edarians·:
normally, this kind of situation was an avoidable one. hellhound’s boss ( ”big brother?” whispered frantic voices huddled under awnings. “the mob?” ) was well-connected, to say the very least. They had specialty doctors, specialty surgeons, specialty engineers – all her closer colleagues and bound by the same codes she was. that is, until her visit had fallen on ill timing. normally, she was top priority ( an extremely valuable weapon needs the best care ), but it had just so happened that the surgeon on her boss’s payroll was attending to another colleague and could not operate on her. instead of bringing it up to the boss and thus damning said colleague to be tossed into the dirt, she’d quietly crawled off to the first high-end private hospital she could find. now, it’s not to say that this place wasn’t on Their payroll. but it wasn’t as if the staff members even knew who They were, other than a few of the highest-paid staff. those were the ones in charge of keeping everybody else’s mouth shut when they’d moved hellhound’s gown aside and found tears of gnarled, roping scarring around the shoulders and collarbones where flesh met carbon fiber, like two sets of tree roots. the stinging embarrassment, the distrust of being so exposed was not lost on hellhound as she stared at the ceiling, seemingly convinced she could burn a hole through it with a glare alone. hyperion would have to fix the busted arm, probably with tavin’s help. what a nuisance. if she had only trained a little longer in hand-to-hand before taking a chance like that, this situation could have been avoided. but it didn’t matter what had happened to her body so long as she was alive and the target was dead. the faint sound of shoes against the floor in the otherwise-empty hallway had hellhound forcing herself into a sitting position, strands of black hair plastered to her neck now that they’d taken her ponytail out. the rest of the hair pooled off the side of the bed and onto the floor, the ends curling upwards into shadowy smoke. she was silent as the stranger spoke, analyzing her body language, tone of voice. physically, prima didn’t seem to be advantageous; hellhound was far taller than her, and could likely easily take her down in a fight. that relaxed her a bit.
this woman was part of the team that kept her alive; for that, hellhound was a margin grateful, but it didn’t mean she was going to be nice. the kindness in prima’s eyes was deeply unsettling – no one was that kind unless there was an ulterior motive behind it. what do you want from me? hellhound regarded her with a cold look for a good few moments before finally swallowing ( ugh, her throat. )
❛ i’m fine. when can i leave? ❜ they were the first words she’d spoken to just about anyone in the hospital so far – something made her lift the iron walls of distrust for this surgeon. hard to say what it was. exhaustion? painkillers? nothing hellhound was going to think about, that was for sure. for now, the only thought filling her head was escape.
" well, you've already recovered remarkably fast given the initial extent of trauma. though we're just going to keep you overnight, to make sure it....well, sticks, i suppose. it's not often someone survives what you did."
her smile never faltered when she spoke. the atmosphere she felt from the woman in front of her was....cold, almost. unforgiving, in a manner of speaking; prima hadn't quite fully grasped reading human emotion. not yet, anyway, but she wasn't an idiot. she could tell when someone had a hostile bit about them, but even so, she was almost entirely unperturbed. the arms drew her attention once more, and in a moment she recognized the technology used to go into it. of course, she recognized most forms of technology, but to see something so advanced on the body of someone who she figured was just a regular civilian was so... well, she couldn't exactly keep it in, now could she?
" i hope you don't mind me saying, but. . . those arms. biomechanics, yes? direct connection to the nerves, carbon fibre shell and what's likely an aluminium underlay with traces of beryllium? judging by the damage you probably have a dislodged joint rotor and a few damaged circuits around the same area. i could repair that for you, if you want. on my own time of course!"
she seemed almost trance-like when speaking, despite being still completely in focus and aware of her surroundings. both eyes flickered for but a moment, soft pink code-like patterns forming in the irises and glowing for a moment before dissipating again. excitement. overcharging her eyes, if only briefly. she blinked twice then, a sudden nervous chuckle eminating from her as she looked back at the woman.
" ah, um- sorry. you um, probably don't want to get bombarded with questions right now about much of anything after whatever you went through. "
