#had no idea how to do that underwater distort effect so yeah have this instead

[fishareglorious]

The emotional anguish from the space sapphics is sinking in. To feel better I do the one thing I am good at: making shitposts.

[winchester-with-wings]

Burnin’ Up

Barry Allen x Meta!Reader / Patron Benefit Fanfic!

Author’s Notes: As always, it's taking me forever to write these fics but I've made a commitment to my patrons with fic requests and I wanna keep at it! So thank you for your continued support! I wrote this is one sitting! Isn't that amazing? For me it is haha! This is for the wonderful Jasmine ( @our-marvel-universe​ )! This was inspired by the Human Torch in Fantastic Four.

Summary/Request:     "Are you out of your damn mind?"

Word Count: 1400ish

Wanna get previews, early access and make exclusive requests? Become a Patron! You can follow my Patreon for free too as some stuff becomes public after a while.

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Mobile Masterlist  /  Patreon & Commissions Masterlist

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Barry and Iris had been proven time and again that they were good team leaders. When a new recruit was brought to Team Flash, there were training wheels and you were crazy to think you would be an exception.

The limits of your power were unknown and you were itching to push yourself. Literal firepower had not been seen since Caitlin's husband Ronnie Raymond. The fireproof tech had been lock away and Cisco was still digging it all up.

How hot could you get? Temperature wise…because let's be real…Barry's speed was ironic because he used to be late all the time…and you? You never would've described your self as hot…or attractive or any other word for it. If anything, you were a hot mess. When you'd gotten your powers, you'd been exposed to a propane tank explosion. You were just grateful to survive. But burning through your clothes…that wasn't fun.

Luckily, Barry's speed required Cisco to work on friction and heat resistant material. You just wish it wasn't so tight and revealing. It was a second skin. Black and sleek like snake skin with red stitching and accents. A blank red emblem was on your chest until Cisco had finished designing it.

"It's meant to be tight," Cisco says that day while you're blushing. Barry averts his eyes; Ralph tries and fails not to stare. Caitlin is smiling and looking at your face instead, reassuring. "You can wear it under your clothes so that you don't singe your favorite shirt."

"I don't know if I can take that risk just yet. Guess I'll just stick to sweats and old t-shirts," you say, shirking on one of the spare STARS Labs shirts that Caitlin offered earlier.

"Girl, it looks good," Cisco grins, admiring his work. "Black and red looks good on you. Tomorrow we can test your limits in a hot box. Any ideas on a name?" You open your mouth. Cisco laughs. "Just kidding, I'm working on that too."

---

You step into a metal box with walls at least 6 inches thick with small holes for venting.

"Good thing I'm not claustrophobic," you snark.

"Take your time. Don't push yourself," Barry says over a speaker system. You're alone in this lab. You feel like a bug under a microscope…or maybe an ant under a magnifying glass, seconds away from bursting into flames. Yeah that sounds about right.

The fire licks at your finger tips. Your heart is starting to beat rapidly. It's like Caitlin had noted before. The fire inside reacts to your emotions and physiology. You take some deep breaths. You and Iris had been practicing meditation together and it had served you well. But this time, the fire pulses with each breath like pumping oxygen into a fire.

Every 3 seconds, the fire grows, crawling up your arms. It sparks from your fingers and from your chest until there is a thin layer of flames engulfing you.

You hear the final click as the metal box closes, securing you within.

"Slow and steady," Barry coaches you.

"Her vitals are steady," Caitlin says in the background.

As the fire around you builds, your hair goes loose and flowing. You open your eyes. It was always scary to expose your eyes but you'd discovered quickly it was safe for you to do so. You turn your head and your hair is moving and floating in waves as if you're underwater. You raise your hands to you face, observing the fire as the flames shift color and temperature.

"I can go hotter," you say, extending your fingers for a burst of energy. You could sense that the fire was hot but it didn't hurt you. It felt warm and safe, like you'd created a safe space around you where no one could get to you.

