14th October, 9 am.
Oct. 14th, 2012 10:50 am*Peter works his way quietly through yet another brief, occasionally stopping to flick the fringe out of his eyes. His hair is far too long by now and it's beginning to annoy him.
The TV screen in the corner is on, but remains carefully blank. The Machine takes pains not to be visible when a guard might be peering through the door unless Peter specifically requests an answer. Last night had been their longest uninterrupted conversation since the programming of the doppelganger. Peter had guessed (correctly) that none of his guards would wish to miss The Thick of It, and so he'd had a whole half hour to talk with his creation.
Peter being Peter, this had mostly involved a set of detailed instructions on what The Machine should do if the 'cure' killed him, and a request to both monitor and if possible, strategically intervene in the care pathway of Peter's two victims. They were too far away for The Machine to do anything directly of course, but all patient records are computerised these days and overstressed doctors tend not to notice slight alterations to a patient's records or prescriptions when they've got another few dozen to manage as well.
The Machine tells him they're doing better and that LaGarde seems to be doing her best to make Osborne miserable. It helps. A little.*
The TV screen in the corner is on, but remains carefully blank. The Machine takes pains not to be visible when a guard might be peering through the door unless Peter specifically requests an answer. Last night had been their longest uninterrupted conversation since the programming of the doppelganger. Peter had guessed (correctly) that none of his guards would wish to miss The Thick of It, and so he'd had a whole half hour to talk with his creation.
Peter being Peter, this had mostly involved a set of detailed instructions on what The Machine should do if the 'cure' killed him, and a request to both monitor and if possible, strategically intervene in the care pathway of Peter's two victims. They were too far away for The Machine to do anything directly of course, but all patient records are computerised these days and overstressed doctors tend not to notice slight alterations to a patient's records or prescriptions when they've got another few dozen to manage as well.
The Machine tells him they're doing better and that LaGarde seems to be doing her best to make Osborne miserable. It helps. A little.*