Logs:When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them.

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When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them.
Dramatis Personae

Isra, Kitty, Leo

In Absentia


2020-10-11


“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that either. Though, in retrospect, it’s very 2020.”

Location

<NYC> Mendel Clinic - Lower East Side


With its sharp crystalline edges and sleek lines knifing up into the sky, this building is one of the most distinctive new additions to the neighborhood. An angular structure in glass and steel, the tall tower has a deceptively slender look to it that is belied by the heavy security as soon as you enter the doors. The front doors are frosted with the Clinic's logo -- a rising sun over a rod of Asclepius -- a motif echoed in many places throughout the building.

Visitors to the clinic must first pass through a small mantrap, guarded by some of the Clinic's security guards; once they make it through the metal detector and airlock's double doors they emerge into the much more hospitable lobby. With dark wood floors underneath and comfortable black and red couches at its edges, the high windows give the room an airy feel. A bank of elevators to one side carry visitors to the many destination floors, while the wide welcome desk at the other side is manned by a security guard ready to help point visitors in the right direction.

The elevator opens on the second floor of the clinic and Kitty steps out, thanking a staff member as the doors close. She pauses briefly in the waiting room, spins slowly around herself, then seems to figure it out and walks determinedly down a hall and into an exam room, not bothering to close to door before lying back down on the examination bed.

She’s still wearing yesterday’s clothes, white shirt only half tucked into the band of her leggings, blood splattered on the side of the leg. Her blue button down, stained with dried blood, is draped over a chair in the corner of the exam room, with her wallet and phone (dead) stacked neatly on the seat. She has left side of her burnt orange wool cardigan on, the right side dangling off her shoulder. Her arm is neatly bandaged and in a sling. There is some takeout on the counter-sink area, and a pillow, and yesterday’s eyeliner under her eyes. It’s clearly been a little bit since Kitty’s been home.

Today Isra sports a black cropped top and matching wrap skirt, a lightweight scarlet thigh-length jacket over top tailored to her unique shape--long, trimmed slits for the wings sprouting from her shoulders and the hem in the back split to give her tail room to move. Her skin has recently changed hues again, this time in a hypnotic sunset spectrum--a deep purple along the dorsal side fading to rosy pink on her face and palms, subtle drifts of gold shimmer contouring her entire body to emphasize, rather than disguise, the inhuman angles of her physique. The heavy talons tipping all thirty of her digits and the horns spiraling back from her temples are burnished gold, and so too are her irises.

She carries herself as low as is comfortable, presumably for ease of maneuvering in limited space, her wings tucked in close. She pauses in the doorway, bare eyebrow ridges lifting. One of her wings unfurls to gesture man who had been trailing her in before she enters herself. "I can wait outside, if you'd prefer," she tells Kitty, though her unnervingly steady eyes are already searching the younger woman, her expression as neutral as ever. "I don't imagine you'll do him any harm."

Leo has only recently emerged from a different exam room to head toward Kitty's. Though he has no nametag, no scrubs, the staff seem happy to let him to his business. He looks a little on the worn side today, face a little pale, eyes a little shadowed, though his clothing at least is crisp and neat; diagonally color-blocked button-down, black on the upper left and hunter green on the lower right, with jaunty upturned cuffs and a spread collar, slim slate gray slacks, black ankle boots. His eyes get just slightly wider as he stops just beyond the doorway, cheeks flushing faintly pink when he looks Kitty over. "Oh! Kitty! I didn't -- are you okay?" Though some part of him is assessing this already, an unfelt search of whatever hostile foreign bodies might currently be circulating in the young woman's system. His eyes flick over the sling and then lower to the ground. "Sorry. That's -- silly question."

Kitty glances up, eyes wide with sudden surprise for a moment when she spots Isra. "Oh-" a beat as her expression lightens, then she continues, "I don't mind, but it might be a little cramped?" She pushes herself up to a seated position with her left arm, trying not to wince too obviously as Leo comes in. She gives him a wry grin. "Doing as well as can be expected, I think," she says, giving a weak thumbs up to the pair. Her eyes flit between the two. "Didn't know you were on Leo duty, but I guess we all have lives outside the department." She shifts a little, wincing again as her injured arm moves in the loose sling.

Once Leo closes the door behind them, Isra tucks herself between the end of the exam table and the wall, letting her wings relax ever so slightly. "I've got a lot of practice fitting myself into spaces meant for smaller people," she replies equably. "And I've got a lot of pointy bits. Occasionally, those come in helpful." She pauses half a beat before adding, somewhat stiffly, "I am sorry that you are injured. I hope it is not--too severe?" Her golden eyes dart to Leo, here.

Leo slips into the room after Isra, starting to move toward the chair but hesitating when he sees Kitty's belongings on it. "Sorry --" His eyes dart from the phone and wallet to the bloodstained shirt to Kitty. His cheeks darken further, and he leans up against the counter instead, carefully avoiding the takeout containers already there. "You know each other." He sounds vaguely more amused than surprised. "Sometimes I forget how small the mutant -- community really is."

