ooc: 4th Memory
[Taken from Season 1, Episode 5: "True Believer" aka the one with the crazy religious cult and eye cameras]
--
At exactly 11:59am Genius was moving several precious boxes of equipment into the lab's storage closet. One minute his lab assistant Goggles was standing right next to him handing him boxes and the next minute it was 12:00pm exactly and the world completely changed. Suddenly Genius was no longer standing in the bright lights of Medical but sitting in a dimly lit room in front of a laptop. Instead of holding boxes his fingers were tapping away on computer keys, entering data into a spreadsheet that was too blurry for Genius to read properly.
'What the hell?!'
There was a sound of someone shuffling behind him and although Genius was no longer in charge of his body, he could still see, touch, smell and feel everything in this memory. The room he was in had a vaguely clinical smell, an overlay of cleaners and filtered air. His foot was fidgeting on the floor, tapping an impatient beat on a hardwood floor. Eventually he lifted his left leg and rested it on his right. He could feel something around his right wrist bump against the edge of the laptop every now and again--it was mildly annoying. The room he was in had comfortable lighting and appeared to be an office, but it was hard to tell because Memory!Genius had his entire focus on the laptop in front of him. His fingers flew across the keys in a rapid 'tap tap tap' beat.
Then to the right of him he could hear the sound of something rolling across the floor. His fingers stopped and he looked to his left--he wasn't in an office exactly. Sure it had the decor of a comfortable study, but instead of a couch there was an exam table and an excerise bike in the middle of the room. Rice Paper divides sectioned off the room from a wall of files that Genius could only barely see. Sitting on top of the exam table was the woman from his previous memory, dressed in the same thin camisole and yoga pants. Next to her in a white lab coat and a dark dress was Fracta.
No. Not Fracta. The woman who looked just like Fracta only with horrible scars all across her face. The angry woman from his dream.
"Hello Echo."
And that was Catherine, walking into the exam/office room in a yellow sweater, a cream skirt and some very loud clicky high heel shoes. This time she had curly shoulder length hair without a trace of gray in it. Although Genius longed to stare at her further, the Genius in the memory--Topher Brink it was easier to disassociate himself like that--turned back around to face his computer. The tapping of keys resumed even as conversation continued behind him.
"Hello. I had an exam." The way Echo spoke was matter of fact and slightly childlike if not a bit soulless.
"That's good." Catherine even spoke to Echo like she were a child or a very slow woman. "Would you like to have some lunch now?"
"I would."
It was very hard for Genius to concentrate on the conversation when the memory Topher was doing his best to ignore the hell of the rest of the room. Topher curled himself around the laptop and clicked away from the spreadsheet in front of him so he could fiddle with some sort of program.
"She shouldn't eat, not before the surgery." That was Not!Fracta speaking. This version of Fracta sounded weary, resigned even, in a way the Sphere Fracta had never sounded.
The program Topher started turned out to be some sort of video software. It activated the laptop's camera and for a second Genius was shocked by the sudden appearance of himself in black and white, staring down at the keyboard. He was wearing a stripped shirt of sorts and his hair was a tad longer than he kept it now. But other than that he looked exactly the same. It was a painful revelation since Genius felt like (and wanted to believe he was) a completely different person.
With the camera activated Genius could could see the side profile of Echo and Fracta behind Topher's shoulder.
"Echo? Why don't you go have a massage." It was an order not a suggestion.
"A massage would be relaxing."
Genius felt himself shake his head slightly. "If she were any more relaxed she'd be ooze." His voice was dripping with distain. Luckily the room seemed to be in agreement to ignore Topher. Echo walked out of frame and the sound of a door being rolled aside meant that she was leaving for that massage. As soon as she was gone the atmosphere completely changed.
"So it's doable?" Catherine's voice snapped from gentle mother to authority.
"It's experimental and highly invasive." Fracta's voice got anger. Topher looked up from the computer and stared at Fracta, who was closing a medical record and walking around to the other side of the desk Topher was perched on. In fact, it became obvious that Genius was just camping out on the wrong side of the desk and that this was Fracta's office. There was a desktop computer and a chair on the other side that Fracta went to sit in. It was only now that Topher was actually actively looking around the room that Genius could tell that this was the same office from his birth dream.
