Welcome to Gaia! ::

Original RP
Aubrey and Billy Meet Again.
March 27, 2005

Once again, when Billy would awake he's be in a hospital like white room deep in the labs. This lower tenticale's stub would be wraped in medical tape, and he'd be attatched to a saline drip IV. A tray next to his bed would have the familiar sandwich and glass of water.

Billy awoke with worse than a hangover. As the room came into focus and he was able to register the clean white ceiling above him, his whole body tensed. A searing pain shot up from his stomach and he immediatly reached a numb hand down to investigate his lap, relieved to find everything important that was left still intact. His hand brushed by the twitching nub of the tentacle he had cut off and he winced in pain. s**t. s**t s**t s**t what had he been thinking?? The events slowly came back to his muddled, pain-wracked mind and he shuddered. He had gotten too drunk, that's what had happened. He hadn't been thinking.

He leaned back again, clenching his eyes shut to the bright lights above. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it. He hated this. He hated this. It was insane. People turning into animals... he remembered the blood that had come from him... if it could be called that. He wondered if that's what pumped through all of him, now. Inhuman juice. Next time, he should have cut his throat.

A bit after he awoke, the door swung open and a familiar face strode in, clipboard in hand. "Well, Mr. Woodrow," Aubrey said in a neutral voice. "I'm getting quite the collection." Thie slightly hint of a smile was on her lips before vanishing. "Seriously though, self multalation.. that came as a surprise to me..."

Billy flinched slightly at the sound of the all-too-familiar voice. It was a few minutes befor he spoke, his voice low and pained through his hangover and the pain from his amputated tentacle. "I was drunk," He grunted simply.

Aubrey frowned slightly. "You like poisens, don't you?"

She came over slowly, trying to look non-threatening. "It was difficult to treat," she said. "Stitches wouldn't hold. We didn't want to rish cauterizing on the sensitive tissue... we eventually found a mix of 'liquid skin' - you know, the liquid bandage film, and steptic powder that seemed to work. But I would be very. very careful the next few days with that." Aubrey looked down at him. "Maybe we can make you a little sling." Surprisingly there was no sense of bitterness in her voice this time around. She almost sounded..motherly.

Still, he glowered, lips pursed in subdued hatred. He was not happy to see Aubrey again, nor was he happy to be in the hospital. But he had brought it upon himself this time. "Who woul' y'li' me t'hurt next, then? I already go' th'punishment out o' th'way, eh? Although it seems I still don' need t'do anythin' t'get somethin' removed, eh?"

Aubrey pursed her liips. "You're punishment was taken out for crimes committed," she said. "As far as I'm concerned you keep in your pants, at least around the nonconsenting, and we don't have to bring up that grissly matter ever again."

She checked his charts and fluids in the IV. "And the reason you got your tentacle removed, Mr. Woodrow, is because you removed it yourself. One can argue that crime would be simple stupidity. Or drunkenness. Either way, you'll learn eventually that you can control how easy or difficult of a time we make your lives here to be."

She sighed. "Regardless, the good news is... this tentacle just might grow back."

His face bagan to tremble as she talked. Crimes comitted. Crimes committed! Easy for her to simply say it! Did she ever *look* at the tape properly? She was a doctor! Antony had believed him, and Antony had hated him to begin with! "Feckin' stupid gel..." He snarled befor the second part of her statement clicked in his mind, ".... Grow... back?"

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you," she said, her brow falling to an even line on her forehead. "You saw the tape."

She scribbled something on her keyboard. "Maybe. Octopi can regenerate limbs. You're not... exactly a full blooded octopus... but we're hopeful! Its why I didn't cauterize the stub."

"Aye, I saw th'tape. An' I still say th'same thing, y'bloody moronic b***h. Y'jes' want a bloody skapegoat, on account o' being lazy," Had Billy been brave enough, he would have said this, but instead he mearly grunted, face trembling as he took in the rest of the information, "Learn a lo' from this experiment, eh? Good fer mankind an' all tha' crap?"

"Yup!" she said, dotting an 'i' on they clipboard in an exagerrated enthusiastic way, knowing it would probably annoy him. "Its all quite facinating." She smiled a 'friendly' smile, but the glint her eyes spoke volumes.

Billy's oozing blood was boiling in his viens, his remaining tentacles twitching moreand more fitfully as he struggled to sit up, but the headache pounding through his skull from his previous drinking pushed him back down. His breathing was quickening, his strange hands balling into fists on top of the blanket. Even his nub twitched, which only sent more pain through his muscles, to his disgruntlement, growling profanities under his breath.

"You might want to relax, Mr. Woodrow. You'll abuot all set to go back to the village," she peered over her glasses at him. "Unless you still believe you might be a threat to yourself or others. Then you'll be staying right here."

"Presently, I think I'm more o' a threat here," He hissed, eyes locked on Aubrey's face intently, trembling ever so slightly.

"Then maybe its best you stay for a few days," she said flatly. "Don't want you trying rape any more abused little girls."

Finally, Billy couldn't take it any longer, sitting upright sharply, despite the pain, he positively screamed, "I DIN' DO IT!! I KEEP TELLIN' YE BU' Y'DON' WANT T'BELIEVE ME! Y'BIGGOTED, STUPID BLOODY MAD WOMAN!!"

Aubrey crossed her arms. "You're ON VIDEOTAPE," she snapped back, despite the nagging, gnawing suspicion in the back of her mind. "Black-and-white, Mr. Woodrow. And not to mention Colche herself knew it was you!! She calls you a 'BAD man' Mr. Woodrow. A very, very bad man."

"Don' y'think I was actin' a wee bi' ODD fer someone NO LONGER tweaked, Doc?" He snarled, positively livid, his cheacks flushed despite his illness. Absolute hatred had a way of overpowering hangovers at least temporarily. "Funny, a damn furry rumped bistander can notice, bu' no' a medically trained Doctor. Better get back yer PHD, eh? Give tha' school back it's money, y'dumb b***h." At this point he didn't care what they did to him. He was already a tentacled freak, and it was *going* to get worse, he knew. She'd already cut off a testical- would she really cut off the other for back talk when he was right?

"You were a bloody mess just HOURS before, Mr. Woodrow," she scowled. "I've seen plenty if cases were withdrawl victems do some crazy things. I'm the doctor here, not you you patetic little user."

Her mood dropped, she was definately aggitated again. Most of it was frustration because things weren't adding up in HER head, either, but there was no way she would let Billy know. "Drugged up, strung out, or withdrawing.. I don't care. You had NO EXCUSE to TOUCH HER!" she screamed. Actually screamed, all professionalism dropped. "She's a CHILD for Christ's sake."

"AN' I'M TELLiN' YE, NO MATTER HOW..." He grit his teeth, shaking his pounding head befor laying back down with a pained grunt. What was the use? She wasn't going to believe him. "Y'want me t'play th'villain? Tha' why he brough' me here? Fine. Fine. Ha' it yer way, Lass, wha' e'er makes y'feel better."

Aubrey forced herself to calm down. "Do you full understand who I am? I am second in command of this rock," she said, pacing a bit. "Okay, you claimed you were framed? By who?? Who? Why? Why wouldn't I know about it. I saw the tape! Only Dr. Duvert, myself, and Dr. Moreau have access to the drugs in question!" she rambled, talking to herself just as much as Billy.

"Not to mention," she kept going, not even realizing her slip up, "that Colche is NOT just another subject on this island. She views me as her mother, Mr. Woodrow. She... " Aubrey got very serious for a moment. "She is very important to me! And you almost... you came so close to shattering her world again!"

He didn't answer, eyes closed to stop the bright light from the ceiling from agrivating his headache further. so it had to have been staff, then, who did this, judging by what she had said... but who? He'd figure it out. He'd figure it out and have his own revenge. It's not like he had anything to *loose*. Not really. He'd already lost his humanity and his masculenity and his pride. What more was left? His life? A life living as a one-balled, tentacled freak, miserably crawling along on an island where everyone viewed him as a rapist and a... a.... bad man?

Aubrey continued to just stare at him, waiting for a response and frustrated when he remained silent.

