RP: 188604 An Eve of Chance

To be quite honest she was a bit surprised at Aras' answer, it was more than she expected and revealed something about the doctor that Eve was not aware of. Brittle bones, the thought almost made her shutter. What was it like to have bones that you had to stay conscious of? Knowing that playing rough or not being careful could result in broken limbs with immense ease, especially compared to the more durable races. It wasn't something that could be taken lightly, a small mistake one day could leave you in a cast for weeks, or worse, for months because you had simply made a mistake. She became acutely aware of the irony of her feelings, given her own issues and how they came about in her day to day life.

"I assume it still effects you to this day." Eve commented. Aras had said that she was too old for the cure at a still young age, some time ago, and unless she was simply unaware, once a deadline like that passes it was quite difficult to fix. She would say that she knew a substantial amount about what it was like to not be able to fix something, even if it was for something different. "I do admit that I'm curious about how you've adjusted with it, especially in your profession." She wasn't sure how much of a factor it was in Aras' line of work, but things like that could come up in unexpected ways.

"Being more prone to injuries that require medical treatment would introduce you to its concepts pretty early on. It's a good line of work, doctors help a lot of people." As she praised Aras for her job, something familiar came into her mind, a set of words she thought she had forgotten. 'It might be a good thing you were born like that, you wouldn't be such a great translator if you weren't who you were.' It was.... Praise, but the way it was phrased and the implications didn't set well with her that day. It wasn't that it was insulting or insensitive, and in a sense there was an uncomfortable level of truth. How much of who she was came about because she did not have sight? If she was born normal, the same as everyone else, then would that version of her even be recognizable as her?

She shook the thought of as she continued her light smile. After a pause, she spoke once more. "Doctors tend to want to help people, and they do it in ways others can't. I've met others who came here because while other places had better medical technology, their actions could have a larger impact where the technology was lacking. I won't make the assumption that the same is for you, but I am curious. Why did you join Section Six?"

"My bones have hardened slightly with age, though I still must be cautious as most falls that would bruise or cut an average person could lead to much worse injuries on me." Aras' parents position had been a bit of a blessing in an odd way. Their solitary lifestyle had kept her rather isolated from many of the more serious injuries as a child, but the lack of outside contact had left her a bit socially challenged, though he had improved in the years since. "I have to take extra precautions that would seem a burden to most, but I've grown rather used to it."

The question of why Aras came to Section Six, and 188604 in general was one of the harder questions she had been asked that day. In all reality she felt her reason for leaving the colony she had called home for the latter years of her life were rather selfish. She sighed before starting, "I wish my reason for coming here was as selfless as that. No, I came here because my old home had bad memories and I needed a change of space. It so happened that I found an opening in a colony far from home. So I jumped at the opportunity and here I am now."

"Just because a reason is for personal reasons doesn't make it selfish." Eve responded after a brief pause. "Doing something for your benefit isn't inherently selfish, especially when I can say that you've helped people by being here. Not everyone is driven with only the want to help people, and that's just fine." An odd comment, and she wasn't sure of its own validity. By definition, was it selfish? That wasn't the point she was trying to make, she wanted to say that it didn't matter if it was selfish, but quite simply that came out a lot less... Good intention sounding. People didn't need to be driven through the pure need to help others, not everyone had them in them, and it certainly didn't make them worth any less.

Aras seemed like a resilient person, able to not only do well in life despite the fact that minor injuries very quickly built up to major ones, but to push outward on her own and to do this with her life. It was inspiring, to see someone else who seemingly should have been held back due to issues but instead strode forward with a natural strength. After a pause, she wondered on if she should even pose the question next. The worse she could say was no, and possibly misunderstand what she meant, but those things could be clarified, albeit awkwardly. "I don't mean to pry into your personal life, but would you be opposed into hanging out sometime? -As friends, of course." It was such an odd question and it always frustrated her whenever she asked it. It was like every part of her vocabulary advanced and matured as she did, but no better phrase than 'Do you want to hang out?' ever came to be.

'Hang out': A phrase Aras had almost expected to never be asked, and certainly not from someone she had only recently met. In her entire time at S-6, almost every social interaction she had was work related, with the vast majority of the others being from her young adopted child. It was rather odd to be asked those words, almost humbling. Rather then waiting to formulate an articulate response as was common for her, she called out almost directly after Eve had stopped. "Yes! I would love to!" she said, almost shouting. Realizing she had responded rather oddly, she attempted to return to normalcy. "I would be open to anything, as I don't really have any plans."

To be quite honest, Eve wasn't sure what kind of response she would receive when she asked the question, and to have the answer come in such a different tone only moments later was certainly surprising, though she said or reacted little to it. It seemed like a much more instinctual response than everything else Aras had said, which in comparison seemed more collected and thought through. "Then I'm certain I can find something for us to do when you're available." She could think of a few minor things they could do while they got to know one another.

"We could go out to eat sometime, there's quite a few restaurants around here, though I'm sure you already know quite a few." She kept her voice calm and collected, her words flowing naturally. Speaking was one of the things she was good at, to the point that she had made a career out of it, though foreign languages played a heavy role as well. "It's been a while since I've gone out to eat just for fun, I think it's important to take breaks from work seriously, I think I'd go crazy if all I did was my work." She paused, realizing what her implications could mean. "-Oh, sorry, I don't mean to imply anything about yourself, of course."

