City of Shadows Mux City of Shadows Mux

It Wasn't Right
"Why can't I go home?"
Players Faith, Haliburton, Javi, Darwin, Miel	Dunning 15 October, 2022 Two vamps, a wolf, a changeling and a ghostly-flavored mortal investigate the haunted happenings at Chicago-Read in Dunning.
It's after dark, obviously; somewhere around 8PM; Darwin found that his contact actually suggested the evening shift for this...not exactly policy-compliant tour, because fewer people would be around to ask questions. She's not able to attend, herself, but has given Darwin a contact to ask for at the desk: Dr. Benji Miller. The Chicago-Read Medical Center does not look like a horror show, although anyone who reads Chicago newspapers, or follows Chicago news at all, knows that it IS one. People used to scare their children with stories of being sent to Dunning, and some of that remains today. But on the outside, it's a modern medical building: squat and square with plenty of rectangular windows set in its plain, gray façade. There's lighted signs everywhere, and a steady stream of orderlies and medical staff in scrubs trickling in and out of the front door. What there are not is visitors; many of the patients here don't receive many (or any) and visiting hours are coming to a close anyway. The air is cold, and has that peculiar 'hospital' scent. The front lobby is blandly inoffensive, painted in a pale green that someone, somewhere thinks is neutral and soothing, with a large desk manned by two receptionists. A security guard is also here, off to one side, looking bored out of her skull. Haliburton showed up with the group and pointedly held his tongue about someone whose parents hated them enough to name them Benji. What an embarrassing name. He quietly waits, looking imminently professional in his black pinstripe suit and green silk tie, leather satchel slung over one shoulder as he tinkers with his smartphone more to look typical and unapproachable by strangers than any other reason. Miel arrives at Darwin's elbow, casual in jeans and lime-striped sneakers with his smartphone peeking from his back pocket. His nostrils flare as he draws in that familiar unfamiliar medical scent of the hospital, a place he hasn't set foot in a considerable time, with echoes of the long past and forgotten shadowing his steps. He smiles a pleasant but neutral smile towards the receptionists in that blankly polite way of courteous but inoffensive people everywhere. The slant of hip and slouch of shoulder somehow diminish his size and height, like he has long practice in attempting to take up less space than that he might claim. Faith is unseen. Unnoticed. Invisible. She's with the group, having promised that she wouldn't leave. Having Faith along would likely just make things a lot more difficult, given the subtle, off-putting effect the Nosferatu has on humans. This way, she can assist, and do some things more overtly. Like steal a keycard from one of the departing orderlies. She takes a moment to study the staff that are leaving, finding someone who looks suitably distracted, trying to memorize their appearance before just stepping right up and taking the keycard from them, entirely unnoticed. A few moment's later, she's back at Hal's side, that key slipped into his pocket. Javi is looking much the same as ever, except he's carrying a black Jansport that looks well-loved, but still perfectly serviceable. ...Okay, and maybe he's also a little jumpier even than usual. He converges with the rest of the group in the lobby, and while he does smile, it's quite a bit less wide than it normally is. Of course, if one didn't know him, they might just think it's a regular one. In other words, he wouldn't //really// stand out in a weird way to a stranger, except maybe he looks a little distracted, since he keeps looking at nothing visible. But he does murmur, "Hey," to the others before he gets quiet again. The orderly 'lucky' enough to have his pocket picked by Faith is a tired looking guy in his mid-forties, with greying hair and deep crows feet at the corners of his eyes. He's a fairly easy mark; he doesn't seem to notice at all. Darwin had informed various folks of various things in their little pre-game huddle, and suggested a vague cover story if anyone pressed too hard: researching roles. For plays, or screenwriting. Keep it vague! Dressed in his usual work clothes, dark slacks, and a simple shirt beneath a lengthy overcoat, he steps up to the receptionist desk, and braces his palms against the edge. "Hi. We're looking for Dr. Benji Miller--?" The receptionist gives Darwin a skeptical once over, but picks up the internal line and dials. She has a brief conversation then hangs up. "Dr. Miller will be right with you." And it's true - they only have to wait a few minutes for a white guy in a doctor's coat to come sauntering out to approach Darwin and shake his hand. "Mr. Pace? So good to meet you." He looks at the little group, and blinks. "I was told this was dealing with something for the arts? Uh. Research?" The way he says it suggests he doesn't quite know the answer, but somehow agreed to this anyway. For those who have enhanced senses, there might be a clue - there's an acrid tang to the doctor's sweat that suggests some sort of ongoing addiction. He doesn't seem high right now, but who knows what state he was in when he agreed. More than that - for Javi, this has been an uncomfortable few minutes. Ghosts _seethe_ in this place, and they know Javi can see them. Wisps and shreds of discarded souls gather around him, whispering their needs and desires. Tell my daughter I love her. Kill the one who betrayed me. I just want to see my dog again. Where is my will? Why does no one visit me? Remember my name. This is where Hal slips a hand into his pocket and smiles, closing it around the card that suddenly appeared in there. He mouths a silent Thank You to no one in particular and otherwise leaves it where it's at, then removes the hand from his pocket to rest it on the strap of that satchel around his shoulder. He remains primarily silent, but ready in case someone asks him out of their idle curiosity who he is. His answer: "Oh I'm The Money Man." Delivered with a smile. Nobody really wants to press those people. Mainly he concentrates on paying attention to the surroundings and explicitly not activating his ability to see ghosts. They have nothing he wants to see, and in fact the things irritate him at times. Faith remains invisible, but steps right up to Dr. Miller. She knows those sorts of signs, and she's studying him intently even as he talks to the rest of the group. Miel tilts his chin up, smiling helpfully. "That's right," he says blithely with an air of believable nonsense. "We're working to prepare Mr. Pace's students for a unit on medical drama. Gotta get some real verisimilitude for modern theater, you know." The longer Javi is in here the jumpier he seems to be getting. Here and there, his hand comes up to flick near his ear as if he's shooing a bug, and where before he'd been looking around, when Dr. Miller arrives he's staring very determinedly forward with a rather intense expression. The sort of thing one might wear when walking through a gauntlet comprised of very determined canvassers. No, he cannot spare a moment to save the whales, sir. Better luck next time. Darwin dons the amicable smile he uses with grumpy parents displeased to find that skipping class actually /does/ count towards their child's final letter grade. "Miel's correct. Hoping to tell informed stories, and while libraries and witness accounts are useful, nothing beats the actual experience. So, if anything comes to mind, we want to know about it. No matter how mundane." Miller stares at Hal