ic Hot and Bothered (IC)

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean nodded as Lyong spoke. She had met her own share of crackpots and mad scientists in her time before arriving in Freedom.

 

At the mention of the new drug her ears perked forward. It sounded very dangerous 

…and very familiar.

 

“Has Dr. North been involved in any cloning projects?”

She asked .

“Because I think things may be becoming much more serious.”

 

Jean gives Lyong a serious look.

“After I tell you what brought me here, you may need to contact whomever is in charge in Dr North’s absence.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

Lyong raised both ragged eyebrows. She obviously didn't attend to her personal appearance, despite (or arguably because) of her otherwise handsome features. 

 

"Cloning?! Why, never. All cloning is carefully regulated. WEST is totally aware of the dangers of cloning."

 

She sighed, shoulders deflated, head down. "Although, frankly, its done. Supervillains, rouge states, unscruplous coorperations. Its done. It doesn't help since some cloning is actually vital biomedical research and application. Its actually my speciality. Can you imagine if you could grow a new liver, a new spleen? And we are not far off that. Its not some pipe-dream. As long as its properly regulated..."

 

She sighed again. 

 

"...and there lies the rub. Half the time, maybe more, its not."

 

"If Doctor North is unavailable, then its field leaders who take over command of the station until we assign a replacement. So. Ah. Um. I guess that's me..."

 

Pride and fear fought a vigorous battle across the battlefield of her face. 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean gave the woman a long look before nodding.

“Very well.”

 

“To put it short and to the point.”

Jean motioned to the small case of samples she had brought.

“When you have a chance to examine the samples yourself. You will find samples of flesh and a chemical substance that seemed to induce effects not unlike the ‘Synthetic’ you described.”

As she spoke Jean produced a flash drive.

“This is a recording of events earlier this morning which prompted my initial inquiries.”

She held it out to Lyong.

“On it, you will see a Dr North arrive at the door to my laboratory this morning and my welcoming him in.”

She emphasized the ‘a’ before Dr North.

“He begins acting strangely and I attempt to subdue him before he begins growing hot to the touch. I attempt to stabilize the man, but ultimately failed to.”

Jean motioned to the case of samples.

“As near as I could determine the flesh is not actually human. So I have no reason to think the real Dr North is not still alive.”

 

“I also manage to cobble together this.”

Jean produced the ‘Fleshometer’.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Lyong dutifully put the flashdrive in and wrestled with her over-zealous anti-virus software. Eventually, the camera footage popped up and she studied it with ever widening eyes and ever-slackening jaw. 

 

She actually yelped when "Dr North" exploded. 

 

"That... was that Doctor North? It can't be..."

 

She checked the sludge of data that Predator had provided. 

 

"No... its not. Not even close. Doesnt behave like him, cellular structure completely wrong. Just a very good copy - at least to the eye."

 

Her mind grappled with the ramifications. 

 

"If someone is creating explosive clones, then its going to open up a whole new world of terrorism..." she gulped. "Or worse. Biological warfare... diseases. Nobody is safe. Hell, they may have infiltrated WEST already..."

 

Her eyes grew even wider, her breathing escalated, and she clutched her chest...

 

"Maybe I am one... ugh... my heart...."

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

“Calm down.”

Jean said slowly.

“I don’t believe you have a reason to panic.”

Lifting the scanner she had built, she used it to scan Lyong. Her face, a mask of calm.

 

The process was quick and Jean was confident in the results.

“The scan says you’re fine. But if it would make you feel better. We can run a test.”

She placed a hand on Lyong’s shoulder, attempting to reassure her.

 

“If you have security concerns though. Arranging tests on all staff, in all branches may help.”

Jean tapped her chin.

“Don’t mention the possibility of exploding though. It can cause a panic. Perhaps something more benign, some new flu or virus.”

 

The vixen gave a thoughtful look.

“Also, if possible, check if Dr North’s ID has been used to access anything ‘important’ or ‘restricted’ recently.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"No reason to panic! Isn't that what someone would say just before the meteor destroys the earth?" said Lyong, wringing her hands. 

 

"Sorry, sorry. I'm out of my depth here. But if I can help, i will..."

 

She sat down by her computer and started zipping through the WEST computer. She knew what she was doing. 

 

"Unless someone is very good at covering their tracks, or has hacked into our network, nobody has been using Doctor North's official I.D. Probably wise, its biometrically linked. So basically only a clone or an tech whizz could use it. But his regular passport, yeah. Somebody pinged that on an internal flight from Alaska to Freedom City. Less than a day ago."

 

She pulled up airport security. There, in low-res herz, was what looked like Doctor North passing through airport security. A bit sweaty, agitated, perhaps. Just like... whatever had exploded in front of Jean.