i. welcome to the hotel california

[proudofwhatido]

[Private to the Admiral]
I admit, I was actually excited about getting away for awhile. I was assuming the healing Bible had saved my life, but I'm getting the feeling that's not the case..

[Public]
Wow. You people sure know how to throw a party. I'm practically overwhelmed with the sheer amount of optimism on this ship. It's kind of hard to sort out between the irrelevant narratives and the vague nothings, but I feel like it's there if you know where to look.

The name's Nicholas Halden, FBI. I made a deal to come be a warden and I'm looking forward to helping one of you lucky people be redeemed into bigger and better things. Well, it's a working theory. I'll at least try to help you graduate. Can anyone tell me when I'll be assigned to someone? I can be eager sometimes.

So, anyone interested in a game of cards?

[Private to Adam, after talking to Parker]
I hear you run a good card game.


[ooc; Neal's been here for a few days.]

Comments

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Do you think I could convince you to show me around the infirmary and what it is that you do, Martha?

[toldastory]

Sure.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

It's on level two, right? When is good for you?

[toldastory]

Yeah, level two. We're fairly dead at the moment if ya wanna come down.

Public & Spam

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'll be down in a minute. Three, tops.


[And thus Neal arrives in a couple minutes as quoted, dressed in a suit with jacket, tie, and everything. His leaves the hat in his room for now, trying to appear more like the FBI employee he was. Wearing a classic smile as he arrives, Neal glances around the room.] Martha?

Spam

[toldastory]

[Martha had been looking out for Agent Halden, and she met him at the door with a rather large grin. When she saw what he had been wearing, her eyes went wide. It seemed like a rather nice suit for an agent, but perhaps they paid people differently in real life than they had in the movies (or episodes of the X-files). One hand was extended quickly, and she was wearing her normal attire of a labcoat over a pair of black pants and a purple sleeveless shirt.] That's me.

Spam

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

[He shook her hand, gentle but firm as always, and met her eyes the entire time.] Wow. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're beautiful.

Thanks for meeting with me. I don't mean to take up too much of your time. I just want to see how things work around here in case I, or my inmate, ever have an emergency. [Everything about him spoke confidence, calm, and control. The kind of control that came naturally with knowledge and charisma; he was every bit an agent. For now.]

Spam

[toldastory]

[Martha flushed, and she looked away for a moment when he said that. She knew she wasn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but she didn't often get compliments like that, especially not while she was on the barge. When she spoke, her voice was soft but certain.] Thank you, Agent Halden. Would you prefer to be called that or Nicholas?

[She smiled at him when he mentioned not taking up too much of her time.] We're fairl empty at the moment. The Barge has been awfully quiet which probably is a bit of calm before the storm. [A beat.] At the infirmary we tend to deal with two things: people on the verge of death or those recovering from the death toll.

Spam

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Just.. Nick, please. I'm sorry I didn't say that sooner. [His apology seemed a mixture of sincerity and the polite thing to say. Then he was attentive to her information, meeting her eyes every time she spoke but using the pauses to glance around at their surroundings.] The "death toll"? What is that?

Spam

[toldastory]

Alright, Nick. And don't worry about it, I'm kinda used to people with titles here. [A pause and a grin.] People don't die permanently on the barge. They come back with the death toll. It's not a fun time. Pain, fatigue, phantom injuries depending on the severity of the death for anywhere from three days to a week.

Spam

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

So people that should die come back to life with a flu and pain? It reminds me of the Myth of Er.. Plato talked of a mortal who, despite dying on the field of battle and seeing the souls of his fellow soldiers rise, never decomposed himself. Eventually his soul was returned and he was allowed to live again. [It was spoken thoughtfully, trying to relate the oddities back to his own knowledge rather than preach. Neal was not a pretentious man.]

How do they come back and how do you treat them?