"This is pointless," she spat, turning to go.

Yes. Yes it was pointless. Billy didn't so much as look at her as she turned to leave. Good Riddence. Maybe, if he was lucky, they'd give him morphine.

Every couple of hours, besides at night, guards would come and escort Billy to the restroom, where he would be supervised, of course. Before bed, another small meal and a pyrex glass of water would be brought to him on a paper napkin.

Sometime mid-day the next day, Aubrey retruned to check up on him. "Feeling any better?" she asked flatly.

Still, he kept silent, not meeting her eye as he stared at his glass of water. He had been eerily quiet since she had left him, and continued his silence through the course of his stay so far.

"Wow, the silent treatment. I don't think anyone's pulled that on me in fifteen years."

He pretended she wasn't there, reaching for his water to take a quiet sip.

Aubrey just narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

He finished the glass, not looking at her as he settled back as though waiting for something.

Aubrey sighed dramatically and turned to go. "Perhaps we'll try this again tomorrow."

"How long y'gonna keep me here?" He finally spoke up, his voice low and venim filled.

Ah, much better. Aubrey turned around and gave him a stern look. "Until I'm convinced that you're not going to hurt anyone, or yourself, again. You know. Show me that you're capable of acting like a normal human being."

"A normal human being," He snorted, "What normal human being's go' tentacles?"

"Good argument," she said, "but how much of your humanity to retain is up to you ultimately. You can be just as human as you want to be."

"Wha's yer definition o' human?"

Aubrey opened her mouth to reply, but realized she was heading down a dangerous path. She knew whatever he said, he would throw back in her face. "Irrelavent," she finally said after a moment. "Are you ready to go back now or not?"

"Does it really matter wha' I say?" He grunted, tentacles fidgeting anxiously under his hospital smock.

"Yes," she said simply, judging his response.

"Hasn' seemed tha' way," He murmured. He was acting childish, he knew. But he was angry, and frankly he felt he had every right to be.

Aubrey pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, Mr. Woodrow, I don't have time for this. Are you coming? Or do you need more time-out?"

"Is tha' wha' this has all been? A time ou'? I'm a naughty boy because I cut off one o' these tavesties against God in a drunken, angry stupor?" He sneered.

Aubrey raised an eyebrow. "Pretty much," she said, surprised it seemed like such an outlandish request. "Self-mutalation is a pretty serious around here."

"I aint th'only one, eh?" He seemed amused by this.

"Actually yes, you're the first person who's tried to actually CUT OFF their developments," she said, her brow furrowing. "Someone else almost drowned trying to swim to mainland, but in general most people have a bit more sense."

Billy's eyes flickered with vegue recollection, Awen's warning days befor at the river.... salt water. So she had nearly drowned, huh? "An' who drove us t'do t'ose t'ings, eh?"

"Yourselves, of course," Aubrey said with a bit of a grin. "Some people are making an honest effort to just... live their life. I suggest you do the same."

She looked Billy and tapped his file. "Someone like you, especially, I couldn't imagine having many more... appealing options."

"So it's tentacles or a bullet in th'back o' me head, tha' it?" Billy chuckled as well, shaking his head incredulously.

"Well, I for one would prefer this to a lifetime of prison and sodomy. But I guess to each their own. You could like that kind of thing for all I know." She gave a impish grin. "But really, things could be a lot worse for you."

"Tha's wha' y'think... Tha' option's really lookin' nice, now, aye," He actually laughed, tentacles twitching in his obvious anxiousness. "Th'police wouln' be fast enough', though, even if I tried."

Aubrey just shook her head. "All I'm trying to say is... life gave you a barrel of lemons. You can make lemonaide if you want to. Or you can rot in here being sour abuot it." Aubrey winced. "Okay, so thats probably a bad analogy... but ...dammit. Look, we can go or we can sit here and argue all day."

"Easy fer you t'say. Y'aint bein' turned into a bloody squid," He muttered, glancing down at his twitching chest.

She sighed. "I didn't choose your animal," she said. But she rolled up her sleeve to reveal her arm. You would have to look close, but if you did, a few faint scars from injecting in the same place over-again would make. Like people get with giving blood, or insulin injections. "I've done my share of being under the needle. I'm not a complete hypocrit."

At the sight of it, Billy frowned, eyebrows furrowing befor one of them raised, glancing up at her face as though to silently ask what had caused them.

"Moreau demands a high level of loyalty," she said simply, rolling her sleeve back down. "And he's not afraid to put it to the test."

That confirmed a rather strong suspicion. "So y'lot are mad."

Probably not helping the suspicion, Aubrey burst out laughing. It was a nervous, almost maniacal laugh. "Perhaps!" she giggled out, holding open the door for him. She took some deep breaths to calm her gigglefit.

Hesitantly, he shifted on the bed, his stub of a tentacle still aching terribly. Ach. That answered that, didn't it? He debated staying in the bed or taking her invitation to the door. Befor he moved his legs around, he cleared his throat, "Were's me damn pants?"

"Oh yeah," she said, sounding a bit ditzy. She placed her thumb on panal and a closet door opened, full of clean sheets, scrubs, pillows, IV tubes, a bedpan, and Billy's clothes. She pulled them out and handed it to him. "Here."

It was then that he swung his mutated, blueish feet down onto the cold tile, the suckers on the bottom sticking akwardly with a subtle squish. He didn't hesitate to reach behind him to untie the smock. She should see what she was making afterall. Casually he stood, bare befor her as he sorted through his pants, checking the pockets carefully.

It wasn't like Aubrey hadn't seen Billy in all his "glory" before, but she couldn't help but drop her jaw alittle as he so casually bore himself in front of her. "My god," she said, hesitating a moment before turning around.

"Bashfull, Doc?" He snickered, deliberatly taking his time. His feet made little popping sounds as he shifted his weight, his tentacles writhing freakishly on his chest and lower stomach.

"No," she said unconvincingly. "Just..respectful."

"Bollox," He snorted, laughing under his breath.

Aubrey spun around on her heels to say something, but stopped, realizing he was still pantsless. Growing under her breath she turned back around. "More than you at least."

He ground his teeth, tentacles wrything in anger, "LOOK A' ME! LOOK WHA Y'VE DONE T'ME!! AN FER WHAT??"

Aubrey steeled herself and turned around, staring directly in his eyes. "What exactly do you want me to say, Mr. Woodrow?" She let her eyes drop to his tentacles. "That we're mad scientists? Welcome to the twilight zone?"

"I want some t'ings," He said flatly, tentacles shifting to snake around his torso. There was the popping noise as the suckers on the pads of his feet snapped free of the linolium for him to slip his trouser on, tucking his mutilated genitalia out of view.

"This is your home now, Mr. Woodrow. We are your gods. YOu can't escape whats going to happen to you, nor can you escape the island. But we'll treat you with the same mutual respect you ttreat us with. You can make this as easy as possible, or we can make your life a living hell. Make your choice. ANd make yourself at home."

She stepped back. "How was that?"

He zipped himself up carefully, "I need some new clothes. Don' care wha', so long as it's black, brown or grey. Cigarettes too. N' Matches. These damn hands can't deal wit' lighters." He sat to pull his socks and shoes on over his strange feet, "An' I want me stash back."

Aubrey blinked, crossing her arms. "Okay. I can do that. All except the stash. We don't know how hard drugs might react with the serums."

"Be an interestin' experiment, eh?" His lips twisted into a grin as he buttoned his shirt up, leaving himself looking almost human, save for the discoloration of his limbs and cheaks and strange hands.

"Maybe," she said, watching him carefully. "But not worth the risk. We haven't tested it on the lab animals yet."

His eye twitched, priorities swinging as that old desperate feeling came bubbling back up, "I volinteer willin'ly!"

"Well, uh... I'll pass that along. Its not solely my decision. I would have to take Moreai and Duvert. But, really, I think you're life would be much better without 'em. Once you're out, we couldn't get more. Too risky to have those kind of drugs traffic'd here"

"Please..." He took a step towards her, "I know where it is! I'll tell y'if y'jes' get 'em fer me! I'll behave, I swear!"

