xp_logs | Emma and Doug: First contact (Reply)

Despite her general distaste for The Box, the after-effects of the overuse of her telepathy had finally driven Emma to make the decision she had been avoiding. Rather than burning her out, her power had been stretched too far and now hungrily latched onto every thought within its immediate range. Emma had managed to limit that range to the Mansion but the constant bombardment had finally made her decide that a short stint in The Box would at least allow her to sleep uninterrupted by various people in the throes of either post-traumatic stress disorder or passion, depending on how they had chosen to deal with the stress of Day Zero.

She found, almost to her surprise, that her steps had not led her to The Box. The person behind the thoughts that had caught her attention was hiding out from other people in Forge's lab and it was in front of that door that Emma found herself. She didn't allow herself to think about whether this was a good idea; almost of its own volition, her hand swept up and she knocked.

Doug looked up from his laptop at the knock. Whoever it was, it obviously wasn't Forge, who would simply have voice-keyed himself through the doors and entered. So that narrowed it down to someone looking for Forge, or looking for him. He gave brief thought to simply ignoring the knock, but thought better of it. "Door, open," he called, turning his attention back to the keyboard and the work in front of him.

The door swept open of its own accord and Emma found herself looking at a strangely altered Doug, hunched over his keyboard and oblivious to the identity of his visitor. She knew what he had looked like after she'd broken open the cyst that he had been re-born in, but it was only now that she'd had the chance to inspect him. He looked - young. And broken. She couldn't avoid the fact that this was in no way the Doug she had sent into the meat computer.

"Was it," she said and was surprised to hear the hitch in her voice, "worth it?"

Doug looked up at the voice. "Emma," he said, somewhat startled. But if anyone were going to track him to the lab besides Marie-Ange, it would be Emma. He heard the hitch in her voice and frowned. "Yes." He cocked his head, a curious expression on his face. "Was it worth it?" he returned the question to her.

"Yes," said Emma, simply. For a long moment she looked at Doug, then turned to go. She turned back. "I am proud of you, Doug. More proud of you than you can currently imagine."

The old, self-effacing Doug would have ducked his head in embarrassment at that pronouncement. As it was, Doug was still rather confused, but he simply said "Okay" with his best attempt at a reassuring smile as Emma turned to leave. Once she was gone, he turned back to his laptop and his work.