Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Trick or Treat: Cecille's Laboratory

Oh dear, someone had gone and put a jack-o-lantern outside of the good Doctor Gadhavi's clinic door, inviting costumed children and adults alike to pay them a visit. Did they even know it was there? What a cruel joke. Was anyone home?

It was a simple, clean little building, sandwiched between two similar ones, on a tidy paved street, on some alien world. Inviting enough, it certainly didn't fit the disconcerting rumours that swirled about the sleepy cyberneticist: unnerving, capricious, mad. The curtains were drawn due to the late hour, but the holo-and-neon sign still cast a turquoise hue on the dark street.

Dare to trick or treat.

(With work, I may be a bit slow to reply until we hit the weekend.)

The human girl flitted and shuffled, here and there like a shadow.

Was it this time or the last time she'd worn the black bandit-mask and funny blue ears? Had it all been one time? There had been a nice elf she'd loved and a nice rock star. Papi would've liked them both, and that was the memory she'd decided to keep.

Either way, Niko had found the mask silly enough - who heard of a man with blue eyebrows? - that if her last visit had been so long ago, it was likely worth the trouble to wear it again. Nobody here would recognize her, after all!

She crinkled when she walked in her shiny silver suit. It was a funny sound and she liked it a lot. And one hand clasped a pillowcase in which a few stray candy pieces rattled and upon which was haphazardly painted a black, snaggle-toothed smile.

Soon the trail of gourds and lights - those were the rules for candy houses, weren't they? - led her to a more unusual building.

This wasn't a house. This wasn't the base. This looked like work. She stopped before the holo-sign, only periodically illuminated by its letters:

GADHAVI CYBERNETICS CLINIC

She stared at the logo for a long moment, frowning deeply behind her bandit mask. Even sounding it out made absolutely no sense to her.

But there was a jack-o-lantern. It was worth a shot, right?

So she flitted right up to the door and knocked sharply!

The first couple of out-of-place trick or treaters had just elicited confusion. Somewhere on child number five that had verged on annoyance. They'd found the jack-o-lantern by that point, promptly dumping it into the trash out back. And yet more children came. Someone had replaced the decorative gourd, and when they picked it up a second time, a neighbouring shop had noticed them about to trash it and raised an eyebrow in silent judgement.

Exasperated and defeated, the cyberneticist replaced the alien purple-orange squash with its crooked grimace, back on the ground beside their door-landing and gone back inside. They couldn't very well fight off children. It was in bad taste. Furthermore it was rude.

But it was All Hallow's Eve, so when the doctor answered the sharp rap with a surgical mask and labcoat, looking very tired and just a little done, they were perfectly in costume. They peered down at her sparkly suit and blue-black mask and squinted. "...Ah... Cat?" Well, the uncomfortably human mouth and jaw didn't make that quite right. "Iri'fel?" A very, very bad one. They were doing their best, and produced...

Edit: A frozen dinner-meal from their mini-fridge, usually kept on-hand for late-night mad science. They held it ready to drop into her painted sack.

Valencea had been walking for some time before she saw a decoration that didn't make her nervous. That weird old lady with the reindeer lights had been nice enough, but that was a few streets back.
The teenager munched her apple, and hauled her treat sack up a little higher. If this lopsided Jack-o-Lantern outside this clinic was any indication of the people inside, they had no idea how to do Halloween properly. Maybe, she pondered, they would give her some suture equipment.

Or just lollipops. Doctors kept those around, right?

Still, she hoped to get something useful. And that she looked young enough in her bunny costume- she didn't think people would be too keen to give cutesy handouts to an almost-20-year-old. Crossing her fingers, she walked up and knocked on the door.

Ah...! It was another time of celebration for many people across the planet, therefore, it was another time where Vox found herself drifting back down for a visit. The people on the surface were always such interesting creatures. Interesting as they were, it was always even more fascinating when these people would oftentimes put out the decorations that made their little abodes look even more like the realm she took to.

