View source for 2020-09-26: Sealab2020 4B In the Drink

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{{Infobox Log
|name      = In the Drink
|summary   = After the opulent party, the Integrity crew wake up to Deepwater in the midst of an undersea storm. Even worse, one of their number is seriously ill.
|icdate    = August 31st, 2020
|ictime    = Early Morning
|players   = [[Albright]], [[Eden Huxley]] (ST and Rocco), [[Winters (Weaver)|Winters]], and [[Vivian]] (as NPC_Angela)
|location  = Deepwater Technocracy Construct
|prptp     = Sealab2020
|spheres   = [[Weaver]]
|themesong = 
}}
[[Category:Albright]][[Category:Eden Huxley]][[Category:Winters (Weaver)]][[Category:Vivian]]
[[Category:Logs]][[Category:Plot:_Sealab_2020]]

<p class="stage-direction">It's roughly six in the morning; even though there is no sunlight down here and feels like only a few minutes past midnight. The ocean waves are something fierce, and even though Deepwater was built to withstand them. It's hard not to imagine every creak or bend of the structure as something terrible about to happen, with endless sea water flooding the spaces. All houses and apartments creek and shift, Deepwater chugs and groans. </p> 

<p class="stage-direction">Angela is already awake in her room, she's been up for hours. A small stomach bug she seemed to have caught is growing only worse. The magical effects from the banquet long past. Something isn't right.</p> 

<p class="stage-direction">Winters had one too many to drink. Passed out half undressed on his bed. Dead to the world. Recovering from a long and stressful day. </p> 

<p class="stage-direction">Dr. Albright is in her room, a pink conch shell placed on top her dresser. It's the one given from the Rokea Tail-Biter, as a hand crafted note sits beside it. </p> 

<p class="stage-direction"> 'Dear Madame, Jakob wanted you to have this. - Rocco' </p> 

<p class="stage-direction"> The DeepWater building churns louder and then extremely loud, as if something got stuck in a suction value or gigantic pump. Suddenly metal rattling and twanging vibrates up through the building. Then... the entire building shakes like an Earthquake has hit the structure, jostling everyone about. Sirens blink on as doors lock down and lights are cut to emergency backup. A public announcement goes off, <<DeepWater has experienced a critical maintenance failure. All personal please stay in your rooms. Repeat: This is not a drill. DeepWater has experienced a critical maintenance failure. If you are not staff or company, please do not leave your rooms at this time!>></p> 

----

<p>Winters sits up in his bed at /sirens/. The world spins some, eyebrows furrow while a hand grasps for something solid to stop the spinning. "Yeah. Fuck that. I'm not going to drown." Winters heaves himself up to stumble towards the door. His quick reaction gives him plenty of time to do some graceful dive through the door or something. Except he rolls onto his side atop the closing doors and wiggles the rest of the way like a lanky old man centipede before flopping onto the ground outside.</p> 

----

<p>Muffled heaving sounds come from behind the door of Angela's room, followed by running water. The door slides open and reveals the Void Engineer and boy is she looking worse for wear. Leaning on the side of the doorframe, woman has deep bags under her eyes, her brown hair scraggly and mussed. Her skin is pale and mottled except on her forearms where an angry red rash has begun to appear, standing out against the otherwise gray flesh. The pajamas she wears are damp with sweat and the fuzzy slippers she wears drag on the floor. Unsteadily she shuffles out of her room holding her abdomen and groaning piteously. </p>

<p>"Fuck," she mutters, lips pulling down in a frown, "I feel just awful. Like, the worst hangover I ever had only a hundred times worse. This fucking constant ocean churn isn't helping either. I just... just need some air..." Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), Deepwater shakes then and the brown haired woman lets out a squeak of surprise before falling into the hallway as she loses her already precarious balance. "No, wai--!" the Engineer calls out, reaching a hand for her door as the lights go out and said door seals shut. "...Dammit," she mutters, sighing as she begins to drag herself up, "I should've just stayed in bed."</p> 

