( VIDEO. )

[descry]

[ river is laid out on an operating table, and her brother is looking at a hologram above her - a 3d image scan of her brain. for anyone that isn't a neurosurgeon or talented doctor, he's apparently explaining to jayne behind him just what the image shows. ]

They opened up her skull. [ he turns the image, and looks really disturbed. ] That's a scalpel scar, they... They opened up her skull, and they cut into her brain.

... Why?

Well, the only reason to make an incision in someone's brain is to lobotomise them - to go in and remove damaged tissue. Why anyone would cut into a healthy brain is... [ he's disgusted. horrified. ] They did it over, and over... They stripped her amygdala.

[ jayne is here to help the less knowing audience. ] Her what?

You know, uh... You know how you get scared, or, or worried, or nervous, but you don't want to be scared or worried or nervous, so you, you push it to the back of your mind, you try not to think about it. Your amygdala is what lets you do that. It's like a... a filter in your brain that keeps your feelings in check.

[ simon steps back and honestly looks pained, horror-stricken. ]

She feels everything. She can't not.

[ jayne mentions something about leaving, and simon starts arguing with him about getting more time - while they bicker, river wakes up, and once her eyes open she starts screaming in sheer terror. jayne covers her mouth and simon tries to comfort her, but she's freaking out. ]

No! No, no, they come out of the black, they come when you call. [ simon tries to calm her, it's okay, we're leaving, but she looks at jayne. ] Your toes are in the sand.

And your head's up your—

Hey! Back off.

You just make sure she keeps her mouth shut. I don't need her screeching while we're trying to make a quiet get-away.

( ooc | river's replies will icly be coming a day later! )

Comments

[Video]

[precursorstone_gun_nest]

[This is Jak. This is Jak looking absolutely furious, and he doesn't even know River as well as some people.

He's working off the assumption that the people talking probably wouldn't actually hear him reply, so he's just kind of sitting here glaring at the screen helplessly and muttering under his breath.]

Come on, just say who did it. Just give me a name.

[descry]

[ apparently they got out safely, because she appears unharmed, if perhaps a little shaken. ]

Can't. She's under orders.

[thekidsare0kay]

oh my god what the fuck.
that ii2 *2hiitty*.

[descry]

Yī dà tuó dà biàn. They'll take your tongue.

[thekidsare0kay]

whiich one?

[video]

[croibhristeoir]

[Never mind how Lancer had no concept of modern surgical procedures. Never mind how he didn't even know what a scalpel was, let alone a lobotomy or an amygdala. He comprehended enough of that to know that was well beyond sickening.]

...

[And he looked flat-out livid.]

[descry]

[ river doesn't shrink away from the screen, but she sits further back, as if his anger might strike her somehow and she wants to be out of its reach. ]

I don't have smoke for this.

[croibhristeoir]

...Are you alright?

[He seemed calmer by then, at least--upset still, but concern was the primary thing when he responded.]

[descry]

Lim infinite isn't applicable in practise.

[croibhristeoir]

[It took him a minute or two to attempt to work that out--maybe she was saying it wasn't as absolute as 'alright' and 'not alright'?]

...how are you feeling, then?

[touchedbygenius]

Her amygdala...? Why? Fear suppression? It doesn't seem to have worked.

[descry]

She doesn't work. Never learnt to function. They lost her parts.

[scanningutterly]

[There's still a bit of a horrified look on Orlando's slightly-computer-generated looking face, though he's trying to look calmer. Comforting, maybe, though he's not that good at that.]

...Are you feeling any better?

[descry]

[ she doesn't respond. for a long moment, she just stares. ]

You're not real.

[scanningutterly]

[He looks genuinely disturbed for a moment] Wha-

[And then it clicks.] Oh, you mean the sim.

[descry]

Where are you hiding?

[scanningutterly]

[In the hospital bed in his room at home.

He shrugs.]

I'm just used to using sims on the net. Everyone does in my world.

[It's not a lie, though it just takes looking a few posts back to find the real truth.]

[descry]

[ she'll totally dig up posts when she has calmed down from her trauma. ]

They're unstable blocks. You shouldn't build on them.

[scanningutterly]

It's not a big deal here. [And he knows more about how vr works than most.]

[hasbottombunk]

Oh...oh River. [He is having all kinds of protective feelings for her right now.]

Do you know who did it? Who did that to you?

[ 1/2; not here ]

[loyalbound]

[ ... he knew, or at least suspected, after that one virus that showcased her deterioration, that River had been the victim of something terrible. but hearing the specifics fills him with disgust and righteous anger towards the people who did this. had they been trying to do something with River's innate gifts? what could they have possibly hoped to gain from this? ]

[ video ]

[loyalbound]

[ he's impatient to talk to her, but he doubts she'll be responding for a while. it's clear Simon and their colourful companion have broken in somewhere they shouldn't have to do this scan. besides, it'd be better for him to become calm before he replies; he doesn't want his anger at her tormentors to affect her. so when he does come to respond, he looks grim, but composed. ]

Your brother is certainly resourceful. [ pause. ] Have you... recovered?