ooc: I decided to make Raina's secondary mutation known in the camps... she doesn't know she has it yet... but I'm thinking it will come in to play with Rupe (poor Guy!) and Navi at some point.

ic:

Raina was busy mopping the floors infront of the gaurds barracks and whistling away. On a recent community service trip she learned that she could whistle without setting off her collar and the excitement at being able to make some sort of noise without pain- no matter how little was fantastic.

She seemed more cheerful later, working outside of the camps had a positive affect on her... even her fleeting meeting with Rupert didn't bother her anymore.
She still wasn't thinking clearly on the subject of Rupert- in fact she still hadn't given up on him despite being told goodbye. In Raina's mind the thing keeping her from Rupert was her mutation and after trying to speak to him a few days before she knew it coudln't be a problem for long. Raina's mutation was triggered by her voice and if she was mute she couldn't be a mutant. Somehow in her mind she decided permanently losing her voice would be the key to getting back Rupert.

Of course, these were the thoughts of a damaged woman, a woman who coudln't allow herself to believe the truth about the man she loved least she kill herself here in the camps. Raina wasn't a depressed sort of person, but Rupert was her last hope and she clinged to him.

Without noticing Raina knocked over the bucket of water. A guard cussed at her and told her to go get some more. She walked over the the laundry pool... wasn't she supposed to meet Sara here at some point? That's right... she seemed like she wanted to tell Raina something.

Raina was absentmindedly thinking about the cat woman when she dipped the bucket through the thin layer of ice and into the water. She pulled it up and started to lug it back it when the water splashed against her as she was caught off balance. Raina wouldn't normally take notice of something like this except that the water felt like acid.

She started to scream. He skin felt like it was on fire and her throat hurt even worse but she couldn't stop the scream. Her mutation was triggered as if in defense to the pain in her legs and ice started to dance across it. Raina fell to the ground and hugged her sides screaming like a dying animal whose cries were continiously being cut off.

What was happening to her?

(( OOC: Sure, I’ll chime in ))

Sonya/Doug isn’t entirely sure why she’s still hanging around the Camp’s laundry facilities. She’d been wanting an opportunity to talk to Sara for a while now, if only to set up a more private conversation, which is what brought her to the laundry room in the first place… but Sara wasn’t there, and Doug’s shift is over, and strictly speaking he ought not be in any of the prisoner areas… though of course nobody seriously enforces that rule, not with all the crap the guards around here pull.

More importantly, she isn’t really ready to run into Neena again, since she hadn’t yet had a chance to find out what was behind this mysterious door of hers. She’d intended to set up a meeting with Kelly, both to let him know that Doug was working for the resistance and to get some information from him, but when she’d tried to approach him he’d just mumbled something irritable about his iPod and James that she didn’t entirely understand, and she’d decided to try another time.

OK… another time then, she thinks, and heads towards the exit – only to have her attention pulled back by a scream in a voice she vaguely recognizes from a brief long-ago meeting. Raina? But I though she couldn’t talk with the cuffs on? It takes her a second to put two and two together and realize the cuffs must be part of the problem. That’s when she starts running.

When she finally arrives at the source of the screams, she stops short in utter confusion. It’s Raina all right, writhing in agony, but Sonya can’t tell whether her cuffs are going off or not. She’s being covered in ice – probably an aspect of her mutation, Sonya guesses – but something also seems wrong with her legs, and all in all Sonya has no real idea what’s going on.

OK, one thing at a time, she thinks to herself, and hits the call button to contact the supervisor on duty. "This is Doug. We have a restraint failure on Inmate, um… " she takes a moment to read the ID off of Raina’s tags, "00773. I repeat, zero zero seven seven three. Request temporary restraint override; inmate is convulsing and appears harmless." Of course, Sonya fully expects that some Stalkers will arrive shortly, just in case this is some kind of trick, but as long as they shut the damned cuffs off she’ll be fine with that.

She crouches down next to Raina’s body, noticing but paying little attention to the pulses of cold that radiate off of her every time she screams. "Raina, try not to scream…" ridiculous advice, but what am I supposed to tell her? "I’ve radioed in the situation, they’ll be shutting your cuffs off in a moment, just try to hold on until then…"

Raina was writhing in pain and looked at Doug with pure fear in her eyes that were glazed over. Her veins were popping out all over her skin and blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth. She unintentionally dug her nails into Doug reaching out to steady herself. The ice was forming all over her body and when she subsided her screamps into whimpers the ice slowed as well. Her legs were stretched into an unatural position like they'd both been sporadically broken, and her skin was blue. She was hyporventalating. Rupert was still the image burned into her head as tears streamed down her cheeks.