Aras was rather content with the idea of going out, and as such had no problems with doing so. And with the comment on her work, she actually chuckled a bit. "No, you're right, I practically work myself into the ground all the time, and with a kid at home it's actually a miracle I haven't dropped dead yet." She sighs. "But someone's gotta do my job, and leaving it for others doesn't help. But changing the subject back, yes, I would love to go out to eat some time. I really don't ever have any set hours soon, so just about any time would be fi-" The doctor is cut off by the intercom. "Doctor, your tests are ready to pick up."

"I'd never suggest you shirk your job of course, but no one should have to spend every waking moment in service to it. There's this story I remember from when I was a kid, in hindsight it wasn't a very light story but I think not all important lessons should be." She paused as the test results were declared as ready. "-You can go ahead and pick those up I'll continue once you're back." She wasn't sure if they would just be sent over electronically or would have to be picked up physically, but either way her meaning was sent across quite clearly.

Once either way had been done she would continue quite simply. She wasn't overly worried about the test results and a time difference of roughly a minute could hardly make a different for a wound that had already been given basic treatment. "It was an odd story about this young girl who had this magical power to heal people with the touch of her hands. Being a young girl she used it to heal as many people as she could, but people hardly looked up to her with a nice favor. It was always criticisms about how she should have prioritized this person over that one, or been here instead of there that day, things like that. Her whole life practically flashes before her eyes because all she does every day is help people."

"The story ends when she's in her forties and she just vanishes after meeting someone who also has a magical power, only theirs was that they could see the future. There's this debate on how it's not his fault or his responsibility if something bad happens that he foresaw and didn't stop. He can't stop everything, and while he can use his power for good, he ultimately decided that he wanted to focus on his own life as well. They walk off together with the girl deciding that she wants to start doing what she wants to do instead of just what people expect her to." She closed her sightless eyes as she pondered it once more. "I'm probably not the best at summarizing it, but it was pretty popular where I grew up, it was meant to teach kids that while it's important to help other people, there's nothing wrong with helping yourself."

"Uh, yes, I will try to be back as soon as possible." Aras said with a nod, yet another gesture that would go unnoticed. She quickly exited the room, not wishing to loose these few fleeting moments to think about her conversation with her rather odd patient. As she walked toward the medical lab she took a moment to reflect. In many ways Eve reminded Aras of herself, though there was one discrepancy between the two; to Aras, Eve seemed like a much better person than herself. Aras wasn't jealous of Eve, that wasn't the kind of person she was, she just saw that a person who was obviously far more challenged than her seemed to be doing so much better in life. This was something Aras commonly did, finding the small things other people did better than her, and usually the only conclusion was that she was a worse person than them. The only thing that kept her out of spiraling out of control on a quest of self hatred was the constant nagging fact that she had something she needed to do. Watch the kid, work on a patient, file the paperwork, whatever it was, it kept her distracted. And it just so happened that she had reached one of those distractions in the form of the lab.

As she walked in she was hailed yet again by the nurse. "Dr. Veetu, your results are on computer 3," He said from the desk he was seated at, nodding toward one of the PCs. With a simple "Thanks", she moved towards it and began to look over the data. Most of the info was meaningless, though a few tidbits stood out. The test showed signs of slightly high white blood cell counts and minor inflammation, along with other symptoms typical of a minor injury with a slight bacterial infection. It wasn't enough to warrant a prescription of antibiotics, though to be careful Aras decided she would pick up some disinfectant and bandages on the way back. Shutting down the results and returning to the door, she quickly exited into the hallway again, back into the envelopment of thought.

On her way to the supplies room, Aras decided rather than thinking about what she hated about herself, she would think about what she needed to do. Along this path of menial tasks she remembered the reason she had came in at all: She needed to get Abigail an appointment. 'Abigail': Her mind sat on the name for quite a while before Aras realized the one thing she had forgot to do, the one thing that she had never missed before. She hadn't informed Abigail about her staying late. Taking a mental note to apologize profusely when she got home, Aras rushed to the supplies room and grabbed what she needed. Jogging back to room 34, the doctor opened the door. "Okay, I'm back," She said before pausing for breath.

Aras had remained quiet as Eve told her story, all throughout feeling as if it were familiar somehow. She realized that once her brother had told her along the same thing, to worry about yourself once in a while. It had been during her time as a medical student, she had been so intent on her studies that she had been neglecting herself. In the end he had stopped her from hurting herself, something she was thankful for. In no time at all Eve's story was over and all Aras had to respond was "Sounds like a good story".

"What would you do if you had a lot more free time?" Eve asked after a minute. She had been building up to the question for a while, and it was a question she was quite familiar with asking. You could tell a lot about people by how they answered questions, but this wasn't the standard question. Something one might normally ask would be something about their hobbies or their goals in life, but hers she had chosen because of how simple it was, how practically everyone could understand it and empathize with it. What would you do if you had the time to relax? It was a little vague, enough room for interpretation but solid enough to not be misconstrued.

"Personally I already have quite a bit, there's long periods of times where a translator like me isn't needed or a more technological one is preferred. If I had more though, I'd probably pick up more podcasts. I already listen to audiobooks and spend time reading but podcasts are different." She was clearly opening the subject by talking about it first, but there was a tinge of something in Eve's voice. It was just pure and simple happiness, and despite the situation it was clear why, she was a social person who didn't exactly have the best means of getting to know people. She was simply happy to have someone to be talking with.

"It's a more lively conversation, and even if I'm not part of it seeing how they enjoy each others company across the podcast and the emotions they feel from their conversations, it's thrilling and entertaining, which I'm sure is why they're such a popular thing."