When Joey got back to the common room, now in clothes that felt warm and dry, Courtney and Cleo were tossing ideas back and forth, each holding a glass of lemonade.
"We need to keep her immobile somehow," Courtney said with a frown. "I don't suppose a pair of handcuffs that are bolted to the wall would hold her?"
"Do they even have the ability to bolt handcuffs to the wall?" Cleo asked. "I think you're supposed to go through a long application process before you can alter any of Arx's structure. Especially for things like drilling holes."
"Right. And if we wait that process out, Odin'll get impatient." Courtney let her head fall back, staring up at the ceiling.
"Welcome back, Joey," Ned said, running over to him with concern all over his face. A pang of guilt went through Joey at that. Ned shouldn't have to worry about him.
"Hey, Ned," Joey replied, trying his best to force a smile. He still felt cold, and it took effort to keep from shivering.
"Don't act like you're fine!" Ned snapped, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Odin said you could have gotten something - uh, frostbite? Or something else? Anyway it sounded bad!"
Joey couldn't help but laugh at it all. The others looked towards him, checking to see if anything was off. Sure, he was colder than he'd ever been, but hopefully he'd be fine.
"I'm okay, Ned," he said with a genuine smile this time, hugging his baby brother.
"Yeah? Cause your skin feels hecka cold, man." Ned took the opportunity to grab Joey's hands. Ned's hands felt so warm, Joey wasn't quite sure what to do.
"I am pretty sure I will be okay, Ned," Joey replied, holding his hands back. "Don't worry. I'm just annoyed I didn't get Ferry."
"Darius," Ned said, looking like he seriously didn't believe Joey.
"Yes Ned?" Darius responded, looking their way with those unsettling eyes of his.
"What's frostbite? And that other thing Odin said?"
Darius paused for a moment before responding, as if he was thinking.
"Frostbite is a skin injury caused by extreme cold freezing the tissues. Ice crystals may form within the skin and blood, which can then damage small blood vessels. It most commonly affects extremities, like hands, feet and facial features. Initially, the area will feel cold and tingly or numb. More complications can follow if it isn't treated."
"What kind of complications?" Ned asked, panic starting to show on his face. "Joey, do you feel tingly or numb?"
"Not really?" Joey said, frowning as Darius paused to think again.
"Frostbite can cause compartment syndrome, or hypothermia. Compartment syndrome is caused when increased pressure within a part of the body leads to poor blood flow and poor functioning of tissues. It can also lead to permanent damage.
"Hypothermia, on the other hand, is merely a reduction in core body temperature that generally causes varying stages of confusion, culminating in death when the heart stops."
"Death?" Ned yelped. "And what was that about permanent damage?"
"Oh, shut your trap you damn mutt."
The little girl's voice came around the time a door slammed shut. Joey glanced over and was somewhat surprised to see Ida there, rubbing her forehead like she had a headache or something.
"Darius, make two hot chocolates, will ya?" She sounded annoyed, and moved towards the kitchen, glancing briefly at Joey and Ned.
"Ida, Ida!" Ned said, letting go of Joey and running over to her. "Joey's got hypothermia!"
"Hold your horses, kid. We don't know that. And if he does, it's only mild at this point. Look, he's wearing a sweater with the hood up. He's doing what he should be. Took off the wet clothes, and changed into warm dry ones. And in case that wasn't enough for you, we're going to increase his body temperature further."
"How?"
"What did I just ask Mr. Robot to do?"
Joey stared at the two of them, somewhat dumbfounded. Ida was a kid. So why was Ned asking her complicated questions and panicking at her? And why was she acting like the adult here?
No, even beyond that, when had the two of them had time to develop any kind of relationship?
Ned glanced at Darius, then at Ida, looking totally confused. Finally, Ida sighed heavily.
"All of you can sit down. If you're worried about Joey, give him a blanket. Luckily he wasn't exposed to the cold for too long, so it won't take much for us to get him back to normal. I believe you have bigger fish to fry, though?"
"Right..." Cleo said, looking at Joey in concern. "Sorry, Ned. I should probably have looked at Future Joey to make sure he's gonna be okay. I just did, and Ida's right. No problems as of tomorrow."
"Good," Ned said, sighing in relief. "Is there a way to keep Cold Snap from doing anything like that again?"
"Avoid contact, I guess," Courtney said, frowning in thought. "Is there some kind of protective equipment we could develop?"
"Would be worth researching," Cleo replied.
"Sorry I didn't get Ferry," Joey said.
"You did plenty," Courtney said firmly. "I think you've earned a few days off."
"Activity should slow down for a bit," Cleo added. "After the stunt you pulled, I think Team Chaos will be a bit more cautious. They can't afford to lose Ferry."
Joey nodded, quickly running his work schedule through his head. Could he even afford to keep working at Green's if he had to deal with this stuff?
His thoughts were interrupted when the noise from the kitchen suddenly ceased.
"Two hot chocolates, Ida." Darius walked up to the little girl and placed both mugs on the counter, then hoisted her up into a seat. She grabbed one of the hot chocolates and pointed a thumb at Joey.
"Darius, the other one's for Joey over there. Joey, don't drink it so fast you burn your tongue."
Darius grabbed the mug and walked over to Joey, handing him the cup delicately. Joey held the handle and slowly blew on the liquid. He wasn't used to drinking warm drinks, and the hand that wasn't on the handle could barely hold the cup it was so hot.
"By ingesting warm liquid, we're increasing his core body temperature," Ida said when Ned looked at her for an explanation. "That'll fix him up quickly. Soup, coffee or tea would also work, but hot chocolate's my favourite."
"Thanks," Joey said, blowing on the cup again. How long until he could actually drink the stuff? Just inhaling the steam coming off of it felt like enough warmth.
"So we need better countermeasures," Cleo said, bringing the conversation back on topic. "This impromptu stuff won't keep working for long."
"And we can't have you doing too much heavy lifting," Courtney added. "I'll carry whatever I can, but I'm still one person."
"If only the Legion would play nice with us," Sawyer grumbled.
"They want nothing to do with me," Courtney replied. "Achilles is getting trapped in an echo chamber of yes-people, and anyone who disagrees with him gets branded an enemy. I wonder how long the Legion can manage like this."
"We can deal with that once Team Chaos is down," Cleo said. "Now, anybody got any good ideas?"
Joey took the first sip of hot chocolate as the brainstorming session began. It didn't scald his tongue like he thought it would, and the sensation felt good to his cold body.
With a sideways glance, he gave Ida a silent thank you.
