Excerpt 002: Traveler's Rest

[rekindledtitan]

TYPE: Personal log

LOCATION: The Last City, Earth

PARTIES: Three [3]. One [1] Ghost-type, [1] Guardian-type, designate Blaze-37, Class Titan [rekindledtitan ], One [1] Unconfirmed, designate Willis, Verity [brave_heart_verity ]; [other parties redacted]


ASSOCIATIONS: Multiversal Nexus; Verity Willis; Earth; The City; Vanguard; Blaze-37; Glass-smiths


An Exo ought to be good at waiting. They're soldier and machine both, trained for stoicism and designed for tireless analysis. Blaze sometimes thinks she’s the only one built who ever gets bored. (Aside from Cayde, maybe, and he makes it sound like he's had a very long time to learn.)

Her patrol concluded without much incident, she paces back to the Forum, guns still dozing at her back and her Ghost zipping curiously from one side to the other ahead of her. It murmurs its observations to her in passing, and she responds gladly. A fight would be better, but she’ll take the idle chatter. Her memory is brimming with new half-processed data, even from one patrol in the Nexus – odd discussions heard and alien kitchens smelt, the weird spiky grass in the park crunching under her boots, so many- one hundred and forty-three new faces since the last trip, ninety-one human by visual-

But she isn’t one for dwelling on things. So she circles the Forum to take in the sights, cutting her route through the spot where she and Verity last spoke to make sure of spotting her friend.

Comments

No problem. We can retcon or headcanon things however you want.

[brave_heart_verity]

"It's what's inside that counts. But you two do deserve a ship as well-loved on the outside as on the inside." What? Her quiet advocacy and expert ego-stroking are some of the many perks of her friendship. She learned how to be a friend with a god who has inadequacy issues and hasn't quite figured out that not everybody needs so much of this kind of attention.

"That's convenient." Nothing wrong with a military that doesn't enforce strict uniforms, in her opinion. It's not like the military where she's from is setting a shining example no matter how shining the brass. And more importantly, they seem to know what they and their fellows are doing. If it works for them, who would she be to tell them they're doing it wrong?

Eh, I don't think it'll matter too much; we can leave Schrodinger's City in Chile for now

[rekindledtitan]

Being an exceptionally secure sense of herself, Blaze just laughs. "All this flattery and I haven't even bought you a drink yet!"

That said, she's honestly hopeful that Verity will like her home (and its people), and cheerfully elaborates on the medical arrangements. "Well, when the Wall's under siege, you don't want to have to look far for a doctor. Not everyone stationed here is a Guardian. The ones in the Tower are manned all the time when I pass them."

Okay, just let me know if that ever changes :)

[brave_heart_verity]

"It isn't flattery if it's true," she counters easily. "And I'd know if it weren't."

So far so good on that score, Blaze. "That's a good point. You must have a lot of medical personnel, which is good. I guess being evacuated to behind the front lines isn't so much of an option during a siege." There's a brief pause, and then her tone goes from thoughtful to worried. "Do they happen often?"

No problem :)

[rekindledtitan]

"Got me there," Blaze chuckles. She picks out an open door at the side of the plaza to head for, one marked by a serpent-twined rod painted in green on a white cross. All the important signs here are trilingual: just inside the door, green lettering on the wall assures them there's a medical station down the short ramp, repeating in Portuguese and Chinese.

"Every few decades, I think. The Fallen are always testing our defenses. It's been a while since we've had a sustained assault, but there's still no safe ground past the Wall. One of our tasks is to keep our enemies too fractured to co-ordinate another threat like that."

[brave_heart_verity]

A caduceus? It's nice to see some things don't change too much. The white cross is a bit different, but there's already a lot of red around. It certainly stands out. She doesn't recognize the other languages, only knowing that one is a Romance language and one is probably Asian.

"Oh, that's not too often. Hopefully, we'll be able to do that soon. I mean. If I'm allowed to help." It's not a sure thing and she doesn't want to presume. "And I suppose lots of little attacks keeps your side sharp."

