A General Gander(open)

[Dr. F. Echardt]

The room was full of patients. Patients having dinner. It was 8.30 pm at night when the facility co-owner stepped inside to look around the room because, well, mainly he was bored, but the German born scientist was mainly looking for fresh meat for his scientific experimentations. This was the most interesting project he'd taken on in years and thanks to the fact that his co-worker was quiet limited on electrical currents to make her brain function to it's full capacity, she was none the wiser as to what they were actually doing.

Drew was the problem though. He was on a cure every patient frenzy and it was ever so slightly annoying because the only patients he could use as trial controls were the Low Risk patients he was allowing to walk out the door. Rick didn't give a damn about the mental statuses of patients. What he cared about more was the fact that they were fed well, kept in a healthy condition and most importantly, kept alive. He needed them to be well looked after so that symptoms they were being given was new and fresh.

No, Frederick Echardt did not deal in the development of drugs for mental conditions. Other companies did that quite effectively anyway. No, Rick dealt in the development of basically, anything they could lay their scientific little hands one, that was not already patented and was most definitely flawed. That was what Rick did. He cured the flu, the cold, the headache, the stomach ache, nausea, vertigo and a number of other illnesses that were quite low on the importancy scale and quite high on the monetary value.

Recently they were becoming more involved in urinary tract diseases which meant that they'd start doing clinical trials for those but for now...

Rick was pulled from his musings when he felt the pressence of someone beside him and he quirked a very elegant brow at the person. Without saying a word he demanded an explaination and his annoyance was etched in the frown lines on his face.

[Cian Sokolsky]

Dinner was the longest three hours of Cian's shift at Twinridge. Escorting in the medium risks in his care, watching to make sure they ate and didn't cause problems, and then taking them back to their rooms and repeating the process with the high risks. There were other orderlies of course, including the very pretty, and very pregnant, Laura Knight, but he took his job very seriously and liked to watch over his own patients whenever possible. As his dark eyes scanned the room, he noticed that one of Laura's medium risks, Esha, was eating very slowly and she seemed to have her attention on one of the other patients. He would have to mention it to Laura, see if it was a regular occurrence. They might have to nip that in the bud.

Mostly, he kept his gaze on his more dangerous patients, Axelle included. His long, dark hair, imposing height and muscular frame made him the perfect choice for intimidation of these patients. He was a hard man, not given to flights of fancy or having a heart of gold like most cliches. No, Cian was most definitely not a lover of the children he handled. He thought that most of them used their diagnosis as an excuse to misbehave in whatever fashion they saw fit.

With no danger immediately spotted, he went over to stand next to Dr. Echardt, and suppressed a smirk at the other man's annoyance. Technically, the man had power over his job, so he didn't want to piss off the elder man. "Good evening Sir. I'm sorry to interrupt you, I wanted to tell you that I admire the facility you've built here." Cian did like a good order to things, and TwinRidge was easily the most organized and best arranged facility he'd been to.

[Dr. F. Echardt]

Frederick narrowed his eyes. Sucking up. He hated it when staff sucked up to him. It was such a loathesome trait in an individual. He let his eyes glide over the indivduals pressent for their dinner time.
"Which ones are yours?"
He asked in a more or less dead pan voice. While he was bored, he might as well amuse himself by toying with this orderly low life.

Mind games were his favoured method of toying and he would play the game with exceptional ease against an orderly like Cian.
"And, just out of mild curiousity, on who's side are you? I thought all the orderlies were on Dr. Shepard's side, who certainly built this place up from the ground as well as instated the laws and conduct of this facility? It's such an annoyance when I find disloyalty. I mean, if you were one of my security... "

A slow smirk fell across his lips before he fixed his eyes on Cian who was just about ruining his mind games against Shepard. This was war and he was on the wrong side if he was kissing the enemy's ass.
"Well, let's just say, none of my security would even consider walking up to Shepard and attempting to express how wonderful the clinical trials he's set into place are working."
For a man who had everything he could possibly want, what better way was there for entertainment then toying with human beings.

This was why he loved this job!

