Trouble with Muscles [Closed]

[seraaches]

Owen's metal tail twitched slightly as he thought about this information. It meant that he'd have to re-evaluate his new system, which was very frustrating. His current set-up, however, was way different from what was on the Ace, which was something of a relief now that there were all these problems cropping up.

The sparrow gave a much put-upon sigh. He would have to switch back to the full system rather than just the parts that needed testing. That was expensive, though, and not an option he liked to explore until later experimentation stages. He might just have to bite the bullet, however, despite his extreme desire to not put in that level of commitment into one creature. His experimentees had a very bad habit of expiring when he could least afford them to do so.

Still, three month check-ups might not be that bad. The sparrow ruffled his feathers in annoyance at the inevitable. "Fine. How bad would it be if I continue experimentation on this one?"

[Travesty]

Ambrose prodded the Ace with a claw, causing the tranquilized creature to twitch. The sedative he’d been given was mild, he’d probably fully awaken in ten minutes, maybe a little bit longer, although he’d definitely be sluggish for a couple of days. His leg wasn’t all that bad though; the problem was it would never completely heal while he was supporting himself with a mechanized limb. For whatever reason, it was incredibly corrosive, probably because of the alloy used, or maybe because it was connected sloppily. The ferret didn’t particularly care why, as long as he was able to play around with the results.

“Assuming you allow him a couple of weeks without any sort of exercise and you bring him back every three months, there shouldn’t be a problem. You can keep doing whatever you’re doing.” He added with a small smile.

ooc: Time skip soon?

[seraaches]

If either of Ambrose's assumptions about the cause of the problem were true, Owen would be exceedingly displeased. He also seriously needed to know. Nevertheless, it didn't occur to him to press for more details from the ferret. So he simply glowered as he waited for the Ace to groggily recover then thanked Ambrose stiffly, left a few coins as payment and hustled the Ace out of the other man's lab.

His mind was on the problem of the Ace and the fact that he seemed to have fallen into a long-term agreement with another scientist. Well, there were worse things.

---

(( Time jump, hooo! xD; ))

Owen didn't show up three months later. He actually showed up five months later, tapping on Ambrose's door with the same annoyed expression yet a completely different Ace in tow.

"Stop fidgeting," he snapped at the red feline. The little Ace grimaced and put her hindleg back down. She kept wiggling her right shoulder, however, as though it itched.

[Travesty]

Ambrose had by this time forgotten all about the agreement he had made with Richard Owen; about three months ago he had undergone such a transformation that acting in the interests of anyone – let alone an Ace – seemed like a sickening idea. It was so laughably different from what he would do now: inject the creature with several different strains of muscle-growth stimulators while the creature was conscious and just see what worked. Nowadays it was only what he wanted, what he studied, which mattered. Other creatures and their feelings were becoming a foreign concept.

So the fact Owen was late meant nothing to him, in fact the rap on the door startled him completely. He had been sitting in his lab, watching the muscles in his paw twitch. It always did that these days; all the substances he injected himself with on a daily basis was finally catching up to him. Luckily, dosing himself with stronger painkillers managed to take the edge off, though of course it meant in the long-term he was most likely fucked. Maybe that was okay; he wasn’t sure he could handle both the disgusted guilt and manic happiness that were constantly warring inside him.

He slunk up to crack open the front door, padding through the cramped rooms of his apartment. Everything was as it was before, with the same piles of books, needles, and other objects covered every available surface. Only someone who looked close would notice everything was just a little bit dirtier; the pages of his beloved reference books were torn and crumpled and broken glass littered the floor. There was also, of course, the obvious psychical change in the ferret’s appearance: his fur had lost its luster, his skin was lose on his gaunt frame, and his eyes, those lilac eyes that used to be so genial and warm, were troubled and always darting this way and that, as if watching for creatures to form from the shadows.

“Oh. Hello,” he said to the sparrow, his tone clipped and removed. “Can I help you?” He wanted the other - this stranger - to go away so he could continue his work. ...Except, this wasn't a stranger, was it? Ambrose searched his memory and came up with little blurred images from what seemed like a lifetime ago. The one who had barged in and been so pompous - he remembered now! For as much as the ferret had changed the sparrow in front of him was exactly the same. Infuriating. The door remained ajar only a few inches.

"Forgive me, it's been a while," he said automatically. What was his name again? "You have a new one," he added, looking at the feline. Apparently the other had, ah, expired. And yet there were always problems...

[seraaches]

The sparrow regarded the ferret with a similar stare as what the other Corvie was sending him. Something was. . . off. The door didn't open enough to encourage them to come in and it was enough to keep Owen from simply barging in; his subconscious trilled a little warning at him to not try it just now.

