[IC] Elysium

[FaithfulMuse]

Freya frowned, looking at Matt. Apparently he had a plan, but she found herself clueless about what that plan was. She decided to for once, just trust someone rather than questioning everything and everyone. Even if this plan of his wouldn't work, it was still better than sitting where she was and waiting until the fourteen days had passed. This would at least give her a chance to find that medicine, stay alive and find her way back home. If anything, surviving was the most important thing at the moment.

The woman looked at them, not daring to resist. After all if she resisted, they could easily change their minds and kill her anyway. After all, they hardly knew her, why would they care about her wellbeing anyway? Also, if she left the room, it would possibly take longer before she was found. She did knew a few blind spots in the building, which would make them harder to find. It would take longer, but still. She nodded quietly and started to walk, not saying a word to the subjects.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt hauled the scientist out of the room not too gently. The more aggressive he was, the more helpless the scientist would appear, giving her an alibi if need be. The hallway had a camera mounted on the wall, swiveling slowly back and forth. Matt waited until it was turned away, then leaned towards the woman's ear

"Do the cameras record audio?" he hissed. His mind was forming a plan as rapidly as possible. Find an isolated location without audio or video. Tell the scientist that he has no intention of killing her and ban her support. Their best option was to stay as close to the cure as possible. Barring that, he wanted to stay as close to people who knew where it was. This building must have record somewhere. Computer logs, formulas, anything. If he left now, he might never get back in and would have to start with nothing.

Matt had already decided he wanted to bring the scientist with him alive. She was no use dead and would be able to give them information on this "virus" and what it entailed. Trying to negotiate through the building armed with whatever keys the woman might have was never going to work.

He also decided to ask her what her name was. But first they had to get somewhere safe.

[FaithfulMuse]

The woman looked at Matt and nodded. Of course the cameras recorded audio. If not, she had no reason to fear for her life, because if the audio wasn't going to be recorded, how else would they know she was giving them information they weren't supposed to know? If the cameras didn't record audio there was nothing she had to worry about and she could talk freely, give these two subjects all the information they needed.

The male subject being so rough to her was expectable, yet it concerned her. If he would hit her at a very unfortunate spot hard enough that could be fatal to her child. Her eyes shifted to the female subject for a brief moment. If she hadn't felt it moving a while after the subject hit her in the stomach, the thought that maybe that had been enough to kill the child would've still haunted her. The best was just to cooperate for the moment and hope he wouldn't be too hard on her.

[MatthiasAngel]

"Take us to a blind spot, now." Matt hissed again, releasing his tight grip on the scientist's arm. He followed her down a few passages and through the door that led to the stairs. She walked halfway up a flight, stopped, then nodded. Each floor had a camera facing the landing. They were directly between two of them, just out of range. Matt pushed her against a wall and began whispering.

"Listen. I'm just a number too. Right now, I have no reason to kill or hurt you. Hopefully whoever is watching is convinced otherwise. We're going to need your help, though, and you're going to help us. Give me as much information as you can. If you have any data or technology on you, hand it over." He took a deep breath. "It's unlikely that your employers will let you help us, especially if you give us a key card or something. You could try to go back and convince them that you had no choice, but they may have already decided to kill you just in case. The odds are against you. It's in your best interest to get out of here and bring us along."

[FaithfulMuse]

The woman looked at the subject, realising he was right. They were also just a number, and could be just as easily replaced as her. She nodded and reached into her pocket, only to find out that it was empty. She reached into her other pockets as well, but only found her ID card. "I have a flashdrive, but I don't have it with me. I think I forgot it at the lab, or at my desk or somewhere.." She said, looking at the two of them.

Freya looked at the woman quietly and had to admit that taking the woman with them could turn out to be a pretty good decision. She would at least know more of what was going on than they did, and she could definitely grant them access to at least a few places they never could've entered otherwise. The woman was probably not going to betray them neither, as her employers were looking for her as well.

[MatthiasAngel]

(If it's alright with you, I'd like to keep this post brief. I've already stated just about everything Matt is thinking, so...)

Matt turned to Freya. "You've been quiet. What do you think we should do?"

[FaithfulMuse]

Freya looked back at Matt again. "I think we should hurry up, find all the information we can get, get out of here and find that medicine, but most of all, we should not waste time. Our time is ticking, after all." She answered. They still had some hours and thirteen days left, but still, every moment spent by not doing anything would be nothing other than wasted time. And that was the last thing they should do.

