EVENT 007.1

[btryl]

WHO: Daisy Johnson, Caroline Forbes, Hope Mikaelson, Klaus Mikaelson, Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Cassius and Doctor Grey.
WHERE: ?
WHEN: February 18th – February 20th
WHAT: After asking Cassius to remove their neural implants, Cassius makes good on his deal.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Body horror, psychological horror, physical trauma, mental trauma, surgery, loss of autonomy, coercion, and needles.

And uh, a fun brain ditties site we found.

> EVENT 007.1

Cassius sends out a location pin on the morning of February 18th, different for everyone who requested it. A black hover car with tinted windows pulls up to each, no driver at the helm, and sits expectedly until they let themselves in. In one car is Daisy, in another Caroline, Hope and Klaus, and lastly Gabriel and Jack. Any questions spoken aloud will not be answered, and the car will begin to hover before turning down the next available corner. The locks click, and suddenly it becomes difficult to stay awake. Limbs become heavy, and eyelids slowly begin to fall. For those that struggle to see their last waking moment before they drift off into slumber, they'll notice that the self-driving car has been circling the last mile over, and over, and over again.

When they awaken, there is an antiseptic smell in the air: fluorescent lights glare overhead in a facility that looks like it was made for an entirely different kind of experimental function. What the facility was used for previously isn't apparent, but its current purpose has been reimagined. If they look down at their arm, there is an IV feeding into it. They'll have the sense that they haven't been operated on, not yet. The source of the IV itself leads somewhere unknown. If they go to remove the IV, they'll hear a bark of caution from a speaker. "Tsk tsk! I wouldn't do that if I were you. Gassing you—it was so sloppy. But I'm prepared, oh yes I am, to do what must be done."

After a few more silent minutes, a projection pops up for all of the captive Displaced. "Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to my facility my fine patients. I'm Johann Grey, and you can call me Doctor Grey. First off, let's allow gratitude be given where it's due! Thank you for being so willing to invite my fine friend Cassius into your lives—and thus, me by association. The last specimen I had were … less experienced—less durable. Less familiar with what they've been given. But from what I understand, you have been around for a while. Let's see what we discover together, shall we?"

If there is room for alarm, Johann doesn't grant them much chance to respond to it. Whether they have the IV in their arm or they've removed it and have all but asked to be gassed once again, they'll slowly begin to feel the same wave of fatigue hit them.

As for anyone left behind or hopeful they may be able to trace the paths of the lost Displaced, they'll come up empty handed. El's unable to access the security feed once the hover limos set off for their final destinations, making zer blind to Cassius' actions. Any trackers (such as Daisy's engagement ring) can be traced to a location: a limo rental lot, where the limo has been parked and left for several hours.

DAISY
CAROLINE
HOPE & KLAUS
GABRIEL
JACK

> OOC NOTES

Hello and welcome to the Brain Surgery Club! If anything from our write ups doesn't suit what you'd like, please contact us on your thread on the Permissions Post so that we can make any necessary revisions. We want this to be fun for you. Some of your requests will be worked into the thread later on, but if you would like to have it there from the start, let us know.

All characters will be told that due to the number of surgeries, there will be a three day period before they're allowed to go free. Some of the reasons cited will be "need for care and recovery" and "the number of people going under the needle in contrast to the number of personnel involved." If anyone does any research before they get drugged, this will check out!

If someone sends a message to their currently missing friend, it will just show up as an unread message during this time (if they have those notifications turned on). They'll be synced up with their usual network presence afterward (unless they request a different outcome, such as a new identity).

We're assuming that all characters will want to have a neural implant reimplanted at the end of this process as they will otherwise be disconnected from the world, and our hope is to have them released on time for the Arrival Log! If your character is happy to sit locked up in a room cut off from the world, they may be able to be rescued from their unfortunate situation once some of the others are released back into the "wild."

Anyone who has their characters try to chase this lead will find that Cassius and Doctor Grey prepared for such a likelihood. Any trackers placed on them will be left in the limo to be found, with no other signs or residue of their presence.

As a final note: we give blanket permission for harming or killing Doctor Grey! There will be opportunities for that within these threads.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[tribridfreakshow]

The sound is almost worse than the actual pain, a grinding followed by a crack that she knows she should hear, and yet it resounds between her ears all the same. The lines at the corners of her eyes deepen as she squeezes her eyes as tight as they'll go, a low, pathetic sound halted in the back of her throat, barely audible. The pain hits a moment later, sharp and burning all at once, and when it starts to slowly dull it's still a rushing ache.

She knows pain well, though. She's felt all the bones in her body shatter during her shift into the wolf. It was easier if she just accepted it, instead of fighting it, so that's what she tries to do.

