Rue and Harmony - Null Part 2

Gathering / Conference

Harmony and Rue's investigaiton into Blackmoore Hospital begins with a meeting with the Director Dr Indigo Upton.

Once through the doors of Blackmoore Hospital, the pair of heroes are greeted by a spacious hallway and a large reception desk located to their right. Rue's nostrils fill with the smell of disinfectants, the overhead lights buzzing at a frequency most wouldn't even register.

"Well hello there," comes a calm and friendly voice from across the way. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a warm smile motioned the two to come forward to the reception desk. He takes a look at the pair, and Rue's evident discomfort before asking, "Checking in?"

"No" Harmony says firmly. "We have a meeting with Dr Indigo Upton"

"Oh right, apologies. We get a lot of superhero types coming through here," he turns to his computer, "Let's see what we've got here.... Yep. Looks like the Director has a ten o'clock appointment scheduled with someone named Rue?"

''That's me...'' Rue mumbles nervously, their eyes downcast.

"Wonderful." he responds, almost automatically, "Now if you wouldn't mind signing into the visitor's book over there..." he points the two towards a book nerby on the countertop.

"Ah, one moment" Harmony reaches into one of her assorted pockets and produces a small black box. She turns to Rue, "Would you mind?" holding the box out to her.

Rue eyes the box quizzically, taking the box, ''What's this?''

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Its just a stamp. It has my signature on it. My handwriting is pretty terrible nowadays." Harmony gives a wink and a grin.

''Oh, right...'' Rue opens the box to retrieve the stamp and uses it on the visitor's book. They put the stamp back in the box and hand it over to Harmony before picking up the pen and quickly scribbling a messy signature on the page.

Harmony thanks Rue and deposits the box back into one of her pockets. She then turns her attention back to the receptionist, "Which direction is Dr Indigo's office?"

"Ah of course." He smiles to them both, "Dr Upton's office can be found down that hallway," he's clearly pointing for Rue's benefit, "Second on the right after the group therapy rooms."

Harmony smiles knowingly, "Thank you," Harmony spares a second to listen to Rue's breathing and then starts walking in the direction the man pointed.

Rue utters a quiet ''thank you'' before following Harmony down the hall. They walk past the group therapy rooms - one has the sign switched to 'occupied', the other still available with the door slightly open. As per the instructions, when they make it to the second right, Rue spots a door with a placard on it that reads 'Dr. I. Upton''

"Oh! Rue!" a voice comes from the direction of the occupied group therapy room. The pair turn around to see a familiar-looking blonde woman quickly walking towards them with a big grin on her face, "I can't believe you actually came! It's me. Lucy!" They barely recognise her outside the psychadelic bubble.

Rue turns to face the blonde, visibly surprised. ''Lucy, what-'' They start, clearly disoriented. ''It's uh, it's good to see you. You seem... well?''

Clearly not noticing their surprise or discomfort, Lucy throws her arms around Rue like an old friend, "Oh, I've not been better in years"

At the embrace, Rue visibly flinches, and before they know it, they've pushed Lucy away from them, their back hitting the wall. A spike of anxiety courses through them, their heart racing in their chest and the air suddenly too thick for their lungs. The look they give Lucy is one of pure terror, their overwhelmed senses making it nearly impossible to make out anything being said.

"Woah, woah, woah, Kid," she says, righting herself, "Don't trip. I'm just happy you came is all. Sorry." she tries to brush off the moment, blushing slightly as the awkwardness of the situation hits home, "I'm sure if Maria were here, she'd be happy to see you too."

Rue's breathing is becoming shallow, their legs feeling wobbly underneath them as they try to urge themself to calm down. They try to listen to what Lucy is saying, but suddenly the overhead buzzing lights are too much, seemingly overpowering all other sounds.

"Rue. Its okay, just listen to me, you are doing great. Close your eyes, listen to the sound of my voice"

"Uhh... I think I'd better go..." Lucy says, dejected.

"Thats probably a good idea, I'll come find you later Lucy."

"Thanks, uh... Harmony." She says, turning away and heading back to the group therapy room.

Harmony dismisses Lucy without taking her attention from Rue. At the same time, the other hero has slid down the wall, no longer trusting their legs to hold them up. Though they didn't hear Harmony, they do end up closing their eyes, pressing the palms of their hands against them as they take a shuddery breath.

"Rue, listen to my voice. Concentrate on your breathing, let it come back slowly. You can get through this. Being scared is absolutely fine, fear keeps you safe. What you are feeling is scary, but its not dangerous."

Rue can hear Harmony this time, the buzzing in their ears having faded ever so slightly. Doing as they're told, they concentrate on their breathing, taking another shaky breath in, remembering a technique that Rachel had shown them. They hold the breath for what feels like an eternity, but in reality can't have been more than 3 seconds, then release it again. They inhale once more, repeating the breathing pattern until slowly it starts to even out.

"Good job. Keep it going. I'm super proud of you right now," Harmony kneels down opposite Rue and places her hand on the toes of her boots, "Okay, I want you to start flexing your toes for me. Once I say so you are going to move to your ankles."