with the face of a man who didn't think high school drama HAD money men...but definitely doesn't feel confident enough in the face of a suit, tie, and expensive leather bag to say that they DON'T. He rubs at the back of his neck as the little hairs stand up there for some reason he can't pinpoint. He blinks at Miel. "Oh. I mean, of course. Sure." He straightens up and is suddenly the very embodiment of a doctor who Knows Things. Like he thinks a character might be based on him some day. "It's very important for children today to understand the medical field. And I'm a great patron of the arts. Donate to ETV every single year," he says, proudly. He snaps his fingers at the receptionist - who looks like she'd like to bite them off - but she does produce some Visitor tags, the kind that stick on your lapel. "Just put these on as we walk. Obviously, I can't let you see any patients, but most of them are in their bedrooms now, so we should be able to tour most of the facilities." He suits his words to motion, turning on his heel and walking towards the doors marked 'Staff Only'. He waves his keycard at the reader, and there's a solid CLICK as the door unlocks and swings inward by itself. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to see? For a set, or...whatever." This 'patron of the arts' clearly has no idea what goes into making a play. The ghosts? They're apparently going wherever Javi is going. Cool, spectral figures brush his shoulders and arms, pleading - look at me, help me, notice me, don't forget me. Hal goes from amiable to cold stare at Miller the longer he's stared at. He stops as soon as the stares stop. Let it be known that Haliburton is not in a mood to take questions from smelly doctors. He takes a moment to palm the little keycard out of his pocket once he isn't being watched and makes a production of putting on his little visitor tag as an excuse to examine the keycard. It's a swift glance to read the name and title on the thing and maybe have a guess at just what it'll give him access to. Then back in the pocket it goes again. To Javi he remarks dryly, "I do not envy you." He knows some of what Javi is dealing with. "This is why I sometimes keep it turned off." Miel bites down on the inner flesh of his lower lip to control the flicker of his expression when the doctor snaps his fingers at the receptionist like he thinks she's a dog. He looks an apology at her with the furrow of his eyebrows, but masks the moment as he puts his visitor badge on, clearing his throat. As they follow in the wake of their tour guide, he casually angles his phone at a duty station as they go past, snapping a photograph and then studying it in a zoomed in image when he's sure Miller isn't looking at him. He quickens his step to keep on pace with the others and shows Javi the image because he also seems off the center of attention: a mark on the patient file, in the top corner, in the shape of a wingspread bird. Darwin knows better than to just look back at the group and offer an encouraging double-thumbs up, even if his hands twitch like he /wants/ to, but he /will/ glance over at Javi and offer a supportive smile. Attaching the tag to his lapel, he moves after Miller. "Examination rooms would be useful. Recreational areas? If there's an unoccupied bedroom--? Each floor, perhaps?" His gaze drifts towards the vents, as he tugs his coat tighter around his shoulders. "Must be nice," Javi murmurs back. It's possible he means it as a joke -- and he does at least manage to smile again as he cuts a look toward Hal, but the humor is undercut by the shiver that runs through him upon one of those brushes with death. His shoulders hunch in his slightly too big likely thrifted jacket -- a style choice that suits him when he's carrying himself with confidence, but right now, coupled with his very average height and rather slim build on top of it, makes him look a little bit like a kid playing dress up. He's still pointedly ignoring the ghosts, and Darwin's smile seems to firm his up a little bit -- until something has his head lifting quickly and his brows pulling together. He glances off to the side, squinting at nothing in particular, before his eyes widen and he turns just in time to look at Miel's screen. "Oh shit." He leans down, squinting a little bit at the bird before he continues very quietly, "One of 'em's saying something about a protocol. That a phoenix?" He nods to the bird to indicate what he means. "Looks like she was a nurse or something, maybe. Says it's not right." Oblivious to the murmuring at the back of the party, Miller listens to Darwin, nodding his head. He also keeps sneaking looks at Haliburton, clearly not immune to that stare from earlier. "Let's, uh, well, let's start from the top and work our way down, then. The top floor are our secure rooms for those of our patients who need security protocols. I can show you one of the empty rooms off the main floor, but we can't stay long." He leads them around the corner to an elevator - it is also keycard protected, at Green. He flashes his card at the reader and it opens. It's one of those made for hospital beds, so there's plenty of room. Miel nods wordlessly and thumbs the image file down so that he can studiously stare down at his texts until he remembers how to attach a file, which he sends to Darwin, who surely knows more than he does about phones. Then he scratches his head. "If they're supposed to be rising from the ashes I think they're missing a step or two," he asides to Javi, turning in a pivot to catch up to Darwin. He doesn't know where Faith is to angle the phone towards her, and his fingertips are a light touch across the back of Darwin's coat as he slips into the elevator. Ingenuous, he asks, looking up at Benji from slightly behind Darwin, using the prop of Darwin's height and overlarge coat to make himself appear smaller and more innocuous: "Do many patients need security? What kinds of risks are we talking about here, Doctor?" The ingenue effect would probably be better if he were smaller, younger, blonder and blue-eyed, but what do you want, he's trying I guess. Invisibly slinking along, Faith is paying a lot of attention to the works of the hospital. And she's studying that red keycard that Miller has for a moment too. She settles into a corner of the elevator, listening to the others. Solomon blinks at Miel like he forgot he was even there. "Some of our patients come to us in lieu of incarceration due to ongoing mental trauma, and some patients come in crisis. We actually just had an incident a few weeks ago--" He breaks off, abruptly, and puts on his professional smile, "But allow me to assure you that you have nothing to worry about. We've done a thorough assessment of our security procedures since then. Had to sack a few people, but it's better for the hospital in the end. As for the details, it varies. Our secure patients remain in their rooms unless they have an escort. Our security personnel and the doctors, of course, are the only ones with keys to their doors, and as you'll see, the top floor elevators require keycard access to open, as do the stairwells. Finally Hal speaks up, using a direct voice on Miller. "What liabilities do you deal with here insofar as personnel? Do you have many injuries? Workman's comp claims?" A beat. "Clearly I don't mean patients. They're just patients..." He grins then at Miller, as if to tell him You Understand How It Is. Just lowly patients, after all.. "Right?" Javi continues hanging back a little bit when Miel moves forward, though not so far back that he misses the elevator! Hopefully, anyway. No, it's fine, he got in there. His frown now is more thoughtful than stubbornly ignoring spectral presences -- sure, there's a little of that, but the first thing seems to be taking precedence now. He's not particularly listening to Dr. Miller at the moment; instead, he reaches his hand into a pocket to grab his phone and send a text, too. Miller gives Hal a look, like he's trying to decide if the other man is mocking him. But after a moment, he seems to decide that he's a tried and true fellow member of the 'wealthy jerk club', and relaxes enough to chuckle. "Oh, I'm not in the administration, but I understand we have a very low rate of people successfully claiming workers' comp. I don't know the details, of course, but the hospital takes a dim view of malingerers. Move them along right quick," he assures Hal, blithely. Hal looks pleased at the answer and replies, "Nice. Nice..." like he approves, but lightly so. Things are as they ought to be. Definitely the guy who watched Scrubs but sympathized with Dr. Kelso. He then takes out his phone and consults it quietly, staying with the group when they move. Darwin quickly pulls his phone from his coat pocket to glimpse the photo, and the following texts. He does his best to text and walk, but... well. He definitely bumps into the edges of doors and walls. As Haliburton plucks the strings of manipulation, Darwin instead focuses on the scents, and attempts to ignore the wealthy jerk clubness of it all. He sniffs for whatever clings to Miller, and possibly anything adjacent. Anything sharp or odd. Miel definitely has his hand on Darwin's back so that he can steer him away from walking into walls and for no other communicative purpose. Ding! The elevator comes to a smooth stop at the top floor, and the doors open without hesitation. Miller steps out, and gestures for them to follow. The hallway lobby is bright and clean - about the only thing that distinguishes it from any other hospital lobby is the notable lack of loose objects. Not even pens are left out, and the nurses station is glassed in with that glass that has the mesh inside. The nurses look up sharply when Miller appears, especially with...friends, but he waves away their mutters about 'irregularity', and uses his keycard on a Red door to open up a side hall. They don't go far; he opens the door on the left - again with the keycard - to show a sad, bare little room that has nothing that someone could use to hurt themselves or others...including a bed, although there are metal latches in the floor for a hospital to be locked to. "It doesn't look like much, but patient safety is primary. And they have a good view." He gestures at the meshed window. Which looks out over the potter's field and all its unmarked graves. It's a careful thing, judging the logistics of this move. Hal waits for everyone to get into the room and for the door to close before he takes a simple and unhurried stride toward Dr. Miller from behind, quite suddenly grabbing the man and vice-gripping him close to sink fangs into the doctor's neck. In one whole motion he has a hand up to try to cover his mouth, sucking him down as quickly as he can and just devouring him on the spot, crusty old man blood and all. When Darwin realizes what's happening in this split-second, his eyes widen, and as one of the less gray(ish) folk in this group, all he can think to do is flatten back against the closed door to brace it shut with naught but his strength. His teeth click shut and he looks /away/. Of //course// that ends up being when Javi catches some of Dr. Miller's conversation. He looks up again, this time actually at him, and after a moment he shakes his head and lets out a little incredulous scoff. Of course, it doesn't matter, because the man is going to soon be very dead. He doesn't have much time to do anything before Haliburton's sinking his teeth into the guy. /His// eyes go wide, too -- and it's only a split second before he's moving as well, not away but //toward//, to jam his hand over the guy's mouth and cover whatever Haliburton's misses. Sure, there's some sudden unnatural pallor to his face as he holds it there, and he absolutely is not //watching//, but any screams will, hopefully, be muffled. Since surely the guy's going to scream. Javi might scream later, too. When Hal makes his move, Faith suddenly appears just behind him, a few steps away, ready to assist. But Javi seems to have it in hand, and so she pointedly turns away. She's not going to watch Hal do his thing. The Nosferatu in shades instead concentrates, watching Darwin with a neutral expression. In a few moments Faith is gone once more, but not invisible. Dr. Miller stands there once again, even while the other Miller is having his life drained from him quickly. Faith-Miller adjusts the white doctor's coat a moment, waiting patiently. Miller jerks, squirms, and writhes in Hal's arms, and he does try to scream, but all that comes out is a muffled gurgling sound that doesn't go any farther than his throat. His eyes roll back in his head, and his struggles grow weaker, then fall away completely. It doesn't take long until veins start collapsing and he grows pale, then paler still, going cold with unnatural alacrity as all his vital essence is removed. When Javi is able to remove his hand from the former doctor's mouth, the lips underneath are blue and white. Once the doctor stops struggling, Hal makes a waving motion for everyone to get out of his way between him and the little bathroom. That's where he drags the man, finally dumping him in the little shower there after licking the wound closed. There. It'll just be a bloodless corpse dead of mysterious exsanguination. That's when he says from the tiny bathroom, "I'll search his pockets. Faith, what do you think? Suicide from the rooftop? Or just leave him in here and let people wonder?" Naturally he's asking Faith's advice on body disposal. After all, she's the only other one with experience. In a dark mutter Hal laments, "...what a disgusting man." He gives a visible shudder. "He tasted like pills." Darwin stares out the mesh glass window at the graveyard beyond, completely still. When the struggling ceases, he pulls his gaze back with /effort/, startling briefly when he spots Miller, alive and well. But then there is also Miller, quite dead, being hauled to the bathroom by Haliburton. Anxiety of /what to do with a dead body/ creeps up, but it becomes clear that Haliburton and Faith are pros at this. "Quick thinking," he says to Javi, presumably of stifling that scream. As soon as he can, Javi snatches his hand away as though the now dead man has burned him instead of become suddenly and unnaturally cold. Or naturally, but in an unnatural way. Look, he's not going to think too hard about the particulars. He shakes that hand out as he moves -- no need to wave him away now, as he's apparently made that decision on his own. He doesn't even try to smile in response to Darwin's comment, but he does nod -- and also leans a little bit toward him, just enough to press his shoulder briefly against the other man's, possibly in need of some further reassurance. "Get me his things," Faith says, her voice is Miller's voice now. "I could vanish the body and we could remove him after we're done, if we have the time and opportunity to come back and get it." As she speaks, it's obvious she's trying to mimic the cadence and speech patterns of the late doctor. Practice! "If we don't think we'll get to come back, probably should make it look less mysterious." Miller's eyes cast over Javi and Darwin, assessing how they're holding up. Darwin promptly loops his arm through Javi's and tugs him close with a gentle jostle. "It's alright," he says in a hushed whisper beside Javi's ear. He then draws away to investigate the body a bit more thoroughly, leaning down