When Vox made her way around, it was the building with the lone, orange face that piqued her interest the most. Out of many of the other abodes and constructed venues, why did this one seem to only have one thing there instead of many? Oh, Vox simply had to know!

Floating down onto the pavement, Vox had never really been concerned about her outward appearance. She might have seemed strange to many, though she had never really gone out of her way to consider how strange in many respects. All that mattered was that she had her curiosities sated, and that she found entertainment in certain celebrations.

Watching those that seemed to have come before her with a smile, Vox waited, rocking back and forth on her feet, hands behind her back. Once she found an opening, Vox had approached the building, rapping her knuckles against the door and following by example.

((OOPS got lost in the work-week and missed replies. Sorry!))

At this point, Cecille had all but given up trying to get any work done. They’d just settled into their office chair with their data-tablet and a small pile of whatever they could find to hand out to trick-or-treaters. At the latest sound of rapping, they heaved and overdramatic sigh and stood, grabbing the first thing off the stack they’d made and heading to the door. They slid it open from behind the curtains and stared at Valencea blankly. She was quite petit, perhaps a little old to be taking part in this silly tradition. “...A... bipedal lapine? Is this a race I am not familiar with? ...Is it not somewhat culturally insensitive to dress as another alien race?”

Edit: The doctor paused to look down at what they were about to hand her. "...Although I suppose if that were the case, this would be a bit culturally insensitive as well." They proceeded to drop a boiled-try unidentified bone. Quite large--about the side of a human ulna, although a different shape with odd, extra jointing on one end.

The cyberneticist had just--just started to sit back down, their behind barely touching the seat, before another sharp knock came. They looked at their dataslate longingly. They looked at their dwindling stack of giftables. Taking another off the stack, they walked briskly back to the door. It slid open with a whoosh and a click, and there stood the doctor with a stern look on their heart-shaped face.

...Oh. “...What are you?” There was a pause and a gradual change in their expression to something more curious. “What are you?” The doctor leaned in with a finger on their bottom lip. Not human, clearly! Who was this? No costume?

Edit: The doctor had clutched in their free hand what looked like some old, antique cybernetic part, ready to drop in... Oh, the creature didn't even have a bag.

The Magos was still wondering the world for the part his ship needed to finally repair it and leave this world but so far he was very unsuccessful so he decided to take a break of his search and relax a little bit.

He walked around the current area he was in to see all the people were celebrating some sort of occasion that looked to celebrate dark forces but he wasn't sure why they did celebrate but it looked like something he would do if he still cared for these types of things but at the same time he had nothing to do so he would begin in what many others were doing.

He walked with his cane holding him up and he saw a building that was different from the rest. Maybe he will try his luck here, so he followed the example of others and knocked on the door.

Valencea blinked, then blushed a little bit. The rabbit ears were resale, and they had been a good deal, too.
"They were resale!" She blurted. "It was a good deal!"
Looking at the thing he'd just handed to her, she blinked and frowned in confusion. What? Culturally insensitive? It.... Was a rabbit bone? An alien bone? An alien rabbit bone?
Well, it would make a cool trophy, anyway.
"Thanks, sir," she said, chewing at her lip. "It's very kind of you. Happy Halloween." Valencea put the bone into her backpack, and shut it again. She smiled at the doctor and prepared to leave, with a bright little salute. Hopefully he wouldn't find it offensive.

Eventually, Cecille had simply swept all of their junk into a box to keep near the door, and settled onto one of their own waiting-room couches to read in-between visitors. They opened the door next with a sigh, their sleepy features pinched in a faint scowl. They had angled their head to look down at a child, and instead had to look up at... That wasn’t a costume. Some confused New Arrival. This planet did tend to bring them around. The scrutiny turned to mild delight, the cyberneticist’s head tilting to one side with a glassy smile. “I have a feeling you are not here looking for candy.” Clearly a cyborg. His right arm most clearly, although they suspected the rest was not simply a suit. The breather piqued their interest.

“Who has done your augmentations?”