James had been embaressed by Sara back at the Guard barracks where Sara had secretly swiped Rupert’s ipod the day before.

Some how James had managed to pile on the work load. As if that was possible. Sara was just carrying in a new load, well actually several new loads, of dirty sheets, towels, guard cloths, James’s g-strings, and what ever else on the way James had thrown on top of her bundle. Miraculously the swaying top of Sara’s bundle hadn’t fallen yet. At least it hadn’t fallen until she heard the scream.

Instantly Sara’s ears flicked back, tight, against the back of her head. Her face bowed towards the ground with her jaw held tight. The top of her pile had been dropped on the ground, an instant later the rest of the wash joined those. They were dirty anyways. A bit more dirt wouldn’t hurt. Besides, they slowed Sara down.

Taking long strides, Sara had sprinted the rest of the way to the laundry pool. This might of gotten a stalker’s attention but she really didn’t care, and it wasn’t like any of the human guards would catch her to stop her. Even if they tried, it would be clear what she was doing.

Sara rounded a corner at practical break neck speed. A glint on the ground cought her attention. Ice? There was ice? It was true that the laundry pool had parts of it frozen over due to the weather but it hadn’t looked like this when Sara had last been there. Then she took in the rest of the situation. Raina on the ground and her legs at those different angles. Doug leaning over here. Sara’s feet took to the ice and she made them slide. Not slamming her motion to a halt but rather going with her inertia and using her tail for balance. Then leaning back as her claws in her feet slid out to gain a grip on the ground.

She came to a halt to the right of the other two. One hand pressed against Raina’s shoulder for a moment. Was she cold or was it the surroundings? Either way the feline hadn’t seen her face that color before.

So Sara did the most logical thing she could. She reached out, grabbing for one of the drying, clean sheets, and pulled it around Raina’s shoulders. “Here.” Then addressed Doug. “Do you know what’s going on?” The question was obviously suspicious but the expression on his face looked like he knew as much about what was going on as she did.

> “Do you know what’s going on?”

Sonya/Doug shakes his head without actually looking away from Raina’s writhing body. "Not really. Looks like her mutation’s going haywire – I mean, what with the ice and the cold and the blue skin and stuff? Thought it was the cuffs but supervisor shut ‘em off and it didn’t help. And her legs – man, I don’t know what’s up with those, it’s like her bones are just breaking into bits!"

She has somewhat more information than she lets on, but the truth is it doesn’t help… the genetic information she’s getting from Raina’s grabbing her is impossible for her to interpret. It’s definitely Raina, and she still has the anomalous mutant genetic pattern Sonya remembers, but… it’s different, too.

"Look, I know you all have your secrets and that’s fine, but if you know what’s going on with her, at least tell me if I should get her to a doctor or not, will you?"

Raina didnt know what was happening or why her skin felt like acid but she looked down in horror as a strange pattern started to form all over her legs. She let out another scream and thankfully didn't recieve a shock this time. She could see that Sara was with her now. Sara. Raina likes Sara. She didn't know why, she barely knew the woman, but there was something kind and warm about Sara. She felt better knowing Sara was there.

Her skin was crawling. It was moving as if there were bugs underneath . Her bones were shifting and her shoes had split into pieces. Her collar had been deactivated now so she used the chance to speek. "Please." she cried looking up at them. "I don't know what's happening. Please don't let them shock me I can't help it!"

She needed to be somewhere else away from prying eyes so they could figure out what was going on and get her stabaliazed but it was obvious Raina couldn't walk.

ooc: we can 'go' to the infirmary, but we might as well keep it in this thread, no real need to jump around yet Sorry if it's too over dramatic, lol

(I think there is at least two scenes going on in the infirmary thread. So it is fine just staying in this thread.)

Sara had listened to Doug’s explanation on what he knew. Witch wasn’t enough. She frowned. She’d met Raina here at the camps, so the two had never really talked. She only knew enough that when she had heard Raina’s voice, like at the beginning of the camps when Raina song to stop the fight with the guard, Raina had gotten shocked.

So all she could have done is make assumptions.

"Look, I know you all have your secrets and that’s fine, but if you know what’s going on with her, at least tell me if I should get her to a doctor or not, will you?"

