2018-03-21: In A Dark Sleep
- Log: In A Dark Sleep
- Cast: Elhaym van Houten, Loren Voss, Royce Gerune (NPC), Kahm Yugh
- Where: The Tzadkiel
- Date: 3/21/2018
- Summary: Loren and Elly come to pay a visit to Kahm, who has been placed in an induced coma and medical tank to heal the numerous injuries he sustained in the events leading up to the Tzadkiel's crash. They meet the enigmatic Doctor Royce Gerune, who has more than a few details to share about the Major's past.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
EARLIER, ON LUNAR PREMONITION:
Elly van Houten found the wagon trail to Pendrago and reconnoitered it. She returned several days later, buttressed indirectly by her "patrol buddy" Bergenholm, who followed her route but apparently had the tables turned on him - Elly got back before he did, and he didn't see her on the road!
After filing her discreet photo-narrative of how to get to Pendrago, the surrounding landscape, key features, and the salient fact that other people from Filgaia survived - enough that Elly was able to exchange her residual sums of Gella without difficulty - she took a nap. No secret meetings with Fei Fong Wong, no sir ee bob.
NOW
Elly has come to visit her mentor, patron, and superior officer. The lights are still on in this room, but Elly can tell in a thousand subtle ways that the ship is very slightly tilted to the left. It is, to be frank, making her dizzy, but that might just be all the unapproved food she had to ear.
Elly is slightly out of uniform, if defensively so. A digital-camo-printed shawl is on her shoulders; she took off the sleeves. She has a pressure bandage on her chest, from the still healing snake bite.
Otherwise, she seems... good, if anything.
"How is he, Doctor?" Elly asks.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
EARLIER
After that expedition into the Tintagel Ruins to rescue the team that definitely didn't need rescuing, Loren has spent the bulk of his time playing -- true to his profession -- field medic. There's an infestation in that forest of strangely-behaving forest creatures, which makes patrols slightly more perilous than they might otherwise be.
Loren has stopped even mentioning what these creatures actually look like to him anymore. It isn't as if anyone's listening.
But on the plus side, he hasn't been part of any groups returning to Tintagel for now, so there's some minor grace in the whole endeavor.
(It won't last.)
NOW
Right now, he's wishing he was still attempting to dislodge a homicidal chipmunk from someone's forearm. If he's being honest with himself, he doesn't really want to be here. He's put it off for some time now -- even avoiding checking the reporting (it's someone else's job, he doesn't have to look so he won't) -- but there's no running forever, so to speak.
...Is it guilt? He's not sure.
He enters a few moments after her, gaze lifting briefly from the floor tiles. Unlike Elly, he's in uniform.
He also looks, in contrast to her, as if he might be vaguely ill.
Who knows, out here on the Old Moon?
"Doctor," he says simply, inclining his head in a nod, as if by way of greeting. He's otherwise silent.
<Pose Tracker> Royce Gerune has posed.
While some portion of Gebler's troops have been exemplary in their willingness to boldly set foot in unknown territory, charting new paths and collecting materials to slowly build into the growing fortifications around the Tzadkiel, others have remained bound to the ship itself, busying themselves by running systems they deemed essential (In truth, the ship mostly ran itself) and focusing other tasks to keep from thinking too deeply about where they were.
Doctor Royce Gerune was only partially of the latter sort, having cite a weak constitution and poor air quality as reasons for not venturing forth into the wilderness. In truth he was terribly intrigued by the enigma Lunar posed, and the way it challenged much of established belief, but he believed his place was currently with overseeing the medbay until all those wounded in the battle at Lost July were tended to.
Some were more wounded than others.
"Hm, you really did a number on yourself this time, didn't you?" Royce asked rhetorically, staring at the green fluid of the healing tank that held his current charge: Major Kahm Yugh, currently suspended in that very same medium and supported by a network of IVs and electrodes that measured his vital signs, helpfully produce on another screen. "It must be Elricht's influence. He'd look at this mess and simply say 'well done'."
The man finished his exasperated sigh just as Elly and Loren walked in. Loren he greets with a nod-the Lieutenant and the Doctor had likely been rubbing shoulders of late in medical operations, but both had been too busy for much conversation. Elly on the other hand asks a question, and get an according answer. "Considering the terrible state he was in when they threw him in there, he's doing well. Internal bleeding stopped earlier, and his most severe injuries have healed. I'm confident he'll be awake in a matter of days...though I imagine he's in for quite a shock when he does." The doctor said, stifling a chuckle, "While I do hate to see him like this, it will be quite something to see the expression on his face."
