Gabriel sat in the lawnchair with his ambulance’s back doors open behind him, its sound system blasting an [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM]ancient and venerable tune from almost a hundred years ago.[/url] The song had stood the test of time due to its simple and joyous message, and it encapsulated Gabriel’s mood better than simple words could. For once, he was relaxed, nursing a tall glass of ice water as the monks around him went about their daily routines. The clinic had opened a few hours ago, but after working fourteen hours the previous day, Gabriel and the monks had agreed without exchanging a single word that Gabriel would be allowed to take the morning off. Or at least, they hadn’t bothered him yet. Granted, it was only eleven o’clock. Gabe wasn’t used to California weather. Even after decades of climate change had all but eliminated the snows of his youth, Toronto was never [i]this[/i] hot. In truth, Gabe had no idea how a city in the middle of a desert could survive, let alone one this large. [i]Desalination or something...[/i] he thought to himself, taking another sip of water. [i]That, and stealing water from [b]my[/b] city...[/i] Gabe allowed his mind to wander as he tried to distract himself from the impending doom he had felt since the invasion of Toronto. Most of the thoughts involved women, as the monks he travelled with were largely unresponsive to his advances. [i]I can’t tell if they’re celibate, or just don’t like me.[/i] One of the managers of the Baolei Clinic approached Gabe’s corner of relaxation with a look of repressed annoyance on his face. Gabe had no desire to engage in their Dharmic teachings, but had accepted long ago that travelling with Dao’s campaign meant being preached to from time to time. The monk spoke: “The Buddha teaches us to refrain from our desires, to remain diligent in our pursuit of enlightenment.” Gabe turned to the monk, lowering his sunglasses ever so slightly. “I’m meditating.” He paused, picking up his glass of water. “And if I was giving into my desires, this would be booze.” He took a sip. The monk rolled his eyes. “If you weren’t such a brilliant doctor, the other monks might not appreciate your callousness. But our leader seems to have--” “I heard ‘brilliant doctor’!” Gabe exclaimed, cutting the monk off, “Thank you so much, Brother Gerard.” Gerard sighed. “Thank you for fixing that man’s lung yesterday. We all thought he was a goner. We were trying to console him as he stood at death’s doorstep until--” “Don’t worry about it, my guy,” Gabe responded, placing his drink down and stretching his arms over his head, “Wasn’t that hard, just needed to replace a few parts in his respirator implant, that’s all.” He pointed one finger at the monk: “When he recovers, tell him I’ll break his fucking legs if he starts smoking again.” Gerard paused, stunned once again by Gabe’s callousness, though not as much as the first time he made such a remark. “There’s going to be a protest tonight near APEX labs, and it could very easily turn violent. Rest for now, and be prepared to take the night shift.” Gabe nodded. “Let me know if you’re missing replacement parts. I’m sure I can find something in the van.” Gerard turned to leave, but stopped a few feet into his stride before turning back to Gabriel. “Why do you want to work here, Gabe? Why do you support Chen Dao if you don’t believe what we believe?” “I believe what you believe,” Gabriel replied, “I mean, the important parts anyways.” Gerard seemed confused. “I mean... okay look,” Gabe began, sitting up and draping his legs over the side of his lawn chair, “I wanna help people, I wanna heal them. You’re not out here trying to convert people, you’re giving them medical care. I believe in THAT.” Gerard nodded. “And yet, you do not see how augmentations can lead to enlightenment.” Gabe shook his head. “Augs are a type of medicine. That’s all I see them as, that’s all I ever will see them as. And yeah, I know I’m being a bit of a hypocrite, what with my own implants, but still.” There was a long, awkward pause. “Look, are we done discussing philosophy?” Gabe asked, “I actually do have stuff I need to do today. Got a little side-project I’ve been working on, and--” Gerard had already turned to leave. “Wow, okay, RUDE.” Gabriel finished his drink, then went back inside his ambulance, shutting the door behind him. The Medivan, as Gabe called it, straddled the line between RV and ambulance. Much of the floorspace was taken up by a hospital bed, and the passenger seats had been taken out and replaced with some cabinetry. Currently, the cabinet had a series of vials, beakers and other lab equipment laid out on them, alongside a microscope. On the slide of the microscope was a drug known as Void Dust, which Gabriel was doing his best to synthesize in a lab. A less scrupulous person might see this as an economic opportunity. Void Dust came from an asteroid-mining rig, and as such, was very difficult to come by on the surface. A steady supply of the rare drug could make you the richest dealer in the Twin Cities, but this was not Gabriel’s goal. Void Dust was highly-addictive, and Gabe was trying to synthesize a compound which addicts could use to wean themselves off of the stronger, rarer drug. He had made significant progress towards replicating the crystalline structure, but had not yet worked up the confidence to move onto human trials. There was a chance that the effects of his synthetic compound could be even stronger, and he didn’t want to take that chance. For now, the synthetic Void Dust would remain hypothetical, possibly useful in miniscule doses as a painkiller, but nothing beyond that. [i]Although... I guess I could test it myself. Just a small amount, maybe one tenth the dose I’d normally use as a painkiller.[/i] ... ... Four hours later, Gabriel finally awoke at the sound of Gerard knocking on his ambulance. “Gabriel? Your shift starts soon... is everything okay in there?” Gabriel was still shaky as he got up. Turns out, yes, the synthetic compound is much, MUCH stronger than the original. “Yeah... yeah I’ll be there in a sec. Fuck. Wow. Just... gimme a bit.”