Origin of Us (Joint Training, NDE, R)

[Mika]

(OoC: Time for the me and Kyo to reconnect our Vizards. We had such grand plans for them so long ago, and it is a damn shame that those got sidetracked. Let the healing begin. Lets get some evolution going. Training for some CTP.)

“So wait...what happened?” Kaho’s voice called out rather flustered, as she hurried to keep pace with her fellow medic. Leading ahead of the smaller girl was a young man. Tora. Lanky and far more soft spoken, “First responders were dispatched to the south gate. Someone found a body out there.” Taking a quick turn,nearly losing Kaho has she struggled with contemplation and course correction, “Bah! Slow down. We don't need to rush for a corpse.” Kaho chirped while Tora made distance. “He isn’t dead. Just unresponsive. I'm not hurrying for my health.” The two hustled on. Making their way the the ground level of the Fourth Division Medical center.

In these bottom floors; the massive complex took on a much different aesthetic. No longer the more traditional style interior of the building proper. These floors were devoted completely to the utility of patient care. In their many halls and pristine rooms, the members of Squad Four tended to those in severe conditions. From pregnancies to quarantines. Terminally ill to rehabilitations. Among these varied sections were the division’s ICU. A facility that not only worn raw by recent wars and conflicts, but toughed and improved by the experience. Made up of grizzled veterans, happy to see a time that didn’t require as much of their skills.

As well as fresh recruits...to fill back in the ranks. With them came much needed life, youth, and most importantly...fresh perspective not bloodied by the pain of loss. Tora and Kaho two such untarnished recruits. Already weaving well into the fabric of their new responsibilities. Mostly. By the time the pair arrived to their duty posts, the ICU was a flurry. It was to be shift change, but something unexpected had interrupted the routine. A young man found on the outskirts of the Seireitei. Near the Red Hollow Gate. The medical group’s dispatch having already retrieved the body. Many of them still loitering around the ICU as the prior staff worked to get the unresponsive man into a medbay.

-Bay 3-

There were a myriad of voices. Each of them trying to speak both to, and over one another. By the time that Kaho and tora were through the door, the unnamed patient was off the litter and secure in his new bed. The previous crew was working hard to complete their checklist. Working to get a response from the individual. Attaching the monitors and IVs which might turn into lifelines if things didn’t improve. A few were even standing by, expecting his breathing and pulse to fade. Ready to resuscitate. Which left the pair, though a bit flushed from the running, even more so from uncertainty. After all, they were trained. They knew exactly what needed to be done. Just like everyone else. Yet they hadn’t arrived to shift change early enough.

So here they stood, watching without any way of involving themselves. Wondering what might become of the man on the bed. Trying not to draw any attention to the fact that they weren’t jumping in to interrupt. ”Tora...shouldn’t we-” Scouting closer to his friend, shaking his head without taking his eyes of those who were working. Giving her a silent dismissal. Seemingly confident, despite him being just as unsure as her. That was, until…”Lieutenant on the floor!” Their heads shooting up towards the bay door. Just in time to catch a chubby fellow draped in white walk in. a less than imposing figure. Even with that Vice Captain’s insignia clenching his right sleeve into a nice empty bundle. This was the first time either of them had ever actually seen their infamous lieutenant. The one armed weirdo, Mika.

Tora and Kaho froze, almost plastering themselves to the wall. They were the only ones, however. The rest of the crew knew very well that work didn’t stop for formalities in this squad. ”There are too many people in my ER! Second shift, you’re dismissed.” An order, however, that could do the trick. While there may have been a few willing protesters, they left just the same as the willing. With the thinning of the congregation...the pair stood out just as they had feared they would. Mika’s eyes turning on them. ... Dilating as they stared back at him. ”Yes sir!”

Gripping Kaho’s motionless arm, Tora pulled her with him. Getting her out of the spotlight; while putting his instincts to perfect use. Interpreting the doctor’s wishes without having to be told. Fortunately, this duo had a lot of influence on one another. Once Tora picked up where the excused crew had left off, Kaho rushed to do the same. The delay was so brief. The exchange so efficient. Mika found few things to actually complain about. Choosing instead to approach the bedside and get a good look at their visitor. The medics strafing about him. Finishing the routines that had been started. Hooking the silent man up to all the necessary equipment. Triaging an initial assessment, given that second shift took that information with them. Kaho already holding out a hand to the patient’s chest. The soft light of Kaido brimming from the cup of her palm. Soon, the girl knew most everything she needed to impart to the attending physician.

”Sir, the patient is suffering from an extreme case of spiritual exhaustion. There are light contusions throughout the body, but no signs of internal hemorrhagi-” By the time that Kaho enthusiastically rambled off her findings, she looked to find her superior motionless. Ignoring her it would seem. ”Sir?” Tora stepped back to the bedside. Having finished all his labors. Feeling the awkwardness that Kaho emanated in her own confusion. The two of them looking to one another before returning to Mika. Who stood. Silent. As unresponsive as the patient to their every word and action. Instead, his vision locked unflinchingly on the man they were treating.

Each attempt made by the attendants to get Mika’s attention faltered. As though, with every moment, their voices grew more distant. ”Sir?” Pulling away from him while he observed the man’s face. _”Sir?” Eyes scouring every detail and feature. All of the lines forming within his mind...a roadmap through the years long stretched behind him. From the days of his youth. His time in the Academy. The few final years, in which the unthinkable happened. The first time in his life where his oddity didn’t disclude him. The one moment in a long existence, in which he was surrounded by others who shared some...unknowable bond with him. The time when Mika actually had friends.

The tone.

”Grodd.”, in a whisper his voice cracked. ”I...Ivy.”

It had been so long now. Time passing so strangely for the residents of the afterlife. Years can be as fleeting as days, with seemingly no change to them. And yet, in the same amount of time….everything could change. It had felt like lifetimes since Mika last saw Grodd. In many ways he had forgot much about the man. Buried under years of new information pouring in. Smothering the old. Having become acquainted with one another during their early training as Shinigami. Grodd and Mika developed a small understanding between each other. Something rare for Mika. Possibly the same for Grodd.

While the larger of the two had the limitation of being mute; the context of Mika’s words were often just as poor at communication. Each of them pushed ever further to the fringes of their peers. Out there with yet another fellow exile. Ivy. Given the fact that one was a mute. The second was a soft spoke sociopath. And the third was crippled by unconquerable shyness. Yet, together, there was…chemissssstry. Something made the trio compatible. Mika especially remembers feeling incentive to become familiar with other people for the first time. To not just know them, but understand. From them he learned so much. Things never offered by educators or books.

From Ivy he was shown how distance didn’t have to be a divide. That even from afar one can make connections. And that there was worth to doing so...thus her constant struggle with timidness. From Grodd, Mika learned something far more important. Self-assurance. Without ever hearing the warrior say a word, Mika still experienced the stronger soul’s confidence. The fact that Grodd couldn’t speak unintentionally lead to the creation of a fearless man. One who never expressed concern or doubts. There were even moments were Grodd’s lack of restraint inspired Mika. Gave him an image to draw upon for confidence. Even though their time together hadn’t been the longest, Mika had allowed it to shape him heavily. Refusing to forget the impacts made, even if the faces had began to shrink into shadows. Until tonight. When from that darkness the image would return. Fate refusing to let such a thing go. Not allowing Mika the opportunity to forget. Not completely.



























”Vice Captain!”

Snapping with a visible jerk, Mika spiked his head. Eyes turning quickly through the room. It...despite his being at work for hours now, felt unfamiliar. Shaking his head. Trying to throw off the delusional feeling. Mika’s attention came back to his two attendants. Each of them staring at him. The feeling of their eyes crawling over him making things quite uncomfortable. Even worse with the concern they painted themselves with. That was something he found harder to stomach. ”Extreme spiritual exhaustion. He’s a husk.” Kaho and Tora were both put off by this odd behavior. However, they had heard their superior was a strange one.

