Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Iko -- Senega and ammonia
Rebecca Iko
Iko: Now, if this thing is becoming a macrovirus…
She paused, catching her breath. With how much her throat had been damaged she was barely holding onto her voice, though she didn’t want to admit any of that, even to her doctor.
Wong: The proteins are there. The key word is preventing it from mutating and becoming one. If that happens, they would be harder to contain.
And it also just. Y’know. Didn’t sound that fun.
Varati: That's precisely where we'll start: targeted modification of biomolecules. We're trying to disrupt the three-dimensional spatial structure while leaving the molecular structure intact. The only challenge will be finding the ‘right’ molecules, especially if the pathogen appears to mutate easily.
Bec could only mostly follow on when the blue shirts got like this at the best of times. And while she was trying to at the moment, not alot of what they were saying was making sense.
Juriton: If I may make a suggestion–
Bec raised her hand, waiting for the latest itch in her throat to pass and not cough out abrasive mold particles and things before she spoke, but that is ultimately the opposite of what happened. And once again she leaned over to what felt like heave her guts out.
Juriton: Are you okay?
Wong: Iko, are you alright?
She began giving them a small nod, but that very quickly devolved into a shake of the head.
Varati: Hang in there, Bec! The hypospray is almost ready!
Instead of actually saying what she was going to say, Bec just ended on a quiet, albeit very typical for her:
Iko: Ahhh $#@%...
Wong: Varati, can you get me an anti-emetic? It should be the hypo with the green band.
Wong grabbed his tricorder and started scanning. It was comforting, at least, that Bec was in the hands of the doc she trusted the most.
Wong: Hang on. We’re going to take care of this.
Varati: ::to Ikaia:: Aye, it should be finished. It has some salt spray in it, hopefully to soothe the cough. I hope that helps a little.
Juriton: Your crew certainly does love cursing. ::shrug:: Hey, whatever gets your ship racing, right?
Bec lifted her hand, ready to flip Juriton off, but she (luckily?) let it flop back to her side before she could cause another diplomatic incident.
Wong: Varati, can you please grab me that sample kit from off the counter as well? We’re going to need it.
Varati: Here it is! Everything is ready, Doctor, eh, Chief Medical Officer…
Juriton decided to leave them be and go have a yarn with one of the other guys on the biobed. Bec scowled. It appeared she wasn’t very good company anymore.
Not that that was particularly incorrect….
Juriton: Hello Ensign, what’s your name?
Yalrees: Talias-Gron-Yalrees is my family name, Commander. Yalrees is my given name.
(OOC: Yalrees is an NPC, anyone can write for them)
Juriton: When did you become infected?
Yalrees: 3 days ago, while I was working duty shift in cargo bay 3, commander ::coughs::
Wong: Okay. That was the anti-emetic. How’s your stomach?
Bec looked up at Wong, thought about it for a moment, and gave him a small nod.
Varati: ::to Ikaia: Let's hope it works. We absolutely have to stabilize them. Perhaps the samples will give us the right answers for an antidote. ::to Bec:: The effect is immediate; the salt mist reduces the urge to cough.
Iko: I feel it, don’t worry.
She turned to look at where Juriton was, and the guy he was talking to.
Yalrees: Is... is that true about the-- ::coughs:: --DNA?
Juriton: You didn’t hear it from me.
Wong: At least we now have one more live sample if there’s one small silver lining.
There were a fair few thoughts that popped into Becs head when Wong said that. None of them were good.
Varati: ::to Ikaia:: I think we've collected enough samples? ::to Bec with a soft smile::Thank you for the valuable scientific contribution; hopefully, we can obtain relevant data from it.
Bec smiled, and tried to swallow down another cough—which, while successful, still irritated her scratched up throat enough to make her wince.
She whispered to D’Cyra:
Iko: Don’t make me laugh…
Wong: Bad….
Bec looked up at Wong again.
Varati: ::to Ikaia: What is it? What did you find?
Iko/Juriton: Response
Wong: Bad as in the proteins are starting to stitch themselves together. As in we are running out of time.
Bec crossed her arms.
Varati: Do they get tangled up? Can we artificially stabilize them? With sugar or some kind of polyols? And then break them apart again at the crucial points?
Bec just looked between Wong and D’Cyra. She wasn’t liking the sounds of any of this.
