themnemosyne | MED_J_O and MED_A

[ The video opens with a shot of Doctors Hilbert and Jiaoqiu seated in front of the camera. In the background is the pristine medical wing, a stack of tablets on one table. Jiaoqiu is the first to speak; his ever-present genial smile in place, and his tone pleasant. ]

Good morning, crew. As some of you may know, the crew that were active before us – may they rest in peace – did extensive research on the infection as they were suffering it, and that knowledge is classified to Medical staff. After some discussion, Doctor Hilbert and I decided that it was best for us to share that research with the crew.

[ In contrast, Hilbert has his ever-present frown and general attitude of ‘I would much rather be anywhere but here.’ Still, he pushes past the grumpiness to continue. ]

Some of you know basics, but best to have everyone on same page, yes? Infection of previous crew was rapid. Symptoms progressed quickly, in less than twenty four hours. Time between infection and death was forty hours maximum, nine hours minimum. Initial symptoms are hives and fever. Later symptoms include tumors and total organ failure.

The contagion started in the science labs, after the crew there had sampled dust and gasses from a nearby nebula. It took six days for the entire crew to be infected, and in the end, Doctor Devi ascertained the cause of the infection: an alien, amoeba-like lifeform.

[ Jiaoqiu pauses to let that sink in, his smile having turned a touch apologetic. ]

Doctor Devi was actually in the process of creating a vaccine. It was unfinished, but he still administered it to Captain Drake in the hopes that it would work, because his own symptoms were too far advanced.

Vaccine’s use was... partially effective. It stopped Captain from dying. Good news. But vaccine turned malignant aspect of tumors to symbiotic. It created feedback loop where virus and captain feed off of each other and tumors continue to grow. We have not seen Captain because he physically cannot leave Bridge, or even move in first place.

[ For the first time in the conversation, Hilbert’s grumpy exterior falters a bit. That is an objectively horrible fate and a brief grimace of something that might be worry flits across his face. Jiaoqiu's expression, too, betrays his ill-ease with the Captain's state; it's clear neither of them are happy about this, to say the least. ]

Rest assured, we will be continuing work on the vaccine to the best of our ability. For now, we can take comfort in the fact that the amoeba truly is contained, and current risk of infection for the crew is at zero. I've also been trying to work on solutions to be able to deliver medication to Captain Drake, but so far I've been unsuccessful. We'd welcome any input on that.

[ A bit too quickly, Hilbert continues with, ] Any useful input. Useless ideas or flights of fancy will be outright ignored. Now. Undoubtedly you have questions. Go ahead and ask them and Doctor Jiaoqiu and I will do best to answer.

Threaded | Flat

[That synched up with the information Hilbert had given him from before with a few more tidbits that were ... less than reassuring. In particular, the problem seemed to be that this space amoeba was an inhabitant of the nebula, which meant it was still out there.]

Right. I'm not going to be much use in helping get medication to the captain right now, so good luck with that rot.

But, something you said tickled my brain in a way that's a little nerve-wracking. You said it was nebula dust they sampled. What are the odds that we might accidentally sample more of that shit? We ARE still in the Nebula right now, after all.

[No suggestions or questions come in for a while, despite the fact that Rin almost certainly caught on to this message as soon as it was sent. They're busy having a Reaction to this that involves finding a spot as far from the wet labs as possible and maybe a little bit of mental screaming. Sure, the AI described the situation, clinically. Picturing the Captain trapped by some alien contamination is enough to get their leash giving a single worried beep anyway.

They're just... not going to focus on the painkillers bit. Not because Jiaoqiu's wrong, but because they really need to not talk about the pros and cons of a particular solution right now.]

Medical records include no symptoms involving irrational behavior, compulsive movement/action, actively seeking transmission to other crew members? L3TH3 mentioned only that infection had reached 100%. Access to crew cryostasis may or may not have been a rational action when faced with full loss of crew with a vaccine in development.

That's horrifying. Poor people, and the captain must be in such agony.
Thank you for sharing it with us, though.

You could add whatever medication you wanted into the oxygen supply for the bridge. I know a guy who can show you where the access point is.

[ The captain can't even move? That's worse than Wolfwood was imagining. They should have let him kill the poor man. ]

SEC_Z_Massani

SCI_R_0

ENG_V_Saverem

OPE_N_Wolfwood (text)