getting himself into. Obviously what Alpha's done to her needs to be reversed, but Anya's not wrong about how traumatic it can be, when you might like the person you were now more than the person you would have been without the tampering. It's not a simple matter of knowing that someone like Rogue or Riddick would be better off not getting homicidally angry.

Fortunately, it doesn't take long to find her.]

Ms. Fukawa? I was wondering if I could talk with you for a minute.

[Private to Zane, later]

[So. You're not on his item anymore. Which means either you've been reassigned, or.]

I have a potentially strange question to ask.

Comments

[private, after some of the fuss has died down]

[fridgetothefire]

...so. I have a suspicion, about someone.

But she's happier right now, and more stable, and she's opened up, and - it's not urgent, okay, she's not going to be dangerous, and if I confront her about it and I'm wrong then it could undo a lot of genuine progress.

And if I'm right and you confront her about it and just switch her back like a lamp then she'll feel terrible and powerless and like being miserable and suspicious and all the rest is some indelible part of the real her and she can only change if someone forces it on her and I really, really don't want to do that.

[She's tense, a stripped wire, raw and exposed and taut. She's had artificial improvements suddenly stripped away before, on the barge, and one time it left her nearly catatonic. She really does consider Touko a friend, even if it's only mutual because of mind control, Anya wants to take care of her.]

If I tell you who, could you - check on her, discreetly? Without changing anything or telling her until I get a chance to talk to her about it?

[private]

[wedonot]

Of course. Who is it?

[He knows better than to just come out with it, that he's already been told who it probably is.]

[private]

[fridgetothefire]

Touko Fukawa. She's been. Different, like I said.

But it might just be our relationship changing. I don't know.

[private]

[wedonot]

Do you know where she is?

[private]

[fridgetothefire]

It's her library shift now. Maybe get her at the end of it, so she can have some privacy once we know?

[private]

[wedonot]

Alright. I'll let you know what I find out.

[private]

[fridgetothefire]

[Heavy sigh, half relieved and grateful, half bracing herself for whatever the answer is.]

Thank you.

[private]

[wedonot]

[And a while later:]

She's been tampered with.

[private]

[fridgetothefire]

[Poor thing. God. Anya bites her lip, wants to hug herself, doesn't. She has work to do.]

Thank you.

How is she feeling right now? Otherwise, I mean.

[private]

[wedonot]

She wasn't happy with me bothering her, but otherwise she seemed fine.

[private]

[fridgetothefire]

[You talked to her omg Charles what did you think discreet meant PUT UPON SIGH]

...what did you say to her?

[private]

[wedonot]

I asked if she'd be interested in a comparative history class if someone was willing to teach it. Pietro was going to, but obviously that's not an option anymore.