Face The Blood - Forge/Laurie (backdated)
Jun. 12th, 2009 11:48 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
x-forge.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsBackdated to the night of Friday, June 12th
Trial by fire
Ultimate proof
Moment of crisis
Don't swallow the truth
- 'Stick it Out' Rush
Laurie knocked lightly against the door that led into the basement of the hospital, holding a large bottle of some form of energy drink ('Burn', by the label) and several chocolate pastries she'd managed to scrounge up from the doctors' break room. They'd been rather surprised to see her in there but she'd managed to convince them that she was perfectly okay to be around with a little powers push. She justified it to herself that it was for a good cause, and she hadn't hurt anyone doing it.
"Forge? I brought some food, and your favourite drink," she noted, uncertain of her welcome.
Forge glanced up from the converted operating table where he was soldering parts together in what looked like a strange semi-circular device, hinged in the middle with complicated-looking circuitry still wired into various computers and scanners around him. "Excellent. Might not be the original version, but caffeine and ginseng are natural nootropics. Sugar and complex carbohydrates help for energy. Thank you."
He took the plate with one hand, but motioned for Laurie to stand back with the other. "And before you think about it, I don't need any biochemical tweaking to relieve tension or stress. I need to be focused right now, and stress lets me do that. I can rest when I'm done. What's the word on Yvette's condition?"
"Not good, she hasn't woken up and they need to start dialysis sooner rather then later," Laurie said, smiling wryly at Forge's other words. He knew her a little too well sometimes. "How much longer till it's ready to go?"
Forge wiped his forehead on his sleeve, tension evident in his every movement. "I don't have a full workshop here," he admitted. "Compared to what I could do back in my lab, I may as well be trying to build this in a cave. With a box of scraps!" he shouted, angrily clenching a fist, then stopping to calm himself and take a long drink, draining one of the cans of Burn in a single pull before dropping it to the floor.
"But I can do this. I need to align and calibrate the projectors, refine the scanners to a subcellular level, and Moira should be FTPing me the particulars on genome data within the next ten minutes. Best guess... six hours," he admitted.
"It'll have to be enough," Laurie noted, feeling the ever present worry curl in her gut. She walked over to one of the tables, looking down at the devices laid out in neat rows. She didn't touch, or get in Forge's way, but she needed something to do, to look at.
"I tried to help, you know. But I couldn't make it stick."
"I know," Forge said quietly. "You did the best you could. So did the doctors. Now it's up to me, and I have to build this... this abomination, the worst thing I can possibly do with my power. I have to cross this line I swore I wouldn't cross. I have to... I have to do this to save her life."
He sighed, resting his head in his hands. "I don't even know Yvette all that well, that's the irony of it. I mean, I see her around the mansion and she brings me apples when I work late, and in the years she's been around, I don't know if I've had a real conversation with her beyond... dammit. She's sixteen years old. And she's in what passes for an emergency room here and I have to save her life and... it's..." he laughed out loud, but there was no joy in the sound. "It's fucking ironic. If it weren't for her power, she'd be dead. And I have to take it away from her so that she can live."
"I'm sorry," Laurie murmured, unable to think of words that would comfort.
She didn't know how to make this better, she couldn't offer comfort when she knew the odds of survival were slim at best, she couldn't fix things, even words were useless and seemed hollow. She clenched her fists, digging nails into palm to stop from screaming at the unfairness of the universe. She hated it so damn much, and there was nothing at all she could do.
"She was my roommate, but you knew that, I think? We lived in the same room for years and I hadn't even talked to her in months. I let her drift away without even trying to stop it, and now I don't even know if I'll get a chance to fix that."
Forge arched an eyebrow before picking up his tools again. "I refuse to accept that potentiality," he said firmly, holding up a circuit board and soldering connections. "I don't give a damn if I've got to wheedle a deal with the devil himself. She's one of us. Dani tried to... Dani used to always talk to me about the importance of heritage, history, 'tribe'. I always thought it was trivial bullshit." Another arc of sparks illuminated his face, intent on the detailed work before him.
