[Open] Dr. Medic's Sleepaway Funtimes Camp

[mementomoritz]

I. So girl keep telling me [network post]

[About three hours after the whole post-Esmeeting kerfuffle, every phone included in the Executor group chat suddenly blares loudly with an incoming post that appears to have every possible alert and priority notice the person writing it could find attached to it.]

ANYONE WHO ATE ANYTHING AT ESME'S HOUSE REPORT TO MEDIC IMMEDIATELY YOU ARE POISONED


[Well, you can't accuse her of burying the lede.]

i'm in my lab in invidia [The exact address and coordinates of the lab are attached along with the message, including a helpful photo of a scribbled map just in case anyone is really bad with directions.] if you ate ANY of the food esme served or if you're feeling sick, come here so i can treat you
if you find someone unconscious or unable to move on their own, BRING THEM HERE
if you don't have anyone around and think you need help getting here, reply to this message immediately

i threw up, so i tested some of the leftovers i took home
and that food is very, very poisoned
(also, if you brought leftovers home, don't eat them)


II. pick me up whenever i'm feeling down [in-person log]

[True to her word, Medic is ready and waiting in her lab the second anyone arrives.]

[The living room of the apartment she commandeered has been turned into a makeshift hospital. She's dragged cushions and mattresses in, laying them out on the floor and covering them with clean sheets and blankets to make sickbeds. Next to every bed is a glass of water and a bowl for, uh. Any stomach issues you might have to deal with.]

[Anyone healthy who walks in the door will be cheerfully pressganged into nursing duty.]

[The beds are set up facing the living room's lone TV, but well... this is Invidia. Guess who's probably on every channel.]

[You might have better luck with putting on a movie, but no one actually saw this coming, which means your available selection consists exclusively of stuff Medic brought with her from the Limbo library when she came down to Invidia. By which we mean exactly one film.]

[Whether having to see Esme's face is better or worse than watching Brutal Instinct again is a choice you're going to have to make amongst yourselves.]

Comments

ii

[emberserker]

Esme...

[Wolfsbane's got her on the TV, of course, as she lies in bed. Both her hands are grasping the bedsheets tightly as she seethes.]

She has to have a weakness. Even if we move forward with the idol plan, that demon will bury them unless we do it right.

[mementomoritz]

Mm-hmm. [Medic just casually listening and nodding while she takes Wolfsbane's vitals.] Would you might sticking out your arm? It's hard to take your blood pressure accurately when you have your fists clenched like that.

[It's probably going to be high. Just guessing.]

[emberserker]

[She shoots a death glare, but complies.]

She may not be used to competition, and she'll probably expect us to be dead, but it'll go out the window once she sees those girls singing and dancing. We have to prepare for anything. Which means we go on the attack just as we begin to build them up.

[mementomoritz]

Thank you. [Just taking her blood pressure with practiced efficiency and noting down the result. ...Well, at least she won't have to worry about hypertension later in life. That ship's sailed.]

Sort of a coordinated attack, you mean? Building up resources while she still thinks she killed us, and then making a move all at once? ...Oh, that reminds me! [She snaps her fingers.] I'm trying to come up with some more appropriate terminology for being killed in the afterlife, do you have any thoughts on the matter?

I'm currently torn between postmorticide, thanatopsy, necroslaughter, or death... two! The "two" is important.

[emberserker]

I would like to save the silliness for once we're done with this, if you don't mind. She's not going to take her time if she failed to kill us once.

[mementomoritz]

It's a serious question! [Are you suggesting she's not being professional, Wolfsbane? Look at her, she has a clipboard and everything. She even found a little labcoat somewhere.]

You're the one already planning to commit it, aren't you? Don't you want the words to adequately describe what you intend to do to her in a precise and articulate fashion?

[emberserker]

Oh, I think I've got that down. I want to make her writhe in despair. Every world has people like her, who want you to want to be them, so they take everything you deserve for no reason at all.

[Wolfsbane, your face is going to freeze that way.]

[mementomoritz]

Okay, you do have articulate covered. [She can respect that.] I feel like that's still a little long, though. Definitely a bit much to shout all at once.

[emberserker]

You're always like this, aren't you? Cavalier about everything. Don't you hate her just as much?

[mementomoritz]

Hmmm... nope! [She shrugs.] I don't think I hate her at all.

I don't like her, either. And I definitely want her to not do anything like this ever again. But as a person, she really doesn't matter to me at all. [Said in a tone of cheery nonchalance, as though discussing the weather.] She could live forever or drop dead tomorrow, and it wouldn't bother me at all, as long as I knew she wasn't going to hurt you anymore.

I think maybe to hate someone, really hate them, you have to care about them first.

[discutio]

[Out of absolutely nowhere:]

Exsepulchrination.

[mementomoritz]

[Just. Full shoujo anime sparkles over here. She's delighted.]

Oh, that's a good one!

[discutio]

I confess I think 'thanatopsy' does also have a nice ring to it.

[mementomoritz]

Thank you. [Medic beams happily.] The only problem is that I'm a little worried that it might be too easy to confuse with thanatopsis, and that's not the same thing at all!

[discutio]

True enough--my own sounds a bit unwieldy in a sentence, but you're welcome to it if you like.

[mementomoritz]

If I use it in any papers I publish, I promise to credit you properly. [Just because you're a mad scientist doesn't mean you can get away with not citing your fellow academics.]

[schardynfreude]

Mm. That's why we're doing something of a pincer maneuver. But let's focus on everyone getting back into good health first.

[emberserker]

About how long do you propose this is going to take?

[schardynfreude]

I could give you an estimate off the top of my head, and any amount I chose would likely be wildly inaccurate. Do you think time truly has much meaning here?

[emberserker]

As much as it usually does. You're lucky to be up and about.

[schardynfreude]

Am I? [He can't help but smirk.] And whyever do you think that?

[emberserker]

Suspicion or a hardy immune system, I suspect. What's got you so happy?

[schardynfreude]

Honestly, I was anticipating some kind of jab along the lines of 'you're so old I can't believe you can still stand upright without all of your joints popping'. Perhaps that's more under Kingslayer's purview. [Hm, speaking of...] Poor thing, I hope they make their way back to us at some point, or we'll have to send Lion out to go search again, I suspect.

But no, I simply didn't have anything to eat or drink while interrogating our host, and while I've expended some energy in helping ease the pains of those who did, Medic is the one who did all the heavy lifting on that part.

[emberserker]

Kingslayer's still running about? I'm surprised Esme hasn't gone and tried to do away with --

[She winces and stops.]

But then, I suppose we don't know for certain. Really, I can't believe this disaster. We'd better recuperate soon, before she figures out we're still here.

[schardynfreude]

She doesn't exactly see us as a threat. [He waves a hand before Wolfsbane can interject.] Enough to want to be rid of us if possible, simply for the end goal we seek, but not a direct threat to her while she still holds the power here. We also don't yet know how to keep moving on from this city down lower.

And it's likely she doesn't know all of our number. Though...admittedly Kingslayer is... [is there a polite word] Conspicuous. [and did fuck up the roof but shh]