[Cian Sokolsky]

"Only have the one, Axelle Rhodes." Cian pointed at the girl briefly and then glanced back at the lone medium risk he'd noted earlier. He hadn't been sucking up to Frederick, just expressing his admiration for the facility. He had met Shepard, and knew that the man was actually trying to help the children. If Cian hadn't needed a position as far away from his wife as possible without actually moving to a new county, he wouldn't have applied her, it was to soft. There was something to the way it was organized that said it wasn't as bad as he had first assumed though, and Cian had a feeling this man was behind that.


Cian knew he was right when the man asked whose side he was on. A smile came to the larger man's face and he stared at Fredrick. "I wouldn't walk up to Shepard and express admiration for much of anything. The man panders to these delinquents. At least you and I know what is really going on. These kids can't really be helped, they just hide behind their diagnosis."

He was certainly taking a chance on being fired, speaking so openly about what he thought, but he felt it was safe enough. If it wasn't he'd find out soon enough, wouldn't he? There was something about the other man though, something that hinted that Cian's observations wouldn't be entirely unwelcome. He hoped he was reading Frederick right, it could be very bad if he wasn't.

[Dr. F. Echardt]

Frederick's eyes moved over the young Axelle, he knew her. He knew how messed up she was. Hadn't she killed her family? Committed murder? Then again... His eyes swept to Mr. Turner, beautiful, innocent looking, like some kind of fallen angel. He too was in the middle of a murder investigation. What a shame that Reece wasn't pushed harder. There was a reward on any information about the crime since it involved a bigger ring of drug trafficing. There were criminals among these kids.

They were about to take in a cannibal who had murdered his family as well. Drew had to make the final decision though or otherwise Mr. Marshall would have been here already with a stack of drugs down his throat. Multiple personality disorder was one of the most fascinating disorders that Rick had ever seen. He wanted to have a MPD sufferrer in his clinical trials as soon as was possible and Shepard was making that hard on him. His eyes flashed back to the orderly, small fry.

"She seems an exceptional candidate for clinical trials. I shall make a note of that. You have Medium Risks too surely. Normally it's one or two HRPs and a more than a few MRPs. Who are your MRPs? I'm sure I'd find them a place in my trials?"
Rick offered almost like he was doing Cian a favour. Most orderlies tried to keep their patients out of the limelight. Not only did it mean more work when their patients were ill but it meant more suffering for the patient.

More care, more attention, more late nights and overtime. He wondered just how stupid Cian was. Rick's eyes turned cold when he heard Cian's last words and allowed his eyes to sweep the room.
"Such a one dimensional view, Mr. Sokolsky. Not all of them hide. Most of them CAN be helped. "
Frederick turned to face Cian, a slow cruel smile settling on his lips.

"Look around you. None of them are kids. This is what makes this so much fun. Dr. Shepard is a genius. He employs genuis psychologists and orderlies with a ...."
He let his eyes slide up and down the man before him.
"... exceptions."
The word came out with a mock sympathetic tone to it.
"Dr. Shepard and his team.... fix these 'kids' you are referring to. It's such a shame... Mortals never have an idea how to play God. How to put broken puzzle pieces together..."
Frederick swept his eyes across the room.

"Of course it all depended on which game you most prefer playing."
His tongue hinted an underlying threat. He had to wonder if any of his words and sentences would be taken into account for the deeper meaning or if the simpleton he believed Cian to be would not pay enough attention to care.

[Cian Sokolsky]

"My medium's aren't worth it." Cian didn't like the tone the conversation had taken. He wasn't against what the doctor was doing here, however, if there were too many children cured, then Cian wouldn't have a job. He didn't mind it if his charges were ill, the later hours, the paperwork, the overtime, no, Cian didn't mind working extra. It kept him away from his own demons. Even moving half way across the county didn't keep the woman far enough away.

He was very aware that the doctor was mocking him, but given as the other man was his boss in some sense, refused to make any comments that he might regret later. Instead, he simply nodded, without saying much of anything. He took in what Frederick was saying, trying to find a way to respond that didn't sound like he was a complete idiot for not knowing what the other man was talking about.

A fracas erupted at one of the tables, and Cian was quick to jump in the middle and separate the boys making the trouble. The interruption proved most welcome and the dark haired man refused to return to Frederick's side, instead focusing his attention on the job that needed to be done. Frederick was far more dangerous than he'd thought, and it wasn't going to be easy to deal with him. Cian had a feeling there would always be some game involved.