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Doctor Visit; Nemesis (PM if you want in.)
Topic Started: Oct 13 2012, 11:52 PM (320 Views)
Ariel Jensen
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Cryokinesis
Time: 2 pm
Date: 19’th of September



Ariel looked at the door to the lab, placed within X-corps, where she worked. She wasn’t much for going in there, but she knew she had to, she hadn’t been to any kind of doctor for a long time and she did have some things to talk to the scientist of the X-corps about. She ran her hands over her black shirt to make sure that it was sitting properly and prayed to what ever there was to pray to, that she looked decent and appropriate for this ‘meeting’ that she was throwing herself into.
She slowly took a few steps towards the door, wondering if Dr. Nemesis already knew that she was standing outside, before she hesitantly knocked on the door. For a few moments Ariel debated with herself whether or not to wait for a response, but her impatience ended up winning over her this time and she slowly opened the door peeking inside. “Uhm… H-hello? Dr.?” she called out in a weak voice.

Ariel had never been much for doctors, every time she had seen them it had been for some vaccine when she was a kid or because her parents were worried about her mutation. She had come to associate doctors with something bad and adding that this doctor was probably the most intelligent of them all and a scientist, didn’t make her feel more comfortable or less intimidated.
Having worked at X-Corps for almost two years, Ariel hadn’t had much contact with the Dr. having been working with practically two widely different aspects at the company, but now that he was their leader after Hartley’s death, their paths crossed each other a bit more often.

She had for a while been feeling ill and would have a consuming nausea that from time to time would lead to her throwing up. She felt weak in her powers as well, like she would every time she was sitting outside in the summer and she had slowly come to realize that she mostly felt sick after having been drinking her daily coffee or been eating warm soup. “Doctor… I’m really sorry to bother you, but… I kind of need to talk to you about something.” She said feeling a big knot in her stomach tighten and she had difficulty swallowing. Was it simply because she felt intimidated by the man she was seeking to speak to, all the scientific stuff she was now surrounded by – that she knew she could somehow manage to break just by looking at it – or was it all that combined with the deep fear of what was happening to her, that she felt so nervous and frightened?
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Moira McTaggert
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It was an interesting case. Young mutant had started to feel a bit ill, had gone in to the Medical Complex operated on the ground floor of the residential building founded and operated by X-Factor. He had persistent nausea, headaches, dizzy spells. The doctors there couldn't figure it out, so they sent their data along to X-Corp's lab to maybe figure something out.

"So, Mister Swanson, what have we got?" Dr. Moira McTaggert, the lead on this particular case, asked the lab assistant who was running some titration tests on the blood samples they'd received from the patient.

"Oh, well..." Swanson, started, adjusting the safety goggles on his eyes. "I was running the current blood sample against the older one they had on file from a previous visit, and the patient seems to... well, his blood's gone from neutral to basic."

"I'll say," Moira nodded her head as she observed the flask's coloring indication. "Have ye found any sign of outside interference? Any hazardous chemicals introduced into the young man's bloodstream which would cause this reaction?"

"None. He works at a grocery store, doesn't come into contact with anything more hazardous than Windex."

"Hmm. We may have to bring him in, then. I'm beginning to suspect that he's undergoing a secondary stage in his mutation, but we cannae be sure until we've seen him in person. Contact the medical center and have them relay the request for him to stop by."

"Yes, ma'am," Swanson nodded his head sharply, and headed off.

Moira turned sharply as a meek, shy voice sounded out from behind her.

"Oh! Miss Jensen, aye? Sure, sure, come on in, come on in. Sorry if ye're lookin' f'r Dr. Bradley. He's out at the moment. Here, let's step into muh office an' we'll have a chat."

Moira led the way to a small office attached to the laboratory, opening the door and allowing Ariel access. It was a relatively cozy little office, simple in furnishing with just a bookshelf in the back, a desk towards the middle with a computer and a framed photo of herself and her daughter at the Eiffel Tower some years back, and various framed diplomas, doctorate notices, and accolades mounted on the wall.