to take in the scent. "...I know where his office is." He looks back to Javi. "Is that nurse still following you?" By now Hal has Miller's collected things in hand and passes them to Faith-Miller when she-he draws near. Once done, he grabs the dead Miller's head and forces his eyes open to tell the corpse, "I am God's holy monster. I drink from humanity. I could not see what part I would play for such a long time, because I looked at it with human eyes, with eyes that would die. So I put forth the truth in this book, for you who seek, just as I have sought. for I am not some Godless beast who hunts beneath the grandeur of sanctity. I am the grandeur; I am sanctified." Then he closes the corpse's eyes and says, "Requiescat in pace...you jackass." Hal then rises, draws the shower curtain, closes the bathroom door, and steps out while briskly brushing his hands together and hoisting the little satchel on his shoulder. He looks rather chipper! Intensity resolves in Miel into the remote aspect of an uncommon stillness, his gaze shadowed, his lips thin. For a beat, another beat, a third, his facial expression is as still as stone. When he shakes loose this aspect it is with a whole body ripple that seems to twitch from his sacrum to his scalp. His nostrils flare and he scrapes his teeth over his tongue as he looks briefly, wanly, at the new Dr. Miller. He crouches over the corpse. He quickly searches the doctor's body for gloves, humming a few extremely out of place notes under his breath. "What all do you want off him, Doc?" Javi looks...well, okay, yes, maybe he looks a little worse than he did when he came in. Which is saying something. But Darwin's gesture and quiet words seem to help -- and then, perhaps inexplicably, Haliburton's (mostly) much more formal and ceremonious ones do, too. By the time it's over, he's looking at the man in a much more //normal// slightly creeped out-way. And at least he doesn't seem like he's going to scream, faint, or run. Or throw up. He's //fine//. "Yeah," he murmurs, his eyes shifting toward one of those ubiquitous empty-air spaces. "She is." Faith-Miller collects his own things, placing things into his pockets, "I think I have everything I need," he confirms for Miel with a nod. Key card, phone (she does try to open it, but it's no good!), keys. He pats himself down, nodding, watching Hal out of the corner of his eye. "Good idea, Darwin. Lead the way then." By which he means that he'll lead the way while Darwin directs. He's taking this group on this tour after all. Time to put on her best rich jerk 'I'm so much smarter than you' impression. For an Invictus, this should be like coming home. The ghosts around Javi went still as the murder was committed; a moment of blessed silence that lasts only until Javi steps away from the body. Then they're back to whispering at him, begging for recognition, for help, for vengeance. One drifts over to the bathroom and attempts to spit on the good doctor's corpse. It doesn't work, but the ghost seems satisfied nonetheless, and fades away from Twilight altogether. Miel pulls on the gloves he nicked from the doctor and then, incongruously, pulls a neatly wrapped peppermint out of his pocket, which he wordlessly holds out to Javi from where he kneels on the floor. Darwin nods, then adds, "There's also another spot Miller retreated to, on the lowest floor... likely to indulge his addictions." At Faith's signal, he moves to open the room and step out into the hallway, allowing Faith-Miller to pretend to lead. "Office is on the second floor," he murmurs to her. "I'll walk beside you." He tilts his head towards the elevator. Javi catches sight of that vanishing ghost -- and after a brief flicker of surprise, he //does// smile. Not really in the same way he usually does, but there's a distinct sense of satisfaction. It's right about when Miel comes over to hand him the candy, and he's now settled enough that he shoots him a grateful look and takes it without looking like he might be sick. "Thanks," he murmurs, before unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth as he falls in near the back of the group again. It's not hard to get to the second floor; the nurses don't even look up as the troupe emerge. In fact, they appear to be pointedly ignoring Miller, since he blew off their concerns about this whole thing taking place. The elevator requires the keycard to open. Luckily, they have one. It's only as they're stepping out onto the second floor that a potential problem emerges: It's the orderly that Faith took the keycard from. The one who was SUPPOSED to be going home. Instead, he's here, in a huddle with a worried looking nurse right by the elevators. When the doors ding open, the nurse turns. "Dr. Miller! A moment of your time? We may have a situat--" she starts, and then notices the people with him and her mouth snaps shut as CYA right now wars with CYA later when this all blows up in their faces. Hal really has nothing to add as he walks along with the group. He seems to be walking on air, which happens when you've recently fed and done right by your faith, and all kinds of other little affirming things. He seems to consider taking out the little green ID badge, but instead...nah. Let the guy suffer whatever consequences. Evil is fun like that. Miller arches his brows at looks at the nurse with his best 'why are you even bothering me' sort of look. He's busy, and he's clearly doing Important Work. No matter how irregular it might be. He looks over the worried orderly, and can't help but frown in recognition. "I'm sure it can wait?" He suggests mildly, in a tone that really isn't a suggestion. Darwin is concentrating, focused on following that scent trail. At the huddle of nurses, he blinks but keeps quiet, lest he undermine this intimidation play that Faith is going for. Miel seems pleased that Javi will have at least whatever restorative effects a peppermint sucking candy might bring. His touch to the other man's shoulder is fleeting before he falls into line to walk with the others. When the orderly approaches them, Miel peeks from behind Darwin. "What kind of situation?" he asks with hushed interest, staring with wide, luring eyes at the orderly. "Surely nothing that effects hospital security?" He smiles like the kind of asshole who stirs the anxieties of others into his tea with a little honey, "Like the one you mentioned the other week, that had people //losing// their //jobs//?" His eyebrows tilt up, helpfully. Like the one you definitely don't want to talk about in front of these outsiders, Mr. Orderly? Is he helping or hindering? It's hard to say. He might just want to help Faith make the guy pee a little. The nurse gives Miller an exasperated look, but something in the unsettling air around the doctor seems to give her pause. And then Miel is peeking out, mentioning losing people's jobs, and her eyes twitch back and forth before her expression settles into a smooth, professional smile. "Of course, Doctor. At your convenience." She turns and mutters to the orderly in a voice that wouldn't normally carry, "Prick. C'mon, let's check the break room. You probably just dropped it in the sink again." Javi stays quiet through the exchange with the nurse and 'Dr. Miller' -- but at least he doesn't look shaken enough anymore that he has the potential to get employees wondering whether he might not be one of the patients who somehow managed to escape from their clutches and procure some clothes and friends. He looks from one to the other as they speak, then briefly to nothing, then very consciously back at //something// as they continue to move forward. Yes, Javi still has a ghostly entourage, following him around like a bunch of whispery, boundary-crossing