[rekindledtitan]

Standing out is the purpose of the sign, to make it clear in an emergency where help can be found. Otherwise the clinic is a little tucked away. There's a well-lit if snug little waiting area, with a small counter behind which a robot stands. In contrast to Blaze, it has a thin rectangular head with a single optic and no other facial features, but the same symbol from above the door is painted on its chestplate and there aren't any clothes to disguise just how gaunt its limbs are. It folds its hands and looks at them attentively as they approach.

"Our Vanguards aren't the kind to turn down friendly help," Blaze says, albeit with far more assurance than experience. "And yeah, it's good practice. Hah, that and arena matches in the Crucible. Hey there," she adds to the desk frame. "We've got a new arrival to the City, needs a standard check-up and inoculations."

"Of course." The frame's voice is pleasant and slightly feminine, although the electronic edge is much stronger than an Exo's. It taps at the console beside it. "Just a moment, please."

"Be right with you!" calls a male voice from behind the screen, because the clinic is really too small for any privacy when it's quiet.

[brave_heart_verity]

"You have an arena?" She's never understood the appeal of that kind of sport, but understanding people has never been part of her particular curse. And who is she to tell fully-formed beings what they're allowed to consent to?

The robot in reception is new, but otherwise, it's very much like any other doctor's office. Mostly she's noticing the lack of old magazines. But the receptionist gets a smile, and the doctor gets a giggle. "Thank you."

[rekindledtitan]

If they hang around outside long enough Verity might catch the PA admonishing Guardians (again) for recreational Tower-jumping, which will tell her all she needs to know about their sense of fun and games.

Okay, that plus the spontaneous dance numbers.

"Sure," Blaze confirms, leaning on the counter. "A whole bunch of 'em. Not inside the City, of course, they're all reclaimed sites across the system. The Crucible's just what it sounds like - a way for Guardians to refine their skills against each other."

"Speaking for myself, I'm just happy I don't have to patch any of you up afterward." The man who steps around the screen looks to be in his early thirties: dark-skinned and round-featured, with black hair curling down past his chin. The good news is, a thousand years of linguistic drift haven't been allowed to make English incomprehensible, but his accent is going to be rather peculiar. His tunic is light blue and short-sleeved, making it the kind one can only wear indoors here.

He nods respectfully to Blaze and smiles sincerely at Verity. Despite seeming a little surprised as he looks her over - from the request he was expecting a starving, shaken refugee. "Hello. I'm Doctor Fen Saab. Can I ask your name?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Humans do the same kind of thing for fun. They just need a little more special equipment to make sure they survive. It doesn't seem so weird to her, although the people on the ground might not find it so funny.

The spontaneous dance numbers, on the other hand... this, she must see.

"Makes sense. Everyone needs a place to practice."

She gives the doctor a shy but friendly smile when he appears. The accent doesn't throw her, although she wonders about it. Growing up in New York, she's heard all sorts of accents; it's always a little strange to not recognize one. Still, it's English, and that's a relief.

"Verity Willis. It's nice to meet you." Do they shake hands in the City? Or is that not allowed before she's had her shots?

[rekindledtitan]

The doctor hesitates a very little, but hides it well as he shakes hands. Sometimes best quarantine practice needs to take a backseat to gaining a new patient's trust. And from the way his eyes flick to Blaze and her Ghost, he trusts one would warn him if she were carrying anything exceptionally virulent. Instead, Blaze just gives him a friendly nod.

"The pleasure is mine, to welcome you to the safety of the City. If you'd like to come through, I'll just give you a quick examination. The Guardian here can stay if you like."

"We may be able to help with explanations," Ghost suggests.

"Weren't planning on going anywhere," Blaze agrees (perhaps missing the doctor's intended senstivity toward his actual patient).

[brave_heart_verity]

He's going to feel silly for that hesitation when he finds out. Or maybe he'll feel silly for letting her touch anything. Hard to say really.

"It's fine if Blaze wants to come. And like Ghost said, they can help explain some things." And keep Verity from saying too much, if that's a concern. She should have asked about that before. Stupid space views distracting her. But she sees no reason to be shy, she doubts there will be anything new or interesting seen by her friends during the exam. "What sorts of tests will you be doing?"