"Ah, and it's kind of you two visit. I'm sure he'd appreciate it, though you'd never hear him say it." Royce said after a moment's pause, looking at the two and lingering longer on Loren, "Have you been resting, Lieutenant Voss? You seem unwell."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly's eyes turn to the ground. She seems obscurely guilty. "... I wish he hadn't had to put himself at such risk..."
But the news comes up and she nods along several times, before blanching again just a little at the cruelty of wanting to see the look on Kahm's face! "Oh, doctor - I don't know if he'll even be surprised... I hope that doesn't spoil your anticipation, but he was awake and alert even at the end. He lasted longer than I did, and with more injuries."
Her hands fold behind her back as she sees the doctor turning his attention to Loren. Loren gets another brief look from Elly, but her attention then rests towards that supported media.
She steps towards the screens, hands behind her back. There's a moment of voyeurism there, but past that...
"... I'm sorry for all of this, sir," she addresses the pod, quietly but audibly.
It seems to relieve her; her shoulders straighten afterwards.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It seems that Kahm and the Doctor have a bit of history, if Loren's to judge by the comments at hand.
Before he collapsed, you mean, van Houten.
"Yes," he says to the outside word, lifting a hand to fidget with his glasses. "I believe he was aware of where we were headed, though I'm sure there will be a few remaining surprises."
Internal bleeding... but he'd known that. Suspected it even before the tail end of the crash, when the Major's push past his boundaries had nearly ended him.
You idiot, runs the rather vehement thought, but for all the force behind it, there's no heat.
His gaze lifts towards the tank for a moment, then shifts away.
Rest. The last thing he wants or needs is more rest. The longer he can keep his hands busy, the better.
He shakes his head, at Royce's question, somehow endeavoring to stand up that much straighter, though it won't really do him much good. "I'm fine, Doctor. It's nothing." His gaze, minutely, shifts towards the screens, then down towards the floor. "It's been..." He trails out, words seeming to fail him. A breath escapes his lips and he shakes his head.
"...There's been much to do, as I'm sure you'd agree."
Elly might approach and say a few words. Loren... instead focuses on some of the readouts, and after a moment or two, releases the breath he hadn't known he was holding.
It's an obscure relief, but it's something.
<Pose Tracker> Royce Gerune has posed.
Ironically, Kahm probably seems more at peace in that tank than Elly or Loren have ever seen him while conscious. The comatose officer predictably receives Elly's apologies without reaction, save for a few air bubbles that escape his breathing mask. With eyes closed and face placid, the Major looks as if he might actually be dreaming somewhere in there.
"Is that so?" Doctor Royce spoke absently, inclining his head at their mutual acquaintance, "Well, that's just as well. I imagine he'll just adapt to it regardless of his feelings. That's a gift for a soldier, you know-the ability to act independent of one's personal thoughts or feelings on a matter. That, and not thinking too hard. Always easier to come by in the lower classes, that one." He reflected on this without a shred of malice in voice. "Kahm-rather, the Major-has always been bad at it, however."
"In any case, neither of you should lose much sleep blaming yourselves for this. Refusing to share the burden, always taking everything on himself, pushing beyond his limits. That's the Major." The man continued taking a seat and removing his glasses to polish them. Although he was old, he wore his age passingly well, with longer grayed hair tied in a knot at his back and complexion that remained stubbornly unmarred, the gift of their heritage. "He would've wound up in this tank with or without either of you....actually, he might well be dead in the latter case, so you should pat yourselves on the back for that."
For Loren, he won't argue otherwise, but does give the young man a stern countenance from where he seats. "Too much yes, but take care to have a few hours for yourself when you can. Fall over in exhaustion and you'll just create more work for me."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly looks upon the peaceful face of Kahm Yugh and thinks -- Maybe I shouldn't have come back. I could have done like I thought I would do, in a panic, with that sand dragon. Maybe...
She exhales.
Her attention turns to Loren. "At least things should be stabilizing, right, as everyone recovers?" she... asks? tells? him, it has an air of an attempt to make things right, but laden with uncertainty. She smiles at him again, but with that same tentative air in her facial features. After all...
... Well, be that as it may.
Elly's attention turns to the doctor. "You've known the major for a while, haven't you, sir?" she asks, her hands unfolding from behind her and re-folding in front of her, slightly childishly. "... I think I understand what you're speaking of, though. I wish I had more talent at it."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He looks peaceful. It's a strange thing to look upon the face of a man clearly comatose and far from the troubles of the world, and feel -- amidst the wash of guilt and other emotions, a short high note of something like envy.
Thinking too much... there's a familiar problem. "That's unusual in someone from the lower classes, isn't it," he speaks aloud, his attention still resting on one of the vital sign readouts.
