Ensign Ada Yorke - Spreading Tensions

[AlexQret]

((Great Hall, Storyhearth, Kurmishoi Sector, Hixoraa))

Doctor: ::smiling:: How can I assist?

Semara: We were hopin' you might tell us a little more about the disease you're treatin'. Doctor?

Kmett:  Do you know how the illness originated? 

Doctor: I am not sure... The disease has appeared only relatively recently, and researchers are still reluctant to investigate the epicenter of the epidemic. Still, I am fairly certain that the origin of the disease is still unknown.

The Emisan doctor reasonably was not sure of the actual origin of the disease, which only added to Ada's growing worries about how the disease was going to affect her. At that moment, she could do nothing except staying silent and listening to whatever Semara and Kmett had to say, hoping that useful insights about the pathogen would be discovered.

Semara: Okay, what do y'all know then?

Kmett: Interesting... ::Warr said thoughtfully, clearly intrigued by what he had just learned.::

Doctor: ::nodding:: A spillover is possible. The fauna of Hixoraa is still being documented... ::brief pause:: It is not unlikely a pathogen that previously affected animals managed to develop the right traits to thrive at our expense.

Semara: Alright, this is a lotta conjecture.  What do y'all know?  I ain't interested in possibilities, maybes, conjectures, or any other wiggle-word.  :: Beat :: Let's start with this: is it a virus or ain't it?  Will an anti-viral help?

Ada was a bit surprised by the sudden burst of sternness coming from Semara. It was clear that the doctor was simply trying to be as helpful as he could, despite the limited amounts of information in his possession. She kept her mouth silent, looking down at the ground as if she was trying to force herself to focus on the words, rather than getting distracted by any kind of visual cue happening in the background.

Kmett: Exactly. Is it actually a virus, or not? It would be interesting to know that from the outset. Surely your medical analyses should have been able to tell you that by now. 

Doctor: I... :: Hesitating :: I don't know.  :: Beat :: That is, we have tried anti-virals.  They work to beat back the infection - blood work comes back negative after a standard course of treatment. Patients stay symptom-free for two or three days.

Semara: And then?

Doctor: Symptoms come back much worse.  So now we're trying to manage the symptoms and patient comfort and let the body fight it off.

Anti-virals would only manage to give Ada a few days of freedom from the symptoms, before she'd end up facing a resurgence of the infection that would knock her out completely. She exchanged glances with Amelia, knowing that she would eventually need to make a choice: on one hand, she would have some time free from the infection; on the other hand, she could simply endure the infection through pain-killers until the Khitomer would return, allowing her to be teleported to the Sickbay for treatment.

Kmett: The symptoms come back much worse... So the treatment isn't actually addressing the underlying problem. ::Kmett said, thinking aloud as he studied the readings.:: 

Yorke: I... ::squeezing her forehead:: What is even going on...

Semara: This ain't makin' sense.  If it's possible to kill off the virus, how's the disease still there?

Doctor: :: Tail slumping :: We don't know. It's almost like... There's something we can't see hiding inside the virus we can.  It's like the virus we're treating is only a secondary infection to whatever the real thing is.

The doctor was suggesting that the disease wasn't actually a single pathogen, rather another type of entity that exploited a virus to infiltrate one's body and spread more easily. This would explain why Ada was the only one who had contracted the infection, knowing that she'd apparently already been suffering some kind of flu at its first developing stage, when she had arrived to the Khitomer.

Kmett: So what we've been calling a virus isn't actually a virus at all, but rather a physical transformation taking place within the affected individuals. That would explain why the condition doesn't simply go away. Something is causing a structural change in their bodies, and what we initially interpreted as an infection may actually be the result of that change. ::Kmett said at half volume, thinking aloud.::

Yorke: What...?

Semara: Doctor...  We're hopin' to learn as much as we can 'bout this disease... both for you, and for us.  Is there anything you ain't said we should know?

The doctor paused for a moment, perhaps pondering if he should answer the question at all, or maybe trying to locate the most relevant piece of information in his mind.

Doctor: It's just that... :: Beat :: The disease.  It reminds me of the story of the Shollifu.

Kmett: The story of the Shollifu? What does that mean, Doctor? ::Kmett asked with  genuine interest, buying himself a little time to think about the virus—or whatever it actually was.::

Doctor: It's kind of an old story. The Shollifu were a small community of... ::beat:: You could call them explorers. Around forty years ago, before we relocated to this planet, they had decided to venture inside some kind of forest, which was known to be very dense. At the time, people considered that particular forest to be haunted by dark spirits, though the Shollifu were not letting themselves be scared off by what they believed to be superstitions. The group went on this expedition, disappeared for a full week, and then came back sick with something never before seen.

