Text: Medical Update on recent Bio-Hazard situation

[prorenataa]

[ Where oh where has the doctor been?

Well, a biological hazard with contagion ramifications. You do the math.

Now, however, having gotten a chance to sit down and look back over his notes, Adrien is taking the opportunity to put together something resembling a report to share with the class. Eventually it reads something like this. ]

In regards to the recent out-break of the biohazard and potential contagion situation on this planet.

Diagnosis of patients revealed no obvious affects or presence of the contagion still within our systems. This was a blanket finding across all species.

Material taken from the digestive tract, or equivalent, was likewise studies with no evidence of material outside normal parameters.

However, bloodwork lead to neurological follow-up, in the following circumstances. Where very slight alterations to the hormone levels (regardless of species) was identified further review identified these alterations as affecting the endocrine and adrenal systems (again we’re not all the same species, so the equivalent in those of you who don’t lay claim to either of these exact systems). The tests show minor, but consistent disturbances, that upon review against baseline levels, suggest a similarity to variations of withdrawal.

This effect is presenting as similar to other neurochemical imbalances, particularly anxiety and depression. If you happened to flag on these variances in testing and were taken for further questioning, I’d be interested in hearing how that went in hopes to continue to collect data on this outbreak.

Because experience, and my own prominent level of paranoia, suggests this information may be important in the future. Also, there’s a betting pool over whether the initial outbreak was an accident due to piss poor protocols, or a deliberate release of something weaponized.

For the record, I put down sencs on deliberate release, because this is precisely the sort of thing certain individuals would love to weaponize.

Finally, to those individuals who went crashing through the Ingress back to the slaver planet on some misguided mission of retributions? That was a fucking stupid move. Care to share with the class what long term solution you accomplished?

Comments

[sketchycharacter]

[He's no cook, but he can slice bread without help. Between that and the soup, it's a companionable scene, despite the topic that brought him here.]

Before, just in case they're bad enough to make me want to barf.

[prorenataa]

[ Adrien would even wave a hand at his fridge, telling Nate to help himself to whatever in there looked good to drink. There was iced tea, water, some juice like products. Sorry. No beer.

Soup ladled into bowls, he set them down on the counter along with spoons. The scent of the lentils, combined with a leek like product and curry spices rose from the bowl; bits of freshly wilted spinach floating on top.

Using the cover of stirring his soup, waiting for Nate to divvy up the bread, Adrien picked at his next words, before launching into what might sound like a non-sequitur. ]

Did I tell you about what I did with the native flora and fauna based medicines on Macha?

[sketchycharacter]

[He goes for the juice. Does a body good. What, it's full of sugar and has none of the fiber that fruit provides? Whatever.

He brought a healthy amount of bread, but it takes hardly any time to get it sliced and ready. Between it and the soup, it's a very homey scene, but he resists the urge to start munching.]

No. I don't think so.

[He's guessing it's not as simple as 'converted them into simple pill form, making it easier to get treatment to those in need and providing a happy ending to all.']

[prorenataa]

[ Adrien helped himself to a piece of bread, though rather than eat it, he stood and plucked at it in a pensive manner. His expression turned inwards in a way he hadn't worn it for a long while.

After a moment, he began to speak. ]

HQ had a checklist for destroying planets. Part of that checklist, in the final stages was the complete annihilation of the apex predator of the planet.

[ He looked down, blinking at the bread that was now in pieces and purposefully set down the remainder, leaning his hands on the counter. ]

Macha, along with being a living planet, was populated by a species known as the Neraki. They were humanoid, though more insect based than mammalian. There were multiple tribes, they were sentient in the sense of having family, religion, sense of governance.

I understood that when the time came for the crew to enter the final stages of the mission, it would be ... difficult for many. A man I worked in medical with, he was a medicinal healer and whenever we landed planet-side he would pursue making medicines, poultices, and the like from local flora and fauna. It was a smart thing to do because we often ran out of supplies; HQ loved to mess with us.