spectral ducklings. Darwin stares at Miel for a long moment, eyes rounding slowly. Blink-blink. The moment the nurses and orderly clear out, he presses onward, barely pausing to sniff at each passing door. For utterly no reason Hal just grins. He seems to be quietly enjoying this night, one eventful turn after another. He knows what's in his pocket. He knows he could put a stop to that orderly's anxiety, resolve their whole issue. What does he do? He just grins and stays silent, and follows along so they can find their way to Dr. Miller's office. Once they're more or less alone he remarks, "This place deserves to burn to the foundation. What a shithole." It's the fourth door on the right, office 215, that smells like Miller. And hey, his keycard opens the door! Inside is a basic doctor's office; there's diplomas on the wall, a desk with a very nice (locked) computer, some pictures of a child on the desk - a boy about ten years old with Miller's eyes and a gap-toothed smile - and some locked filing cabinets. The far wall has shelves with medical reference books and carefully curated knick-knacks to give an air of sophistication. Oh, and yes, tiny little swag badges from ETV for 'ten years of support'. And a small glass statue of a bird in red and gold. Miel watches the people who work here trail off with lips pressing into a thin line. His dark eyes flicker, tracking them for a beat too long. He draws his gaze away, then, to ease his body language back into the softer, looser lines with which he began. He murmurs, "The rot isn't in the foundations, it's in the administration," and as they enter into the office, his attention is magnetized to the statue of the bird. He beelines for it and checks around it, looking for - he doesn't know. A switch? A secret filing cabinet? A safe? A PHOENIX EGG? Faith-Miller's brows lift up again, before becoming a scowl. What a waste of time! "There's no threat to hospital security," he mutters after Miel's words, making it sound like he's reassuring his group of hospital tourists. He leads the way into the office, opening and stepping on in with the group. Once within, there's a moment of looking around before he too starts to look over the place. When Miel lifts the statue, a small key falls out. It looks like a conventional door key, but what is it TO? Miel has no idea. Haliburton finds that Miller wasn't as HIPAA compliant as he should be; there's a drawer to his desk that's unlocked, and inside are three patient folders. They're empty, but for the names on the tabs, but each one has a tiny bird doodled in the corner. But it's Darwin who has the nose for this. Literally. He sniffs the air and realizes there is a safe place WITHIN a safe place - which is, to say, that behind one of the filing cabinets, there's a dead vent, and Dr. Miller has used this dead vent as a place to hide his stash: There's a journal, a stack of cash that's got at least a couple of thousand dollars and a bottle of pills. The journal, at first glance, has a neat and meticulous series of notes on, as a famous cop show put it, a "criminal fucking conspiracy". And a little light drug trade among some of the doctors and nurses. Javi notices a ghost - the ghost of the nurse - pointing at the journal with urgency. She mutters "it isn't right it isn't right" over and over again. "Oh, shit," Miel yips, because he fumbled the key in his excitement about actually finding something in the bird, and dropped it. He dives for it, sits on the floor for a moment, holding the key up and squinting at it, his feet stretching out at akimbo angles in his lime-striped sneakers. "There's a key in here," he says. "I found it in the bird. What a weird sentence." Sniffing, digging, /hunting/-- this is absolutely triggering a nice little rush for Darwin. He tracks, weaving around the desk and furniture to pull one of the filing cabinets back and pry the vent grate off the wall. "Yes, yes," he mutters to himself. Undoubtedly, his tail would be wagging. He pulls the journal, the cash, and the pills out to drop on Miller's desk. "Bam! Key?" Once they get into the office, Javi does start to look around -- and maybe unsurprisingly to some, his eyes catch on the picture of the kid. His brows pull together, but after a moment he looks away again, and whatever he thinks about it, he keeps it to himself. Instead, he watches Darwin, and a slow smile spreads on his face when the man pulls the vent open and takes the stash out. "Oh shit!" An excited echo of Miel. "That's it. This lady's going nuts." He jerks his thumb toward nothing, which certainly doesn't look weird at all. "You should take the cash, too," he opines, as an afterthought. Hal grins as the search proceeds around him, glad for the success even if it isn't all his own. He seems quite satisfied with what he finds though, holding up the patient files and narrowing eyes at the folders and those telling little birds on the folder. "I think we're being slapped in the face enough, don't you?" he asks, getting Miel's attention first as he points at the bird that formerly had a key in it, then the little bird doodled in the corners of the empty patient files in his own hands. Absently he remarks after looking at the stack of cash, "What cash?" Faith is being innocent, here. She's not even involved in all this illegal searching going on; she's just looking at books. They're pretty good books, actually - the one she picked up talks about the history of autopsies and what techniques have changed over the years. With pictures from each decade to illustrate various techniques. Most don't have facial features, as they focus on specific cuts and techniques. But there are a few with recognizable faces. And one? One is very familiar for Faith. So familiar that the illusion she's holding wavers, falls, as she stares at it. So, of course, it's at this moment, when everyone is clearly involved in searching this office, and 'Dr. Miller' is nowhere to be seen, that the door lock beeps, and the nurse from before opens the door. "Doctor, I really think we need to--" She sees everyone. She stops. Her body is frozen in that moment of processing the unexpected. "It's not my cash," Darwin says quickly, though he sure looks /pained/ about it. "It's... someone else's..." For the moment, he just stands there struggling with /ethics/ after having been an accomplice in murder, even as Haliburton tries to help nudge him. When the nurse enters, he goes ramrod straight. As soon as he sees the door open Hal quickly puts together what they have, notes Faith is NOT being Miller at the moment, then he quickly snatches the nurse up, yanks her into the room, and slams the door closed with the nurse against it. He handles her like she's a little child, probably much more easily than he ought to be able to go given his body size and frame. "Good evening." he says in a too-calm voice, "You are going to remain silent. You will answer questions when asked. If you make a noise or try to raise an alarm I will hurt you. Let me assure you I am not afraid of police or consequences. Nod your head if you understand." It's just not every night you expect to see someone you once knew in a medical text book, and it distracts Faith just enough that her concentration wavers, and Miller is gone. She doesn't even realize for a few moments, starting to turn as the door opens, all ready to browbeat this nurse into knowing her place once again, but there's something in the way she pauses, and her tone, that make Faith realize. She actually looks down at herself a moment. There's a frustrated sort of sound that escapes. She's displeased. There's a half step forward to do /something/, but Hal seems to get it figured out. So she's just this