sotobas_lot: (day to day)
The shriek ringing through the clinic demanded an urgency that one Ozaki Toshio just couldn't seem to muster. That probably made it a good thing it was inorganic, or he'd have been even more disqualified from calling himself a doctor than he had felt at the time. Hell, the doctor himself was feeling less and less organic, more and more mechanical. It was probably that mechanical element that had him answering the phone; the human, meaty part of his brain saw no logic in answering that phone, no benefit. Another death notice, maybe? Another failure? Another missing person? Another problem he couldn't solve? But on the most basic, lower-brain level, a person answered a ringing phone. So it was off of the receiver before he could think better of it.

Staring into the mouthpiece, he had to suddenly awaken from his autopilot haze to realize he'd picked it up. He had to consciously remember the next step. What did one do with a phone? Right, right. They spoke.

"Ozaki Clinic," he answered, after that unnatural pause, itself coming after an unnaturally long ring that might have left the caller about as surprised at Ozaki picking up as he was at himself for doing so.

[Video]

Mar. 27th, 2012 05:54 pm
sotobas_lot: (Uh huh.)
[Nowhere. Nowhere. Nowhere. Click after click, with as many haphazard groups as have been pulled together by whatever virus the community's returned in full force with, she's nowhere, not on some other world deluded into being in love, not commenting on anybody else's situation... He slumps back into his chair. His jaw shivers with building tension, blinking too quickly, too many times.

He hasn't even noticed the green haired woman behind him. She stares as if sensing it's an inopportune moment, but still not certain why he's browsing the internet rather than working. She can't very well hold it against him to take a few minutes for himself, but it's still unusual behavior.

It's not until a choked noise that sounds close to a muffled sob strains through his teeth that she clears her throat.

He quickly, with the stereotypical jerk of one surprised by an audience, sits and sloppily runs his sleeve over his eyes. It's too quick a reflex to pass off as anything but wiping his eyes, which leaves him at something of a loss for words when he turns to face her.


Her shuolders fall, but she puts on a smile which then falters into a serious, concerned expression.]

Doctor...

It's nothing... [Of course she isn't buying it.] I'm.. it's all right.

[After a short moment which seems like an endless, inquisitive stare, she accepts it as a lie and bows.] Yes. Excuse me...





[He turns back to the camera with a self derrisive snort. He's sure she's assuming it's about his wife. That's just another layer on top of everything.]

I haven't even mourned my own wife yet... Hn. How pathetic...
sotobas_lot: (Blank)
[He's re-watched the tapes. Their interruption is a moment now permanently on video. His wife's actual death is, too, but he doesn't have the technology to merge VHS with some digital video format into one place.

In the end doesn't this black and white mess look like some college film student's horror project? That's what he thought of even the technicolor displays on the community at first.

It probably wouldn't convince anyone without physically present, tangible proof, like a cold, moving body.

Then again, his wife's disappearance, without a funeral, might turn them on him; they could think he was the mastermind behind everything. He was very good at failing to save them. If they had wanted to control the doctor of the town, they would have puppetted him exactly as he'd acted; concerned, desperate, but ineffective. The difference was that if he did it himself, he could do it in the day time.

But he's not suicidal, and he's not that ready to throw away everything, even if he seems ready to throw in the towel. Making himself a mastermind and revealing a false plan to get the town into a flurry that would probably only get them all killed isn't appealing beyond a self indulgent fantasy of ruining things for everybody.

That's... an unsettlingly Kefka-like thought. Disgusting.

He needs get get out. He can still walk in the sunlight for a little longer. Dead Master is here. So he, at least, will probably always be safe. The question is in what kind of world. Even going out into the village, there won't be much of anybody left to meet, and the mood won't be cheerful.

Still, he can't bring himself to talk to anybody in the house. His mother's a difficult woman even without her rants about supposing his wife ran away back home at a time like this, just because she was feeling ill. It was his own cover story, so he had to live with it, but... It was going to be found out eventually.

Everything felt like a ticking time bomb.




Then there was Dead Master.

She stopped him. He'd look like the villain here, he had said. He's hesitated too much; now she could take the blame as part of that party.

No. That wasn't what was uncomfortable.

She...





Never mind.




Just walk. Just get out for a little while.]

Text

Dec. 18th, 2011 01:52 am
sotobas_lot: (Aisatsu wo...)
If I had the feeling that time had come to a stand still before, the fact that the rest of the worlds have moved on to Christmas and a new year isn't helping. 

Even with my time limited, I can't seem to feel grateful. I wonder if this place has been letting me get by without sharing everything because of how unfestive I'd be, like this. Heh.


[An edit added, roughly twenty minutes later, the entirety of them spent hesitating to type it, hesitating over how to say it, how to follow up. Strikes typed and deleted, but visible.]

Dead Master. 

Please help me speak with me, if you're out there. If you have a minute.
sotobas_lot: (acebric)
Video. No warnings, just a non-graphic dead body and some slapping. )


[IC Edit: Text]

It'd be too much to ask for these things to stick to my actual patients? It isn't like progress is being made, either way.

Some people call this thing sentient. Is it trying to make the point that I'm an incompetent quack?
sotobas_lot: (Uh huh.)
[Dr. Ozaki sits before his computer, cigarette between his lips, an open folder in one hand and the other tapping at the keyboard as he glances between the screen and his papers. He isn't bothered by the work, even if it is tedious and dull. There's a knock, and a nurse steps in.]

Waka-sensei?
Mm? What's up?
I was wondering if I could ask for the name of the entertainer you had by here a few weeks ago.

[Ozaki's back is to the camera, but you can immediately see his shoulders tense, then slump.]

It's the season for them, you know, those tests of courage. I know my children are planning to go out towards Kanemasa, and we were thinking we should set something up. They said that he could do some very amazing---

Not a chance in hell. [His curt response as he turns back towards the computer, marking the end of the discussion earns a surprised blink from the nurse. His expression is unusually harsh, pinching the cigarette tightly between his lips.]

Doctor... do you by chance.... hate tests of courage?

[He then notices the DramaDramaDuck window has opened itself. He has a feeling he's being recorded, glowering into the camera as if to scold it for setting up such a scene. His response is a little belated.]

...No. I just don't have his contact information anymore. Now, I'm busy with this...


[The nurse remains for a few more seconds, sighs, then steps out. The talk just outside the door is perfectly audible.]

He refused and got all huffy....
I bet he had a bad experience during a Test of Courage as a kid...
Ah ha! That's actually really funny to imagine!

[The chatter becomes inaudible as the nurses head down the hall. Ozaki exhales sharply and addresses the computer.]

Is this your way of saying I need to play with you more?
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