Comic 431 - Fill Dr. Finch in
Posted on 24th Sep 2017, 10:02 PM
in Doors
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Author Notes:
You also ask Fuse about that hospital.
"So... officially, it's not Gesenai's," Fuse states. "Officially. The surrounding blocks are dense with her property, though, and that hospital's kept open thanks in part to generous donations from Row Dynamics. So... yeah, it might as well have Shirai's name on it."
You ask Dr. Finch how much he told the agent.
"Not much," replies Dr. Finch. "She opened with numerous questions about the Tobu hack, and the beasts in the hospital. We didn't quite get to the aftermath of those events before things became... dicey. When the agent inquired about a certain nurse exhibiting unusual behavior, I told her that some of what I'd seen had perplexed me--but I was rather scant with the details. I also explained to her that you had saved my life, when you certainly didn't need to."
You ask Dr. Finch if he has any theories on that agent, and her immunity to the bacteria.
Dr. Finch adjusts his glasses.
"Quite simply," he begins, "she is not human. That was a very specific strain of streptococcus, no doubt hand tailored by Carpenter himself. I was at first put off by her lack of shock at Carpenter's involvement, her zero concern regarding the situation, and her being unaffected outright by the bacteria. I had no doubts in my mind that surely, she must be in league with that fiend.
BUT! But but but, as I had more time to consider it, more time to think about the elements in play a very different conclusion came to me--and I did have... quite a bit of time to think. Humoral immunity must be acquired, and while it's possible that the young lady had been steadily, carefully exposed to small doses of Carpenter's deadly strep strain to build her resilience... it's very unlikely. Arvin Carpenter is a sociopath, and she would need his compliance to develop such a resilience.
She displayed little in the way of concern for my well being, which I will admit, stung a little. But... but but but, she also showed no surprise at my accuracy, no fear in the gunfight. Not much in the way of any emotions. She could very well be an incredibly hardened veteran at a disturbingly young age that has somehow earned a soft spot in Carpenter's black heart... or... or, or or or..."
"She's some kinda robot," Caius pipes up.
"EXACTLY!," Dr. Finch shouts, pointing at Caius. "An android, built as part of the government's secret operations. Automata are by no means unheard of, but if I'm correct, she's operating at an unprecedented level of human similarity."
"Crazy as that sounds..." Fuse starts, "it's... a good idea, if you're right. Think about it: you're dealing with two or more forces that can take over a person's mind through the bloodstream. Obvious answer? A cop with no blood."
"The only facet of this still puzzling me..." Dr. Finch states, quieter, "is her reaction to it all. There was ample evidence in my home of my dealings with the extraterrestrial blood post-hospital. She did not turn that over. I attempted to hand her a syringe full of more than enough evidence."
You mention that the syringe has since been shattered, its contents gone.
Michelle speaks up. "We know somebody in that bunker's prob'ly workin' with Thale, right? Or workin' with Shirai, or workin' with... somebody. Maybe robo-cop knows there's somethin' fishy goin' on in her department. She's tryin' to crack this alien case while keepin' Blondie outta the bad guy's hands."
"Or," Fuse says, "she is the dirty fed in Thale's pocket. She might be trying to covertly turn Blondie in to the circle before the rest of the government gets its shit in order. Much as I wanna be optimistic, we can't just assume the robot isn't a bad robot."
For now, you order some Chinese food and plot your next move. You have the surveillance footage, which should be enough to get the mystery agent's attention--from there, it's figuring out when, where, and who to make the call.
I'm not dying or anything, but the reason I can update as often as I can is that most of my money comes from various writing projects. If more money comes from this direction, that's less time I have to spend desperately pumping out books or writing articles for websites, and I can keep my focus here.
My financial situation isn't dire, but it's getting me nervous enough to post about it. Sorry. Also, a MASSIVE thank you to everybody that's already donated or is currently hooking me up on Patreon, you guys are saints and I love you.
as for who, that's easy. she's dealt with caius before. it's logical that caius, given the situation we presented her, would go digging for info if he found out the girl he's supposed to be protecting is out there, somewhere, alive. even if she is (supposedly) very dangerous and has possibly been bodysnatched. also, she mentioned footage, which caius could then conceivably go looking for. caius knowing a guy in the lower tiers who specializes in this kind of thing is not only mostly the truth, it's also very believable given the lines we've fed her already.
basically, we take our original lie and run circles around her with it. tell her that he thought she might be interested in the rest of the aforementioned footage. for the when and where, i'd say "as soon as possible" and "why not a motel". not this motel... just a motel. any motel that isn't this one.
Only after the hired goons underestimate his investigations, and he tries to arrest the head honcho does the nasty override kick in.
Anyway, we need to ascertain miss Fedbot's allegiance and deal with her in the worst case...
Where's the closest functional hydraulic press around here ? Going for the classics usually works.
Of course, if that's the case, one wonders what kind of side effects that might have (since humans tend to make things with flaws, and we have trouble thinking of all the implications when programming something). A distinct lack of empathy? An inability to let things lie even when that would be the best solution for all involved? Something I'm not thinking of because I've never experienced what being truly inhumanly incorruptible is like?
It bothers me that Carpenter had an inkling as to who she was, on the phone with Dr. Finch, back at his lab. Hm. But didn't sound like they were on the same side, either, so there's that. Still, who is she really under the tab of?
I'm happy to roll with Mochi's plan, though I do think we need to discuss contingencies here. We should be ready to cut and run if necessary.
Also, just a thought, but... maybe we could tell her straight off the bat that we may not have been entirely truthful with her, but we've had no reason to be. But if she's willing to come clean, we'll lay down our cards too. The footage proves there's so much more to this story than the Feds have been getting, after all. Maybe?
(EDIT: By 'straight off the bat' I don't mean immediately or on the phone event. -v- Okay maybe 'straight off the bat' wasn't the right phrase. I mean more like, once we've got the ball rolling. If she seems interested in the footage, then... maybe we could preface the rest of the conversation with this. Blah maybe not. I dunno. I'm thinking out loud XD)
After that, how about everyone rests for a little bit? Let Finch check everyone's wounds, order pizza, relax... It's been a stressful day.
(This can wait until night time though obviously)
For potential angles, if she's anything like Michelle, she's being treated worse than a nail clipper by her superiors, and her tech maintenance team sees her as a constant risk of going rogue terminatrix and killing everybody.
The only reason there would be not to get her onboard is if she has to obey direct orders to hurt Jane or her affiliates.
If that's the case, first we fry those orders out of her, then hugpile her into submission.
Good thing, Fuse now has a computer to cook up the right voodoo for that situation.
Probably.
You know, we gave a syringe to Grizwald, we should be able to see if that still exists.