un: Bachelor | text

[thantagonist]

Attention Fellow People of Etraya,

I am Doctor Daniil Dankovsky, Bachelor of Medicine. As I understand it, few of you have seen a doctor lately. That simply won’t do! Please, don’t wait to get sick to establish care. I am situated in the hospital, ready to take consent forms and make updated medical histories. At least a few of you have unaddressed concerns, I just know it. The average person comes to see the doctor when it’s too late! Though we cannot die here, there is no reason to suffer unduly.

And if you are otherwise healthy, perhaps think of it as helping me out. In the event of an outbreak, it is far more helpful to have complete clinical pictures of the inhabitants. Especially, as I understand it, there are many biological differences in this population.

Please come visit me during my clinic hours, every day from 10am to 6pm.


[What Daniil really wants is to meet more of the unusual inhabitants of Etraya more quickly as well as conduct casual interviews of the sort of people who are slated to save the universe. But he can’t just say that completely outright.]

Comments

text; un: valentine

[loveandsin]

An outbreak? Do you think something like that could occur?

[thantagonist]

Is there some reason to believe it couldn’t? Over a hundred people here, all from vastly different places, and we travel for missions as I understand it? There’s bacteria and fungus in the soil, parasites in animals and fish. Have you been inoculated in your time here, or are you one of the super people who don’t require any medical oversight?

People and things are brought in seemingly by accident. If there has never been an outbreak here before, it sounds like pure luck.

[loveandsin]

[ What Daniil says does make a great deal of sense. ]

Typically I heal on my own due to.. past circumstances. But I was infected here once, or something like that. No one else was, thankfully, including those who came into contact with me.

[thantagonist]

Then I really do need you to come in as your schedule allows.

Can you describe this infection?

[Because really, what could all of that mean?]

[loveandsin]

[ Being invited into a doctor's office gives Vincent more anxiety than he cares to admit. He's no coward, but the memories it inspires are unpleasant. Would it be unbecoming to ask someone to come with him, he wonders? Just to ensure the doctor has no nefarious intentions? ]

Shortly after arriving in Etraya, there was a mission. During that time, my team and I were trapped in a house with a creature. While fighting it, I came in contact with its saliva, and I transformed into a similar creature with no control over my actions.

[thantagonist]

Interesting. Do you know how long that lasted? Do you notice any lasting ill effects?

[loveandsin]

Not very long, but I attacked a woman. Others who saw this attacked me, and when I was beaten severely enough, I reverted to myself.

I have not had any lasting effects that I know of, but I had the ability to transform into monstrous forms before encountering that creature. It was not a form I wish to revisit.

[thantagonist]

I see.

[Daniil had also been transformed into a monster but he does not want to admit that or consider it, least of all on the network. ]

You say you’ve transformed before, did you lose this ability? Had you always had it?

[loveandsin]

[ Enough people saw it happen and had to deal with it that it's no secret for Vincent to speak of it. Otherwise, he would be more discreet with his past, just as Daniil is. ]

I did not lose it. And no, I did not always have it.

[thantagonist]

[Daniil’s had just happened to turn into a mushroom monster his first night in Etraya. But again he doesn’t wanna think of it.]

What do you turn into?

When did you acquire this ability?

[loveandsin]

A different sort of creature. It's the produce of an experiment that took place thirty years ago.

[thantagonist]

What sort of experiments?

damn typos spotted the next day

[loveandsin]

Ones I do not wish to discuss.

[ Certainly not here. ]

It’s an honor to seal your typo into immortality

[thantagonist]

[Too public, or is he too private?]

So, you’ll be coming in for that exam?

remember my shame

[loveandsin]

[ It takes a little time for him to respond. ]

I do not wish for what happened before to repeat itself.

[ Vincent does not know if Daniil can find a way to ensure that, but the thought has plagued Vincent since it occurred. Others have suggested a few solutions, but none that he believed would help. It would be best to lock him away, only that is not possible with the nature of this place. ]

[thantagonist]

[Daniil does not know if that’s a “yes, I’ll be there shortly” or a “no, I can’t let you see The Horrors”. He has encountered a lot of melodramatic refusals from people who were otherwise fine. Daniil rolls his eyes.]

I accept whatever responsibility this entails. I’ll be waiting, unless you are unable to travel for some reason.

[Sometimes, annoyingly, that was also the case.]

[loveandsin]

[ It's not entirely a commitment because Vincent is waffling over the idea. Finally, he remembers that he needs to start acting in order to absolve himself of his sins, including the harm he did to a woman while he was previously transformed. ]

I will report during your open hours.

[ When he is ready to do so. But he won't be coming alone. ]

[thantagonist]

I’ll be waiting.

