[video]

[greyaria]

[Emily isn't wearing the ugly blue jumpsuit. She is instead wearing ugly blue scrubs, and judging by the background, she's in the Infirmary. And she's smiling. Emily is always. Smiling.]

Is there anyone out there with an injury or chronic medical condition that was untreatable in your home universe? I have robotics lab and medical access now. Come on by and we'll see about sorting that out! Or just come by for a checkup! I don't discriminate!

[She should probably set expectations properly, huh? Her good cheer goes from disconcerting to almost normal as she adds her caveat.]

The equipment is, hmm, vintage and I don't promise I can fix everything, especially if your biochemistry is out there compared to humans, but it seems like I'm from the future [she makes wiggly finger gestures, which are apparently supposed to signal...something] relative to quite a few of you, so that's an extra few centuries of medical knowledge. Might as well put it to good use!

Comments

[tarnishedavenger]

Well, I always did enjoy being ahead of the curve.

[takenalive]

You just seem concerned about my presence.

[greyerrant]

[ Loken moves to keep Guts and Emily from falling into a tangled mess, rumbling. ]

You are under sedation. Try not to move so much, or all the doctor's ministrations may not work.

[garmr]

[Sorry Garv, he's paying too much attention to the fact that he's being GRABBED. The contact seems to flip a switch, going from hazy and calm to a panicked and furious burst of aggression.

Trying to muscle his way out of it is futile against Loken, but that's not going to stop him from struggling as hard as he can.]

Don't touch me..!

[He's uncoordinated - mostly a lot of undignified flailing and pulling, except for the single good punch he attempts to throw at his face. It would have absolutely floored any other medical staffer had they been there in his stead.]

[greyerrant]

[ Loken grunts, the punch smashing into his jaw and drawing a fair amount of blood from his mouth, and reels for a moment, not letting himself or Guts fall as he does so, then straightens and says. ] I'm sorry. I know you are intoxicated and afraid. But I am trying to help.

[greyaria]

[Emily, who lacks the reflexes of either an Astartes Captain or a medieval warrior, yelps in surprise when she realizes Loken is supporting her and also being punched, and she squirms in an attempt to get out of the fight before she needs to provide medical care for herself, too.

Then she notices Loken's blood. Loken's unnaturally red blood.]

Ooh! Do you have extra heme groups?

[garmr]

[Sorry?? Apology NOT ACCEPTED.

Guts is going to KEEP FIGHTING HIM, this time trying to get a headbutt in towards the bottom of his chin, clawing at Loken as if he might lose his life otherwise. He looks down at that damn hand with every intent to bite it until a wave of nausea sends his head swimming.

The struggling ceases for a moment while he doubles over, trying to regain what little sense he had. At least his punching hand is too busy clasping at his stomach to send another blow at his face.]

[greyerrant]

Sit. Down. [His chin gets knocked aside, and Loken blinks, fighting back a wave of desire to fight of his own. After a second of controlling himsel Loken will try to move him as gently but firmly as he can back to a gurney or table. ]

I think so, yes. You'd have to ask a techpriest to be sure but I know for certain our blood has been altered to carry fast clotting agents, and more oxygen than you might otherwise be able to carry.

[garmr]

[Guts is having a Not So Good time over by his corner. Once a gurney is within grasp he will support himself on it, bent over and taking in deep breaths. He is trying to keep his composure while he feels his stomach doing pirouetting kickflips. Fighting while half-anesthetized kind of sucks, it turns out.

Guess his plan to Kill Loken with his bare hands is going to be put on hold.]

[greyaria]

[Emily's sense of professional duty overrides her scientific curiosity, but just barely, and she tears herself away from staring at Loken's blood to go pick up the IV stand and roll it closer to it Guts.]

Guts, sweetie, it's okay. Captain Loken is my friend [for the purposes of talking down belligerent post-surgical patients, anyway] and he's helping me. Let's get you back to bed and your stomach will feel better.

[greyaria]

[Busted.]

We... [sigh] We just had an unprovoked war with an alien power where they attempted genocide. They were making a pretty good go of it, unfortunately.

[Sooooo she's a bit racist jumpy.]