The entire box, essentially the size and shape of an elevator car, is filled with your fire. The flames extend past it, flowing through the ventilation. The air is thick and distorted by the heat. The metal looks like it's sweating. Was it melting?

The edges of your uniform start to fray.

"Cisco, I thought you said this suit could withstand the fire?" you speak up over the roar of your fire. The camera that used to be in the box is gone. Destroyed.

"It was supposed to. Y/N, you're burning up."

"I know!" you cheer yourself on.

"No! It's too hot!" Barry shouts.

"I can do more!" Reaching deep within yourself you fill the fire burst from your limbs. You're not wearing shoes and you start to feel the soles of your feet lift off the floor. There's a force from your hand propelling you upward but only slightly. Is something happening? Do you know what it is?

Before you can figure it out, you're sprayed with automated fire extinguishers. But it can't even reach your skin, the fire is protecting you.

"You need to stop," you hear Caitlin say over the speakers. You hold your breath. Hold everything in. The fire on your skin stops but the box is still aflame, red hot and melting.

Suddenly, you feel like you're in vortex and the air around you is thinning. Your hair is caught up in the wind as you realize that Barry is running around you, putting out the flames and effectively suffocating you!

You collapse into a bed of foam. The room goes dark as you lose consciousness but you hear Iris shout Barry's name, stopping him in his tracks.

--

You're in the clinic, attended to by Caitlin. Your baseline temperature is well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

"You were practically hotter than a bomb. The next hottest thing was going to be the sun. There could've been dangerous consequences," she explains to you. Your tears evaporate on your cheeks.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. We're okay and so are you. Your suit though…didn't fair as well."

"Oh, no," you say, fighting back a chuckle, looking at the pile of ash and fabric in the corner.

"Cisco has a name for you now though. Supernova." A smile tugs at the corner of your mouth. You like it.

"Caitlin, I think I can…" You try to sit up but Caitlin gently pushes you down. Her hands are cold and there's steam when she touches your skin.

"You need to rest."

"But Caiti--"

"She said you needed to rest," Barry says, stepping into the room as reinforcement. "Are you okay?" His arms are crossed over his chest and you wish you could sink into the mattress and hide from his disapproval.

"You nearly killed me," you say scornfully, turning your head away from him.

--

The next time you see Barry, you're standing on the roof of STAR Labs.

It's been a week and the fire within you is building like a volcano.

"I can do this."

"Y/N? Are you out of your damn mind?! What are you doing up here?"

You're in your new suit. It's not even finished, providing coverage for the modest body parts at least. It's kind of sexy. And with what you're about to do, you need that confidence.

"Barry…I think I can fly."

"What? No, you can't!"

"I can. You'll see. Sometimes you need to jump before you can run." Blue flames dance at your fingertips, dripping down your legs.

"Stop! You can't. Don't do this!"

"Trust me."

You jump.

"Nooo!!" Barry screams as you plummet off the roof. Your flames are small and imperceptible at first as the wind streams past you. You can hear the crackle of Barry's lightning as he starts running down the side of the building.

"Come on!" You urge yourself, tensing your muscles and urging the fire to burst out of you.

It finally does, just before it's too late.

It propels you up and forward, away from the building. You leave behind a trail of flames but you're able to fly a few laps around STAR Labs until you land on the south lawn, burning the grass beneath you. You don't land gracefully either. Your knees buckle and you fall over. You could create a fire angel in the grass if you wanted but you'll be too busy dealing with Barry.

"Y/N! What the hell!?" He kneels beside you and reaches out to touch you but his fingers sizzle on your skin. "Ouch. Dammit, Y/N, you're out of your mind."

"No. Not at all. But I can fly. And you're just jealous," you giggle, riding the thrill and adrenaline. Barry groans and gets to his feet, frowning.

"No. Not at all," he copies you. "But at least I'm wearing clothes." You look down and realize that your suit has burned away once more. You squeal, covering your body.