What perturbed Kaho more, was the repetition of her words. Had he really not heard her? She was right next to him! A very frustrating thing to believe that those in charge of you disregard you so totally. So agitating, in fact, that she looked ready to speak her mind about it. Thankfully, Tora’s eyes were cutting her down. Expressing the concern and hesitation that she lacked. Subliminally urging her to bite off the idea and swallow it. ”Stick him. Get fluids running.” Directing his attention to the IV bags. Giving a nod of approval. ”Push reishi. Double dose. He’s a fit one, he can take it.” Mika was already moving to circle the bed. Waiting for one of his underlings to jump on the task. After all...one0arm wasn’t going to get anywhere trying to pinch in a needle. Thankfully, Kaho was quick to step up to the challenge.

Stepping away to fetch the appropriate fluids, Tora left when Kaho took the syringe plugs from the equipment cart. The young lady being rather eager to show off her skills. After all, with how drained Grodd was in his current state...his veins were going to be nearly impossible to stick. Just like humans dehydrated of water; Shinigami drained of reishi become quite dry and...delicate. Their tissues thin. Their body starts breaking down and consuming whatever it can. Eating its own flesh. Drinking its own blood. The veins are reduced to brittle strings. Any medical technicians worst enemy. So to run a line on an individual in such a state was proof of great talent.

Then, wouldn’t you know it. Squeezing the unconscious man’s broad arm with confident force. Her second hand floating over his raised vessels. Brushing them tenderly to find the one that would cooperate. Her eyes narrowing and her tongue sticking out as she prepared the plunge. The moment passing with a breath, perfectly sinking the needle into the passage. Honestly? It took more patience and control to keep from leaping in her success. The pure excitement and delight of triumph brightening her face. Making her turn to her observing senior. Catching Mika’s eyes as he watched her complete the obviously difficult task. ’How’s that?” The question rhetorical. She knew she did wonderfully. Yet, she still paused. Waiting happily for her praise.

”What are you waiting for. You have another one to do.”

Indifference. Not quite the laurel that was hoped for. Once more, just beneath her cheeks, Kaho could feel the heat burning red. This time it was as much embarrassment as it was resentment. It didn’t matter though. Or so she tried to convince herself. Moving fast to the opposite arm. To prepare the reishi line. The more important of the two. Tora returning just in time, as was his habit. Carrying with him a plastic bag much like the one now dripping fluids into Grodd. Only this one, well, it filled the room with a bright blue light. Something that made Mika’s discolored eyes recoil from. Tore gave a nod to Kaho as he set it up for her. The young girl nodded back, accepting what little appreciation could be found. Once more, then medic attempted to place a line. Just like before she felt out an ideal vein. Braced her hands tenderly. Only…

”Just step away.”

Kaho froze as she saw the blood pooling beneath the patient’s skin. Already turning dark. The perfect vein she found, blown. Something went wrong. Her mind wasn’t where it was before. Shaken, she slipped. Now the shaking only got worse. Especially when Mika moved between her and Grodd. Easing her slowly out of the picture. Dismissing her for the simple, yet bothersome mistake. ”Sorry.” So soft, it wasn’t heard. Then again...no one was really listening. Mika’s one hand came down to where the needle had been drawn back. With a flash of green light the bleeding stopped. There wasn’t even a bruise underneath the dermis. The arm was reset from the failure. Nothing more than an inconvenience. Still condemning.

Which is why Mika now held Grodd by the forearm. One long finger rubbing gently against the antecubital. Finding the same vein once more. Then, emerging from the heavy sleeve that enclosed the doctor’s arm, a long formation of green goo appeared. Turning to a tendril as it took the fresh syringe Mika gripped between his fingers. Then guided it slowly to where the officer pinched the flesh. Running the line as flawlessly as Kaho had before. Prompting Mika to draw away, taking his sleeve dwelling minion with him. The light from the blue material which filled the line now flowing effortlessly. The shine from the substance dimming to nothing once accepted by the body. Though, the desired effects wouldn’t take very long to show. Grodd would be recovering soon. Waking up, possibly even sooner.

”We’re in luck. This one will be a fast healer.” Glancing at the monitor which kept displayed a silent recording of the man’s heartbeat. ”Hourly check-ins. Fluids.” Tora was taking mental notes of the orders. Kaho was keeping quite, trying to subdue her upset expression. ”Let’s hope he wakes up soon.” Raising his brows, Mika directed a finger to Tora. The lanky medic straightening up under the direct attention. ”We are going to need an interpreter for this one.” A confused face, ”Sir-””Sign language. He’s not one for words.”

The urge to question an order had never been stronger in Tora. How did the lieutenant know this? How’d he know anything about the man on the table? ”Shimizuki-san. Go find her.” Mika waved at Tora, encouraging the youth to make his way out. However, there was a hold up, ”Sir. I am not familiar with-” Interrupting with a swift glare, ”I’m sure there is a lot you aren’t familiar with. That’s why you are here to learn. Now go do so. Learn who Shimizuki is, and then more importantly, where she is.” Gesturing with his hand. ”Then go there.” Pointing out the door. ”Then tell her to come here.” Pointing down to the floor beneath him.

”Understand?” With his finger coming back to Tora, the young man nodded. Turning to make his exit without another word. ”Take this one with you. Before there is another mess.” Mika didn’t turn to identify Kaho. But he didn’t really have to. Good thing, too. Seeing as she was read to raise her hand and strike him...were it not for Tora waving her to come along. Pleading, once more, with his worried eyes. Friendship winning out over hurt pride and rage. Kaho, begrudgingly, leaving with her counterpart. Making sure Mika still wasn’t looking at her when she turned to stick out her tongue in hateful protest.

Leaving Mika alone with Grodd.

Taking time to actually use his eyes for the examination; it wasn’t hard for Mika to piece together some bits of the story. Hunger and dehydration had only barely set in. More likely caused by his seemingly spent reiatsu. Which raises the most important question. What the hell caused him to expend all of his energy? And so quickly? It was very clear he wasn’t suffering the long term effects of exhaustion or deprivation. Whatever he went through was quick. Occurring during the last twenty four hours, without a doubt. The first bit of evidence was the dagger. Grodd’s Zanpakuto. Found locked in his hand with a deathgrip. Pried free only after he was brought to the medical facility. Resting now on a nearby table.

Mika’s studious examination lingered quite a while on the weapon. The fact that it littered the table with a collection of dry leaves was especially intriguing. Afterall, there was something that was easy to blame. The activation of Shikai. To most every shinigami, such a thing was quite the spiritual chore. Not to mention a wide variety of unknown dangers. Many a soul reaper running themselves to death with the use of their power. Hell, sometimes such was just the price of using that power. Mika had seen so many strange cases of injury and exhaustion, solely due to inexperience reapers tapping a bit too far into their own strength. Was that the case with Grodd? Given the presence of the bruising all over his body. The scrapes and cuts that seemed minor at best. It was rather hard to determine a single source for them all. There were simply too much diversity. Some of the traumas may have been from struggle. But others were certainly not caused by conflict. While he may have put up a fight; Grodd certainly had not been fighting.

He had been a prisoner...

To Mika, the evidence was very clear. With the particular bruising around key areas. The wrists and ankles. Torso. Even around his neck. Especially around his neck. Grodd had undoubtedly been restrained. ”Finally got yourself put in a cage. Hmm?” Not just that, but he had fought hard against his bindings. ”Good to see you didn’t like that.” Obviously to some sort of success...for here he was. No longer quite a prisoner. Certainly much better off in the care of someone like Mika. Running his fingers over each of the injured areas. A noticeable displeasure on his face. ”Who hurt you, friend?” Taking notes on the size and density of the damage. Honestly, not many would have surmised the cause of harm as quickly or confidently as the doctor. Then again, not many people shared his mindset. The healer could easily imagine similar contusions on one of his own, unruly patients. What he saw here was actually rather promising. The discoloration was rather pale for the most part.

