[I-BSR] JP-Saveron, Skyfire & Moonsong: Genetic Variation Part 1

[gemsong120]

((Biosciences Seminar Room, USS Invicta))

::The lights were dimmed and the large holographic projector at one end of the room displayed several strands of DNA, turning gently, their base pairs colour coded so that quick comparisons could be made.::

::Saveron stood, hands behind his back, looking at the chemical comparisons as the images moved. It was… interesting.::

::The doors to the seminar room slid open and he cast a glance over his shoulder.::

:: Chythar entered only moments behind the counselor. The message he’d received from Saveron seemed a wee bit cryptic to him and he didn’t know what to make of it at first. Presumably, it was good news. ::

Saveron: Sochya Doctor Skyfire, Counsellor Moonsong. ::He said formally, though this matter was a combination of professional and personal.

Skyfire: Sochya, Doctor Saveron. Counselor. :: He kept his voice professional, as Saveron had apparently set the tone. ::

:: He got himself a cup of cocoa and had a seat at one end of the table, looking over the images on the screen. DNA strands, evidently. Their  meaning had escaped him at first, as he hadn’t done a genetic sequencing in a long time, and he had a sip of his drink. ::

Skyfire: What have you found, Doctor?

::Raissa had sat down across from CD. There were shadows under her eyes as she stared down at her hands in silence. She had become thinner and no longer as animated as she had been in the past. The last few days had been very stressful on top of the continuing fatigue. .::

::Core had helped her with a few of his inherent disciplines when she called him to her quarters to aid her.  But what she had picked up from him would take time to master, if that was even possible. The time she had spent with Tristam had helped her to cope a little. Focusing on one thing, or one voice helped, but when distracted it felt if the full brunt of every mind around her was battering her like tidal waves. She was rapidly coming to her wit’s end. And her sanity was becoming a little fragile.::

:: CD’s brows furrowed in worry as he took a look at Ris. As though she hadn’t gotten any sleep since their away mission, or the departure of the Community representatives. He was concerned about her health, as both a friend and his chosen family. ::

Skyfire: You okay, Counselor?

::She didn’t look up and her voice was quiet.::

Moonsong: I’m fine. ::pause:: You were saying, Saveron?

::She wasn’t ready to talk about it. She didn’t think CD would understand the full weight of her issues. Saveron had warned her of possible consequences. She had listened and tried to do what he suggested, but it was too little, too late.::

:: He knew that response, and in his experience it was in the eye of the beholder: she wasn’t fine, but he wasn’t going to interrupt from Saveron’s thought process any more than he already had until a lull in the conversation arose. This wasn’t the right time to follow up with her. ::

::Saveron met Chythar’s glance as Raissa denied any problems; her lack of her usual energy was obvious. He could guess at the reason, he didn’t doubt that CD could too. For the moment however he focused on the subject at hand.::

Saveron: Permit me to draw your attention to the DNA examples displayed. ::He indicated the floating holograms.:: These are the chromosome sections relevant to telepathy in humanoid species, displaying the most common gene sequences. From left to right they are: Terran, Betazoid, Vulcan.

::The differences were highlighted for ease of reference. Unsurprisingly there were significant differences between all three sequences.::

::Raissa frowned slightly as she looked at the strands. She had a basic understanding of DNA, but as these were of different races, she didn’t see the significance.::

:: Chythar too did not say anything. He sipped his cocoa, letting the Vulcan explain. As a xenobiologist, he was interested. Yet, there was something about his circumstances that he couldn’t place his finger on. It was strange, and he wanted to see what Saveron’s research had uncovered. ::

Saveron: This is the structure of the ‘telepathy sensitive’ pre-mutation found in Terrans.

::The Vulcan pressed a few keys and a fourth strand of DNA appeared. The structure was largely identical to the other Terran strand, but there was a change highlighted on one part of the strand; it matched a section of the sequence that was common to both Vulcans and Betazoids, and indeed all telepathic humanoids.::

:: It seemed Chythar hadn’t read up on Terran telepathy since the academy, which was three years ago. If he wanted to get specific about his textbooks, he’d have to dig through his transcript to find it. And he didn’t want to because he was in a meeting right now. So, he asked the question. ::

Skyfire: Interesting. Is that uncommon in Terrans?

Saveron: The pre-mutation is not uncommon. Even without stimulus from outside sources it is probable that the Terran species would see an increase in the number of active telepaths born over the next few centuries.

::Raissa rubbed her fingertips against her temple.::

Moonsong: I don’t understand what you mean by… ‘pre-mutation’. There have been documented humans telepaths for the last couple centuries and records of telepaths dating back probably to our pre-history. Admittedly not common as it is for other races, but they do exist.

::Her family had stories about the occasional sensitive who generally were shaman on her father’s side of the family.::

:: Chythar had no knowledge of his own family history, as all that knowledge died with his parents. Therefore, he was the anomaly within the Skyfire bloodline ::

Skyfire: Just to remind you, Doc… :: he directed the words to Saveron :: ...not everyone’s studied this to the level you have.

::It was a timely reminder to the Vulcan that not everyone had done a PhD in comparative xenobiology. This was right up his field of research. He considered carefully before he sought to explain.::

Saveron: Telepathy is not a simple trait; it is governed by several genes. ::He sought for a parallel.:: Just as, in order for a line of cells to become cancerous, several deleterious mutations must accumulate, so in order for a species to become telepathic, they require certain mutations in key points. A cell line with only one cancer-causing mutation, or ‘premutation’ is ‘pre-cancerous’, so are those with one telepathic mutation ‘pre-telepathic’ or ‘telepathy sensitive’. ::Something that was not particularly uncommon amongst Terrans.:: You both carry the Terran pre-mutation, amongst other factors.