Spam

[toldastory]

Well, considering how many of the people onboard here are dead at home, it's not an unlikely metaphor, I suppose. All of the inmates here have died, and several wardens have as well. [Martha smiled to and slipped her hands into the pocket of her lab coat as she looked up at him.]

Well, the long story short and sounding rather mad bit is that the Admiral brings them back. And we treat them with pain medication, sedatives and fluids.

Spam-

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize so many people had died to come here. Do all the wardens get to make deals or only those that survived? [His questions were sincere, regardless of his own position. Neal wanted to know more about how the Barge worked if he was going to work it.]

That makes sense.. [He muttered absently as he began to walk into the facility a hint.] It's hard to believe, but I don't know what to do other than take your word for it. [Turning around to face her, he offered another smile.] Show me around?

Spam.

[toldastory]

Well, we are here to save souls more than lives. Most wardens make deals. Some of us come here without deals. I didn't make one. [Though when her time came up she was going to remedy that. She only had a few more weeks to wait in order for that go about.] It's all about how the Admiral approaches you, I suppose. [She was assuming that based on what he had said, that he had made one.

[She moved in step with him when he began to wander to wander across the the infirmary floor. When he smiled, she smiled back. He really did have a charming smile.] Sure, if ya like. There's not really much to see.

[There was a broad gesture to the multiple made beds that lined the walls.] This is where we do most of it. [There was another gesture toward the office.] The office of course and here [she said as they came to it.] Is the medical cabinet. Everything here requires both the item of the warden and the fingerprint, like so.

[She stepped up to the door, and pulled her phone from her pocket, and then scanned her palm against the large Star Trek scanner.] It's a bit of a relic from when Leo McCoy ran the infirmary.

Spam.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

I suppose that's true. I'm glad I got the opportunity then. [He responded offhandedly as if it were a passing remark rather than a focus. Then Neal was attentive as she showed him around, taking note of where the office, supplies, and medicines were. If everything required both an item and a fingerprint, it could be trickier than he might have hoped to break into later. Just, you know, in case he ever had to.

He wanted to ask if any warden needed an item, but that might cause her to invite him to try it and, short one warden item, he figured that wasn't the best idea at present. Instead, he decided to focus on her and the origin of the technology.]

Impressive.. Wait-- Leonard 'Bones' McCoy of Star Trek fame? Is here on the Barge?

Re: Spam.

[toldastory]

[Martha nodded quickly when he said that he had the opportunity to make one. Not every warden could open the medical casing, just the doctors on the staff, but she wasn't going to mention that. Martha found it fairly self-explanatory really. After it, it was just like how things were at the hospital back home.

There was a large grin when he mentioned Leo, but there was a touch of sadness in her eyes.]

Yeah, he was here. Captain Kirk was as well. Uhura is still here. [A beat.] And Shizon, but I never saw anything he was in, but he does come from the same world. We've had a fair amount of people who I once thought were fictional.

Spam.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

The younger ones or the older? [He asked with a sideways sort of expression, having heard rumor of the new Star Trek but never having seen it. Neal didn't know the name Shinzon, though.. Prison and his particular occupation didn't leave much time for science fiction and other nerdy pursuits.]

[Neal knew better than to assume anything, but for now he was confident that it would take more than any warden item; he could ask later. He nodded at the medicine cabinet, then glanced back toward the offices as though he had forgotten.] Sorry, you said the offices were back here? Who here as offices besides yourself? I mean, are there a lot of other doctors on board?

Re: Spam.

[toldastory]

The younger ones. We had Admiral Kirk around for awhile, the Shatner one, but he left. [Martha paused and frowned quickly.] We tend to have a rather high turnover here, unfortunately. The environment can be a bit... rough and some people don't handle it well. Once you're on board it doesn't matter if you're an inmate or a warden; you're left to the mercy of the Admiral's horrible driving. Floods, ports, accidents, murders, they all effect everyone aboard equally most of the time. A lot of people can't handle that, even without the not dying bit.