It doesn't work the same, though. Accepting it won't make this go faster. It'll just delay her submission to finding it unbearable.

Instinctively, her hands try to form fists, as she wants to feel the bite of her nails into her palms. If she could just make her fingers move, surely that would help...

[interminably]

Johann reminds Klaus that he hasn't yet started Hope's brain surgery, that Klaus has been finished with, but Hope still needs her neural implant removed. His instincts are to break free, stop him and fight. But, Hope is in danger, and under the knife of a deranged psychopath trying to influence their "connection."

Klaus doesn't deign to give him a reaction, to reply to this miscreant. Instead, he tries focusing on Hope, wanting to shut his eyes but knowing he needs to watch. He needs to be there if anything happens, if the IV gives out, or if he makes any attempts on Hope's life.

The crack echoes in Klaus' brain, between his ears. His chest plate begins to glow, bathing him in that blue light as the familiar feeling of pain sets in, like a dull roar, an ache of a tooth but not concentrated in any one part of his body. His lips part, teeth gnash as he too fights reacting. This is it, this is his power. Feeling his daughter's pain. But not being able to do anything about it. Clarke is right. They're metaphorical. But, his is useless. If all he can do is lay, strapped there and watch as this peon drills into his daughter's brain.

"If anything happens to her," he threatens. It doesn't seem to matter at what volume he speaks. Johann hears him.

[btryl]

"Nothing will happen to her." It comes out crystal clear in voice, Johann miraculously being able to preform something delicate while still speaking. "She requested these services. It's her reward." For a job well done is what's supposed to come next.

The procedure is delicate, but Johann seems to engage with it flawlessly. While neural implants are installed, they're not very often removed. There aren't many that know how to do it.

The rest is discomfort rather than outright pain. There's still the residual sharpness of the scalp, but a more dulled pain. If it's anything, it's the anticipation that's the worst.

[tribridfreakshow]

She wants to tell them both to just shut up, that surely this will be over with faster if no one speaks and the surgeon can just do what he needs to do and close her head back up. The very idea that the contents of her skull are literally on display while she lays here unmoving is disturbing at best and traumatizing at worst.

The situation is far worse than the physical discomfort.

She keeps her eyes closed the entire time, trying to block out sound through sheer force of will, listen to the sound of her breath as it enters her lungs through her nose, feel the whoosh as she exhales through her parted lips.

[interminably]

The pain lessens into an uncomfortable ache, a sense of pressure that, the more the procedure goes on starts to concentrate in his mind. Literally. He supposes, if this is his power, then the more he uses it the more he can hone it. Setting aside use, there's a leap here, to remember. At first, he felt pain in general. Sheer agonizing pain. Pain that couldn't be isolated or concentrated in one area.

Here, now, the building, distracting pressure, it's in his brain and precisely the part of the brain Hope's procedure is taking place.

If only one good thing could come from this torture, then in theory the next time someone happens to Hope, he'll know. Just where she's shot. Or stabbed. He shuts his eyes because the last thing he needs to think about is Hope being injured.

This is all an experiment to this man, and to Cassius. A sadistic one, but with an outcome they both want. There's no reason not to cooperate now, and kill after. So he lets out a shaky breath he doesn't need to be taking and concentrates on his daughter's heart beat, trying to calm his own in the process. There will be a reckoning, but not while his instruments are inside Hope's head.

[btryl]

The process from there is meticulous. Johann doesn't bother to tell Klaus what he hopes to do with Hope, and the meaning behind the changing IVs and injections into them won't be clear. Some of the added fluids will be a different color, tinted gold and red, swishing around as it floods the IV. The end result won't be instantaneous. It's as if he's prepping himself, a smile widening as if someone's passed along a message to him.

"Keep monitoring her heartrate, Cassius," he adds at some point.

The changes to Hope begin as he begins to temporarily close the wound, allowing it to come together and heal naturally. The pain at this point is—dimmed. Limited.

Until Hope's bones begin to move and change inside of her. She'll feel a dull ache beneath her skin, within her gums, bits of her beginning to move and contract as if it's trying to come to life.

Johann steps back, humming all the while.

The end result won't be perfect. Experimentation never is at this stage, and he's had so few human(ish) experiments at his disposal. The last group was merely around for observation. This one is more for him, handed to him. For Hope, it'll be a painful shift: fingers elongating, limbs trying to do the same, unable to reach the correct point. Her restraints won't hold her for long.

Her face will change, too. Discoloration but no growth of a snout, only sharpened teeth and bright, glowing golden eyes. Her hearing will be enhanced many times over. Hope will be able to hear what's happening in other rooms, will be able to tell that there are others. Will be able to hear the beating of Johann's heart, the different ways it upticks when he gets a response through his neural implant.