Elly addresses him directly, stealing his focus away from the medical machinery. "They are," he admits, unable to entirely paint over what's evident by fact at this stage of their situation. "I've largely been assisting patrols over the last few days. Nothing too extensive," he adds, glancing over at the Doctor.
They shouldn't blame themselves, should they. Loren makes a noncommittal noise, his mouth twisting in something halfway between a frown and a grimace. "You seem rather certain of that, Doctor. I suppose you know him well..."
Any means to complete the mission, was it. He's heard of that.
"Yes. I know, Doctor." Some faint irritation colors his words here -- if there's one thing higher than usual on the list of things that Loren dislikes, it's when people push themselves and invariably end up creating a headache for the people in medical. "I have no intention of going as far as that."
It's some self-conscious censorship that keeps him from naming a specific and very much present example of 'going too far'.
In the end, for him, it's not the body that's causing him trouble, it's the mind.
<Pose Tracker> Royce Gerune has posed.
"I taught him at Jugend. Later, he participated in some of my research, back when I still did such things." Royce explained, answering both Elly's and Loren's queries at once. "So if he can't keep himself from thinking about things, well, I like to take credit for that. He blames me for it, at any rate."
The man slips a sardonic smile, rising back to his feet. "As for your question, Lieutenant Voss, that's hard to say. Do they think less because they are inferior, or because we've conditioned them to be such?" If Loren blanches at the idea, he's prepared to meet it with a laugh. "Questions like that are why I find myself more welcome among the Commander's misfits than our kin in Etrenank, you see. Maybe the Major is a special case, but I fear you'd have to ask him about that-even i'm not privy to share his every secret."
He'll step over to the console near the medtank and adjust a few settings. Loren at least would recognize that he was easing up on the sedative and drugs, slowly weaning Kahm off of them so that when he does awaken, it will be less disruptive. It will also allow him to return to active duty quicker-precisely what the Major would want.
"In any case, you both seem like fine young sorts, so try not to let him spend himself too hard on your accounts. That's something he'll do without thinking-not because of your status as Solarians, but your status as his subordinates." The doctor said, wearing a wan smile on his face. "He'll never admit it, but he needs to watch over others, on some level. Just don't tell him you heard it from me."
A chime indicates that all is well with Royce's changes, and he claps his hands. "Alright, I know he's too unconscious to care, but I think it best we give him some privacy now all the same. Rumor is some official orders are about to come down to everyone, anyways..."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly is momentarily discomfited when Loren goes straight for the class remark. Dead on! Maybe this is from all the -Lambs- she was hanging out with, but Elly's psychoses and neuroses are probably not a concern of Loren's now that she's in her shy girl mode. She rubs her neck.
"... Has your research suggested any answers, Doctor?" she asks.
She watches the doctor move to the console, and blinks at the doctor's turn of phrase. Elly smiles faintly, afterwards; she will, no doubt, remember it later. "I won't," she says.
Then official orders are brought up. Elly glances to Loren.
"Do you think they've managed to establish communications with command...?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"At Jugend..."
Did... he teach his brother, as well? For a moment, Royce will find himself on the end of a somewhat more critical gaze than before, as if Loren were seeking something out... before his gaze almost pointedly shifts away, over at the array of screens once again.
"I've heard of that before, though. 'Does one blame the student or the teacher'?"
He doesn't blanche, per se, though his whole expression earns more than its due portion of tightness at the comment; tension, measure by measure, comes back to his shoulders. Briefly he glances over at Elly but only briefly.
"I... see," he says at last, as neutral as he can manage.
Misfit... is that what it comes down to? The things that don't really belong anywhere.
You're doing it again, he warns himself in the moments following after. Instead, his attention focuses on what the Doctor is doing. He's still young, his depth of experience is still shallow. So it's important to watch and learn what he can, in case one day...
"...I'll do my best."
So runs the comment, Loren's natural pensive neutral ruling the day, until Royce Gerune makes a particular comment.
"...Heh." It's slight and barely there, but this is quite possibly the first time Elly might have seen Loren smile.
It doesn't last too long. "I don't know," he answers, glancing over at her. "I suppose it could be?"
<Pose Tracker> Royce Gerune has posed.
"Only that the earlier you can teach someone, the better." Royce asides to Elly's question, "There may not be much I can do for everyone on the surface right now. But if we started sending teachers instead of soldiers, well....who's to say what the world could be like?"
He shrugged. "But don't mind my ravings too much, you've both far more important things to do. Personally, i'll eat one of my old papers if those meatheads have actually managed to rub two sticks together had enough to contact commands, but we've all been surprised lately."