nasty detectives, vampires, what kind of B-movie is this? [closed]

[inclothing]

Who: Alex and Detective Sherman
When: December 12
Where: The show's producers keep using the same interrogation room set for these scenes.
What: Alex has been arrested, but Alex is also a hypnotic vampire so we'll see how this goes.



Since Alex's arrest, he has had some very excited people buzzing around him. "No pulse, no heartbeat -- his temperature's way below normal, this kid ought to be dead!" and other things to that effect. "We've never got one like this before," someone has said. "They really aren't human," said another. Alex's vitals were taken several times before he was ushered into the room used for interrogations. It's a simple room: camera on the wall, table in the middle of the floor, no obvious windows, one door. Alex is handcuffed -- handcuffed directly to the table, since he is different from humans and they want to take precautions.

The door opens, and Sherman comes in, wearing his usual crisp white shirt, jacket, and tie. He's got a grin on his face and a gleam in his eye as he approaches the table, sitting down.

"I hear you're quite the special case. No pulse, temperature's low, vital signs are nil -- but here you are, clearly alive."

Comments

[amberhearted]

While the station was up in a tizzy about his abnormal vitals, Alex thoughts were up in a tizzy about the ramifications of being caught by the enemy. His roommate was going to be next. He was going to lose his job. He was going to go vampire-style ape shit on someone's ass if he went too long without blood. He was going to 'disappear.'

And if Sherman didn't make it happen first, then his mother's disappointment would dig his grave.

All of these thoughts played out in his demeanor in an entirely drab way: Alex kept quiet and still, cooperating with nary a peep. His mind may have been dominated by worry, but he kept it locked within the confines of his skull. He was more or less going with the flow.

Though one of the reincarnates had shown Normals did not perceive the use of the network, with multiple eyes on him, Alex was not keen to test the results himself. So he remained isolated and thanked god he'd forgotten his cell phone at home.

(Should he be thanking god if he was a vampire??)

Whatever, he thanked god anyway. He also thanked the heavens that he hadn't Echoed back any aversions to metal because the handcuffs were uncomfortable enough as is.

His eyes flick to the camera on the wall, then to the door as it opens. He watches Sherman approach, listens to him speak. After a brief moment, he replies, "Yeah. I don't get it, either."

[inclothing]

"Just so we're clear, being declared dead will not get you out of questioning. You seem fully able to answer to me, so let's begin. Name and occupation?"

He knew Alex Varista's name, but Sherman preferred for the people he questioned to volunteer information about themselves.

[amberhearted]

He bites the inside of his lower lip. This might be the only time he'll get with Sherman. He has to make it count.

(He doesn't think of how nothing will count if he doesn't leave here alive.)

He lets out a soft breath, then meets Sherman eye-to-eye. "Alex," he says reluctantly, holding the look, willing Sherman to succumb to his hypnosis. The sign of success would be subtle -- nothing but inaction, waiting for instruction. "I'm an EMT."

[inclothing]

It takes a few moments to work: Sherman takes a breath, opens his mouth to ask another question -- then falters.

His mouth closes.

[amberhearted]

If his heart were still operational, it would skip a beat.

In a hushed voice, he says, "You won't remember anything you tell me." He swallows and hopes that works. (It ought.) "Tell me everything you know about the 'monster' underground. Then tell me..."

He falters, then licks his lips, nervous. Christobel's blasts in the mine and Marisa's laser come to mind.

"Tell me how to find the aliens."

Sherman would feel compelled to answer truthfully -- whatever he considers the truth, anyway.

[inclothing]

"The monster underground is a snake," Sherman says slowly, carefully. "It has been here for thousands of years. Maybe more. We don't know. It's made of pink stone, like the statues. David Proud makes the statues out of veins of rock like it, out of its old shed skins. I also know that as long as it's alive, no more aliens can come to Earth. The alien that is here came here to kill it." He takes a breath.

"There's only one alien," Sherman says, in the same deliberate tone, "for now. It's in the old farmhouse, outside of town. But you won't be able to get there by yourself, it's heavily guarded."

