(Un)Welcome Guest at the Pier

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

It had been a few days since Arcade had managed to kidnap Mary. She returned to the Pier, to her home with the Future Foundation with an unfortunate guest in tow. Someone many people did not want about, and if they did, it was to talk poorly about her.

Alisa LeBeau was Arcade's unwilling puppet. He hacked into her neurological implants, forcing her to kidnap people and force them into a game of death. She had moments where she could take control, but it was barely enough to prevent people from getting hurt. She sacrificed her own intelligence, her own being, to stop Arcade. She would not be allowed to be used to hurt anymore innocent people. It was perhaps the only self-less act, besides saving Reiko, she had done.

After the Future Foundation scientists got a hold of the implants, they determined that it was impossible to save them. Brand new ones would have to be build and that would take time. Until then, Alisa would need to live without them... and no one could expect the state she was in once they were removed.

Her actions were childish, showing a curiosity for everything. She smiled and laughed in a genuine way, not like how she used to for show. Though confined to a single room, she did not dwell. She thrived.

There was no brooding, no pain, no bumbling when it came to socializing, and no sadness at being left alone for too long. The scientists were befuddled by her actions, until a CAT scan of her brain was taken. The bullet that had damaged her brain did not do as much damage as people thought. It was only the implants themselves that had done the real damage. Alistaire Shaw had been tricked into doing more harm than good when it came to his bodyguard, and he never knew it. A sad irony.

For now, Alisa sat in her room, her eyes glued to a TV. From what Mary heard, Alisa never watched TV, she never got a chance to, and when she did... well... Ryan could attest she would try to cover her tracks about her lack of pop culture. She appeared mesmerized by some play that was being televised, her arms about a pillow, hugging it as the show went on.

Comments

[stormy_skrull]

Unfortunately for Mary, who was self-described as unfit to take care of plastic plants, Remi had forced her to be responsible for Alisa while she was here. She bore the woman no ill-will, of course; she'd been mind-controlled.

She came into the room with a tray. "Uh, hey," she said. "Brought you some food."

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

Alisa blinked a few times, then gave Mary a big smile. She made room for Mary to come sit with her on the bed. Her eyes soon went back to the TV screen, fascinated by the program that was on.

For the most part, Alisa had been silent. The scientists speculated that she either could not figure out how to talk due to damage, or she just chose not to. No one pushed her to speak, though.

[stormy_skrull]

Mary put the tray in front of Alisa, then grabbed her own bowl of mixed strawberries and cucumbers, along with her spoon. She massed herself down a little to easily sit on the bed.

"So whatcha watchin'? Don't tell me it's Shakespeare..."

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

Shaking her head "no" to Mary's question, Alisa's eyes looked down at her tray. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a small bowl of strawberries and cucumbers, and a small carton of milk. She picked up the carton of milk and managed to get it open on her own. She sipped the contents, before finally breaking her days long silence.

"West... Side... Story." Her speech was slow, and she did not appear to like to hear herself talk. More than likely it was the reason for her silence. She took another sip of her milk, and then a bite of her sandwich.

[stormy_skrull]

"Well, that's kind of Shakespeare," Mary said. "Only with more singing."

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

"It is... like... Romeo... and Juliet." She admitted, looking frustrated with her own speech. She took another bite of her sandwich, carefully chewing and swallowing the piece before speaking, again. "Though... it... speaks... of more... racial... tensions, and... gang... violence... of the... 1950's."

Alisa moved to eat some of the strange mix that Mary gave it. It was not too weird, and had an interesting flavor to it.

"This... is good..."

[stormy_skrull]

"Really?" Mary asked. "Usually most folks can't stand the sight of it, or the smell. Remi calls it abominable."

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

"I think... it tastes nice." She smiled more, before eating a bit more of it. "Plus... you... made... it. That... makes... it special... when.... a... friend makes... food... for... another. Right?"

Alisa thought of Mary as a friend. She brought her food, came to check in on her, even got her some clothes to wear. So that must mean she was a friend!

Her intelligence was slightly there, but still childish. When she described West Side Story, it was the description the announcer gave earlier. If she understood what she said about West Side Story could be up for debate. But it really did not matter, she appeared content and happy.

"Mary? Can... I ask... a... question?"

Implant installation and some exercise

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

The "science geeks" at the Future Foundation labs managed to fit Alisa with new implants after a few days of hard work and some sleepless nights. These would be temporary ones, but at least she would be functioning close to normal. It was an improvement to say the least.

Her speech patterns had returned to normal and gone was the child-like curiosity about everything. The only thing that did not change was how happy she was. Parts of her memory were still missing, but it did not seem to bother her or matter.

Though she knew better than to leave her room without Mary's permission, Alisa had slipped out to use what looked like a gym facility at Pier 4. She wanted to exercise her limbs and and burn off some energy she had. After finding a balance beam, she pulled herself upon it and began to walk across as though it were second nature to her.

