Ensign Jaran Jira - Scanning. Scanning. Scanning.
Jira Jaran
((Intensive Care Unit - Primary Sickbay - Deck 07 - USS Artemis-A))
Bancroft: ::grinning:: You’ll be back to fixing what the rest of us break in no time.
Jira joined in the levity with a chuckle.
Jaran: Don't call me out like that. I won't break too much.
Meyers: Apologies for cutting this short ::she wasn’t sorry at all:: but we must get to work. The mutations aren’t slowing down, and I don’t believe the Captain is in the market for a new First Officer yet.
Bancroft: I imagine we can all agree on that. Where do we begin?
Lorana: A genetic timeline of the mutational sequencing would be a good place to start. From the report I note that it began with a teleportation device?
A shudder passed through Jira.
Jaran: That's where at least this chapter of that story started. It was the smoothest teleport I've ever experienced. But there was a voice...
Imril: Response
Meyers: Thus far, we’ve been able to establish a general progression of the mutations. The telepathic link bonding the Callisian Mutants together is the first thing to develop, based on the After-Action Reports submitted by the patients. While it is no true hivemind, it seems to have been a way to share strategy, sensations and knowledge across short distances with a smaller pack.
Imril: As I understand it from the after-action reports, the majority of the Callisians had mentally degraded to primal states. Which may mean that, individually, they could only communicate basic sensations and such across the link. The one that spoke through Vitor may have been capable of more.
Bancroft: If there was greater capacity, it remained well hidden. What we observed was… rudimentary at best.
Lorana: It could be that you observed an evolutionary, genetic drift. A dominant emergent trait in this mutated Callisian. We have no way of knowing if this was their own primitive state, there is no evidence of that and unlikely we will gain that without healthy Callisian DNA.
Jira lamented, yet again, the inability to contain a living Callisian for the return trip.
oO Next visit, Jira. Next visit. Oo
Jaran: It seems like we should be able to extrapolate from our own control over the telepathic link enough to form a model of the descent of the Callisians. This could give us some greater insight into our own progression.
Meyers: The current hypothesis is that the progression of the remaining mutations - the callouses, the bone deformations and the accelerated follicle growths - is hastened by continued use of the link. Observations made by Captain MacKenzie of both Commander Munro and Ensign Breys are that they seemed affected by the link in a way that was very disruptive to their normal functioning, while Lieutenant K’Wara made no such indication of your performance during the Ship repairs, Lieutenant Imril.
Imril: I’m a stubborn cuss.
Lorana: :: smiles :: I'm sure that's an accurate statement, Mister Imril but I'm more interested in your genetic makeup. Perhaps that's more stubborn :: turns to Jaran :: Yet, you remain standing. Yet, you both experienced telepathy with the others?
So maybe pushing further tests of the link was a bad idea. But this was a chance to share a hypothesis that had been on Jira's mind for some time.
Jaran: My hypothesis for myself, at least, is that it is due to the evolutionary background of the Bajoran race that I am still largely functioning as before. Rather than the punctuated equilibrium of many races, we have had a steadier evolutionary path. It's not that I'm unaffected, just that it's working on a different time frame.
Imril: But it did, and does, take effort to isolate my mind as much as I’ve been able to. Has anyone considered bringing a trained telepath in to sever the mental link? Or dosing one or more of us with some kind of chemical psionic suppressant?
Bancroft: The concern with a telepath is that, without a clearer understanding of the mechanism, we risk reproducing the problem rather than resolving it – only this time with one additional patient.
Luxa nodded.
Lorana: We look to containment. I'd go as far to restrict telepathic crewmates from exposure.
Jaran: Well, thankfully, save for the brief time we were all on the bridge together, I haven't been around any telepaths lately.
Meyers: Response
Imril: The only other thing I can think of that might be a factor, in my case, would be the Boraxian ritual and what it did to a particular part of my brain. Doctor Jaran could fill the rest of you in on that.
Bancroft: ::to Jaran:: Doctor – you were primary on that case. Would you walk us through it?
Jira tensed. The details of that case were present in their mind, but they had been fresh aboard the ship. Those memories were competing with all the new memories of that entire week.
Jaran: Dr. Morgan had called me to be present during a Boraxian ritual that involved filtering energy through a strange crystal and into our Lt. Imril here. ::pulls up the scans of Imril's DNA from that mission:: As you can see, there is a foreign element in the DNA of their hypothalamus that was not present before the ritual. This was actually on my desk for further study once we returned from the Karnack, but I never got to it then.
Meyers: Response
Luxa listened intently, and made notes on her PADD as the officers spoke.
Bancroft: Based on that, would we then say this may account—at least in part—for Lieutenant Imril’s ability to communicate with us, where the others cannot? ::turning to Jaran:: For clarity, Doctor – were you subjected to the same intervention?
Lorana: And you say these were crystals? Do we have a sample?
Jaran: I was not subjected to the ritual myself. I was merely present to take scans as it occurred. All the raw data is in the ship's computer, should you want to take a closer look. I do know that the civilian scientist on board, Samantha Richards, had been studying the crystals closely, so I am certain there is a sample onboard somewhere.
Meyers/Imril: Response
Bancroft: That may represent a point of convergence – one we could leverage to deploy Commander Lorana’s therapies more effectively.
Lorana: I was thinking the same thing. I'd be interested in seeing the molecular construction of those crystals.
Jira chuckled lightly.
Jaran: Knowing Sam, there's probably one hidden somewhere in Sickbay.
Meyers/Imril/Bancroft: Response
Luxa made her way to the console, along with Bancroft and the others.
Lorana: So, how open would the Boraxians be in sharing their information?
Jira looked at the others. This was out of their realm of expertise.
Meyers/Imril/Bancroft: Response
Lorana: Oh, so not very willing to share. Zealots are tricky :: looks to Imril :: We should run a full biomolecular scan. Whatever effect the Boraxian crystals may have had must still be present within their Bactrican DNA.
Jaran: If I may, I would like to perform this scan, in the interest of limiting the number of variable factors.
Meyers/Imril/Bancroft: Response
Jira crossed to the biobed and patted the cushion.
Jaran: Lt. Imril, if you would be so kind?
Imril/Meyers/Bancroft: Response
A full biomolecular scan was more than Jira had performed previously. They'd been focused on the effects of the crystal on the brain and had not paid much attention to the rest of the body. But it was the right call, with their current situation.
As Imril settled themself, Jira extended the scanning equipment from the sides of the biobed and watched as it arched over them.
Jaran: Please try to stay as still as possible, Lieutenant. This is a very delicate scan.
Imril/Meyers/Bancroft: Response
Jira tapped at the console and watched as data flooded the display over the patient. There was too much data to make any sense of at the moment, but they would be able to filter it when the scan had finished. A moment later, and it was complete.
Jira retracted the arch over the biobed, and pulled up the scan of Imril's brain next to the scan from the Boraxian mission. Jira went silent for a moment with what they saw.
Jaran: ::hesitantly:: This can't be right. What I saw in the hypothalamus can't have caused this. Can it?
Imril/Meyers/Bancroft: Response
Tags/TBC