Aubrey frowned, concern and pity filling her eyes as she saw the 360 in his personality. It made her sad to thing that someone so opionated and ... spunky as himself truned into a such a sniveling whiner when his drugs were mentioned. Before she really realized what she was doing, he reached out and touched his shoulder. "Listen to yourself. You don't need them."

His hands balled into fists, his face going red as it trembled and hardened, "It aint none o' yer business!!" He snarled.

Aubrey sneered. This guy was making her emotions spin in every direction. "It IS my business, Mr. Woodrow. You're too valuable to us to just let you waste away!"

He drew in a deep, hissing breath between his teeth, trying to relax his hands, "Somethin'... anythin'... jes'... something, then." He was past the bad part, he thought. Tough it out. Tough it out. But *damn it all*, it was like she was taunting him.

"What can I do to help you, Mr. Woodrow." Aubrey took a step towards him this time. "Seriously... I want to help you anyway I can."

"I don' KNOW!" He snapped, anger bubbling up again. "Jes'... gimme' *somethin*! I'm down, I'm real down an' I'm *tired*, Doc."

Aubrey pinched the brigde of her nose. "Pot.. I can get you pot.. really, would that help? At all? Its relexing, isn't it??"

His eyes darted to the still open closet door and back again, brain ticking, "Morphine... y'go' morphine, righ'? Yer a doctor..."

Aubrey bit her lip. "Thats... addictive, Woodrow. You'd be trading one crutch for another!"

He gave a groan, rocking back to rub his temple in a frustrated manner.

"Look," she said, trying to sound professional. "It will get worse before it gets better. But once you stick through this.. it will be MUCH better. I promise. You'll feel better."

"You, uh.." she thought, "you're getting along better with Antony again, aren't you. Maybe she can help you.. uh... releive some stress?" Oh god, did she just suggest what she thought she did?

He gave a growl, "Wha' e'er y'did t'me fecked *that* up too! I feckin' tried t'EAT her!" After a quick recollection of the scene he added, "Well, I *bit* her anyway... I *wanted* t'eat her!"

"Odd," Aubrey said, tapping her chin. "Octopi don't eat squirells..."

She shook her head and scratched the back of her head. "Well, uhm, we have Playboy in the entertainment room. I'm sure you get the picture. Endorphins are good for you."

Billy hissed a profanity under his breath, limping towards the door, a hand under his shirt to keep the pressure off his still tender stump, "Which way out o' here?" He growled.

Aubrey came up behind him and took him by the elbow. "I'll lead you out."

He flinched, pulled his rubbery, sucker-lined arm out of her grip, "Will ye, now?" he sneered bitterly.

"No," she said, jerking her hand away to cross her arms in front of her chest. "I'll just let you run around unsupervised in the labs. Figured you're just not touch anything and find your own way out eventually." She huffed and offered him a glare.

He gave her a grin, turning to face her, his face dangerously close to her's, "Wha', y'don' trust me?"

Aubrey blinked, obviously a bit uncomfortable with the proximity, but didn't step back. "Only about as far as I could throw you."

Tentitively, a tentacle slid from the recesses of his shirt, reaching a trembling tip to touch her neck, "An' how far's tha'?" He hissed.

Aubrey recoiled from the tentacle the moment it touched her neck area. Aubrey was super-sensitive about her neck since the Jamal incident. Under the silk scarf she always wore, her wounds were healing, but the emotion scar was there to stay. She made a frightened sound mixed with a touch of panic as she slapped the slimly appendage away and backpedaled away from him.

He laughed at this, snickering binevolently, "Wha'? Afraid o' wha' y'gave me?"

Aubrey tried to quickly regain control of herself. She adjusted the scarf and smoothed her labcaot. "No, I just don't like being...." she searched for a word. "Touched."

"Funny, I love bein' touched," He snickered, his eyes glittering with devious thoughts.

Aubrey made a distusted sound and threw up her arms in exasperation. "This way, perv," she said, heading fown the hall.

His stride easily allowed him to catch up behind her, keeping close, his one lower tentacle sliding free to investigate her rear.

It took a moment for Aubrey to realize what that was. She stopped suddenly as her eyes went wide. She spun around, glaring.

But his face was there to greet her's, inches away and reaking of hospital chemicals and the stench of marijuana and cigarettes that clung to his clothing and hair, underlayed by the general musk of a man with too many limbs and not enough deoderant while locked in a room for long periods of time in an angry sweat.

The corner of Aubrey's eye seemed to twitch for a second as she violent yanked the offending tentacle away. "That's awfully ballsy of you," she said, only catching the irony of it after she said it. She let a sardonic smile cross her face.

"I wonder wha' y'do wit' th'wee piece o' me y'keep. Do y'keep it on yer desk? On yer window sill? Starin' at it, wilst' ponderin' wha' I'm up to?" He breathed against her hotly, stepping even closer in a menacing fashion.

Aubrey stepped back, giving him a threatening look. "I bet you'd like it if I said yes," she hissed. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Y'din' answer me question," He chuckled, licking his lips.

"Only in your dreams" she scowled.

That only sent his grin wider, and he laughed even harder. Such a sence of humor on the girl! "So wha' do y'do wit' it?"

Aubrey tried to look offended. "I don't do anything with it, Mr. Woodrow!"

He leaned back, suddenly looking wholey offended, "Wha', y'jes' threw it out?"

"No," she said smally. "I just don't... do anything with it. Its just... somewhere."

"Somewhere where?" he huffed.

She smirked a bit. "In my office. On my bookcase next to the other knick-knacks."

"Other dismembered body parts?" He snorted, "Bet yer boyfriend finds it hot."

Aubrey burst out laughing. "Actually, he probably does," she giggled, finding that remarkably amusing. "You see, that would be the good Doc himself." She gave a positively impish grin and headed towards the elevators with a flip of her hair.

"A nut screwin' a nut. Makes sence t'me," He shrugged.

Aubrey continued to snicker, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was following. "Been gettin' more than you have of late," she pointed out. "Nut or not. But speaking of nuts, you might want to watch yours around that Antony chick. She might seek revenge for the bite you took outta her."

"Tha' wasn' my fault," He grumbled, what good mood that had risen from his teasing ebbing away again.

Aubrey calmed herself down and laid off the teasing. There was no need to rub it one. "C'mon, the way out's this way," she said with a slight smile, leading him to the elevator.

Wordlessly, he followed, hands tucked halfway into his pockets, his head lowered.

Aubrey hated her damn conscious as it nagged at her in the silent elevator. His mood swings were mentally exhausting her. "I'm sorry," she said. He looked suddenly so... beaten.

"No y'aint," He grunted, watching the numbers steadily go down, the fabric of his shirt moving as his tentacles shifted nerviously underneith.

Aubrey furrowed her brow, insulted. She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She just gave a heavy sigh and leaned against the back of the small elevator in silence until the doors slid open to the main lobby.

Girls who hacked off vital body parts and willingly inject you with genetically altering syrums weren't allowed to regret. It just wasn't part of the package. Unless she really was *that* insane. He kept silent, following whereever she would lead, keeping mental notes of the journey along the way.

Aubrey silently led him out the front doors and past the electrified fence. "Its a bit of a walk, do you want a ride?"

"I aint go' anythin' better t'do," He shrugged, "Thanks fer th'offer though. Very though'ful."

Aubrey gave him a slight sneer. "You're welcome," she said flatly, and slammed the gate behind him.

Original RP
Colche asks Aubrey where babies come from!
April 01, 2006

Aubrey didn't know why she agreed to stay quiet about the helicopter, but at the very least she was determined not to let Colche get tangled up in the mess. She headed down to her duplex with a book of Aesops's Fables and a chocolate bar. "Colche, its Aubrey," she said, tapping on the door and trying the handle.

Colche as usual was sitting on her bed curled up happily with a book, although she had heart the rucus from the chopper, she had mostly ignored it. She was busy reading, or at least spelling out the words on the page. Since the night Aubrey had spent with her she had read the frog prince a thousand million times and knew the story word for word, almost any way. Sitting though when Aubrey tapped on the door she wated for her mother figure to open the door, ehr tail flickering and twitching, she was ready for one of those pounce hugs. Ceratinly the other day had been forgotten or at least pushed to the back of ehr mind so many good things had happened to counter the bad things and a visit from Aubrey was about to reach top of the list of good things.

