Science and Intrigue

[Ilana Logan]

Space, Blue Sun System, 1 day from Deadwood
July 24th, 2518
9:00 AM AST


Ilana dressed quickly in shorts and a tshirt with a fishing bobber on it. It read "You jerkin' my bobber?" She'd been worrying herself sick for well over a week, but she'd finally decided to just get it over with. She yanked her boots on, both fearful and determined, and stomped out of her bunk and across the hall to the infirmary. She knocked on the bulkhead as she entered the room.

"Hey doc. Got a minute?"

[Jay Fuller]

Jay had spent most of the morning journaling, reminiscing on his feelings about recent jobs and interactions with crew members, and how it compared to his own expectations. As the intentionally slow morning concluded, he made his way to the med bay to organize things for the fifth time in the past three days.

Until Ilana came in, wanting to ask a question.

”Yeah, of course,” he said, ”What’s going on?

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana pulled the door shut behind her as she came in, making it clear she wanted this to be a private conversation. She stood by the door for a moment, feeling somewhat awkward. Sure, he's the doctor, but he's not just the doctor. He's Jay. Mentally shaking herself, she crossed the room and leaned against the counter near him and sighed.

"Do you have any pregnancy tests on board?" she asked, deciding not to beat around the bush about it.

[Jay Fuller]

Jay was a little surprised at her request, but kept his doctor face on. "Yeah, I think so." He walked across the room to one of the cabinets lining the floor. He had kept a bunch of miscellaneous things in there, and he had thought he'd seen some pregnancy and STI tests somewhere in the back. When he rummaged it out, he straightened up and handed to Ilana. "Have you had any symptoms or anything?" he asked, partially curious himself and partially inquiring for medical reasons.

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana shook her head, her usual shenanigans seemingly on pause. She crossed the room at sat down on the doc's rolling stool. She spun it around once, smiling a little and feeling like a toddler. "Aside from being two weeks late… no, nothing," Ilana said, only mildly sarcastic.

She looked at him sheepishly, having been sarcastic with him for asking questions. Being nosy, she thought. No, being a doctor...

She gave him a small smile and added, "Sorry, habit. Really though, just that, though that's been enough for me to be freaking out for the last week or so."

[Jay Fuller]

Jay raised an eyebrow at Ilana's initial, sarcastic response. "Well, a missed cycle can be attributed to a number of things, not always pregnancy."

Of course she would know that, she wouldn't be asking for this test if she didn't have a reason, Jay thought to himself. He paused for a minute, an anxious ping disrupting his thought process - despite being trained in a field that requires very personal questions, he always got a little nervous when it came to that. Jay put back on his doctor's hat and asked, "When was the last time you had sex?"

"...and was he hot?" he added, a smirk flashing across his face, trying to lighten the mood.

[Ilana Logan]

She gave him an exasperated sigh and glared at him. "Are you telling me you have absolutely no idea?" She asked, sounding hurt and tapping her foot impatiently. "You came to my bunk while we were hallucinating our figurative balls off… Later I assumed you had hallucinated I was someone else because I'm definitely not your type, but I didn't think you'd forget entirely."

She gave him another side eyed glance, indignance written all over her face, but really just waiting for him to start panicking. She knew he would, even if he tried to hide it.

[Jay Fuller]

Jay had kept his on his face as she spoke. As what she said registered, his smile slowly faded. He blinked rapidly, a nervous grin spreading across his face and a nervous chuckle slipped his lips, "I'm sorry, hwhat?"

His mind began oscillating between bring frozen in fear and confusion, and replaying the night with the mushrooms. Staring at Ilana's frustrated face, he began to panic. He was pretty sure, like 95% positive, that he remembered everything... right? Right?? "N-No-" he stuttered, lacking in the certainty he was hoping to give off, "No, no, I would have rememb- that didn't happen. Other things happened. There were flying squirrels, and talking planes, I didn't have any - I mean." - he began gesticulating his words, pointing out invisible things like points on a timeline - "There were flying planes and talking squirrels, and you didn't... I didn't put anything anywhere!"

[Ilana Logan]

She watched as Jay descended nearly as far into madness as Helios. The more he rambled the harder it became to contain herself. "I didn't put anything anywhere!" he shouted, having reached absolute panic.

Ilana's laughter bubbled out finally, a little levity having been exactly what she needed. She had tears in her eye from laughing so hard when she finally managed to stop. "I'm just fuckin with you, doc," she said lightly, eyes sparkling with laughter. "I need the reactant chemical out of it for an experiment."

