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 Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 12:17 pm
"One thing to clean these beds. Another to be in them. At least I won't have any scaring." Blunt force trauma had that perk as least, though his rib wouldn't be pretty anymore.
"How often have you been in the Infirmary? You seem too careful to be here too often, but you're also a Sun."
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 1:10 pm
"Keeping your rugged good looks intact," Jordan agreed with as straight a face as he could manage.
"Not too often," he said, frowning thoughtfully. "I've been lucky on that count. Last time was after the Sahara." He couldn't quite keep himself from flinching at the memory, the corners of his eyes going tight and his mouth pulling down, shoulders tensing briefly in automatic, defensive reaction. "Picked up my scars in the field, mostly," he continued, trying to gloss over the moment of tension.
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 1:53 pm
Melvin looked up and noticed the flinching. "That was my first mission. Entering the horsemen lairs. I forget but, looking back now, you were there, right? How did that happen?" Melvin settled in a way that not only said he wasn't going anywhere, but he was expecting story time.
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:07 pm
Jordan gave Melvin a tight smile. It was his own fault for mentioning it, he supposed. "I got captured several days before the others," he said. "I'm not real clear on the time frames involved. Allan had sent me out to the Sahara on a simple artifact retrieval mission, and while I was waiting for the return portal to open, the lair opened up under my feet instead." He shrugged, a deliberate and careful motion with an underlying edge of tension. "There was nowhere I could go. I spent the next week or so in a cell, trapped in my own head. Eventually someone got me out, though I'm afraid I can't say who or when. Woke up in the infirmary on an IV drip, half-starved and dehydrated, but at least I survived it."
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:13 pm
Melvin turned his head slightly. "Did they give you an evaluation after you left the Infirmary?" Being in your head for days didn't help your sanity.
Thinking more on it, he continued. "I suppose if they were trapping you in your head, maybe they were feeding off of your Fear like a concentrated energy source. A battery." He was theorizing, and the idea of harvesting off of humans in such a close range made him wonder if that had a grand sort of benefit to being that close to your energy source. "Makes you think of the Matrix just a bit."
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:17 pm
"Before they let me out," Jordan said, his words sharply clipped. "Guess they had to determine I wasn't a danger to myself or anyone else."
He stiffened as Melvin went on, and his hands closed into fists at his sides. "Might have been," he agreed, his tone going flat and even. "There's historical precedent for that. Lairs as Fear farms, that is."
Jordan, Ferros murmured.
I'm fine.
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:22 pm
"Fear Farms. They did have cages. I wonder if they abduct people on a regular basis. Having traps around their base is tricky though, but alludes to a history and thought process behind it. You were looking for a artifact all the way back then?" This was interesting, and he had to wonder what sort of artifact was that close to a horsemen lair.
"If it's a human farm, makes me wonder why we just don't set off more bombs in the desert." He continued to think, glancing at Jordan's curling fists. I can keep him away. He thought.
"Have to wonder how they can induce that sort of mental torment. They've shown a history of hallucinations, but I wonder what sort of technology they have. No one we rescued had helmets or anything on them. Maybe it's the cages or just a power nearby." He smiled. "I wonder if we could use that power against them if we could figure out how they do it."
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:31 pm
"I don't think they were expecting me to be there," Jordan said. "The area had been marked as safe by our people. A surprise for everyone." He consciously relaxed his hands and stuck them into his pockets. "Not sure explosives would take care of the whole nest. It's dug deep."
"They used an inhaled hallucinogen on me. Would guess that they could introduce a vaporized form into the air in a cage room." His lips compressed into a thin line, and he was silent for a moment; then he said "Guess I've taken up enough of your time. Excuse me."
He turned sharply and headed for the door, furious with himself for being unable to keep the emotions under control, showing such an obvious weak point. If Melvin used it against him - ********, this was bad.
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:48 pm
It worked, just like that. Melvin watched him go. "Oh, you're going? Well it's been nice talking with you." He said as innocently as he could, and relaxed against his pillow to allow Jordan to go.
Now who would be avoiding who?
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