#tbh this is just a glorified peter lives au HAHA

[emmytooth]

thinking about an au where rani is the doctor, and adi john doe.

warnings for: sweet tooth-typical treatment of children (dehumanization, murder, etc)

rani, at first — is far more willing to overlook what it takes to keep her husband alive, even when she has to take over making the antidote. after all, it's not like she has to hunt the children herself. she keeps her assumption, willingly, that the hybrids are just mindless shells. they can't speak, can't feel. of course they can't. because if they could, what would that mean for adi? and what would that make her?

none of their neighbours have any reason to be suspicious of them. after all, adi has a constant stream of the antidote, despite his protests. (i will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, she'd said, once. she meant it.) he doesn't spread The Sick to anyone else.

but rani is tired of relying on an unpredictable, ever-changing antidote. she wants something permanent.

so, when general abbot and his last men come, try to rip gladys's research — rani's research, from her, rani makes a deal.

you need a scientist, and i need supplies. we both need a cure. leave my husband out of it, and i swear on his life, whatever it takes i will find one.

abbot, of course, does not leave her husband out of it. he pulls the same bird stunt he did in canon, and while rani is reasonably furious, there's not much she can do except work even harder on finding the cure.

a lot would happen from there.

i think rani and adi would have the same 'it's not too late to back out / there is no going back' dynamic as in canon, though a bit more muddled. since adi didn't have much part in all the cruelty, and rani's whole willingness in... y'know, the whole child murder thing kind of hinges on her willful ignorance of their sentience. when she meets gus, any of the hybrids, really — i imagine her world would come crashing down coming face to face with the undeniable evidence that they are very much people.

i think roy would still die here, since his death comes fairly early. it Takes a bit to comprehend everything rani is realizing, and dissociation is a hell of a drug. but i don't think peter would. maybe rani even rationalizes roy's murder by thinking, look at him. he's so... animal. surely he's not like the rest of them. he can't be.

and yet, when peter comes around, just as hybrid and even more violent, this time rani can't see anything but a scared boy, trying to survive.

i don't know. i've always liked role-swap aus, especially between functional opposites haha. i like the aspect of trying to keep the spirit/purpose of the character alive, while keeping in mind the differences that would naturally come