"Now," Moira said as she sat down behind her desk, gesturing for Ariel to take the seat facing it, "What can I do f'r ye?"
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Ariel Jensen
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Cryokinesis
Opening the door and stepping through it, revealing its secrets to her she couldn’t help but to look around in awe. There was so much high-tech stuff, so much she was sure she’d quickly break or explode was she forced to be there for more than 10 minutes. She had always known that X-Corp had some serious science stuff, but she had never in her wildest dream thought it would be so intense and she blushed slightly, her skin turning a radiant purple due to the blue mixing with red. It was too obvious that she had used way too little time around the lab in the past as she stood there looking like a kid that had just stepped into Tivoli’s winter snow land for the first time ever.

Her eyes trailed from one device to another and landed in the end on the dark haired Doctor that stood there looking so friendly in the large and sterile room. “Uhm, yes… I’m Ariel Jensen” She confirmed surprised that the woman would recognize her, but then again, there weren’t many icy mutants with access to the lab around and so she but her lip slightly nervous before taking a deep breath and trying to man up and look into the woman’s eyes. “I’m really sorry to interrupt, I can come back lat-“ She didn’t get much of a chance to finish her sentence and apology before Moira was leading her towards an office.

While walking carefully through the lab, avoiding getting too close to anything that looked like it cost way more than her salary, she silently thanked the universe for giving her an opportunity to talk to a female doctor. The fact remained that the woman was a Doctor and therefore an intimidation factor for Ariel, but she was still a female and for some reason that was a slight comfort for the ill mutant.
Her eyes examined Moira as they walked towards the lab, she was taller than Ariel, had semi short black hair, friendly blue eyes, a welcoming smile and soft but determined voice. She looked at home in the scientist department, confident in what she was doing. In other words a woman that immediately demanded Ariel’s respect and she had had it ever since Ariel had greeted her for the first time back in the day.

Stepping into the office Ariel smiled slightly “Hyggeligt…” Ariel mumbled mostly to herself than to Moira and looked around noticing the picture on the desk. For a moment she couldn’t help but to think where Moira’s kid was at these days. Had everything been as life changing for her as it had been for everyone else? She looked up and blushed slightly like she had been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to do as Moira spoke to her and she silently sat down on a chair facing the desk. “Oh… well… uhm… I… uh…” the redhead closed her eyes frustrated at how she seemingly had lost her guts and gift for words, something she had always been relying on since she was a young girl.

“I’m sorry for being so… uhm… yeah… you know…” she said apologizing for her lack of words and opened her eyes again trying to search deep within herself to find that bit of confident strength she was used to have in all other situations. To find the mask she always put on when she was being scared. “As you may have noticed… I’m not so good with Doctors.” She grinned sheepishly trying to loosen the tension that she was sure was solely on her side. “Lately I’ve… been going through…” She sighed in annoyance over herself and ran the back of her hand over her forehead. “I’ve been feeling strangely ill and weak. I can’t create ice properly anymore, it… shatters easily. I can’t really duplicate it either, it’s like I’m on Hawaii in the middle of the warmest seasons. I’ve been feeling nauseous, feverish and been in pain.” She slowly wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked down into her lap.
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Moira McTaggert
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Moira sat back as Ariel hemmed and hawed, fumbling over words that hadn't even come out yet. Either the young woman had suddenly developed a severe and debilitating speech impediment, which was unlikely, or she'd been experiencing something very uncomfortable and awkward to talk about. Probable outcome was the latter explanation was the accurate one.

And then finally Ariel explained things, how she was feeling, what her problems were.

"Interesting," Moira nodded her head. "Well, from what ye've told me, I can think of a few explanations."

Moira lifted her left hand, pointing the index finger upward.

"One, ye've contracted a virus or a bacterial infection of some sort," she theorized. "Sometimes, when those with mutated genomes granting superhuman characteristics comes down with a flu, or a bacterial infection, the effectiveness of their control over their abilities lessens. The body has to expend more energy into the proper operation of the immune system, thus allocating fewer resources to the proper use of yuir mutant abilities."

She paused, letting that information a moment to sink in.