”This is good.” Shades of pink instead of purple and black. This meant Grodd didn’t stay long wherever he was. Adding further to the theory that his exhausted condition was his own doing...not mistreatment. Yet, there were some problems to consider. Things that couldn’t be ruled out. Like the possibility of torture. I mean, why else would someone keep a sentient being against their will? Not much else you can do with them. Sadly it would require time and consciousness to ascertain the truths behind what happened. Even if Mika was getting confident about his own interpretation. ”So. Beaten first. Then captured. Then struggle...escape. No-” Turning back to the dagger and accompanying foliage. ”Struggled. Unleashed your blade. then escaped.” Going back to the more faint damages. Looking closely at the scrapes made by leaves and twigs. Considering again, the leaves near the dagger. ”Was this running away...or your shikai?” Only now did it click...that he had never learned of Grodd’s abilities. Certainly they both had developed a lot. Surely, by now, his old classmate was a proven shinigami? Just what was he capable of now? Mika’s eyes softening. Losing focus as memories crept back in. Their final assignment. The trip made with all the others. “Routine patrol” of the human world. How...badly things had gotten.

The last time either of the men had seen each other, was the last assignment they shared in the academy. An expedition into the human world. They, as well as their classmates, had been expected to choose their own teammates. A sign of great trust and responsibility from the instructors. A curse upon the students such as themselves. No one was going to choose a wild man who couldn’t speak, or freak who only spoke about down to them. No one except Ivy. Each of the men should have counted their blessings. Assuming Grodd could count and Mika could see what a blesssing is. It was her that got thrm together on that fateful day. It was her that they had to keep safe in the human world. Things were supposed to go smoothly. Deploy. Scout around the world of the living. Regroup. The last little exercise before their graduation. How could something so simple...fall apart so fast. The three of them had barely separated from the rest of the class. The night had only just started. Then the screaming began.

In every direction, and all at once. Hidden behind human dwellings and buildings. Echoing through the hollow jungle of concrete and steel. It was haunting. Made worse by the crushing silence that followed each time. No sounds of struggle. Fighting. Just, the unified screams of other groups. As if all their terrors had come to life in an instant. Silence. To hear each new group scream just the same as their turn came next. Grodd, Ivy, and Mika left to count and listen to the encroaching of the horror. Not sure if there was another grouo between them and ehatever it was. Neber hearing any sign of a Hollow or...worse. They had ran to try and escape whatever it was.

Grodd had proven difficult to convince, but Ivy and her sketchbook proved the only communication they needed. Her own fear quite the powerful motivator for Mika as well. She, really had been the glue that kept him and Grodd close. Even as the fled for their lives through the mortal world streets. Winding through narrow corridors to try and move unseen. Working their way back to the rendezvous. Through each of the gruesome scenes of blood and gore that littered the path. The scent of blood and good instincts allowing Grodd to guide them away from more slaughters. Ivy’s encouragement keeping them moving. Mika’s...well, all he really did was follow others for a change. Tactics that served them all so well. All the way to the Senkaimon. To it-

aahchooouuu

Shaking off the sneeze. Giving his brain a jarring reboot. Taking a few quiet moments to put himself back into the room. To check Grodd’s condition. To remember where he was, and not where he wasn’t. ”Damn relativity. It hasn’t been that long. Yet...it has been lifetimes.” Though hinting a note of levity, Mika still seemed a bit shaken. Working through it though. Rather than crumbling down into a ball of waste. The doctor set back to examining what he could of Grodd’s telling injuries. Finding himself lead slowly back to his firend’s neck. This is where the thin bruising was darkest. The place that struggled hardest agains the tight straps. Curios indeed.

Why had Grodd been throwing around his head so much? So violently? There wasn’t much sense to it. Unless, of course, the man had developed epilepsy in their years apart. A highly unlikely explination. Perhaps then, it was an emotional response? Maybe fear had taken him so profoundly that he couldn’t fight it? Resigned to anxiously flailing whatever he could in hopes of breaking out. The more Mika pondered it, the closer he stared at the results of whatever Grodd had done. The more is gaze was drawn to the dmallest of details. Something that could have easily been missed. Or just as easily dismissed. A thin line of...silvery colored powder. Streaming from the corner of the large man’s lips. Stuck to his skin by something like saliva. Glinting eerily in the right light. Something less than natural.

”Fascinating.”

Drawing his face rather close to Grodd’s. Trying hard to better see this subtle clue. [coolor=chartreuse]”I had hoped you would evolve out of drooling. Eventually.”[/color] Unfortunately. His eyes weren’t strong enough to highlight the strange residue. He woukd need to collect a sample of it for the microscopes. Turning to search for a swab and capsule. ”I always wondered ehat became of you.” Back turned, yet, still adressing the sleeping Grodd. ”If someone like you could survive.” Returning with the little swab and something to hold it in. Preparing to clean up the strange spittal from Grodd’s jaw. ”If you coukd make it...without someone like her.” Hand shaking. The simple act of wiping a spill, proving harder than piercing a vein. This apparent frailty catching his attention. A resurgence of self doubt. Leading Mika’s eyes to broaden out, and look at all of Grodd. Unconscious in the ICU. ”I guess neither of us came out perfect.”

(OoC: So there are threads for the barracks, prison, and even noble manors, but not one for the Squad 4 medical facility. Sad face.)

[Beast]

OOC: You're more than able to make a Thread for the medical center and describe it as you wish. If it's a Sub-board you want, requests for that will have to go through a HAM or Zou. I shouldn't make those without approval.

Training for CTP

Grodd lie on the table, completely unconscious but still gaining strength with every drip of the IV fluids and reishi. Inside his Soul, though, was a different story. He wasn't mentally ready to wake even if he was physically ready to wake. At the moment, his broken mental state was manifest in his inner world... He sat on a tree branch, overlooking the chasm in between the halves of his inner world. Inside the chasm, death and the absence of existence. On this side, a more or less healthy forest. On that side... Hell. Fires burned the very earth and the trees were more than just burned. They were ash blowing in the wind, spreading even across the chasm.

There had been some sort of fight in Grodd's inner world as Keira had experimented on him. Oerwould Hart and the Beast Within had clashed and sent the soul into chaos. The large jagged chasm dividing the world in two was the result. A no man's land that could not be crossed at the moment. Neither party had enough power. They both could ascend to Grodd's mind and manifest in his emotions, but they couldn't reach each other for the moment. As Grodd took in all of the destruction of the beautiful forest, Oerwould Hart, his Zanpakutou Spirit, joined him on the branch to talk. Well, "talk". "Tell me what happened while I was chained to that table..."

Flashback...

The needle with the serum meant to protect Grodd's life had been the beginning of it all. A pool had formed in the middle of the forest, right on the border of the broken lands and the healthy lands. The pool granted life and power to the spirit that drank of it. Both the Hollow and the Zanpakutou Spirit wanted not just to drink of it, but to control it. After both getting a mouthful, they had begun to circle each other and start to taunt the other. The monkey in her sign language, the gorilla in his vile insults and haunting laughter. Sparks were figuratively flying before the first meteor hit.

Landing square in the middle of healthy lands, Oerwould hart felt her power immediately take a blow. And the meteors continued to rain down as Keira pumped more and more pain into Grodd in an attempt to spike the hollow energy. It was working, as even if the pain meteors hit the broken lands the Hollow's power was unaffected. You can't unbreak something by hitting it with a meteor. As the energy spiked more and more, The Beast Within gained enough strength to cripple Oerwould Hart by pinning her underneath a tree. You just sit there while I take control of the whole soul. Then we'll have even more fun than we already do...