"But doable." Catherine pressed. Topher sighed and tilted so he could look at Catherine.
"The actual procedure isn’t any more complicated than laser eye correction." Topher shot Fracta a dirty look and raised his voice. "It ain’t brain surgery."
"Actually," Fracta snapped back, "it is brain surgery. We’re going to be turning Echo into a human camera, and in order to do that, she’s going to have to be made blind."
They were…wait. What?!
"Not permanently," Topher grumbled. Fracta shot him another look and he quickly revised himself. "In theory."
Catherine didn't appear to be concerned with their disagreement. She brought the room's attention back to her by moving next to Topher and peering at his laptop screen. "So this is it?"
Topher turned back and stared at an image of himself and Catherine. "Yes. The latest in CSEVP: Cortical Stimulation for Evocation of Visual Perception.
"Brain camera for the blind." Fracta translated.
Genius watched himself give Fracta another dismissive look. "Or that." They really appeared to dislike each other.
"And this is what she'll be seeing?" Catherine asked.
"Weeeell, this is what the feds will be seeing." Topher began to use his hands to example himself. "Only less clear once we get it inside of Echo. We'll be using her eyes as lenses. The images will bypass her own cortex, and be broadcasted directly back to the ATF. Echo herself, will see no evil."
"There have been instances of this technology causing aneurisms and in once case death." Fracta argued as she moved from her chair to walk around the other side of the desk. "It's possible one good sneeze could bring on a seizure."
"Or even worse, a sneezure." Topher snorted at his own joke, much to Genius's horror.
"The risks have been determined to be within acceptable margins. How soon can she be ready?" Catherine asked.
There was a pause. "I'll need 24 hours," Fracta said finally.
"Good." Catherine smiled. "Clock starts now. Thanks."
She turned and walked towards the door, and as she did the memory faded. The next thing Genius knew he was back in the lab, staring at Goggles as the other man looked back at him with equal amounts of disorientation.
--
At exactly 11:59am Genius was moving several precious boxes of equipment into the lab's storage closet. One minute his lab assistant Goggles was standing right next to him handing him boxes and the next minute it was 12:00pm exactly and the world completely changed. Suddenly Genius was no longer standing in the bright lights of Medical but sitting in a dimly lit room in front of a laptop. Instead of holding boxes his fingers were tapping away on computer keys, entering data into a spreadsheet that was too blurry for Genius to read properly.
'What the hell?!'
There was a sound of someone shuffling behind him and although Genius was no longer in charge of his body, he could still see, touch, smell and feel everything in this memory. The room he was in had a vaguely clinical smell, an overlay of cleaners and filtered air. His foot was fidgeting on the floor, tapping an impatient beat on a hardwood floor. Eventually he lifted his left leg and rested it on his right. He could feel something around his right wrist bump against the edge of the laptop every now and again--it was mildly annoying. The room he was in had comfortable lighting and appeared to be an office, but it was hard to tell because Memory!Genius had his entire focus on the laptop in front of him. His fingers flew across the keys in a rapid 'tap tap tap' beat.
Then to the right of him he could hear the sound of something rolling across the floor. His fingers stopped and he looked to his left--he wasn't in an office exactly. Sure it had the decor of a comfortable study, but instead of a couch there was an exam table and an excerise bike in the middle of the room. Rice Paper divides sectioned off the room from a wall of files that Genius could only barely see. Sitting on top of the exam table was the woman from his previous memory, dressed in the same thin camisole and yoga pants. Next to her in a white lab coat and a dark dress was Fracta.
No. Not Fracta. The woman who looked just like Fracta only with horrible scars all across her face. The angry woman from his dream.
"Hello Echo."
And that was Catherine, walking into the exam/office room in a yellow sweater, a cream skirt and some very loud clicky high heel shoes. This time she had curly shoulder length hair without a trace of gray in it. Although Genius longed to stare at her further, the Genius in the memory--Topher Brink it was easier to disassociate himself like that--turned back around to face his computer. The tapping of keys resumed even as conversation continued behind him.
