Spirit Operations Unit Leviathan (L3 | Open | SF/Fantasy)

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

From the young brawler's perspective, Rachel wasn't just being uptight, she was being domineering. That Niko was willing to capitulate was frankly disturbing and immediately crushed what little respect Jake had for the wolfman. Even so, he felt compelled to defend him from Miles's tyranny. "Doc, you need to lighten up. He's a big boy, and he can handle himself." To say Uso wasn't very skilled at mediating would be an understatement.  

[SirBayer]

The second the Doc Lecture had began, Eamon had sort of both figuratively and literally thrown up his hands and tossed in the towel. In this case that meant shutting his face and letting things roll by; she was still technically in charge, he had no authority to reprimand her, and in her current mood he suspected it would be a bad idea anyway. Reminded him of his sister, actually. 'Cept his sister had hit him too. Eh, beat up was more like it, really. Beaten to a pulp, actually. And broken his nose, once. Twice? No, more than that.

Good times.

The tests were meaningless, though Eamon had wandered in with the rest; he had made up his mind, and his mind was not terribly scientific, and he was pretty sure things were going to work his way. His mind had flirted with the idea of jump-starting his entry to the Terminal (i.e. shooting himself in the face) but it might not work that way. (Really, his mind was scientific when it was convenient. Really, he was most things except angry and drunk only when it was convenient.)

And then suddenly there was tension in the room and he finally noticed it through the haze of excitement he had built up around the Terminal. And all the excitement flooded back into his usual grouchiness. Interpersonal passive-aggressive conflicts were so... so... overdone. If you couldn't manage to work things out in straightforward conversation, a bar fight was the best thing. He'd have to try and convince Doctor Miles on that one.

"'s tha probl'm?" Eamon asked, snapping back into reality. "What're we talkin' abou'?" Probably a bad way to start. Admitting inattention never worked before.  

[SiberDrac]

Strings had no use for any of the anger on the ride, nor any of the outright aggression once everyone had left it. He kept his gaze fixated on nothing outside the window while one hand played something only he could hear. He was growing bored, and that meant he had only one thing he wanted to do. Testing, testing, it was important, he knew. The boss had always had thoughts about getting a scientist, though he'd never done it - no patience. Boss liked things to be easy: bribe the cops, rob the store, shoot the cops, spray the entire place with ammonia, then sprinkle fertilizer, light a match, and leave town. But Strings, ever solitary, had always liked the idea of a lone scientist or inventor tinkering away at something and then putting it into action. He didn't envy Rachel having to endure her guests.

But he did have one line of inquiry.

He sat outside the labs, having no interest in actually listening to or watching the tests, and wondered if he could do anything to make these people just. Stop.

Bitching.

He opened his case, having lugged it through the base to get there, and opened it with the characteristic movements that were just... too fast, for a man of his gravity and dull color, and in a movement, had the thing cradled in his arms like a dance partner. He played, just something simple, and prayed that something in the way he empathized with the very music itself would effuse into the gathered bickerers. It sounded like Eamon had opened his mouth again, and Strings knew for a fact that what the group did not need was another schism between its leaders, when the underlings couldn't even get along as it was.  

[umbraja]

The rapid fire barrage of semi-scientific questions thrown at Niko made Rachel roll her eyes slightly but she bit her tongue not to mention the should be obvious fact that not only did Niko not have the equipment to test for such things, he didn't have the know how or even inclination to look. The man really was not much more complex than the dog he could turn into. Sure, he had street smarts and was admirably resourceful but Niko could hardly read when they'd first met, let alone know what a compound or element even was, certainly not how to test for them. He had learned a lot in his time with SOUL but none of it was chemistry and most of the other field agents weren't much better. Diplomas were optional, degrees rare, and intellectualism generally frowned upon in the grunts - that's why they were grunts.

Rachel was using a good bit of self restraint not to sneer at the other doctor for this when Uso cut in with his ill-conceived notion of defending the poor b*****d. "Oh. Do I now?" she nearly hissed at the boy, turning a sharp glare on him and taking the few steps away from Niko to stand at the edge of uncomfortably close to Uso. Of course Eamon cut in at that point to catch her ire as well.