Sara glanced up while spreading the sheet over Raina’s shoulders and pushing it over her legs, that were starting to look even more painful. “You know as much as me.”

"Please. I don't know what's happening. Please don't let them shock me I can't help it!"

Sara’s eyes flashed in the dimmer light of the shadows around the shadows on her face. Before darting in Doug’s direction. “If she gets shocked I’ll personally hold you responsible.”

They needed to move her but the shape that Raina’s legs were in, Sara didn’t just want to pick her up. She wanted to flat bored of some kind. Swiftly she looked around. Maybe improvise with something?

> "Please. I don't know what's happening. Please don't let them shock me I can't help it!"
> "If she gets shocked I’ll personally hold you responsible."

Sonya/Doug rolls his eyes at Sara for a moment, with an expression that can best be read as Oh, get over yourself before checking Raina's pulse. Which is completely abnormal, nothing like any pulse she's ever experienced in her life, and of course that tells her nothing worth knowing, but it's reassuring in a ritual way.

"Don't worry, kid. Radioed central command, they've shut yours down" for the moment, she thinks but doesn't say out loud. "You got any idea what's happening to you? Is this a reaction to the cuffs, or what?"

Raina looked at Doug trying as hard as she could to steady herself. "There must have been something wrong the water." she whimpered. "I was fine until it spilled." she couldn't look at her legs again, the last time she looked she could of fainted for how desgusting they looked. "Nothing like this has ever happened. It's like acid." she was trying so hard to speak and her voice was coming out in whispers but was so beautiful. "I didn't mean to sing up the ice..." she admitted. "It usually only happends if I sing... not when I scream... something is wrong... I feel so cold and I never feel cold." She wanted to get out of there quick. She didn't like all the attention especially when she felt so vulnerable and helpless.

Her legs were now an odd shade of green and blue and the circles on her skin were hardening. Her feet felt like they were glued together at the ankles and her bone structure felt like it was completley reforming.

What was worse was that she was finding it increasingly harder to breathe and two sets of cuts were now visable on her throat- part of the shocking process?

"please just get me out of here?" she begged looking to Sara


ooc: When she finally does change I was hoping she and Sara could bond over having such obvious physicial mutations.

(lol. I’m up for that. *Feels the love.* )

Sara rolled her eyes at Doug who had given her a similar type expression. At least Sara had taken it that way. Yeah her threat was probably pretty empty. In all honesty she figured in any situation she had about 3 to 5 seconds to do what ever she was about to do, before she’d be completely stopped. She actually planned on saving those seconds for when it really mattered.

Raina had continued with her explanation, witch really didn’t say more then what was already said. Ok. So no one knew what was going on.

"please just get me out of here?"

“Right.” Sara said looking around again. She spotted the table used for folding cloths. That would have to work. She folded the legs down and set it down next to Raina. “On three we get her on the bored.” Sara said to Doug. “Careful with her legs.”

> “On three we get her on the board. Careful with her legs.”

Sonya/Doug hesitates a moment. Does it make sense to move her in this condition? But she’s conscious, and moving; she doesn’t seem paralyzed or anything. It’s probably OK. So she nods agreement, and a fast count of three later Raina is stretched out on the board.

That makes it obvious that her legs… well, aren’t. It’s like they’ve fused together into some kind of muscular tail, or something like that. And her skin condition is getting worse, and her breathing sounds ragged… probably because of those weird gashes on her neck, flaring and wiggling like gills on a beached flounder.

"Look, I’m no expert or anything, but this doesn’t look to me like any normal medical problem," she says to Raina, trying to keep Doug’s voice calm. "So I’m guessing it has something to do with your mutation." It’s less of a guess than it seems… the genetic information she’s picking up from Raina’s body is a constantly fluctuating mess, but it doesn’t feel like an outside influence. Not that she’d necessarily be able to tell the difference. Hell, right now I can’t even tell if she’s human!

"Is this something Naveed might be able to help with?" Sonya's not sure mentioning her crazy brother's name is an entirely a good idea, but she's also not sure that Raina is going to survive the night if she doesn't do something.

Raina wriggled in pain as she was placed on the table - she didn't dare look at her legs. "My mutation?" she asked "I manipulate ice with my voice, that's it. That's what it's always been." she searched her memory. That was right wasn't it? The pain was starting to subside in her legs and became a numbing sensation like they werent there anymore but her skin still burned and it was getting increasingly harder to breathe. She winced thinking it was a panic attack of sorts but could feel gashes on her neck. She reached for them and held them closed like a wound but felt she couldn't breathe at all. So she let them go.