----

<p>Dr Albright grabs the conch shell and her medical bag when she realizes something is going on. Her first thought is that it could be the sharks getting impatient and attacking the place themselves. Probably best to avoid that, she heads to the door and rolls under it and out into the hallway before getting back up onto her feet and looking around to confirm where she is.</p> 

----

<p>Winters stays sideways atop the floor for far too long. He'll pull himself along deck plating for several feet before he figures he could PROBABLY stand and walk again. While things creak and metal howls, his hands grasp something on the wall and pull himself up slowly onto his feet. Only the bottom half of a spandex-esque bodysuit that made him feel all Star-Treky. "Staying in bed means you can't escape stuff!" He sees his colleagues and hears them as he pads barefooot towards them. "Whata think is going on?"</p> 

----

<p class="stage-direction">The hallway is mostly dark, the emergency lights paint nearly everything in a shade of red. So those with their vision already adjusted to working in dark conditions may keep it, when transversing from space to space. In the distance one can hear the roving of tiny little robot scouts. They look more akin to the Star Wars robotic sentinel variety then actual roombas. They are monitoring the halls and passageways slowly.</p> 

----

<p>Using the wall as a support, Angela drags herself to her feet, her back hunched over and blinking blearily at the others in the low emergency lights. "So you guys are out too?" she asks rather obviously before looking up and down the hallway. "They said to stay in our rooms, but that looks impossible now. I don't know if we could even force these doors." Shuffling up to her room door again, the brown haired woman squints as she peers at it, eventually finding the access panel to the side. She moves to open it only to freeze and pat down her pajamas and sighing, hanging her head and leaning against the door. "Don't have my toolkit. Of course." </p> 

<p> She straightens up and shuffles around towards the others, trying to smile and not quite managing it, gripping her stomach tightly. "No idea," she says, rubbing her forehead, "Having a hard time thinking with this nasty headache. And the sirens AREN'T HELPING." Angela glares at the ceiling as if it had personally insulted her mother before sighing and shaking her head, "And the whole ocean thing isn't helping my stomach, either. Fuck, we're this far down and we -still- have waves? What the hell, man! I thought the deep ocean was supposed to placid?"</p> 

<p> Any idea what we should do?" she asks before her eyes drift to the medical bag that Albright holds, an expression of desperate hope rising on her features. "Hey doc," she says, nodding to the bag, "I don't suppose you have something in there for a really fucked headache and an upset stomach the likes of which even Mister Creosote would balk at?"</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright meets up with the others just down the hallway, "Well my two guesses is either the place is falling apart, or the sharks are causing some trouble. Those seem the most likely at least." She looks Angela over as she moves over to her. "Let me take a look at you." She checks Angela vitals, her pulse rate and breathing and everything. "It could be something you ate at the party. Or radiation sickness. I wouldn't want to rule anything out as just a headache down here, when it could be serious."</p> 

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<p>"Wonderful," Angela states flatly, grimacing at the suggestions for the current goings on given by the good doctor, "This place lasts for decades and the day we show up? It either falls apart or is eaten by big shark caveman people." Angela then swallows and straightens herself up as best she can, teetering just slightly on her feet, so that Albright can examine her. "R-radiation sickness?" the brown haired Engineer states with widened eyes, "You mean... from the mud? Great."</p>

<p>The examination reveals pretty early on that whatever Angela has is -not- just a hangover or the result of overeating (though both may be contributing morbidity). Her pulse is uneven and seems to be slowing down over all, leading to some lethargy. Her temperature is elevated, indicating a reaction to infection. Angela's right eye is dilated and is unresponsive to lighting stimuli. The blotchy skin and rash are the most concerning; both indicate something very bad is going on in the young Engineer's body, possibly a major allergic reaction or chemical poisoning. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any indication of radiation poisoning (the rashes are more like hives than radiation burns), so that's good news. The most likely culprit is an infection of some kind, either microbial or parasitical in nature. Further diagnostics and treatment would require a proper medical facility, however, to be more specific.</p> 