Edit: They had already grabbed something from the box before they had even slid open the door, and was let waving a nutrient-filled powerbar to put in a sack he clearly didn't possess.

The girl’s exclamation got a curious arch of an eyebrow from the good doctor, their sleepy look vaguely judgemental, but electing to keep their words to themself. ‘A good deal’ wasn’t much of an argument to them.

Their face alit with a distracted, glassy smile, correcting her with a polite, “ ‘doctor’.” Taking no offense, but not about to put up with any of this ‘sir’ business very long. “And to you. I hope you come across more treats than tricks. Good evening.” With that, they slid the door closed.

He was surprised by the question by this.. tech-manger to most people who had seen him they would usually say who or what are you. This one was different from the others on this planet but then he sees a sign that said "GADHAVI CYBERNETICS CLINIC". So he was in a place of healing and one that also did tech enhancements. It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

So he then decided to sate the questions of Gadhavi, "Yes, your assumption is correct, I'm not here for sugary substances but wished to inquiry do you have a part like this", he then showed a data-pad with the part he needed and praying that this Gadhavi person would have it. He then told Gadhavi " I am a tech-priest specifically a Magos Dominus, and like the others in my organization we augment oursleves. So what you see here on me is my own enhancements to myself."

Siira stood on the sidewalk with her arms out looking down at her costume with clear disapproval. It was not as much disgust on her face, but apprehension and nervousness about this event was shown clear on her face.

Beside her stood her sister, Pix, wearing a very different costume than Siira was, and clearly a different expression also. She stared at Siira with a large smile on her face, a little surprised she managed to get Siira into the princess outfit to begin with.

The truth was, while both of then looked the size of what humans would percieve as about 8 years old, they were both far older, Pix being in her 80's, and Siira over 140. While Pix enjoyed taking advantage of this fact.....Siira really really did not.

"I think I have changed my mind, Pix," Siira said slowly looking over towards her clearly giddy sister.

"Oh, no you haven't. I told you just how useful this could be out there playing the life of a renegade, and this holiday is the perfect chance for you to practice being a little girl!" Pix said grabbing at Siira's shoulders and brushing one of them off in an almost motherly way of cleaning her own child. "Besides, it might save your new starship friends' lives some day. Don't you want to be ready in case that happens?"

Siira stared deep into Pix's eyes, internally cursing her and pressing her own eyelids together tightly and nodding very shallowly. While she didn't always feel comfortable aboard her new home, the crew had quickly become her surrogate family, and if Pix was right then she really did want to be ready to help them.

With a glance to the side, Pix noticed the activity out front of Gadhavi Cybernetics Clinic, and returned her look to Siira. "Come on, we'll try this place first," Pix said with a smile, "You remember your line?"

"....I think so, bu-" Siira returned before being cut off by Pix.

"Good, I'll be lettin you go first then, let's go!" Pix said then turned about towards the lab and began to skip off in that direction with her broom stick in one hand and her candy bucket in the other.

"Pix wai-" Siira called after her with the look of nervous desperation on her face. Siira shook her head with a quick sigh, and tentatively ran off after her sister with the same style candy bucket in one hand and her princess scepter in the other.

Should the door be closed and porchway empty upon arrival, Pix would gleefully knock, otherwise its presumable someone would see the girls coming.

Cat!? She shook her head, stubbornly and somewhat sympathetically. Well, clearly this doctor person wasn't with-it! (Though most doctors weren't, if her own fleeting memories were anything by which she could go! Clearly that was just a doctor thing.)

And an Iri'fel! Well she certainly had no idea what that was - and she shook her head once more, considerably more vigorously.

"Bat. Er. Batman. Soy Batman!"

She stood up straight, one hand yet clutching the pillowcase as she curled her fists, widened her stance and jutted her chin in a way she'd figured looked enough like the heroes on TV. She'd certainly gotten the hang of it since the last time she'd made the rounds.

