RP Log: First Do No Harm
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| 2022-08-23 21:29 | |
Nolan is leaning up against the bulkhead of the Recovery Ward, one foot on the wall, surveying the room and Coil's bioreadings with drooped antennae and the start of bags under his eyes.
Sawyer comes in. "Nolan, got a second?" Sawyer asks quietly. he jerks a thumb at the door.
Nolan turns his head to Sawyer, nodding lightly and pushing himself off the wall, heading out with Sawyer.
As the pair arrive in Nolan's office, Sawyer spins on his heel, waving a pad, gesticulating furiously with it. "Have you seen this? Have you seen this unmitigated horseshit!"
"I have, yeah" Nolan nods. "I would agree with that assessment as well" The Hybrid replies, not nearly matching the doctor's conviction.
"Dammit!" The other doctor starts to pace. "Tell me T'Shaav isn't gonna go along with this."
"The Captain..." Nolan starts, thinking. "She appreciates Coil. She wants him to live. She's impressed upon me the urgency this deserves but past that... It's an order from on high to take him home. I don't know Phil" as the blue-skinned one continues, a little bit of emotion starts to swell in his voice.
Sawyer nods. "Dammit! They should be healing him. And this is a death sentence."
Nolan's face twists up into some mix between remorse and rage, not seeming to settle on anything. "Healing, healing..." Nolan leans and thumps his fists on the wall. "Yeah, they should be healing him, but why can't we? I mean, doesn't biology just... work? Sure something get put out of order, you get a few redundant organs now and again, but in the end doesn't it all add up the same?" The Andorian angrily muses.
"It's complex biology, at least," he says. "But yeah, every puzzle has a solution, Nolan. Every puzzle has a solution."
The Hybrid draws breath for at least a minute before resetting his posture. "It's zero hour. At best, we have as long as the Captain can stall, at worst, we have the transit time to Trill, and we've only got time to implement ONE treatment, realistically. So we have to take the right amount of time to administer the right one the first time. Is that your assessment Doctor?"
Sawyer logs into the system." Well I'm pretty damned sure it's not toxicity. I think it's the symbiont still imbalanced, being drawn upon. But we need to isolate what proteins or nucleic acids are out of kilter. Dammit!"
Nolan leans over Sawyer's shoulder to view the single terminal. "Coil isn't poisoning Kellen, that's evident in Kellen not getting sick or dying" He says, eyes darting across the screen as data flows over rapidly. "But there's got to be some sort of evidence in Kellen that... Hey hey hey, what's that?" Nolan stabs a finger on the display, halting it. "This sequence of molocules, why is that repeating over and over?" Nolan tilts his head. "It looks like ATP, or some variant..."
Sawyer swears. "Looks like it's some kinda biological recursive loop. Look at that." he hits a few more keys. "Now look at these readings from Ryu. See? Nothing quite like that. So ... Coil isn't getting something he should. Or keeping something he should"
"Or both? What if... What if it's not just a one way connection?" Nolan starts. "I've been so focused on the nutrient side of biology, I forgot the waste side. Coil is an organism and must produce waste. So what if.... what if the symbiotic connection relies on a trade of nutrients for waste? A handshake. We've been exploring the idea of the connection being run into reverse, what if... what if Kellen backfed waste into Coil?"
"Kellen shitting on Coil," Sawyer says. "Don't tell him I said that."
"To be coloquial" Nolan tilts his head. "Okay, fine, but how do we get the connection to go back straight without working on Coil directly? We have to do it by changing Kellen's parameters"
"Breaking the recursive loop in the right way. If we're right," he says.
"Okay... okay" Nolan leans, back giving Phil a little breathing room. "This is going to sound terrible and I hope it leads somewhere less terrible but... Is there a way... to systematically..." Nolan seems to strugle for words before sighing. "To poison Kellen in such a way that Coil has to step in and perform it's symbiotic function?"
Sawyer gapes. "Damn ... damn. First do no harm, DOctor," he says. "First, do no harm. I hear where you're coming from, but maybe we might ought not to go there."
"You know that's not what I meant" Nolan replies before wiping his face with his hand. "I'm not going to stray into witch doctor territory, I'm not... I just don't know how else to put it... Yeah no, that's not.. Ugh" The Hybrid sighs. "Trying to come at this in some way to get Coil to initiate nominal function, that's what I mean. Words. Shit"
Sawyer nods. "I hear ya," he says. "I respect what you're saying, but I think we should hold off on ... how to say, tryin' to shock Coil into performing. Let's see if our analysis gives us another key point."
Nolan nods and keeps his mouth shut for a moment, letting the air clear. He nods to Sawyer in an understanding gesture of junior to senior. "First do no harm. Let's find something different"