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<p>"Someone has never eaten the worm out of a tequila bottle." Other than the way he sways like he is on a ship on waves, he seems...mostly okay. Moderately okay. At least not enough to warrant medical attention QUITE yet. Winters is still gripping a portion of the wall that makes it easier for him to stay upright. "Either of those is pretty easily taken care of. Probably." He'll turn to look down the corridors now, keeping watch for monsters/sharks/LOTS OF WATER. "So. Lets get somewhere safe..ish. Or somewhere that we can see what the fuck is going on so we can know if we gotta bail."</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright carefully looks Angela over and checks it all out. "Looks like it might be an infection of some kind. It would be good if we could get to a medical bay to narrow down the cause a bit more, and rule out an allergic reaction to the nanobots. Though if it gets worse, there are a few options. It doesn't seem to be radation poisoning though and I am confident you will be okay once we get to the medical bay." She checks her medical bag and prepares some stuff, in case Angela passes out or something. "You think you can make it there? A place like this definitely has one."</p> 

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<p>Winters is the one to step towards Angela and wind his arms around her waist. Then just UMPFHs the woman up and back onto his shoulder. "Map says its 2 floors up. I don't know that an elevator would be the best idea right now, but there's probably stairs or ladders or something somewhere." A glance around once more before the pair get going.
</p> 

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<p>"Infection?" Angela questions the good doctor before sighing and placing a hand on her head. "Wonderful. For all I know it was some kinda mutant organism in the mud. The day just keeps getting better and better." She hesitates and nods, "I... I think I can make it. I mean, I don't have much choice, right?" Her lips curl up into a weak smile.</p>

<p>But then she's hefted up on Winter's shoulder, the brown haired woman letting out a choked 'glurk!' at the sudden motion and clamping a hand over her mouth. She swallows visibly and says with a sigh as she glances over her shoulder at Winters, "Thanks, but... could you be a little more gentle next time?" Angela grunts in affirmation, "Yeah, the elevator might be a bad idea. Especially with main power off."</p> 

----

<p>Dr Albright nods, "There is a lot of strange things down here, so who knows what it is exactly. With a proper blood test we could probably figure it out. It is also possible they poisoned you with something during the feast. Some of the stuff there looked a little shady to me." She follows them towards the stairs to head up to the next floor.</p> 

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<p class="stage-direction">Upon opening the door to the stairwell, one can spot a GENES soldier with a large machete holstered at his side. He has a molted squid or octopus like face with tiny tendrils flapping about. Yellow teeth grip a cigarette as he smokes a familiar smelling brand of cigarettes.</p> 

<p class="stage-direction">The genetically altered mutant, blows out smoke from his gills in tiny puffs as he guards the stairwell from the floor above you. He sits on the railing, not facing the group as he chills in lockdown. He appears to have a radio for DeepWater security communications. If he spots you, this could go bad as he'd likely call in reinforcements. However, there is a possibility he could be ambushed if done well.</p> 

<p class="stage-direction">Siren lights are still flashing/twirling, but the noises have stopped. The sound was more the initial alarm event.</p>

----

<p>"Its better than you falling down stairs." Winters grouses to the complaining Angela who is strewn over his shoulder. The three follow a decent understanding of the map to filter into a stairwell....but the guard being all nonchalant about sirens and station creaking and the rest. Is disconcerting. Guards should be running around if they were in danger. A glance back to the Doctor before he eases Angela back onto her feet again.</p> 