[Jay Fuller]

When Ilana busted up laughing, in a span of a second he went from relief to laughing as well - he was nearly fooled. "Qù nǐ de!" he shouted, grabbing a roll of gauze off the counter and throwing it at her. After a fit of laughter himself, he wiped a tear from his eye as well. "Jesus," he muttered.

"I need the reactant chemical out of it for an experiment."

"Oh yeah?" Jay asked, "What's the experiment for?"

[Ilana Logan]

She batted the roll of gauze away, succumbing to another round of giggles, honestly just glad he didn't strangle her when she told him it was a joke. "Oh yeah?" Jay asked, "What's the experiment for?"

She grinned, lazily spinning the chair around again, "Well, my uncle told me once that you can use the reactant from a pregnancy test to check a drink for a specific poison the alliance used in the war. He said my dad told him during a call while dad was stationed on Normandy. Not entirely sure how it works, or even if it really works, but I'm about to find out. I managed to get my hands on a vial of that foul shit on Omega specifically for this purpose. Ya know, for science."

[Jay Fuller]

Jay listened to Ilana intently, wondering what kind of poison that could be. "...I managed to get my hands on a vial of that foul shit on Omega specifically for this purpose. Ya know, for science." she finished. Jay added with a smirk, "Right, or for when Helios gets too out of hand."

A few different questions popped into his mind, as they usually did. "In all seriousness, you planning to use the poison on anyone?" He asked with as little of an accusatory tone as he could - he thought it honestly could be helpful, under the right circumstances.

[Ilana Logan]

“Right, or for when Helios gets too out of hand,” Jay said with a smirk, drawing a laugh from Ilana.

A pause, then he asked, “In all seriousness, you planning to use the poison on anyone?"

She smiled and said, “No. I’ve got several types of poisons that don’t boil your insides out of your ears. This alliance stuff isn’t just poison. It’s finely crafted torture. I wouldn’t use shit on anyone.”

She thought a moment and asked, “Why, doc? Someone got you in a murderin’ mood?”

[Jay Fuller]

Jay always felt a small swell of pride when he could make someone laugh, even moreso when it's someone he respected and cared for like Ilana. When he could do it several times? Perfect.

“No. I’ve got several types of poisons that don’t boil your insides out of your ears. This alliance stuff isn’t just poison. It’s finely crafted torture. I wouldn’t use shit on anyone... why, doc? Someone got you in a murderin’ mood?”

Jay raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't expect the poison to be that drastic - usually the Alliance was more subtle with their killings, though he heard their tortures were brutal behind closed doors. Growing up with a shitty father who fought for the Alliance made him avoid anything to do with them, often at the cost of knowing what's going on in the world. A bit of bitterness stained his throat. "I mean, a few people come to mind but they're far and away, and certainly not worth that effort."

"So what do you want it for?" he asked.

[Ilana Logan]

Jay raised his eyebrows in surprise. He seemed to think on something for a moment. "I mean, a few people come to mind but they're far and away, and certainly not worth that effort," his voice strained with an emotion Ilana hadn't heard from him, and didn't immediately recognize.

"So what do you want it for?" he asked, moving on nearly as quickly as she noticed.

It was her turn to raise a brow. "For my dad's experiment, my dude. I want to know if it works," Ilana shrugged. "Wanna watch?"

[Jay Fuller]

Jay chuckled, assuming she wasn't going to poison anyone but also... not 100% positive she wouldn't. "Count me in, Captian. Let's test this shit out. What's the next step?"

[Ilana Logan]

Ilana chuckled a little at Jay's somewhat dubious expression. "I'm not above poisoning someone, doc, but not with this. Step one, would be to get out the goggles and probably an apron. If dad wasn't pulling his brother's leg, there's a strong chance it'll sort of explode." A beat. "Maybe we should do this in the cargo bay and not in the middle of the infirmary that we definitely need to stay operational."

[Jay Fuller]

Listening to Ilana, Jay mentally considered where he would have safety equipment. Without missing a beat, he went to grab the items. He pulled out some goggles, aprons, and grabbed a pack of gloves as well. When she mentioned the explosion, a look of surprise flashed on his face. "Yeah, the cargo bay is a good idea. How big of an explosion are we talking?"

He also grabbed a first aid kit, just in case of any potential burns or sores that could come from exploding poison.