Snip-Saw of Doom

Cai slouched through to decon and now stood with us hands in his pockets, turning his ear pods over and over n his hand as he watched the adults wander around and try and deal with this mess.

Cai

When Tija suggested the two of them head to the main science lab, Grayson took several moments to consider the idea. On the one hand, they needed as much information as possible on what was happening to the crew if they were going to devise a strategy that was sound to address it, but on the other, she was concerned about splitting their focus and being separated from the main medical team where information was being disseminated and hypotheses were being formed. Still, nothing would be gained by too many people staying in one place. She was about to suggest they head to the lab with walker so that she could interview him to find additional clues when they were interrupted by the arrival of the XO. When Tija offered the psychiatrist and apologetic smile, Grayson waved it away mildly. She could hardly blame the doctor for attending to a patient in need or for jumping into action and requiring decontamination in the process. Besides, the delay had given her an opportunity to consider the information being discussed and to consider whether her original plan to interview walker for clues was still a wise one. Even as information was shared, however, Mariah still knew there were more questions than answers. Even if they could come up with a way to neutralize what they believed to be a fungal infection, they still weren’t sure how people became infected to begin with and whether there was a psychological component to its transmission.

Loudly enough to be understood, but not so loud that she would risk further agitating Walker in his confused state, Mariah offered, “I’m not sure simply getting rid of the fungus would solve our problems, even if we could get rid of it in mass quantities fairly easily. As Dr. Zeanar indicated, until we know how these are impacts are being transmitted, whether through physical contact of some sort or something psychological, we can’t be certain there won’t be a reoccurrence. Are we certain this fungus is the sole contributor to what we’re seeing or merely something that is amplifying the effects of some thing else?” Turning to Walker and Tija, but clearly addressing the group of medical officers as a whole, she said, “Might we head to the science lab to help this gentleman find what he lost and also have a chat along the way? I find talking to someone new, especially while under stress and looking for answers, to be most helpful.”

Lori: I like the idea of Tija and Mariah teaming up too. :-) As far as direction, I had no other intention but to see if they could get Brad talking about how long he’s known the queen and perhaps other details to try and understand how these symptoms are transmitted. My thought was, excepting the delusion as real would help keep him calm, but also perhaps provide clues as to how they became sick in the first place. Naturally, The medical team is focused on treating symptoms and using science to provide clues, but I was just thinking a lot of information can be gathered by talking to people who are affected. It was also my attempt at giving something Mariah to do to help that was familiar to her. Talking to people to get clues into their suffering is what she’s used to. :-)

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, Psychiatrist

“I’m not sure how much you will learn from talking to those infected. They seem to believe themselves to be characters from a child’s story about a Wonderful Land where hats and tea parties seem to be the norm.” She still wasn’t familiar enough with Alice in Wonderland to recall the details and the title was obscure enough to make her easily forget it as well. Science, she could grasp, fantasy and children’s books… well they were still a ridiculous enigma to her.

Jenyfer
Virologist

Feeling a tad bit more like herself, the XO was pondering the situation. “The mass delusion is an interesting feature. I’m not sure we’ll get to the bottom of it before we deal with the fungus itself.” It was weird not being able to sense anyone, though it wasn’t the first time she’d been in this position. “We have a list of potential patient zeros. And much of our security team is down. We can see if there are any of the Starbases’ officers unaffected but I think it’s time to gather a bit more information and do some wellness checks. I can’t help with the ventilation systems, but that is something I can do. With precautions of course. Are the rebreathers good enough or are full suits necessary do you think?” she asked the med team at large.

Commander Myqian, XO

“It appears to be contracted mostly through inhilation, however we decided on the suits because Cmdr. Walker vomited and we found traces of the spores in it. So it’s possible that the spores settle on surfaces, such as food or drink, and it is contracted that way as well. Rebreathers are essential, and the suit if it makes you more comfortable. Those who stay here to work on the fungis and a cure will stay suited up, since we are coming into deliberate direct contact with hit. We need to find, Mirro Neaxo - Female Betezoid Science Officer, Goslom Neazo - Her husband and Engineering officer, Zaran Werawas - male Bolian Security officer, Gilezila Werawas - His wife, and Telusaa - a female Orion merchant and get them here.” As she listed off the potential patient zero’s something clicked and she turned to Ever and the other psychology experts, “Orion Female. They can influence people around them with their pheromones. Could that be the source of our mass hallucination?”

Lt. Bonner, AMO

Dira was iffy on that and her expression said so. “It’s a stretch between inducing a feeling in someone and generating visuals in other beings. While some species are projective telepaths, Orions are not known to be psi-positive, and the way their pheromones affect different species varies. I don’t want to rule it out unless we can do so with more evidence, but I’m doubtful.”

Hands on hips, Myqian let her mind work through the problem. “I’m fine with the rebreather at the moment. I’m worried that a full suit might induce those feeling more paranoia into aggressive action. While getting our potential Patient Zeros here is ideal, I think moving people about the station is more problematic. Let’s split up and do wellness checks, run scans and see if any of these people are affected. As Doctor Grayson pointed out, we need more information and the more we can gather safely, the better. We have an anti-fungal ready, yes?”

Commander Myqian, XO

The anti-fungal that had served Oscar all those years ago worked perfectly. Or at least perfectly enough that the sample spores in the petri dish were fended off. It would make a good antifungal if it could be aerosolized and sent through the air ducts.

GM Wombat