Where Dignity and Medicine Cross

Posted on Thu May 4th, 2017 @ 9:18pm by Lieutenant Valeria Mordin & Lieutenant Sara'draphia T'eseri

Mission: The Trial of Cor Cordale
Location: Primary Medical
Timeline: After the senior staff meeting

The door to Sickbay opened with a swish, and the Assistant Science officer made her way in. For someone who was told to get a shot and then expect hallucinatory side effects, she didn't seem all too overly concerned. "Hello." she greeted the nurse on duty, "Valeria Mordin, assistant sciences, I'm reporting for an inoculation prior to joining the away team." she informed the nurse. "I've been warned that there are side effects." she continued to be informative.

"Where should I go for the procedure?"

"If you could wait over there on one of the biobeds lieutenant, Dr T'eseri will be with you in a few moments" the nurse replied, motioning to an empty biobed.

"Certainly, and thank you." the rabbitess replied with a nod as she made her way to the indicated biobed and took a seat upon it. She was the model of patience.

Walking into the room, Sara moved over to her new patient, "so than Lieutenant, you're here for the inoculation?" She asked rhetorically, looking the woman over. She'd never seen a species quite like hers before. "Well as I did not account for your species, it will take me a few moments to make another injection for you. In the meantime, why don't you tell me about yourself. Any medical conditions I should know about?"

"It's quite alright." Valeria said, excusing the doctor from any perceived slight, "And I presume that I'm far from the first, and possibly far from the last." she mentioned with a smirk.

"Please, take your time. We have plenty of time left before we arrive." she said with a touch of humor. Perhaps to lighten the mood. "As a species, Ts'usugi fair better in temperate climates and dislike warm, dry, arid regions. Our hearing is better than average, but we live in slightly lower lighting conditions, so the average Ts'usugi would find the lights of a Federation cruiser a little too bright until they adjusted."

"Our bone structure carries a crystalline lattice pattern to it, specifically in the skull, so if the inoculation needs to bond to calcium to remain effective, you may need to account for that in your delivery system." a pause, "As a person, I enjoy long walks in grassy fields. I like flowers but not as gifts, and I spend my spare time reading and educating myself when I'm not engaged in other personal activity." a soft smirk. "Medically I consider myself fit. No allergies to speak of, no current illnesses or conditions."

"Well that's good to know" Sara said, completing her modifications to the serum. Turning around, Sara smiled, "okay, if you could please lay down, I will inject the serum and you can have some fun for an hour or so"

The rabbitess did as instructed, laying down comfortably on the biobed. She wore a soft smirk on her features, "How bad have some of the reactions been?" she asked, to gauge how badly things would go for her. Truth said, as a Ts'usugi the previous reactions were no real indication of how she's react, it was most idle professional curiosity.

"I'm not allowed to discuss other patients with you. Don't worry you'll be fine" Sara answered with a kind smile, "my staff are more than qualified to handle anything that may arise"

Valeria gave an understanding nod, "Of course. I shouldn't have pried." a pause, before she gave a nod, "I'm prepared."

Giving a nod, Sara picked up the hypospray containing the modified Serum, stepped over to Valeria's side and gave her the injection, keeping a close eye on her vitals in the mean time. From what she'd seen thus far, the hallucinations seem to be of old friends or old memories that the patient has yet to emotionally deal with.

Valeria wasn't certain what to expect, but if it was anything like Kevin's reaction, she was glad that there'd be no one around to witness her...

'You left me behind on Signus Proxima' a voice, barely a hoarse whisper, rattled out to her. Turning her attention to the source of the voice, she was surprised to see herself standing there, though thinner. Actually approaching emaciated. Her fur was a shade darker, and while her eyes normally didn't reflect light, the eyes of the Valeria that stood before her seemed more like dark pits than endless pools.

'You left me behind on Starbase 17' another voice came, and another Valeria stood there. Slightly better in physical condition, but certainly not as...

'You left me behind on Helliax Four.' came another, 'You left me behind on the Voletann Research Station.' yet another, each in different states of disarray. From simply disheveled to almost corpse like. 'You left me behind at the Academy.'

Valeria's face went from idle curiosity to disgust to concern and then took the express train to horror as more and more duplicates of herself in various states of decomposition began to filter into the room. Through every window, through every open door, through every looking glass she saw more of herself. Watching, waiting, and proclaiming their point of abandonment. Even through the view port into the vast emptiness of space, she thought she spied a duplicate of herself floating past the window, soundlessly mouthing where she was left behind.

'You left me behind on the Victory' said the latest arrival. Behind that Valeria was another, and another, and another... 'You left me behind on the Victory', 'You left me behind on the Victory', 'You left me behind on the Victory'. It was a mantra almost, as the majority of her mirrors stated their point of abandonment was the Victory. Some seemed very much well and alive. Others were borderline rotting corpses.