[rekindledtitan]

"That will be helpful, thank you- ah, both." He means it, especially because a Ghost on hand is very good for data analysis. Dr Saab shows her through to the little examination area, which is somewhat larger to allow for his workstation, the adjustable bed and space for people to crowd around the patient. While he explains, he motions an invitation for her to sit up on the bed, and starts fetching things out from a set of airtight drawers.

"We'll do some very simple tests to start with, okay? First I'm just going to take some swabs from your skin and throat, then I'll draw a little bit of blood from you if that's okay. Those will help me to understand what kind of diseases you may have had before compared to the ones here in the City. It will also tell me if there are any substances here that you might have a bad - that is, an allergic reaction to." He steals a glance at her face: he seems to be struggling to decide at what level he ought to explain all this. She seems very comfortable in the clinic (also, very clean, properly nourished and well-dressed) but there are exactly no guarantees about what medical knowledge a person born on the outside might have.

He doesn't offer Blaze a seat, maybe because she very promptly assumes a position against the far wall, leaning casually against it. She's watching with an air of curiosity for the moment, the Ghost hanging back beside her.

[brave_heart_verity]

She looks amused. The doctor is kind and seems to have a good bedside manner, and she can appreciate that. But when he's done explaining, she looks to Blaze without really responding. She's either asking for permission or giving a warning.

Probably the latter, since she's just going to tell him now. "Dr. Saab. I'm not a refugee Blaze found wandering outside of the city. I'm from an alternate dimension." Really man, how many refugees have shiny new glasses and sweet ink? "So yeah, you're probably going to want to do all kinds of cultures. I don't know of any allergies, but it's probably a good idea to double-check since things here are so different. And yes, you have my permission for a blood draw. I'm not really afraid of needles."

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze shrugs at Verity's look, equally amused - and when she lets the thrall out of the bag, the Exo breaks out in a positive chortle (though the Ghost flashes in alarm). The doctor's rummaging comes to an abrupt halt and for a minute he just stares at her. Then her escort. Look, he knew he didn't have the whole picture but... but...

Well, he couldn't have seen that coming.

"I- I'm afraid I don't understand," he says, straightening up and looking helplessly perplexed. "This isn't some sort of practical joke, is it?" Blaze gets a suspicious look.

"No," she answers, in a tone of such easy certainty as to leave no doubt. "Genuine alternate timeline, pre-Golden Age by our calendars. Ghost'll confirm that."

"I'm not sure if we're supposed to-" the Ghost murmurs, but Blaze cuts it off with a snort.

"He's a doctor. He'd put it together anyway. Holding out on him will just make his analysis less complete."

[brave_heart_verity]

She smiles faintly as she watches the exchange. "Ghost, we don't want him to miss something because he didn't know. I have no way of knowing what's on me that might hurt someone here. And if I wasn't supposed to tell, you should have told me that earlier."

While they debate she'll roll up a sleeve, good patient that she is.

"You ready, Doctor?"

[rekindledtitan]

The doctor in question shakes his head but washes his hands with sterilizing gel and pulls on some thin disposable gloves. "What have you Guardians been up to?"

"Come on, doc," Blaze chuckles. "Verity's still not the strangest thing you've seen around here."

He doesn't deign to dispute that, but he's still getting to grips with the situation. "It's just the implications-" No, he's a professional, his work comes first. "All right. Let's see. Most infectious diseases from that time are no longer active in the local population, but we have quite good records- and open wide, please." He takes throat and cheek swabs, sealing each into clear slides, to be slotted into an array hooked up to the computer. "And a rather broad selection of immunological profiles with origins in different time periods, of course."

The blood he takes after swabbing her arm, neat and painless.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity's a good patient, doing as she's told and not fighting the doctor. There may be a time or two when she's gripping the edge of the table to keep from jerking away from things going down her throat, but instincts are instincts and she's sure the doctor understands.

"I should probably tell you I've had immunizations in a different alternate future. And also I got some new gut flora. So... I have no idea what you're going to find." She's pretty sure the magic wouldn't show up in any tests, so that doesn't need to come up just yet. "Are there any other tests?"

