Doc Grey and Sam helped Skippy suffering from an odd blood based virus.
Sam +3
Doc Grey +2
| Hero | XP | Rank | Credits | Lifestyle |
| Bishop Archibald | 25 | Seasoned | 26350 | Wealthy |
| Doc Grey | 24 | Seasoned | 8050 | Poor |
| Mr. Joseph Takagi | 15 | Novice | 1000 | Moderate |
| Job 316 Samael | 6 | Novice | 0 | Poor |
| Sam | 10 | Novice | 11200 | Poor |
While Sam was recovering from the last of her injuries from the gang fight in the Doc's apartment, Doc got a visit by a regular 'patient' - a hypochondriac squatter by the name of 'Skippy' who constantly came to see Doc Gray complaining of some ailment or another. Doc usually gave him some 'placebo' treatment and sent him on his way as quickly as possible since Skippy, while harmless, could be a bit irritating and tended to smell quite bad.
This time though, after a second look, it appeared Skippy had some kind of genuine malady, the symptoms of which (ruptured capillaries in the eyes, discolored blood in the veins, skin irritation and localized epidural rotting akin to leprosy) were unlike anything he'd treated before. The Doc left Skippy with the 'Nurse' (Sam) while he ran some tests on a blood sample and then told Skippy to go 'home' (under the bridge 3 blocks away) until the reports came back on the blood the next morning. Skippy said when he came back in the morning, that he wanted the 'nurse' to make him pancakes. The 'nurse' promptly indicated that would NOT be happening, but Skippy kept prattling on about pancakes, but eventually left.
Skippy never showed up the next morning and when Doc went to check on him his symptoms had gotten worse and Skippy was experiencing mood swings as well, becoming almost violent and much more aggressive and belligerent. The Doc managed to get him checked in a a local shelter where he'd done some volunteer work before and they owed him a favor.
The lab results indicated there was an 'unclassified' virus of unknown origins in Skippy's blood. After speaking with Skippy about it - the Doc found out that Skippy had signed up for a 'clinical trial' with a 'Ms Smith' and been injected with something a number of days earlier, but he had 'gotten away' somehow.
Sam and the Doc began to research this and with the help of a little remote favor on the side from Bishop, they discovered that 'Ms Smith' was a Ms Madeleine (Maddie) Smith, originally a farm-girl from Idaho, but after surviving a coma and a near-death experience during the Surge, had now transformed herself into a almost too-good-to-be-real blond bombshell who does PR for small to mid-sized corporations and executives.
Apparently Ms Smith has landed a job as the public face of Grath Labs - a small business that's only been around a year or so and supposedly is dedicated to studying unknown viruses that emerged as a result of the Surge. Ms Smith has been targeting areas of town known to have high concentrations of vagrants and squatters where she pitches an opportunity to make 1000 credits by participating in a simple clinical trial.
She has almost unreal and unnatural persuasions skills and uses them to convince people to blindly agree to this trial. She is accompanied at all times by two large muscular hybrids (rhino or elephant, perhaps?) and a smaller stoic man who stands silently in the background.
The Doc and Sam decide that the best way to find out more about the 'clinical trials' is to volunteer themselves, depending on Doc's psionic healing abilities to neutralize any virus they might be injected with. The Doc hires Sam ($200/day +$500 combat bonus and... as always - 'free medical') to help him.
After studying the pattern of the previous locations Ms Smith has showed up, they make an educated guess as to where she might 'recruit' from next and five days later, manage to get accepted for the trials - though only barely because of their hybridization (apparently they are mainly looking for 'normal humans'). Ms Smith seemed particularly interested in the nature of the Doc's hybridization and didn't seem to really believe that he was a 'Black Mamba' hybrid as he claimed.
Initially five squatters (including the Doc and Sam) signed up, but the Doc managed to make two of the squatters sick enough that they were not able to go the next day (effectively saving their lives) leaving Doc, Sam, and a third vagrant affectionately named 'Dick'. The next morning a shuttle picked the three of them up and took them to Grath Labs which was located in a very run-down part of town. The area around the lab was MUCH higher security than you'd expect a start-up lab only a year old to have or even be able to afford. There was a full Ravenlock security team, complete with a couple drones patrolling the perimeter of the building and there was fencing with razor wire all around it as well.
The three 'volunteers' were ushered into the building into a medical looking 'lobby' area and then assigned rooms where they would wait to receive an IV of unknown fluids. Ms Smith assured everyone it was only for hydration and to keep them comfortable during the procedure.
The Doc and Sam managed to convince Ms Smith and the orderlies (who looked like stoic arians) that they were a 'couple' and wanted to be together during the process. Ms Smith agreed and found it 'sweet' that they would do this together. The reason, though was so that the Doc could maintain touch on Sam as she received the IV fluids (to psionically heal her) since he suspected that was how they were delivering the virus. Doc healed himself also when the IV was administered to him.
This left both of them alert when they were expected to be unconscious. The two of them faked unconsciousness as they were carried potato-sack style on the shoulders of the two large hybrids to a second location in the building. This area was MUCH different than the front of the building and more closely resembled a low-tech medieval dungeon or insane asylum with many cells off a central hallway, each locked with a heavy metal door. Behind these doors could be heard many sounds ranging for people coherently crying out for help to more guttural, feral and sometimes maniacal growls and roars.
Just before the two were deposited in their own cells, they managed to overwhelm the guards by catching them by surprise. The dragged the bodies of the guards into the cells originally meant for Doc and Sam and then locked the doors with keys they recovered from the guards and ran to the far end of the hall. There they found a large functional freight elevator and took it up to the second floor. The second floor of the building looks like it was once used for record storage and administrative functions, but now was dark, dust, and abandoned as if it had not been touched since the company acquired it from the previous owners over a year ago.
Making their way to the opposite side of the floor, Doc and Sam found a stairwell near the non-functional elevator and went back down to the first floor. The door leading out onto the property from the stair well on the first floor did not look like it was used much and emptied out into an area of the facility not often patrolled by the security team. After dashing back into the main lobby and patient room to grab one of the IV fluid bags for testing, the two of them ran out the back stairwell door and managed to cross the lot and squeeze through a hole in the fence before being noticed.
