Infirmary Visits

[majorbiotic]

CHARACTERS: Kaidan and Whoever wants to visit him
LOCATION: Infirmary
DATE: Early December
CONTENT: Kaidan fed the orb and now has to rest in the infirmary. Please visit him (and make sure he actually stays in bed until he's healed)
WARNINGS: I have no idea. Mild swearing and alcohol consumption, probably

Kaidan really did not want to go back to an infirmary. After spending so long in Huerta Memorial, he was done with hospitals for a while. But Viveca called him out on it the moment they arrived back at the station. And truth be told, he was dead tired after giving his power to the orb. He managed to drag himself to the infirmary and then collapsed onto a bed.

He had pushed himself hard before but it never felt like this. Kaidan imagined that this must be what an overheated engine would feel like. He was stripped down to a tank-top and trousers and he still felt too damn hot. For once his hair wasn't in its usual straight-edged construction, as the static charge that usually went through his body was weakened by the orb's consumption. He was on a pretty steady diet of lots of water and anything with electrolytes, carbs, anything that would give him energy back. Much like when the Cerberus robot attacked him, Kaidan was keeping his biotics "off-line" while he rested. Not that he thought he could really do much with them at the moment anyway.

He tried to send thought-to-text messages to his new students letting them know training was temporarily cancelled but couldn't focus enough to finish. Hopefully they would figure it out just from hearing Viveca say his name and that he needed to report to the infirmary.

Comments

[firstroar]

Kaidan...

While he may have been too burnt out to send messages of his own, Kaidan can still hear the mental voice of Blue. The Mu sensed a familiar swirl of frustration - one that can only come from a mind stifled by a weary body. Relatable.

So as Blue is making his slow, careful way through the halls, he slows near the infirmary to reach out in this way.

You've been injured?

[flickerandfade]

What appears to be a human man who might seem vaguely familiar marches up to Kaidan's bedside, a tablet in hand and a bottle of electrolyte beverage in the other. He plops the bottle onto the bedside table and nods firmly.

"Drink that. I've been informed you require it's electrolytes and water content to aid your recovery," he says in a brief, non-nonsense voice that might be familiar from the network.

"How are you feeling? Still overheated? Are you prespiring more than usual?"

[majorbiotic]

He stirred at the voice. He recognized it as Blue's and tried looking around for the Mu before remembering that Blue didn't need to be close to communicate telepathically.

Not wounded. Just drained. Kaidan let the memory of the orb taking his power replay in his mind. How it kept feeding and feeding, how Kaidan felt himself going weaker until he nearly passed out.

[majorbiotic]

There was something familiar about the voice and the person's cadence when they spoke. Kaidan pondered this while taking the beverage and drinking it all in almost one go.

"Thanks," he said when he finished the bottle. "It'll take a while for me to completely cool down." Kaidan frowned as he tried to work out why this person's voice was familiar. "Megatron?" he guessed at last.

[firstroar]

There's no response right away. Blue listens, taking in the memory and its related feelings. He'd been witness to it, but those feelings weren't his.

It seems as though there wouldn't be a response, but after a few minutes the door to the infirmary opens, and Blue passes through it, making his careful way over.

What was taken... His expression is tight with concern. Is it something you can even get back?

[majorbiotic]

Well, the eezo nanobes were still in his body, so getting back his biotics was not really a concern. All the orb took seemed to be the power Kaidan put out when using his biotics. Which, given that he was an L2, was a hell of a lot.

I need to cool down first. Again, going to the analogy of an engine overheating. I'll be fine. Whether this was better or worse than when the Cerberus robot almost killed him was up for debate. He didn't feel in pain this time, just extremely drained and tired. And very hot, like he had a fever.

Once I'm cooled down, I'll be back to normal.

[firstroar]

Blue slowly makes his way over to where Kaidan is resting, taking a careful seat on the empty bed beside him.

"Is there...a way to help?" Blue knows the frustration of being trapped in such a state and certainly doesn't want others to feel it.

[majorbiotic]

"No." He knew this already from his last stint in a hospital: rest and listen to the doctor. As restless as he feels being stuck in bed, it truly is the best road to recovery. "But I'm grateful you stopped by," Kaidan added with a smile. "It's driving me crazy being in here."

[firstroar]

Blue's expression softens with sympathy.

"I understand. I can...keep you company for a time, then."

[majorbiotic]

"I'd like that, thanks." Having company always made being in the hospital slightly less annoying. Kaidan shifted again to try finding a comfortable spot on the bed. Which would never happen since he'd be more comfortable out of the bed and doing stuff.

"How are you doing?" Kaidan asked. "Feeling okay after the mission?"

[firstroar]

Seeing Kaiden fidget does compel Blue to look around a bit for some means to assist...which winds up just ending with offering the pillow off of the bed he's seated on. Maybe this will help? Attempts are made.

"I wasn't physically affected," he replies. "The psionic attack I experienced...I don't believe it has lasting effects. It may not have been truly psionic at all. Admittedly...I don't entirely...understand the circumstances of...magic, or...things like it."

[majorbiotic]

"I don't understand magic, either," Kaidan admitted with a shrug. He was grateful for the pillow and tried to stop moving around so much. He was just restless, eager to get back on his feet. "I'm still working out what magic really means."

He pulled up his omni-tool and started tapping some of the keys. "Ah, here it is. An old Earth writer named Arthur C. Clarke said something about it. 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'. So the shit I take for granted would be seen as magic by someone whose technology hasn't advanced that far. Hell, this station could seem like magic to some people. So what really qualifies as magic?"

Sorry, Blue, he tends to go off on philosophical tangents when he thinks about things.

[firstroar]

Blue doesn't mind at all; watching and listening to others is a comfortable thing to him, even when the topic is something he can't wholly grasp. It helps that Kaidan seems on a similar level of understanding of it, though...