"Hello. I had an exam." The way Echo spoke was matter of fact and slightly childlike if not a bit soulless.
"That's good." Catherine even spoke to Echo like she were a child or a very slow woman. "Would you like to have some lunch now?"
"I would."
It was very hard for Genius to concentrate on the conversation when the memory Topher was doing his best to ignore the hell of the rest of the room. Topher curled himself around the laptop and clicked away from the spreadsheet in front of him so he could fiddle with some sort of program.
"She shouldn't eat, not before the surgery." That was Not!Fracta speaking. This version of Fracta sounded weary, resigned even, in a way the Sphere Fracta had never sounded.
The program Topher started turned out to be some sort of video software. It activated the laptop's camera and for a second Genius was shocked by the sudden appearance of himself in black and white, staring down at the keyboard. He was wearing a stripped shirt of sorts and his hair was a tad longer than he kept it now. But other than that he looked exactly the same. It was a painful revelation since Genius felt like (and wanted to believe he was) a completely different person.
With the camera activated Genius could could see the side profile of Echo and Fracta behind Topher's shoulder.
"Echo? Why don't you go have a massage." It was an order not a suggestion.
"A massage would be relaxing."
Genius felt himself shake his head slightly. "If she were any more relaxed she'd be ooze." His voice was dripping with distain. Luckily the room seemed to be in agreement to ignore Topher. Echo walked out of frame and the sound of a door being rolled aside meant that she was leaving for that massage. As soon as she was gone the atmosphere completely changed.
"So it's doable?" Catherine's voice snapped from gentle mother to authority.
"It's experimental and highly invasive." Fracta's voice got anger. Topher looked up from the computer and stared at Fracta, who was closing a medical record and walking around to the other side of the desk Topher was perched on. In fact, it became obvious that Genius was just camping out on the wrong side of the desk and that this was Fracta's office. There was a desktop computer and a chair on the other side that Fracta went to sit in. It was only now that Topher was actually actively looking around the room that Genius could tell that this was the same office from his birth dream.
"But doable." Catherine pressed. Topher sighed and tilted so he could look at Catherine.
"The actual procedure isn’t any more complicated than laser eye correction." Topher shot Fracta a dirty look and raised his voice. "It ain’t brain surgery."
"Actually," Fracta snapped back, "it is brain surgery. We’re going to be turning Echo into a human camera, and in order to do that, she’s going to have to be made blind."
They were…wait. What?!
"Not permanently," Topher grumbled. Fracta shot him another look and he quickly revised himself. "In theory."
Catherine didn't appear to be concerned with their disagreement. She brought the room's attention back to her by moving next to Topher and peering at his laptop screen. "So this is it?"
Topher turned back and stared at an image of himself and Catherine. "Yes. The latest in CSEVP: Cortical Stimulation for Evocation of Visual Perception.
"Brain camera for the blind." Fracta translated.
Genius watched himself give Fracta another dismissive look. "Or that." They really appeared to dislike each other.
"And this is what she'll be seeing?" Catherine asked.
"Weeeell, this is what the feds will be seeing." Topher began to use his hands to example himself. "Only less clear once we get it inside of Echo. We'll be using her eyes as lenses. The images will bypass her own cortex, and be broadcasted directly back to the ATF. Echo herself, will see no evil."
"There have been instances of this technology causing aneurisms and in once case death." Fracta argued as she moved from her chair to walk around the other side of the desk. "It's possible one good sneeze could bring on a seizure."
"Or even worse, a sneezure." Topher snorted at his own joke, much to Genius's horror.
"The risks have been determined to be within acceptable margins. How soon can she be ready?" Catherine asked.
There was a pause. "I'll need 24 hours," Fracta said finally.
"Good." Catherine smiled. "Clock starts now. Thanks."
She turned and walked towards the door, and as she did the memory faded. The next thing Genius knew he was back in the lab, staring at Goggles as the other man looked back at him with equal amounts of disorientation.