[amberhearted]

Statues made of a gigantic snake's molted skin. Bizarre, but somehow not -- because really, at this point, why not?

Alex acknowledges the significance of the statue's presence -- how the information Sherman has said lines up with information Kotetsu allegedly shared -- but the singular specificity regarding the aliens -- the alin -- grabs his attention.

Beginning to lean over the edge of the table in anticipation, he asks, still hushed, "Heavily guarded with what?"

[inclothing]

"There are some police," Sherman says, "all altered. But they're not what you need to look out for. That alien can -- I don't understand it," he admits. "But it can create things out of almost nothing. The alien says it isn't magic, it's technology. When you see it, it's like you're a Neanderthal, looking at an A-bomb. That farmhouse is guarded with shit I've never seen before. Real science fiction stuff. Incredible." He shakes his head.

[amberhearted]

Alex's brows pinch together. Create things out of 'almost' nothing? That sounds awfully convenient for the alien and terribly inconvenient for the Numbered.

"Do you know what those things can do? The things it's guarding itself with."

Maybe they wouldn't have to get close. Maybe... If Marisa could set off her laser from a distance...

[inclothing]

Sherman shakes his head. "I haven't seen them in action, not against a real threat. But I know they can take down planes."

[amberhearted]

He bites his lower lip again. So distance wasn't necessarily a safer option for offense.

"Why is the alien in the farmhouse? Why-- Why is it using you and Thunder to do the work for it?"

After all, if the alien could create anything out of almost nothing, then couldn't it create something to attack the snake directly...? But maybe it couldn't -- so there was some kind of limitation on that ability.

[inclothing]

"It needs us," Sherman says. "E.T. isn't invincible or stupid. It doesn't look human, and doesn't understand how humans work, and is here alone. It needs allies, people to pave the way for it without drawing attention. And when the others come, well -- they'll know who their friends are." A touch of satisfaction comes into Sherman's voice. It's clear he expects to be rewarded.

[amberhearted]

He frowns at that tone. "What does it loo--" he begins to ask, but is cut off by the door opening.

His blood freezes. His concentration snaps, and with it, his hold over Sherman.

"Hey!" he barks, hoping to grab the attention of whoever is opening the door. They snap their head towards him, giving him the eye contact he wants. "Delete the recording! Hurry!"

Tranced, they hurry off to do so. Alex hopes they succeed, furiously berating himself for not taking the camera into consideration earlier.

[inclothing]

Sherman blinks, then shakes his head. His eyes go wide as he realizes what he's just said, what has happened. Then, he stands up, looming over Alex. His hands, closed into fists, are braced on the table, and his eyes are narrow with fury. His voice is carefully controlled when he speaks.

"Mind control, is it? We suspected some of you were capable of that, but didn't have proof until now." Sherman takes in a deep, sharp breath through his nose. He doesn't remember the last few minutes, and that unsettles him. "You'll be difficult to keep in custody. No -- no, you're not worth leaving alive."

It might not be the smartest idea to tell a prisoner that he's about to be killed, but Sherman has been thrown off-balance, and the death threat is meant to establish dominance of the situation again.

"You're a dead man, Alex Varista."

[amberhearted]

Sherman's voice snaps Alex's attention back to him. Trepidation increases as Sherman continues speaking, half of Alex's attention on his words, the other on his body language. The words are intimidating, but it's the body language that tells him Sherman's not fucking around.

His hands are balled into fists and his muscles are tight with tense anticipation. He tries to catch Sherman's eyes again, but it's unlikely the detective will make that mistake twice.

[inclothing]

Nope, the last thing Sherman remembers is looking into Alex's eyes. He very carefully avoids them, looking at Alex's mouth instead.

"We'll do it properly, you know," he says, as three more policemen come into the room. "I've got a pretty good guess what you are. Knock him out," he says to the other officers. "Then, one of you get me a stake."

[amberhearted]

Alex is dread and panic. The information he obtained from Sherman was the only positive result from this shitty predicament and it was going to die with him.

He tries in vain to catch anyone's, anyone's eyes, but one of the officers knocks him out before he can make eye contact.

Bad end.