weird woman in the back, watching from behind her shades. The nurse does not nod her head, but only because she's rigid with fear. Absolutely rigid. Her wide and staring eyes are fixed on Hal, though, and it's clear she would LIKE to be nodding her head and is projecting terrified nodding through her eyes for all she's worth. She makes the tiniest of squeaks from her throat, but that's about as good as she's got. "Not his, either," Javi points out, very reasonably. And he might have said some more things, too -- and they would have been very convincing -- if that nurse hadn't poked her head in //right now//. For a moment, he freezes; then, he mutters something under his breath, very low. Though it's not apparent whether it actually does anything or not. Other than that, he's quiet, but tense, poised to spring in some direction or other at any moment. Hopefully when he does, it's in a correct direction. Miel springs to his feet, reacting quickly, surging into motion and energy as his dark eyes widen, skipping between them all, processing the moment. He makes eye contact with Darwin and tilts his head, before he turns in a pivot to advance towards the woman in Hal's arms. He's thinking on his feet and in his dark eyes is the queer gleam of fresh energy like maybe, just maybe, the absolute horror of this situation and the raw tension that comes with the nearness of disaster and the catastrophe of getting caught is just-- kind of a high for him right now. "You knew Miller was crooked, didn't you? Everyone had to know." Miel's voice is pitched low, intense, soft and infiltrating in his tone, a persuading, luring voice that suggests that just around the corner, just in the next twist of logic, there's going to be a right answer, a way out. His open-handed gesture sweeps towards the drugs, the cash, the plundered information spread before the interlopers. His pause is a little over long, because he's standing still for a moment, and thinking, composing in his head, fingers wiggling in a little half-contained fidget. This extemporaneous stuff is harder than it looks and it's been a long time since his trial advocacy practicum, but-- "The question is, were you part of it yourself or did you just keep your mouth shut? All this cash. All this //dope//. But everyone knew, everyone was involved. You didn't want to get the blowback. It's too hard to find work and it's not like it was your fault, right?" Miel moves forward on light feet, moving with a hunter's stalk like he's mantled in terror as much as the vampires, the werewolf. Like he is not the least nightmarish creature in this room no matter how sweet and soft he was behaving before. "But you have the opportunity now. Right before the Department gets here. All the material to turn State's evidence and get protection. All you have to do is be the one to call it in before the rest of them are all made." He smiles, hands shrugging down his hips to tuck his thumbs into belt-loops. "What we've found in here is exactly what they need to put him away. So it's up to you to decide. Are you going down with the ship?" Hal smiles and says to the nurse, "That'll do." He continues holding the nurse steady and says without taking his eyes off of her, "Answer my friend's question." One might think that, with this nurse present, Darwin might be even /more/ reluctant to snatch the cash. But it's Javi that moves his hand, and perhaps a little devil-shaped Solomon at his shoulder. He quietly pockets the cash, and steps back beside Javi to watch Miel work his social magic. Darwin is not the subject of interrogation here, but by the end of it, he is /rattled/. The nurse's eyes bounce back and forth - although it takes a bit to get her to stop staring at Hal in terror and _listen_ to Miel. Who offers his own sort of terror. It's a terror that lets her orient, though. More, it's a terror that gives her a narrative to hold onto, to make sense of this odd scene. "Oh my god you're cops," she breathes out, barely audible, barely able to force her lungs to work enough to shove the air back between her lips. "No. No. I didn't do anything wrong. I swear." "Then take what we're offering you," Miel says. His voice has softened even more, gentled. He doesn't look like a cop. He's too skinny. His shoes are lime green. He's spent time on his manicure. "If you're the one to call it in official-like, you can get protection. You can be a witness. And the bad guys get put in jail. You even get to keep your job. They can't fire you for reporting a genuine crime and if they did you could sue their pants off." He flicks his eyes to the side, and then back to her again. "You could even tell us where those drug swaps are happening. We know it's somewhere without camera coverage." What the hell else would cops say? He reaches up to scrub at the back of his neck, the first completely unscripted, out of synch gesture since he started this posturing, and slants a furrowed-brow look to the others. Chancing enough of a distraction, Hal takes a second to read the nurse's nametag and looks over his shoulder to the others in the room. "Is there any reference to a nurse named Neilson in the papers? We should establish whether she's part of this." Despite that tension, there's a //little// note of approval when Javi catches Darwin swiping the cash out of the corner of his eye. Other than that, for once, he doesn't shift around -- he doesn't move at all, really, not until Haliburton's question. Then, he reaches forward to take the journal so he can start to thumb through it, as if to check. Darwin remains silent, but spares Miel a look of faintly nervous encouragement. He'd be /so/ pleased if Miel was a student practicing his acting. He leans over to peek at the notes that Javi thumbs through. Faith is rather still in the background, until that mention. Then she too is moving over to Javi and Darwin, to peek at the notes from the other side. Hal and Miel seem to have everything well under control. Let's be honest; when T. Neilson hears something about her 'calling it in', the main thing she gets from that is that _she gets to live_ if she does what these people say. These people who are probably cops. Probably. Either way, she exerts her will to do frantic nodding. "Whatever you want. I think it happens in the basement. There's a room. I don't have a key, but a few people go down there and do things. I don't know what." "Ah! I found the key, and now you're giving me the door," Miel smiles and this time it is a little more genuine. "Good. Thanks, Ms. Neilson. We appreciate your cooperation, right, guys? Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. We're going to leave this room and we're going to leave the documents and the dope right where we've found them. You're going to give us five minutes and then call 911. Tell dispatch that you found suspicious materials in this office when you came looking for Dr. Miller. There's no need to tell dispatch that Chicago PD was already here. After all, we know that, don't we? And if that goes on the official record, well, that's the state asking you to do this. But you're just a good Samaritan who wants to make sure the bad guys are the ones who go down for this, right?" Miel is one hundred percent certain that cops in Chicago have done literally this, probably in this hospital, totally this decade. "You're going to be a good citizen for us, right?" Hal turns his attention full on the nurse then, raising eyebrows at her as if expecting her answer now. He even loosens his grip on her, tacitly giving her a sign that the worst is over now and everything might be okay. The nurse continues to nod her head vigorously. It's really the only part of her body she can move, so it's doing a LOT of work to project sincere and utter agreement here. She attempts to speak, squeaks instead, then tries again. "Sure. Of course. Absolutely." She's probably smart enough to realize there's some bullshit in there, but she's been given an out where none of this is going to be her fault AND she gets to live. So, yeah, she's on board. Darwin waits, poised, ready to inflict his own flavor of terror that definitely involves less words. But the nurse agrees, so Darwin moves for the office door, slapping Miel's shoulder as he passes. "Basement," he says, urgency clear in his voice. Javi shifts the journal to make sure it's visible to Faith and Darwin, and once he's looked through it enough to see she isn't mentioned he closes it again and sets it back on the table, moving to follow Darwin down to the basement. Hal says to the nurse then, "Your driver's license or equivalent, please." He takes one hand off of her finally and fishes his smartphone out of his pocket, explaining, "I will want a picture of it in case we write a report." Then the other hand comes away from Ms. Neilson and in a little Criss Angel move he slips that green badge into one of her pockets. Let them figure THAT out. Miel upnods quickly to Hal. His solution to their being discovered: get the hell out. "Great," he says. He nods back to her, then eases back on his heels, shaking loose his fidgety hands. He catches Darwin before he gets to the door, and slips the key into his hand. (Or maybe it's a high five? These are weird cops, guys.) If the nose knows, the nose should be in front with the key. "We appreciate your cooperation," he says, with a smile, like they gave her any choice. He is moving away from her and Hal now, though, like he really wants to get out of this room. The nurse goes all jelly-weak when she realizes she's actually going to survive this, and fumbles out her ID card for the hospital. "My purse is in my locker. I could go get it..." Her eyes dart this way and that. Faith is shifting, getting ready to leave with the group. The basement seems like the important place to go. She's stepping out with the others, once again focusing on her disguise, to make sure Ms. Neilson doesn't actually notice anything odd. Or more odd, at least, than what the night has already given her. Faith leaves the office, but once again, Miller steps out into the hallway. "This will do." replies Hal with a sigh. "If I have to look you up, I will." He takes a photo of her ID and gives her a Look. "Do what my partner said." Then he steps back and collects the patient folders from the desk where he found them. He thrusts them at her to hold. "This is against the law and it's among the least of his crimes." It's the last thing he says to her before leaving the room. Hal doesn't know what HIPAA is. He doesn't really even know the law. He doesn't care! But it's definitely unethical, he knows that much. These mortals and their ethics... Key in hand, Darwin beelines for the elevator-- or stairwell! Wherever the scent leads down to the basement. He walks /quickly/. And Javi follows just as quickly! Presumably with his ghostly entourage, but without dripping any blood. FOR NOW. Speaking of jelly legs, in the adrenal aftermath of that performance Miel is walking with knees gone to water, and it's a little stumblingly that he tugboats along in Darwin's and Javi's wake. Nothing further impedes them down to the basement. Javi is indeed trailed by his ghosts. The nurse ghost is doing a little dance. It's kind of distracting, but at least she's happy? The elevator goes to the basement - which looks a lot like all the other floors, just with storerooms and such instead of patient rooms or labs. Oh, and there's a Morgue. The room they're looking for probably isn't in THERE. In fact, careful inspection shows a small bird scratched into the paint on one otherwise unremarkable door. And the key Miel found fits! It opens into what looks a lot like an informal break room. There's a cot on one side for collapsing when your break between shifts is too short to justify going home. There's a table. There's a minifridge. There's the symbol from the journals of the medical society cult, carved into a wall that looks older than most of the rest of Chicago-Read, and might in fact be from the original asylum. There's also a filing cabinet in here, small and shoved into a corner. It is locked. Darwin is so caught up in the pursuit that when met with the locked cabinet, he fumbles with the key and it plinks to the floor. It doesn't help that there might be /officials/ coming soon, with flashing lightbars and cuffs and everything, and there's a dead body somewhere upstairs, and oh god he doesn't have a lesson plan for tomorrow. He abandons the cabinet to just move around the break room, sniffing here and there. Once down the stairs, and the place found out, Faith-Miller takes a small glance around. She's fishing around for the keys taken from Miller to try several of them, but none of them seem like they're going to work out. So instead she goes to inspect the symbol on the wall. The search seems to be coming to a culmination here, and Hal waits for keys to be tried before he says calmly, "Perhaps I can help with the cabinet." He opens his leather satchel and then produces a tidy little professional looking lockpicking kit which he spreads out on top of the cabinet, choosing the appropriate tools for the job before getting to work. If anything he overkills it a bit, slipping the picks in and working the lock. Javi's now looking around at nothing again -- but at least now there's no one who's going to wonder why he's being weird, right? Small favors. He's //definitely// distracted by the ghost dance, but after a few moments of it, sticks a fist out toward her to offer it for a bump. Other than that, he just follows along, though he does look curiously over Haliburton's shoulder at the now extremely unlocked cabinet. While the others are usefully investigating the cabinet, Miel is, in a distracted, lollygagging kind of way, poking around to investigate the contents of the minifridge. The symbol on the wall looks old, like it's been there for a very long time. However, there's bits and bobs of plaster that's a lot newer, stuck to it. Like it was painted and plastered over, and then someone revealed it once more. The filing cabinet opens like a dream under Hal's fingertips. When it pops open, there are several things: There's about ten folders here, each looking like a patient's official record. Except that there are photos in there which would never be in any sane medical folder: pictures of the patients in the throes of drug overdose or withdrawal, or some other sort of fits. It's not the vivisections of the past - but looking at a few of the scribbled notes on the back, it's coming at the same problem from a different angle. Focusing on biochemistry rather than gross anatomy. In addition to these, there's another journal, looking about as old as the others, and definitely in Latin. Finally, there's a small modern notebook, that has ten names in it; seven are in one grouping (including Miller), and then there are three names in a separate grouping: Joshua Brandt, Mari Choi, and Raphael Myers. Each of these names has marks by them - brief notes that include dates, sometimes money amounts, and only for the last group of three, initials that match the patient records entries. The mini-fridge has things that probably shouldn't be in a break room at a hospital: there's a bottle of vodka, several bottles of beer, and what appears to be a nice little bag of weed which probably shouldn't even be refridgerated, but oh well. In addition to that, there's normal break room stuff, like sandwich makings, condiments, and