The woman swiftly tucked her clipboard under her arm when she heard the door open. It was Mr. Ferguson. She stooped, picking up the metal case and entered quickly so that he could close the door again. "Thank you, sir," she nodded, stepping to the side after she entered. It was a rather small space. And there were so many people inside. And all these people were infected? It made Elinor just a bit uneasy... She set the case down behind her again and reached into her coat pocket.

"I would have arrived sooner, sir," she explained, "but between this, and DeTalone, I can only be in so many places at once." She looked at him, knowing that he knew the feeling, as she pulled a pair of latex gloves over her thin hands, making sure they were a snug fit. Then she looked about at each of the people in the cell. Two of them had already... well... She didn't want to think the word turned. She was a scientist. Two of the people were already manifesting symptoms.

"Sir, do you know if any of these people have had DNA samples taken?" She realized it was not Wes' place to keep track of such things, but she, herself, couldn't keep track of everyone running around with this job and that. And since he was the only one in the room she trusted at the moment to be able to answer the question, he was the man to ask.

Kyle was upset that there wasn't any wood in the room. So the upset girl pouted, dropped her bouncy ball, and immediately began to scour the room for things. As she walked she realized there was something in the pocket of her jeans.

Something that had the feel of wood. Sticking her hand in she just smiled, made an awkward cooing sound and retrieved the wand that she'd forgotten was in the pocket. Immediately she began to chew on the end of it.

The wood began to splinter off into her mouth like a pencil. It was amazing. The zing, the zip, the zapping flavors of the magic coursing from the tip of her wand into the mouth. Yes, everything was great. She began to drool as the wood splintered in her mouth. She swallowed the pieces and just smiled to herself. It was so good, sooo, wooden.

Isobel was still pretty much ignoring Wes. She really did not want to be in here at all. She didn't get it. She was fine, although she was feeling a little sleepy, and craving some wood. Her eyes darted up as she saw a few people be dragged in, wood in hand. She wanted some of that. "Wood..." She murmured, for once wishing she had her wand on her. She'd be eating it right now if she could. Then someone came up to her. She frowned, hoping that the girl, woman person would give her some wood. Unfortunately not. She sighed, folding her arms. This was not fun.

Her memories. "What do you want them for?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't letting her memories be put into a little bottle for the rest of the ministry to gawp at. She was a department head for goodness sake. She glanced at her husband finally, a raised eyebrow, before turning her attention back to the woman. "You work for Thea correct?" She was sure this was Thea -level related business. Considering the woman was her best friend, she really didn't want to trouble her employee.

"Be quick...I don't have all day." although she didn't really have far to go.

Kyle watched as Izzy sat there and groaned about wood. Looking down she remembered the wood she had managed to accidentally conjure earlier. Taking the wooden burger in her hand she gave it a little roll.

The rattling-sound that emanated from the wood would most likely draw her attention. Heck the wood was rolling rolling rolling and if she found it her troubles would go away. Right. She'd have wood.

"Wood" she called over to Iz and excited smile on her face as she pointed to the rolling children's toy.

Frowning at Ferguson, Jade bit her lip thinking about what she should say and do. She was in already difficult position dealing with Isobel Ferguson who was the wife of a department head and a department head herself not to mention that she was a friend of Althea who was Jade's boss. Now she had to do her memory collection in an open area with people watching the memories. It wasn't ideal but with the suggested Muffilio and an added "Do not look" charm-- it should be alright.

She turned to Ferguson and nodded, “Alright but if you could please add a “Do Not Look” charm to it. When looking for particular memories they tend to appear in a way that they can be viewed by everyone.”

Jade then turned to Isobel, "Ma'am, I do work for Althea. As for needing the memories—they are crucial to the investigation of this illness in terms of finding out how you got infected and how to cure it. If you are concerned about people viewing your memories, I can put your memories under a special clearance meaning that only I, Althea, The Minister, and the other department heads can view your actual memories. The others will receive a written up description about them from me personally. I can use that clearance if it makes you more comfortable."

Levitating two chairs towards them, she gestured for Isobel to sit on the one while she took the other.

