Bed Side Manner (Lucian)

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Light.

Too much light, in fact.

Lucian Clarke slowly awoke to the blinding light of what he assumed must’ve been the sun. As a forehand slowly rose to shield his eyes from the light, he could feel his senses returning to him. Aside from the burning sensation in the back of his head and the general lethargy he felt throughout his body, nothing seemed to be out of place; so why, then, was he in a hospital bed?

It was then that everything came back to him quicker than he could even fathom… or at least, what he was conscious enough to record in his memory. Had he been injured and lost his memory? If he had, he doubted he would still find himself alive, considering the circumstances. Despite all his burning questions and worries about what happened and the giant structure that suddenly appeared, Lucian knew that sitting in bed wondering what might have happened wouldn’t get him anywhere; the best course of action would be to seek help from a hospital worker, and reunite with James and Alice from there. Someone like…


Lucian slowly turned his head expecting to be greeted by the sight of a nurse or doctor, only to find… a… witch? Had the damage to his head been more severe than he’d initially speculated? As far as he was aware it wasn’t Halloween or anything of the sort. “Where…” The president was interrupted by his own pain, prompting him to reach a hand behind his neck to rub the ailing area. “…where am I? Where is my family?” He inquired the supposed nurse, stepping over his own words in his desperate pursuit for answers.

A syrup? Lucian wasn’t exactly a man who would normally accept random medicine from questionably dressed nurses, but… in his current situation, it wasn’t like he had much of an option; even moving was painful. Without much objection, Lucian shakily grabbed the spoon that was offered to him and quickly swallowed the contents, knowing from experience that tasting medicine never ended well for one’s tongue.

Lucian reflexively yet shortly shuddered as some of the medicine dripped onto his tongue, just what he was trying to avoid… at least it did feel like it had immediately taken some form of effect, as his pain – while not gone entirely – had reduced considerably upon swallowing it. More importantly, however, this woman wasn’t a trained medic? Then what was she doing tending to him? Had something happened that the hospital had become understaffed?

“Asleep? Visiting me?” She made it sound like he’d been in a coma. “I… I don’t understand, just how long have I been unconscious?” Lucian could appreciate the fact that this woman was at the very least trying to be as concrete and direct as possible, but intentions became meaningless when the end result was nothing short of counterproductive. “More importantly, why was I unconscious? Does it have to do with this… this burning on my neck?” Once again, Lucian’s hand would reach backwards in an attempt to rub the hurting patch of skin, only to find – after prodding the aching spot – that touching it only made the pain worse and was far from the best course of action. His hand would quickly recoil, and the man to whom it belonged would sharply inhale from the pain.

That’s right… the giant tower. On the final day on which he had his life guaranteed, Lucian’s luck had taken a complete full degree turn in the form of the arrival of this… inexplicable immense structure. Initially he’d figured that it was some sort of Horseman machination related to his “day of execution”, and that he stood a chance of living if he were to investigate it and meddle with it in time. Now though… he wasn’t quite so sure. It was possible that the Horsemen had captured him in his unconscious state and decided to interrogate him before killing him, thus explaining why he was on life support; yet if that was the case, then why would they have gone out of their way to offer him a painkiller? Furthermore, if he was in safe hands inside of this giant tower… Junction, as it were, then it would mean the Horsemen had no involvement with it. Was “Junction” a rebel scheme, then? Making a colossal tower appear from thin air and swallow up a large portion of Washington D.C. seemed more like a Horseman tier parlor trick than it did a rebel plan… “I should be dead, but instead I’m being granted life support. Are you with the rebels? I’m going to assume this “Junction” is a rebel-made phenomenon…” The Horsemen had made one grave mistake: anyone under their influence had an implanted unending hatred for Liber Gene carriers, one that not even the Horsemen themselves were capable of overwriting. It seemed like a good idea to them at first, but it later came back to bite them in the bottom once carriers managed to form rebellious groups. No matter how brainwashed, one without the gene wouldn’t be able to calmly state themselves to be a rebel.

A whole month?! So he really had been comatose… yet, despite knowing this, his thirst for answers wasn’t satiated. The last thing he remembered was stepping into the premises of “Junction”, then passing out for reasons he couldn’t quite yet recall… what in God’s name had happened that he’d been rendered comatose and with an inexplicable burning wound? Furthermore, what had happened in between his fall into comatose state and now? He hoped James and Alice hadn’t worried too much about him… “An entire month…” Lucian mulled this fact over for a few seconds… “Could you tell me what’s happened? Since I was knocked unconscious, I mean.” It was all so sudden… “And if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to see my family as soon as possible. I’m already a month too late.” He requested, knowing full well that a reunion was in order.

What followed next was neither of the two outcomes the professor was hoping for. He’d already found it bizarre as it stood that she had no reaction whatsoever to the mention of the rebels, as opposed to the either confession or ballistic rage that he’d known to be the only rational outcomes, but to be told he was in a planet-jumping city… as she explained the idea of Junction to Lucian, his face would begin to lose serenity and slowly shift into annoyance. “I appreciate the medical care, but right now I don’t have time or patience for practical jokes.” Honestly, how stupid did he really look? Who would even go out of their way to try to prank the president at a time as crucial as this? As far as he was aware, the breaking point of a war against a group of tyrants wasn’t the time to joke around.

Again with the indifference! Lucian wasn’t really sure how to proceed in this scenario, it just seemed so… well, it didn’t seem like anything, as it didn’t seem like a possibility at all. Either this woman had lost a fair bit of memory herself, or somehow the Horsemen had managed to overcome their one crippling mistake and erased the concept of the rebellion from the collective memory of the masses. The thought alone was terrifying… “Rebels? Liber Gene carriers? ‘The great divisors´? None of these names ring a bell?”

So, she had no intention of dropping the joke? Lucian wasn't usually one to stand in the way of humor, whether it be practical or traditional, but there was a time and a place for everything. "I already told you, I don't have time fo-ooooAGH!"


What the hell was that thing?! Lucian had long since lost a great deal – though not the entirety – of his faith in religion, but if he had been a more religious man he would’ve begun to pray right about then. He didn’t even have time to process what he’d been looking at before the… the abomination went back the way it came from. It’s movements though; they were too fluid and natural for it to have been any sort of animatronic or disguise. Just what the hell was that?! He’d seen some very unusual things as the president of the world’s most influential nation, but that… thing took the cake and swallowed it whole!

Left in too large a state of shock to properly answer the woman's question about the Liber Gene or to confront the woman about how he still believed she was speaking nonsense, Lucian simply nodded – the look of genuine disbelief still present on his face – to agree to the diagnostic. At least the conversation had shifted back to medical talk; besides, anything to see James and Alice sooner. There were too many questions he had to make and not a large enough timespan between words to answer them all; the only way he would find himself even with the current state of affairs would be to receive an explanation from somebody he trusted and knew, someone who might’ve experienced the same level of disbelief and confusion he was currently experiencing. “No… no questions, just let me see them. I’ll trust their word and their word alone.”