Juriton: Response
Wong: What this means is that if this continues at the rate that it is, this will go from maybe having a macrovirus on our hands to absolutely having a macrovirus on our hands.
Varati: ::to Ikaia:: Then we need to act now... Bec, how are you? Is the urge to cough and the tension already subsiding?
She lifted her hand from where it was, next to her and rocked it back and forth at the wrist.
Iko: Mostly.
Juriton: Response
Wong: I estimate we have roughly four hours tops to find a treatment before it becomes a macrovirus.
Bec raised her eyebrows, but tried her best to convince herself that Wong was the miracle worker she kind of needed him to be.
Varati: Four hours is four hours... so let's go! We don't have a moment to lose.
Iko: Whatever you need at this point. Especially if it’s going to help any of the others here as well.
She gestured out to the other beds in sickbay.
Juriton/Yalrees(?)/Wong: Response
Varati: ::to Juriton:: Could you please get us samples from your various crew members? That would be a huge help, thank you so much! ::to Bec:: Please let us know immediately if your condition changes in any way, okay? I'll get another cough syrup...
Bec nodded.
Juriton/Yalrees(?)/Wong: Response
Varati: ::to Ikaia:: Should I check Bec's samples to see if I can somehow stabilize the clumping proteins? Then we might at least have something to combat the mold and be able to contain it.
Wong: Response
Bec looked up at Wong.
Iko: You’re in charge.
Juriton/Varati/Wong: Response
Bec then heard an alarm going off. From one of the other biobeds. She looked at Wong again.
Yalrees: ::faintly:: Juriton…?
The man sounded like he was in pain, and anything he was saying was making him wheeze. And again, there was an alarm sounding. Bec couldn’t tell what exactly was telling the biobed it needed to fetch Wong but she was sure Wong would be able to figure something like that out.
Juriton/Varati/Wong: Response
Yalrees: The mold. I saw it some days ago—I didn’t— ::cough:: I didn’t know what it was and I was drowning in other engineering work. The ship was falling apart since we left Spacedock.
Bec nodded. That much she knew was definitely true.
Juriton/Varati/Wong: Response
Yalrees: Panel E-452?
Bec furrowed her brow and nodded.
Iko: I’m pretty sure that was the one…
Yalrees: Ship systems went first. An infected neural-gel pack must have gotten damaged. ::cough:: Physically. Like a tear. It would have been contained otherwise.
Bec wasn’t sure about Yalrees’ explanation. It seemed too perfect, too full of answers. Mostly it sounded like one conclusion without too much evidence. Not far-fetched. Just… quick.
Juriton/Varati/Wong: Response
Though she felt like giving Yalrees some slack. Bec felt crap but he was definitely having a worse time than her.
Especially once a flatline tone replaced the “woop woop” sort of beep they had been hearing earlier.
Juriton/Varati/Wong: Response
Bec felt sick. She was sick, but this new feeling wasn’t like she needed to puke or anything like that. This new feeling was that feeling of fear that weighs you down in the pit of your stomach. Someone had just died. Presumably from the same thing that was hurting her.
Sec/Tac officers go quick. But in a phaser fight. In command. In self-sacrifice. In a heroic action to protect their crew. Not in some measly sickbay after accidentally breathing in alien mold what the #$@* was she doing? She was meant to be Robin’s first officer. She was meant to be more dependable and more reliable than she had ever been before. She didn’t deserve the title of “acting first officer.” She definitely did not belong in command red. Robin deserved so much better.
In fact, she barely deserved Second Officer at all. It had been months, but this small nagging feeling of if she was cut out for the job had persisted all that time. She’d tried to brush it off, saying that she would get used to the role and that it would eventually come naturally like when Iov left the station and she was made head of the Sec/Tac department. Heck, she even was used to the title of Lieutenant Commander now. That felt comfortable. Well earned. Right. But “Second Officer”? She’d tried to tell herself that if she kept doing what she had been doing she would be a fine Second Officer, just like how she kept doing what she was doing when she moved from acting to permanent department head. But the answer to if she was actually the right person to be Amity’s third in command was clear as day now. It was simple.
oO No. I’m not. Oo
She looked up at Wong, a look of worry on her face she knew she couldn’t hide.
Iko: Please say that information was at least helpful…
Juriton/Varati/Wong: Response
Tag/TBC