"Don't look!"

"If you won't listen to me, then I don't have to listen to you. I can take in the sights if I want."

Still the gentleman, he offers his hoodie.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. You're the one who's going to explain why Cisco has to make you another suit."

"Crap," you grumble. Hopefully, the fact that you can fly will smooth that over though…

—————————

Tagging: @abbessolute @autoblocked @book-loving--anime-chick @karazoiel​ @overlyobsethed​  @therealcap​  @whoopxd​  @bookworm4ever99​ @geeksareunique​ @pottxrwolff​ @barry-writes​ @ravenhaviland​ @clockblobber​ @softdudebro​ @melaninspice11​ @parkerschurros​ @woaahkelsey​ @montytheravenclaw​ @sanya-gryff​ @smutfornerds​ @fabinapercabeth4179​ @faithtrustandpixiedust95​ @thinkwritexpress-official​ @ladylizzieofdarbyshire​ @percyjackson886​

[random-storykeeper]

My OHC compilation video is here! This time, I showcase all 29 entries I’ve submitted for One Hour Compos in 2018. The cover art in the centre of the thumbnail is done by my friend catnippackets and I still can’t get over how amazing it is that she took the time to make it for me. :)

Last time I did one of these compilation videos, I made it so that the blurbs I wrote about the individual pieces was on its own, private post. I forgot you could do read mores on video posts, so this time I figured, why not just make this all public? That’s in the full post below:

OHC 482 "Connect the Dots" - When the first OHC of 2018 kicked off, I had a lot of trouble thinking of ideas on how to approach this theme. Eventually, I just settled for keeping things simple, using chiptune with a little bit of guitar to create a more pleasant little nighttime piece.

OHC 483 "Patternwork" - When I first saw the images, I wanted to be direct as possible in terms of my theme approach musically. I would use guitars as my choice of string instruments to convey the “threads” and have them repeat simple patterns with triplets going against eighth notes, taking away and adding layers as the piece went along. I exhausted almost every guitar I had in my soundfont collection and ended up having to use an electric guitar. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty well.

OHC 484 "Going Your Own Way" - I usually approach underwater themes in the same matter - sine waves with lots of release. This time, I wanted to do something a little different, but still chiptune. So I decided to focus more on having a direct melody and using square waves instead. I actually quite like the carefree melody I came up with here - sadly, I didn’t really know how to develop it any further so I ended up just repeating it a lot throughout the piece, haha.

OHC 485 "Rays and Rain" - This theme was difficult to work with. I wasn’t really sure what to interpret the pictures as. I ended up just thinking of “rain with some light coming through” and kind of went off with that in a more laidback fashion. It was this compo that I discovered that slowing down the tempo while using delay that is synchronized to the current tempo creates a cool kind of pulsating effect, which is heard at the end.

OHC 486 "Distant Hearts" - This piece was one of the few vocal entries that felt like it kind of fell into place as I went along. I actually am using an excerpt of the post compo version I did for Chips Compo, the full version which I’ll be posting to my channel some time later this year. 

OHC 487 "Drivin' 'Round the Galaxy" - Space in a car = chiptune blues? Sure...and don’t forget the high whistle with plenty of vibrato. :P

OHC 488 "Glass Curiosity" - I’m really not good at doing “rave” or dance pieces, so I decided to just focus on making something that would kind of try to capture the feeling of “losing yourself” via drinking. I mean, it’s a really basic interpretation, but towards the end, I play around a ton with the tempo as well as the filters. 

OHC 491 "From the Earth" - Whenever we get nature or plant themes, I feel like I’ve always tried to make them happy and joyous. This time, I wanted to go for a more tranquil, calmer approach. With acoustic guitar, flute, piano and violin, everything started to fall into place from there.