Valeria went wide eyed as more and more specters filled the room, visions of a taboo horror that only she could see. Her pulse raced, higher than the already elevated rate that was considered Normal for the Ts'usugi. "D... doctor?" she whispered, almost afraid to fully speak for fear of being heard by ghosts of her abandoned selves.

Her grip on the edges of the biobed was almost white-knuckle level of intensity as more and more ghosts filled the room. Her rational mind knew these weren't actually here. Though, at the moment her rational mind was on something of a holiday. The most recent specter entered the room, wearing a white dress of Earth design. Like some form of wedding dress, or at least a very fancy outfit. This variant of herself looked splendid, vibrant and alive. Its glance turned to Valeria on the biobed.

'I left you behind at Niron Five.'

Valeria clenched her eyes tight, and turned her head to avoid showing to anyone that she was on the verge of tears. Though, her vitals showed that she was on the verge of a panic attack. "M... make them go away. Please."

"I'm sorry Lieutenant, I don't know what could happen if I try to expedite the process" Sara said, keeping a close eye on Valeria's vitals. She was getting concerned about the higher than normal blood pressure and the increased neural activity, but neither were at the point of causing permanent harm yet, "you're going to have to face these illusions of your mind alone. I will be here beside you and you can be sure that I will act if the situation becomes urgent"

That seemed to help the rabbitess relax. Her glance was darting to and fro, focusing on various points in the room where nothing was. "For the record. the hallucinations have taken the form of various incarnations of myself." she said, ever the scientist, "Some are in various states of decay, others seem unharmed. One is pristine, wearing a dress intended for a wedding or a high profile social event."

"Each of them is declaring that I abandoned them, and then lists a location. The one in white declared that she abandoned me." a pause, "Many declare that I left them behind on the Victory, though..." and then she tensed up, as though realizing something.

"They're everytime I was transported somewhere."

"Hmm, interesting" Sara said, "it sounds like your subconscious mind has created these persona's to represent a fear of the Transporter. Why do you think that is?"

"Cultural stigma. We frown upon the usage of transmat devices on Ts'usugi except in the case of an emergency." Valeria started, "Our science has yet to conclusively prove if transmat technology moves the original, or duplicates the original via quantum teleportation and then destroys the original to allow the duplicate the exist."

"That, mixed with the reports even from Federation sciences of the non-zero disaster rate of transporters, we decided to just use shuttles and physical transportation wherever we go. In the event that we go somewhere that DOES use transmat technology, we have the tests." a pause, "A random drawing of thirty two tests out of a pool of fifty. When I go home, I'll be subjected to the same thirty two tests as when I left. If the results match, it is satisfactory enough to declare that I am me, and not potentially..." a pause as she looked around, "One of them."

"I understand, cultural bias' can be difficult to overcome" Sara said returning to her scans, "if I may lieutenant, if you're culture has a bias against the use of transporter technology, why did you use it?"

"Because you do." her answer was direct and to the point. "Rather than force every action the Federation takes involving me to resolve with shuttles, we found it less intrusive to simply devise a series of random tests to determine if someone is who they started out as. The process, though, isn't streamlined enough to run on every citizen of the Empire, so we only use it in regards to citizens who are going to interact with a society that accepts the use of Transmat motion on sentient beings."

"Well I'm afraid I know very little about Federation procedures regarding such cases, but I can give you an exemption from using the transporter on medical grounds if you wish" Sara said, slightly fascinated by this fear of being someone else. Her people had experimented with transporter technology centuries ago and had gone through a similar ethical discussion, but over time the general feeling of the Nissari people came to be that the same person emerges from the other side of the transporter.

"I appreciate the offer, but for the moment it's a concern I should face with GAHHH..." the rabbitess recoiled for a moment, looking at a specter that only she could see. She caught her breath, and took a few deep breaths before continuing. "... The offer is appreciated, and if I feel the need, I'll take you up on that offer. I just don't want to be a burden."

"It's no burden Lieutenant, there have been many Starfleet officers who refused to use transporter technology. The famous Federation Doctor Dr Lenard McCoy often refused to use the Transporter and would instead chose to use a shuttle craft" Sara explained, "if you wish to talk about your fear, our chief councillor has an excellent reputation"

"I'll take the option of counseling under consideration." the rabbitess said, her breathing calming down a little. "I believe the worst of it is over. The room is clearing." a pause, a few more breaths. "With permission, I'd like to remain here for a few minutes just to catch my bearings, calm down a little as it were. I'd hate to be unpresentable to the crew."

"By all means, you are the first of your species I've ever encountered. It has given me some interesting scans to read over"

Valeria gave a smirk, "Thank you for finding me interesting." she said, amused. "I've been a member of my species my whole life. We're quite interesting."

OFF:

Lieutenant Sara T'eseri

&

Lieutenant Valeria Mordin