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<p>"Good point," Angela allows to Winters with a wry smile, "Just be aware of cookies being tossed." Wrinkling her nose, Angela frowns at the suggestion that she was poisoned. "Why... why would they do that?" she asks uneasily, "I mean, what would be the point? If they wanted labor like you suggested before, making me sick so I can't work doesn't seem like the brightest of ideas." On the other hand, reaching the stairwell and seeing the armed guard doesn't really speak well as to the motivations of at least some of the security here. Does keeping people contained really require a biggol lethal-looking blade and not something like a taser? Angela slides back on her unsteady feet and leans against the bulkhead. At least the sirens have stopped. "So... what do we do?" the Engineer whispers to the others, eyes darting towards the unaware GENE guard.</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright peeks around at the guard before looking back at the others, and whispers "I guess they are guarding the place. Not sure if it is to stop us or the sharks though. Might be able to talk to him, though if they are trying to do stuff against us, that might not work so well."</p> 

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<p>"We could just go find the air ducts, I guess? It'd just prolong the decision though because the medbay is very likely to be guarded." Winters talks out the possibilities. But the real question though. "Angela, can you even get through the ducts like this? Doctor, should we let her?"</p> 

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<p>Gnawing on her lower lip in worry, Angela hesitates. "I guess... we -could- try telling him what's up?" she whispers back, "I mean, they wouldn't deny a sick person medical attention, right? And if the shark people are a problem, it'd be nice to have someone with a weapon nearby." Continuing to gnaw on her lower lip she looks to Winter and nods. "I... I think I could make it. I mean, I can still stand and move around. Crawling might even be easier. I'd just... need a boost up and down, I think."</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright heads into the stairwell with the others, "We are taking Angela to the med bay, she is suffering from a severe infection that may be life threatening without prompt medical care."</p> 

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<p>Winters had done his part of acting like the muscle to care Angela. He shakes her a few times before helping her up the stairs at a slow pace. The man looks suitably concerned about the possibility of Angela falling.</p> 

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<p>So Angela shuffles up the stairwell, following along behind Albright and having Winters at her back in case she falls over. She is hunched over and looking like death warmed over; definitely exaggerating a bit, but not by much. With pleading eyes, she reaches out like a zombie to the fishperson. "Please!" she says, "I really need to get to the medbay! I don't know what's wrong, but I'm really sick and scared! You have to help us!"</p> 

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<p>The GENE slowly turns around and it's revealed to be a woman, or... former female. Her frame is rather bulky and masculine - nearly Amazonian, she raises a pale blue skinned webbed hand and holds up an index finger; indicating to give her a moment. She drops her cigarette and steps on it with a black military boot, to put it out. Eventually she pulls out an electrolarynx and places it to her throat so she can properly speak. <<Hello, um..... ok. Follow me. I'll take you to the med bay.>>, her robotic voice sounds off. </p>

<p>The burly woman pulling a mini flashlight from her chest pocket and turning it on to examine, Angela. <<My name... is Quinn. Your friend doesn't look so well. Let's go.>>, the guard actually sympathetic to their plight and condition as she waddles up the flight of stairs to assist the Integrity team. <<13th floor... I have a keycard to the Medbay. But don't know how to use the machines.>>, she explains. <<Are you doctors? Can I ask a favor?>>, Quinn huffed, after stepping off onto the right landing and pushing open the door. A little DeepWater robot scans her, but once her RFID chip is recognized it skitters off in a new direction.</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright nods and she is carrying a medical bag so it wasn't hard to believe she was a doctor, "Yes I am a doctor, my speciality is in bioengineering. If there is something that I can do, I don't mind helping you out. Though I guess it depends on what the favor is, to know how much of help I can actually be."
</p> 

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<p>Quinn picks up the pace a little, her bulbous weight like that of a jellyfish - shifting with each step of her mass and bone structure as she clicked her tongue on yellowed teeth. She pulled out a red key card which had holes punched out of it, nearly looking like Braille. She carefully punches it into the security pad as the glass windows to the MedBay go from dark to shining white allowing one to view inside. The doors open automatically and Quinn takes her keycard back. Eyeing, Dr. Albright with her human and octopus like eyes. She raises her device to her throat and speaks again with its assistance. <<I'd like to find out if I was human... and if you can change me back?>>, she asks with a twinge of pain. Maybe not all the GENE's were volunteers.</p> 