[action] - cw; medical imagery

[loveandsin]

[ Since appearing in Etraya, the hospital is one of the places Vincent has routinely avoided. Like so many other arrivals, he awoke here, and the moment he gained consciousness in a hospital bed with its all too clean environment and LED white lights, he jumped out of that bed and made a hasty exit without looking back.

He's back today to meet a doctor. Just the thought of the title brought back memories. The sound of a scalpel clanking onto a tray, stained in his blood. The scent of latex gloves and antiseptic. And the feeling of something buried inside of him, foreign and unwanted but now a permanent part of him.

A soft grunt at the back of his throat, and he looks over at the friend who has joined him. He's glad Aerith is here. It eases some of the stiffness in his shoulders. With a nod, Vincent reaches for the hospital door and pulls it open, escorted inside by the braver face of a flower girl. If Dr. Dankovsky's area is not easily spotted, one of the bots can escort them there. ]

[inemeraldfaith]

[Aerith tries not to pry too much into Vincent's background. She knows it's complicated. She knows he's holding onto a lot. And she gets the feeling that on some level, there may be things they have in common that they simply haven't quite figured out yet.

This is a big step for him. Vincent keeps to himself. He's brooding, aloof, and seems resigned to his solitude, though she has attempted to draw him from that. But in Aerith's mind, even if he seeks to close himself off from the world, that doesn't ever stop her from being at his side, from burdening him with her companionship.

If one wants to call it that. Vincent never would.

As he takes the big step to even just opening the door, Aerith leaves a hand at the small of his back. He's doing so good! The first step is always the hardest one.

But she won't lie, there are even parts of her that are slightly unnerved. Maybe the last time she smelled medical air wasn't so different from scientific air. Hojo is a thought that lingers in the back of her mind. She doubts he'll ever be far from it.]

[thantagonist]

[Doctor Daniil Dankovsky’s very presence cuts through the sterile medical air. He’s a gentleman, a dandy in his time. He was warned of monsters, so he wears his leather coat trimmed in snakeskin. Warm cigar smoke clings to him. He smells of bergamot in his aftershave.]

Two patients at once? Uh oh, an accident or an altercation?

[He has a light, tired voice. It’s a larger exam room to cope with the ambiguity of what he was going to encounter.]

[loveandsin]

[ Although Vincent is standoffish in many instances, he has also begun to change. Perhaps imperceptibly to some, but it's evident enough to him that things are different here. Even more so than they were back home when Cloud, Aerith, and the others found him. During their brief time together, he continued to separate himself. Here, he's gotten a little closer. Enough to have regular cafe meetings with Aerith at the Louvre. Already, he's taken big steps without meaning to.

Once they meet Daniil, the scents that cling to the doctor cut through the sterile air of the hospital in a way that's a welcome relief. Not at all like the doctor that plagues both Vincent and his company. ]

One patient. One escort.

[ Vincent isn't volunteering Aerith for this. ]

[thantagonist]

[Daniil turns to Aerith with a funny sort of grin.]

Usually women bring big, scary men to their visits when they’re uneasy. I’ve never seen it the other way around unless he needed to be convinced to come at all. Very well. What is your relation to the patient?

[For all that Daniil calls Concent big and scary, he hardly sounds serious. Daniil is a tall, slip of a man, significantly broadened by the cut of his coat.]

[Daniil opens his case book to where he had begun to take notes, but was forced to stop just because Vincent was so cagey!]

Well, feel free to take your seats. What is your name and age, sir?

[inemeraldfaith]

[Aerith looks between Vincent and Daniil, tilting her head, and a little amused for much the same reason. As tempted as she is to leave a reassuring hand on Vincent, for the sake of his own comfort, she slips her hands behind her back, a gentle sway between her feet. She can touch him anytime he feels like he might need her to.]

Rest assured, I might look small, but I can definitely be scary!

[Which is true. Aerith is unsuspecting at a first impression, and even after a second or a third, she seems about as much a flower as the ones she likes so much. As multifaceted as everyone else is, she's no difference. She doesn't see any reason why she might need to get scary here, however.

Either way, she doesn't need much encouragement to sit, pressing her weight into her hands and leaning forward a bit as she eyes Vincent patiently.

It'll be okay.]

[loveandsin]

[ Vincent smiles briefly under his cowl and there's a soft blink of his eyes in Aerith's direction. ]

She is a friend. And I would not cross her.

[ With Aerith here, perhaps Vincent will be less cagey than he was during their texted conversation. There's no getting out of this now. What happened last year with the xenomorph has prompted him to seek answers, if they exist. He owes it to the people he put in danger here. A danger that could happen again if circumstances repeat themselves.

A nod follows the look from Aerith, and Vincent takes a seat beside her. ]

Vincent Valentine. Age 57.