Template:Featured Articles/52-2021

Moment of Awesome - Laurie Collins/Wallflower: Driven to extremes in her quest to replace her lost arm, Laurie finds herself faced with just how desperate she is. She was dressed much like any tourist, sandals and a pair of cargo pants topped by a lightweight shirt that allowed her skin to breathe in the oppressive heat of approaching summer. It made her long for the mansion, with its Fall foliage and the shortening days leading up to Winter. She wanted to see the snow and listen to Kyle bitch about how his feet were always too cold. But she'd put herself on this path, and she was determined to see it through. She'd convinced Darcy to go back, to check in with X-force and cover for her for this part of her journey. She knew that her friend would stop her if things seemed too sketchy and she couldn't, she didn't want anyone to stop this. She needed a result, and she'd do just about anything to claim it. The 'clinic', for lack of a better term, was located between a thriving pachinko parlor and a massage joint all but openly advertising the availability of sex from the masseuses. She followed the directions she'd been emailed to a door and stepped through into a surprisingly clean and bright waiting area. There were several couches, a reception area, and several halls that led away into examination rooms, presumably. It looked like her dentist's office, which reassured her. There was no one at the desk though. Just a doorbell-like device installed facing towards the door. Laurie shrugged and headed to the bell, pushing it once before she stood back to wait. She wondered if they’d be long, but shrugged off her impatience almost immediately. Whether they were long or short, it didn’t matter. What mattered was getting what she came for. "I'm afraid Doctor Chung will not be available for your appointment. Which would have been fruitless regardless. His advanced gene therapy was largely opiate-based - make the subject feel like something is happening while he siphons off their bank accounts or occasionally harvests the isolated ones for their organs." Laurie was stunned for a moment, as Nathanial Essex stepped out from the hallway. "However, that doesn't mean a consult is not available." “Dr. Essex?” It was an indication of the level of her desperation that she didn’t immediately turn tail and leave. She'd been aware of just how desperate this last hope had been. She'd traveled here anyway, only it seemed to be disappointed once again. How many more of those could she take? Laurie sighed but didn’t do what most of the other people at the mansion would have considered a better choice, that of running the fuck away. “No Kwannon?” "She's available if needed." Essex walked over and settled himself on one of the couches, utterly relaxed. "Is she needed, Ms. Collins?" “The smartest answer I could give would be yes. We both know I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t left smart behind some time ago.” Laurie joined him, taking a chair across from the couch. It was surprisingly comfortable given the clinic setting. She supposed doing rich people out of their money required a certain degree of class. “I take it this isn’t a social visit to the good Dr. Chung for you?” "No, I'm actually here to see you. Your increasingly desperate search for a solution to your nerve damage crossed networks of mine, and I decided to replace Dr. Chung for a consultation. He's... no longer going to be practicing his form of... medicine, you might call it."