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Post by gantzgun74 on May 25, 2017 2:17:09 GMT -5
Erin just grinned and waved her off. "HEeeeeey, fuhget about it~." The Shinobi of void smiled as she placed her hands behind her head laxly. Seeing Alphys' nod, Erin nodded herself, understanding. "You two just stay calm, rest and... I dunno. Do what you can to keep the peace around here? Me and the Doc will do what we can."
With that being said, Erin motions for the professor to follow and the two leave the room...
A few seconds later, Evan and Swift would hear a void Portal opening down the hall followed by it closing, signaling the two's departure.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 18:01:37 GMT -5
Alone with Swift, Evan stared at the door for a moment, then at himself, then at the ceiling, taking a deep breath all the while. The look of dread on his face pretty much said it all. "I... I trust them. I really do. I-I wanna believe that we'll figure this out. But..."
He pursed his lips. He wanted to stay calm, but he just couldn't muster the strength. The discomfort, the sensations he was constantly aware of, the idea of what he was potentially becoming... it left him in a perpetual state of uneasiness that made him want to scream, cry and/or crawl into whatever dark hole he belonged in where no one would see the abomination he was ever again.
Evan closed his eyes, grabbed a pillow and held it against his face. "I just... I just can't deal with this, Swift! I don't- I mean- A dog, a mouse... heck, even a dragon! I could deal with that! Why this?! Why...?!" He tightened his grip on the pillow, his free hands balling into fists. "Why a spider...?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 18:31:49 GMT -5
With her head still resting next to his, Swift placed her hand on one of Evan's arms and slowly started stroking his wrist with her thumb. A slow blink finally squeezed the tears out, but she managed to keep her voice steady regardless. "I don't know, Evan. I... I wish I had some kind of magic words to make everything better... but I just don't. I'm just as scared and confused as you are, believe me."
She sat up straight and looked down at Evan, even though the pillow was keeping him from looking back at her. "Until we're given a little more direction, all I can do is be here for you. And..." Her grip tightened ever so slightly. "And I promise you... as long as it's within my power, I'm not gonna sit by and watch you suffer. So... tell me... what do you want me to do?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 18:54:32 GMT -5
Evan partially pulled the pillow away, enough for Swift to see one eye. It was painfully clear that he was starting to shed tears too. What did he want her to do? It felt wrong to ask anything of her. She had already done so much for him yesterday alone, and it hurt him to see her going through so much emotional toil for his sake. He didn't need anything besides a cure. Until he got one, all he wanted was to feel normal.
"Just..."
It took him a moment to respond. It took him a moment to figure out what to do. But finally, Evan threw the pillow off, sat up and pulled Swift into an embrace. His body was tense at first, but eventually he slumped and sank into her, burying his face in her shoulder as he heaved from the muffled sobs. His extra arms seemed to hesitate at first, but when Evan tightened his grip, he unconsciously wrapped them around Swift's waist as well, pulling the two even closer together.
"Just... stay with me... please..."
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 19:13:06 GMT -5
Swift was slightly caught off guard by Evan's embrace, eyes wide and ears perked. It didn't take long for her to settle in, though, gently wrapping her arms around Evan's neck and rubbing her head against his. It didn't even bother her that he was hugging her with all six arms. If this was what it took to give him the comfort he so desperately needed, then so be it.
Besides... she needed it too.
"Of course... Wasn't planing on doing otherwise."
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The day seemed to drag. The apartment atmosphere was stuffy and uncomfortable, to the point where half of its residents had to just get out to clear their minds of the insanity going on around them. By the afternoon, the only ones still there were Evan, Swift, Jen and Carter.
Swift couldn't blame the others for wanting to get away from this madness, but she greatly appreciated the support she still had.
Soon enough, the cool light of dusk covered the island. As the outside world calmed down, Swift seated herself at the kitchen bar, head in her hand and eyes on her phone lying in front of her. She told herself that a thorough blood test would probably take a while, but it was so hard to be patient when Evan's condition was rapidly getting worse.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 19:28:16 GMT -5
A whine proceeded the feeling of Carter rubbing up against Swift's leg. The old dog was no less concerned than the others. Seeing his master in such an unsettling state had left him in a funk for the whole day, his mind racing with questions about what would happen to Evan, not to mention him and everyone else...