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<p>Winters doesn't bother thanking the mutant Quinn, he'll shuffle along with Angela up the stairs to the proper level and follow in towards the medical bay. A chair would be good, he'll direct Angela into place while the Doctor decides just who or what to prioritize. Thankfully the place seems rather empty or so, no explanations needed for anything. "Huh. This place isn't quite the gleaming jewel of a bastion of refuge that we hoped it was?"</p> 

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<p>Angela's deeply bagged eyes widen slightly as the fishperson is revealed in all her Amazonian glory, her hands dropping slightly. Still, when the fishlady agrees to take them to medbay, the brown haired woman offers up a thankful smile, letting out a sigh of relief as she shuffles along. "Thank you, Quinn," she says emphatically, "I really feel -awful-."</p> 

<p>Angela's eyes swivel to regard Albright briefly before they turn back to Quinn. "Like she said, she's a medical doctor," the brown haired woman says, "I'm just an engineer. He's..." Angela jerks a thumb back at Winters and pauses for a fraction before continuing, "... good at a lot of stuff. Between us we might be able to help. What do you need?"</p> 

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<p>Quinn's revelation causes the Engineer to gasp and place a hand over her mouth as her eyes flicker between the fishlady and Albright. "Guess no," she says to Winters, shoulders deflating slightly. "Are they still going to right the Integrity, do you think?"</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright nods her head to that, "Sure, we should be able to find out if you were human, there should be evidence. We will just have to do some tests. I suspect you might be, but we can test to be sure. If so, then it should definitely be possible to change you back. I mean, it might not be simple and it might take a while to work it all out, but it should definitely be possible."</p> 

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<p>Dr Albright gets out a syringe and draws some of Angela's blood and places it into one of the machines. She then gets a new syringe and does the same with Quinn and puts the blood through a different machine. The test for Quinn is check her dna and genetics, while the blood sample from Angela is being sorted to test for obvious things floating around in her blood that shouldn't belong, but also testing differing levels of things normally in blood that would give hints of what is going on.</p> 

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<p class="stage-direction">The medical technology whirs to life as the samples are placed, robotic manipulators bringing attached instruments to the samples and quickly dipping them into them. A variety of information flashes by on the screen: counts of red blood cells, white bloods cells, genetic information, antibodies... just about everything a medical professional might need. The main computer console displays the analysis information:</p> 

<p class="stage-direction">From Angela, there is a heightened phagocytosis response in her body, but very few of the macrophages seem to be attacking anything. Fortunately, the computer seems to identify what exactly is causing the problem: a tiny multi-tentacled parasite that is quickly replicating and overrunning Angela's body. It has some resemblance to helminths (a grouping of parasitic worms), but are still well beyond anything ever seen. Ancillary information on the screen reveals that Angela's macrophages aren't attacking the parasite because they have developed a protein sheath around them that mimics the antibodies in Angela's system -- her immune system is on high alert, but as far as it can determine there's nothing to attack. In addition, a foreign substance in her blood is being excreted by the parasites. Any further analysis attempts are considered Restricted access. </p> 

<p class="stage-direction">Quinn is revealed to have been once human by the DNA markers, but has gone through some pretty extensive mutation. There is no indication of -how- this was achieved, however; there is no evidence of direct Enlightened genetic manipulation, nor of outside mutation like from a retrovirus. It seems she just... changed one day. Whether the condition is reversible leads to a screen saying that said information is Restricted.</p>

<p class="stage-direction">After this is revealed, the screen blanks out and the computer displays a disturbing message:</p> 

<p class="stage-direction">"Unauthorized use of station equipment logged. Subject identified as containing Security
Level Red data. Containment breach detected. All available security personnel to Medbay, Level 13. 
Recommend Stage 5 Quarantine and full NBC gear for sterilization of unauthorized intruders. Lethal 
force authorized for compromised base personnel."</p> 

<p class="stage-direction">To Be Continued</p>