"The virus is developed by a secret department of Elysium, but as you already knew, it's still in the test phase. Once it's all good and stable, the idea is to use it to gain world control. Using the virus, we can easily take down anyone who's in our way to the top. But still, it needs to be stable and perfect before we can do that. " The woman said, still looking at the two. Certainly she had to know more, but this was what she remembered at the moment. Maybe if they would ask her something or if she could get access to some files, that would help her remember more.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt took a deep breath for the hundredth time. His head was still giving him trouble and all of this new information wasn't helping. A controlled virus for world domination? The look on the scientist's face confirmed that she was being quite serious. Elysium...the name didn't seem familiar, but then again he didn't get out much. He also knew very little about viruses, injections and neuro-terrorism, but he was involved in all three now, like it or not. He paused to collect his thoughts in the silence when a new thought entered his mind.

"Why is it so quiet?" he asked. "Why hasn't anyone come looking for us? Never mind, I don't want to know. Not now. I'm with Freya. We need more information on this...project, and what exactly we're dealing with." A light clicked on in the back of his mind. A name and a face of an old friend that just might be able to help. First things first, though. Matt grabbed the scientist's arm again and pulled her towards the door.

"Take us to your office or lab or wherever you work," he whispered quickly. "Show us everything you have on whatever's in my blood right now."

[FaithfulMuse]

The woman continued to walk again without hesitation. She knew the way towards her workstation from the top of her head, so getting there shouldn't be a problem at all. She made sure that the subjects could keep up with her pace and only stopped walking when she arrived at her office. She opened the door, let the two in and shut the door behind them.

Freya followed the woman, just as quiet as she had been before. After all, there was nothing that needed to be said, so Freya didn't see a reason to break the silence. The name that woman had mentioned, Elysium, sounded slightly familiar, but she had a hard time remembering what it was all about again. She entered the room and looked around for a short moment.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt stepped in and immediately looked for cameras. He disliked feeling watched constantly and the building had a way of giving you the sense that someone was always right behind you. He didn't notice any cameras, though, so he decided to get something done. The room contained a desk and computer, several tall filing cabinets and a wide, flat table. A microscope was bolted to it, along with a few drawers containing testing equipment: beakers, stirring rods, funnels, litmus paper, thermometers, and paper towels. There was a flat metal tray as well, but it was blank. No fluids, no slides, no test results.

Matt opened the first filing cabinet. Files were arranged alphabetically and each section was massive. How much research did these people do? He tugged a particularly thick one out at random. "BLOOD TYPE - A." He carefully opened it and glanced through. None of it made sense, but it seemed to relate to the weaknesses of A-type blood and how it reacted to...things. Viruses, perhaps? It was impossible to tell: the entire file was indecipherable.

Suddenly he remembered the computer. "Log on," he told the scientist. "Give me some information on this virus and how it works, whatever it is." He replaced the file and looked at the other drawers. "What's the name of this virus or project or whatever it is?"

[FaithfulMuse]

The woman nodded, walked over to the computer and logged in. It was something she had done so many times already, that it almost went automatically. She waited a few seconds before her desktop had been fully loaded and showed up on the screen. She then opened a folder with various files in it, and clicked the third. A text page opened, with various formulas and scientifically written pieces of text. Her eyes scanned the text in the screen briefly before she spoke up.

"The virus does not attack the human body on emotional or mental matter, but physically, meaning that your feelings will stay the same and are not influenced by the virus. Neither are your thoughts, or the ability to think. Your body will react heavily to the unknown thing in it, although during the first day, you won't feel much of it, but as the virus grows inside your body, it gets worse, and so becomes what you have to endure. At the fourteenth day, your body is too weakened and won't be able to endure it anymore. In fact, your body surrenders and allows the virus to put an end to the suffering it caused." The woman spoke, her voice without even a trace of emotion as she spoke, but instead as if she were talking about an everyday subject one would expect to occur during a meeting.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt rubbed his eyes, wincing again. His head still ached. He glanced at the nearest wall, which was covered in posted of the human body and several major organs. The woman must have some legitimate knowledge of the human body. He couldn't help but wonder how she got talked into a project like this. Maybe it started off small. A project that actually benefited humanity, perhaps? It didn't matter now.

"Again, what's the name of the virus? Does it have a file in this cabinet?" he asked, unsure of his next step. Matt had no experience as a doctor or even an EMT. He needed someone with experience, but going empty-handed wasn't going to help. They would need a sample of the virus. But the lab was clean. No samples, no pictures, nothing. The only available source was....

Matt snapped his fingers. Medical equipment. "Freya, do me a favor and try to find the file on this virus. I have an idea." He looked under the table and saw several cabinet doors. He jerked one open and examined the contents, then searched the second, making a list in his mind as quickly as possible. Two needles, two test tubes, two plastic caps with rubber taps, gauze, tape, elastic wrap, two syringe end caps and some painkillers. It wasn't the best plan, but it was a good start.