But the Hollow hadn't become strong enough yet to fully take over. As he attempted to ascend and control everything rather than just send out blasts of emotions or thoughts, Oerwould Hart transformed into her Shikai state and grabbed him, holding him in a half state in between no control and full control. He already had stolen Grodd's voice during the Konso transformation, so he used it to communicate with Keira. While Oerwould Hart had no idea what they were talking about, it couldn't be good. So the monkey just continued to monitor the situation as she was able, finally gaining enough opportunity when the Failure became a link to activate the Shikai in the real world, freeing Grodd from the Failure.

Having been told the story of how he escaped and what had gone on in his soul while he was trapped and unconscious, Grodd felt ready to let go of his coma. His senses returned to the living world and his eyes started to open up. The light shining on him blinded him for a second and he felt his body on a cold table. Terrified, he forgot for a moment that he had made it into the Soul Society and sat right up, ready to reach for his Zanpakutou and fight. He quickly realized that he wasn't chained down and that the air tasted of the Seireitei instead of the Land of the Living... He was in a safe location.

Calming down, Grodd took stock of his surroundings. There were two needles in his arms, which felt pleasant despite it being metal in his arm. He enjoyed the feeling of the pure reishi healing his spiritual reserves and restoring his dry and exhausted self. It took him far too long to notice Mika standing there, though, with a rag ready to wipe his face of... something silvery and tasting like chalk. Grodd cleared it from his throat and spat it onto the ground next to Mika. The medic would probably want to examine it or something. The Squad 3 Third Seat raised his chin towards the medic as a way of saying "what's up? Long time no see." It was a fairly common human world gesture, of sorts. Hopefully Mika would understand it.

[Mika]

”Well, look who is awake.”

Mika’s brow was perked by the sudden turn of events. To Grodd Mika would be quite the sight. Especially one to wake up fresh too. Hopefully a mix of bizarre, and familiar. In the nostalgia sort of way. The majority the physician’s exposed skin painted black. With everything starting at the crease of his jaw going up, a pure shade of white. Extending all the way around his exposed, bald head. A bleak color to help give humanizing life to the dull brown of his inquisitive eyes. Did the silent man remember this other soul? And his peculiar style? Certainly, it was nothing Grodd hadn’t seen a version from the past. Just a bit bigger than before. Matured. Still weird. A painted man, wearing the healers’ official garb. The heavy white coat an especially entitled touch. As for Mika. The sudden, vertical nature of his patient had proven quite the twist. Honestly, he had not expected Grodd to turn around this fast. Then again, the mute was never commonplace in anyway. Certainly not his strength of body. It shouldn’t have really caught Mika so off guard.

Further proof that he was letting his mind wander just a bit too much. Focus was needed. Fortunately, there was intrigue enough for that. Grodd making a bit of a spectacle of his recovery. Sitting completely upright despite only just regaining consciousness. Shooting up as if inspired to do so. Knowing that there was no stimulus on his end; Mika considered the contents of the comatose dreams. If something internal could have created the life-stoking bolt. But he kept that query to himself. For now. Knowing it would do him no good to badger this subject with verbal questions. That simply wasn’t the strongman’s way. When the neanderthal gave his little nod of greeting, Mika felt a chill run from the core of his brain to the tip of his spine. Memories sliced right through him. Days spent in study with this one and their third. Frustratingly long sessions of communication exercise and team building. All in a futile effort to perfectly understand the ape’s ways. Getting a heck of a lot farther than Mika had believed possible in the beginning.

Those successes of old still lingering somewhere in the depths of his hippocampus. Sending an instinctual signal to the rest of his motionless body. ”Hello to you, as well.” Though words were a one way street with Grodd, the doctor knew they were still understood. So long as you avoid the big, substantial vocabulary. However, the instinct wasn’t to respond with sounds,but to nod his head in similar fashion. A remnant gesture from their former closeness. Something the exhausted fellow may or may not catch in his return to sobriety. Mika didn’t dare push the issue. Certainly not when there was the show to behold. Grodd wiping away that strange substance. ”D’ah...clueless as always.”, Mika silently chided.

Only perking up when the reaper spat out an even bigger sample of the strange gunk. Making a mess on his perfectly sanitized floor. Amendments, it seems, made without total awareness. Just what the hell was that material? Was Grodd casual about it because it was common to him...or was he just being himself? Frustration tickled Mika as he reached down to clean up the spill. Looking carefully over this strange substance. Its odd composition and mysterious nature. ”Fascinating, indeed.” Standing upright again. Twisting the sample around in the light. Noting the shimmer that reflected with every motion. ”How much stranger can you be, friend?” Placing the odd phlegm onto a tray. Leaving it to return to his guest.

For now, Mika went back to observing. Making sure to check for any lingering maladies that couldn’t be treated with a supplement of energy and fluids. Watching Grodd in silence. Like a researcher watches animals behind glass. Heh, so basically the same way Mika watches everyone, all the time. Only for once the patient should be used to it. As Mika could recall, Grodd got just as many stares as he did going through school. Despite his missing arm and paint covered skin. By now, considering how much Grodd had grown since their youth...he had to be used to such treatment by now. ”Damn. It really has been a long time.”, his mind calculated. In more accurate terms. Decades at this point. Exactly two. While that wasn’t so long for the likes of the dead. So much can still happen in that time. Mika himself had grown from the scrawny teen he had appeared to be. Getting more fat than anything. Grodd however, had gone from lean to bruiser. Years were far kinder to him physically. Must be nice not being held back by things like insecurity...or existential dread.

Mika snickered to himself, though loud enough for Grodd to hear. Raising up his hand to wave down Grodd’s attention in full. ”It has been a long time.” Mika’s single hand began a steady routine of motions. Trying to compensate for the lack of a second performer. Signing, as best he could recall, Grodd’s language. “It” required him to point to his open palm with a second hand, but that was impossible. Instead he just bounced his one open palm a few times as if another pointer finger was tapping it. Then he clenched his fingers, so that it seemed he held something tightly. This was “has”, but the ownership form of it. Not perfect, but...fuck. One hand. Next was “been”. Mike straight skipped this one, neither he nor his muscles recalling it. Though it is possible he needed his right arm to do that friken one too. Next was “long”. Easy enough. Place both hands together and pull widely apart. With just the one he touched his folded, right sleeve and then pulled far back to the left. Going far from the touched nub. Good enough. The. Came “time”. One that could be done without a second appendage. ”Thank someone’s go-” Bringing his fingers together to make a circle. Guiding it in an arch of his head to replicate the sun’s daily trip through the sky.

”I have not seen you.” Said aloud, while gestures continued. “I” having him point to himself. “See” was two fingers pointed to his eyes and drawing outward. Doing that before “you”, pointing at Grodd. Ending with “not”, a shake of his hand to the left and right. Hopefully driving the point home. If not, oh damn well. Mika’s talkative nature taking back over. Fueled by the fact that there were ears around to listen again. ”You were found, asleep.” Continuing to sign to the best of his recollection. His speech and vocabulary taking much long to use much more basic words as a result. ”You were brought here by my people. Carried.” Several gestures out a window. Then more detailing the trip through the large doors behind him. ”We put these in you. Gave you water and...damn it.” The medic paused as he drew yet another blank. What the hell had been the signals for energy and reishi. Fire and fast both came to mind, but he knew well enough to dismiss them. Pretty soon the silent pause grew more and more anxious. Awkward even as the lull in communication sank like a burning coal through Mika’s brain.