Jen looked up from her phone and stared at the bathroom door. Evan had been in there for almost ten minutes now. "He's... holding up, at least. I... guess there's not much more we can ask of him." It was obvious that she was running out of things to say in an effort to lighten the mood.
After mulling it over for a moment, Jen got up and knocked on the door. "Evan? Is... everything okay in there?"
"NO!!!" Evan shouted back, following this was a strained groan. "IT HUUUUUUURTS!!!"
"W-What does??"
"STOMACH!"
Jen gritted her teeth. Evan had been complaining about abdominal pain ever since he had eaten lunch. "Are you throwing up again?"
"NO, I JUST...! I CAN'T... GET IT... AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!"
Whatever misfortune was taking place in the bathroom was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Swift's phone ringing. Alphys's name appeared on the screen, her number having been graciously provided to Swift by Erin.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 19:34:52 GMT -5
Swift sighed and scratched Carter's head, casting an anxious look at the bathroom door. If The Fly had taught her anything, she had a good idea what Evan was going through in there...
She jumped when her phone started ringing, her heart rate skyrocketing when she picked it up and saw who it was. "Oh my God, yes... Hello? Alphys??"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 19:49:56 GMT -5
"S-Swift, hi!" Alphys anxiously responded. "Sorry to... keep you in suspense all day. I'm afraid I don't have too much information right now, but... I-I didn't want to make you wait much longer. I figured I'd tell you and Evan what I've deduced thus far."
"GAAAAAH...!!! Ahhhhh... Ohhhhhhhhhh... " Finally, Evan's cries of discomfort were replaced with sighs of sweet relief.
Jen had to cringe from the ordeal, not wanting to imagine what just happened. "Better?"
"Well... it's out, that's for sure..." Evan groaned. "Ugh... Remind me not to eat anything solid until I- W- WHAT- WHAT THE-?! HOW-?! WHAT-?!"
"...What?"
"WHAT IS THIS STUFF?! MILK?!"
At that, Jen gagged slightly, looking back at Swift with a desperate shrug. How was she supposed to respond to that?
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 19:55:50 GMT -5
"Uhhhhh..." Swift was just as disturbed as Jen, staring back at her in disgust as she awkwardly said into the phone, "Yeah, we'd... really appreciate that. Evan's in the bathroom right now. I-I'd kinda like for him to hear too."
She then jumped out of her seat, put a hand over the phone and called out, "Evan, it's Alphys! She has some results for ya!"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 20:09:17 GMT -5
"O-Okay..." Evan mumbled shrilly, flushing the toilet and turning on the sink soon thereafter. "I-I'll be right out... Mmph... That did not help my headac- GAH!!! NO!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO...!!!"
Jen jumped back a few feet. Geez, when would this end? "W-What?! What now?!"
"I D- N- GCKT- DA- NO NO NO NO WHY WHYYYYYYYYYY?!"
"Evan, what is going on?!"
Her question was effectively answered when Evan threw the door open and stared back at her with eight wide, terrified eyes.
Jen muffled a squeak. Carter barked a startled curse. Evan just stood there, shaking and panting, blinking his new features. He had known it was coming. He had figured from the start what those welts around his eyes were. That didn't make seeing them appear on his face any less horrifying.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 20:18:51 GMT -5
".........Oh God." That was all Swift could think to say as she looked into Evan's multitude of eyes, ears flat and stomach doing cartwheels. Really, what was there to say? Sure, it was disturbing, but after the whole thing with the six arms, Swift wasn't exactly surprised by anything.
She slowly raised the phone up to her mouth again. "Yeah, we could really use some advice right now, Doc." She motioned for Evan to follow her into the living room, where she set the phone down on the coffee table and turned it on speaker.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 21:22:45 GMT -5
Evan swallowed hard and followed Swift, taking a seat next to her on the couch while Jen sat in a chair across the room. Once there, Evan dropped his head into his hands –partially out of exhaustion, partially out of mortification– and muttered just loud enough to be heard over the phone, "Okay... whadya have for me, Alphys?"
