Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I'm glad to hear that." He handed her the binder, as well as a map. "I've taken the liberty of having you scanned by our systems. You should have some limited access. After you are taken on a tour of the facilities you'll be given full clearance." Moreau motioned to the elevator.

"If you take the elevator to the first floor, and follow the long hallway to the right you should find another elevator. Take that up to floor 14. You'll find your accomidations in that room. It's late, and we can all retire for the time being. It'll give you time to go over those notes. Everything is voice commanded, it's rather luxurious. There is a small override panel near the bedroom, in case you ever do find yourself unable to speak." Moreau nodded.

"I think you'll enjoy working here Dr. Frost."

Sabin had been for the first time in months, being worked pretty ragged. It was frustrating getting back into the labs after having been out for so long. Robin apparently did a good job according to the techs that stayed on his team, but she did things differently. She did more with the computer than Sabin did, and her notes were different, her procedures were different, and she had been working on a pretty specialized project that he was expected to continue with - probably to distract him from doing his own projects that had gotten him in trouble to begin with. Then of course there were new labtechs that didn't know what they were doing yet or how Sabin worked.... and material to review and learn... Sabin was tearing out his hair. Even when he reported his weekly update to Aubrey, he knew how ignorant he had sounded - even moreso than usual.

Ginerva had found a free moment in her work, and she leapt at the opportunity to get out. She had a mission in mind. Sabin was back! How could Moreau have kicked him out? There was never a doubt in Ginerva's mind - Sabin was the reason for Moreau's success. Sabin was the real genious. Sabin was the real innovater. Ohhh, the things that brilliant man dreamt up, brought delightful chills up her spine.
She walked with a little skip in her step, seeking out the illustrious man. She had to welcome him back, see how he was doing.
She always had the hope that maybe she could learn something from him. She had the ideas, yes, but hardly the ambition to build herself up.
There he was; here was her chance!
"Doctor!! Doctor Duvert!!!" She waved, her high-pitched voice echoing slightly in the hall. Whether or not the man would ever suggest she used his first name, she never would.

Sabin looked up quickly, his eyes widening like a deer in the headlights. "Wh-uhm-ah.... Ginerva....~." He forced a smile, the high pitched squeal having become a noise that Sabin had long ago learned to twinge at.

"It has been some time, hasn't it." He stood, composing himself a bit more as the bubbly woman entered the labroom.

Ginerva was completely oblivious to Sabin's less-than-welcome greeting. She grinned at him broadly, her mousily large front teeth sticking out over her pouty lower lip.

"That it has, Doctor. It it so good to see you again... I can't believe what happened. This establishment is nothing without your brilliance to keep it going."

Sabin did, however, respond well to flattery. With a more lenient smile, Sabin shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets. "They certainly decided to take my research in a ... different direction." he sighed. "But... they can't keep me down." He gave her an enthusiastic wink.

"So how have things been holding together on your team since I've been gone?"

Ginerva's face flushed slightly at the wink, but she continued unabashed. "Nothing can."

She sighed. "Well, enough, I suppose. I don't think they fully respect my... authority. They never did." Now, her little, mousy face scowled. It aws a problem throughout her life. She suffered the complex of knowing she was better than everyone else (except, of course, for Sabin), but no one else realized it.
"I suppose I just don't have that kind of commanding presence you bear, Doctor."


*sorry, you go the post right? my aim keeps stupiding*

He chuckled with a smile that twisted at the corner of his lips. "It also partially depends on your team... you just need to... well.." his tone turned playful, but directed. "Emphasize the importance of the research... explain that they are completely provided for here, their families .... and explain to them that failure will not be tolerated." He gave a deceptfully innocent smile. "Like Lilly..."

Ginerva's grin broadened. "Teach by example...
Though, I think we should turn to more... extreme measures.
For everyone. Those Islanders are spoiled. They are not here on vacation. They are subjects, less than human... And I think they need to be reminded of that."
Ginerva's voice grew stronger, and higher with her excitement.
After she realized how she had spoken in front of Sabin, however, she shrunk back a little, with a little giggle.

Sabin gave a lazy, toothy grin. "For the most part I do agree with you. However, when they are loose like this it is better to observe them, the things that they fear, their.... reactions, than say if we just had them cooped up in cages like lab animals. They break all too quickly for me with that. With them loose, with them having things that can be... taken away. That makes them all the more fascinating. It is our own little world here, our own group of people." The lazy smile slowly was becoming more poignant, more wicked. "With a few exceptions...." He added backstepping a bit.

"You are, of course, absolutely correct, Doctor. As usual."
But, Ginerva did not quite follow with Sabin's last statement. A thin, blonde eyebrow rose on her face in a confused manner.

Sabin smiled with a roll of his shoulders. "Of course I am." He responded. Whether he was teasing or being arrogant, it was difficult to discern.

Ginerva didn't care either way. In her opinion, if you were better, smarter, flaunt it! Why have a talent if it is to be wasted?
"So, Doctor. What kind of a project are you working on now?" She was beyond curious. Anything had to be more interesting than her current 'time occupier.'