Aubrey was alittle dissapointed that the door wasn't locked, but she stepped in anyways. "Hey Colche!" She came over and quickly wrapped her in a hug and presented her with the chocolate bar.

Colche hugged Aubrey as usual taking the chocolate bar with a grin "chocolate!" she smiled in a delighted manner unwrapping the shiney paper and eating a chuink before looking to Aubrey with big bright eyes. She had been doing alot of dvd watching of late along with lots of other things, she had so many questions but first things first. With a smile and a twitch of her tail "Aubrey Amaya says, birth..day in month" she paused looking very thoughtful her furry brow creasing "can.." she paused again she knew she could do this she had been reading and watching so many things "I..hav aaahhh" she paused again, that sounded right "hurmit crab?" she tilted her head curiously "like sabastien"

Aubrey smiled and nodded. "Yes, only a month now!"

A hermit crab? How cute. She didn't see a problem with that, but why ruin the surprise. "We'll see. You can't know what you're getting until it happens! It would ruin the surprise!"

She took a small peice of chocolate and popped it in her mouth. "You like Sebastian, do you? He's funny."

Colche nodded "uh huh..sings songs" she giggles, she liked the funny crab that sang the up beat songs in the film. "Like Ariel, she purty princess" she grinned broadly, obviously content with the answer of it's a surprise. How long was a month any way? Looking thoughtful she obviously came head to head with her other questions, though how to word it perplexed her, she was silent and thoughtful for a long time "where did..Simba come from?" she blinked perfectly innocently, she had obviously observed that simba had a mother and father,, and mufasa was a nice man..lion..thingie. "n puppies in lady n tramp?" she bit her tongue trying to think of more examples "n uhm.." she couldn't think of anyone else at the second but Aubrey would know, did baby things just appear when there was a mummy and a daddy, daddy had become a word added recently to her vocabulary as 'good male who looked after baby things'.

Aubrey just blinked at her few time. Oh no. No no, she wasn't ready for this. Aubrey faced flushed a bit in fluster, as she fished for what to say. "Uh.. Simba came from Mufasa and Sarabi... and the puppies came from Lady and the Tramp. Mommies and Daddies."

Colche's brow furrowed a bit, she already knew that bit, they came from them though "How?" she looked confused, how did the babies come from them? did they magically appear out of thin air?


Aubrey paled. Oh boy, yes. Yes it was happening. She sighed and pulled Colche close. She looked her over carefully. She was an adult.. and Aubrey often forgot that she wasn't as ignorant about certain things as she acted. Though... how the hell was she susposed to tell her the difference between sex and work?

She comtemplated how to start. "Well, you see. When two people fall in love like they do in Disney movies... they, well," she didn't want to say they got married. Becaue there would be no marriages here... well...maybe so. But that might confuse her. "when they love each other very much they decide they want a baby, they, well..." oh god, this was harder than she thought. "They do something..."

That innocent look never left the cheetah girls face, when mommys and daddys fell in love they did something. She looked thoughtful at this, "whats a something?" her head tilted again, ifonly she hadn't been reading and watching so much, something would have probably been an okay answer, she would have dropped it, but how did they get there? She nestled against Aubrey and puurred "how does they get from the mummy and daddy?" she scrunched ehr brow "don't..un..un..unstand"


Aubrey sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "OKay, well, Colche, its complicated..." She considered how to start. She reached out and gently began to scratch the side of cheek. "This feels good, right? Comforting?"


Colche puurred and nodded lightly, she liked to be petted, she liked ehr ears to be scratched and her hair to be stroked "uh huh, i likes" she smiles,that sweet look spread on her maw though she was starting to become a little worried that she was upsetting aubrey.


Aubrey smiled and nodded. "But what if a Bad Man was doing this, and he was doing it really hard, and he was using his nails... it would be bad, right? Scarey?"

Colche pouted a bit "nasty bad" she stated, partially reminded of billy. her furry claws folded around her tummy she still had a visable bruise theer though it was fading.


Aubrey frowned and nodded. "You see.. when I do it, because you feel safe around me and love me, and I love you.. its nice. I call it 'scritches'. But if a BadMan did it, and was mean and it hurt, even through its the same action its a lot different. Do you understand that?"


The girl stayed quiet for a moment, her blue eyes looking deeply thoughtful though she slowly nodded, if a bad man did it it would hurt and not be nice but when aubrey did it it was nice and she liked it. She smiled a bit in the knowlege that aubrey loved her too. "yes mummy" she puurrs, wondering exactly how this linked to how babies came about, did babies happen because of scritchings?


Aubrey nodded and too a deep breath. "Hokay. Well, Colche... you see. When you love someone very much... and not in the way you love me, but the way a Princess loves a Prince, you see..." here it goes... "you do something called 'making love,' and its very nice. It feels good and makes you feel very close to your prince." Aubrey gave her a supportive smile.

Again a silence went over the little cheetah girl as she let this statment sink in "okay" she looked thoughtful, should she ask aubrey to explain further or was that enough? "like aubrey n prince" she puurred happily, she was always pleased to know that her mommy had a prince though she had never met him. she went quiet then, a curious look still in her eyes, there had to be more to it than that right?


"Yes.. like me and Dr. Moreau." She fiddled with her labcaot. "You see, Aubrey. Making Love is called something else when its bad. When they made it hurt and when there are chains involved. Its... its like, work, Colche. But nicer, and it feels good." She winced and watched Colche carefully, seeing how she would react.


Colche's ears flattened for a moment, tightening against her head. Her brow furrowed, it was like work? How could work be good? The fur on her neck and shoulders visably stood on end and she looked at Aubrey in a slightly worried fashion, babies came because of work? Biting ehr tongue she tried hard to visualise ..that..as feeling good, it only bruaght black bad memories. She stayed quiet for a lon time looking to the bed and not at Aubrey, she was perhaps looking for inspiration in the patterns that lay on ehr bed sheets though she couldn't quite find what she needed to say. A long time passed in front of colche's eyes though perhaps it was meerly seconds truely. She had to understand, "Making...Love" she paused taking a deep breath, her ears twitching uncomfortably, her claws fingers picking at a peice of fluff her blue eyes had discovered upont he bed sheet "Like work..no hurt..no hut none?" she looked up at Aubrey her big blue eyes almost begging for it to be true, though she was feeling rather frightened at the thought of, of working, working but it felt good? her stomach churned, she was starting to wish that perhaps she shouldn't have asked this question at all, did it really matter wheer they came from?

Aubrey scooted closer to Colche and stroked her hair. "No, baby. When you find someone you really love, you'll find yourself wanting to be very close to them. Being near them makes you feel good.. touching them makes her feel good. And sometimes princess and prices sleep in the same bed and don't wear clothes, and touch each other everywhere. And if you love them, it feels good. Like when I give you scritches. But even better. And why its, technically, the same kind of.. activity... its totally different. No pain. No chains, no hitting. Just love. And sometimes when a man is touching a woman like that, he puts a baby in the Mommy,"


Licking her lips a bit, seh felt nervous about it but if Aubrey said it was okay, it had to be okay, didn't it? She nodded slowly, the fur on her shoulders settling, slowly any way, she calmed and snuggled Aubrey. She wasnt sure if she would ever have a prince but if he wanted to touchher, that way, could she or would she let him? It was a thought that she would have to fuddle out later. There were obviously more important things that happened after the, nice work, the making love. Of course, a look of disbeleif crossed her face at, puts a baby in the mommy. Looking at aubrey in a completely confused manner "baby in where?" she blinked a few times, her head tilting in that catty manner. In?


"In here," Aubrey patted her stomach. "In the inside. Babies grow inside Mommies."


Colche's jaw acctually dropped at that, she blinked several times before ehr jaw managed to close again "in tummy?" she looked very dazed at this statment but let it slide. "how from there to outside?" she pointed at Aubreys tummy, strill feeling some what dazed by all these, crazy statements.