[ Get to the point doctor. ]

There was a significant seismic event, not us actually ... or maybe us, the planet fought us from the start. Don't blame it. But it caused damage to the Neraki villages. Missions were organized to leverage this situation, including one of a diplomatic nature to the village closest to base camp and one of the hardest hit.

I volunteered, because I suspected that being able to lead with the offer of medical assistance, might be a good first contact. But ... I also volunteered because I had taken many of my co-workers native medicines and ... weaponized them.

[ He looked up at Nate as he said this. ]

I knew that in order to test the potential effectiveness of what I had weaponized, I could use the actual medicines as a ... litmus test, baseline results of effectiveness.

[ Again, Adrien's eyes became distant. ]

I walked into that village and I was one of the first to gain their trust, through their need of medical assistance.

[ He dug into his pocket and withdrew something, which he looked at and then set down on the counter and pushed towards Nate so he could see it. It was a wooden coin, with two snake like creatures entwined. ]

That was one of the gifts they offered me ... us, just before we went back to base camp.

[ For a moment he was quiet, there was more to the memories but he wrestled those back into their various mental boxes before he looked back up at Nate. ]

These biologic organisms that many travelers were infected with? The physiological systems most affected in those who carried the parasites, they are systems that could later be leveraged in a number of ways to either incapacitate many of us, or weaponize us under someone else's control.

It is the sort of covert set up, I would use as a means to incapacitate or leverage to advantage, an entrenched population where I was not in the most powerful position to try to reach an objective. Use our own systems against us.

Like ... taking control of the Ingress.

[sketchycharacter]

[Most of the time, the lack of details he has about Adrien's past experience lets him chalk it up to a bad past, a nightmare, something that understandably affects his friend to this day but that he's lucky to have gotten away from. Bad people who lured him in and then put him in an impossible position.

And then something specific comes up and it gets harder. Does he even want to know if those weaponized medicines were put into effect? Does it even matter, if the willingness to do it was there? What were the consequences if he didn't act on behalf of his team? What were the results when he did? How much horror is too much?

It's a goddamn ethics class exam question, except worse because it's real and because Nate never went to school. And maybe it's cowardly—or maybe it's the right choice to make—but as always it comes down to the person he knows Adrien to be and the things he's done here, back on the Moira and now on this planet. And everything else recedes.]

I really hope that's not the case. But it's better to be aware of the possibility than it is to just be ignorant. Is there anything we can do but be ready if something else happens?

[prorenataa]

[ Maybe the answers to some of those questions would have made it easier to understand.

Maybe they would have just raised more questions.

Either way, Adrien is discreetly holding his breath. How discreetly? Discreetly enough that he doesn't even realize it, until he exhales softly and looks down at his soup. It was already bad enough, how things had gone between himself and Elena. He wasn't sure how he'd function if Nate had walked off in disgust. ]

We should, eat some of this before it gets cold. [ He suggested, though he wasn't immediately reaching for his spoon.

Instead he drummed his fingers on the counter in a pensive manner, considering Nate's question. ]

Situational awareness. [ He offered up, after a moment. ] Of ourselves, if nothing else. Those who were affected should be prepared to act, if they begin to feel ... not like themselves.

Despite my knee jerk conditioning towards, worst case scenario, I don't suggest that we start looking at each other. That will only breed speculation and distrust. If anything, we're going to need to trust each other more than ever.

[ Doctor. Be practical. Leaning back, Adrien reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck in that telling, pensive gesture. ]

Following protocols and procedures, particularly in regards to the Ingress, is important. [ He can't help but wince, since ... wow did a large group of them fail in that department recently. ] I think that listening to what the Savrii say is going to be important, hear them out ... before reacting.

[sketchycharacter]

Sounds good.

[He goes for the bread and dips it into his soup like a heathen.]

Geez. You want me to show obedience to authority? I'm really bad at that.

[He's smiling, though, in a joking-not-joking way. His self-assessment is completely accurate, but hopefully Adrien knows him well enough by now that he also knows Nate isn't the type to start shit just to make a point of rebelling.]