MEMORY VIDEO / ACTION / VOICE.

[shoplifter]

(Warning for torture and abuse of a child, pretty much, as well as self-harm and vague mentions of violent footage. If you'd rather just visit Laura without viewing it, feel free to! Open action and voice options are under the memory option. Also, feel free to see the footage any time throughout the event, if you prefer to have your character see it later. It'll play at random, probs.)

[VIDEO MEMORY | optional]

[What plays is particularly grainy at first -- some kind of movie file that is comprised almost entirely of short, sporatic scenes -- bloody bedding in a surgery room, a number of vials and medical machinery, and Laura, laying unconscious as scientists -- doctors -- cut her open and forcefully extract the sharp bones in her arms. It's fuzzy, as is the next clip of her sitting up in her surgery bed, screaming at her bandaged hands and legs, carted back toward her room as the drugs slowly wear down. Clips of daily life for her and the children, of them walking in carefully maintained single file lines. And then -- Laura, sitting huddled and passive. The camera holder walks in, voice soft and miserable. "Oh, niña--" Laura slices her wrists, watching the blood dribble before the wound closes. She looks up with clear emotion now: misery.

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The camera steadies. An older man stands beside the table where Laura has been carefully cuffed -- hands and feet, because without those fasteners, she would be able to kill them all in a fit. She is just rousing from the strong sedation they found effective, and looks at Dr. Rice with a sharp, dark stare. One of the men in lab coats continue:

"Log #306, Subject X-23-23, current age nine. Increased levels of radiation was a success -- all of Weapon X's documented abilities have been developing at a much more excellerated rate, though there appear to be some distinctive differences." Dr. Rice steps around to the side of the table, akin to an operating slab, and Laura watches like a hawk. She doesn't try to fight it; she doesn't know any better yet. "Patient is reacting well to serum injections -- no signs of illness or allergies."

He gives the nod to the other doctors in the room, reaching for -- something, on the operating table.

"We will now proceed to improve the subject's pain tolerance."

The screen muddies with pixels and static, just before Laura begins screaming.

A woman's voice drifts between the cries of pain --

"There, there -- if you want it to end, you must adapt to it... 'Laura'."

Static. Sound plays, the doctor's voice drifting through the feed. "We do not dress them up for Halloween. We do not call them baby, or kiss boo-boos. Do not think them as children. Think them as things, with patents and copyrights. Comprende?"

As the audio plays out, the final clip in the muddled feed is someone filming a gaggle of children, all sitting in front of a screen. Empathy erasure, they call it. Desensitizing. It makes them more willing to hurt things, if that's all they know, isn't it? Follow orders and hurt people. They're watching footage of wartime, of death, compilations of combat and all manner of operation. Some of it is old black and white footage, perhaps of World War II. One of the children covers his face with his hands, rocking in his discontent, but Laura sits with intense focus as the light from the screen plays over her face. As if aware of being watched -- filmed -- she turns a dark-eyed, focused stare toward the camera before the feed ends.]

[Action.]

[Laura is of course unaware of this footage -- no, she doesn't watch or know about it, but instead of being on the network, she follows through with her usual day to day life. She packs some comic books she found in the school library along with her slightly rumpled homework. Linda helps brush her hair and hands off a pastry before she starts off with her tattered green backpack, a little horse key-chain hanging off it, the horse plush gifted to her recently poking out of an unzipped section like it's hiding out and catching a ride with her. She has her favorite galaxy-themed cap on, too, and smiley-face pancakes on her mind from a local diner. Smiley-face pancakes and a milkshake, of course. Maybe she'll go there again, now that Peter Quill the Star Lord has properly introduced her. She does actually go to school today, and can be found milling about there, finishing the day properly.

Then she walks the town, mainly to visit the toy store -- Ciel's toystore. She has money from her caseworker today.

Near the end of the day, Laura can also be found near the shops wandering (not stealing! aren't you proud?), or at the community housing, on the rooftop, her legs crossed as she lays on her belly and reads the daring comic adventures of THE FLICK AND WILD RANGER, two very generic but no less enthusiastic heroes. The Flick flicks things with his mind. And the ranger is wild and has a lasso. You understand. If there are wrappers all over the roof, well. Whatever. It's a fun hang-out spot for asocial children. Her eyes pour over every panel with eagerness, brightened in privacy by the victories on the paper.]

[Voice.]

What is your favorite hero?

... Someone said that Halloween is for 'costumes'. Do they mean hero costumes? Like a... hero costume day.

[She's a little inspired today. She just doesn't know how to go about what she considers "dress like a superhero day". Clearly that's what Halloween is, right?]