OHC 492 "Cybernetic Rush Hour" - At this point, I realized that my own sounds were severely limiting me, particularly in the electric department. Chiptune sounds weren’t quite cutting it for me, so I ended up booting up Harmless and taking a couple presets from there. I only barely know how to use it, unfortunately. Maybe someday, I’ll learn. The piece only started working for me when I hit those running notes at the end, but by then, time was already running out. 

OHC 493 "Routine" - One of the first things I think of when I see a bunch of machines is “conformity” and sticking closely to regular tasks. So I tried to keep the notes as even as possible and then put in some vocals. Ironically, the “just don’t come out of the blue” line really does sound like it came out of the blue lol

OHC 494 "Iris Chase" - I remember playing this one Ludum Dare game that had a red eye similar to these pictures. You would play as a person trying not to die while trapped in a room with several other people. I think the eye would kill people based on a vote and if not it would just kill people randomly. Anyways, I wanted to go with this sort of idea - a sinister eye constantly searching for the kill. I tried to play it really weird with slow pitch LFO, maybe some distortion, tritones, a gradually faster tempo. This was a lot of fun to make, and felt a bit different from what I normally was used to making, which in my opinion, was good. 

OHC 495 "Palace 9" - So I pretty much had my instrument set in mind once I saw the images - harps, violins, pizzicato strings, y’know, things that would be light and heavenly. Then I realized, I didn’t really have a good lead. Turns out, the oboe makes a great lead. Although now that I think of it, pitch bending it doesn’t sound that good haha.

OHC 496 "Paws on the Sidewalk" - Seeing fur made me automatically think of white fluffy dogs, so I decided I wanted to make a piece about taking a dog out for a walk on a pleasant sunny day. And yeah...started out with the first few notes you hear on the guitar, and just sort of went at it from there.

OHC 497 "But Only For a Moment" - I really wanted to do a ballroom dance piece for this one. Not only that, but the experience of sort of “having that first dance”, heart pumping in your chest, the pause of anticipation. Of course, it didn’t exactly turn out that way, but the idea was to set a “beautiful” scene cut short by time. How appropriate, given that this is OHC. Surprisingly, this did well in the compo. 

OHC 501 "IV Dream" - This was a weird OHC to come back to. I had never worked with a text theme before, so I was a bit taken aback here. There were so many interpretations I could go for. The one I felt the most comfortable with doing was an ocean/underwater track, but I wanted to go for something different but still water related. Then I remembered: just the week before, I was in the hospital (I burst my appendix, it infected my lower abdomen and I had to stay there for a week) and they put an IV in my hand for the antibiotics and hydration. As I was falling asleep there, I would recall the dripping sounds as the fluids made their way into my hand. I dunno, I guess that was kind of a weird approach to the theme: “I’m dreaming of flying through the sky but I’m actually just stuck here in the hospital”. Plus my voice got all messed up from the operation, so the vocals probably sound a lot worse than they normally do. :P

OHC 502 "Chipititis" - I missed making straight-up chiptune, so I made straight-up chiptune. That’s all, lol.

OHC 503 "Open Up" - I chose to go with the theme of “solitude” being a more positive theme, maybe focusing more on the calmness/meditative side of being alone and allowing yourself to be open and free in isolation. The pads in my soundfont set, as I discovered in this compo, actually work really nicely to set a fuller atmosphere. 

OHC 504 "Long Lost Reconnections" - In this compo, I tried to make a song based on a dream I had that felt real to me. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I could fully develop the lyrics and the theme didn’t come across as well as I had hoped. 

OHC 505 "Confrontation" - Falling. How on earth are you supposed to portray this musically? I decided I would have to go with the basics: fast, descending chords. Then I hit a bass groove and decided it really needed a sax melody, so I put in that sax. By then, I decided that this piece would be about constantly falling with no end in sight, and having to come to those terms that eventually, you’ve got to land on something...right?

OHC 506 "Being Bold" - When I made this piece, I put in a definite end, and regretted it soon after hearing it in the listening party. Personally, it sounds so much better when the notes at the end don’t resolve, like in the “where does the hope go from here?” sort of way. 

