crossing_lostrp | Day 17: Baby steps (Reply)

"So the foetus is healthy?"

"Nothing outstanding, but within normal parameters," Maureen corrected Dr Carlson meekly. Sucking up was a part of daily life here, but she couldn't afford to give the boss a false impression. "The subject appears to have more concern for the well-being of her child than I would have expected."

Carlson did not raise his head from the charts, but he did regard her over those rimless glasses he always wore, lips tight with displeasure.

"Subject D is just that, a subject. A patient if you must, but nothing more. What she may or may not feel," his tone was contempuous. "- is immaterial. Stick to the facts. Now, do you have any suggestions as to how we should proceed?"

Maureen blinked. "Proceed? Much the same I should imagine, although I would prefer it if Wilson could refrain from sedating Cl- uh, the subject quite so often. She's a healthy young woman and should be able to carry the child to term with out too much trouble, providing her body chemistry isn't meddled with."

Dr Carlson looked up this time, closing the folder and leaning back in his chair. The subject's name took second place to the label that would be occupied by her child's name, once he was born. Maureen gaped as the meaning hit her: Claire's physical and mental health really was immaterial, so long as it didn't endanger the foetus.

"Uh, would you mind if I got some coffee, sir? This air-conditioning.." she fumbled the words, smiling nervously as the ethical issues discussed in her interview took on a whole new meaning.

Carlson waved his assent, eyes almost amused by her reaction. "Make it two. The percolator is by the printer."

Maureen poured the coffee carefully, hands shaking as she sought to justify what she was being asked to do: keep Claire - no, the subject! - alive as an incubator. A temperamental one, given her capacity for emotion, but far more reliable than an artificial alternative. Subject D would have died on this island were it not for her rescue by DHARMA (perhaps not this week, but eventually, given the impossibility of external recovery), which made her life forfeit.. in a way.. certainly indebted to DHARMA. As for the child -

"Cream and two sugars, Maureen, if you don't mind," her superior called out from his desk.

She nodded automatically, still too stunned to feel indignant at being used as a waitress. The haze was clearing though, that moral ambiguity that DHARMA had assessed coming to the fore. She could do this. She could treat the child, even at the expense of his mother. She could play along with Dr Carlson's little games. Developmental research was her specialty after all, with pediatrics and obstetrics mere rotations she'd had to serve during training. He knew that she couldn't pass up the opportunity to study a child's growth in a fully controlled environment from birth, whatever his own ulterior motives might be.

"What if the other survivors try to rescue the subject, sir?" Maureen asked, walking back to the large mahogany desk without spilling a drop. She crossed her legs and settled back into the chair, blowing the coffee's surface lightly. It wouldn't do to burn her mouth, and the exercise chased away the last tremors of doubt. "Fisher mentioned something about trouble in one of the tunnels."

Carlson snorted, leaning forward to rest his arms on the desk. "Nothing to worry about in the slightest, they don't have a clue. And even if it does come to that, I'm sure that Wilson and yourself could manage a C-section?"

She nodded immediately. It was a procedure that she'd only assisted on once, over 10 years ago, but if the child was the primary objective this shouldn't be a problem. "Yes, of course."

"Excellent. Now, part of the reason why Wilson has sedated the subject quite so much is to encourage disorientation. Ethan will be having a few sessions with her in the near future to encourage happy thoughts, ambivalence towards the child and so forth," Carlson pursed his lips irritably. "She seems to have discarded the desire to have him adopted, so if he can encourage a return to that state of mind all the better. The other three are causing us enough trouble as it is, and in this case we have another party to consider."

Maureen frowned. "Yes, even I heard those gunshots. Very well. Is that all Dr Carlson?"

"It is. I expect regular reports, Maureen - every day by 4pm, more if necessary. Objective comments only, are we clear?"

"Yes sir." There was no question. Documentation was of prime importance. "Crystal."

They rose as one, Carlson handing her the folder with an encouraging smile. "It's research like this that allows us to make such breakthroughs, Maureen. Remember that and be proud of your place here."