”That. We put that in you.” Psssshuuuooooshhh… Pointing a few times at the glowing fluid, Mika began making pulsing wiggling movements with his fingers. Dancing them as his sound effects tried to mirror the sounds of reishi being excited. By magic, cero, or whatever the crap else might make noise when it draws and gathers reishi together. Giving up after a few seconds. Moving on to the next string of ideas. ”The fluids were good. They made you better.” Mika stepping back now. Moving to a counter to get a comfy rest. Leaning against the cabinets, bringing out his smoking pipe. The near meter length of spiritual steel glinting supernaturally in the room’s light. It was a thin, like those used for opium. Gripping it with his broad teeth just as the tip flicked with a dim spark. Soon burning with a life and spewing smoke, despite having no match or lighter brought to the bowl. Giving it a few puffs, fresh breathes, before the smoke began trailing through the room. Causing a noticeable relaxing of Mika’s shoulders. A subtle dilating of his eyes. ”So…”, no signing that, ”What hurt you?”

Still attempting to sign as much as he could. It was important to attempt these bridges in communication and understanding. Even if it was a wasted effort, and a skill long lost to years of separation. Not so much because they hadn’t seen each other in years. But to show that Mika had tried to keep memories of Grodd intact. Despite their mutual absence. Something many would never expect from his cold, isolated behaviors. Perhaps Mika could do something more than share a simple, meaningless sentiment? Maybe, just maybe, he could rekindle an old connection? Bring back memories to Grodd as the brute had done for him. It can be quite astounding. The impact that being remembered has on people. They way it reinforces who they are, or helps to damage what they attempt to be. How might Grodd reciprocate?

[Beast]

Grodd didn't quite know how to feel about Mika's attempts at his sign language. On the one hand, it felt encouraging that anyone would try. On the other hand, it felt discouraging that Mika had gotten every single sign wrong. Had it really been that long? Had the long nights with the blasted notebook done nothing lasting? Ivy had worked so hard for the three of them to be able to communicate without the pen and paper that Grodd hated so much, but it seemed that even that had been a waste. Or maybe it wasn't, as Mika was still attempting it even after all this time. There was hope, right?

Though it took Mika awhile, he at least spoke so that the sign language attempt could be understood. But Grodd wasn't really in the mood for that yet. He grabbed the nearest pad of paper and pen... which turned out to be Ivy's notebook... Emotions swelled within him, bittersweet emotions that brought a tear to his eye. But what did he care about her? He had grown apart from her, and she hadn't been there when he needed her most. When he had been taken captive by the Zookeeper... Come to think of it... Mika hadn't looked for him either... He had known that he had no friends, but still, it hurt to remember.

"My ears work. Your hands don't. Just talk."

Grodd actually had to think for a moment. His memory was pretty fuzzy. He remembered being kicked to the curb by the girl with the hands, and remembered a lot of pain, but apart from that, there wasn't a lot that he was conscious for.

"Got beat up. Bit off more than I could chew."

[Mika]

Mika could tell, with each sign he attempted, that Grodd was listening more than watching. Normally he isn’t in tune enough with other people to read them. Never really quite sure what is going on any of their heads. How they are feeling. There may have been a time when such was not the case with Grodd. But it was becoming painfully obvious that bond had been weakened. Maybe even...severed. For each new fidget of his arm only made the mute more frustrated. The growing aggravation fueled by impatience and disappointment. Mika had indeed forgotten everything. What he remembered seemed to be just fabrications. Wishful guesses that didn’t pan out. Succeeding in only making Grodd feel worse. Pushing him to the point that the scout scooped up the notebook that had been left by his bedside.

A thick, old thing. With a binding that had become loosened and frayed wear and tear. Time taking a toll on the cheap journal. Within it...countless drawings. The first several pages were mostly words written in tremendous font. Past lessons on language and grammar. Given how deeply the written groves were; seemingly conducted with the world’s strongest toddler. All of them good, few of them decent. The subject almost always being anatomy and the human form. These sketches filled a majority of the book. Taking up full pages at times. Being collages of smaller doodles on others. Around each and every one of them. Squeezed into the margins and filling the space between. Notes. Written so small that they were barely legible. Done in such a way that they used the least amount of space as possible. There could have been an entire medical journal hidden around the edges of the art.

Smudged and blurred from countless inspections and browsing done in the past. It would be quite the many sherts before Grodd would find any room for him to write. Near the back, where the pages were less abused. Empty. Abandoned. On these untouched pages did Grodd begin to write. Almost earning him a heated attack from Mika. Though Grodd concealed the melancholy that seeing Ivy’s notebook had created; Mika wore his right on the sleeve. After all. He wad the one that had kept the book all these years. Taken great strides to make every bit of it count. Putting his entire medical career and development within the margins.

Second to the artifacts that otherwise filled each sheet. Striving to leave the smallest foot print he could. Not daring to tread into the pristine pages. The very same ones that Grodd now wrote his message on. Mika’s tongue nearly bit in half as he watched. Curiousity feeding him strength enough to not intervene. Desperate to know what Grodd needed pencil and pad to express. Thankfully...he had learned to ease up on the force of his penstrokes. Even if his personal font still took up half a page. Just the sight of it a vision from the past. Which made what he wrote all the more...impactful.

”Still a savage, aren’t you?”

Mika held the notebook in his one hand. Pratically squeezing the life out of the parchment. Eyes bruning as they read and reread what Grodd had scribbled on precious property. In letters that were practically carved into pulp. Impossible to erase...or forget. A fucking insult. Nothing so light hearted as calling him stupid or ugly. Or implying that his mother was some sort of beast,and his father smelt strongly of an oily shrubbery. Nah. Grodd was talented at this sort of thing. Knew just where to drive the knife. Probably because he had recieved so many cuts himself growing up. So he went straight for the thing Mika could’t control. One of the only things Mika wasn’t to blame for. The appendage that had been missing since birth. Blatantly called him out on it, as far as Mika was concerned. Perception twisted by the tenderness of this particular, struck nerve. Making it very hard to give a sincere shit about what happened to him.

The asshole probably deserved whatever had been done to him. Maybe he mouthed off like this to the wrong person? Got the justice he wrought for himself? These thoughts made for pleasing spitefulness, but...didn’t last. Not while Mika was holding her notebook. Seeing his old friends unmistakeable print on those familiar pages once more. Unable to resist the feelings he once had. ”Beat up, huh?” Voice still tingling with the venom his anger had brewed. Letting the rage go with each new word. ”Good thing your such a tough bastard. If whatever did all of this…”, waving his hand and the held notebook at Grodd’s general location, ”Had managed to kill you; then I’d have nothing to do tonight.” Hesitantly, Mika handed the journal back to the nudist. Giving Grodd as stern look.

Something not from their childhood. ”Don’t waste those pages. Write smaller.” Mika turning to move to the nearby cabinets and drawers. His voice was much more assertive than ever before. Demanding that Grodd adhear to this one, reasonable request. With all the conviction that should be expected of a seated officer. With the sencerity that came from a comrade. ”...and don’t call me broken. I don’t call you handicapped.” That was one of their rules, after all. ”Ivy’s rules.” Set in place long ago when Grodd started learning adjectives, and Mika started learning courtesy. Ivy getting them both to resist mistreating others with their words.

Having moved back to the counterspace that lined the emergency room. While it was normally littered with well organized medical supplies; there was on addition tonight. A metal sample tray. On which placed the contained sample that Grodd had hawked up from up his throat. Right next to where Grodd’s Zanpakuto had been placed before. The dagger, small for thr average Zanpakuto, laid in pristine condition. A peculiar trait that was often times the strongest evidence of an activated Shikai. The blade made flawless again from its reforming after the unleashing. Not to mention, clearly spiritual leaves were still scattered around the weapon. Having been collected with it, but decaying and wilting off as time passed.

Any way you looked at it...this blade’s power was awakened.

