2007-11-17: Separate Conclusions

Starring:

Cass_icon.gif Mohinder_icon.gif Samantha_icon.gif

Summary:

Samantha, Mohinder and Cass all come up with separate conclusions about the virus and find themselves much closer to a cure.

November 16th, 2007:

Separate Concluscions


Bat Country Labs

After her fight with Peter and having finished her whole white board disease chain (where names are replaced by numbers and letter combinations) Cass has gone back to the basics. Testing Peter's cured blood and comparing it with the other samples. Though it takes awhile for the results to come back, when they do, it makes her eyes widen and her heart speed up considerably. With the report still in hand, she starts to speed around the lab, stuffing things into folders, quickly grabbing her cellphone from one of the tables and throwing herself into a fall jacket.

Before Cass can make it any farther than that. There's a knock at the door. A rather urgent sounding one. Standing on the other side is Mohinder, his own jacket on and a rather colorful scarf around his neck. (It is that cold to him.) His messenger bag is slung over his shoulder as he waits for an answer.
Samantha is not at Bat Country see, but then again, it's likely a matter of time. She ran the sample of Peter's blood he gave her through some tests, and some of her results set off a ping in her brain. And so, for the eightieth time in about a fortnight, she calls Mohinder's phone, hoping that maybe this time he'll, you know, answer.

It's true, Cass doesn't make it very far - only to about the door - one arm in her jacket, the other one still wrestling to get inside when the door knocks. Files stuck into her mouth so that she can finally fix her jacket, she throws open the door to find Mohinder there. Grabbing the files out of her mouth, she manages to greet, "Mohinder! Good! I need to talk to you! And just about everyone else. Come in, come in."

Being on a roll for the past week with the research, the phone has gone unanswered and ignored. Waiting on Cass to answer the door is a bit like a breather for Mohinder, so the phone finally gets answered, "Hello? Suresh speaking." Just as.. the door is opened. A smile is flashed to Cass, one of greeting and apology as he has his phone to his ear. The bruising around his throat has faded against his dark skin and the limp isn't as pronounced as he enters the lab. The phone is held just a little away from his mouth, "I'm not interrupting you on your way out then?"

"Suresh, it's Dr. Applebaum. Have you been out of the country? Because I've tried to get ahold of you for weeks. You've been involved in this viral research that's got us all scratching our heads like semi-intelligent apes, aren't you? Because Peter said you were, and I've got some research I need to get verified, and I could really use a consult."

Stepping to the side, Cass keeps the door open just long enough to let he Indian scientist come inside before shutting it again. "If you're having trouble with reception, that corner over there for some reason is the only place that doesn't cut off every other word," she tells him. Still with her jacket on, she taps the manilla in her folder impatiently, waiting for him to get off the phone, especially since she doesn't know who's speaking. "No, well, yes, but not in a way that I mind. You're one of the people I need to talk to."

"Dr. Applebaum, my apologies.. no I was not out of the country, I was however detained for a bit. Yes.. yes I am involved in the research. I'm consulting with someone about it right as we speak. I was not aware you had gotten involved, when would you like to meet?" Mohinder nods to Cass as he moves quickly to try and keep the reception on his phone. The phone is held away again as he says to Cass, "Thank you and I will be just a few moments. Has anyone gotten worse?"

"Elena Gomez's father had me brought in on it, and I've been working with Cass Aldric." Samantha informs Mohinder, unaware of his phone issues. "I've been told you've made a lot of progress. I'm off shift now, and can meet anywhere that's convenient." Samantha doesn't sound vaguely annoyed, but one can well imagine her tharumping her fingers or tapping her feet.

"That's Dr. Applebaum?" Cass' ears perk up at that. She wasn't meaning to listen in on his calls, but that's a name that just jumped out at her. "Tell her to come over here!" What a small world this is. It makes everything a lot easier when everyone seems to know everyone else. "She's someone else I needed to talk to."

"Oh? Excellent, I am with Miss Aldric at this very moment.. wait… Elena Gomez?" It takes a moment to click then, "Ah, I see." Well that's one more name Mohinder has who is sick, no thanks to Cass's efforts. "I can check with Miss Aldric, since we're about to discuss our findings… ah.. Miss Aldric insists you come to the labs as soon as you can get here. She needs to speak with you as well.

"Alright. I'll be there shortly." With that, Samantha clicks off. She's never been one for long goodbyes. Or you know, phone manners.

When Mohinder mentions Elena's name, Cass' eyes narrow just slightly. She still doesn't trust the man all that implicitly with anything other than helping her solve a virus. After all, the last time they really spoke was fighting over the identity of someone with an ability. However, she says nothing at the moment, having argued with enough people for the week already. "She's on her way?" is all she asks after he hangs up.