OHC 509 "Forgetful Traveller" - Another one of those “hard to convey” themes. The chords had to be just right, conveying someone moving forward, but also kind of thinking that “maybe I should have gone back because I forgot something”. Well, I tried my best.

OHC 510 "Conflicting Voices in My Head" - imo this is easily one of the roughest of the vocal entries I’ve ever done. In the original compo version, I had a lot of trouble getting the vocals to be loud enough for people to actually hear them. Third time’s the charm, I hope. 

OHC 511 "Porcelain and Plastic" - I wanted to do a spooky, unsettling piece for this one, so I tried to make a piece about “feeling strange because you’re being watched by a bunch of old dolls in a dimly lit room and also, you might be turning into one of them”. 

OHC 512 "Rest in Victory" - Before I started the compo, I wanted to make a piece that would keep building up until it got to a sort of “grand finale”. So for this one, I tried to keep it simple, with the same set of chords repeating and just adding different layers as I went along. I had this crazy idea of putting in electric guitars and wasn’t really sure how these were going to work, but I think there’s some ideas in there that I kind of like. 

OHC 513 "Lullaby For a Needlessly Productive AllNighter" - I submitted this with a weird title because it was almost too long to be submitted properly (there’s a weird glitch on OHC where if you submit a title that is too long, it just glitches your piece out entirely). As for the piece itself, I wanted to make a lullaby that was kind of related to my own problems of wanting to stay up to constantly get stuff done. 

OHC 530 "Giants" - I missed out of OHC for several months due to one of my classes last term directly conflicting with the time that OHC ran. So I was pretty excited to return. Live entries are always more nervewracking, but they’re a little easier to set up, in a sense - plus, you get more control over the tempo and stuff. That being said, since they are done in one take, there’s a lot that can go wrong. I almost got this one down until I messed up on the last few notes, oops. 

OHC 531 "So Just (Let Me Be)" - The theme page originally showed “sjsj” as the theme, so most people started basing their pieces off this. It wasn’t until a few minutes in that the official theme was actually posted. Rather than starting a new piece entirely, I decided to just combine the two themes together. I tried to make several lines of the lyrics start with “S” and “J” then I ran out of time. 

OHC 532 "Melting Point" - When I saw the hot springs, it immediately made me think of the hot springs I went to in Japan last summer. It was one of my favourite experiences there. But yeah, I tried to grab a combination of instruments that would sort of capture the contrast between the hot and cold. Vibraphone for a bell-like sound, pizzicato strings for the forest setting, marimba for a warmer sound. Marimba worked surprisingly well for this theme, and I wasn’t the only one in the compo who thought this. 

OHC 533 "Hibernal Regret" - Didn’t really want to do a vocal entry, but I couldn’t help myself - this piece needed words, so I put them in. I tried to keep them short and simple rather than spending a huge chunk of the hour just trying to come up with meaningful lyrics. This allowed me time to process them properly and polish things up a little more. Never really thought I’d be combining winter and space, but hey, it was an interesting combination.

[leatherlaceandblades]

Off the Table

"Shh...it's alright. Can you open your eyes?"

The voice sounded, at first, as if it were coming from underwater; slightly garbled, distorted, hard to make it out. By the end of the sentence, however, it was clearer. The mind was amazing at filling in where it was only guessing what had been asked. Moka shifted, feeling like something heavy was pressing down on top of her making it hard to breathe, hard to even turn her head. Her eyes were shut, yes and like the rest of her felt as if something was weighing them down. 

The only reason she tried to open them at all was the sound of the voice. A reflex action. Like she had to take it as a challenge whether or not it was within her capability to do. Gummy stickiness blurred the light, which was annoying...and then quickly she wished it had lasted longer, since there was an overhead light that clearly had no cover to soften it's glow. 

Ow....

"There. Well done.", the voice was still just as kind. Almost proud. Like Moka had actually done something worth being proud of. Moka was too groggy to be annoyed by that, but she so badly wanted the light to be turned away, or turned off. It was -so bright-....