"One foot, in front o' de other." She mumbled to herself, before reaching the end of the beam, turning about, and walking back the way she came. Once she found her balance, Alisa started to do more... well... gymnastic quality work on the beam. Cartwheels, back flips, front flips, all without slipping or falling off the beam.

It was almost as though she had never been injured so severely in the first place.

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[stormy_skrull]

Fortunately, in a place like the Pier, security cameras were everywhere. People were not hard to find.

"Don't think I could do that," she said.

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[aqua_gambit]

Remi had been walking about Pier 4 with a small, blanket-wrapped bundle cradled to his chest. The motion and closeness to her father's heartbeat kept the baby comfortable. The whole walk was to give Alexa some quiet time to sleep.

His brow furrowed when he went near the gym. He hadn't thought there was any scheduled training. Unless Ryan was up to something. Remi sighed and headed into the gym to make sure this wasn't another ad hoc science experiment going awry.

Once inside all he said was a puzzled "hmm."

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

Alisa stopped for a moment, standing with her back straight and one foot in-front of the other on the balance beam. She raised an eyebrow at Remi, seeing he had a small child pressed against his chest. She smiled warmly and moved to sit down on the beam, trying to be s quiet as possible.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I will try and be more quiet." She spoke in a very hushed voice, as to not disturb the small child. Her gaze soon turned to Mary, giving her a small wave.

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[stormy_skrull]

Forgive Mary, she's in total baby-squee (silent squee) mode.

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[aqua_gambit]

He glanced at the visitor Mary brought in. At least the implants did not have a color that would remind Jacob of very bad things.

"I was just checking on who was using the gym," Remi said without appreciably lowering his voice. He thought maybe his daughter might like the rumble of Daddy's voice in his chest. "Since there was no training scheduled that I was aware of."

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

"I was using de Gym, I am sorry." She continued to speak softly and in a low tone as to not wake the child. "I thought some exercise would be a good way to burn off some energy. Laying in bed all day and watching TV might be good for some people, but I was starting to get listless."

She then realized something, and gave a small wave to Remi.

"Oh! Where are my manners. My name is Alisa LeBeau, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am also grateful your scientists are taking such good care o' me."

Re: Implant installation and some exercise

[stormy_skrull]

"How's the tiny tot doin', Remi?" she asked.

[realstarpower]

It seemed like there was barely a day that passed by where Alisa wasn't put into some sort of crazy, life-threatening situation. Ryan was hard-pressed to think of anyone who had worse luck than she did.

He'd waited a couple of days before visiting, but he finally arrived with a bouquet of flowers - bright yellow Gerbera daisies, sunny daisy poms, and warm sunflowers. Everything bright and cheerful. He gently set the vase of flowers next to Alisa's bed and took a seat, patiently waiting for her to awaken.

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

Alisa awoke to the scent of flowers. She sat up in her bed, smiling and stretching her arms out, before opening her eyes. No longer were they red on black, they were a normal green color. She had been getting plenty of exercise while at the Pier, and her implants were nearly fine tuned to perfection.

"Oh... are these for me?" She said, sounding rather happy. "They are so beautiful. T'ank you, Ryan."

She remembered who he was. His name, his scent, the fact her eyes would have scared his brother to death (which is why she had them changed by the scientists of the Pier). She also remembered he had a girlfriend, an actress in the city, who made him happy.

"I do not understand, though. Why are you here, Ryan? Shouldn' you be doin' sumt'ing fun or excitin' ? Sittin' by my bedside must be borin' ." Alisa chuckled. "I am in good hands!"

[realstarpower]

"I doubt anything I do would have been as exciting as the ordeal you've been put through," he said with a wry smile. "How are you feeling, Alisa?" He made no mention of the new eyes, though he did notice them. He'd loop back around to that conversation in a moment. "I hope everyone's taking care of you here just fine." She was, he was well aware, under Mary's charge, and if there was anyone who had the bright and sunny disposition to nurse people back to health, well, it was Mary. "And hey. Can't a friend visit another friend?"

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

"I feel much better. Better than I have in a long time." She took one of the sunflowers out of the vase and looked at it, before giving the flower a sniff. "I never felt so happy, before. And everyone here seems really nice. I mean, people want to help me, for real."

She gave a soft laugh, possibly the first real one he ever heard out of her since they met.

"Of course you can visit me! As you said, we're friends, so I do not see why you could not." Alisa continued to smile, taking care when the put the Sunflower back in the vase. "I just, did not think you would be here. I was such a horrible person before, and now I understand why no one wanted to be around me. Well, no one other than the scum of the Earth. I must have been pretty desperate to hang out with the crowd that I did!"