Aubrey giggled to herself. "Well, you see. Daddies have a tiny little seed. SO small, you can't even see it. And when he makes love to a Mommy, he, well, puts the seed inside. And mommies have an little cel called a egg. Like a chicken's egg, but really little, so little you can't see it, either! And if the seed and the egg find each other, they squish together, and make a TINY baby. And over the course of nine months, the baby grows and grows until its baby size." Aubrey make a cradle/rock motion with her arms.

This was alot to take in, she bites her tongue a bit, this was alot to take in. Blinking several times she finally came to the conclusion that getting babies in to the world was hard work. There were eggs like chickens and seeds, like the seeds in jack and the bean stalk? she hoped not, a beanstalk would hurt if you ate it! but the baby got to baby size. "baby size in tummy?" she was starting to get a head ache, she paused to get some of her chocolate and chewed on it thoughtfully, perhaps chocolate would bring enlightenment.

Aubrey nodded. "Mommies get very fat." She took a pillow and stuffed it under her shirt. "Like this!"

"mommys get fat and baby in tummy" okay that was allwell and good, but how did babies get from the fat mommy to well, every wheer, like puppies or simba?

Aubrey knew the question was coming so she continued anyway. "After nine months, the babies come out...eh, well, the same way they got in. THAT does hurt. But its worth it, because after its done, you have a baby!"

Colche scratched her head. "making love no hurts but baby hurts, but makes baby" her big blue eyes blinked several times and she took a deep breath, the whole concept was very alien, but at least it had all been explained to her. Maybe one day she would understand it better, when she had a prince like Aubrey maybe? "mommy get fat....I want see" she looked at Aubrey expectantly, if she saw it happening at least she would have an example.

Aubrey patted her head. "Right. Making love feels good. Having a baby hurts... but its okay in the end. Its just because they get do big!"

Aubrey's smiled faded slightly, taking on an almost sad shade. She took out the pillow and rubbed her flat(er) stomach reverantly. "It's called being pregnant - when you've got a baby inside you. I'm not pregnant yet. Maybe one day, when Moreau is ready."

Colche frowned a little had she upet Aubrey. She snuggled close to Aubrey puurring softly "Gots me mommy" she whispers, holding tightly to Aubrey "tho..no fit..in tummy..too big"

Aubrey laughed and hugged her. "Yes, way too big. But its okay. They are better once they are out anyway. You can't play with them or read to them or anything when they are on the inside!"

Colche smiled brightly, her tail twitching a little she had forgotten Aubrey had braught abook in all the, questioning, she wondered now what it was "read book now aubrey?" her brain had had enough of questions for one day, she would have alot to mull over when she slept, could work be, nice?, could it?

Aubrey smile and nodded. "Sure thing, Colche." Aubrey opened the book and stroked her hair again. "Remember, though, you can ask me anything. I'll never lie to you. Its okay to be curious."


Colche nodded softly, her head was buzzing with answers, her other questions could wait for now. "okay" she said simply snuggling in to Aubrey so she could get a good look at the book and the story they would read today. There would be other times for more questions, less complicated ones that didn't confuse quite so much.

Aubrey nodded and opened up to the take of the fox and the grapes, and began to read.

Colche rested quietly allowing aubrey to do most of the reading though she occasionally asked the meaning of a word, her mind was full but she was partially glad to have answers to her questions even if they did spark her own personal questions, which she would have to muddle through on it's own

Original RP
Sabin's Unauthorized Experiments
April 23, 2006

Ben, one of the many lab technicians had been assigned to go over all the formulas and run inventory on all the serums and serum components that they did have, and should have had.

Ben figured it was the most pointless job ever. I mean, there was nowhere to go on this island. They weren't allowed to leave or interact with anyone. What good would it do to take anything from here. Why couldn't he be doing camera duty? He heard some of the people in charge of that got to watch the islanders have sex. That'd be an awesome job, Sam thought.

He got to one of the cabnets, and after inventorying it the first time he found a problem. "That can be right." he said and rechecked three times. Then he checked the surrounding cabnets.

Flipping up the walkie talkie he spoke directly into it as he held down the button. "Dr. Moreau... we have a problem down here."

....

Shortly after...

Moreau stormed into the lab room that housed the many serums he and the other technicians had created since the island's inception. Each was specially marked with a letter/number combination that only Moreau and the other high ranking staff were privy to.

"What is going on... why wasn't this found sooner." Moreau checked all the vials and flipped through the inventory that was here. He'd had it all checked rechecked three times.

"Who signed off on the inventory previously?" Moreau said irately. He flipped through the detailed records looking for a name.

"Sabin..." Moreau said through gritted teeth.

Sabin, meanwhile, was deep downstairs in one of the labrooms where he had been... conducting some of his own experiments. Well, more precisely Sabin had been working on some experimentation for some time - before having been given the final piece of the 'dragon puzzle' from Moreau on his return from things shore-side, Sabin had been hashing out how to address the problem from a slew of angles. And had several not-so-pleasant results from them.

Most of those projects had been culled a long time ago, but others had had some margin of success, and Sabin had considered them bold steps forward. However, when he HAD finally gotten that 'magic' set of formulas from Moreau, the mechanism that allowed him to make Zachary's serum - to select where the foreign DNA would express itself in the situations of more than one admixture, or even adding on sets altogether different, Sabin had not been able to resist ... tinkering with his new toys. It would be months before he was given another subject personally, at best. And he wanted to fully explore his options. Honestly, going against Moreau's will never even really occurred to the white-haired man in his enthusiasm at creating some of the creatures in living, breathing form that had dominated his research - or even just imagination - for years.

So he had requisitioned one of the slews of yet-unused labrooms, and some of the lab animals, and set to work. Some of the earlier experiments were finalized, perfected, with Moreau's serum - even 'saved' if it were from culling as he was able to fix what he had done wrong. And another one was altogether new - a brilliant excercize in the plausibility of the serums.

At that very moment Sabin was, in fact, in the laboratory, feeding his projects... no, he would call them his pets. His triumphs. While ... many were in miniature compared to their legendary inspirations, they were triumps nonetheless. There was a black cat, but with a set of legs too many, and sporting a pair of squid tentacles from its shoulderblades. Sabin was tickled that most of the personality was even unchanged, as he watched it, chin on his hands, eating from an opened can of Fancy Feast.
Joining it in a nearby cage was once a cockerel, but now that had several undeniable reptilian features - including a long scaly tail, and some reptilian scaling in other areas, and teeth in its beak. In another cage was another animal that had once been a lab cat, but this one had been more drastically changed, as the front half seemed almost entirely avian - a hawk of some sort completely overshadowing the tawny tabby hindquarters.

Finally, off in another cage was a canine that had been at one point running about the Island. Sabin had happened across it eating out of the several-week old garbage behind the cafeteria during the lockout. Long neglected, underfed, and running the risk of becoming one of the less sane islanders' meals, Sabin had taken it into the labs. It was only later, after Sabin got his claws on Moreau's 'recipe' did he decide what to do with Brutus. It didn't even involve any foreign DNA - which was the real kicker, but a reconceptualization, some very tricky anatomywork planning, and a lot of growth. He had already thought of the moniker "Cerbrutus", to the point where he had etched "Cer" in front of the 'Brutus' on the canine's metal nameplate. He was also eating - from three bowls to keep the heads from fighting or snapping at each other.

It took Moreau a few hours to track down Sabin. He'd apparently snuck off to one of the lesser used labs. He turned on the cameras in that area (normally not on since it was not an active room). What he saw through the video footage made him furious.

Moreau turned on the personal door override and hurried to the elevator. He found the room where Sabin had been conducting his unauthorized experiments.and as he walked to the door it opened for him. "How... dare you..."

Moreau's eyes shon furiously.

Sabin turned around, understandably surprised as he heard a voice that he had not heard now in some time. Moreau was a recluse - and most of Sabin's official business had recently been done with Aubrey, as Moreau was off working on his own projects. It had likely been weeks now since he had seen him in person.

He spun, a mildly confused look in his eyes as he saw the redhaired doctor in the flesh. "Moreau..? I..." He shook his head. "How dare I what??"'

