[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

[schardynfreude]

[Chiron can make time to swing by and stay his ass there. Helldad's here to do some healing, both to back up Medic and also to give her a break because listen. He's seen her joyously push herself and it's...a little upsetting. For obvious reasons but also, just, for other reasons? Reasons he can't fully articulate.

So, best give her a hand.

He'll let the girls do their idol thing. Feel free to gush about the idea and concept to him; this is all wild new shit to him. Though if any of the more adults are around, he might want to see if they have any better ideas about Project Cancel Esme.

Given this probably can be used as some heavy ammunition on their side, if they can figure out how to use it properly.

He otherwise doesn't necessarily want to talk about Esme. He won't bring her up unless they do first. It's, apparently, a sore subject for several of their order. And the Cogs. And reincarnation. For as smarmy and tonally nasty as he was at the mansion, he's back to being rather tired-looking and calm and quiet. No, he doesn't necessarily want to talk about that side of himself, either, but. There it is.]

[mementomoritz]

Phew. [Even with Medic's usual boundless enthusiasm for anything, well... medical, she's looking a little wilted by the end of the day, slumping down a bit as she leans against the wall.]

That's everyone accounted for, I think. [They're still recovering, but at least they'll be around to recover. She raises her head, looking over at Chiron.] I have some energy drinks in the fridge, if you need to rehydrate- they're on the bottom shelf, next to the blood samples.

[schardynfreude]

Oh, no need to worry about me so much as yourself and all else who partook of Esme's bounty. I'm afraid what more I can do for you is very little. If I could but use my powers to give one a burst of energy, or top off mana reserves...alas.

[While keeping blood samples with Consumables is ill-advised, he at least knows better than to ask if they are otherwise stored properly.]

[mementomoritz]

Oh, I'm not having any trouble from the poison- I healed myself back at the start, when I wasn't trying to stretch it out over half a dozen cases. I think it might be almost a reflexive reaction to my own illness- something I used to do unconsciously...

[She's at least been cautious on that front. The energy drinks- as he'll see when she opens the fridge to grab one for herself- and the sample have both been very secured packaged and stored, as well as clearly labeled.]

[Though at that second part, she closes the fridge and straightens up abruptly, suddenly looking a lot more energized.]

Could you do that before?! Did you remember something about your old world?

[schardynfreude]

Eh-? [Her sudden enthusiasm is always just a little startling even now.] Oh, hm, no, I have no idea what I could do before, if anything. But magic does exist, just rarely. It's a gift bestowed to the chosen few by the gods.

[mementomoritz]

Oh, that's fascinating! [She's always curious to hear about the worlds everyone else comes from.] Did the gods talk to people in person, or is this just anecdotal?

[She's never seen any particular proof of gods that she can recall, but hey- until she got here, she'd never seen any proof of ghosts, either. The spirit of science means keeping an open mind.]

[schardynfreude]

The gods... [He has to think about that one. No, that's right, it was a special circumstance, wasn't it?] They do exist, real as you or I, but they are only capable of speaking to man through one blessed with a gift to understand them. A herald of sorts--an oracle.

[mementomoritz]

[Already pulling out the notebook and scribbling things down.] How do people become oracles? Can anyone become one, or is it hereditary? Do the gods pick them? [She has so many questions. Surprisingly, "how do you know the oracles aren't just conning people" isn't one of them. Medic tends to take people at their word- the world is confusing enough when people aren't lying.]

[schardynfreude]

I...believe the gods chose a bloodline. [That sounds right!] It certainly isn't just anyone. There is but a single oracle at any given time so far as I'm aware.

[discutio]

[He couldn't exactly heal, but he could come back from the apartments with quite a lot of containers of a light soup. Bartering wasn't all that easy, but he seemed to know a lot of recipes he could share in exchange for supplies. So that was useful.]

[He tracked down the nearest person that didn't sound horrendously ill, setting down a bag with several such containers on the floor.]

Do you think you could help me get these to anyone able to keep it down? Dehydration's a risk in a situation like this, and easily avoided.

[schardynfreude]

Ah--we've drinks handy, but something with a little more substance will hardly go amiss. Thank you for keeping busy.

[discutio]

It's nothing. I can't contribute as directly as you or Medic, so I sought to aid in the only way I know.

[schardynfreude]

With food, I noticed. [Can probably hear the wry smirk there.] Which is unfortunate, given the circumstances.

[discutio]

I should hope those among us are well aware I'm above such an approach. If I of all people wanted to kill anyone, I think I would simply do it rather than defile a perfectly good set of ingredients.

[schardynfreude]

If nothing else, it gives us just a little more to go on as far as evidence to turn the tide against her.

[discutio]

That's true...I fail to think of a way to utilize it effectively offhand, but I've no doubt Medic kept evidence just in case.

[schardynfreude]

Make no mistake about it, the girl has absolutely zero social skills, but she's meticulous about documenting everything.

But we'll worry about those particulars later. We've certainly time enough to plan and plot.

[phantasmagorial]

[ You'd have thought that being, you know, poisoned would've done something to shake the fuss out of Rei, but nope. She's here to fuss and you just have to put up with it, mister. ]

Chiron...? Um, I'm feeling a little better now... so is there anything I can do to help a bit?

[schardynfreude]

Absolutely nothing. [He sounds FAR too cheerful for an answer like that!] If you're feeling a little better, then the most helpful thing you can do is rest until you've fully recovered. Phoenix brought soup, if you'd like.

[phantasmagorial]

I–I'm a lot better than I was before! I'm up and about and I was stuck in bed when Beast brought me here.

[ See? She's basically fully cured. ]

I just don't like sitting around while everyone else is working so hard...

[schardynfreude]

My dear, you were poisoned. I think the rest of us who weren't can hold the fort while the rest of you recover. I would hate to put you to work only for you to wear yourself out.

[phantasmagorial]

But, but...!

[ The degree to which she looks completely flummoxed by this entire concept is honestly kind of comical. She can't be NOT doing things!! What do you take her for, Chiron!! ]

I'm really not used to just sitting around and not doing anything... I feel like there has to be something I can do. Even if I have to stay in bed to do it!

[ She's practically vibrating with restlessness. ]

[schardynfreude]

Aren't you and some of the other girls planning some kind of...band? Of sorts? To topple her popularity.

[phantasmagorial]

Mhm. Sayaka said we were going to become 'idols'.

[ The audible air quotes around the word 'idol' really underlines just how much she absolutely does not get what that is. ]

I've been trying to research it as much as I can but I'm still not sure I really get it.

[schardynfreude]

The gist as I've come to understand it is a band, but that somehow the popularity isn't so much for music as for...persona? I find myself unclear on the concept as well, but surely we can find a way to hack the broadcasts and start showing your adorable faces to this part of the world.