Potato Chip Zombie

[answerer_sword]

1. Outside the Hospital (backdated to January 31)

[Out of all the mutilated patients who have been dumped in the hospital from the factory, there is one woman that looks out of place, even among them. Physically, she appears unscathed, except for the blood trickling down her head and face. She is smiling blankly, as if she does not notice the injuries, nor even the rest of the world around her. However, she is clearly not a drone.]

[Every once in a while, she spouts a few lines of cryptic dialogue, seemingly speaking to herself. Her hands dart around and she paces before the hospital, as if pantomiming something. Sometiems, after finishing up her dialogues, she laughs a strange, echoing laugh.]

[Those that get close enough may recognize her as Bazett, but they would be wrong. In truth, there is nothing of the "real" Bazett left in this woman. Her brain had been replaced with a potato battery powered chip playing Leave it to Beaver reruns. The thing walking around is nothing more than a zombie, a husk.]

2. Action; all around town

[Bazett, or to be more accurate, her husk, is wandering around Mayfield. Without a brain, she cannot recognize her house. Instead, her body is pantomiming the actions of the episodes being played by the chip. Blood is still pouring down her head, the wounds left untreated.]

Pot roast, potato pancakes, and what's the big idea? 

[She might invade people's houses, or assault people trying to use them to play out the latest action being shown by the chip. If anyone tries to talk to her, she will answer with quotes from the show depending on the member of the Cleaver family that she believes she is at the moment.]

Comments

[answerer_sword]

[And then her body begins to sway. Without a brain, speech and movement had been both guided by the chip. But now, her body has no signal to move, or even to stand.]

[She collapses on the sidewalk, perfectly still.]

[justdumbluck]

[ Firo doesn't have time to try and catch her. He stares in surprise before dropping to kneel on the ground beside her. ]

Hey! Hey, what's wrong? What happened?

[ Glancing around frenetically, he looks for help. ]

[answerer_sword]

[She is still breathing and her heart is still beating, but she is otherwise immobile. Her eyes are open and seemingly staring off into the distance. Blood is pooling beneath her head due to her open surgery scars.]

[justdumbluck]

Oh damnit...

[ Firo gives up on looking for help, realizing that he'll have to take care of this himself. Unfortunately for Bazett, he has very little medical knowledge. At least he knows enough to try and put pressure on where the blood is coming from. ]

[answerer_sword]

[The pressure is enough to temporarily staunch the blood, but as long as the wound is not stitched up, the smallest impact will cause it to open again.]

[justdumbluck]

[ He contemplates trying to smack her awake, but he's at least thinking enough to realize that would only make things worse. ]

Now would be a good time for you to wake up...

[ He cautiously lessens the pressure to see if the bleeding will resume. ]

[answerer_sword]

[The bleeding stops, but she still does not move. The chip, having been constantly active since it was placed in her head, requires some time to cool down before it can activate again.]

[justdumbluck]

...Okay, here we go.

[ Firo starts rising to his feet, hooking his arms under hers to try and lift Bazett up. This is definitely not one of of his better ideas, but he feels he should get her off the sidewalk.]

[answerer_sword]

[Bazett is easy enough to lift, but the problem is to get her to remain standing. Every time he lets go, she will fall down again.]

[justdumbluck]

[ As Bazett still seems unconscious, Firo doesn't even try to make her stand on her own. He's still for a moment, wondering how on Earth he'll fix this. ]

Come on, come on, think! Maiza or Luck would know what to do if this happened...

[ Yet try as he might, Firo just can't come up with whatever brilliant idea they'd use to save the day. And so he continues heading towards where (he thinks) Bazett's house is, dragging her along with him. ]

[answerer_sword]

[The malfunctioning husk is half dragged, half-carried in the direction that Firo seeks to go. Of course, seeing how Bazett's house carries no special decorations, it would be relatively hard to find in the line of cookie-cutter houses.]

[justdumbluck]

Geez...

[ With some despair, Firo realizes that he indeed can not pick out her house without recalling the number. And as he was last there a while ago... That's not happening anytime soon. He growls and glares at the husk. It's not completely her fault, of course, but he needs something at which to direct his anger. ]

Hey, you plannin' on wakin' up anytime soon?

[answerer_sword]

[The chip, having cooled down enough, suddenly restarts itself, continuing where it had originally left off. In response, the body twitches and starts moving again.]

...It's all perfectly normal. It's just a part of growing up.

[She chuckles nervously.]

I guess I must have had...uh...a hundred fights with guys since I was his age.

[justdumbluck]

Wha-?

[ Firo's startled by the sudden restarting of the chip and lets go of Bazett, stumbling back. ]

[answerer_sword]

[The drone falls back and lands on its butt. Seemingly disregarding the pain, she gets up and gives him a disapproving look.]

Well, talk like that anyway...

[She laughs nervously again.]

[justdumbluck]

[ He blinks, and frowns apologetically. ]

Oh, uh... Sorry.

...I guess we gotta keep goin', huh?

[answerer_sword]

How's the other kid look?

[Now that the chip has started working again, she is back to spouting lines from the show playing in her head.]

[justdumbluck]

Hey, I know you're probably not listenin' to me, but could you just maybe point out your house? Or even just wander away once we get there. That's be helpful.

[ He reaches over to pull her long again, still not expecting any answer. It just makes him feel a little better to talk at the husk. ]

[answerer_sword]

[The husk, of course, cannot recognize its house. Instead, it heads to a random house and opens the door.]

Alright.

[She pauses a little.]

Alright? Well you, you must have gotten in a couple of good licks, didn't ya?

[justdumbluck]

[ And unfortunately, Firo can't recognize that it's the wrong house. ]

...Wow. To think we coulda' passed it by...

You sure you'll be okay?

[answerer_sword]

No sir.

[Possibly the worst line to spew out at this moment.]

[justdumbluck]

...You won't?

[ Well, she was just bleeding from the head. ]

Wait a minute, are you still talkin' to yourself?

[answerer_sword]

[She shakes her head.]

You mean you didn't fight back?

[justdumbluck]

...Right.

Look, uh, maybe you should just go in and get some rest, okay? Or should I do somethin' about your head first..?

[answerer_sword]

No, sir.

[She leans in toward him.]

Well, what did you do? You must have done something.