But after a beat, she squinted at the doctor from behind those plastic eye-holes and concluding that this Gadhavi was Decidedly Not Hip, so she whipped up her mask again so it rested on top of her head, and caught the...whatever-it-was in her pillowcase.

A quick, accented 'thank you!' before she stumbled backwards as an older person with bunny ears approached. While attention was on first that person, then a floating orange person (who got no shortage of open stares from the girl!), Niko quickly, only-somewhat-discreetly pulled the prize back from her pillowcase for closer investigation - it didn't look like candy going in, at all, after all! - and picked at the wrapping, looked it over closely.

Well...huh. As long as there weren't any veggies!

A shrug, a rather unceremonious plunk of the dinner back down in her bag again, and a shout and a wave to the other oncoming people, Niko took off down the street once again, disappearing among the lengthy shadows once more.

The good doctor dropped their nutrient bar back into the junk-box near the door; there was no use giving it to someone who would get no use out of it. Given the night they were having, it was... relieving to have something closer to a client to speak with. If only for a moment. One hand rested on the frame of the door as they leaned in to study the intimidating figure’s datapad.

“...Hm. No, this one is foreign to me. I am afraid not.” Straightening up again, they brought a finger briefly to their lip. “ ‘Tech priest’?” What an odd-sounding religion. They smiled sheepishly, not wanted to offend. “I see. How interesting. To make yourself.”

“At any rate, many items and people come through the wormhole that orbits this planet. Another man’s trash...” They gestured palm-up in the faintest resemblance of a shrug. “Scavengers often collect and sell what they find to the consignment shops around here. You may have some luck.”

Cecille had been opening and closing the door near-continuously. They had just stepped back to let the glass slide back into place when they spotted their next pair of guests. Reaching out a hand, they stopped the door from closing, their lips coming together in a purse to hide the hiss of a sigh. They replaced it quickly with a tired smile, wan and thin and not quite reaching their droopy eyes. “Hello. Ah...”

They held back their distaste at the cheap taffeta of their costumes, scrutinizing them instead in hopes of an easy guess. They were vaguely earth-like. The red dress, anyhow. Like some Western ‘Lady’. Monarch. Something. “Ah...” They mumbled a second time, stalling. “Princess?” The black one was completely lost on them. They tried to remember their Old Earth history, and promptly gave up with a little clear of their throat; ‘hm-hm’.

Edit:

((Oops, I guess it just adds them together and doesn't give you the individual rolls. Welp.



The lazy man's solution.))

The doctor reached for their box of goodies instead. One, two. In one hand they held out an unopened cup-a-noodle, and moved to drop it into Siira's bucket with little fanfair; only to find that it didn't... quite fit through the opening in the plastic. Hm.

But clutched in their other hand was a most prized possession for many kids: A full-sized chocolate bar, none of those miniaturized, half-a-bite chocolates often seen in Halloween goodies. This they dropped in Pix's bucket after giving up on Siira's.

Pix skipped merrily up to Cecille, not outwardly noticing the scrutiny she held over the costumes her and her sister donned, then turned with broom and bucket in hand and stared at Siira expectantly.

Siira slowed to a stop with a glance at Pix and looked up to Cecille with her only good eye staring widely, and clearly a bit nervously. She felt like she was suddenly on stage in front of a crowd expected to do something great, when she knew anything she was capable of was less than sub par.

"Come on-" Pix said in a gleeful huff, shaking her broom and bucket a little as if to hurry along Siira. She shot a dirty look at Pix and then stared back at the cybernetisist.

"Umm....tricken tree?" she phrased the guess clearly as a question holding her pumpkin shaped bucket forward and her scepter up with a goofy and nervous grin on her scarred face.

Pix's smile quickly descended into a judgmental frown as she stared at Siira. Looking up to Cecille her face lightened once more. "She means trick or treat," Pix informed her stepping closer to Siira, "My sister is new to this game, but her princess costume is pretty right?" she asked Cecille excitedly. Siira's face straightened and she side eyed Pix a moment while she, in Siira's opinion, proceeded to embarrass herself.

