health care

[Locksmith]

---

"Comes with the territory."

He said it with a smile on his face, but it quickly disappeared, and he looked at her a little more seriously.

"You get used to it. People always want us dead. Some because we're in the way. Others because we want to change things. Those who were simply paid. And those who are confused. An infinite number of reasons for one single thing."

Again the smile. Only this time it's different, a guilty, gloomy one. And weariness in his eyes that was unusual for his age. It faded quickly.

Taking a quick glance at the corridor in front of him, Roland placed the mug on the nearest suitable surface and moved forward, letting the technology do its work. He frowned slightly as he passed, as if something inside him was stirring. Yet, this scan didn't reveal anything unusual about the young man. Perhaps a more in-depth look was in order?

---

[Jazzi]

---

As Roland enters the scanning chamber, Thallia looks between him and the scanner. She spots his slight frown. With one hand curled around the screen, she steps closer to it to obscure vision to her other side. Offering an apologetic smile, "S...sorry, this can take a little while to run. Heisenberg's grid is good but ur... on this deck sometimes the demand is quite h...high." Her other hand subtly presses a thumb to a panel in the wall. A hinged cover unclicks open, and she curls her fingers around to reach inside. The feel of a cold, rubber grip that sits snuggling into her hand. A subtle short vibration signalling fingerprint recognition.

[ :: Access Granted :: ]

Her eyes glance between the Legionnaire and the screen. No abnormal organ tissue. No signs of alien matter, coiled nor amoebic. At least we haven't got that problem to deal with. Her hand lets go and slides out of the panel, gently closing it back as quietly as she could whilst her apologetic smile turned into a bright, beaming grin.

"F...fancy that~" Thorn walks into the chamber with him, pulled the screen around on it's mounting arm so they both could see, and she triggers another scan. "I'm s...sorry Roland. Experience has taught me to be p...particularly cautious, especially when you work in the field I do." With both figures displayed without normality, the device chimes once again.

[ :: Access Granted :: ]

She nudges his arm as the door they came through seals shut, and the one behind opens. Turning, she gestures for him to continue on. "Welcome to m...my office." Before Roland was a rectangular room illuminated by white strip lights tucked into the recessed of a tapered ceiling. The walls were lined with polished white material coated with a shiny film that continued on the dark grey floor. A round inset on the far wall had projector strips lining it's curve, reflections cast off the polished desks that sat either side. In the middle-left of the room was a workstation complete with stool, desklight, and a screen beneath it's synthetic transaprent surface. On the far right sat a large fume-sealed glovebox. Within it's secured environment sat a chunk of exotic materials, small shards chipped off and placed to the side. Two gloves lay inwardly. The majority of space working space were covered with scientific instruments, screens, or the odd flask of coffee yet finished.

Thallia points towards another sealed doorway on the near left corner. "Co...considering your symptoms, I'd suggest not going in there. Otherwise... what do you think?"

---

---

---

[Locksmith]

---

Assumptions always lead to failure and disappointment. If life had taught Freud anything, it was that the world and other people did not owe him anything. Even if he gave them something, it was futile to expect the same in return. Part of him always had difficulty coming to terms with this injustice, but ultimately he understood it perfectly well.

So when the scan was over, he closed his eyes for a few seconds and shook his head with a smile.

"Do what you have to do, Doctor. Just remember that not all things can be detected by the scanner."

When she touched his arm, she could feel something like a slight sting of static electricity. In itself, this was hardly unusual, but at the same time there was an almost impalpable shadow of the feeling that this charge of electricity continued to "walk" through her body for a couple of seconds. Roland, meanwhile, reacting to her nudge, went further. Looking around, his gaze stopped at a chunk of exotic materials for a few seconds. Then Roland looked back at Thallia with a small smile.

"Minimalistic, but cozy. A bit like Valravn, but... More personal and less artificial? As for the symptoms... I can endure it if needed."

Still, the thought made him wince slightly. Roland sighed and stretched his neck, looking at the scientific instruments now.

"So... Where do we begin? Take command, Doctor."

---

[Jazzi]

---

"Cou-" The smile on Thallia's face drops in an instance at the sensation of the jolt of static passing from Roland on contact. A hand moves up to the back of her head reflexively to rub the back of her neck. Her frown only deepened as that "walking" sensation of the shock kept her stationary as she fought the urge to fight it's induced micro-spasms.

