Ch. 9: Fated Friends

Day six of the Apothecary, and we're swamped before I even make it through the door. Michiko, now known as Solvent, has her first day on duty. She actually picked the name herself, explaining she liked how the word "solve" was in there, and I couldn't come up with anything better. For now, she's wearing just a simple black shirt, dark pants, and a gas mask with a simple readout for anyone speaking, with my words highlighted in a bright red compared to everyone else's black font color. It works for now, until she gets a proper outfit. Kingfisher is working on it.

I don't know how she managed it, but Emily whipped up a pair of gloves internally lined with diodes that feed into thin, stretchy cables that travel up Michiko's arms, and feed into a small computer on her back. It interprets the position of them at two hundred captures per second, digitizing her hand motions exactly and converting them to English text that appears at the bottom of my own visor. I don't know how these HUDs can be so close to my face and still legible, but I'm not going to question how her power works when mine is already so bizarre.

In short, Emily solved all of my problems, and now Michiko's deafness is essentially a non-issue, beyond speaking while using her hands.

Ishfaq, now under the name Catalyst, is too busy for a morning chat, processing the dozen people already here. At my appearance, one man tries to run towards me to cut in line, which Solvent solves by taking him to the ground and stomping hard on his back. I worry she's going to think my power means she has license to maim anyone who gets in my way. A problem for another time...

The rush of people was expected, to some extent. Rogue Wave texted me there was some kind of clash between two low-level gangs nearby. The way he phrased it implied he caused many of the injuries.

I look over the intake list, quietly taking a pen and numbering the order in which I plan to treat them: worst injuries first. One guy is actively bleeding on my floor. Lovely. I move into the exam room, and wait for my first patient to walk in. Solvent stands at the door, in view of Catalyst. I admit, I like the theming of our names, even if its a bit on the generic side.

I observe as my first patient is helped to the exam table by a friend. Blonde, green eyes, and a gunshot wound to the leg that won't stop bleeding even as he puts pressure on it. Evidently, not enough pressure. He has a look on his face I'm starting to recognize: usually cocky, but very rapidly coming to terms with mortality.

piercing wound through and through, iron + copper + any stone + gold

"This procedure has an expense attached, rake. See my assistant Catalyst later. Allow me but a moment to formulate a remedy..." I go to my lab, checking for gold that I haven't needed until now. Thankfully, there's a gold chain. I take a pair of wire cutter, snip off the amount I know I'll need, and gather the copper wire, iron shavings, and a piece of gravel in the same manner.

I drop them in. The elixir is violet, the color I've seen the least. I've always taken it as a good omen, but it's entirely superstition.

I return to the exam room, filling a syringe I take from my coat with the potion, and swabbing an area near his leg with an alcohol wipe before I inject the fluid into him. He flinches as tissue propagates and skin melds into skin. I'm already waving on the next patient. No time for chit-chat, and these people don't look the type for it anyway.

The next one takes a seat in my second exam room. A brawnier guy, a biker vibe to him. He was burned pretty bad on his left arm, some kind of low level cape with a mild flame power that happened to catch. Clearly, the leather jacket wasn't real leather, as it combusted easily enough...

I peel off what's left of his shirt to take a closer look, immediately learning the result of doing so. A full sleeve of tattoos, with a few choice ones being '88', 'Secure a future', and of course, a few less coded symbols.

"I do not treat your ilk. Begone."

"What? What the fuck are you talking about?" The now-unveiled white supremacist asks.

"Your kind is a pestilence in and of itself. I cure disease, not propagate it. Leave."

"What the fuck? Are you serious? Are you a fucking-"

"Now. Unless you wish to duel. Solvent!"

Within three seconds, she's at my side. Excellent response time.

"Please escort this man from my clinic before his miasma pollutes my air."

A few choice slurs later, and I'm on to the third patient. 30s, kind of gaunt. Stab wound, knife still in place. "Mhmm."

He looks up at me, shaking.

It's not that deep. This can be resolved easily. I take the knife out, and simply inject him with a general healing potion from my coat before wrapping it in a snug bandage, sending him to Ishfaq.

It goes on and on. I admit, they start to blur together, but there's an excitement to it I truly enjoy. Like I'm living in a world again, a strange person among strange people, instead of constantly being the odd one out.