"And I'm a witch!" she said holding her broom tip forward towards the benevolent homeowner and making pretend animated zapping noises with her mouth. Siira stared once again at Pix incredulously while she make up the sound effects of casting some magic witch spell at Cecille, followed by a light and excited giggling. Siira then looked back to Cecille and laughed nervously, mostly to herself.

Pix thrust her bucket forward at the end of her 'spell', and Siira reluctantly followed suit. She observed with a furrowing brow as Cecille attempted to stuff a box of unopened cup o noodle into her bucket with some fun looking animation. Her arm twitched back and forth at the attempt, only staring yet in shock at what exactly was happening here. Pix watched the event with a smile, and eventually Siira swung her scepter under her arm and reached out and took the cup o noodle in her hand, bringing it closer to her face in order to read it.

Meanwhile, the cybernetisist had moved on to Pix, who's jaw dropped open as she reached over and set into her bucket a full blown candy bar! The ultimate prize of any trick or treator. Pix gasped, making a clear show of her attempt to act like someone 1/10 her own age as she stared into her candy bucket. She then looked back up to Cecille, "Thank you, thank you!" she shouted with a smile on her face the size of a moon.

"Just add water....ready in 2 minutes?" Siira read the packaging out loud and looked up to Cecille, now scrutinizing her candy dispensing choices as she had earlier scrutinized their costume choices. "I do not understand....I thought I was supposed to get candy....?"

While the idea of getting candy was kind of beside the point as far as Siira's intentions here, the fact Pix was once again favored between the two sisters hit home for her. She would probably never understand what it was about Pix that everyone seemed to like better, but now seemed to be a good opportunity to inquire on that subject.

"Why does Pix get candy and I get noodles? Is it because I am ugly? Because of my scars?"

((100% LOVE the candy choices my characters got haha....wish I had thought of rolling for candy dispensing personally. Theres always next year though))

Niko had mentally hit the nail on the head: Cecille was the barest minimum of ‘with it’ and it took every fibre of their being not to space out and wander away mid-conversation. “ ‘Bat Man’? You don’t look like a bat—oh—” Or dressed as some bat-like race; batmen? Probably some offensive human term. Poor child. They frowned down at her, but the look was hidden behind their surgical mask. Her pose didn’t help matters; the doctor was utterly clueless.

The instant-meal probably had at least a few frozen veggies, unfortunately for Niko. They just let her toddle off, raising a hand in parting and wondering vaguely if she shouldn’t have some adult supervision with her.

Cecille interpreted the mispronunciation as a childhood lisp and said nothing, grimacing instead with a smile at the pair. “Oh yes, very pretty. Ah...!” Their confusion was evident in their lopsided frown at Pix’s spin, their androgynous tenor a bit unsure. Some religious icon, then. “How... Hm.” Pretty. Very nice. Very black.

The poor doctor’s attempt to hand off whatever they had as ‘treats’ in lieu of actual candy was going... About as expected. They straightened up again, a finger to their bottom lip to emphasize a puzzled, apologetic frown as Siira inspected the package. Her dissatisfaction was clear. “...Oh. Ah.” Goodness, children were so picky. The hand moved from their lip to their cheek, lips pursed somewhere between befuddled and annoyed. Her scars? Why in the world. Well, perhaps she hadn’t had a good surgeon on her side at the time, but. The doctor stood staring down at her with a sleepy gaze for just a tad too long without an answer, apparently having wandered off into the depths of their own mind and gotten lost. Cloud 9 this one.

“...Oh,” they descended back to earth (figuratively—they’d never visited the planet), pulled the hand away from the side of their face. “Fine. I don’t see why that would make a difference. Perhaps I have... Another...?" They'd been saving that chocolate bar for themself, but had reluctantly given it up for their Box of Treats instead. They pulled out two items, just for good measure.

