[He flicks on the video, as requested. Stein looks significantly better than at any time since before Kid's arrival in this snowy hellscape, still underweight and bundled up in mismatched layers, but his clothing at least is clean and his face is free of most (not all, but most) of any signs of pain.]
It's been five days since I revived, Kid. I wasn't going to start celebrating a success that hadn't actually happened.
[His death price was irrelevant and is now gone.]
I don't mind switching to text if it's easier for you.
[Coughing harder before he's able to answer, Kid presses a hand to his mouth and waves the other to dismiss Stein's offer of switching to text. The young reaper wants to see the doctor and the changes that had taken place, however subtle. Kid is, perhaps as expected, suspicious.
His one searches the doctor for signs of the implant. He can't see it, but he's exhausted and dazed from cough syrup. He shifts and the glow from the tablet shows that he's not any better than their conversation prior to Stein's experiment, the only change that the multiple scratches from the night he'd nearly drowned in sharp water were now slowly healing.]
No--no, video is better.
[When he's able to catch his breath, he rubs his eye. There is a part of him, however small, that is incredibly curious--it wars with the part of him that remains terrified of the man Franken Stein could be without any sort of impulse control or control over his darker urges.] Success...and what are you considering success?
[There's no implant, but his usual blanket turban is wrapped (more neatly that usual) around his head in an attempt to stay warm. Even with the metal gone, he still runs cold.]
The implant was removed, and the brain damage associated with it has apparently been reversed. The request Watson and I made to the Admin for control of my violent impulses has also been granted.
[And it's been days. It's been days and he hasn't had any urges to dissect, no screaming unending need in his head to just cut something (anything, anyone, himself) open. It's unsettling, like expecting a step down when there isn't one, or reaching for a handrail that isn't there, or running into a door you expected to be unlocked and bouncing off instead. It's that feeling of the world not being quite right around him, not being what he anticipated. There's no constant struggle for control.
He's normal.
For once in his too-long life, he can just let his mind and soul relax.
It's unsettling, but he continues as if he's not been tilted out of his general equilibrium and as if he's not having to re-learn his entire existence.]
There is absolutely no danger of me losing control as long as the Admin's alterations remain in effect.
[He doesn't want to cut anything open. The curiosity is there, of course, how could he be himself without that (how could he be himself without the violent urges>). It just doesn't extend into a desire to cut.]
Have you been successful in maintaining your health? [The clear answer is no.]
[Kid has never been difficult to read, especially not here and not when sick, where his guard is so down and his energy so low. His expression is confused but interested, brows furrowed as he peers at the camera with his left eye squinting, not an ounce of shyness as he openly stares.]
The Administrator has also controlled your violent impulses. [He paraphrases Stein's unspoken comment. The implant is out and the thing he had been most afraid of is controlled, and for just a moment he can't believe it. It's not an unfair assumption. After all, the Admin can't quite manage keeping them all stocked with food and medical supplies, with people captives nearly dead of starvation, illness or injury almost every day. It's hard to imagine she has the capability to so seamlessly manage something so complex.
Still, Stein seems unnaturally calm, and Kid realizes that this is something he has never seen.]
...I am glad to hear your experiment was successful. [Dumbfounded, which is mostly obvious on what is visible of his features, but glad.
As to Stein's question, the self-trained doctor doesn't need Kid's input to get his answer. He's already heard the coughing, and what's visible of the teen's face is a sickly pale. He still keeps a strip of a dressing over the socket of his empty right eye, though it is currently somewhat lopsided and showing the delicate stitches that Claire had put in weeks ago. Scratches from their last conversation are healing, but slowly, likely due to malnutrition--Kid still can't keep much food down. He's sitting close enough to the tablet that the device picks up the wheezing as he breathes, and if Stein looks closely he can see that Kid still braces his sternum if he takes a deep breath.
So no. Definitely not maintaining his health.] I am not dead yet. Considering the locale, that is a success.
Most people are doing better than "not dead yet", Kid. Are you traveling with someone who can help you, or are you on your own again? [It's easy to shift the topic off of something Stein doesn't find very interesting to talk about (his own mental state) to something interesting (anyone else and what they're doing).]
While you might be correct in your semantics, I would argue that you have died at least three times since I have arrived and I have yet to die once. "Yet" seems appropriate.
[Shivering, Kid curls beneath his jacket and cloak as much as he can, the bedsheet added to the conglomeration of linen for warmth.]
I am traveling with Frisk and have been trying to slip away from them for days. Everyone I travel with dies, and I am not eager to press the theory to see if they may become an exception.
I am not going to be responsible for killing them.
[Kid hasn't been very stern here, not often, but his tone is as firm as he can manage.]
I have been eating as often as I am able [Read: not often and it's clearly not doing much] taking the cough medication Dr. Watson prescribed exactly as he's told me [It doesn't work well but he's following instructions!] and sleeping at night for as close to eight hours as I can [Sometimes more when he just knocks out!]
I am aware that I do not look well. I know that I am not well--but I am following the instructions I have been given as best as I can. And I am not going to risk Frisk being killed just because it seems like traveling with someone else is a good idea.