"You used serums and DNA samples on... pointless creatures. Do you have any idea how much this has cost us." Moreau looked so angry that his face almost matched his hair.

He moved closed into Sabin's personal space. "Besides that, this research is completely unauthorized by me. You should be working on the projects I gave your team to do not your own silly games."

Sabin unconsciously took a step backwards away from the enraged doctor. This was the island's owner. Upset at him! for his projects!

"They have been working on the assigned projects. We've got a slew of labmice and rats testing the agressive sideeffects of the serums - and I've got a folder full of findings... but... I didnt' see the harm... I mean..." Sabin made a sweeping gesture at the four cages. "These are phenomenal findings as well! The potential with the advanced combination formula... being able to direct what features are expressed where - and even in 'unnatural' places! I wanted to run some more experiments-tests! I mean... before trying it on a subject - I was also thinking - what if we worked out the kinks in a parent organism first - create, say, a griffin from a bird and a cat - and then use THAT as the base of a new serum instead of a combination serum directly on a subject?!" Sabin summoned a wide, excited grin

Moreau did not look amused. "Considering the volitile nature of the DNA we were working with. You knew that we could do this, besides, I authorized a few test similar projects done with simple, inexpeinsive, lab animals. We were satisfied. This is a waste of time, and money. I want it destroyed."

Sabin's jaw hung open. "D... destroyed?" The word seemed to hit him like a steam engine. "But-" He looked back at them. In some humane portion of Sabin's soul, he had started to like them... consider them pets. He even had names for a few of them.
"But there IS some use to it! And... you mean you have done some other tests with using already altered animals as a base?" He shook his head. "But that's not the point! I mean... I was hoping to use some of THESE as a base! And... besides... there IS new research here!" Sabin turned back to his projects, grasping for one when his eyes lit on Brutus, sniffing at the empty bowls.

"Extra heads!" He clambored to the cage. "There haven't been any other successful tests of this... but building off of the directed combination serum... and with some tinkering with some of the old research I had been doing that had eventually gone off in the wrong direction! Look!"

The anger that Moreau was feeling did a bit to mask his otherwise interest. Though there was some. "Even if you did gleem so modicom of actual research and success in your idiotic tests. That does not change that these were completely unauthorized and the amount of rare serums to do this."

"If you were so certain about this research, why didn't you submit your report."

"I didn't think I needed authorization to run some side tests!" Sabin protested. "You've been so difficult to reach, and I didn't see the harm in these further confirming the applicability of the new research to make doubly certain of no future side-effects. Besides, we've all had our pet projects - I didn't see the difference!"

Sabin paced a moment in frustration, looking at the cages. "Besides, I only used a few serums - I kept the numbers of the projects down to concentrate the efforts on them."

"This is my island, I don't need authorization for my projects. You on the other hand are an employee, despite anything else you might want to believe in that deluded mind of yours." Moreau was leaning close, but calming down slightly.

Moreau turned and showed Sabin a list, while Sabin might have thought it was only a few serums Moreau also showed Sabin the price tag beside each Serum.

"Do you understand now you fool?"

Sabin gritted his teeth at the chastizement, eyes narrowing slightly at the insults, but he wisely held his tongue until Moreau had stopped speaking, taking the tablet and finally looking down. His eyes widened, and he swallowed as he saw the final value of each completed serum. He knew they were expensive, he just didn't know they were that expensive.

Suddenly, retrospectively, Lily's 'accident' and her subsequent punishment made a little more sense to Sabin. She had dropped a whole trayfull, to boot.

"I wasn't aware of the values." He said with a breath, and then, defensively. "We've been ecouraged to work on projects until now that could benefit the research.... the advanced combination serum... that was the solution to many of the problems that I had been having with my teams' research up till then..."

"But this..." Moreau said eyeing Brutus. "Was for the most part pointless. Your being completely and totally reckless."

"I'm temporarly suspending you and your research, destroying those, tests, as they are finished with at this point." Atleast in Moreau's eyes. "I'll give your team over to that girl, Robin. Atleast she knows how to not abuse her privledges." Moreau stormed off after saying this.

"What?!" Sabin trailed after him. "My team?! My research? But... they're not pointless!" He protested. "And the dog - it could be used for research - I dont' know exactly what your primary goal is to all of what is going on, but perhaps that could be used on a subject!" He followed him out the door, not willing to just let this happen.

"I didn't think I was abusing anything! I'm trying to do the same thing you are here!" He declared. "And there's as little point to destroying them as there is letting them live! Please! Reconsider!"

"It's a temporary suspension Sabin. Get your act back in line." Moreau stood there as the elevator door started to close.

"Take a blood sample and get rid of that stupid dog. I don't want to see it here again. At all." The elevator door closed as Moreau began to move up inside it.

Sabin let out a seething, growling breath through clenched teeth as the elevator door slid closed. After it had completely closed and the lights started to flash as it retreated, Sabin planted a fist in the wall to his side - the THUD reverberating down the hall as he walked back to the room, shaking his hand after the impact.

Sabin was likewise pissed. He had never stopped to consider that what he was doing might be against policy. Hell, from Sabin's impression there wasn't a great deal OF a policy here at all, given the work he had been doing. This was a betrayal of sorts. He looked forlornly at the group of animals caged around him. His successes. His mythical creatures. They were going to be put to death. He frowned deeply, refilled their foodbowls with treats - good nutrition didn't matter much at this point, and slammed the door closed, stalking back to his room with a slew of curses in French on his tongue. As he exited the room, a small heard of labtechs whisked in after him, taking the animals, Sabin knew, to their doom.

Aubrey peeked out of the lab she was working on, thinking she heard something. She thought she heard arguing, but ignored it, but then the sound of impact made her worried. She saw Sabin stalking her way, looking very upset. "Dr. Duvert...?"


Sabin turned quickly to the brunetted, shaking his head with a growl. He was red in the face and there was a commotion of labtechs in the room behind him. "Yes, what now? You going to chastise me more, too?"

Aubrey simpered, everyone seemed to assume the worst with her recently. "What's going on?"


Sabin took a breath, actually surprised that she wasn't abreast on the most recent news. He gesticulated angrily to the lab room. "They... Moreau.... he just stopped a project. And he's culling everything. The successes!" His voice was clipped, very angry.

Aubrey looked down the hall, towards the techs filing into the room. "What.. uh, project?"


He huffed. "I was..." She'd probably be angry at him too. He didn't care. "I was testing some other options with the directed combination formula. Making sure that it worked the way we wanted it to with other situations. I was even doing so with the intent of perhaps using a finished animal-subject as the basis for a single serum. And I was even testing some new features... extra heads~! I succeeded in the growth of extra heads in a subject! From its own DNA! Do you realize what that could mean?"

Aubrey blinked, taking it in. "So why did Moreau pull the plug?" she asked, not exactly grasping at the severity.


"Yes! He pulled the plug! He's killing the projects - AND I'm suspended. And.. Because... it was 'unauthorized' - I didn't think I needed his permission to do tangential research on my own. I had been doing it before when he presented me the formula to do the directed combination solution."

Aubrey looked very confuzzled. "Uhm... there must have been something wrong, Doctor..."


Sabin growled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks. "Apparently the cost of the serums. No one ever showed me how much the damn things cost him. But there is NO reason to kill the animals! My cockatrice! My griffon! My... Cerbrutus."

It all clicked. "Griffon, Cockatrice...? Sabin were you making mythical animals just for the hell of it.. - wait. What the hell is a Cerbrutus?"


Sabin's face fell. That was the reaction he was afraid of. "It wasn't just 'for the hell of it!'" He protested. "I was going to see if we could use a pre-combined animal as a base for a new serum. But apparently NOT anymore! And Cerbrutus... sorry, Cerberus. I called it that based on the name on his collar. I rescued the dog from starvation during the lockout." Sabin explained.

"Wait... you don't mean Brutus do you??"


Sabin paused, backtracking. "It.. uhm.. that's what was on his collar. I found it eating out of two-week-old trash during the lockout. Lucky he hadn't been eaten himself already."