"The old one died," the Diamond said a bit carelessly, though there was an edge of annoyance in his tone. Apparently it didn't much matter to him other than the loss of time. Still, he'd been able to scrap the old leg and rebuild it to this new one, which was, at least, good for the new Ace.

"I'm following our agreement," he pointed out in the same tone. It didn't really bother him that Ambrose was in a 180 personality turn; now the ferret was like most of his other acquaintances. For all Owen knew, Ambrose was either now in, or had previously been in, a bad batch of drugs.

[Travesty]

“Yes…they all seem to die, don’t they?” The ferret asked to no one in particular, his voice both wistful and cheerless, as if he couldn’t decide how he felt on the matter. Ambrose’s eyes skimmed over the cat that had started to yowl at his doorstep; it’d be dead someday too, like all the rest. He guessed it would die just as quick as the other one, only to instantaneously be replaced. They could always be replaced.

He could remember now, in a vague way, their agreement. “You’re late though, aren’t you?” It was a question, but not really; his tone was consistently apathetic and oddly far away, as if he was unable to fully concentrate. His spine trembled almost undetectably and he frowned; it always showed up at the worst possible time.

“What’s wrong with it?” He asked absentmindedly, swinging open the door a little wider to let both of them in. Hopefully this would be over and done with as soon as possible.

[seraaches]

"At least this way they're being used for something," Owen observed flatly. He shivvied the Ace indoors when Ambrose opened the door for them.

A quick glance around revealed that the indoors of the ferret's home had gone downhill just like the rest of freakin' Corvistowne. That got a small sound of disgust; Owen did not hold with the 'mad scientist therefore everything is a mess' concept. He was almost scrupulously clean, but perhaps at least part of that was the fact that he had cut himself open on the operating table before.

"It's been three months for this one," he replied callously. "It's beginning to itch at its shoulder a lot; I used a different system-- one more like the one I have-- and returned to something like my original alloy. The autopsy on the last one looked as though it was a mix of the system and the alloy that did it in." He stared thoughtfully at the feline Ace who stared back with wide, rather blank eyes.

[Travesty]

“I was in no way thinking otherwise,” the ferret replied bluntly. What did he care? All it meant was more work for him. “It’s not as if they have any other real purpose.” Most Aces in Corvistowne were used for experimentation, but every so often one was kept solely as a pet. He couldn’t help but think that as a sort of quasi-slavery – but then, that would make what he and Owen did torture.

Ambrose raised an eyebrow at the sparrow’s apparent disgust but said nothing. He spent most of his time in his lab, not up here, and so the space naturally accumulated junk, keeping his laboratory downstairs somewhat neat and orderly. It was a system that worked well enough for him.

And now he rolled his eyes; honestly, could the creature be any more frustrating? All those months ago Ambrose would’ve been happy to call Owen a friend and now…he couldn’t understand that past self. “It’s probably an allergic reaction or a rub, is there a rash accompanying the itch?” He opened the door leading downstairs. “Hopefully we don’t take a tumble,” he added with a hint of a smile.

Even though he wasn’t thrilled with being disturbed, especially with this company, it didn’t mean he had to be a monster.

ooc: I'm so sorry for the delay, I could've sworn I replied to this already. xD;

[seraaches]

It was a waste of time to argue the use of Aces-- or lack thereof-- so Owen just let the ferret's bitterness float around the room without really noticing. He found them good for his experimentation but had yet to see any Ace with any level of intelligence otherwise.

"If it's going to fall this time, it can fall alone," the Diamond said with a great deal of hostility. He was not tumbling down the bloody stairs again. His wing had been sore for nearly two weeks. He couldn't afford that sort of set back and didn't want to chance it happened again. After Ambrose headed down the stairs, Owen sent the feline Ace after the Corvie. Only after the two were safely down and out of the way did Owen carefully make his own way down.

He ruffled his feathers up and laid them back down again. "I saw a light rash about a month ago, but it cleared up on its own.

[Travesty]

Ambrose laughed harshly as he descended down the stairs. It hadn’t escaped his notice that the Diamond waited at the top of the steps and remained there until the he and the Ace reached the basement floor. What a gentleman! The ferret, however, couldn’t help thinking at least one of them was learning from past experiences.

He turned on the light, revealing the laboratory that was very much in the same condition as Owen’s last visit. The lighting was better, the metal equipment was less rusty, and overall things were messily organized. He was spending so much of his time down here, making it a necessity to rein in the chaos.

“Hm…” The ferret clicked his claws against the concrete floor. “There might not be a connection, but I’ll have to take a look at the area,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, before take hold of the Ace and dragging her up on the table. “Has there been any hair loss around the limb?” He asked absentmindedly, strapping the feline’s limbs tightly to the table. She began to whimper and Ambrose twitched his neck. He absolutely hated that sound. "Or has it been at all feverish?" He added roughly.