[realstarpower]

"Hey, you weren't horrible to me. You were just...in a very confused place. I understand that. You know, in retrospect." He leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. "You've really gotta stop talking about yourself like that, though, Alisa. I can't speak for where you were - obviously, that was something that you needed to deal with - but think of this as a second chance. Maybe this time to definitively stay out of the way of those who brought you down last time." He drummed his fingers against his knee for a moment. "You have some bad patterns, Alisa. This really needs to be a wake-up call for you. You might not have made it out alive."

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

"Dis was a huge wake-up call." Alisa admitted, looking at Ryan straight in the eyes. "How I was does not matter anymore, you're right. I am who I am, now, an' I like dis me. I feel like a whole weight is gone, and dat I am finally free. No longer controlled by others, no longer stuck just settling for less den what I deserve, and no longer full o' anger an' hate because I was jealous o' others for havin' what I could never have."

It took a lot for her to admit all of that to Ryan. She reached out to hold his hand, to stop it from drumming on his leg.

"You were really scared, weren't you? I'm sorry I made you feel dat way, Ryan. But t'ose were just kids Arcade made me kidnap. Kids wit' lives an' families, playin' horrible life an' death games for some sicko's entertainment. De stuff nightmares are made of! If I 'ad to do what I did to save dem all over again, I would. No kid needs to be put in such a situation! I still believe I made de right call." Her eyes teared up a bit, but her smile did not waver as her other hand moved to stroke the side of his face.

"De only t'ing I woulda done differently, was said I still loved you. But I could not do dat. Not when I know you found someone so special an' perfect for you. I don' want you to ever be sad, Ryan. I want you to be happy, always."

[realstarpower]

Ryan blinked down at the open hand and, misunderstanding, handed Alisa a fresh cup of water. "Good," he said. "Though I wouldn't be so quick to proclaim things until you're actually out in the real world," he added. "Let your actions speak louder than your words." At least, that's what his mother had always told him while he'd sit and watch her work on her art. Granted, as an actor he kind of needed to let his words speak loudly as well, but he felt that in this case, that was kind of off the mark. "You gotta stop looking at what others have and comparing it to what you have. Your life is your own. You can't make it by looking at the things other people have, you make it by getting what's best for you."

He reached out and poured himself a glass of water and took a sip. It was room temperature. Bleh.

"Honestly, I didn't even know what happened until Mary texted me to tell me what was up," he gently corrected her. "These guys are heroes, though. Mary, Spidey, and the others pulled in with you. It's not as though they were innocent civilian kids who had nothing to do with the cape and cowl crowd. If anyone could handle this, it's them," Ryan said with no small amount of certainty.

He froze, though, at that last part. The briefest flicker of sparkling purple cosmic energy sprung to life around Ryan before quickly dying. "I appreciate that, Alisa," he said carefully. "But you do need to move on. From me, and from Alistaire. It's a toxic cycle you're stuck in. If you're ever going to get out, you need to move on. From all of this."

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

"To me, dey are still kids. Dey didn' appear seasoned enough to handle what Arcade t'rew at dem. An' dey certainly were not ready to make such a tough call. It was better I made it for dem dis time around." She blinked at his reactions towards her, then down to the cup of lukewarm water in her hand.

"Ryan, I 'ave moved on from you. I just told you dat I am happy for your an' your new girlfriend, no? It don' change dat dere will always be a lil' piece o' my heart dat cares for you. It just needs to care for you on a friendship level." she continued to look down at her water. "And as a friend, I saw you lookin' upset an' hurt. I was jus' tryin' to comfort and assure you. I didn' mean to upset you none."

She placed the water down on the nightstand by her bed and got up, standing up in front of Ryan.

"I wanna try sumt'ing I was never allowed to do, because I listened to de people who controlled me, an' everyone around me instead o' myself. An'... you may or may not laugh when I tell you what it is." She went back to smiling, walking away from him to the other side of the room. She took a good look out of the window. "Well, two t'ings."

Unwitting Science Experiment

[alisa_lebeau_v3]

One of the Scientists was curious as to Alisa's behavior, especially after hearing about her reaction to Ryan's visit. Two cards were placed before Alisa, one was red and the other was blue. He asked a simple question: Which color card did she like. What was learned was shocking.

Alisa could not pick either card without appearing to have a bought of anxiety or looking like she was going to be sick. When he asked her about her reaction, she responded in a way that puzzled him.

"I don' know which one is de right answer."

She had no sense of self! She was so concerned with what others thought and what was supposed to be a correct answer, that it was neurotic! It was concluded that Alisa had practically been molded to serve others from a young age, and it has resulted in her wanting to please everyone. From her appearance to how she presented herself. It was like she was living a script for nearly twenty six years and falling outside the script was a crisis.

This was worse than what the Scientists thought. They originally thought it was a blip with her implants, not a complete psychological issue. This complicated matters and meant she was not ready to be unleashed into the real world. Instead, they opted to keep Alisa around to try and see if they could reverse her conditioning with scientific methods.