Aubrey's eyes widened. "Thats VASILE's dog. He's worth... god knows how much. Vasile's been worried sick abuot him to... oh god, what did you DO to him?"


"Vasile's?" Sabin looked honestly surprised. "hunh, I figured he must have belonged to someone, but I didn't know who. Well, not like he was going to be bred here on the island. And he's fine!" Sabin frowned. "Yeesh, I took good care of him. He's just got... extra heads now." He glanced to the side. "But Moreau's slated them all for destruction." Sabin looked honestly saddened by this fact.


"Extra heads?"


"I already told you this!" Sabin exasperated. "It's an amazing breakthrough! Used his own DNA! Can you imagine the uses? Directed growth of extra limbs... from someone's own DNA? Could be used for regrowth or whatnot in hospitals... but anyway - he's fine. He is still friendly and eating. Well... until he gets gassed." He sighed, eyes lingering on the door, a frown on his mouth.

Aubrey frowned. "I won't allow that to happen. At least not to him. Vasile would be heartbroken."


He took a breath and nodded. "I wish I could save ALL of them. They're not in pain, they're not 'failures'... In fact I think that the displacer cat even was starting to LIKE me." He disparaged.

"What the hell is a displacer cat?" she asked, heading quickly towards the lab


Sabin followed, a bit behind her, not wanting to somehow take any MORE blame for the following. "It's... a long story - black cat with six legs and a pair of tentacles coming from its shoulders."

"My goodness, Duvert, really," she said with dissapointment, throwing open the door. The techs were going cage to cage with a cart of syringes- lethal injections. Several black plastic bags lay on the push cart, obviously animals already have been put down. Only the said Displacer Kitty and Cerbrutus remained. "Wait!" she said quickly, breezing into the room


He frowned. "I don't see the harm in what I did." At the sight of the bags, his shoulders slumped and in a rare show of humanity he turned his back and crossed his arms. "I should go. I don't want to draw even MORE of his ire."

Aubrey frowned and walked over to the untoched cages, her eyes going WIDE as she saw what used to be a pedigree min pin. Now it looked...well, like three of them huddled very close together until it turned to its side. "My god, Sabin, that's amazing..."


He paused, surprised until he turned around and saw she wasn't being sarcastic. "See! That's what I was saying! It's a blazing success - and opens the door for a lot of possibilities!"

Aubrey sighed, opening the cage and taking the animal into her hands, scratching its chest. "Look... you should give this back to him. You'll have to answer for what you did, but I'm sure he'll be happy he's alive."


"I'm not going to. I've already been suspended. If I do that, I'm likely to wind up with Lily. No thanks. If I was going to go against him, I would have saved them all."

"Look, I'll talk to Moreau, okay. Do this, and I'll let you keep you're... displacer thing."


Sabin hesitated, eying the brunette. 'Aubrey told me to' was a decent excuse to Moreau... he hoped. Besides, he said he didn't want to see them again, not necessarily to kill them. "... Fine." Sabin agreed, scooping up the three-headed-minpin. "Please do - his... declarations weren't fair. And I want to continue my research!" He eyed the displacer kitty, patting it quickly on the head.

"I... see what I can do," she sighed, not liking anything a bout the situation. She layed an almost mournful, respectful hand on the small pile of black bags and headed quickly out of the lab, scouting for Moreau.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Original RP
Moreau confronts Aubrey about her conversation with Sabin
May 01, 2006

Aubrey jerked awake, a peice of post-it note and a paperclip stuck to her cheek. She had stayed up so late in her office that she feel asleep. The couple of beers she had had earlier probably didn't help her sleepiness.

Sore and uncomfortable, she picked the supplied off her cheek and groaned as she sat up, feeling her back pop in complaint to the unnatural position it had been forced to stay in. She checked teh time and winced, standing up with a yawn to try and find some coffee. Her communicator was on the floor, probably having fallen there from vibrating, she figured, since she turned the ring off.

Something told her she would have hell to pay. Hopefully Moreau had cooled off a bit by now...? She clicked the cel-phone like device back to its normal setting and slipped it in her lab coat and decided to go scout for some coffee.

It started vibrating almost as soon as it dropped into her pocket. Moreau was sitting in the camera room with the lab technician just waiting for her to wake up. They needed to have a bit of a talk about a certain memo he'd recieved.

Aubrey blinked in surprise, then looked back at her office with a sinking feeling. The labs and offices she knew had cameras, but they weren't always on.. was he... watching her...

She swallowed and headed down to the kitchen, looking for that coffee. "Dr. Lockheart," she said, trying (and failing) to keep her voice from sounded too ragged.

"Aubrey, it's Nick. I need to see you immedietely. Meet me in my office, in an hour. That'll give you time to tidy yourself up a bit." Moreau sounded, irrate, not quite angry but defintly not in a good mood.

Of course. Aubrey sighed, not expected much better. "Yes sir," she said. At least he called himself Nick. Either that was a good sign or she was grasping at straws. She grabbed her coffee and headed to her room to change. She took a quick cold shower and changed into something professional.. but low cut. Play every card you had, right? Not that she figured it would do any good.

Taking one last deep breath, she headed into his office at least fifteen minutes early.

"Aubrey, good... your finally here. Contacting you has seemed infurating lately. How can you expect me to put up with that?" Moreau sighed and poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of her and one for himself.

"Now... we need to talk, about a certain chain of command that is supposed to exist here. Or am I mistaken?" Moreau sounded calm and calculating about this, normally not a good sign, if you knew him.

Aubrey did know, and the color drained from her face a bit, but she tried to remain calm, and just think -very carefully - about her words.

"I'm sorry, Nick," she started. "I feel asleep and the communicator was on my desk. Thats totally my fault, it won't happen again..."

She sat down slowly and sipped at the coffee, even though she was wide awake. "...you're not mistaken," she said softly, "I just was trying to diffuse a volitile situation..."

"One that was caused by disension... and all you did was do the same thing. I wanted all of those... things, destroyed. As an example to Sabin." Moreau tapped his fingers against the desk.

"What he did made me furious, do you have any idea how much money he spent on those stupid worthless... creatures?" Moreau sighed. "And now two of them are still alive... why? Because they are cute or something stupid like that?" Moreau was calm but sounding rather sarcastic at this point. "I expected more of you Aubrey."

Aubrey stayed rigid as a bored, her eyes darting around the room, focuses on Moreau's shoulder or mouth, but never his eyes. "I'm sorry, Nick... I figured, you know, being suspended and all was example enough. You know.. its his responsibility now. Maybe we can pull some new serums from it,yes? I mean, to be honest the lethal injections are kind of pricey, too, and if there was no reason..."

She realized that logic probably wouldn't get her anywhere. "I didn't trust Dr. Duvert not to do something ... stupid. He's got quite a lot of power here, you know. I was just trying to appease him. Giving him a stupid pet so he would calm down and not like.. I don't know. Give Billy back his drugs or so mething."

She twisted her labcoat in her lab. "And the dog was Vasile's. Sabin collected him during the lockout - it wasn't his to experiement on! Or even Feral Labs property. It was Vasiles, so I just said he should give it back. We can still use its blood - it was the actual legit experiement - remember! Three heads... we've never done a multiple head serum before..." She paused, gauging his reaction.

"Yes yes, and that's admirable, if it'd been an authorized experiment." Moreau gritted his teeth, he was loathe to admit that Sabin's waste of materials had yealded anything worthwhile.

"But it's not that your decision was wrong, it's that it directly contridicted mine. Atleast that new girl, Robin, knows how to take orders." Moreau jabbed, pretending not to be obvious about it, he knew where to stick it to Aubrey and make it hurt.

Aubrey's heart skipped a beat. on a first name basis already?? She hadn't even met her. "I didn't know if you were ... aware that the dog belonged to Vasile," she feebly attempted.

Moreau glared a bit. "It really doesn't matter to me... he didn't keep a good eye on it. But that wasn't the only thing you did... the only one you kept."

"I thought you wanted to work here." Moreau half mumbled as he turned around towards the coffee machine to pour another glass.