"Please look at me and try and clear your mind of all thoughts and worries." As Isobel did that, Jade conjured up empty memory vials and pointed her wand towards Isobel uttering a couple of phrases.

Out of Isobel's head came a white wisp of dense smoke which headed towards Jade. As it reached Jade, the thick smoke morphed into the images of two little boys and Mr. Ferguson.

Seeing those images, Jade leaned forward and gently touched and squeezed Isobel’s hand. “I know this is difficult but try and free your mind a little more.”

This time, there was only a white dense smoke flowing around Isobel and Jade. “That is good. Now I want you to think back to when you first started to feel sick—was it after you ate your lunch in the cafeteria?”

The smoke started to morph and change.

"Yes... I know," Wes sighed at Elinor's explanation. Made perfect sense but that didn't mean he liked being this busy any less.

He looked around the room as Elinor started moving in and began mentally counting the number of infected. "They should have all had samples taken," he mused, "considering we using Aron's list to round them up." So unless they grabbed a newly infected person...or unless there was one in here that shouldn't be...

"How are the, er, tests coming along?" I.e. any real results yet???

Wes had no idea what the hell a 'Do Not Look' charm was --- probably something only Level 3 was privy to --- but he did cast 'Muffliato' and a shield charm for Jade.

"I'm going to step out for a moment and turn the mirror on," he muttered in the woman's direction, being careful to avoid the girl muttering about wood as he swiftly walked out. He flipped a few switches outside the room and then returned in a flash.

Perhaps Wesley was just... a little curious to see what his wife's memories would reveal. Hopefully they wouldn't reveal too much. He kept his arms folded and his wand at the ready as he stood guard just inside the door.

Should, Elinor repeated in her head. Samples should have been taken. But who knows what Mister Aaron Ashbury Hawthorne Doughnut Eater Touch Everything had done thus far. One way or the other, new samples would need to be taken. Elinor nodded at her boss' reply.

"Well, that's good. But since it seems to be a viral infection, I need a second set of samples. Specifically, cheek swabs." The woman eyed the most... developed subjects, knowing that getting samples from them would probably be impossible without some kind of restraint.

His next question was one she had been hearing all day. And, even though he was her boss, and the only person entitled to every scrap of information, she had nothing much more to tell him than she had anyone else. "Well... I haven't been able to spend a good long while in the lab yet, but once I leave here, that's where I'll be," she informed him, should he need to know that. "We... I...," she dropped her voice a little.

"I've never seen anything like this. I would feel better if we had a medical consultant... But, from what I've gathered so far, it's a viral infection. Spreads through direct contact, most likely. Nothing like a sneeze, or touching a doorknob. It spreads through saliva and blood, cuts and kissing, like most sickness spreads. At the same time, I can't imagine washing our hands could do much good," she looked down at her clipboard to line up her thoughts. "I have no idea why the subjects crave wood. I have no clue how something like this could have time to... Germs don't just appear. But I can't imagine how a spell could have much part in this. Spells can't... Magic isn't transferrable like germs."

She was doing her best to put her theories into words for her boss. As of yet, she hadn't voiced these thoughts to anyone. There was still no proof of anything. It was all theory. She could only do her best, and she was trying as hard as one woman could. She was only one woman. Elinor hated having to begin all those sentences with admitting that she knew nothing. It made her uncomfortable.

"The good news is, if I can find how the infection alters the subject, I can most probably reverse it," she nodded, looking back up to him. With Mr. Ferguson's wife in the room, she did not like to have to say 'most probably'. At the same time, as Nigel would be thinking, she did not want to make promises she might not be able to keep.

With that thought, she traded out the clip board for the metal case at her feet. "So, if it's alright with you, sir, I'd like to collect my samples as fast as possible."

The woman set the case on one of the chairs and flipped the top open, revealing rows of clear plastic cylinders, each with one, sterile swab inside. With a gloved hand, she pulled out the first canister and stepped over to him.

"If you don't mind, sir, I'd like you to surrender a sample as well." The lab technician was wary about her request, but hoped that her tone of voice was even and calm enough to convince him that her reasons were... well, reasonable.