You are not responsible for anyone's deaths here, Kid. [Where are Liz and Patti when you need them? Kid's going to get himself trapped in a loop that Stein can't shock him out of.]
[For a moment, he's silent, and all that there is to see are thin, cold-blistered fingers tugging anxiously at his the hair hanging in his eye. It is too late to convince the teen that he is not a harbinger of death--best now is damage control.]
The matter is not up for debate. I was not seeking your opinion.
[Still, something about his uncertain expression is less than convincing, and Kid swallows. The wheezing seems worse than earlier in the conversation, a potential byproduct of his own anxiety.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2017-03-11 08:25 pm (UTC)It's been five days since I revived, Kid. I wasn't going to start celebrating a success that hadn't actually happened.
[His death price was irrelevant and is now gone.]
I don't mind switching to text if it's easier for you.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-11 09:37 pm (UTC)His one searches the doctor for signs of the implant. He can't see it, but he's exhausted and dazed from cough syrup. He shifts and the glow from the tablet shows that he's not any better than their conversation prior to Stein's experiment, the only change that the multiple scratches from the night he'd nearly drowned in sharp water were now slowly healing.]
No--no, video is better.
[When he's able to catch his breath, he rubs his eye. There is a part of him, however small, that is incredibly curious--it wars with the part of him that remains terrified of the man Franken Stein could be without any sort of impulse control or control over his darker urges.] Success...and what are you considering success?
no subject
Date: 2017-03-12 06:42 am (UTC)The implant was removed, and the brain damage associated with it has apparently been reversed. The request Watson and I made to the Admin for control of my violent impulses has also been granted.
[And it's been days. It's been days and he hasn't had any urges to dissect, no screaming unending need in his head to just cut something (anything, anyone, himself) open. It's unsettling, like expecting a step down when there isn't one, or reaching for a handrail that isn't there, or running into a door you expected to be unlocked and bouncing off instead. It's that feeling of the world not being quite right around him, not being what he anticipated. There's no constant struggle for control.
He's normal.
For once in his too-long life, he can just let his mind and soul relax.
It's unsettling, but he continues as if he's not been tilted out of his general equilibrium and as if he's not having to re-learn his entire existence.]
There is absolutely no danger of me losing control as long as the Admin's alterations remain in effect.
[He doesn't want to cut anything open. The curiosity is there, of course, how could he be himself without that (how could he be himself without the violent urges>). It just doesn't extend into a desire to cut.]
Have you been successful in maintaining your health? [The clear answer is no.]
no subject
Date: 2017-03-12 05:31 pm (UTC)The Administrator has also controlled your violent impulses. [He paraphrases Stein's unspoken comment. The implant is out and the thing he had been most afraid of is controlled, and for just a moment he can't believe it. It's not an unfair assumption. After all, the Admin can't quite manage keeping them all stocked with food and medical supplies, with
peoplecaptives nearly dead of starvation, illness or injury almost every day. It's hard to imagine she has the capability to so seamlessly manage something so complex.Still, Stein seems unnaturally calm, and Kid realizes that this is something he has never seen.]
...I am glad to hear your experiment was successful. [Dumbfounded, which is mostly obvious on what is visible of his features, but glad.
As to Stein's question, the self-trained doctor doesn't need Kid's input to get his answer. He's already heard the coughing, and what's visible of the teen's face is a sickly pale. He still keeps a strip of a dressing over the socket of his empty right eye, though it is currently somewhat lopsided and showing the delicate stitches that Claire had put in weeks ago. Scratches from their last conversation are healing, but slowly, likely due to malnutrition--Kid still can't keep much food down. He's sitting close enough to the tablet that the device picks up the wheezing as he breathes, and if Stein looks closely he can see that Kid still braces his sternum if he takes a deep breath.
So no. Definitely not maintaining his health.] I am not dead yet. Considering the locale, that is a success.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-18 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-23 07:11 am (UTC)[Shivering, Kid curls beneath his jacket and cloak as much as he can, the bedsheet added to the conglomeration of linen for warmth.]
I am traveling with Frisk and have been trying to slip away from them for days. Everyone I travel with dies, and I am not eager to press the theory to see if they may become an exception.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-26 02:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 10:10 am (UTC)[Kid hasn't been very stern here, not often, but his tone is as firm as he can manage.]
I have been eating as often as I am able [Read: not often and it's clearly not doing much] taking the cough medication Dr. Watson prescribed exactly as he's told me [It doesn't work well but he's following instructions!] and sleeping at night for as close to eight hours as I can [Sometimes more when he just knocks out!]
I am aware that I do not look well. I know that I am not well--but I am following the instructions I have been given as best as I can. And I am not going to risk Frisk being killed just because it seems like traveling with someone else is a good idea.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-17 02:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-19 02:56 pm (UTC)The matter is not up for debate. I was not seeking your opinion.
[Still, something about his uncertain expression is less than convincing, and Kid swallows. The wheezing seems worse than earlier in the conversation, a potential byproduct of his own anxiety.]
no subject
Date: 2017-04-21 04:31 am (UTC)