There was a clatter of what sounded like metal pinging off of metal. Sliding across a surface. Something being shuffled through? 

I know that sound...I -know- it...

Her mind was throwing images at her, associating not just the sound as a whole with something, but what each sound individually was. It was disorienting; she barely had had time to figure out where she was, let alone had a bunch of information thrown in her face all at once.

"No, no. Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself."

Hands appeared...and that amazingly helped. At least the arms attached to the hands did some job of blotting out the light. There was someone leaning over her. Pulling Moka's own hands away from where she had tried to desperately start searching herself. This room was an operating room. She was on one of the high tables you only got put on when it was time for work to be done. Blood to be drawn. Tests. Enhancements... But what? Where?!

"I told you not to take the restraints off yet. They usually always wake up like that."

This was a different voice. Female, like the first. It was colder, older...someone who had been doing this longer. Resigned to fact in black and white. Moka didn't need any special intuition to know that one...it was what she was more accustomed to.

"Her fingertips were turning white."

There was a grunt from the defense of the first woman; obviously her more blunt companion didn't see a point in pursing the argument. She would learn. They always learned. As soon as they got one that took a swipe at them or turned on themselves. 

Nobody liked seeing the doctors. Everyone wanted out of the door, one way or the other.

The hold on Moka lessened, and the shadow fell away, leaving the Miqo'te squinting briefly in to the light again before mustering the energy to turn her head to the side. Her face felt hot...muggy. Something was covering her nose and mouth. One of those breathing aids, but she hated it. She thought to move again in defiance and try to take it off, but just...couldn't. Better awake, cranky and uncomfortable than unconscious and having no idea what was going on. 

"....shouldn't really talk just yet. We'll have to keep you here a few more days. Make sure everything is taking. Someone will be in to see you later, probably to take notes and make sure you're cared for."

Moka worked her tongue across the roof of her mouth, licking at the dry surface with an even dryer feeling muscle. Blegh. But no wonder it felt extra bad - if they had decided that was where they were going to put to task, then...Where she wasn't able to physically touch herself, she let her senses expand. More awake now, they were a bit more clear...Her nose picking up the alcohol and bleach smell of the clinic. Metal from the tools. Undertones of sickness either far away or stale from time ago. The bedsheets fabric smelled almost plasticy. As for her present company, she could see some of her now as she moved around and talked. Medium height, a little round, even under her lab coat. Garlean, most likely, with sharp blonde hair with streaks of paler almost white threaded through. Young...older than me. But not much. 

Must be new. 

Doesn't matter. A coat is a coat is a coat...

The lady turned to face her and smiled. White teeth. She was pretty enough, in a friendly sort of way. Which could be sometimes hard to find in a world of general indifference. And better that than the actual hate that was occasional encountered. There was a needle in her hand, but hells if Moka wasn't used to those too.

Life of a Subject. 

The visit of the needle went without incident, the sensation leaving a sort of burning up the subjects arm, but that was all. "I figure since you can't...Rather, since you're in recovery, the least I can do is keep you from being lonely. Everything went well, and I'm sure it won't be long before you're back with the others. If you stay lying still, we can go ahead and leave those bindings off too.", the way she said the word, Moka could tell she had a extreme general distaste of them. 

Weird.

"It seems I've been assigned to you so long as you're here, Subject 174.", another smile. Moka still wasn't sure how she felt about them. Or the fact that this woman really meant what she said about filling normal quiet recovery hours with chatter. "Vivian jen Gabris.", her hand touched Moka's hand, larger but with fingers that were surprisingly soft for someone supposedly not just a laboratory medic, but also a field one. She didn't like it - only her birth mother had ever really touched her like that, and she didn't want the memory of it tainted by some stranger. 

As if sensing her care's reaction, the jen withdrew her touch, but maintained her smile. "It'll be alright. I'm going to go do my rounds, but I'll return later, most likely after the highers have been in to check you themselves. Then we can..."