Comments

Voice

[hititwithacrowbar]

Wonder Woman. She's the best their is.

Voice

[shoplifter]

... I've never heard of her.

What kind of hero is she?

Voice

[hititwithacrowbar]

She is a member of the Justice League back home. A princess of the Amazonian people. She is just and fair and she gets stuff done when no one else does.

Voice

[shoplifter]

... I've never heard of 'Amazonians'. They're from a country?

... With a lot of just and fair people?

voice; @b.potts

[tutee]

[ Bill recognizes Laura in the video, and is absolutely horrified by what she sees. She has a hard time reconciling this-- this weapon, this test subject with the brave little girl who was mystified by ketchup and who hates going to school. When she hears Laura's question, she tries not to let on that she's seen the memory. Her voice shakes a bit, but she does her best to keep it together for Laura's sake. ]

Not all heroes wear costumes with capes. Some wear sunglasses and velvet coats.

[ The Doctor would know what to do with this trauma Laura suffered, Bill thinks. The Doctor is the sort of hero would could save this girl. ]

voice;

[shoplifter]

[Laura on the other hand is as relaxed and easygoing as she can be -- sitting on the rooftop, flipping through pages of captivating tales. She's already read them, but she can read the same thing over and over without boredom. That's how one copes in a place with little to do, back home. Billie's words do make her touch the sunglasses on the top of her head, though...]

Is this a hero you know? From home, sí?

voice;

[tutee]

Si. Yeah. From home. He's my friend, actually. And he was here, a few months back.

voice;

[shoplifter]

I'm sorry he isn't here anymore.

[... That always sucks. She's familiar with the feeling of at least missing friends when they're suddenly not there.]

What kind of powers does he have? Superheroes... usually have powers.

voice;

[wingedman]

You dress up as whatever you want for Halloween. Whoever you want. A hero, or a princess, or an animal.

-my favorite hero is Captain America. He used to be this short, scrawny guy who couldn't do much, but he wanted to fight for what was right, so he was chosen for an experiment that bulked him up. Made him big and strong, so he could protect people who were being hurt by bad guys. That's why he uses a shield, because he wants to keep people safe.

[Which is a really bare-bones and rose-tinted version of the story, but hey, Laura's a kid.]

voice;

[shoplifter]

[... Oh. You can be anything...

That does make sense. It's a costume day, so any costume'll do.

But... something doesn't sound right about the story, and she sounds confused.]

... The people who experimented on him -- were good guys?

[wingedman]

Uh-huh. [Sam hasn't seen the video, doesn't know about memories leaking onto the network.] A scientist who escaped from Germany because they wanted to use the serum for bad things. He picked the best man he could find - not the strongest or the fastest, but the one with the kindest heart. The one who stood up to bullies even when they were bigger than him or when they outnumbered him.

[Again, he might be sugarcoating this a tad.]

[shoplifter]

... I didn't know experiments could be good. It sounds nice.

[She's happy for this Captain America, anyway, and he sounds like a real hero, truly.

Though...]

Did it hurt a lot? For him to be stronger. It usually hurts.

video | @cphantom

[sweetlies]

[Ciel's trigger finger twitches, watching events unfold in the video. He's a good enough shot, even with one eye, that if he'd been there, he could have killed everyone around Laura while they were... doing everything to her. Or, if he had his butler and they both witnessed it, he could have had Sebastian kill them all- but that thought he shoves away quickly.

Bringing his demon into something like this, someone he felt at least a litter closer to from their experiences, didn't feel right.

So he focuses on what's nicer:]

My servants had me dressed up as a devil last Halloween. Just horns and a tail but it wasn't awful.

Video

[shoplifter]

That is... the evil red man who lives underground, right?

Why would you dress as something bad? You're not bad.

Video

[sweetlies]

That is how some stories depict him but that's the fun of Halloween, dressing up as something you're not. Some people like to dress up as scary things for Halloween, some people like dressing up as nice things. Like princesses or fairies.

[ video | un: jkent ]

[supersweet]

Superman! Superman's the best. But Wonder Woman is great too. She has an invisible jet. And flying horses.

We should go trick or treating for Halloween. I'm already getting my costume ready.

[ video | un: jkent ]

[shoplifter]

No sé... Wonder Woman has two votes, so she's ahead of him.

[She actually smiles a little though, teasing. She's not surprised that's who he picked.

... You can't help but love your daddies.]

[video] oops 2/2

[shoplifter]

... Trick or treating?

[supersweet]

Boo.