Ada stared at the man, who seemed quite concentrated while he was telling this seemingly disconnected story. Perhaps he was attempting to calm himself by focusing on not letting any detail slip, though most likely he was merely reciting whatever came to his mind at that moment.

Kmett: I don't quite understand this. Do you think it might be connected to the condition we're dealing with now?

Doctor: ::clearing his throat:: At first the doctors thought they had simply been bitten by some wild creatures. However, based on the Shollifu's testimonies, inside of the forest they had encountered remains of past Emisans who had tried to venture inside, without bite marks or other signs of any kind. The explorers had survived because they didn't manage to lose themselves in the deep foliage, but they still ended up being exposed. Upon further analysis, it was discovered that a strange type of virus was attacking a common bacteria known for releasing chemicals whenever it felt attacked. Those substances were mostly harmless to the population, except that the virus had managed to alter their composition, rendering them dangerous.

Despite having dissociated for practically the entirety of the conversation, Ada was starting to feel intrigued in the Doctor's story. Still, she was doing everything in her power to maintain her thoughts on anything except her symptoms, so naturally she'd try to feel as engaged as she could in whatever the doctor had to say.

Yorke: So the virus hijacked the bacteria and turned them into millions of tiny time bombs... ::sneeze::

Semara: Response

Kmett: But the condition seems to be much older than what you're telling us now, even though you're describing it as something relatively recent. If I'm not mistaken, Kael confirmed that as well. He seemed to believe this was a very old condition...

Doctor: I am not fully informed on the history of this disease. Perhaps it existed before, I do not know. What I'm certain of is that the disease has spread exponentially, and it is crushing our hospitals.

Ada sympathized with the doctor's lack of information regarding the infection. After all, he was just an ordinary doctor: researching the disease and providing a cure was not his primary duty. That would be an issue reserved to the researchers.

Semara: Response

Kmett: I think we should run some tests on a few patients chosen at random. Quickly. It would give us our own picture of what's happening, based more directly on the evidence in front of us. ::Kmett glanced at the others, clearly becoming more concerned.:: I'm not sure how much this doctor really understands about what's happening, or whether they're too personally involved in the situation. There's still something we need to clarify. It's simply the idea that makes the most sense to me right now. If anyone has another suggestion, please say it. Preferably soon. I have the feeling we're running short on time. ::Kmett said, slightly hurried, his medical concern becoming increasingly difficult to hide.::

The doctor seemed to be visibly offended by Kmett's words, judging by his expression as well as the brief movement of his tail, hiding behind his back. Ada was surprised about the Bolian's sudden harshness towards the Emisan, which she considered to be completely unnecessary considering the situation. 

Doctor: ::looking at Kmett with an annoyed expression:: I suppose it can be done. And forgive me if the information I have is not useful to you, but as you can probably see us doctors are currently swarmed with patients to cure.

Sensing that the doctor's words carried some malice with them, Ada felt like she had to intervene to prevent further escalations, so she stood up despite her headache and extended her hands in a gesture meant to represent reconciliation, while casually directing the conversation back to the patients.

Yorke: ::briefly glaring at Kmett before facing the doctor with gentle eyes:: I assume that the patients would need some level of reassurance before being subjected to our tests. Isn't it preferable to talk to them first, doctor?

Doctor: If you prefer. Still, the patients would most likely agree to these tests without question. Other than spreading itself, the disease has spread fear into the population... ::brief pause:: Everyone would probably be more than willing to contribute to the creation of a cure themselves.

Yorke: Wonderful... Thank you for your time, doctor. I believe that's all for now...?

Ada glanced at Semara and Kmett, waiting for them to raise any other questions, though at that point she believed that the doctor had already given them enough information.

Semara/Kmett: Response

Ada nodded, sitting back down onto the chair as the doctor left the group to return to tending to the patients along with his colleagues. She stared at Kmett, still unsatisfied with the way he had handled the conversation with the doctor. While he had asked the right questions, he could have definitely picked a less accusatory tone. She stayed silent for a moment, pondering her next words carefully before a smirk formed in her face, perhaps hoping to downplay the tension.

Yorke: ::clapping her hands:: Ill-informed or not, the doctor told us everything he could... Is everyone on this planet etraordinarily friendly, or is it just my impression?

Semara/Kmett: Response

Tag/TBC

 

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Ensign Ada Yorke

Counselor

USS Khitomer

A240008HB3