"Well..." Alphys cleared her throat and proceeded, "As I told Swift, I've only been able to gather minimal data thus far, but... I can tell you this much. For one, the pathogens behind this transformation are most definitely bacterial in nature, so I do believe we can chalk this up to a very aggressive and... very bizarre infection."
"Uh-huhhhhh..." Evan slowly replied.
"Secondly, this bacteria's chemical makeup is... VERY similar to the cells of monsters. In that it seems to be physically comprised of mostly magic. S-So... it's a good thing you came to me, isn't it? Heheh..."
"Y-Yeah, I guess so... Anything else?"
"Well... one other thing I can tell you for sure is... while this bacteria is indeed mostly magic... I can't find any trace of anything resembling spider DNA within its makeup."
Evan lifted his head, staring down at the table in dead silence for a moment. Really? Nothing connecting this disease to spiders? "H-How is that possible?"
"Um... Well, hear me out..." Alphys nervously insisted. "It is possible for bacteria to transfer genetic material between cells, whether it be a consequence of infrequent errors during intracellular assembly or an adaptation for facilitating repair of DNA damage in recipient cells. Knowing this, I would've assumed that a disease of this nature could be capable of transducing or conjoining spider genes with the host's genes and altering their biology and anatomy thusly. The only problem is... there are no spider genes present! S-So until I'm able to record this bacteria's exact structure to the letter, I can only assume that it's simply programmed to invoke these changes in the host system without necessarily being arachnid in nature itself."
"Oh, sure!" Evan shouted a bit louder than intended. "Nothing spiderlike about this at all! ...I say as I glare into the phone WITH MY EIGHT EYES!!!"
He was met with silence on the other end of the line, broken by Alphys meekly mumbling, "Oh... you... have eight eyes now?"
Evan was about to fire a retort, quickly cutting himself off when he noticed Jen shooting him a stern look. Eventually he loosened up and let out a deep sigh. "I-I'm sorry, Alphys. I didn't mean to... snap at you. I know you're just trying to help..."
"I-It's okay. I understand. Y... You're scared. Understandably so."
"Yeah..."
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 21:36:01 GMT -5
Swift patted Evan's shoulder, contemplating what they had just been told. The disease being magical could definitely be a useful bit of information, but... nothing about it resembled spider DNA? At all? Seeing what it had done to Evan, that was incredibly hard to swallow. Still, regardless of whether or not the spider-splicing theory held any water, that wasn't what mattered most to her.
"What about Erin? Have you heard anything from her?" Swift asked. "Do you have... any theories on how to combat this?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 25, 2017 21:54:46 GMT -5
"E-Erin tells me that she hasn't found anything regarding an exact case like this," Alphys answered sadly. "I... I did tell her some of what I just told you, so... hopefully that might narrow her search. A-As for curing the disease, if this magic bacteria is anything like monster bodies, we might be able to combat it with determination..."
"Oh, so I just gotta believe I'll get better, huh?" Evan muttered flatly.
"Th-Then again... a high concentration of determination might run the risk of destabilizing the bacteria's DNA and melding it to your own... so... perhaps that's not the best course of action."
"UH, YEAH, THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW..."
"So hold up..." Jen jumped in. "If this disease really is magic-based, would our best bet be to fight it by other magical means?"
"If I had to guess, I would say that is a distinct possibility," Alphys replied.
Jen looked up at Swift. Evan looked down at the floor.
There really was no avoiding it, was there?
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on May 25, 2017 21:59:55 GMT -5
Swift groaned and lowered her head. She didn't want to. She... REALLY didn't want to. But at this rate, what else could they do?
"Well... thanks, Alphys. I-If that's all you have, we'll let you get back to work. We'll try to come up with some theories of our own in the meantime. Just... call me if you find anything else, okay?"
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