I'm not used to non-human species that aren't trying to wipe us out.

[greyaria]

Heh. Well, I'll be happy to have a look! I do know a thing or two about the human genome.

[greyaria]

The scanner is over here. [Emily gestures towards a Star Trek-looking bed with a big ring around it.] Unfortunately, I'll need to use physical electrodes to test the nerve conduction, but if you're not experiencing any numbness or persistent pain, I'm not worried.

[wheyoftheadept]

"Those are the shocky things, right?" Saturday asks, hopping up on the bed and laying obediantly down on it. "Uh, let's see - the amputation happened about four weeks ago; the foot was force grown, rush job, reattached with surgical technique augmented-by-magic-mostly-to-encourage-reconnection-and-healing."

She is clearly doing her best to recit that last bit entirely verbatim, as much as she remembers. In case it's important.

"Anyway, just - lemme know what you need to know, I guess."

Like many people, she's not entirely comfortable at the doctor's. She does a good job of hiding it, though.

[takenalive]

It's not an unreasonable concern.

[Andalites were fully ready to condemn the human species to death to weaken the Yeerks, after all. He takes a moment, and then decides with a little thrill that in fact he's capable of holding some things back. No one here knows who he is, or a thing about his personal history! All they know is what he's told them.]

I owe humans and humanity my freedom. A parasitic slaver had me for decades before spearheading an invasion of Earth. It was humans who freed me, even though my face was worn by someone who hurt them dearly. That's a debt I'm not sure I could ever pay. It's to some specific individuals, but I'm better-disposed towards your people than to most.

[aleifr]

Never even heard the word before today.

[His eyes sweep across the assortment of instruments laid out on the table. He looks ... perplexed as his eyes turn to Grey.]

How does it work?

[greyaria]

Biology is the study of living things, and biochemistry is--well, we'll get to that. We were going to look at your epithelial cells, right?

[She doesn't wait for an answer, just turns to the bench and starts unwrapping the cotton swab.]

The microscopes over there [she nods at them] magnify whatever they're looking at, so you can see teeny, tiny things like cells. They're sort of like bricks that make up a house, except they make a life form.

[aleifr]

... I see.

[No he doesn't. Just about the only thing he understood was the analogy about bricks.]

[greyaria]

Open up!

[She's offering him the cotton swab.]

Rub it on the inside of your cheek and it will pick up some skin cells.

[aleifr]

[... Let him see if he's understanding this correctly.]

You want me to put that in my mouth?

[greyaria]

Don't worry! It's sterile!

[Do it for Science, Aleifr.]

[aleifr]

[... he doesn't know what the hell that means either, woman.

[But fine ... he'll reach out and accept the swab, examining it for a moment and briefly glancing at Grey in an effort to see if she's fucking with him ... but no. She doesn't strike him as that sort.

[So he'll open his mouth and gently rub the cotton head around on the inside of his cheek before offering it back to her.]

[greyaria]

Great!

[Emily takes the newly-moistened cotton swab over to the slide, rubs it against the surface, and adds a drop of methylene blue and a slide cover, grumbling to herself about antiques.

She clips the slide into one of the microscopes and turns it on. Bending down to the eyepieces, she adjusts the focus in and out, moves the slide slightly, and repeats.]

Okay, there we go! Have a look!

[Emily steps aside and gestures for Aleifr to have his turn looking at blue-dyed skin cells.]

If it's a bit blurry, this knob adjusts the focus.

[aleifr]

[Aleifr watches her do her business with a quiet curiosity, wondering at the purpose of it until she signals for him to inspect the strange little device on the desk.

[The desk clearly wasn't made with someone his size in mind. He has to just about double himself over to peer through the eyepiece, and when he does ...

[Well, he has a hard time parsing out just what exactly it is he's looking at.

[After a moment or two, he looks up from the microscope:]

Those were in my mouth?

[He looks concerned.]

[greyaria]

They are your mouth! Your body is made up of a whole lot of tiny cells like these.

[More or less. She's not getting into different cell types right now. Or how bones and teeth work.]

Don't worry, skin cells shed all the time, and they replace themselves quickly.