[FaithfulMuse]

The woman stepped aside, although Freya didn't care if she cooperated or not. If she didn't, Freya was convinced she could handle that. She opened the other files as well and took a brief moment to look at them. While most was written in the same, scientific matter as the third one, Freya at least managed to figure out that the first one was possibly the one Matt was looking for.

"It is this one, I think. But what is typed down here is quite difficult to understand, so I am not sure." She said, before looking at what Matt was doing. When she noticed the syringes, she froze at her place for a moment. She carried daggers with her and got beaten up severely several times already, which only made sense with her being a rogue. But if there was something she was afraid of and hated, than that thing had to be needles.

[MatthiasAngel]

"Okay, well, ask her for a translation," Matt replied over his shoulder. "'I can't read this' isn't going to help us. Try to find a starting point for killing this thing." He noticed that Freya looked a bit uneasy about seeing a syringe, but that was too bad. He wasn't going to use one on her anyway.

If he wanted to cure something in his blood, he was going to need a sample. Matt had been to the doctor a few times and knew the basic procedure for drawing blood. He warped a thin line of rubber tube around his left arm above the elbow, reducing blood movement in his arm and causing the veins to swell. He grabbed one of the needles, took several deep breathes and pushed it into his arm. He clenched his teeth and forced his other hand to draw the plunger back. The needle quickly filled with blood. He pulled the needle out and grabbed the other one, repeating the process as quickly as possible.

[FaithfulMuse]

The woman sighed. "As I said before, I'm not authorised to any information about the cure. Only scientists of a higher rank are. I was simply asked to study the proces of the virus and its side effects, and that's all you'll find in those files." She explained, looking at the two of them. When she heard someone knocking at the door, followed by a voice, fear overcame the young scientist. When she didn't answer the voice nor the door, its was kicked open, and a tall, muscular man stepped inside.

"Miss Johnson, according to what we could see on the cameras, you have violated one very important rule." He said, stepping over to the woman with a smirk on his face. "You know what means don't you, miss Johnson?" He asked, at which the woman burst out in tears and panick, mixing with the fear. "No, no please, don't, I have-" She started begging, but she was forced to stop when she got a fierce punch, causing all air to escape from her lungs and making her gasp for air. "Oh but miss, such things don't make a difference. Rules are rules, no exceptions. Besides, if you truly cared that much about-" The man stopped talking all of a sudden and shouted out of pain, letting the woman go as he grabbed for his hurt arm.

"You should pay more attention to things. This was just too easy." Freya said before firing another bullet from the stolen gun, this time at the man's leg, making it harder for him to walk. "And I suggest we leave right now." She said, looking at Matt and the scientist. At he moment, she couldn't be more grateful for how skilled she had gotten at stealing and merely pickpocketing trough the years.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt was vaguely aware that the scientist was speaking. He had located the drawer of equipment for patients after blood drawing: band-aids, cotton patches and hydrogen peroxide. He cleaned up the tiny hole in his arm and sealed a band-aid over it. Satisfied, he examined the two small syringes, now full of blood. Somewhere inside that tiny plastic cylinder was the most dangerous substance he had ever encountered and he couldn't even see it. Matt picked up one of the test tubes, drained the syringe's contents into it and twisted a plastic cap over it. He disregarded the second test tube and decided to instead put a cap over the second needle tip and leave it as it was.

Checking off the last few boxes on his mental list, Matt grabbed a small bottle of aspirin and slid them into a jacket pocket along with the test tube of blood. He looked up just in time to watch the door be violently removed from its hinges. A large, muscular man stepped confidently into the room. He almost looked like he was smiling. Matt swallowed hard and rotated the needle in his hand, holding it point-down slightly behind his back. This was his Plan B: infect someone else with the virus in his own blood. It would be the least painful and most effective method of getting whatever he wanted, and the syringe contained enough blood to be used on more than one person. The idea of deliberately injecting someone with a lethal virus made him nauseous, but desperate times...

He was snapped back to reality by a gunshot. The sound echoed through the room, momentarily deafening him. Matt grabbed his ears, being careful not to jab himself with the needle, and looked around. Freya had just shot the man in the leg. Where did she get a gun? Matt examined the wounded man and saw an empty holster on his hip. Well. That was an even more effective negotiation tool. The words "I suggest we leave right now" somehow made it to his brain and he nodded, placing a plastic cap over the end of the needle to keep it from poking him. He waited until he was under the door, between cameras, before sliding it into the back of his belt. Hopefully whoever was watching hadn't noticed.