individually wrapped snacks. Miel makes a pretty judgmental "tchah" noise for someone who professionally couch-surfs, and proceeds to loot the weed - it's going to go really well with whatever is left of that wholesaler's box of rice crispies treats he brought home - and the vodka, and one of the beer bottles, out of the fridge. Straightening, he says, "These fuckers deserve whatever they get, I think," and that's before he even sees the cult horrors suggested in the filing cabinet. Darwin is doing steady laps at this point, and only slows when he realizes Haliburton has popped the cabinet. He glances at the files /briefly/, then the names, then peels away to intercept Javi. "That ghost... Can you ask her about any of this? What we're looking at here? What the phoenix protocol means to her?" Faith is quiet, studying the image on the wall as the others search the place. She's reserved and thoughtful now, her posture not at all like Miller, but she keeps up the illusion for the time being, just in case. Once the filing cabinet is open, she steps over to it. "Thank you," she says softly to Hal, staring to peer through the medical records. "Well. It seems like they're definitely active again. Or at least acting as the original society did, continuing that work," she mutters. She's flicking through pages, looking at photos. "They're trying to alter the pineal gland, it seems." "Right?" Javi looks over his shoulder to agree very readily with Miel before he turns back to look over the files, too. He's distracted by Darwin's question, though, and his eyebrows raise. "Uh...yeah," he replies. "I mean, I could try. She might not say that much." But before he does, Faith's comment has his gaze swinging toward her instead. The nurse ghost had started out as a starved-looking half-spirit. The experience in Miller's office seems to have invigorated her in some way, and she has more definition now, and certainly a little more focus. She even elbows another ghost out of the way when Javi focuses on her. "It wasn't right," she says. Which...okay, maybe not helpful. But at least she seems to be more 'present' than she was before. As Hal opens the file cabinet he smiles, and begins laying out the contents on top for everyone to see. He's happy to share what's found! Once they've been examined though he patiently puts the documents in his satchel, every one of them. "You're welcome." he says warmly to Faith, smiling to her. This whole night has put him in a wonderful mood! "They certainly were active, but we're about to put a damper on their little operation I think." With that notebook, he looks for a blank page out of the back and writes a note on it. The note reads simply: Now we know. Then, once he's sure there's nothing left in there, Hal shuts the file cabinet and locks it again with the note inside. Javi turns back, focusing on the now more 'solid' Nurse Ghost. "Yeah," he says after a moment, quietly, but with some conviction. "It's not right at all." He takes a breath, letting it out slowly. "What do you know about the Phoenix Protocol?" he asks. "You know what they're trying to do?" The ghost focuses on Javi. She sharpens, becomes a heavyset younger woman with huge, dark eyes. Much larger and darker than they should be. "The patients. I remember the patients. Some of them, the meds were wrong. I tried to tell Dr. Miller and he told me I wasn't paid to think and if I had any brains, I would have been a doctor and not a nurse. But it wasn't right. Some of them were having adverse reactions. They were signed up to a 'Phoenix Protocol' but I couldn't find any documentation of it. And it wasn't right. Because the meds were wrong. I went to Dr. Choi. She's always been kind to us. She thanked me. She...she...we were in her office. I don't...I don't remember. But then I was here. I was stuck here. I couldn't leave and no one could hear me." Her voice is rising until she shrieks, "It wasn't RIGHT! Why can't I go HOME?" One of the other ghosts, a wizened old woman with dark skin, tries to reach out and pat the nurse on the shoulder, her mouth moving in some sort of comforting words that don't quite make it to Javi's ears. "Pineal gland," Darwin repeats Faith with a /hint/ of recognition. He doesn't linger on the photos Haliburton helpfully displays, instead moving to stand near the door and be a good guard dog as Javi speaks to the ghost. Miel shows Darwin the vodka bottle. The weed is going to be a surprise for later. As things seem to be under control in here, Hal hefts his now weighty satchel and says, "I think now we should plan our exit. My opinion is that Faith and I stay and dispose of Miller. He is going to commit suicide from the roof with his belongings back in his pockets. The rest of you should leave before that happens so you're clear of the obvious chaos that brings. Any objections?" Miller-Faith frowns at something or another as she reads, completely unhappy with whatever she's reading in these files. She hands them over to Hal though to scoop up and store away for the time being, looking to Darwin and nodding. "Trying to isolate it, or overstimulate it and get reactions." She's giving a brief smile at Hal's note put back in the cabinet. "Yes. Let's go take care of Miller," agrees Miller! When the ghost's voice rises to a shriek, Javi flinches, taking a half-step back and shaking his head quickly as if to clear it. "We're gonna help you," he says quickly. "We will. Okay? We'll help you. I promise." He nods just as quickly when the other ghost starts her attempt at comfort, latching onto it in the hope that together, maybe it will work. "We gotta go for now but we're gonna help. Yeah?" The nurse stares at Javi with those black holes for eyes. "I just wanna go home. I did the right thing. Why can't I go home?" Darwin smiles weakly at Miel, then reaches to touch Javi's shoulder, tugging gently at his sleeve. "No objections," he says to Haliburton, looking between him and Faith. "Be careful, alright? I know you can go poof or whatever but... just be careful." To Miel and Javi, "Come on." He urges them towards the door, oblivious to ghostly things. "I'll take you." Javi doesn't resist the pull -- but he doesn't //quite// go yet. His voice is softer, and he doesn't look away even as he steps back toward the door. "I gotta get some stuff first. But when I come back, I'll take you home." "Yeah, let's get out of here," Miel agrees with another upnod towards the others. He's out of hands to touch people with because his hands are too full of bottles, but he's easy for Darwin to shepherd out. He glances at Javi and then adds, "We'll help you," so he's committing to the ghost, too, maybe. But then, it isn't the first time. Hal gazes at Javi with a sort of...patience. He's trying to be patient. He knows what's going on there but only sees half the conversation, but thinks he can puzzle out the other half. At least he keeps his mouth shut. "Right then." He steps to leave the room. "You should all just quietly get out. We'll touch base with you probably tomorrow." For now he's off to help Miller commit suicide. Well, that's a sort of promise that riles a lot of ghosties up; the entire way out, Javi is plagued by a swarm of spirits - what about me, I want to go home, help me, see me, make them pay, take me home, tell my husband I love him and I didn't mean it, find my daughter, kill that bastard, now, now, NOW. Other than that, it's an unremarkable withdrawal; wearing Miller's face, no one challenges Faith and Hal on their gruesome task, and no one stops Darwin, Javi, and Miel, either, although the receptionist gives the three of them a curious look when they leave, like maybe some rumors have already started bubbling through the hospital staff.