Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen - Let’s do it

[CPT Arianus]

(( Radiation Treatment Ward, Deck 7 – USS Artemis-A ))

Ollie lay down on the biobed, closed his eyes, and relaxed. He let his mind and body drift into the moment, allowing his fears, worries, and concerns to melt away.

Bergmen: I'm ready. Let's start.

Bancroft: Good. Then let’s start by being annoyingly thorough.

Roy's voice sounded distant to him, but Ollie was sure the doctor was nearby, just a few steps away, standing at the console, doing his research, scans…

But apart from his voice answering, the room was filled just with continuous ambient noise of the ward and the ship itself... and nothing more. Nothing followed. No sounds of tricorder, no sounds of other scanning equipment... and that started to make Ollie nervous…

Bancroft: Hm.

The sudden frown made Ollie open his eyes and glance sideways at Roy. A single fragment of what he saw was enough to understand what Roy was looking at.

Bergmen: That bad?

Bancroft's posture stilled. That bad.

Bancroft: Your numbers started drifting before your remaining prophylaxis should have stopped protecting you.

The doctor’s voice stayed calm. Almost conversational, like between two colleagues who understood the theoretical problem. But the sharp worry lurking behind Roy's voice cut deep into Ollie about the fact that this was real.

Bancroft: Increased unstable cellular turnover. Mild inflammatory rise. Subtle neurological noise. ::beat:: All of it starting post-Karnack but before I’d have expected your medicine to have stopped protecting you.

A nearly melancholic flicker crossed Ollie's face. He slowly nodded, laid his head on the pillow, and looked at the ceiling, silent and resigned.

Bergmen: Yeah, that was for sure clear when the cold came, and I lost feeling in my fingers. When the hallucinations came...

He paused, and yet there was a feeling in the air as if he wanted to say more—like he knew he had to say it out loud to become a truth.

Bergmen: Did I make it worse? When I tried to treat it myself, even after it became worse?

Roy turned the display to Ollie to show him what his words meant.

Bancroft: This isn’t random, and it isn’t your fault. ::frowning:: It was the Maelstrom. In a healthy person, I’d expect some fatigue, headaches… maybe some transient neurological irritation. But in you? Your tissue was already living on borrowed tolerance.

Ollie watched the datastream blossoming before his eyes for a while, and then nodded. He understood.

Bergmen: Don’t worry, Roy. I knew it was just a question of time before something like this would happen again. It’s ok.

He reached out and touched Roy's back of the hand. Glanced into his eyes. 

Bergmen: Do you believe the original therapy would be able to stop it?

Bancroft: Response

Ollie didn't look away as he slowly nodded, confirming he was ready to go through it.

He did it once; he'll do it again. He refused to give up, despite knowing the price he would have to pay.

Bergmen: I know the cost of what it takes. We cannot cure the consequences without first stopping the cause. Do it.

Bancroft: Response

TAG/TBC –– ○● –– Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1