Although the touch is faint, Rue instinctively pulls their foot away, their back pressing harder against the wall, ''D-don't...'' They manage between breaths.

"Okay, no problem." Harmony holds her hands in the air, "I still want those flexes though, come on you can do it"

After a moment, Rue hesitantly flexes their toes, their breaths a little less shaky than before.

"Okay, now up to those ankles"

Rue quietly does as Harmony instructs, slowly working their way through the muscles to flex. As they do so, they’re visibly starting to calm down, bit by bit.

"Awesome, you're doing great. Now, at your own pace start moving those flexes up by on muscle group and joint each time."

For a few minutes, Rue continues with the exercise, their breathing gradually evening out. They take their hands off their eyes, flexing their fingers, their arms, their shoulders, working their way through each muscle group. Taking one more deep breath, Rue’s eyelids flutter open, the lights still harsh, but not overwhelming. “Sorry...” They mumble, embarrassed, but clearly more at ease than before.

"Don't be, I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like for you."

''Any chance we can keep this between us?'' Rue asks nervously, placing a hand on the floor to push themself back up on their feet.

"Of course, that goes without saying," Hamrony notices Rue getting ready to stand and goes to hold her hand out but withdraws it quickly, "Take your time, we aren't in a rush"

''Thank you,'' Rue notices the gesture and contemplates explaining things further, but they don't feel quite ready, and so leave it be. ''Okay, lets get this over with.''

"Okay, remember, you got this" Harmony reaches up and knocks on the door.

It doesn't take long for the voice on the other side of the door to say "Come in," before it opens and the heroes catch the sight of a stretched arm returning back to its owner, still sat at her desk and finishing up some paperwork.

Dr Indigo Upton doesn't immediately strike the pair as similar to Blue in many ways, with her stiffer and more businesslike demeanour, reading glasses and more formal speech, but they can immediately see the family resemblance. The big eyes and premature crows feet combined with their bloodline's signature blue hair and, of course, the powers.

Indigo stands up after finishing some piece of handwritten notation and welcomes the two heroes into her office, holding her hand out to shake, "Good Morning. My name is Indigo Upton. I'm the director of this facility."

Rue gives a small nod instead of shaking the proffered hand. ''I'm Rue,'' They start, looking around the room as they keep their distance. ''Did Rachel explain the nature of our visit today?''

Harmony takes the extended hand and gives a single flick of the wrist before releasing, "Harmony. Nice to meet you," Harmony takes a half step back and allows Rue to take the lead, ready to jump in if she notices a dip in confidence.

"Yes, Rachel mentioned that the two of you were a little concerned by one of our clinical trials. Is that so?" She says, sitting back at her desk and motioning to two chairs in front of it for the two heroes.

''That's one way to put it.'' Rue crosses their arms in front of their chest. ''We have reason to believe that some of the 'testing' happening at Blackmoore is being handled... unethically. What can you tell us about the group that was recently involved in the hostage situation at Town Hall?''

"Well, that is quite the accusation," she says, and you can immediately see a narrowing of her eyes, "I hope you won't mind if I decide to withhold judgement until a full investigation has been performed," She takes a moment to work on her computer, pulling up a number of documents from the facility's information management system, "Let's see... William Randal, Gary Henessey, Lucas Newport, and the sisters Maria and Lucille Conroy. Looks like they were each admitted here separately, but were part of a drug trial overseen by..." She ponders the information for a moment, "Looks like it was Dr Suguti for that one. Looks like they were trialling a new dopamine suppressant that had shown promise in treating a broad range of addictions."

''Would that be Dr. Amelie Suguti?'' Rue enquires, hoping to puzzle the information they had together. ''And how would a dopamine suppressant result in their addictions mutating to the point where the addicts who were subjected to it experience a continuous high?''

"Err... no. Farina. The only Amelie I know around here is one of the nurses. Though, I do believe she's been helping Farina with the trials," she takes a moment in thought and leans back in her chair a little, "As unfortunate as it is, the complicated nature of the human body means that sometimes drugs have paradoxical effects in vitro. It's why we do trials like this in the first place. On a cursory inspection, it seems these people were just the unfortunate victims of an unsuccessful trial. Though, if it's any consolation, I've heard that Farina is working with each of them to nullify the effects."

''How were the patients selected?'' Rue pries further, dissatisfied with Dr. Upton's professional answer. ''What experiments were conducted before moving on to human trials? And what about the after care for the patients involved - surely they should have been seen to as soon as the 'paradoxical effects', as you called them, became apparent.''

Indigo raises a brow, but shows very little other sign of her probable irritation. She takes a breath and continues, "Rue, I appreciate that you want to get to the bottom of this, and I will answer your questions, but let's keep this cordial, shall we?" the pristine veneer of professionality remains intact as she returns to her computer, "Now, the drug in question has a long chemical name, but it's being branded as Quizaline. It was developed by Frost Pharmaceuticals in partnership with the government with the idea that, as part of a rehab program, blocking the dopamine hit of these substances might stop someone who'd fallen off the wagon from developing to full-blown relapse. The drug has been in development for ten years and was tested extensively in both lab conditions and in animal analogues with little problem. Had there been any, I wouldn't have approved the project. Finally, the patients were selected as representatives of each of the major substance-users we see in the rehab center, with full consent of the patients and their families. And they were still under our care when they escaped. Unfortunately the rehab centre doesn't have the same security measures as some of our other wings since the patients are usually there voluntarily. They caused no small amount of carnage and escaped before we even knew they had powers." Dr Upton sits forward, waiting for Rue's next barrage.