A feat that came with no amount of surprise to Mika. And...possibly even more strange was the relief he felt. That was weird. ”We have your weapon here. Found you gripping it for dear life.” Holding up one of the drying leaves that polluted the area around it. Putting it between himself and light. Where Grodd could see him analyzing it. ”I’m glad to see you were able to bond, and release your Zanpkuto’s power. I remember worrying that you never would. Not being able to call out its name...in the trsditional way.” Maybe not the nicest sentiment, but it was from when Mika was young. Also, that dick made fun of his missing arm. Easing up a bit, ”I suppose your soul is mute, like yourself?” Looking for the notebook to hold the answer written in monstrously big lettering.

”I’m glad you have someone who understands you.” Putting the leaf back down next to its source. Mika turns his back on Grodd once more. ”Ivy would have loved to see you made it this far.” A sizable pause. One in which the little scientist kept his back to the strongman. Unable, unwilling, to read whatever he wrote next. ”Can you imagine how she would have reacted to these leaves? What they mean. All the good things she would have said about you.” Taking his time. Still unwilling to look back at Grodd. His face. His sign language. Or that damn notebook he was writing in. Fighting hard, to instead follow up with hismprofessional duties. To...just bury the leaves with the rest of the compost, and focus on the future crops. ”Ok...well, since you can’t recall in detail. I’ll need to perform a more detailed analysis.”[/i]

On the far counter was a computer. Something a bit more advanced than the usual stuff found in division facilities. Though...nothing nearly as good as what was in Squad Three’s Tsūshingijutsu Kenkyūka. Or any of the dozens of research departments in the SRDI. Still, the facy looking interface responded to Mika’s touch with sound and light. A few more inputs and, ”I need you to lay back down for a moment. Going to get a better picture of your reiryoku. Reiatsu, energy, and all that. Whatever word you know.” As the doctor continued to work at the console, a new apparatus appeared. What had appeared to be a light fixture hanging above the central bed was actually much more. With a bulbous core, covered with a multitude of lenses; the advance machine looked like a great and complex eye.

Within it contained a wide array of devices. Cameras and sensors of all builds. Making the contraption an extremely versatile scanner. Which creeped down towards whoever laid on the examiner’s table. Hovering over the patient in an disturbing fashion, despite its benevolent intentions. So. Basically. Mika, the machine. ”The spirit scars just like flesh.” Walking back to Grodd’s side. Smoke pipe rolling to the side and out of the way of his wordy lips. ”Its harder to do, but it happens. Especially when something beats the life out of us. Like what happened to you.” A humming noise starting up behind Mika’s words. Pouring down from the instrument that hung just above them both. ”A few scans will show us if what hurt you left any scars. Maybe we can figure out who the culprit is. Or if you have early stage cancer. Either way...should be interesting.”

As the whirring built to a peak, Mika took his pipe and hid the spiritual steel behind his back. Just before the first of several shudder sounds would eminate from the scanner. ”This won’t hurt...but try and keep still.” With that the pictures would begin. Automatically. Preprogrammed into the ajoing terminal. From underneath Grodd, or not if he didn’t follow instructions, a warm light would shine. The white, rubber bedding was actually more than simple cushion. A more recent development...which may or may not still be in testing. A revolutionary blend of fabric and imaging technology. The back half to some of them more indepth imaging devices. Of course, Grodd might not: know, recognize, or even care about any of this. To him it would just be a warm feeling bed that glowed in ways beds shouldn’t. Hopefully he could find it in him to sit still as asked. Since this was thr only way to get a good idea of what happened to him. Since his memories were of no use. Then again…if he did move. If he jumped away in fear. It might just give a new glimpse into the sort of trauma he experienced at the hands of his captor. Results were always results, for one reason or another.

[Beast]

Grodd took... pleasure at Mika calling him a savage. He took pride in that epithet. He was savage, and proud of it. He was wild, and primal, and raw. That's who he was. It was a compliment from the medic to the scout, even if it wasn't meant as such. However... Grodd could see the anger that rose in Mika's eyes and throat. He had... honestly forgotten the rules of the past. He shouldn't have written that, especially not in that notebook. He wished he could take it all back, erase it, but it was too late. In his hurt he had lashed out and wounded Mika deeply. It was an emotional wound, but a wound nonetheless. Grodd immediately felt... regret, and sorrow. Fairly rare feelings for the brute.

Mika's anger was evident in his voice, but it slowly decreased until he was back to his same uncaring surgical tone. "Would have nothing to do tonight." It was... detached, unemotional, unfriendly even. Grodd gently took the notebook back and scanned for literally anything else to write in. He didn't want to waste the pages... But he would leave a single word in the notebook, taking up the entire page that he had already written on. There would be gaps, of course, for additional scribbles if necessary, but the single word would be written across his hurtful comment. "Sorry" It would help to remind the two, if they were to read the notebook again, that at least Grodd felt regret at his words. It wouldn't be a burning insult poisoning the book as a whole, poisoning her memory... It was a slight patch, but it'd be something, hopefully.

Not finding any paper in the immediate vicinity, Grodd just waited and listened to Mika's explanation of how he was found. What only could be interpreted as a mixture of pride and relief as Mika discovered that Grodd had finally unlocked Shikai. He had become a Third Seat before he had unlocked the power of his soul... but he had done it. When the medic asked if Grodd had a mute soul, the brute nodded in response. After all, Oerwoud Hart was a full monkey without speech, just his language in her paws. Someone who understood... was freedom to the man. He could talk to someone, pour out his heart to her. And she would respond in kind. She would understand and respond. It was something he'd never had before. Not even Ivy had learned to do more than just imitate.

When Mika was at a loss for the verbal word for reiatsu, Grodd held up his hand to stop the medic. He then performed his sign for reiatsu. He balled up his hand in a fist and pressed it to his chest. The energy of his heart, of his soul. That was his word for reiatsu, for reiryoku, energy. All of those in one simple sign. A fist pressed to the chest. Even Mika could perform that one with no problem. With that done, Grodd laid back as Mika pressed a few buttons on his console. There was immediately problems, though. Laying back on that table, even without being strapped in, with the IVs in his arms and the eye like machine above him was freaking him out.

Flashes of Keira's experiments ran through his head. Grodd remembered the pain, the suffering, the helplessness. He started to relapse and become terrified. He convulsed and seized and clenched his fists. Clenched everything, flexed everything, shook all over. The iv ports burst out of his arm as he began to bleed reiatsu and red blood, though it was just a trickle. He wasn't fully recovered yet and was not ready for any sort of testing from the medic. Especially with the whirring noise driving him crazy. But he didn't have the strength to get up or protest, just frozen in fear and his seizures. So, despite his fear, the bedding would still take perfect images of whatever it was Mika was scanning for. It was obvious that the noises and the environment was triggering him somehow, but the scanner would find more pressing issues.

Grodd's Inner World would be a part of some of these pictures. A land divided in two with the jagged canyon down the middle. One half of the land healthy, the other half ashen wasteland. And the aura of pure malice, evil, and brutality that came from the burnt half... it would be nearly tangible, even in the pictures. One half of the inner world was wild and untamed, the other half of the inner world was wild and bestial. Wild regardless, but very different halves. This conflict inside Grodd might make Mika understand much more. Understand the corruption inside the Third Seat... Expose the secret that Grodd didn't even know he had to hide... And if Mika could find it... who else would have access to this data? Grodd's life may now be on the line.

[Mika]

As Grodd’s mind seized, so too did Mika’s heart. Freezing in his chest with the first great spasm of the naked man’s body. It was such a shock. Something that even a seasoned medic had not seen before. Such a violent and sudden response. From the most unlikely of stimuli. I mean, it was just a fucking camera! Mika shot away from the console. The little frog man practically leaping to the bedside. Really. To see his odd, hunched posture sudden set flight like that. It would have been quite hysterical under different circumstances. Were there not a young man seizing on the slap. Dangerously close to choking on his tongue or dislocating a joint. Mika reacted with due urgency. Throwing himself and his safety into the fray as he came to Grodd’s side. Just as swiftly as slapping his open palm against the forehead of his patient. Though Mika responded to instinctually to hold back, his meager strength should prove nothing to Grodd. The slap would feel as such. Nothing more than a nuisance. While for Mika, it was a desperate, one-armed effort to try and hold the floundering soul back. To keep him from getting up or rolling off the bedding. However, where his physical prowess was greatly lacking; Mika’s medical abilities were...extraordinary.