[ But Jon isn't taking it too personally. ]

For Halloween! It's when you dress up and visit houses. And everyone gives kids free candy.

Action

[ragnarsson]

[He saw the footage. Unlike the way a normal human being might react, with sympathy for what had happened to the little girl, or disgust at what these callous people were doing to small children, the images don't stir much from him. Ivar? Well, he's already warped in the brain. He just digests this with the same calm sangfroid that he has about most situations that don't rouse his anger.

He goes looking for Laura with undefined thoughts in mind, wondering where she might be. When he's exhausted most typical spots, he goes to the community housing. Asking around, he finds out she's on the roof. Hmmm. That's a bit of a challenge, considering whoever made the building didn't think to put in a elevator that went all the way to the roof. He won't be able to get his wheelchair up there. Oh well. He's crawled in parts of this city before. Dignity kind of got lost after doing this his whole life.

Ivar opens up the door that leads to the roof, spotting Laura sitting there, a serene sight in comparison to the girl of the video cutting herself. Ivar drags himself forward with an easy sort of movement, his arms strong after a lifetime of this. He crawls over to her, but he doesn't say anything, merely looking at the bright pictures over her shoulder. He can't read, not really, just recognize the odd letter or two.]

Action

[shoplifter]

[When she hears him come in, she offers a glance -- and although she doesn't say anything or move from her spot, it's a good sign, a sign that she isn't about to leave because of his arrival. For basic Laura terms: he's decent company. When he finally comes over to her she pushes the comic, after a long pause, to him. It's of superheroes fighting some large sort of alien beast; Wolverine is leaping into action, thrown into battle by Collosus. A man shoots red lasers from his eyes, and a blue beastman leaps and bounds across buildings. There are many, all colorful and gifted with unique abilities.

But of course, Ivar will probably most notice the fact that this Wolverine character has Laura's metal claws.]

... They're the X-Men. They protected people.

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar lets Laura set the pace is things. He's come to realize that pushing the girl too hard will only likely make her shut down or run off. In a way, she reminds him if Bucky, a small version no less deadly.

He looks at the colorful images, taking in the sight of the comic. He's fairly observant, so he notices right away how Wolverine has claws just like Laura. It looks like fiction and reality are blending together a little bit. He turns to his young friend, the images of the video still dancing around in his mind.]

This one. [He points to Wolverine.] What is his name?

Roof - Backdated to Event

[alchemyfreak]

Ed has his own reason to be atop the communal building, although he knows it isn't exactly a private location to hide out, it was a safe enough bet that it wouldn't be frequently occupied. Being on the roof often helped him think when he needed to, and today he needed to. There was so much going on with things as they were, getting away from everyone was really the only way to cope with it.

Seeing Laura there at that moment might have been a bit of a surprise, but it was no shock. After all, they'd already been there and done that on that topic. She seems busy so he makes no move to bother her, figuring that she was up here to be alone just as he had intended to be. Although he did pick up some of the wrappers at least, not wanting them to blow away, the last thing Ed wanted to do was scare her off from what little sanctuary one could find in this place. Which meant he took a seat on the edge of the roof without much thought, leaning back on an arm and looking up at the sky curiously. He's close enough that she could speak up easily for conversation, but for the moment at least, not invading her personal space or interfering with her business. She seemed pretty engrossed in her comic, anyway.

[shoplifter]

She does take her time to react, because she's indeed interested in the comics (despite having read some of them too many times to count). She does make note of who it is, of course, and knowing who it is makes her at ease; she knows Edward well enough to see he's just giving space and moving at a Laura-respected pace. After a moment, she closes the comic, putting her backpack on them as a paperweight.

"Did you come for the quiet?"

It's why she does, anyway.

[alchemyfreak]

Edward is well aware from his own experiences that children can become engrossed in the same thing again and again, absorbing as much of it as possible. It was easy to understand, coming from a place like Purg where there were so few options and just experiencing his own childhood and the way he'd lost himself in alchemy. It was nice, in his mind, that Laura had something like that to take joy from. It was easy enough for him to see that she probably didn't have many other opportunities, even without knowing much about her - even before seeing that video broadcast on the network.

He hadn't come here to seek Laura out, despite knowing she stopped here herself at times. Having seen that part of her past was merely one more thing for him to think over, and it was those things that had brought him to the roof in the first place. Things with his brother, those who left, the new arrivals, now this. More importantly why this had shown up on the network was the real question.

If she knew, Laura didn't seem remotely fussed about it, and if she didn't he wasn't about to be the one to tell her. At the question he glances back to her, offering a mild - but friendly - smile in response. "Yeah... Have you been up here long?"