"It's not bullshit. It's not trivial. None of you are. You're my tribe, and I'm not going to fail my people."
Trial by fire
Ultimate proof
Moment of crisis
Don't swallow the truth
- 'Stick it Out' Rush
Laurie knocked lightly against the door that led into the basement of the hospital, holding a large bottle of some form of energy drink ('Burn', by the label) and several chocolate pastries she'd managed to scrounge up from the doctors' break room. They'd been rather surprised to see her in there but she'd managed to convince them that she was perfectly okay to be around with a little powers push. She justified it to herself that it was for a good cause, and she hadn't hurt anyone doing it.
"Forge? I brought some food, and your favourite drink," she noted, uncertain of her welcome.
Forge glanced up from the converted operating table where he was soldering parts together in what looked like a strange semi-circular device, hinged in the middle with complicated-looking circuitry still wired into various computers and scanners around him. "Excellent. Might not be the original version, but caffeine and ginseng are natural nootropics. Sugar and complex carbohydrates help for energy. Thank you."
He took the plate with one hand, but motioned for Laurie to stand back with the other. "And before you think about it, I don't need any biochemical tweaking to relieve tension or stress. I need to be focused right now, and stress lets me do that. I can rest when I'm done. What's the word on Yvette's condition?"
"Not good, she hasn't woken up and they need to start dialysis sooner rather then later," Laurie said, smiling wryly at Forge's other words. He knew her a little too well sometimes. "How much longer till it's ready to go?"
Forge wiped his forehead on his sleeve, tension evident in his every movement. "I don't have a full workshop here," he admitted. "Compared to what I could do back in my lab, I may as well be trying to build this in a cave. With a box of scraps!" he shouted, angrily clenching a fist, then stopping to calm himself and take a long drink, draining one of the cans of Burn in a single pull before dropping it to the floor.
"But I can do this. I need to align and calibrate the projectors, refine the scanners to a subcellular level, and Moira should be FTPing me the particulars on genome data within the next ten minutes. Best guess... six hours," he admitted.
"It'll have to be enough," Laurie noted, feeling the ever present worry curl in her gut. She walked over to one of the tables, looking down at the devices laid out in neat rows. She didn't touch, or get in Forge's way, but she needed something to do, to look at.
"I tried to help, you know. But I couldn't make it stick."
"I know," Forge said quietly. "You did the best you could. So did the doctors. Now it's up to me, and I have to build this... this abomination, the worst thing I can possibly do with my power. I have to cross this line I swore I wouldn't cross. I have to... I have to do this to save her life."
He sighed, resting his head in his hands. "I don't even know Yvette all that well, that's the irony of it. I mean, I see her around the mansion and she brings me apples when I work late, and in the years she's been around, I don't know if I've had a real conversation with her beyond... dammit. She's sixteen years old. And she's in what passes for an emergency room here and I have to save her life and... it's..." he laughed out loud, but there was no joy in the sound. "It's fucking ironic. If it weren't for her power, she'd be dead. And I have to take it away from her so that she can live."
"I'm sorry," Laurie murmured, unable to think of words that would comfort.
She didn't know how to make this better, she couldn't offer comfort when she knew the odds of survival were slim at best, she couldn't fix things, even words were useless and seemed hollow. She clenched her fists, digging nails into palm to stop from screaming at the unfairness of the universe. She hated it so damn much, and there was nothing at all she could do.
"She was my roommate, but you knew that, I think? We lived in the same room for years and I hadn't even talked to her in months. I let her drift away without even trying to stop it, and now I don't even know if I'll get a chance to fix that."
Forge arched an eyebrow before picking up his tools again. "I refuse to accept that potentiality," he said firmly, holding up a circuit board and soldering connections. "I don't give a damn if I've got to wheedle a deal with the devil himself. She's one of us. Dani tried to... Dani used to always talk to me about the importance of heritage, history, 'tribe'. I always thought it was trivial bullshit." Another arc of sparks illuminated his face, intent on the detailed work before him.
"It's not bullshit. It's not trivial. None of you are. You're my tribe, and I'm not going to fail my people."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}