That is why. As his hand feel. If Grodd’s eyes remained open and operation. The savage Shinigami would see only a gorgeous hue of blue. Light, flickering off of the creases of Mika’s palm. Dancing along the thin fingers from the stretched. This cerulean glow would not only be dazzling to the eyes, but to all the senses. Pressed against his skin, Mika’s painted hand felt refreshingly cool. Nevermind the fact it was dirtied by a worried sweat. Once the contact was made, that same refreshing feeling would surge throughout. Or, it would seem as such to one as poorly educated in the art of healing as Grodd. What transpired, in actuality, was much akin to the long hours of introspection that the mute was undoubtedly more accustomed to. That revitalized feeling of a deep, successful meditation. Grodd’s very mind was experiencing a mend. Beginning with a much needed release of dopamine to ease the strained muscles. Followed by pulsing waves of energy that fed straight into firing synapses of his thought.

Directing and indulging them. Encouraging a state of temporary, psychological serenity. Bridging the poorer connections between memories. Intentionally highlighting those with positive response. Nurturing stability, and passivity, with stimulated reassurances. Or...so Mika hoped. Even with unparalleled healing ability; the mind was always the most unruly of patients. The only part of the body that ever resisted him. The only organ that chose to remain wounded and broken. Whatever was causing this reaction seemed to stem from the mental. Triggered by exposure to the observing device. So Mika had nothing more than circumstantial evidence and solid intuition to insure his chosen treatment. There was no telling How Grodd might react. Just having a hand on him, regardless of the healing energies, might incite his volatility further. Mika might soon be receiving a mighty punch bsed reprisal. That particular knuckle laden bridge would just have to be crossed when it came to pass.

Sadly, Grodd needed quite a lot of attention. Not only was this ability taxing, but the intended recipient was quite damaged. Literally. His mind wasn’t just suffering from a recent bout of torture and turmoil. No, there was a whole lifetime of suffering knitting together this persona. Years of being abused by one source or another. Never really escaping the antagonizers. Merely changing hands from time to time. Though Mika was only scratching at the neurological footprints of all these troubles. Not being privy to what had caused them in detail. He could still sense the irritation and scars left behind by them. Like looking at a flesh wound, and only being able to speculate at its cause. Worse still...Mika was distracted. There was something just as concerning as Grodd’s epileptic episode. Something that was vastly more vocal about itself than the silent ape ever could be. An alarm, blaring from behind Mika. Coming from the monitor he was working at just moments before. An annoying, drowning indicator. Attempting to inform the attending physicians of serious complications.

The screen flashing with red messages. Digitally screaming that the patient was not remaining still enough to complete the scan. That the patient's heart rate indicated high levels of duress. Vocalizing through its speakers, Attention Attention Atten-”Tion! Yes! I know! The patient has my attention!” Not having to yell very loud to speak over the annoying device; Mika still found its sound abhorrent. Distracting, even. Causing him to glance frequently over his shoulder to the screen. Attention Attention Att-”Damn it...just shut down!!” Pondering ways to smash it without a free hand to assist him. Worrying that he wasn’t going to make enough impact with his mending touch. That Grodd wouldn’t take kindly to additional efforts to restrain him. That his luck wasn’t good enough...that if Grodd were to throw him, he would aim for the annoying monitor that was now triggering them both.

Pretty soon. Success of his treatment or not. Mika was going to need Grodd calm. Calm...and still. Whether treading his veins or his nervous system, Mika would reach this destination. Since the latter was so prone to detouring and jarring him of course; the doctor decided to go by the other. ”Enough of this…” With Mika’s hand still plopped on Grodd’s forehead; he was close enough to get some help. From his broad and baggy sleeve. The strange, green entity slid forth. That strange beast made of plasm from before. The one that had assisted the amputee in the delicate work of tapping a vein. Here again to do the same. Only this time the odd creature of slime wasn’t carrying a port. Instead, there was a full bodied syringe. Discolored by the greenish body in which it was trapped. Difficult to tell what the writing on it was. What the substance there contained actually did. At first. Once the ooze lunged from its master’s wrist. Its body stretching to unite with Grodd’s neck. Forming a suction like bond with the fellow’s skin. Then, with another convulsion of the whole of its form, the needle slid forward. Piercing the sterile membrane of the monster that carried it. Dipping the metal into the Shinigami’s artery. With such speed and such precision that it seemed an perfected evolutionary trait. Something it was born to.

Speaking off, ”Grodd, be still.” Yeah, Mika was born to bedside manners. The rather cold declaration came after his pet retracted the needle and sealed the incision with its own enzymes. Not one drop of blood being dropped. A very important detail to be acknowledged and recalled upon later. For what had been injected was a powerful sedative. One that went far beyond just balancing a person’s mental chemistry. With a powerful side effect of paraplegic level of numbness. The kind of thing that should make one seriously concerned about bowel control. Certainly enough to get a few moments of peace. Hopefully, long enough for him to shut that fucking computer down. ”Wait here.” Spoken as if there were a choice left for Grodd. Mika’s back turning to leave. ”What you’re feeling is the sedative we give to Ningen-taichou when he gets his prostate checked. So they its safe and strong.” That last bit might have come off more threatening than he intended...but hell, who knows if Grodd could even hear him. Plus, Mika was saying more for himself. Reassurance that he bought a moment to breath from the nerve wracking episode that Grodd just caused. Seriously. Caring about people is near impossible. Having to watch those same people suffer...Mika wasn’t so good at processing how it made him feel. ”Now. You…” A reference made to the computer. This time intentionally sounding like a threat. ”Wait...what?”

Mika had paused. Right as he was about to tack away at the keyboard. Possibly shoving his fist through the screen. He just stopped. Letting the agitating alert roll on through a few more repetitions. Unphased by it, as though he were suddenly deaf to Grodd’s mute. While his body remained very still, his eyes and his mind were two very different tales. Each was spinning and running wild. Brown iris shooting left and right in a typewriter fashion. Unseen neurons firing with abandon. The doctor was having a really difficult time make sense of what his oculars told him. ”This….this is a mistake.” Trying hard to surmise a digitial, possibly mechanical error that might have produced be to blame. Coming up short with each new theory he put through the logical paces. ”The odds are…” Rather than actually crunch the lottery winning statistics that had come to mind; Mika stepped to the computer. Dismissing the alert and any other messages that impeded his inspection. Revealing, very clearly from Grodd’s perspective, the results of the scan. Yes. Results. A miracle come to pass by the gods of effective engineering. It would seem the scanner had made sense of Grodd’s spirit before he could throw his tantrum. Layers upon layers of in depth diagnostics now displayed on the console. A constant theme coming up again and again.

One of…spiritual duality.

The tell tale signs of a very rare condition. Everything a medical practitioner such as Mika would need to diagnose him as...”me. You’re like me.”[/color] The words just...poured from him. He couldn’t resist nor restrain. Hell, he didn’t have the mind to do either. This was...this was amazing! Mika could never have imagined running into someone with a condition like his. Certainly, never would that person be someone who had been under his nose the entire time. The very thought defied probability. The sort of thing that fell into the realm of chance that a scientist like him fought hard to reject. Phenomenal that all his years of sacrilege to the forces of fate would produce such fortuitous results. Turning back to Grodd. His cheeks creased with an earnest smile. Looking as creepy as all the other three times he got this happy when they were younger. Speaking, shaking with excitement, ”Grodd. We’re…” A deathly silence took him. Stopping his prior enthusiasm cold. Draining from him the joyful expression. Leaving behind only a distant, chilling anxiety. Thankfully, Grodd would not have to see this look for long. Whipping back around. His one hand fast at work on the keyboard. Typing with unbelievable speed considering his missing appendage. Each key stroke increasingly aggressive. The screen in front of him shifting panels rather quickly. Going to new displays that Grodd should have no familiarity with. Mika digging into the depths of the systems programming. All while keeping his body hunched well over the monitor.