Edit: "...Ah--" Close enough. They took back the cup-a-noodle (fine, if she didn't want it) and dropped a sealed nutrient bar into her basket instead, sweet chocolate drizzled on a compact rectangle of synthesized nutrients, vaguely resembling granola. The second item they hesitated with, but dropped it in after--it took a bit of a shove to make it through the opening. A little portable first-aid kit. With the people they dealt with day-to-day, they tended to keep a few around.

With that they stepped back, about ready to just close the door in the poor kids' face whether or not they accepted the good doctor's new offerings. But they hesitated. Pursing their lips again, Cecille peered down at Siira for a time and then pulled a card from the breast pocket of their long asymmetric labcoat. "Here. If you have such issues with your appearance--and ever wish to consider an upgrade. I build all my cybernetic ocular implants to commission." They dropped the holo-business card into her basket as well. "...Well, talk to your parents about it first." They didn't need any more orphans showing up on their doorstep requesting medical procedures without parental consent.

((Oh gosh, that makes it all even better. Ceci doesn’t know what to do with dissatisfied kids.))

While Siira stood holding the noodles in front of her, looking up to Cecille with an expectant look as if she really should correct the whole noodle situation, Pix exchanged looks between the two with uncertainty. While Cecille drifted off to cloud 9 for a moment, Pix inched her way closer to her sister. She decided to speak in Vol'n, the two girls native language, to better hide the facade of being children.

"Siira...." Pix whispered over to her sister in the homeworlds language, "You are not acting much like a child here...."

Siira glanced over to Pix only momentarily, just long enough to portray her disregard for her sisters words. Pix sighed to herself, Siira could be so emotional about things and she never understood why she had to make a big deal out of the smallest things. She didn't even want to do the trick or treating, so why does it matter what she got as a reward?

"Well, you certainly are acting like the princess," Pix jested playfully back in the common tongue.

Cecille eventually descended back into her body, and with what both girls saw as a little bit of attitude, snatched the noodles away from Siira and returned not one, but two goodies. Siira watched as the apparent protein granola bar thing she couldn't really identify other than the chocolate which she identified as candy was placed into her bucket. Now they were getting somewhere.

Next came....a first aid kit? Siira couldn't be sure, but was this back to the scars again? They were long stained on her skin and nothing the first aid kit that Cecille shoved into her bucket with a little grease of the elbow could do would change them. Siira put the thought aside, she got the candy at least.

Pix shoved at Siira's shoulder playfully as Cecille appeared to be retreating into her residence....or business, whatever it was. "There, are you happy now sister?" Pix said happily. Siira stared into her bucket allowing her shoulder to be pushed aside slightly, then looked back up to Pix with a light smile beginning to don her face.

It was then Cecille reappeared into the scene, dropping a card and suggesting Siira return with parnta permission in order to repair her face, or so Siira interpreted the statement. Her jaw slowly dropped leaving her mouth agape as she stared up to Cecille with a hurt looking expression. While it almost certainly wasn't how the cyberneticist meant things, Siira took it as an affirmation of her unattractive appearance. Her mouth closed slowly and she looked downward with a sad expression.

"Thanks-" Siira said, turning and walking off with her head down in a depressed looking demeanor....her feelings were hurt.

Pix rolled her eyes as Siira walked off, sighing deeply and standing on the stoop watching her go with the clear look of irritation on her face. She figured there was no need to pretend they were kids at this point, and she needed to vent a little about her sister.

"You'd think after 140 years she would have grown up by now, but no. Still every little thing anyone says to her and she gets emotional. I do not understand how she has survived the universe this long with such boyish sensitivity," Pix said with clear disdain in her voice. She looked up to Cecille, investigating her face a moment before continuing, "Sorry about my sister, but thank you for the treats anyway."

With that Pix hopped off the porch and began following in Siira's wake, working to catch up with her but not obviously eager to rejoin her company. Pix wondered if Siira was right in the beginning, maybe this was a bad idea. Regardless it was certainly already looking like it was going to be a looooooooooooooooooooong night.

((thanks for the treats! it was fun driving your character into discomfort for a moment there ))