Turning, she watches Roland gaze around her laboratory with an unease, stern furrow in her brow. A wise-crack lay on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. Warily, yet drawing herself up to her full height, Thallia points to a wheely desk chair as she closes the entry door behind her. She takes out a personal recorder from her back pocket and affixes it to her belt with the clip on it's back. She activates it.

"Take a seat, Roland. Perhaps l...le...let's start with you recounting to me your symptoms? In addition to what you've told me already, do you have a habit of passing ele...electrical current to those close to you?"

---

---

---

[Locksmith]

---

He seemed completely unaware of that small electrical discharge, mistaking her serious expression for a responsible approach to the inspection.

Following the direction of her gesture with his eyes, he takes a seat on the chair. Shifting slightly in it, he returns his gaze to Thallia, also more serious than a few seconds ago. Her question makes him blink in mild surprise, followed by a couple of seconds of thoughtfulness.

"... No, I don't think so. Nobody has ever complained about this before."

He lifts his hand closer to his face, examining it.

"Maybe some side effect from the implants? I don't remember if I mentioned it, but the Technocracy replaced some of my internal organs with mechanical ones. After I was seriously injured on one of my combat missions."

---

[Jazzi]

---

Thallia's left brow arched high as Roland mentions 'implants'. She waits for him to finish, walking around the perimeter of the room with eyes that dart with each thought. A brow that furrows in concentration. A monitor beside her blinks with unread alerts, three little red dots. With a press of her finger on the icons, she swiftly dismisses the status updates of various probes with rightward waves of her hand.

"Y...you had not mentioned that."

She looks Roland over thoughtfully, before moving across the room to squat down in front of a cabinet. Opening it up, she begins looking through for, presumably, a tool for the occassion. "Do you know what material th...they are made out of? Considering the x-ray scan did n...not pick them up, I can rule out metallics?"

---

---

---

[Locksmith]

---

He watches her as she walks around the room, wondering what exactly she wants to get from the cabinet.

"No idea. Never went into detail about how exactly the Technocracy makes these things. Hopefully we won't have to take them out of my body to find out?"

A quiet, slightly nervous laugh. He wrinkled his nose slightly and smoothed his hair with his hand. It seemed that the idea of ​​being dissected was not new to him, and it made him nervous.

---

[Jazzi]

---

Out from the cabinet Thallia places a translucent bottle of some gel like substance and a hand-held scanner. She stands back up, gives the sonograph transducer with a dubious expression. At the implication of surgery, Thallia slips out a scalpel to place with the other items. A playful, devious smile threatens to curl her lips. A pause stretches just a little too long...

"Of co...course not! Besides, I don't trust myself to do such a thing safely. I'd need to ask a friend to come help us if things go that far. Tell me in d...de...detail your other symptoms? The headaches, in particular?"

---

---

---

[Locksmith]

---

His eyebrows rise up when he sees the scalpel. And her mentioning a "friend" doesn't seem to help the situation at all.

"Can we... Make do without these "friends"? I mean, I'm really not a big fan of the idea of ​​being cut up."

He lets out a tense sigh, rubbing his temple.

"Not sure I can tell you much... It mostly has to do with that thing in Ontario. It gets worse the closer I get. It feels like my head is about to explode from the inside. Although... I did experience something similar once, being around an AI. Other than that... I can't say there's anything that really bothers me."

---

[Jazzi]

---

"It sounds to me like th...there's already plenty bothering you."

Pocketing the scanner, it's hammerhead like head sticking out of her trousers, Thallia walks towards Roland. There's a mischevious look in her eye. A playful smirk on her lips. In one hand, she holds the scalpel as if she were about to have her dinner as she closes the distance. Putting on a stern, serious expression she raises the scalpel high and brings it down into the soft, exposed material of the bottle's seal. She grins deviously.

"I'm not cutting you up. Not yet, a...an...anyway. Take off your shirt and t...turn around in the chair. I'm going to apply a layer of transmission gel to your arms and back, and use ultrasound to see if I can spot any implants. Th...that ok with you?"

---

---

---