There are two things to cover before continuing. Firstly, anesthesia is an exact science. It requires a lot of training and many precise measurements to get it right. Failing to perfect a dosage could produce a laundry list of unintended effects. Most frightfully, death. Thankfully, Shinigami were quite sturdy. Taking a lot more to put them down than most. As a consequence, it was far more likely to underdose one of their kind. Which is the most likely case with Grodd at this time. After all. Mika was an amazing doctor, but he wasn’t omniscient. If he was going to dose the monkey man up, he would gladly prefer to under dose than over. The consequence was a suppressant that faded far faster than intended. Rather than being left helpless on the table; Grodd would find that feeling was coming back quickly. Starting with an itching in his back, and spreading out from the spine there onward. The only thing he would be feeling that was out of place was a sort of, grogginess. Hilarious coincidence considering his name, but moving on. This lightheadedness wouldn’t be enough to inhibit his regain of motor control.

Should he desire to move or to stand, he would soon find himself more than able to do so. As for the second fact that needs to be addressed. The Fourth Division hospital is one of the most advanced buildings in all of the Seireitei. Given the importance of its mission and scope, it often received the earliest benefits and allowances from the Research Division. Technology would jump from there,to here, and then in time to the rest of the squads. This gifted theme with amazing instruments such as: the full body scanner, powerful network terminals and servers, and of course the cadre of security cameras. Hanging above Grodd and Mika’s heads. A nearly imperceptible lens. An eye that watched each of the events as they unfolded in this room. Up till this very moment, a welcome catalog for later review. But now...with this new discovery. A potentially damning bit of physical evidence. One that could subsequently lead to a nasty, bloody execution on Squad 6’s doorstep. Mika tried not to think about that. Nor talk about it. Instead he worked diligently to uproot some much needed information. The IDs for ports and other data channels. Trying to figure exactly where the information being uploaded into this computer was being stored in backup. What all computers it had passed through to get to its final destination. Everywhere he would need to go in order to stop the archiving of this terrible secret. Everywhere the eyes would follow him. Sweet mother of surveillance, why did he have to contribute so much to that project.

Staring at the digital text. Letting the routing locations become seared in his mind. Mika had everything he needed to save his old friend's secret. And...possibly his own. All there was left to do was destroy several consoles, scattered from here to the hospital mainframe. Sufficiently enough that no attempt to recover the devices would be possible. It would also help to do this in such a way that doesn’t raise many questions. Much harder to accomplish, that part. Fortunately, in their position was a secret weapon. One of unbridled capacity and near quantum levels of spontaneity. ”Grodd? Idiot? No. Don’t you dare.” With a flurry that had his white coat floating as a blur; Mika flew to a nearby equipment station. ”Don’t you dare flat line.” What? What was the weirdo talking about? Grodd certainly wouldn’t know. Even if he could hear it all. Honestly, there was any real reason to be saying it. Nothing was recording the audio in this room. And since Mika cracked open the admin tools on the computer, neither was anything recording Grodd’s vitals.

”Damn it. Code Aoi.” None of these fact seemed to slow mika down. Approaching with two large paddles. One in his hand, the other looped around his scrawny forearm. Barely staying on as he came to Grodd’s side once more. The barechested fellow, still reeling from the fledgling effects of improper sedation, already setup for this. The two large paddles plopping down onto Grodd’s torso. Mika practically leaning over him as an alarm triggered on the nearby wall. ”Charging. _{Listen to me if you don’t want to die.} Priming. _{Follow me. Hit. Me.} Charged. Setting. _{I need you angry. Understand? Angry. Savage. Also, when you can...toss me.}” With his every mumbled word mika placed the defibulators onto Grodd’s torso. The charge was actually a highly reduced one. Reviving not truly necessary for his drug addled state. Still, it was enough to spur him from his stupor. In fact. This would be a kick he very much needed. To get him up on his feet and in the right state of mind. Just as Mika went to trigger the shock, ”_{Are we} CLEAR!”

The burst of energy would hit Grodd and his internals like a good whoopin should. Maybe with some extra seasoning of pops and stings. The thunderbolt shooting through him and out his ass sure to rile him back to his senses. Or perhaps, further out of them. Either was going to work for what Mika needed. For as the shock was triggered, the doors to the ICU bay opened up to reveal a couple more medics. Each of them from the ranks of Squad 4. Each of them responding to the alarm that Mika activated when he took his newest tools off their wall mount. This little audience would arrive just in time to see Mika throw himself and his independently powered defibrillators onto the console. Whether he Grodd’s help or not. What would follow should be simple enough that even Grodd could catch on. Angry patient gets mistreated by physician. Wants it to stop. Wants some revenge. Doctor runs, trying to push past the incoming crowd. Raging brute follows suit. Let the router scavenger hunt begin. May Grodd’s punches be strong...and may the not hit Mika by mistake!

[Beast]

OOC: Sorry, hadn't noticed that you finished the post. My bad.

Grodd's body shook for a little while longer while Mika poured healing energy into his body. The new trauma was first to be healed, the unconscious need to convulse when thinking about experimentation on his body fading away as he managed to calm down slightly. His blood pressure was still highly elavated though as he continued to be in a state of wide eyed panic as so much negativity filled his waking thoughts. It didn't help that his inner hollow was getting stronger, and was preying on this moment of weakness and starting to take control.

Mika would find that his healing energies were being attacked, the synapses he healed were being broken again systematically. A dark energy following and breaking what was remade. Some things managed to stay healed, like the wounds from his battle with Keira. Not just the physical wounds, but the mental wounds had been wiped though the memories stayed. Mika was talented enough as a healer to do just that. Heal the scars but leave the memories. This dark energy, though, had a grip on a few key parts of Grodd's brain and was more than powerful enough to keep Mika out. Notably, the parts of the brain related to Speech were shut away from Grodd's ability and Mika's helaing.

The healing faded and was replaced with a powerful sedative instead, sending Grodd back into unconsciousness and back into his Inner World. He had been visiting that place far too often against his will lately... He entered the forest and found it pouring down rain. An uncommon weather pattern but not unheard of. Lightning flashed about the healthy side of the Inner World and thunder raged. The Beast was gathering more and more power... Power enough to generate weather that could affect the whole forest. It probably didn't help that Grodd had been in a panicked state, though. He was always weakest to the Beast's influence when he was like this.

When he was unconscious instead of meditating he often had no freedom of movement. He could only watch as the storm raged and rain washed over his exposed skin. Oerwould Hart was nowhere to be found, probably off fighting the Beast Within's influence elsewhere in the forest. She may even have gone over to the side where she was weaker, though the Shinigami hoped that wasn't the case. She could easily be killed if she tried to fight the Beast on his turf. Then Grodd's soul would be uncontested and would rage with the power of an uncontrolled Hollow... and probably consume his very essence.

Soon the storm started to fade and Grodd felt his body starting to wake up. He opened his eyes, barely, to see the one armed medic standing over him and whispering to him while holding... some sort of flat paddle. Grodd didn't understand why he needed to get angry, or toss Mika, but he was ready to do it though holding back. That was before Mika hit him with a defibrillator... A truly angry Grodd lashed out, backhanding Mika with force enough to crack concrete. The medic would be alright, hopefully, but Grodd was now pissed and had no idea where to direct his fury...

[Johnwaluigi]

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+440 CTP to both Participants