"What is that?" he asks, his eyes on the device Kaidan was fiddling with.

[majorbiotic]

Kaidan held up his arm so Blue could take a closer look. The omni-tool had a translucent orange glow to it as it overlaid his arm from elbow to hand.

"It's my omni-tool. It's pretty common in my world. Civilians use it as a computer and a means of communication. I have a few tech functions on it that help on the field. I can hack into security and decrypt codes, and I can overload some technology. There's another function that allows me to fire a mass of super-cooled subatomic particles. Other tech experts have similar functions on their omni-tools."

Obviously those functions were locked so only Kaidan could uses them; Blue won't have to worry about accidentally snap-freezing anything if he wanted to touch the omni-tool.

[firstroar]

Blue leans forward a bit to peer at the tool. The more Kaidan explains, the more the Mu feels a small sense of unease. He can't deny the utility, but...

"Is it...permanently affixed to you? Or is this...some kind of accessory you take on and off?"

[majorbiotic]

"I could take it off," Kaidan assured him with a gentle smile. "I'm just careful when I do it. I don't want it getting lost or someone messing around with it. Or accidentally hurting themselves by activating the blade function."

"Don't worry," Kaidan soothed. "The only thing permanently attached to me is my implant, and I need that to use my biotics in a practical way."

[firstroar]

Blue looks visibly relieved to hear that. Prosthetics aren't new to Mu on the whole, but the idea of affixing computerized equipment is a bit too far, a bit too close to giving control over to a machine than Blue is comfortable thinking on.

"So the people of your universe...their relationship to technology is more balanced, then?"

[majorbiotic]

"That's a complicated answer." He folded his hands over his stomach as he pondered it. Complicated, but also a good diversion in his road to recovery. "We need our technology for so much of our lives. It helped humans advance quickly and introduced us to the rest of the galaxy. I don't know if 'balanced' is the right word. It's just... how we function; we need the technology or else our society wouldn't work."

Could Kaidan survive without his omni-tool? Yes. Could he survive without his implant? Maybe, though not as well since he wouldn't be able to exert such focused control of his biotics. But Tali absolutely couldn't survive without her technology, and EDI and the geth wouldn't even exist.

"The relationship with certain technology is still a little shaky," Kaidan concluded. "Right now, we're all just fighting to make it out the other side of the war."

[firstroar]

Again, Blue falls quiet, contemplative, chewing on this information. 'How we function'... Can the Mu really deny their own reliance on technology? Certainly they can refuse the Mother System, but they still need so much to survive, frail and alone as they are.

"Hundreds of years ago, after the devastation of Terra, the humans of my universe came to the conclusion...that no governance would ever be satisfactory if it was run by human will. They instead built a system of computers and an artificial intelligence which would serve as the ultimate decision-maker for society." He closes his eyes. "Superior Domination was established to lead the future of humankind...in exchange for their freedom to determine their own fates, humans were swaddled in safety and creature comforts. It has gotten to the point where whole systems are in place to mold human will into uniform, docile dispositions more receptive to this kind of rule.

"At this point...it isn't even a matter of using technology...as it is being used for it. To be part of the algorithms and objectives of the SD System."

He opens his eyes and looks back at Kaidan, smiling grimly.

"It is why I...am still very leery of such things. Of Viveca. I know what it looks like...when such things are trusted too much."

[majorbiotic]

Kaidan listened, growing more and more disturbed as Blue spoke. What Blue described sounded horrifying; it was so much like what people against AI feared. He completely understood why Blue would be leery of technology if that was the world he came from. What the Reapers threatened was extinction, but what Blue described sounded like what was happening with the husks, the banshees, all the twisted creations of the Reapers that robbed a species of their selves.

"I understand," Kaidan said out loud, though he certainly didn't need to as Blue was likely picking up his thoughts. "And I won't tell you that you should trust Viveca or any of this. I don't completely trust it myself. Personally, I think that's good. There need to be people who question all of this."

[firstroar]

There's consolation in those words - and the understanding that Kaidan is sincere in those words. It smooths out some of the unease in Blue's features.

"I'm glad I at least get the chance...to meet humans outside of that system." He nods at Kaidan. "Who are still free to decide...how they wish to live. Even in a circumstance like this."

After all, no one ordered Kaidan to offer up energy to the orb, did they?

[flickerandfade]

"Yes," Megatron replies smoothly, starting to make notes on his tablet.

"While I hadn't much use for a holomatter avatar before this, it certainly makes bedside visits easier when dealing with smaller patients," he replies smoothly as if to explain it all away in one simple wave of the hand.

"Remember to stay hydrated," he adds, as if a human who has lived with that squishy body of his for the entirety of his life needs reminding.

[majorbiotic]

"I hope some day your people can have that kind of freedom," Kaidan said. "In the meantime, you have this place and these people. You can be whoever you want to be." Even if that meant choosing to feed an orb and potentially making things worse. Kaidan was still wrestling with that, but he would rather his own power be drained than let the orb continue to feed on Remi and the people of Kilnan.

[majorbiotic]

"Sure, doc," he agreed with a little smile. "Thanks for looking out for me."

" 'Holomatter avatar'. Is that what you call that platform?" Kaidan asked with interest. The techie in him really was curious about how Megatron was going around looking human. But it also served as a good distraction so he didn't have to think about being stuck in bed. "So where are you? Your, ah... regular body?"

[firstroar]

Whoever he wants to be, huh?

"I wonder about that...what kind of person I could even be at this stage." His gaze drifts away from Kaidan in a thoughtful manner.

"There was never really...much of a choice. So to even have any...I am not certain I would know how to decide."

After a beat, he looks back.

"How would you?"