Cryostasis {Lukas}

- Lukas -

---

It had been less than 24 hours since Jora had joined Ash River Project and already was she buzzing and ready to progress. She had rested her body hours before, primarily because she saw everyone else was doing it on account on it being late into the night. She recalled that she needed to see the physician Lukas and found him to be asleep so she would have to wait.

And when the small fem rose once again, she was still awake earlier than most. The few dogs that were active now looked upon her with various unfriendly expressions; leering or fright, some even predatory. She paid no mind to any of the faces that couldn't help her and made her way back to the familiar scent of the physician.

"I have been told I need a physical examination." Jora cut straight to the point as she always had.


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LUKAS

Lukas grinned warmly. It was Jora and she had come to Ash River Project, hungry for answers. He kept himself up-to-date on the pack affairs. And he had been waiting for Jora to come around. He wasn't aware that he had missed her the first time around. He had wanted to poke and prod her and see what her little skeleton felt like and to listen to her heart and lungs and check her vitals. The Aussie wiggled his entire rear because of his lack of a tail. He was honestly happy to see the odd little creature. A genetic freak, a chimera between the genes of Augment and Lethal White Basal.

"Jora!" She had shared his name with him at the junkyard of Alren. He was only dog in the pack who knew her name and was kind enough not to divulge that secret. In Ash River Project, many of the dogs understood the importance of secrets. But also didn't mean they didn't pry and try to figure it out. Finley saw it as a challenge to find her name. Lukas saw that the fact he had her name was a privilege.

"I heard you got ranked into Epsilon Scientist. It's a perfect fit for you." He said in congratulations. Luke's expression, as always, was so easy to read. Every emotion that flickered through his head was visible on his face. He was an open book. And it was dangerous to dogs who expected him to refrain from medical experiments because he honestly considered them good. Right now, his gold-hued eyes were trying to give a preliminary examination of Jora. He'd need his Watcher to get a full work up as well as a few tests and a good spot. "But yes, back to what you've said. A physical examination might be a good idea. I'd love to see how you're put together and how your body works."

word count || 319
muse || always
tag || Jora
notes || In which Lukas pokes and prods at Jora and tries to be friendly with a dog with the emotional range of a robot.

- Lukas -

---

Lukas was ever so happy to see her, which she neither was particularly happy or curious about. She responded to Lukas with her usual dismissive stillness and quietness. 

Jora examined the office and the tools Lukas was supplied with. She wondered if it were time or rank that allowed him to accumulate so many instruments. There was a long moment before she responded to Lukas. Partially because she was more interested in how he acquired his tools, and partially because she just took a little bit more than most dogs to formulate a response.  She liked being called an Epsilon Scientist. It put purpose to what was originally just considered an anomaly that would disappear from Canaria.  But if she told this to Lukas, she couldn't trust that he would accept her words without commenting or questioning them. As usual, she wasn't interested in having a conversation, especially since she was so close to her goal.

"What does a physical examination entail?" Jora questioned, her gaze finally turning to look at the other dog.


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LUKAS

Lukas smiled. "Oh, the usual. Heart rates, blood pressure, organ function, testing your senses, among other things. The full workup I give most of my Subjects." He hurried and walked into his examination room. Throughout all of his journeys over Canaria with and without packmembers helping him, he had accumulated his various tools and supplies. Some would say he was a hoarder, but there was always some occasion for the thing he collected. And, even if there weren't, he would make one by his experiments on the subjects. He wiggled his entire rear due to his lack of a tail. "So, Jora, we might be working together a lot, especially since you are now an Epsilon Scientist. I might as well introduce you to some of the equipment here as we work through it."

He put his paws up on one of the monitors. His Bowerbird hovered near him, the constant and familiar hum of its presence was comforting to Lukas. Always there, like a good friend. It activated the computer systems of the room and the screen was alight. "We've done a lot here, but this used to be a clinic for human patients. Interestingly enough, with a little bit of hacking, Ash River has reworked the system to allow for use with canines. Now, it isn't perfect, but gives really detailed information."

The Bowerbird opened one of the drawers, used its delicate arms to pick up an item that looked like a penlight and had small blue lights on it. He took it from the Watcher and the screen lit up, displaying his temperature as well as the acidity of his saliva and his dentition. "It can be fun." He talked around the object in his mouth, which was flashing periodically to say that it was done detecting what it wanted to detect. He flipped up the object and his Bowerbird caught it, very in tune with the dog it was now tethered to. Automatically, it started to clean it.

"Can be a fussy thing, that Bowerbird. Y'know, many dogs to name their Watchers. And I usually keep them around until something strikes me as a good, solid name for them. And I think I've got one. I think I'll name him Bowwie." It was one of the most unimaginative names ever. Lukas laughed. "Anyways, that was just completely non-sequitur. I admit that. How about you put this in your mouth?" He tilted his head and the Bowerbird hovered closer to Jora.

word count || 414
muse || I pretty much always have Lukas muse.
tag || Jora
notes || For the record, his last two Watchers were name Chuffie (Chough) and Bowery (Bowerbird). He is not well known for his ability to name things very creatively.

- Lukas -

---

When Lukas began to explain the condition of the lab they were walking through, things began to make sense now. Ash River was especially fortunate to have found such a place and establish territory on it for their specific purpose. It was highly unlikely that that fortune would be able to extend to every member who wished to research and experiment.

It surprised her a little that Lukas was offering to share the space. The thought it conjured was of pure ambivalence. She had to wonder what kind of dog he was to let a dog he barely know tamper with equipment most dogs wouldn't ever see in their life on a whim. At the same time, she had no inhibitions about using it to her fullest capabilities the moment she conducted a plan.

Lukas liked to do and say a lot of extra things. Things maybe to impress her and friendly conversations that to try to invoke a reaction or a response. But she had none. She absorbed the things she said like a sponge and went about her day, unless it was an action or spoken word deemed important. That being said, Jora simply placed the tool in her mouth with her ever-present lifeless expression.

Template by Ocean on THQ

LUKAS

Lukas turned around and the small device fed information onto the display. Her heart rate was steady, slow. A heart at rest. Her respiratory rate was the same.  He noted the acidity of her saliva was normal and there was a correct number of enzymes in it. The machine had a red warning bar in the bottom that flashed on screen occasionally to tell him that the temperature and enzymes were abnormal but that was because this machine had been calibrated for human use. But at least it worked with dogs now. Before, it would detect that the body was non-human and not work at all.

Luke went over to Jora to take the device from her mouth while Bowwie went over to start up a machine. It looked like a flat-topped table at first but when the Watcher activated it, a light appeared from under the metal arms which were rotating elegantly over the surface. The Bowerbird-30 appeared to work independently as the Aussie chatted with Jora. "Now this one is what the humans came up with to get pictures in your body. It takes it a long time to get an accurate read and you'll have to hold still, which wouldn't be a problem for you, right Miss?" Lukas winked as he continued. "And it also tells you how much you weigh. Though, I already know how tall you are. Had Bowwie here scan you when it gave you the thermometer. 15 inches. Fascinating."

Though she was a Epsilon Scientist, at the moment, he saw her as a Subject. She was something to study and, so far, she seemed healthy enough to experiment on. He tried to keep his subjects healthy. But sometimes, their lives would fade in a dire miscalculation. Thankfully, during an exam, there wasn't much risk for him to kill her.

word count || 301
muse || I pretty much always have Lukas muse.
tag || Jora
notes || So far, it's not going to hurt :3