Isobel was pretty used to having her memories taken. She'd had it done a couple of times when she was an auror, so she wasn't really new too the process. Although it was going to be weird, everyone being in here. The sooner they got done with though, maybe the sooner the illness would be gone and she could be out of here. Because she was not a very happy lady right now, and it was only going to get worse if she had to stay in here any longer. This was not where she needed to be. Not when she had babies to look after.

"Yes. I would prefer that." Because she didn't want some random level 3 people seeing her memories. Sure she trusted Althea. She probably trusted that woman with her life, but there were some things that she did prefer being kept private, and her memories were one of them. As the woman conjured up two chairs, Isobel sat down. She hoped that this wouldn't take too long. She still had that nice craving for wood.

She tried to clear her head, like instructed, but Isobel sighed when her first memories morphed into Wesley, and her little boys. Oh her boys. Her eyes drifted over to Wes. She stared at him for a few moments, before looking back over to Jade. "Okay..." She tried to put the thoughts of her boys out of her head. She needed to get better for them, and that included helping the people as much as possible.

Her next memories were probably a little more helpful. Morphing into the image of Wesley again, but this time he was with her, and they were ordering food from the ministry cafeteria.

Jade nodded her understanding in Wes' direction. She didn't like to talk to other people when she was collecting memories-- it interrupted the process by distracting both her and the person whose memories she was looking at.



The cafeteria where all the reports were coming from about the infected-- that seemed to be the center of everything didn't it? Focusing her attention back to Isobel's memory about the cafeteria, Jade spoke in a calm almost hypnotic-like voice, "Think back to your memory and look around the cafeteria, do you see something that seems to be weird or someone acting strange?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlassXRose

Should, Elinor repeated in her head. Samples should have been taken. But who knows what Mister Aaron Ashbury Hawthorne Doughnut Eater Touch Everything had done thus far. One way or the other, new samples would need to be taken. Elinor nodded at her boss' reply.

"Well, that's good. But since it seems to be a viral infection, I need a second set of samples. Specifically, cheek swabs." The woman eyed the most... developed subjects, knowing that getting samples from them would probably be impossible without some kind of restraint.

His next question was one she had been hearing all day. And, even though he was her boss, and the only person entitled to every scrap of information, she had nothing much more to tell him than she had anyone else. "Well... I haven't been able to spend a good long while in the lab yet, but once I leave here, that's where I'll be," she informed him, should he need to know that. "We... I...," she dropped her voice a little.

"I've never seen anything like this. I would feel better if we had a medical consultant... But, from what I've gathered so far, it's a viral infection. Spreads through direct contact, most likely. Nothing like a sneeze, or touching a doorknob. It spreads through saliva and blood, cuts and kissing, like most sickness spreads. At the same time, I can't imagine washing our hands could do much good," she looked down at her clipboard to line up her thoughts. "I have no idea why the subjects crave wood. I have no clue how something like this could have time to... Germs don't just appear. But I can't imagine how a spell could have much part in this. Spells can't... Magic isn't transferrable like germs."

She was doing her best to put her theories into words for her boss. As of yet, she hadn't voiced these thoughts to anyone. There was still no proof of anything. It was all theory. She could only do her best, and she was trying as hard as one woman could. She was only one woman. Elinor hated having to begin all those sentences with admitting that she knew nothing. It made her uncomfortable.

"The good news is, if I can find how the infection alters the subject, I can most probably reverse it," she nodded, looking back up to him. With Mr. Ferguson's wife in the room, she did not like to have to say 'most probably'. At the same time, as Nigel would be thinking, she did not want to make promises she might not be able to keep.

With that thought, she traded out the clip board for the metal case at her feet. "So, if it's alright with you, sir, I'd like to collect my samples as fast as possible."

The woman set the case on one of the chairs and flipped the top open, revealing rows of clear plastic cylinders, each with one, sterile swab inside. With a gloved hand, she pulled out the first canister and stepped over to him.

"If you don't mind, sir, I'd like you to surrender a sample as well." The lab technician was wary about her request, but hoped that her tone of voice was even and calm enough to convince him that her reasons were... well, reasonable.