His hands rest back on the edge of the counter, and it takes only a moment longer for his expression to go from mild amusement to a furrowed-brow narrow-eyed confusion. "-- Do you -- mind if I ask, um, what happened? It's okay if that's -- private, but." His teeth drag against his lower lip slowly.

She sees Leo hesitate - "You can move that stuff if you want to sit, it's fine," she says, but she doesn't move off the exam bed. Kitty is sitting all the way up now, pillow tucked between the wall and her lower back. Leo's comment about the community earns him a another soft chuckle.

Her expression darkens for a moment, eyes dropping to the white gauze. "It was weird." She bites her lip for a second before continuing. "Got bit by a - an alligator, I think? Alligator, monster, horror movie creature thing." She takes a deep breath. "In a basement on 13th. I wish I had pointy bits yesterday. Would have been handy." She gives Isra another weak grin, but the young woman is clearly perturbed.

Isra's head tilts almost imperceptibly. "Alligator," she echoes, though there's no incredulity in her tone. "I did not think they were a common occurrence in Manhattan basements, legends notwithstanding." Her ears press back. "I do appreciate having them, but pointy bits do not necessarily save you from being bitten, unfortunately." She pauses, considering the gauze. "Was it a...large. Alligator?"

"I'm -- sorry, what? A --" Leo blinks, his hands curling tighter against the counter. "This was here? In the city?" His gaze is lingering on the sling a few moments longer. "I am sorry, that sound -- very frightening. I am glad you got away safely, but --" He moves away from the counter, pulling the chair up closer to the bed and delicately transferring the wallet and phone to set them beside Kitty. He perches just on the edge of the seat, hands folding in his lap. "-- what do you mean monster?"

Kitty just nods once, though it’s unclear who she’s responding to. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that either. Though, in retrospect, it’s very 2020.” Her good hand scratches at the edge of the gauze. “At least as big as me. Maybe bigger.” She pauses, adds on, “ and some dog sized rats. But that seems more like New York.” Her good hand tugs at the shoulder of her cardigan, pulling more of the chunky wool over herself like a shield. “It didn’t look rightNeither did the rats. And it moved from there to there,” she points from where Isra is to the wall behind Kitty’s back, “or maybe a longer distance in less than a second. I’m not a zoologist, but that doesn’t seem like the right speed.” She shakes her head. “It all happened really fast.”

Isra's head tilts in the opposite direction, her eyes blinking twice in rapid succession. "That is quite large. Both the alligator and the rats. But both together in one place--that does pique my scientist's interest." Her tail swishes slow and rhythmic behind her. "I hope there are no bones broken, at least. How are you feeling?"

"That's -- not normal, right?" Leo doesn't sound entirely certain. "Are you sure that --" But he breaks off here, shifting slightly in his seat. One of his thumbs rubs slowly against his opposing knuckles. "It is infected. I just -- I haven't --" He shakes his head, quick. "Sorry. I don't -- really have to understand it to make sure --" His hand turns out towards Kitty's arm. "You'll be okay. Or -- it won't. Get worse. I can't make promises about -- future monsters."

Kitty stares at her arm for a second, face scrunched up with the remembering. “Yeah,” she says softly, “it was not. Normal.” She looks up, face brighter. “Oh, it seems okay? Still waiting for the X-ray to come back but probably no breaks.” She turns to Leo, eyes wide- “Oh shit, is it?” -then, gratefully, “Thank you.”

Isra does not smile, but her voice is softer when she speaks again, the low rumble of a second voice ghosting beneath it. "It must have been a traumatic experience, but I am glad you were not hurt worse." There's a hint of pride when she adds, "Our Leo does know his work."

"What happened? To the --" Leo is hesitant, eyes fixed down on his hands. "Alligator person. Who attacked you." His cheeks flush again at the compliment, head shaking quickly. "I don't, really," he demurs -- wincing almost immediately once the words are out. "Sorry, that's not. Reassuring. I do -- know what I'm doing, I promise. It's just -- it's not exactly like I studied for this, you know?"

Kitty hesitates. “Maybe a little traumatic. I’m more worried about the kids in that building.” Her eyes narrow at person. “I don’t think it was a person?” She doesn’t sound sure. “But a friend was with me, I think she dispatched it.” A crease forms in between her eyebrows. “I hope it wasn’t a person,” she mumbles, then, brightly - “oh, don’t worry about it. I trust you to know how to do your thing.”

Isra arches a bare eyebrow ridge. "I've had the odd bite to the arm from all sorts, myself." She stretches out one wing and brushes the index phalanx against Kitty's good arm, hesitant. "If you're concerned about those living there, I know some people who may be able to check up on them. People who won't be put off by a few urban legends."

"-- Right. You said -- monster." Leo's fingers press harder against each other, though only for a moment. He stands a little abruptly, fingers smoothing lightly at one cuff of his shirt. "It should be fine now. Hopefully -- less harsh than a course of antibiotics." He starts to drop his hand, though it hovers just shy of actually resting on the back of the chair with its bloodied shirt. Folds back across his chest instead. "I hope the rest of your week is a little -- safer."

Kitty stares at Isra’s wing for a moment, then nods slowly. “That would be great, actually. Whenever I get a goddamn charger, I’ll text you the address.” A grateful look at Leo. “Thanks. I hope so, too.”