[She took a deep breath and then shook her head. It had been nearly a year since Martha had come aboard, and in some ways it felt so much longer for her than that. She'd aged more than a her prescribed time that she'd been here. At the mention of the offices, Martha shook her head.] We just kinda share it. There's four of us at the moment, five if Jack gets back.

Spam.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

That sounds familiar. [He muttered in response to the idea of the environment being rough. Of course, it was meant to sound like the FBI, but he meant it just as much for his other work as for the legitimate agency. To her elaboration, her nodded.] It sounds a lot harder than most people probably give it credit for initially.

Does it take your fingerprints to get in there too? [Neal laughed and smiled at Martha again, his tone conversational rather than probing. The way an agent would ask for more information about a case with a willing witness.] Can you tell me the names of the doctors or is that information kept quiet for safety reasons?

Re: Spam.

[toldastory]

[Martha nodded when he said that it sounded familiar. She imagined that it would. After all, she'd worked for an agency as well, and she knew what a pain in the ass it could be. The nod came again and was even more empathic.] It really is. I know when I came here I thought it'd be a piece of cake. It's really not.

[When he asked if it took fingerprints, Martha laughed quickly. How funny that he should ask that. She nodded quickly, and eagerly, because really, she didn't have any reason to suspect him. She was probably going to kick herself later.] Actually, yeah, fingerprints and the item. And we've only four doctors aboard now. Well, three. Jack's off. So it's myself, Sveta and Denise.

Spam.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Is there any chance I could get a few rolls of curlex and maybe some bandaids and gauze to have in my room? I can be.. accident prone, at times. [He offered her a smile.]

He sounds like a stupid guy, that Jack. [He offered in response, lighthearted still. It seemed half of an unfinished statement, but Neal wasn't about to offer her the punchline without ensuring she wanted it. The inmate spun around as he stepped away from the offices in a fluid and seemingly natural motion.]

Spam.

[toldastory]

Sure, [Martha said quickly, and with a grin.] That's no problem at all. [She quickly opened the cabinet and removed a bag, putting a few bandaids, some gauze and tape into it. After all, if he didn't need to come to the infirmary for it, they wouldn't need to treat him. Not that she had a problem treating him, but still.]

Well, sometimes we don't get a choice in the matter here. Sadly. [She grinned at him again, before she offered the bag over to him. Nick was fairly adorable, and would probably be perfect for Sveta.]

Spam.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

[Neal was appreciative of her helpfulness, as curious as to where things were as he actually wanted the materials. It was useful for rigging things, for hiding wounds, and generally for getting on the good side of the lead doctor here.]

No excuse. Three female doctors, at least one as beautiful as you? I would have fought tooth and nail to stay. [Ah, yes. Always the charmer. He accepted the bag with another smile and a light brushing of her hand, something that might have been entirely accidental if Neal wasn't so calculated.] Thanks.

Spam.

[toldastory]

[Martha laughed quickly at that. In some ways, Nick definitely reminded her of Jack. Or at least the Jack before everything had gotten so bad for him, both here and at home. She had a small moment of hoping that things were better for him now that he wasn't stuck on the Barge. Her tone was still light and teasing when she spoke.] Well, that's probably because you haven't been here through a flood or a port yet. You may change your mind.

[The brush was marked off to being completely accidental. Yes, Nick was a flirt, but at the same time he seemed like the sort of person whom flirted with everyone, so she didn't take it personal.] Anything else I can do for ya, Nick?

Spam.

[proudofwhatido.livejournal.com]

Maybe. [He admitted, not wanting to pretend he was too arrogant about what to expect here. Truly, Neal had no idea what he had been thrown into and it was hard enough pretending he had any clue, let alone trying to wade through it like a champion.]

[Neal slid around her in one step, subtly moving closer so that he could flirt from an intimate distance.] I'll be sure to let you know when I think of something.

[The man didn't linger in that space, avoiding any potentially awkward moments. His timing was his greatest asset.]