"However, at the temperatures ye tend to run, most bacteria that dinnae occupy yuir normal flora would find yuir body an unsuitable habitat, an' honestly, most viral infections run their course an' fade away, so that explanation seems unlikely."

Moira's middle finger joined the index.

"Two, yuir resistance t' temperatures above freezing has either taxed its limit or has dropped considerably for reasons we're nae really set to explain as of yet."

She set her hand down, no longer needing to indicate the number of items she was listing.

"Y' see, human beings follow the rules of endothermic organisms, meanin' that despite outside conditions, we maintain internal temperatures through energy expenditures. F'r nearly every single human being on the planet, that means that whether it's cold outside or warm outside, our internal temperature is a steady thirty-seven degrees celsius. F'r you, however, yuir body maintains at zero. At the freezin' point. That means that yuir proteins are specifically structured to function at that temperature, yuir enzymatic processes optimized, yuir blood's ability to carry dissolved oxygen, everythin'. And that, I think, is where yuir problem may be arising from."

She was, of course, only making educated guesses. More information was needed to really figure out what was going on.

"I'll ask a few questions, an' I need ye to answer them honestly, even if they may seem embarrassin', okay? Yuir answers will remain confidential, I promise ye that, unless yuir explicit permission to share this information is given."

She nodded her head, and pulled a notepad out from the drawer to her left, along with a pen.

"Alright, first question - what are yuir sleepin' conditions like? Be very specific on this one. Second - what kinds of foods do ye eat? Hot? Cold? Third - do ye use any devices on a day-to-day basis to help lower yuir temperature? Do ye spend any time in a walk-in freezer? Do ye carry cold compresses? Things like that. Fourth - do you engage in physical intimacy with those of a significantly higher temperature? And fifth - are yuir livin' conditions standard, or are they specifically tailored to someone of yuir specific needs?"

She tapped the pencil against the notepad and nodded her head.

"I only ask these questions so I can better puzzle out the cause of yuir discomfort of late. If it's external, we can simply adjust yuir day to day life to make things easier f'r ye. If it's internal, we'll need to dig a wee bit deeper to find a solution."
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Ariel Jensen
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Cryokinesis
Ariel looked at the index finger and frowned slightly as option number when was mentioned. A virus? She had in honesty not been sick by any kind of bacteria in ages, since before her mutation manifested and even then it was very rare for her. She opened her mouth about to tell Moira just that when the Doctor continued explaining why it wasn’t likely to be a bacterium that had her feel so ill.
A cramp of pain shot through her stomach and she tightened her arms that she had wrapped around herself and leaned a bit forward gasping. “And it’s not possible it’s some weird frosty bacteria?” She asked through gritted teeth. Once the pain had calmed a bit she looked up at Moira, her blue skin had turned to a paler blue and what seemed like sweat on her forehead, which was very unusual for her.

She listened to the other reason and widened her eyes in horror, so maybe her theory was correct? Was she mutating or dying? It was like her throat clenched and she felt the tears press into her eyes and she shut them to keep it in. No. She was in the hands of the best people in the world and she knew they could help her no matter what was going on with her. But the more Moira talked about option two, the more Ariel felt like panicking. Was she saying her body temperature was making it impossible for her blood to transfer oxygen? That would be bad, wouldn’t it? Oh please no… a silent pray forced through her mind that was filled with chaotic thoughts and feelings.

Looking at the notepad and pen, Ariel nodded in agreement to answer Dr. McTaggert honestly and she dried away a tear that had somehow managed to run from her eye and down her cheek. “Yeah. I’ll be honest.” She confirmed and bit her lip anxiously.

The first question was easy enough and as Ariel answered she couldn’t help but to try and think of how this answer could help the Doctor. “I usually go to bed around 11 pm or 12 am and I’m usually up around 7 am, on week days. If I don’t work on weekends I’m mostly up till around 2 or 3 am and get up around noon.” She explained.