But Moka didn't get the chance to hear what the other female thought they were going to do. Whatever had been in the needle was taking effect, her lids settling shut and the world going back to black.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As it turned out, the jen hadn't been lying. The people that came in some time after she had departed were far less kind. The bindings around her wrists were replaced for the duration and bit painfully in to the exposed skin when she moved. Poked and prodded in all the places she really didn't -want- to be told her exactly where all the new workings had gone in to. Bandaged ears had been unwrapped, and of course plucked at, careless of the matted fur that stuck uncomfortable to rubber gloves, fanning out the new expanse of them and jotting notes. Regardless of station, she wanted to growl at them, but struggled to swallow it down lest she end up being noted as something too hostile and was put down instead.

Enter problem number two, anyway...

And that was her throat. The gauze there was allowed to stay at least, warding off where they had done far more intensive work rather than just straight up removal and replant; there was something new -in- there, and for whatever reason that was completely beyond her, the examiners and the ones explaining the new technology felt the need to try and -feel- it in there, each in turn, as if it would somehow make it easier to understand. 

The one she was about ninety percent sure was the lead in suggesting these modifications actually dug his finger in and made her gag and choke.

Stupid jerk.

Finally after what seemed like forever, they had gotten all the information they wanted for the time being and took their leave. On their way out the door, in came that Vivian woman again. Same smile. Same willingness to talk. And talk. And talk.

"...pleased with the results, they were saying. It shows promising signs that it could become a very valuable asset. If everything keeps going as planned, you'll be given the opportunity to advance. Be given letters. I'll be sending my report along with their's too. I've also been considering what sort of tests it is that would could employ with your particular...case. Others have been working with these types of abilities before, but your's is one of the first to go this far and succeed! Here!"

Paper rustled a heavy sound in Moka's ears. Her eyes crossed over the breathing apparatus, trying to make it out and why it was so close to her right then when all she wanted to do was wallow in pain and worry about her fate. "It's music!", well, that solved that. The Miqo'te relaxed her eyes, letting them recenter out to take in the Garlean's face that was just beside the pages in question. "I don't know if this was ever part of the education they had for you here, but now it will be. I'll teach you how to read the notes while we go over the exercises. It'll work out the voice box modifier we've install-...er, adapted for you. Your whole vocal range should have been expanded, and we need to see just by how much."

Singing? Singing. They wanted her to...sing. If she had the energy, she would've laughed. That and she was half certain it would make the pain worse. The jen didn't seem to notice. She was sitting down beside Moka, the sheet music shuffled to the bottom of a clipboard she was now wielding in the manner only Doctors could. "Not today, of course. But at least in the next two days. All of your vitals have stayed stable...good, good...You must be one of the lucky ones with the above average healing. That'll work to our advantage. The sooner we prove success, the sooner you get out of here."

Yeah...right back in to the line of fire. Small and delicate looking, she had every appearance of prey. She was strong, but they were bigger. She was fast, but many of them were faster. Her teeth were sharp, and her voice was loud...but that didn't always deterr her from being a target, nor did it guarantee the guards came in time or even wanted to get involved in breaking them apart...

"...was really excited to get assigned to this. I suppose they figured some of my...background could be useful. My parents worked in sound research, too. Well, my -father- specifically. My mother was in to another sort of it."

Moka squinted at Vivian. Why was she bothering to go on so? She didn't know how to respond to this sort of treatment; she'd rather have stayed blended in to the background where nobody, including all these techs and scientists, didn't really notice her. If she stayed just strong enough, she was allowed to live. She didn't care about this female's life or...business or...upgrades...

"Oh, I see. Yes, right...the surgery. You must be exhausted. You sleep, and I'll be quiet for now."

Moka had turned her face away and shut her eyes, laying her ears back against her sweaty, matted down hair, trying to block out the sounds her brain was still rushing to identify as each echo-ed out.