::He doubted that it would come as a surprise to either of them. By all accounts Alora would have it as well.::

:: The young doc thought this was fascinating, though his understanding of what that meant was not very deep. ::

Skyfire: Interesting. :: He had another sip of cocoa, letting it continue. ::

::With a couple of keystrokes Saveron dismissed the spiral of Vulcan DNA, which had only been there for comparison, and brought up two more. These displayed some similarities to each other and to the Betazoid and Terran DNA, but there were also some intriguing differences.::

Saveron: Raissa, this is your DNA. ::He highlighted one spiral.:: Note that you have both the Terran pre-mutation, the Betazoid empathy genes, and this novel mutation here. ::He further highlighted one particular point.:: I say ‘novel’ as it does not appear in the current genetic databases, but from your family history I anticipate that it is in fact at least several hundred years old.

Moonsong: More likely a  thousand years. However, I’m not sure I understand… Betazoids are telepaths….and some humans. What does this mean?

:: Chythar watched in silence, fascinated by the revelations that the Vulcan was revealing. Granted, all that was revealed thus far was unique to Raissa’s DNA, save for the above mentioned point that he too had the pre-mutation gene. ::

Saveron: Together with the premutation, your novel mutation would itself induce a certain level of empathy or at least ESP. I anticipate that some of your ancestors may have carried a third mutation which you do not; you can see the primer here but the gene is standard. Your Betazoid ancestry conferred a strong level of empathy, but your Betazoid genes and Terran genes did not work together. However, it would appear that your time with the Community, and your exposure to other telepaths, has altered that. The orphaned primer sequence is now triggering your Betazoid abilities which in turn are enhancing your Terran predisposition and also triggering a gene further downstream which, to the best of my knowledge, has not previously been associated with telepathy in Terrans.

::It was like her physics classes all over again. Mind numbing information that was spoken in a language she didn’t know. How to feel really stupid in one easy lesson. The fact that Saveron was not only an expert in his field, but since he was a Vulcan it was not a deliberate attempt on his part to make her feel like a toddler at a geology seminar.::

Skyfire: Interesting.

:: He ran a free hand along his chin and sipped his cocoa again, wondering idly how his accidental contact made her dormant genetics light up like a christmas tree. ::

Saveron: You are a research paper entirely unto yourself. ::He said to Raissa with a slight inclination of his head in acknowledgement.::

::He probably didn’t realize that was not a compliment.::

Moonsong: Does this mean I cannot go back to my previous level?

Saveron: It is possible that you might revert without the Community’s stimulus, but unlikely. This upregulation appears quite stable.

::Raissa put her hands to her face. She was already beyond the lessons her grandmother had taught her for dealing with her empathy. The crushing silence within and the constant pressure of other minds around her was equally crushing.::

Moonsong: ::mutters to herself:: I’m a freak.

Skyfire: No you aren’t, Ris. Unique, but not a freak.  oO I’m the freak here. Oo How does my accidental telepathic contact during the mission on DSX factor into this?

:: He couldn’t help feeling that there was something quirky about his DNA that made it likely he was the only known human with induced telepathy via someone else. Saveron knew most of the tale because of the mind meld they shared, followed by his admission during their last discussion about the accidental contact. This was not a subject he was looking forward to because it meant that he’d have to bury himself in studies pertaining to coping with the...with his unique evolution. More counseling. More meditation. All boring. ::

::Observing Raissa’s distress, Saveron slid quietly into a seat at the table.::

Saveron: I believe that the proper term would be a ‘jump in evolution’. ::He said gently.::

Moonsong: Historically human telepaths are not T6… I can’t be..

::Raissa was as good at denial as the next person despite evidence to the contrary. To top it off, she still wasn’t sure how CD’s contact caused such a change in her. She had a feeling she was about to get the answer to that question. Of course that was if the Vulcan kept it to small words she could comprehend.::

Saveron : Yet evolution does not stop at the present Raissa. Humans have not previously been that strongly telepathic, ::he acknowledged:: but they are now.

::Beginning with her. Though as he had pointed out, some of it was to do with her Betazoid heritage as well. Rising from his seat Saveron returned to the holographic display.::

Saveron: You asked, Chythar, what influence your own contact has had on Raissa’s situation. The answer is that it acted as stimulus for her developing ability, as did the Community; just as skin which is abraded develops a callous, her telepathy was encouraged to develop and enhance through exposure to other telepaths. However our previous concern, that her DNA might exhibit changes that mimic your own, is not founded.

::The Vulcan altered the highlighting to bring Skyfire’s DNA to the fore. Here there were several smaller sections marked in a different colour.::

Saveron: Your situation is fascinating. ::Which was Vulcan for ‘I’m not going to focus on anything else for the next hour’.:: As you can see you harbour the Terran telepathic pre-mutation. ::One section lit up.:: As does the Counsellor. However you do not possess any further known mutations, and would have remained in the ‘Telepathy Sensitive’ state without further stimulus. However, your telepathic contact with the Dokkaran doctor has resulted in a self-defensive re-arrangement of your DNA in this region. ::He explained.::

TBC

=====

Lieutenant Commander Saveron

Xenobiologist

USS Invicta

and

Lieutenant Chythar Skyfire
Chief Medical Officer

USS Invicta

and

Lieutenant Raissa Moonsong

Chief of Counseling

USS Invicta