"You think it's viral?!" Wes' eyebrows couldn't help but go up as Elinor divulged this latest bit of information. "And it's spreading, like right now?" WHY WEREN'T THEY WEARING FACE MASKS THEN??? THE MINISTRY NEEDED TO BE ON LOCK DOWN!!!!

He needed to pace, lest he wind up punching something again. "I hope you're wrong there, Elinor, I sincerely hope you are," Wes growled at her as he started walking, not angry at her, persay, since she was at least telling him what she knew, but angry that this stupid infection had come into his Ministry and his department and most importantly... his wife.

Wes stopped pacing for a moment to make eye contact with his employee. "Go right ahead. Take any and all samples you need. I'll help subdue the... subjects... if you think you need help." He was also wiling to offer his own sample. "Tell me to say, 'Ah,' when you need it, Elinor."

Anything to help.

Look around the cafeteria? Could she even remember that far back? She frowned, as she tried to remember, getting a little muddled in her head. A new memory came out, though it probably wouldn't be much help, it was just of her and Wes, piling foods onto their plates. Oh wow. Wes did eat a lot. She shook her head, trying to think of anything else. There wasn't much really. She'd only been down there once, and hadn't noticed much. But then she had been a little distracted by her husband. Wes tended to be a little bit distracting. She tried to focus a little more on the food, trying to remember what she'd eaten.

Looking at the memory, Jade wasn't really satisfied with Isobel's memory. There had to be more to it--maybe it was in the food? how it was made? If she could get her to just concentrate on the food other than her husband.

"Mrs. Ferguson, you're doing great. Can you think back to what it was you ate? Think about being in line and getting the food--was it a special? Was someone particular dishing it out on your plate?"

It had to be something about the food or drink. No question about that.

As it just so happened, Roxanne happened to be the one that entered the room first. "Let's sit him in one of these chairs before we end the spell," she suggested, nodding towards the nice, comfy chairs scattered around the room. She figured that would be best, since they didn't know how would react to having been petrified.

As Isobel was trying to focus her memories, something that was becoming a little increasingly difficult because she really wasn't that interested anymore, and her craving for a little bit of wood was kind of increased she heard the door open. Mmm. Her attention totally left Jade and looked over at the door. It was open. They were bringing someone else in. The door was open. The door was open. Escape. Something clicked in Isobel's brain. Escape. She could get out. Something she'd been trying to think about doing since she'd been put in her. She had an important job, not that she could really remember what her job was. That was odd. But whatever it was. It was important and she could not stay in here any longer.

Not really giving Jade another glance the blonde stood up, and just kind of stared at the door. She could do it. She could get out of it. Hmm. Running probably wasn't the wisest of ideas. They'd get her then, but she could easily just sneak past them. They were a little preoccupied with that other dude. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, for a little drool had come out, she smirked and made her way towards the door. Goodbyee.

Jade was stunned. One moment she was in the middle of extracting a memory from Isobel Ferguson and the next Isobel was running towards the door. Jade took off after her. At least Isobel had the mind to do it slowly because the MLE people were too preoccupied to see what was going on.

She knew that she had to take matters in her own hands so she pulled out her wand and pointed it at Isobel's back.

Jade called out "Petrificus Totalus!" and watched Isobel fall forward completely stiff under the spell.

Wincing, Jade quickly went up to her and rolled her over on to her back. Jade really hoped that Isobel hadn't been hurt too badly from the fall. How was she going to explain this one to Wes and to Althea?

No matter she would deal with it. But first "Will you PLEASE keep the door closed!" She yelled at the nearest MLE person. Sadly, it wasn't if the infected were themselves and could be trusted to stay here. "And can anyone help me here?"

Carefully carrying the still unconscious Burton man, Josh walked into the Quarantine room with Roxanne. The man did not feel as heavy as he thought he would be. The young man did his best and tried to be careful and gentle carrying the poor man, though. Gah. He still got annoyed a bit as he recalled how mercilessly he was magicked and stuff. No one was in a duel for Merlin's sake!

He silently nodded at Roxanne's words as an agreement, and slowly carried the man to one of the comfy chairs. Just when he was gently lowering in the man in the chair, he saw movement from the corner of his eyes and looked up. A woman was trying to...escape...right? That was what she was doing. That was...until she got petrified again by...a woman Josh did not know.