Mohinder blinks a little at his phone as Samantha hangs up. He hangs up on his own end and pockets the phone. Looking over at Cass, he explains briefly, "She's on her way." There's a slight smile as they say the same thing at the same time. Leaving his jacket on, he does bother with unwinding the scarf from around his neck and pulls the messenger bag off from his shoulder. "What are your new findings? I feel that I am getting closer to an answer.. but still have not managed to corner the person I need to speak with at the Company."

And so some however long later, in comes Sam, complete with a lab kit she's clutching by its suitcase handle, the bio-hazard mark on it emblazoned in black. "Glad I could catch up with you both." she says briskly.

Shutting the door behind Samantha, Cass smiles at the doctor. "Me too. It looks like we've all got a lot to share." Having set down the folder, since she couldn't very well keep tapping it against the table as she spoke, she returns to it and gestures for Samantha to bring her biohazard bag into the lab so they can open it without fear of getting icky stuff on the carpet. "The Company being hard to find during an outbreak they want to suppress? Imagine my surprise." Her mood hasn't gotten much better over the course of the few weeks. Especially with the compounded lack of sleep. "We've all got things to share, then?"

In the time it took for Sam to reach the labs, Mohinder has his laptop setup and his files out, ready to share his own findings with the other doctors. Cass's sarcasm is politely ignored, as he's no happier than she is. If anything could drive him away from their backing, it's this outbreak. Particularly now that he has a shiny new lab as a gift from another source. "I haven't given up. Our answers are slow in being found and I have no doubt that the information my superiors have is still vital."

"The Company? Not the kidnap-people-and-stick-a-tracking-device-in-them company, you mean?" Samantha pauses midway, and turns to look at Mohinder. "You work for them?!"

"The very same," Cass tells Samantha in a deadpan tone. Most of her anger about the people that Mohinder has worked for is no longer something that bursts uncontrollably. Now it's just a slow burn of revulsion about it. "Mohinder's moral issues are very complicated, which is why I try not to use any names in his presence." Hence why everything is numerically coded and why she keeps getting into fights with him. "Just in case."

Mohinder blanches at Samantha's outburst, "I'm not exactly proud of the affiliation. If you would like a full justification of why I work with them, I will be more than happy to provide that later.. as for right now? We have more important things to discuss." Thinking that should suffice for now about the situation, he turns to look at Cass and opens up his files. "This strain of the Shanti virus, I'm getting closer and closer to seeing what exactly it's attacking and attaching itself to in the body."

"Yes, I'd be delighted to hear why you and yours kidnapped my fiance and best friend, wiped their memories, and have possibly kidnapped another friend's daughter." says Sam with an acid tone. Then, "The Shanti virus. Is that what you're calling it? It seems to have an association with the adrenal glands. I'm wondering if a cure or a vaccine can be found in the right balance of epeniphren."

While Cass would like to say she gets no pleasure out of Mohinder being yelled at by Samantha, that would just be untrue. It's a small sort of pleasure, but it's the small things in life that she treasures at the moment. However, that's not why they're here. Maybe if she just keeps herself focused on the business matter here everything else will devolve into a fight after they get what they need. "That's the part I was trying to find you guys for. I think I've found something that could help us combat it." Naturally. And not through Erin. Opening up her own - paper - files, she spreads them out for everyone to see. "Someone is producing antibodies. I was just going to try and get a test to see if they're enough to combat the illness or if we'll need something to augment them."

Mohinder knows precisely what Samantha is talking about. "I had nothing to do with that case." Which is the truth, not that he expects either woman to believe him. "That's it!" he exclaims as Sam continues speaking. He rushes over to his laptop and furiously starts pecking at the keys to pull up charts, diagrams and imaging stored on the hard drive. "It is targeting the adrenal system.. With further study.." His mind is already whirring off on another tangent when Cass's words bring him back to the present issue. "Antibodies? Yes.. between that and working on a balance of epeniphren as Dr. Applebaum suggests.. We might have our cure soon enough." Or at least something to buy more time.

"We might want to consider suitable candidates for a biopsy." Samantha says thoughtfully. "I'd like to see how the adrenal glands are currently behaving with the virus in system, and then see whether an artificial EP supply might trigger them to start activating more. We could also apply the antibodies in systematic ratio."

"I'll let you talk to those them about the biopsy." Cass smiles at Samantha. "But I certainly think that's a good idea. It would certainly help us figure out how it's working and what the antibodies are helping it - or not." As for almost having a cure, she also nods at Mohinder. "It's more of a breakthrough than we had before."

The more people talk, the more Mohinder's brain works. Which may or may not be a good thing. Quickly, he shuts his laptop and stuffs his things back into his bag. "I'll be in touch, provided your insane friends don't interfere again. I'll be at my lab running some tests." Barring anyone stopping him, he's rushing for the door.

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