[FaithfulMuse]

Freya turned to look at the woman. "You, show us the way outside, to a safe place." She said, at which the scientist nodded and started walking. They could always come back to this place later on, possibly at night or anything, but for now, it was more important that they found a safe place to be for a moment. Freya had heard they conversation between the scientist and they man that had burst into the room, but it hadn't been of much importance. All she wondered about for now, was what the woman had been trying to say before that man had punched her. But she could always ask her later on. While Freya followed the scientist, she stuck the gun at her belt as decently as was possible.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt grabbed the woman's arm again, feigning aggression and quietly hoping it still looked convincing. Something told him it didn't matter. The man who had burst into the room hadn't bothered to ask questions or attempt to rescue her. It was likely that she wouldn't be getting her job back. He pitied her, really. She hadn't even had time to clean the blood from her face after the beating Freya gave her. She looked exhausted and terrified. Matt hoped she was feigning it, but that was extremely unlikely now.

He wanted to stay behind and look for more information, but it didn't look like there was anything else to gather. The woman didn't know enough. Her employers weren't interested in negotiating. He had a blood sample and...wait. Matt turn and ran back into the room, jerking the file cabinet open and retrieving the file Freya had glimpsed over. He knew that this was going too far and decided to ahead and leave the building as fast as possible. He returned to the two women, squeezing the file under his left arm and grabbing the scientist's arm yet again.

"We're leaving. Now. Get us out of this building." Time was against him in every possible way but he had a file and he had a scientist. That was a good start. He nodded at Freya and the party hurried forward.

[FaithfulMuse]

As she led the two out of the building, the woman couldn't help but blaming the two subjects. If it hadn't been for them, she wouldn't be in trouble now. She wouldn't have to run, fear for her own life and that of her child. If they had just let her be, everything would still be the same as it had been before. She would be at her office, observing the side effects of the virus while joyfully and impatiently waiting until her child would be born. Granted, her life had been far from perfect, but they had made it even worse, and she hated them for that.

And of course she was terrified and exhausted. The two of them hadn't been easy on her, but they weren't the people she was afraid of. She was afraid of the people that were chasing her down, afraid of what they would do to her. One thing was for sure, and that was that they were capable of doing far worse, far more painful things to her than the two subjects that had forced her into this situation. And it wasn't her own life she feared for, neither. She could endure a beating and torture, but the child, on the other hand.. It was only two months yet, hadn't even been born. It was such a fragile, defenseless little being, one unfortunate hit could be fatal for it, and if she died, the child would die too.

After walking in silence for a while, the woman stopped, standing outside and turned, looking at the two of them with the hate she was feeling clearly visible in her eyes, just like the fear and exhaustion. "What is wrong?" Freya asked, noticing the look in the woman's eyes. The woman looked at her and laughed weakly. "What's wrong? You really need to ask? You beat me up, nearly choke me to death, force me to give information, which caused me to lose my job right away and have myself being hunted down by my previous coworkers, fearing for my own life and that of my unborn child, and you still don't understand what's wrong? I suppose that shouldn't even surprise me. From the moment the two of you woke, you haven't given a damn about anyone but yourselves. Not one moment you've stopped and wondered about what harm your actions would cause to others, as long as you were safe yourselves." The woman snapped, glaring at them with still the same look of hatred.

[MatthiasAngel]

Matt stopped and considered the woman's choice of words. It was true. He hadn't given her any credit or time to breathe. He hadn't considered that she was expecting, but then again how would he have known? Either way, she had a point. Until he and Freya showed up, the woman's career was secure, her life was safe (more or less) and she was being treated rather well, given the size of her office.

There was just one problem. Her argument would have been solid had the two of them chosen to participate in the test. True, they hadn't cared about her, but she hadn't cared about them either. In fact, as part of the corporation, she had given them even less sympathy or bothered to "wonder about what harm her actions would cause to others."

He took a deep breath, well aware that time was ticking, and responded in a steady, yet sharp, voice. "You do realize the same applies to you, right? From the moment we woke up, you haven't given one about us either. Considering how excited you were to see us awake, confused and afraid of death, you haven't showed any signs of caring about what harm YOUR actions would cause, as long as YOU were safe." He pointed a finger at her. "You knew from the moment we woke up that both of us were going to die. You even helped with the procedure, considering the information in your file cabinet. I don't know what your job entails, but I'm fairly certain it involves sitting in a comfortable chair at a desk while your company attacks, kidnaps and murders people. People like me.

"So now you know how we feel, I suppose. How everyone else felt. Now you get to run and hope you don't die and realize that people really don't care. You think you're tired? I have a busted head and the only thing keeping me conscious is painkillers. So-" he stopped and turned his head. He heard boots. Several pairs of boots. The scientist had to make a life or death choice, and she had to make it now.

"I'm sorry, okay? I know that probably doesn't mean much to you, but I am. I'm sorry you're in this mess, I'm sorry we've been so hard on you, but face it. You're not the only one who doesn't want to die."