By the time I finish, Solvent and I head over to Catalyst to check our haul so far.

Two thousand, one hundred and eleven dollars. More than expected.

"We need to charge more," Solvent signs.

"We're not going to charge people who can't pay, and none of those guys looked like they have money," Catalyst says. I'm glad he's on the same page as me.

I reassuringly lean against the counter. "Regardless, Solvent, they're not the true clientele. They're merely the advertisement, the blood-infused water that lures in the sharks."

"Yeah, that... wait, the power police are here," Catalyst says, eyes widening a bit.

I hear arguing in the security room and look at Catalyst's monitor. Damn it. "Solvent, remain collected, even if guns are drawn."

I open the door, revealing myself to the security guards and two EViRT officers in a tense standoff, everyone with a hand on a holster.

"Greetings, constables! Mind not my security, they do as instructed. Please allow these fine gentlemen through, intrepid watchdogs."

With anxious tension, they pull their hands from their weapons, leaving the officers to take anxious steps into the clinic. Now that I see their faces, it's actually better than expected.

"Ahh! Officers Liron and Bradley, my fated friends. How might the Apothecary assist you today?"

Liron looks around at the lobby, eyes lingering for a long time on the 'Do Some Harm' sign defiantly visible above Catalyst.

The experienced officer swallows, and speaks. "Beaker. Been a few weeks. I was wondering where you went." There's a faint hint of disappointment in his voice.

I bob my beaked mask up and down. "I have found my calling. A lovely facility, no?"

"Yeah. So who'd you join up with, Kudzu? I figured you'd stay in the gray area."

"What led you to such an abhorrent conclusion? No, sir, I have aligned myself with no gang. This space is a sacred site, suited for all stripes. Including your own."

He rolls his eyes. "Look, we were tipped off that you were active again, suspiciously close to suspected gang hideouts. And you've set up, what, a fake hospital..?"

I can't be upset with Liron. He only knows me from my vigilantism. I don't think he's ever seen my healing before.

peptic ulcer disease, gasoline + paper + any fruit + crux

I check on Bradley as well. If he's worse off, then I'd demonstrate on him.

first trimester morning sickness, ginger + salt + human hair + raisins

Morning sickness? That's... unexpected. "Liron, would you allow me the honor of concocting a cure for your ulcers? I may cleanse the impurity with a simple tonic."

He steps back in surprise, and maybe a dash of fear. "How did you know I have ulcers?"

"'Tis my power at work. A complex ability, but I have found its greatest application as of late. You will notice that those who enter my clinic leave with healed wounds and clear sinuses both."

He stares into my beaked mask for a long time. "Right..."

"If I may, my assistant Catalyst can intake you. This is no charade, I assure you. Any who walk through my doors are treated equally. Barring the skinheads and affiliated groups, of course. I have little patience for their antics."

Liron folds his arms. "And you want me to let you... what, prescribe something?"

"Nay, good sir. A singular dose from me is all that you will require. A gesture of goodwill for our productive arrangement. I have not forgotten your patience with my gallivanting, and I remain indebted. Bradley shall accompany me." I bow, more polite than flashy.

"And you need Bradley because..."

"Someone had best watch me, lest I abscond in a plume of smoke." I laugh, though the voice modulator it comes across as more ominous than I intend it to. "Solvent, remain here, if you would."

She nods, eyes trained on Liron. No complaints despite the police presence. She's professional.

I take Bradley with me, as he keeps a hand at his side, just in case."These are my exam rooms. Come, let me show you." I open a door, entering in first, and letting Bradley follow behind me. The door automatically clicks shut.

"Sir Bradley, I have... news."

He scrunches his nose. "Why the hell are we in a closed off room together?"

"It is sensitive information. My fellow, you appear to be... well, with child."

His face falls, eyes pulling open for a second, before he scrunches his face back. "That's a weird joke, Beaker."

"Tis not a joke... I understand this may be a tangled knot of emotions."

"That's the dumbest- I don't- How in the fuck would that work?"

I know almost nothing about prenatal medicine, but I'm certain that it's the kind of news someone taking hormone supplements should know about early.

"Modulator off."

"Modulator?"