Unbothered by professionalism, Rue doesn't seem to have any qualms with showing their irritation, ''Forgive me if I am a little sceptical,'' They lean forward, placing their hands on the meticulously kept desk to meet Dr. Upton's gaze. ''But if everything was truly above board, then I'm sure you wouldn't have any objections to an official investigation into the trials. One not run by the very establishment that conducted them, that is.''

Harmony listens to the conversation intently, concentrating her hearing on the Doctor's heart beat. Indigo's heart beats slightly quickly but steady, the unmistakable cadence of a person under mild stress. The Doctor sighs as she hears Rue's proposal, "And I assume you would graciously volunteer yourselves for such a task?" She continues, a hint of sarcasm in her tone, "I think you may find that you're overstepping the Vigil's bounds a little here. I get that you have certain privileges, but there is a lot of confidential data in these premises, and we can't really be seen to let anyone come in under no authority but their own and start snooping around."

Harmony snaps to attention with an idea, "How about another medical professional? Someone bound by their oaths and confidentiality?" She takes a step forward towards the desk, "Someone not in the employ of either this hospital or the vigil. Would this be an acceptable compromise for everyone?"

Rue turns to face Harmony, pushing themself upright and seemingly considering it. ''I suppose that could work.'' They acquiesce.

"There's official channels for this, ladies," she says, "I'm sure the Research Ethics Service will send an investigation team fairly soon. It's sort of their job. What is it you're trying to achieve in the meantime?"

“We’d like to make sure that people like them don’t fall through the cracks anymore, and that they’re well looked after.” Rue continues, their eyes dark. “They messed up, I won’t deny that, but they’re not the only ones, and for once I would like to see the people who experimented on them held responsible.”

Indigo sighs and removes her glasses, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she sighs, "Okay, Look. I can see that you've got some serious issues here. Both of you, despite your quiet, Harmony. But you can't make this a personal crusade. There are proper ways of doing these things..."

A silence of a sort falls over the room as Indigo weighs up the rest of what she has to say. She glances out of the window for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "I have some suspicions," she finally admits, pointedly looking away from the two, "Some of the notes in these reports don't quite add up and I was hoping to look into it discreetly, but you two have shown up before I had the chance. Just... give me 24-hours to do this my way, before you come barrelling in with your flashy powers and accusations. If I find something, I'll call you, and if I can't I'll give you access to the trial documentation. Does that seem fair to you?"

Rue listens intently to the woman in front of them, their expression softening at Dr Upton’s genuineness. They look over at Harmony, then at back at Indigo, and heave a sigh,“Yeah, that seems more than fair.” They say calmly, sounding a little apologetic. “Thank you for your candour.”

"Well I hope I can rely on you two to keep this between us," she says, suddenly back to her more professional demeanour, "I've had a hard enough time building this place up. I don't need some sleazy reporter tearing us down for a quick payday."

“That depends,” Rue replies honestly. “As long as it doesn’t get swept under the rug, I’m sure we can keep this confidential.”

"I'm not sure you know much about my family, Rue," she says, almost smiling to herself, "But, keeping secrets long-term isn't exactly our strong suit..." (edited)

Rue looks vaguely guilty at the notion before attempting to hide it with a weak smile. “Right.. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us.”

"Thank you doctor. For meeting with us... and for actually listening."

"Well, I do hope you can believe that some of us do actually want to help these people," she says, before taking position back at her desk, "Now, I hope you don't mind if I don't escort you out. I have... a lot of work to do."

Rue bids their goodbyes to the doctor, walking out of the office and back down the hallway. They glance at the group therapy room only to see the door firmly closed, the sign on it showing that there is a session ongoing. Desperate to get out of the hospital, Rue continues on, past reception and towards the exit. Harmony hurriedly follows Rue down the corridors briefly nodding in the direction of the receptionist before also exiting the building.

As if resurfacing from the ocean, Rue takes a deep breath the moment they step outside, “That went well.” They utter sarcastically when Harmony has caught up. “I, err… thanks, for having my back.”

"Sounds like you were holding your breath the whole way from the office" Harmony chuckles nervously.

Rue snickers half-heartedly. ''Feels like I did.'' They agree, pulling a little at the collar of their shirt. Looking back towards the entrance they purse their lips. ''I hope we can trust her..."

Harmony stays quiet for a moment, waiting for Rue to catch their breath before speaking, "I think that went as well as it could have. I guess there isn't much we can do now except wait," Harmony pauses for a moment before standing up straight and putting a smile on her face, "You hungry? I know a place that does amazing breakfast wraps not far from here?"

“I could eat,” Rue answers with a small smile, stepping aside so Harmony can lead the way to the motorbike. “My treat?”

"If you insist" Harmony replies with a laugh.   To be continued...