[rekindledtitan]

"I'm afraid so." The doctor has recovered from his shock enough to smile a little, despite all the frowning and 'hmm'ing. That's just him trying to decide how to handle all the new information. He picks up what looks like a handheld scanning device from its cradle and changes some settings.

"I'm going to press this against your arm for a few moments and give your tissues a quick little scan. This is a reconstruction of a Golden Age diagnostic tool, so it's a bit limited. But it's perfectly safe, and it can pick up some things, like microbes and signs of toxin exposure that the samples can't show us. Then I'm going to take a look at your eyes and ask a few questions while the samples process. Okay?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Okay." She can hold still for the scanning. She has nothing to hide and can appreciate how much more comfortable most of this has been so far. It might be a bit boring, but she's used to lots of hurry up and wait where doctors are concerned. And it's better to be bored than for the doctor to find anything interesting.

Poor Blaze must be getting bored.

[rekindledtitan]

The doctor's working with brisk efficiency, taking his readings and relaying them to the computer. But Blaze already seems subtly restless - she's not outright fidgeting, but her attention flicks from doctor to Verity to computer to a speculative look at the desk-frame, and she shifts her weight now and then, giving the impression she's ready to move any time.

"My Ghost can help with that," she's quick to volunteer when Dr. Saab sets up the computer analysis. He gives her - and the Ghost - a quick nod and thanks, letting the little bot float in to monitor the process as well as speed it up.

Meanwhile, the doctor has Verity take her glasses off for a quick retinal check (with appropriate murmurs of 'okay, very good'), then picks up a tablet. "Okay, so, just a few quick questions now. You said you've had immunizations from the, ah, from another future. And a new suite of gut flora, correct? Was this from another doctor? And how long has it been since then?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Oh, fun with lights. Her favorite. She's glad when that's over.

"There were doctors involved, yes. About two months ago I was helping a friend with something and picked up a nasty case of food poisoning. When I got better she took me to get treatments so it wouldn't happen again. That's why I also got the gut flora. Although they're quite useful even when I'm not time-traveling. I process food more efficiently, and I don't get hangovers anymore, that's really nice." She doesn't get really drunk anymore either, which she's sure is supposed to also be a good thing.

The whole adventure gets a 'what are ya gonna do?' shrug. She's adapting quickly to this mysterious new lifestyle of hers. "Are you going to need to check those too?"

[rekindledtitan]

"I would like to, however-" he might glance at Blaze, being quite a proficient reader of body language, "I don't think I need to subject you to that." It's not a fun procedure! "I should be able to give you a supplement without them interacting. If you do experience any side-effects I want you to contact me immediately.

"The same goes for the vaccinations, of course. I'm going to check your profile first, but I expect I can give you the standard set of shots. There are four of those, and you'll need to come back for at least two more rounds, depending on how long you're staying in the City."

"No problem there," Blaze says, giving away her expectations on that point.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Thank you. I didn't love the idea of that." There's only a few ways she can think of for him to get those samples and all of them sound terrible. "I could... ask my friend for some of the pills? Then you could study them without having to have me here?" She's reasonably certain Samus will agree, and that they can work out the payment somehow.

"Uh. Okay, just let me know when I need to come back." She doesn't love shots. It's not the needles so much as the burning. Blaze can tease her about the faces she'll be making later. "Blaze, if it comes to it, I'd like to officially request a prince carry instead of a potato sack."

[rekindledtitan]

Verity, you just made the doctor's day. He looks delighted. "If that's possible, it would be wonderful. Thank you! It's been a long time since we had microbes so versatile. The boost it would give us, in the long run, would mean a great deal to us."

Can you tell the microbiology end is his specialty?

Blaze chuckles at her request. "You sure? I just got all this new padding on my shoulders..."

"I don't think it's as comfortable from the outside, somehow."

[brave_heart_verity]

"You're welcome. I'm sure we'd both be happy to help." How could Samus turn down two friends at once? "What you're doing here is really important. And I mean it about wanting to help however I can."

Verity gives Blaze a smirk. "Yeah, but it's so much more romantic my way." This is the most obvious joking in the history of jokes. A neon sign could not make it more obvious.