"Yeah. It's obviously not my actual voice." I say, pensively tapping my foot as my real voice comes through.

"What the hell... I thought Liron was joking about you being a woman."

"Focus. I do have a power that allows me to diagnose and treat physical ailments. Usually I'd stay in character here, but as a physician, I need you to understand how serious I am, and that you should see a professional about the pregnancy as early as possible."

"Pregnancy isn't even an 'ailment' or whatever. And again, I'm a man. Have you completely cracked?" His eyes stop meeting mine, constantly looking to the corners of his vision.

"Morning sickness, though, is an ailment. Nausea, vomiting, that kind of thing?"

"...look, I-"

I hold onto my beak, ready to take off the mask to comfort him. But... it's not just me at risk, now. Michiko and Ishfaq are relying on me. I lower my hand. "I can't reveal myself, I'm sorry. If you proceed with or terminate the pregnancy is up to you. I'm just the messenger, okay?"

He bites his lip, and I see a couple tears in his eyes. "How could this happen?! I've been on T for years! I haven't had a period since I was fucking 17!"

"I don't know, and this is far from my specialty. Take as much time as you need here, I'll bring you some water. I can stall Liron forever with the ulcer thing."

The phrase "I can too" pops up in my visor. Right, forgot to turn that off. At least Solvent is normal about it.

I leave Bradley alone in the room, walking back towards Liron. "Sir Liro- Modulator... fuck it, it's just us." I sigh in annoyance with myself. "I'm terrible at this."

Liron cracks a smile. "I was starting to think you were actually someone else."

"No, still me. Okay, ulcers. Don't worry, Bradley's fine. I had to share some difficult news with him, and he needs a bit. Catalyst, could you bring a bottle of water to Exam Room 1?"

"Of course, Viv- Beaker."

Motherfucker.

Liron glances between me and Catalyst, who is frozen on the spot. "Viv?" Liron asks, face a bit more serious.

"Catalyst and I go way back. Originally I was 'Vivisector' but that was way too brutal. Still, old habits, right?" I chuckle under my breath. "I'll get your ulcer cure. Catalyst, Bradley still needs the water."

"Right. Of course." He takes a bottle from a small fridge under the desk, and ferries it to the exam room as I walk to the lab, quickly throwing together the ulcer cure. "Modulator on," I say to myself, just in case anyone else came in to the apothecary.

I nod at Ishfaq, already back to his desk, as I bring the reddish brown potion back to a characteristically patient Liron. It occurs to me how fast I'm burning through these syringes...

"Why does it seem like you're going to give me dose me with heroin or something?"

"I am Beaker, the physician, not some meandering vagrant hawking snake oil!" For his sake, I skip mentioning crux as one of the ingredients.

Liron takes a long sigh, and holds out his arm. With swab and a pinch, the injection is complete. I watch him brace for the results, but he only feels the faint pain in his stomach vanishing as I wait patiently.

"It... it worked. I didn't expect that. I don't... I can't believe it. What the hell... Beaker, genuinely, what the hell are you doing in a place like this? You can go get an empowered healer's license and do this professionally! Even just the diagnosing would be huge!"

"Indeed, but the Apothecary demands my attention. I turn away none based on ability to pay. Selfish, perhaps, but when I have attempted the straight and narrow path, I received naught but scorn and dismay. Here, my work is unimpeded. No, my fellow, the Apothecary will stand. Do bring anyone you wish here, however, and tell them to mention your name." I notice I'm clenching my fist, and loosen it consciously.

Liron looks down the exam room hallway. I take the hint, and casually pace back into the exam room with Bradley.

He's seemed to have mostly calmed down from the shock. "What did you say to Liron?"

"That there was difficult news. You can simply say I cured some embarrassing illness and be done with it."

"Okay... okay. I'm going to have to have a talk with my husband." He anxiously picks at one of his nails with his thumb.

"If there's anything I can do, you know where to find me."

He gets off the exam bed, meeting back up with Liron. Of course, neither of them have the stomach to shut me down now that I'd helped them both...

As soon as we're alone again, Catalyst immediately starts layering apologies like the tower of Babel for slipping and calling me Viv. What else can I do but say that I'm not upset? I make constant mistakes, and I actually have people who rely on me.