"Naveed?" she looked at Doug in confusion. She heard him right hadn't she? Raina hadn't mentioned Naveed once since she came to NY. "Navi..." she trailed off wriggling. "h-how do you know my br-" but she coudlnt finish her sentence as she let out another yelp of pain which caused ice to form all around her throat. It was a little easier to breathe and Raina wondered if it was just the soothing numbing effect on the ice. Her legs hurt once more with a shot of pain that went all the way up her spine which felt like it extended down into her feet now- or what was left of them.

Raina bit the bullet and looked down. A silvery green scaled tale was looking up at her from the table, complete with elongated fins on either end where her feet used to be. Her brain stopped processing.

Mutant.
Mutation.

Raina already had a mutation.

This wasn't happening.

this WAS NOT happening.

"I can't breathe." she gasped.

Rupert would have nothing to do with her now- of that she was sure.

> "My mutation? I manipulate ice with my voice, that's it. That's what it's always been."

"Well… I don’t know. I can’t think of anything else that would cause this…" Sonya/Doug takes a step back once Raina is on the board, watching her carefully as she manipulates the gill-like gashes on her neck.

> "Naveed? Navi... h-how do you know my br-"

"Your brother? He’s in town, looking for you. " Her breathing seems to improve, and Sonya is relieved for a moment. "He wanted to come charging in here on his own and rescue you, actually. Not a great idea. I can call him if you want… would he know anything about what’s happening to you?"

She seems distracted, though… and Sonya can hardly blame her. By this point her body is transformed into what she seems to be a… No, that’s ridiculous except that she has a tail, and fins, and… scales, and… just say it mermaid.

> "I can't breathe."

"OK, that does it." Sonya/Doug grabs one end of the board and motions Sara to grab the other. "We’re taking her to the infirmary before she suffocates. I’d suggest a water bath but she said the water was damaging her… maybe she needs salt water?"

Sonya can’t really believe she’s suggesting that, but she's out of other ideas.

Sara walked swiftly around grabbing a small note pad and pen she had swiped from the office, then tossed them on the bored next to Raina. So what if Doug knew she swiped them. “That’s what I had been trying to give you before.” She told the girl. Though her voice was distracted. Probably lost in what was going on. She made sure that there wasn’t a way for Raina to easily fall off of the make shift back bored/stretcher. Mean while Doug had mentioned something about Raina’s brother. More names he could just be dropping for the heck of it? Sara shook the thought from her mind. Later! She told herself.

Sara was back at her side of the bored and kneeling, ready to pick Raina up, when she was caught off guard by the new tail? Sara let her eyes take in more. Tail, fins, scales. “It is possible for your mutation to continue when you get older.” She said to Raina. Sara’s transformation to a half cat happened years after her healing ability, but she had never been sure that her feline mutation was natural or human made. Plus it was one thing to experience something yourself. It was another to watch what it was like from a second person point of view. Sara remembered the pain. She also remembered being alone.

Mmmmmm Fish… Bad kitty!

"I can't breathe."

The words snapped Sara back into reality. Where those slits gills then? Doug seemed to be thinking the same thing as he said something about a salt water bath.

Sara nodded, lifting her side. “Either way I imagine we need water cleaner then what is in the laundry pool.” What with the soap, and grunge left from the wash. She couldn’t imagine even going a day without rinsing herself clean of that gunk in the water.

ooc: ahh this is such a overdramatic thread for me I fee so cheesy, lol. Any water is fine, i'm not going to be too picky for Raina i'm just making things difficult right now because she's going through the mutation. I figure pretty much we get her in some form of water and the camp does some studies and maybe we scar Rupert for life a litte more before she realizes without water she can be normal (er as normal as she was before) haha I'm too much of a little kid with my love of mermaid, you know I have a mermaid tail for a photoshoot? Oh yeah, I are cool...

ic:

Raina clasped her hands over the slashes on her neck. She was so thankful they disabled the collar. She felt like she was holding her breath. This wasn't happening, It wasnt... It coudlnt be...

There were no stories or mermaid from Rainas culture, but the chanters of the past, the ones with powers like hers... there were stories. There were stories of the ice chanters that lived in the ocean and sang the artic into existance.

This was just getting better and better. She was aware that they were now moving but her brain was shutting down. She squeezed her eyes shut. She didnt want anyone to see, she didn't want anymore attention. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to be a normal woman that Rupert could love. No more strange things. No more this.