What was wrong with the majority of women in this Ministry!!?

''What the...!!!'' Josh exclaimed glaring at the woman who just petrified his boss' wife. He stopped himself before he could say anything rude though. He was angry though...really angry now. Why did all these people treat the infected ones like that? ''You want the door closed?!!'' the Auror trainee grumbled. ''Here it is.'' he slammed the door closed with a first then turned his glare back to the woman who was not from his department. ''How dare you do that!!?? Damn...'' He kneeled down and took the poor magicked woman in one arm while using his other hand to unholster his wand. ''What is wrong with you people? Infected or not...these people are people. You cannot treat them that way.''

Standing over Isobel who didn't have the most happy expression in her frozen state, Jade looked up to see one of the junior aurors shouting and approaching her and Isobel. She turned towards him as he leaned down to pick up Isobel. "Well, excuse me for trying to stop her from running out of the quarantine area while you were all busy and leaving the door open. Plus I was working with her to retrieve her memories so you're saying that I should have just let her walk off?!"

Her one eyebrow lifted as she folded her arms and waited for an answer from the young Auror.

Roxanne was just watching this all go down after placing Dimtri in the chair. Until the door closed, that was. "You DO realize you've just locked us all in here, right?" she commented calmly, trying to keep her irritation down. Because two fights in one day? No, thank you. But just to prove her point, she walked over to the door and pulled. Not even a budge. Great. She was trapped in a room with zombies. Not her idea of a good time. But wait a moment.......

She still had her wand and these doors were charmed. "You guys, keep an eye on these...wood eaters. I'm going to try a few charms........" If only she could remember which charms unlocked the door. Honestly, she had been so confused and lost lately. She pulled her wand out of her sleeve and let her alley cat patronus loose first, just in case. Then set to work trying to get the door unlocked.

When Roxanne and Josh entered the room the first thing Kyleigh thought of was escaping that room and finding wooden things to chew on. The second was remorse for the door had been slammed shut. And the last was hope - she really wanted to know if those two had their wands on them.

She knew memory girl did. But really, she wanted to eat wood or a sparkly clean wand...even if someone had had it for years and it hadn't been cleaned ever.

She made a little face at that.

When Roxanne pulled out her wand her eyes grew in size. There it was. Wood. She wanted it. She needed it. Brushing her sleeve over her mouth to brush off the drool from seeing the wood. The woman's wood looked tasty.

She just stood up, and very slowly made her way closer to the door. Still not close enough to grab at them she just stood there and blinked at Josh. Oh of course they got trapped. It was perfect. Trapped with her and Iz and everyone and they could work together if Iz wasn't petrified. They would work together and eat their wood. Double teaming silly wizards was fun.

She just blinked at them, standing there watching them before taking another slow step forward.

While the woman was snapping at him, just like it had been all day starting from the meeting in the conference hall today, Josh rested Isobel's body on his lap while still gently supporting her with one arm. Then he looked up at the woman when she was done speaking. He was not glaring anymore, but his dark brown eyes did not give a friendly look either.

''You could stop her some other way. Could find a kind way of doing so. We did not simply leave the door open. We had to open the door to take that...'' he indicated at Burton with his head ''...man in. Right? That cannot be an excuse for using magic from her back without a warning.'' He checked the woman carefully hoping she was not hurt. ''How were you trying to retrieve her memories anyway? By banging her head to the wall!''

Good Merlin...

The young man let out a deep sigh and rubbed his eyes with his wand her before looking back at the woman. ''Look. I am sorry. Okay? I am just annoyed...with the way these infected people are treated generally, okay?'' Then his gaze shifted to Roxanne Carter.

Locked in here?

''Well...i don't care if we are locked here.'' With a light shrug, he focused his attention back on his boss' wife and with a flick of his wand, he undid the spell on her. ''Mrs. Ferguson?''

Throw her into the wall?!?! Who did this HOTSHOT Auror think he was?
And what an half-baked apology that was. But she couldn't get totally mad at him since they were in a highly stressful situation.

She glared at him, "Listen to me young man, I acted as I saw fit. You are not the boss of me and therefore I don't have to be hold accountable to you. I am sorry if I overstep my authority but not about the rest of it. You know NOTHING about my work!"