"Finally decide to chime in, Sir?" she let the rank bite. "Go back to your drunken stupor if you've not stayed informed. There is not a problem, and no discussion that your Cirrhosis addled brain needs to take part in." She paused briefly at the sound of Strings' cello starting up in the hall. "Go listen to the pretty music and let the scientists do their job."  

[SirBayer]

Eamon coughed and choked momentarily for reasons unclear; upon recovering from a brief coughing fit, he stood up straight. "Ah. A'ight, sounds like ye've got thin's brilliantly unner control. Good team unity an' all that, e'rythin's in order." Eamon shrugged, and hid a tiny smirk. Now she was beginning to understand, and her thin temper was fraying. Hey, whatever. This was why he'd surrendered willingly in the first place. To be vindicated. Well, and it had been the right thing to do, as little as he wanted to admit it right now. Still. Vindication.

"No' a 'sir' righ' now anyhow. If ye need me, which I imagine ye shan', I'll be doin' somethin' meanin'less, like enjoyin' the horrid shell o' life I've go' yet. If ye ligh' the place on fire, the number's nine one one." With that he turned and left, still suppressing mirth.

By the time he reached Strings, he couldn't do it anymore.

"Oh m'go' it's ********' hilarious," he managed through the laughter. It was the first genuine pleasure he'd had in some time, realizing that it had taken less than twenty-four hours for the demands of leadership to weigh on her. Or maybe that wasn't it. Maybe it was the demands of interacting with them. If that were the case, then Mary mother of Jesus this was even funnier. "Tha doc... tha whole thin' back there... my god man, 's ne'er felt so good t'be righ'. Ehhh, pro'bly 'cuz I've nay often been righ', but - " He realized who he was talking to, and how much the man likely didn't care, judging by his expression. "Ahhhhh, this ********' place. Yer only high poin' in yer brief existence is laughin' when other people screw up." Not so funny anymore. Eamon sighed and leaned against the wall. Not drunk yet today, but daylight remained, so...  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Uso had no boundaries unless other people set them. When the good doctor decided to bring it in, Jake met her fierceness with his own defiance, invigorated by her passive aggression. It would take so much more than a hoity-toity white coat to intimidate him. In fact he was smiling, welcoming the challenge. Admittedly, it wasn't one where he could bring his fists to bear, but arguing was great foreplay for any conflict. "Yeah! You do, doc! Like I said, he's a big boy. Pretty sure he can answer some simple questions. I mean, I'm no Einstein, but I can play twenty questions too."  

[NativeForeigner]

"Oh, uh..." Briar murmured as she took a step back from everybody who was bickering. "Did I... did I do something wrong?" She asked quietly, her voice difficult to hear.

During the week she had been here, Briar had utterly failed to notice any tension between her teammates and so was at a loss as to what was happening. "I'm... sorry. I just wanted to ask a few questions... I didn't mean to start anything..."

Briar-Rose folded her right arm across her chest and her gaze fell to the floor. This was the first time she had been allowed in a lab setting since she was transferred and it already was not going well. She didn't even really know what it was she did in the first place that started all of this.  

[Ivaylo_Sai]

The new doctor would learn soon enough that she'd best get used to nonverbal responses from Niko. He couldn't help but remember Dr. Miles' difficulty with it at first and wonder how this one would cope. A slightly raised brow spoke of his uncertainty and slight irritation for the speed of the new doctor's questions but he didn't show any other sign of reproach though he was thinking oh God, not another one as he hesitated a long moment, letting the awkward silence linger between them partly to give him time to think, part to let the others bicker in the background, but also to irritate the woman. One of the perks of being a junkie was the excuse to act less than rationally after all and it was one of Niko's few joys in life to take advantage of. In the last few years he'd all but given up on it but now, well, new body, new lease on life. So he let the doctor hang a while, listening to Rachel tear into the others but it didn't have the expected result. Rather than being annoyed, this doctor got bashful.