“I eat everything. Noodles, ice cream, carrots, spaghetti, rise, beef… Hot and cold, I love good food.” She said and smiled fearing that she’d have to give up on food. “I drink water and milk, but coffee is my daily must. I can’t function without my caffeine.” She knew how bad it sounded and her former Doctor had once warned her that she’d get a stomach ulcer, but surely that couldn’t be what was going on with her? She shook her head, now wasn’t the time to try and give herself a diagnose, but to listen to the Doctor who was more capable of doing just that than she’d ever be.

Ariel tightened her lip and shook her head “No… I’ve always been able to count on my abilities to keep the atmosphere around me at a comfortable temperature for me. But on warm nights I tend to have a lot of fans around my bed and ice cubes everywhere. Sometimes I sit and work leaned up against my open freezer, but… nothing else really.” She said feeling more and more stupid. Maybe she wasn’t doing the necessary to live with her mutations but tried too hard to stay as human as possible.

The next question came as no surprise to Ariel and she smiled slightly thinking about the only person she would have any form of physical intimacy with, but it wasn’t the case. Not yet anyway, the two of them were still just dating and she refused to be with anyone that she wasn’t in a serious relationship with. Her thoughts trailed off to where she was from, normally if she said that out loud people would raise a brow at her like she was some kind of nun, but America had changed her and besides, her powers had kind of made sure that no one would make the effort to be that close to her. After a few moments, she realized she had yet to answer and smiled apologetic “No, I don’t engage in physical intimacy other than occasional cuddling, kissing or hugging.” She explained and thought if she needed to be more specific “I haven’t engaged in any physical intimacy since before my powers manifested, so that shouldn’t be of any problem… right?” She asked suddenly scared that she’d never be able to do such things due to her powers and suddenly her hatred towards her mutation grew.

She shook her head “No. I live at a normal apartment in Mutant Town. I usually have my windows open” For more than one reason she finished that sentence in her mind, not wishing to tell the Doctor about the Morlock that visited her on a somewhat regular basis, “At summer I have a lot of fans and try to block the sun out of my home with curtains.” She explained feeling like a small child that was doing everything wrong. Suddenly nausea grabbed a hold of her again and the pain came back intensely “Do… you… have…” she tried to find the words in English, but it was like all the words disappeared from her mind “en brækpose…” she finally spoke, hoping that she would understand her need for something that she could puke in if it would be necessary.
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Moira McTaggert
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"Oh, dear - wastebin's t' yuir left there..." Moira frowned, she wasn't really in a position to reach the trash for Ariel, but Ariel could likely get it on her own.

Giving Ariel a chance to do what she needed to do, Moira jotted down some notes on Ariel's answers. The young woman's apartment seemed to be completely normal - in this case, that wasn't a good thing. Her diet, completely normal - again, not good. She took no major steps towards assisting her body in lowering its temperature other than occasional exposure to cooled air - not good. Hmm.

"Well," Moira said, glancing over at Ariel, hoping that she was done with the upset stomach for the time being. "Mind ye, this is naught but an early observation, a diagnosis that is based purely on what ye tell me. That's why for now, the course of action is going to be non-medical."

She set the notepad down, and leaned forward.
"To put it simply, Ariel, ye're a girl what's designed f'r sub-zero temperatures who's livin' in a non-frozen world. And unfortunately, yuir biology is goin' to prevent ye from certain things. For one thing, I want ye to cut all heated foods from yuir diet. If it's served above room temperature, 'tis likely detrimental t' yuir continued health. So eat an' drink cold. Frozen foods. Iced coffees if ye need yuir caffeine kick. That's step one of the treatment plan."

Moira nodded her head. It probably wouldn't be easy, adjusting her entire day to day life, but it was possible that life at a higher temperature was killing her.

"The next is to drastically lower the temperature of yuir apartment. Ye live in the X-Factor boarding house, aye? I'm sure ye can speak with yuir superintendents and arrange f'r yuir room to be adjusted."

Moira was sure that their resident tech expert would have a wonderfully fun time reconfiguring the girl's room to be a freezer.

