[center][b][h1][color=#44F03E]𝔽[/color][color=#42E93C]𝕦[/color][color=#40E33A]𝕥[/color][color=#3EDD39]𝕚[/color][color=#3DD737]𝕝[/color][color=#3BD136]𝕚[/color][color=#39CB34]𝕥[/color][color=#38C532]𝕪[/color][color=#36BF31]:[/color] [color=#32B32E]𝕋[/color][color=#31AD2C]𝕙[/color][color=#2FA62A]𝕖[/color] [color=#2C9A27]𝔾[/color][color=#2A9426]𝕣[/color][color=#288E24]𝕖[/color][color=#268823]𝕒[/color][color=#258221]t[/color] [color=#21761E]𝔾[/color][color=#20701C]𝕒[/color][color=#1E6A1B]𝕞[/color][color=#1C6419]𝕖[/color][/h1][/b][/center]
[color=008000][h3]ℂ𝕒𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖𝕦𝕤 𝕏𝕀𝕍[/h3]
[b]ℕ𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟘𝕥𝕙, 𝟚𝟘𝟞𝟜   𝟙𝟟:𝟘𝟛[/b]

[b][𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕤], 𝕀𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘....[/b][/color]

[i]Awakening in a persistent vegetative state, unable to communicate...[/i]

His world, a black void. He couldn't move; he couldn't talk; he couldn't blink. He could think, and slowly the world seemed to start existing around him. It started with a mindless drone of indiscernible chatter. Then, the voices of surgeons.

[i]"Dexter Campbell... Are you conscious? Can you hear us?"[/i] And those words were all it took. Campbell inherited the frenzied panic that the surgeons seemed to undertake in hushed voices in the foggiest moments of his thoughts. He remembered who he was, what he was doing, and even a little bit of what happened. [i]There was an... event at the debate. He was assailed...[/i] And that was it. Everything else was lost to haze. Strange bits of memory seemed fragmented throughout his recollection of the past. Some details lost were important, others so ordinary and mundane that they would never be recovered. Only one detail was really certain about the mayoral candidate's state.

[i]"No man sustains an injury like this and keeps all of himself..."[/i]

Caduceus XIV wasn't the largest hospital of South City, but backed by the Response Squad, there were few medical issues that couldn't be solved in the massive trauma center. The string of Caduceus hospitals seemed to be ever expanding as they multiplied out around America, but Caduceus XIV had a very particular hold in the west. Perhaps it was the rich clientele that kept the business afloat. Perhaps it was a different sort of business operating in the pristine labyrinth of white unseen that granted the complex so much capital. The public would certainly come with questions, but would never find answers. As much as the Caduceus hospitals of the Response Squad were bastions of public health, safety, and miracles, they were shadowy strongholds all the same. One could only wonder how a man like this found himself receiving such premium care.

Of course, the high price margin of the Caduceus hospitals didn't stop the unsavory from making their way inside one way or another. Eerily metallic and glowing mercenaries would camp in the cafeterias, whispering amongst themselves as they went about their business in the complex. Labcoats and security passes exchanged hands from one seemingly official doctor to one much more seedy-looking individual dressed in fatigues in transit through the halls. If one had a careful enough eye, they might even see strange shimmers appearing in the empty halls. There was always things going on beyond the surface of a Caduceus complex...[hr]
Dexter Campbell's breaths felt like bursts of lightning surging into his lungs. One moment, there was nothing, and the next, the sparks filling his body was all he could think about. He struggled in the tangle of medical cords and tubes that surrounded him until the doctors had finally restrained him. The rest of his awakening was no less hectic as he was forced back onto life support. It took a great while to calm him down. It took even longer for him to get used to the new sensory input around his skull and in his eye socket, but those things were the least of Campbell's worries.

[color=coral][b]"Did I—... Am I... Disqualified?"[/b][/color] That was the first detail Campbell could manage as his reality seemed to fade back into his head, usurping the slew of drugs that overtook his mind in favor of a painless and thoughtless haze. Campbell seemed to recognize the fallacies of returning to the realm of reality as he cringed from the flaring pain. Above all else, though, it was the estrangement in his vision that tripped him up. One eye blurred with the faculties of biotic life and the other still calibrating after its implantation. Campbell could only muse on the fate of man as he lay prone in the stark white bed. Slowly, they'd all find mechanical components interlaced in their flesh. This was just a step... In the right direction? He wasn't sure. 

[b]"The election results have been postponed as a scandal has arisen regarding a late arrival on a shipment of voting kiosks. The results should be in within the day, Mr. Campbell. Until then, it's best you not worry. Just rest."[/b] The doctor's reassuring words helped the pained man very little. He couldn't help but try to discern the details of the past few days. For more answers, he could only turn to the array of visitors that seemed to be awaiting his awakening. Without much forethought, Campbell offered little more on the matter than [color=coral][b]"Send them in..."[/b][/color] 

The doors were opened, and while some physicians remained on standby, the enigmatic surgeon said to have treated Campbell seemed quick to start off down the halls. She was as unassuming as they came, but the secrets held by a Caduceus doctor were anything but ordinary.