Well idn't that adorable Niko couldn't help a subtly wry smile as he watched Briar draw into herself, not at all what he was expecting but not a bad thing. Best not let her work herself up too much then. He waited for a pause in the others' arguing before rolling another slow shrug, more the motion of a boxer rolling his shoulders than any responsive gesture this time. He did at least have the good grace to augment it with a muttered. "You didn' start anythin. That's just how tha doc says hello," the wolf's smile turned coy and voice raised a bit as he went on. "Ta Illuminated anyway. And she ain't got a need ta lighten up," he turned nearly yellow eyes on Uso. "Least not tha way you mean it. If anythin' you lot got a need ta get yer s**t together. The hell are you doin' in a lab?" He gave Uso a nearly disgusted look, "Questionin' a CO at that. Gonna get us killed. Again. An that ain't no cool thing. Yer just not thinkin' it through. Like yer not thinkin' through yer steppin' on my business," he growled the last a touch. "I can defend myself fine. Thanks. You just worry bout yerself an' stop kickin' up trouble 'fore someone decides ta put ya down for it." There was a hint of threat to the statement but not direct, more a warning that someone else would do it rather than anything he'd do himself. Which was quite honestly the case. SOUL didn't tolerate insubordination and belligerence for long.

Just to keep Uso from coming back with more trouble the wolf looked to Briar and half grumbled an answer to her questions. "Not a scientist, Ma'am. Was kinda busy. Killin' demons." He paused briefly to let the woman think about that a moment before going on, "If ya got specific things, like what color was tha sky or if things seemed ta float I can answer those but I didn't really get a chance ta study." He finished with a grumble and could only hope that would stop the argument. Niko would have liked to slip away to get a better listen at the cello outside but he wasn't about to let these idiots blame Rachel for their problems.

Even through the door Niko had heard Eamon's gloating though he didn't understand it. The smug idiot seemed to be mistaking Rachel's aggression for a breakdown. Niko didn't need to have been around the past week to know that Rachel was not breaking down, she was just exerting authority and these men had obviously not earned enough respect for her to do it gently. The new doctor had her respect enough that Rachel hadn't snapped at either the asking permission or the questions themselves and that the hot headed Uso didn't see it only explained why he wasn't in the woman's favor. Seemed to Niko that the boy and drunk were the problems but then he wasn't overly social himself and much preferred to work alone, for this reason exactly. He very much hoped these tempers wouldn't flare on the field.  

[Isa-sama]

Clarissa watched everything happening around her in silence. Uso had been itching for an argument with Dr. Miles, and Eamon was not helping anyone with his comments either. Dr. Miles snapped scathing replies while the other doctor seemed to cave in on herself.

Did Clarissa care? Not really. Drama stirred chaos, which was something that she did not care for. The only reason she stuck around was to listen to Niko's answers. If this crap keeps going, I'm going to see if I can transfer myself out of here.

Niko's reply was disappointing, but she had already gotten the information she wanted. Phantoms were her curiosity, and she had learned all she could of the blue and black phantoms from Uso's files and the talk with Niko earlier. Hm, did his speech style just change? When Niko started to get onto Uso, Clarissa barely repressed rolling her eyes. Forget it. I need to go.

When there was a break in the snappish crowd, Clarissa spoke up. "I believe I'll take my leave. If you need me, I'll be in my lab. Dr. Miles, thank you for allowing me to watch. Niko, thank you for your time." She nodded her goodbye to Uso and Dr. Colburn before turning away. As she walked passed by the room with Strings and Eamon, she stopped momentarily to listen to the music. The laughing ruins it. Such a shame.

She walked down the hall in the direction of her lab. Thank God I have one. In order to continue providing potions for SOUL, she was given her own place to experiment in. I wonder what to work on first...  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Uso was about to placate Dr. Briar-Rose, but Niko did it for him- and then came at Uso with threats and dumb questions. "Woah, excuse me for wanting to see my teammate's powers in action. I'll just excuse myself." He raised an arm to dismiss nonexistent offers of guidance. "No, it's alright, I know where the door is."

Wandering beyond the lab, he came upon none other than Strings, his 'first' colleague. The older man was striking up a really mellow classical piece Jake didn't recognize. Not that Jake was some classic-era aficionado or anything, he just appreciated some of the music. It made the boy stand still for quite some time- a truly monumental feat. When he was done thinking about nothing, and Strings reached the end, he asked, "Think I could convince you to scrap? Just mano e mano? All this standing around has me itching for something to go at."