San Angeles General Hospital

It's a hospital in need of a desc!

Repair/Recovery Chamber

Out <O> leads to San Angeles - Southern Downtown.

Bowie now remembers why he rarely watches the vids. One can only stomach so much daytime soap operas and talk shows. Though, after watching some of them, it makes his relationship with Kalinka seem almost normal. In fact, one of the soaps seems to have a continuing story about a human-reploid relationship...and he can't help but wonder if the female love interest was intentionally cast as a blonde.

His arm has been replaced, as has his missing optic. At present, he watches baseball from his bed. Thank heavens for the World Series. Else he'd be asking *again* how many more tests they need to run on him.

Kalinka enters the hospital room, a large tote bag slung over one shoulder. "Knock knock, it is me! Hey, what are you watching, baseball? I have something for you!"

Bowie's expression brightens as Kalinka enters. "Best sport thare is...'cept meybe fer hockey," he quickly amends. "Whut's that?"

Kalinka tries to keep a straight face as she heads over to Bowie's bedside, reaching into the tote. "I wanted you to be happy," she says...then, she pulls out a very familiar-looking kids meal from McDonalds. "So I picked you up a Happy Meal."

Kalinka says, "I hope you get a good toy."

Bowie just stares at the brightly colored box for a moment, then blinks. Never in his life has he ordered a Happy Meal. At least out of the part he remembers, but that's all that counts. Then, he grins, bordering laughter. "Thankee, sunshine," he says as he takes it from her. He sets the box in his lap and opens it.

Kalinka chuckles. "You are welcome. I will be honest, I still get Happy Meals sometimes, because they are fun to get. Maybe it is a babyish thing, but...see? It made you smile! There is something to it. Um...I think the toy this week is a little truck."

Bowie fishes around in the box for a moment, sets the box of fries next to his knees, and finds...a little dump truck. How cute. Of course, being a toy, it doesn't hover like the real thing, but by pressing the button on top of the cab, it makes engine noises and the horn honks. He chuckles.

Kalinka chuckles, too...she knows it's silly, but sometimes it's fun to break the tension with something fun and unexpected. "Awesome, you hit the jackpot!" She winks. "So, are you ready to check out and go home?"

There's nothing wrong with a little silliness. He tucks the truck into his front pocket. "And how. This is werse than the Labs medbay." The fries are returned to the box to join the burger, and the lid tucked closed. "'Fore we leave, though, Ah want t'check on the other guy we brought in. Jose, Ah thank his name is."

Kalinka nods. "Okay. I will go find the duty nurse so she can check you out, while you visit Jose...see you in a bit?"

Bowie nods and stands up. "All right. Meetcha by the front doors." For lack of anything better to do with it, he takes the Happy Meal along with him.

Kalinka grins, and waves as she bounds out to go find the duty nurse.

Jose is pretty easy to find, he's resting in the room next door. He lounges in bed, his newly-reconstructed and mended shoulder wrapped up securely.

Bowie raps on the door, then pokes his head inside. "Hola," he says in quiet but friendly tones. "<Jose, isn't it? May I come in?>"

Jose looks over, and his eyes widen in surprise. "<< ...Bowie? >>" He chuckles. "<< Wow, I can't believe it's you! Come on in... >>" He adjusts the bed so that he's sitting up.

"<Came to see how you were doing,>" Bowie says as he walks in, taking a seat in the chair by the bed. "<And to thank you for helping me. How's the shoulder?>"

"<< Sore, >>" Jose admits, "<< But it's getting better, they had to fill it in...and um...you're welcome. I'm sorry for shooting at you, but Danilo and I were really scared when you and your friends showed up. We had been holed up in that building for about six hours, and we were jumping at every little noise. >>"

"<Seems you had plenty to be frightened about,>" Bowie says with a nod. "< Sorry I didn't make it there sooner, but the friend of mine that heard Zayas' transmission doesn't speak Spanish. She didn't understand what he was saying, only recognized names.>" He pauses for a moment. "<I know you've already been through a lot, but could you tell me what happened at the factory?>"

Jose nods, looking pained as he remembers. "<< Okay, well the factory itself created garments...shirts, pants, jackets...a little bit of everything. Many people worked there. It was very...routine and boring work, but it was the best work to be found, and it was the livelihood for most of the lower-income residents of Lajitas. Everything there was...quite ordinary, until the shift on Saturday. That's when one of the reploid workers -- I think his name was Javier Stitch-Hound -- went crazy. He just...went berserk. He got up out of his seat, and just started killing people. Of course...the garment workers were defenseless...they never stood a chance. And what happened next, was...it was like a chain effect. Other reploids actually joined him. >>"

Bowie frowns at this, but nods. "<Did you know him at all? Was he upset or anything before he finally snapped?>"

Jose shakes his head slightly. "<< I didn't know him personally, though I'd seen him at the factory before...I heard from some of the other workers who got out of there that he was always quiet, always did his job and never had a bad thing to say about anyone. So it's kind of a mystery. And that mystery died with him. He got a posse of reploids together, and they were killing anyone in their path...we ended up having to gun him down just to survive, but then we didn't know where those other reploids who were with him went. That's why we were hiding. >>"

Bowie's frown deepens as he hears what Jose has to say. "<I'm sorry,>" he says. Another short silence. "< You and your friend did the right thing, holing up like that, and I understand now why you were shooting at us.>" There's still something a bit odd about all this, and it tugs at the back of his mind. "< I saw some graffitti scrawled on some of the buildings on the way into town. Death to the machines, it said. You and your friend do that, or was it there before?>"

"<< I wrote that, >>" Jose admits, blushing faintly. "<< I wanted to let them know that we weren't going to just lay down and accept the fate of getting killed. We could kill them right back. I was...in a different mindset at the time. Danilo and I rounded up the survivors, and got them out of town...but we weren't going to leave. We were...digging our boots in. Unfortunately, we couldn't stop them from killing Zayas, and then disabling the radio tower. >>"

Bowie again nods. "<Understandable....I'm going to have a talk with Montoya about this. He was one of Zayas' friends, and he's a Texas Ranger. He may stop by to ask you some more questions. You can trust him.>"

Jose nods. "<< Alright. >>" He sighs, glancing out the window briefly. "<< I don't know what's going to happen to Lajitas, now...the rich people will stay in their resorts, but...the factory workers, this is going to be devastating for them. The company is closing that factory pending investigation, and they can't say when or if the place is going to open again. I want to stay, but I might have to head back to Mexico to find some work... >>"

"<Mexico isn't exactly the friendliest place right now,>" Bowie points out glumly. "<I'd suggest at least trying to find work in Texas, or maybe California. Besides, they may open the factory again, once they finish the investigation.>" He tries to at least sound encouraging, even though the forecast is bleak.

"<< Yeah, I was thinking San Antonio, >> Jose admits. "<< I'll just have to see what's available. All that really matters to me is to be able to send money back to my parents. Thanks for your help, and...again, I'm sorry for how I treated you. There's a lot of misconceptions about reploids...people make a lot of assumptions. >>"

Bowie quirks a smile. "<I know. I don't look it, but I've been around a while as far as reploids go.>" He stands up. "<You're forgiven. Now, get some rest and heal up.>"

"<< I will, and you stay strong, my friend. >>" Jose grins, giving a thumbs-up. "<< Hope to see you again sometime. >>"