"Well, unfortunately recently I have primarily been playing 'catchup' on everything that I have missed. I've been working with trying to refine some of the problems with the psychological side effects of the serums - particularly with Zachary and the directed combination... we did not expect these kind of issues." He frowned with a sigh.


Ginerva frowned, too. She'd been looking forward to some great new scheme of his.
"Unexpected, untortunate... but still fascinating all the same." She didn't much like Aubrey anyway. Or anyone who whored themselves into a position of power.


He gave her a small smile. "I appreciate your sympathy, regardless of how uninteresting the current work really is. But once I catch up... then we'll see." He grinned.

Inwardly, Ginerva sighed. Did Sabin already have a plot cooked up for his next project? It was Ginerva's dream since she'd met the man to work with him on a project, but she'd never gotten the balls to ask him about it.
The thought fleetingly crossed her mind in that moment, but she shrugged it off. The thought made her face flush a little.
The nerves worked up a little in Ginerva, and her terrible voice only got more high-pitched.
"Well, ah... Maybe I should be..."

Sabin externally flinched as her already high voice went up a notch. He wondered how her staff could deal with her for extended periods of time. Even the short encounters, while generally civil, seemed to claw at his mind.

"I have some beginings of some plans." He taunted with a debonaire smile. "Not sure how plausible yet.... but it will have to be discerned."

Ginerva's eye's widened a little, as did her mouth. Was he suggesting...?
An odd sort of smile played back and forth on her face.
"Oh, yes? Well... maybe sometime, we could... y'know. talk..." she trailed off, her eyes following the words toward the floor.

He forced a smile, although when her gaze found the floor, it wavered. "Perpahps we could.." Sabin commented, not quite getting the full inclination of her suggestion, assuming that she merely meant hearing more about his research.

Ginerva found her vision lead back up to Sabin's face. Her big brown eyes were shining with excitement of this prospect.
Sabin would never know exactly what Ginerva intended for their next meeting... at least, not until they did.
She tossed her head, and her knotted locks bounced around her shoulders. "I'll se you later, Sa- Doctor Duvert!!" She said, with an almost sing-song tone, as she turned to trot away. "I'll drop you a memo," she added ambiguosly before disappearing out the doorway.

Sabin plastered the flinching smile to his face again as he waved in response. "I shall eagerly await that." He commented wryly.

Pausing for a moment, listening to make sure he didn't hear the scraping voice and even standing up to peek out the door, he slid it closed quietly and breathed a sigh at the suddenly welcome silence.

When security had approached Avery and told him that he needed to come with them, he was too terrified to protest. A million things were running through his mind, wondering what he had done, where he was being taken, and for what reason.

Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble? Are they going to inject me again?

None of the thoughts were good, and all Avery managed to do was scare himself even more - which was evident in his posture as he was let into the room: his shoulders hunched up a little, ears pressed back against his head, and tail tucked between his legs.

Avery shivered, glancing around the room. Well, at least he didn't see any syringes... that was a good sign, right? He raised his eyes to look at the woman behind the desk.

"Er..." he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say, so he just settled for a timid sounding, "hello?"

"It's... Calder," Avery replied, hesitantly shaking her hand when she held it out to him. "Um, and it's nice to meet you too, Dr. Frost." A counselor? Great, so now he was going to have to see a therapist? He held back his sigh, just wanting to be left alone.

"Oh, um - yeah, sure. No problem, it's not like I really have any plans today," he said with a shrug, sitting down in the chair in front of the desk. When she smiled at him, he couldn't help smiling back, even just a little - but it did help him to relax somewhat. "So... are you just... gonna ask me how I feel or something?"

She wasn't told what was going on here? Well, that was strange... she sure was going to be in for a lot of surprises, then, he thought.

"Oh, that's okay, Calder is a weird last name anyway, lots of people get it wrong - don't worry about it," Avery smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah... my ears and tail are nothin' compared to what some of the other guys have..." he shuddered as he thought of Billy and his tentacles.

"About myself before I started changing? Well, I was happy," he said, his voice suddenly full of bitterness. "I was normal and human, and I didn't have stupid looking ears and a tail I can't control. I was just a normal teenager."

"Yeah well... my parents were pretty easy going, I had no complaints about my life," Avery shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable under her gaze. "I... lived with my parents, in America. Virginia. I was with them on a cruise ship... and..." he trailed off, feeling uncomfortable. This was the part he hated talking about - usually he was able to avoid going into the details of how he fell overboard.

But this person was here to help him, right? At least, that's what she says. He chewed his lower lip for a moment in thought, deciding that no, she didn't need to know all the details of what happened on the cruise liner. "I slipped... and I fell overboard. Rex was on the ship too, and he tried to save me. Then we both washed up on shore here..."

"Actually... I never really learned to swim. Just... never had lessons. If it weren't for Rex, I guess I'd have drowned..." Avery frowned as he remembered the first day he had arrived here. He barely had a chance to get over the fact that they had been shipwrecked when they were suddenly found by some of the more advanced changed islanders.

"I guess I'm not afraid of it. Actually, I got some swimming lessons from one of the girls here once... it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," he shrugged.