"Third, an' this is only if the first two dinnae work enough for ye, we may have to arrange for ye literally to sleep overnight in a walk-in freezer. This may all seem very odd t' ye, believe me, I know - but Ariel, yuir body is tellin' ye that it does nae like the conditions it lives in. It's havin' a tough time keepin' up. So let's make things as easy on ye as we possibly can, aye? I think these adjustments could really help ye live more comfortably, and would be far easier 'n shippin' ye off to Antarctica. I hear penguins are terrible conversationalists."
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Ariel Jensen
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The humility was not bearable, the feeling of having her breakfast hurling through her organs, through her throat and out of mouth was enough to make anyone want to cry and hug themselves, but to do it into a trashcan that belonged to the Doctor that you were visiting was horrible.

After a few minutes of sharing all her untold secrets of her diet, she finally looked up more miserable than ever, this had become a daily thing in her life, but it didn’t make it less embarrassing to do it at her work and in front of her co-workers. “I’m so sorry about that. I’ll clean it up myself.” She hurried to say and placed the trashcan between her legs on the floor, freezing the top of the lovely digested food in it, so that it wouldn’t smell too bad. “This is what I live with… pretty much every day lately.” She explained.

She listened anxiously to what Moira had to say and nodded understandingly, she knew that getting better would take some major adjustments from her, but was she ready to do the things that had to be done? Was she willing to change her life so drastically?
Okay, so food that wasn’t cooked wouldn’t be too hard. If she could get some roughbread from back home or maybe bake it herself she wouldn’t be in much trouble. That’s usually what she used to eat back home when the money didn’t add up every month. Iced coffee sounded like a good alternative and she’d be more different from the rest when ordering in Starbucks.

She looked at Moira when she started on step number two in her ‘cool down Ariel’s life’-program and she quickly shook her head and lifted her hand up to stop the Doctor. “No, I don’t live at the X-factor apartments, but I can tell that I might need to do so. I’ll look into trying to move in there and get a freezer apartment.” She agreed and couldn’t help but to frown when she’d have to tell Anansi about the potential move, but surely he wouldn’t mind if it came to her safety? “Who… do I talk to about this? Dr. Nemesis? Ed?” She got out her work cellphone to take note as to who she was supposed to talk to.

She sighed and ran her hand through her red hair and nodded “I guess… it would be for the best for me to sleep in a freezer until I get a chance to move. If… you’re able to arrange that of course.” She agreed biting her bottom lip. She’d have to go home and pack some stuff for that idea to work and to write a note for Anansi if he would decide to show up and knock on her window. This was all happening so fast and she felt like her head was spinning as it all just flew through her head. The Doctor was making it quite clear for her; listen or die. Eventually. Painfully. Like a snowman. “Well, I wouldn’t want to end like ol’ Frosty and to be quite honest with you, I tried the talking to penguins. Selfish bastards, wouldn’t share their fish.” She grinned jokingly.
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Moira McTaggert
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"Dinnae ye worry about it, Ariel," Moira shook her head, placing her hands atop her desk. "It's a garbage bin. Janitorial staff will take care of it soon enough. 'Tis what they get paid the big bucks for."

"Hmm," Moira nodded her head, thinking over the new bit of information. Of all the places in the city to live, X-Factor's boarding house was the one most readily suited to deal with the special needs of the physically mutated. And Ariel definitely was one of the physically mutated. Her body had specific needs that human beings simply did not have. The coloration of her skin was indication of that in and of itself.

"It may be for the best. The only other option I can see would be to wear some sort of harness or contraption of some sort to keep yuir temperatures down. The only problem there is that t' my knowledge, such a device does nae exist. Yet. And that such a device may end up bein' very cumbersome an' unwieldy. Like a space suit or a suit of body armor."

Moira smiled, and nodded her head.
"Aye. I've got a walk-in freezer f'r keepin' tissue samples fresh in the back of the lab. It's mostly unused at the moment, but it should serve yuir needs just fine for a short-term solution."

Moira reached out, and touched the young woman on the arm, unmindful of the chill inherent in the contact.

"Listen. Dinnae ye worry. Ye're nae dyin' any time soon, an' ye're definitely nae meltin' neither. Ye came in at just the right time, an' we are going to figure out a solution t' yuir problem. I promise ye that."
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