"H Woke Up Naked In A TREE, for goddsakes, Nicholas!" She shook her head. "It wasn't HIS fault it got lost, Sabin probably took it directly from his duplex - why should Vasile suffer because of Duvert's idiocity!?"

But then she stood up quickly, her eyes going wide. She could almost here Dr. Duvert saying 'i told you so' in her head. "How could you say that?? How could you think any different. What else do I have to to do to make you trust me, Nick? I've given you everything!"

"I'd like to believe that Aubrey." Moreau sipped the drink. "Of course, you've spent an increasing amount of time with that layabout William."

Aubrey nearly choked. "Excuse me?? BILLY?. oh please, the most time I've spent consecutively with him I was nearly castrating him. You can't be serious, Nick. He's ... he's disgusting. But that doesn't mean I can ignore my duty of keeping him in line."

"Well, that may be the case." Moreau's jelousy was obvious. "I just can't say the idea of you... around... him, makes me comfortable. He's a near rapist." Moreau's thick disgust for William was evident in his voice.

"You didn't even come back last night..." he turned around for another cup.

Aubrey's expression softened, touched by his concern. At least that what she interpreted it as. "And I'll buzz him down if he so much as even thinks about touching me, Nick, " she said, leaning forward.

"I fell asleep in my office," she said with a hint of a smile, "So lets not have the pot call the kettle black, eh? There's been plenty of nights you've stayed in the labs."

Moreau's features didn't soften at the attempt to be cute. "We'll see. Alright Aubrey, well I'm going to get to work today then. I trust you'll be in tonight?" Moreau said with a cold tone.

Aubrey frowned, not liking his tone. "I said I was sorry, Nick."

"Your forgiven Aubrey. But I need to get back to work." His tone really wasn't any warmer. Moreau stood up and poured the coffee into the trash can. Leaving his mug for the cleaning crew to get.

Aubrey dropped her hands to side with a sigh. It could have been worse, she guessed. She left his office, headed down to the labs to be productive and her mind off it.

Original RP
Aubrey heads to Billy's to seek comfort
May 06,2 006

Original RP
Aubrey confronts Zachary and Sabin.
May 20, 2006

Original RP
Aubrey tells Moreau about the note; drops hints abuot a wedding date
May 23, 2006

That evening, after Sabin took over Natsumi and Aubrey spent a bit of time crying to sort some of the things she was feeling in her office, she went looking for Moreau, wanting to tell him about the note from Chubbs. She knocked quietly on his office door. "Can I come in?"

Moreau of course had been watching Aubrey as she walked down the halls towards the labs. He knew she was comming towards him from almost the moment she left the labs. He took a bit of time to push his hair back and straiten himself up. When she knocked he smiled, "Yes Aubrey?"
Aubrey opened the door and wheeled in, forcing a smile. "Hey. Uhm... Chubbs gave me something to day, via Colche, I think you should see."

Aubrey had a crumpled note in her lap that she handed over to him.

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=29&t=1140502#61859731



"Hmmmm...." Moreau said as he looked at the note. "You know I wouldn't let that happen."

"I know.." Aubrey twisted the blanket in her lap then smoothed it out. "I still don't like being threatened like that. Especially using Colche like ... like a tool. I mean, I don't know, but I kind of read the fact that he sent the note with her that he was implying he would hurt her."

"Well, he does want us to do something about him... I have an idea that would create more security for him and us." Moreau smiled and placed his hand in Aubrey's gripping it tight. "We'll station a guard with him... ordered to keep a safe distance, stay outside his door, and to not interact. The guard will be responsible for 24/7 monitoring and will have multiple methods of bringing him down if needed."


Aubrey gave him a bit of a grin. "Well, thats nicer than what I was thinking." She gave him a bit of a wink.

Moreau looked intriged, and maybe a little turned on. "Why what do you mean Dr. Lockheart?" he said in a friendly yet sexy tone.

She smirked. "Well the mother in me was tempted to send a note back that said any damage he did to Colche I'd take double out of Joli. But thats not very professional, Dr. Moreau."

"Still, it might doubly enforce our point." He grinned a bit and rubbed Aubrey's hand a bit harder. "Why don't you write him a return letter explaining his new... friend. Also explaining that exact fact." Moreau had the most wicked smirk on his face.

"I don't know i that would really help my reputation," she said, half serious and half joking. "But I'll think about it. I'll send it down with the guard when I'm done."

"Sounds fair, would you like me to have the guard assigned or would you like to pick someone out yourself?" Moreau was still rather intrigued by this mean side.

"Oh, I'll find someone, baby." She nodded decidedly.

Moreau stood up, walked over to Aubrey's side of the desk and leaned foward onto Aubrey's wheelchair and kissed her passionately on the mouth. "It's great to have you back..."

Aubrey was surprised, but certainly wasn't complaining. She kissed him back just as passionately. Damn injuries.

"The weirdest things turn you on," she chuckled, letting her hand slide over his slacks in teasing places.

She looked down at her "wheely dealy" as Colche put it and shook her head. "Thanks again for this. It feels so great to be able to get back to work. At least move from that same cramped little room."

"Anything at all for you." Moreau smiled. "You know... I've been considering expanding this office so it has room for two."

She quirked an eyebrow. One one hand she rather enjoyed having her own office, but it was the gesture that was the most significant. Sharing an office with him? Well damn, that was probably harder for him to offer than the engagement ring, Aubrey mused. "Oh really?"

"It's just a thought..." he grinned. "Run the island together, all that."

Aubrey shook he head in disbelief. "I think you're still just in shock, baby. I'm sure you'll get tired of me"(again, she thought bitterly in head) "after too long." She was teasing, of course, but she knew this was NOT just a light offer from the man.

"I never got tired of you Aubrey. I just... overreacted to things that upset me." He ran his hands over hers. "But that shouldn't be an issue any longer."

"Well...is it, Nick? Nothing's really...changed. You said yourself we had some things to work out. Its okay to talk about things." She squeezed his hands. "I don't want to upset - no matter how 'well' or 'unwell' you handle it."

"I've told you what bothered me Aubrey... just... respect my chain of command in the future please. If you have an issue with one of my decisions you can come talk to me about it." Moreau sighed. "And respect me..."

"I do respect you, Nick," she kissed his cheek. "Promise."

She looked away for a second. "I ...hope you don't mind, though, that I had Duvert give Miss Tanaka the injection.."

"Not in the least... I can understand a certain sensativity in that matter. Besides, it works well into the debt that Dr. Duvert owes you. Feel free to bring that up whenever you want." he smiled to Aubrey. "Maybe get him to do a bit of your work if needed for us to have more time."

She nodded, relieved. "I just wasn't prepared, especially after, well, yeah.." she put a hand on her stomach. "I'm sorry, I'm just being paranoid. I'm sure I'll be better than new everwhere thanks to you."

"We are likely the most advaced medical facility in the world. I don't think you could ask for anymore." a grin crossed his face.

"I dunno, I have some pretty expensive tastes," she teased and kissed him again gently. "Anyway, I should let you get back to your work..."


"No... stay just a little longer with me." Moreau rubbed Aubrey's hand and pulled one up to kiss it. It was so nice it was almost creepy.

She gave him a gentle smile. "Oh? Well, of course, if you want me to. Anything I can help you with?"

"Well, I've been reviewing some notes on the combination serums, to maybe create a bit more mental stablization in any upcomming.... built subjects. Maybe you can shed some light on to something I haven't figured out yet." he directed her over to his desk.

Aubrey wheeled her way over and situated herself to look over the files. "Good. God knows we don't want a repeat of Zach."

She looked over the files for a few minutes before, without looking up, "Any thoughts on a date, yet?"

"Just a few notes.... I've had other things on my mind..." Moreau pulled out the notations he'd made.

Aubrey looked up, tapping her fingernails on the desk. "Yeah... I've had things on my mind, too." She fiddled with the ring. "Like... plans..." she tried to make it obvious she was messing with her left hand.

"Yes... I've also been looking over plans for increasing security of the island as well... to avoid a repeat." he hoped this would comfort Aubrey on some level. He also hoped she shouldn't keep prying.

"Mmm.." she said, her smile fading. "yeah."

She flipped a few pages in the file.

"Excellent."