Jade stopped talking to the young Auror and turned to Roxanne as she heard her proclaim that they were locked in. "What do you mean that we're locked in? What a stupid mechanism." she said shaking her head.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that one of infected was up to no good. Well that was something right up Mister Hotshot Auror's alley wasn't it?

She turned to Josh and hem hem'ed for his attention. Once she had gotten it she pointed at the infected female, "Are you going to do something about her?"

Kyleigh just stood there and glared her eyes a bit at the woman who was currently pointing at her. She really could go for some wood right now. "Wood?" She asked politely. Yes she was asking for it.

She was trying hard to rack her tired brain to remember if she knew the guy who was currently waving his wand around like a dinner bell. A little bit drooly there as the idea of wands came into her brain. Yes, wands were awesome.

Bending down not toward Izzy and the others she picked up the ball of wood she had accidentally conjured earlier. "Wood" she said handing the ball over towards Mrs. Ferguson and the guy who looked so blatantly familiar. Maybe giving Izzy wood would help?

She didn't know.

But she still fancied his wand. Wands were better than wooden blocks, balls, or trains. They were the best. They were magical and had that zingy tang of magic zapping your tongue. Like Lemons, but better.

she was doing it. Nearly towards the door. She could taste freedom on her tongue. And the idea of eating some wood. There there nearly there. Bam. On the floor. She could sense where she was. She knew where she was. But she couldn't move. At all. Someone had body-binded her. Isobel would've growled if she could have. How dare someone. She was going to go mental once she woke up. She was a department head. There was no need for them to body bind her. Could've easily closed the door. But now she was lying on the floor, and it was not a good place. And she was pretty sure she'd banged her head. It kind of hurt.

She kind of spaced out though. Well that was until Josh undid the bind though. She looked up at him, blinking as she found herself sort of in his lap. "Josh... I have a husband." Because it was odd to find herself in this position. At least it was a little bit more comfortable that the bed. She glanced up at the Jade woman. Well she certainly wouldn't be getting any more memories, and then a bit of wood distracted her. "Wood..." She murmured, smiling at Kyleigh as she took it off of him. Yummy.

Young man...

Yeah...that was him. So what? With an expression that said just that 'so what?' Josh looked at the woman as she spoke. He tried not to scoff at her words. Really? Was that really how she got it? ''I did not claim to be your boss. And believe me i don't want to be anyone's boss...'' not of the crazy women in this Ministry anyway. ''And yes, you are right. I know nothing about your job. I know nothing about your authority, either. My problem had nothing to do with any of these. I just don't like the way they are treated, kinda violent, and i don't think it can be done under any authority anyway.''

Was Isobel Ferguson alright? The other woman asked for his attention before he could check more anyway. He looked up with questioning eyes, then looked towards where she indicated. Kyle? He blinked at the zombie Kyle a bit before speaking up. ''What's with her? She is just asking for wood.'' And found it herself anyway. It did not look like she was threatening anything...maybe except his wand. Realizing the way she was looking his wand, Josh safely put it back into his holster. And now she was offering wood to Mrs. Ferguson?

*sigh*

Still he saw nothing threatening with it anyway. So he just let them be. Meanwhile, Mrs. Ferguson was back and...her words made the young man blush. ''Well...um. Sorry, Mrs. Ferguson. I was just trying to...help.'' He eyed both zombie infected women as they were going on wood. He gently held the woman and helped her back on her feet. ''How are you feeling? Does it hurt...anywhere?''

Merlin! What was it with people and arguing lately?! Granted, she knew she was just as guilty as those two, but still. Enough was enough. "Could you guys just stop for a second? I'm trying to remember these charms......." Roxanne interjected, hoping they would listen to her. Because she needed to remember those charms. She wasn't sure if anyone was even back in the office to get her patronus. Or even who got it if they were. For all she knew, Tyler could've gotten it, which if that was the case, they were screwed. He'd never been back here before, and therefore, probably knew nothing about the doors. Come to think of it, she didn't think Melissa or Saul had been either. Which left only three people.......

Which meant that she better get to remembering those charms.