Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Assistant Chief Medical Officer) in The Line Between Who is Good and Who is Evil

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in The Line Between Who is Good and Who is Evil

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in The Line Between Who is Good and Who is Evil
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
With the completion of Eden’s Apple, Alexis had projects she to which she had to return. At the moment there was no work from science, medical, or R&D. What Alexis was working on now had been sent to her by Intel and it was tricky, delicate, and horrifying. It was a dual biological attack consisting of a Neurotoxin and a Mutagen. Alexis sat at her work station, that nifty little iso chip plugged into the computer access panel underneath, the visual and audio screens activated and pulled up the files. She had no samples, they were too dangerous to transport. Once she was ready to test against the actual thing she’d be sent out to the location where the samples were held and those affected were being cared for.

Neurotoxin:

The toxin is derived from the venom of the Elnachie, a vicious predator from the Tallma homeworld. It works by breaking down the victims nerves ending at a subatomic level. One at a time. This creates a constant and unimaginable pain as each nerve ending is burnt away. It is silicone based making it hard for most detoxins to work as they are usually not geared to treat silicon based materials. It has also been modified with a form of nano robots that attack any form of treatment. A fail safe put in to make sure those infected die horribly painful deaths.

The stronger a victim is the longer and more painful there eventually death is. The venom itself is dark green, almost black and is used to coat Tallma weapons. Anyone ever nicked with a weapon is subjected to the venom. Most die from the shock or their heart gives out from the pain.

Mutagen:

The Mutagen was created by Lortan Greevma on Acheron. It is the ultimate biological weapon. Those exposed are transformed at a psychological and physical level. Becoming faster, stronger and more durable. they also become completely loyal to their masters as each Victim has a master imprinted on them during their transformation. But they retain all their memories and abilities.

The process takes around six days however unconfirmed reports have stated that by the end of the battle it was only three days (They did shorten it to three days. 24 hours for each stage instead of 48).

Once the victim had been injected an anesthetic rendered them unconscious making it easier for them to be moved to a secure location. In the first 48 hours the body’s chemistry was altered and engrams placed into the subject’s brain. By the end of the 48 hours the subject was a willing servant. Then over the next 48hours the body’s physical changes began to manifest, the victim grew tail, horns, teeth and the eyes changed.

The last 48 hours, where the final stages as the changes became permanent and how the interior changes of the subject took effect, this stage also included the period where the subjects strength, stamina, resilience and endurance were increased. By the end of the process the victim became a fully formed Knighuant and the transformation was inevitable. the physical changes could be addressed but the mental changes were almost impossible.

The mutagen was going to be difficult. Alexis would need records, scans, and medical tests results before and after infection for every person, alive or dead, before she could begin to postulate ideas.

The neurotoxin however, now that she could attack. They had sent her the chemical composition and she pulled it up and the small ear buds, that she always wore in the lab, picked up the horrified gasp that quietly escaped. Then there were the nano-robots. Well they were susceptible to omicron radiation, and while that type of treatment was painful, it wasn’t deadly if damage was treated quickly, there was the possibility of programming another set of nanites to seek and destroy the ones attached to the toxin, a wolf in sheeps’ clothing, and then of course they had metal in them, and several metals could be collected through the correct form of magnatism. Transporters, that would be a quick answer. Seek out the foreign bodies, program the bio-filters, and then let the system do it’s work. Programming was not her area, though she was competent enough at it. She would have to see if Intel had access to someone as smart as her, but with computers.

And of course there was the silicone component. Mineral Spirits, Isopropyl Alcohol, and white vinegar all weakened or destroyed silicone. Alexis was already modifying an old fashioned dialysis machine to clean the blood that way. The damage done by the neuro toxin was a totally different matter. That could not be reversed if the toxin couldn’t be cleaned from the system.

Lt Bonner, medical research
(Idea and permission for Neurotixin and Mutagen by Nathan Derricutt)

The next afternoon Alexis was working chemistry equations, hundreds of them. If she was using old fashioned chalk and chalkboard she would have several labs filled with them by now. Her console beeped and she glanced at the screen and sighed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the isochip, ducked under her work station and plugged it in. =/\=GALEN initiate audio and visual security Omicron Protocol.=/\=

There was a pause as the visual and audio force fields shimmered to life around her work station. =/\=Omicron Protocol Initiated, Dr. Bonner.=/\=

=/\=Thank you GALEN=/\= Sometimes Alexis felt more comfortable with GALEN and the EMH and other holographic crew than she did with the other lab techs in R&D. She turned back to the screen and entered her security code. The connection was made and the image of a Romulan man appeared. He looked at her, huffed and leaned back in his chair. “You’re a child. And a human one at that.”

Alexis didn’t nod, blink, or respond in any way that the Romulan man was expecting, “And you’re an old man, and a Romulan at that. But I’ve been assured you are the foremost expert in nanotechnology.”

The man didn’t quite smirk, “Now what does a human…you don’t look old enough to be the foremost medical researcher…doctor need me for? I don’t work on bodies.”

“If you are only going to play games to appease your ego we are done here. You know what I need you for, and if you don’t, then you aren’t nearly smart enough to work on this project. I’ll find someone who is.”

To the Romulan’s shock, he totally believed Alexis and he also believed she wasn’t playing a game with him. He’d seen that look before, on himself in the mirror, many times. “No Dr Bonner, I will help you. I am Dr. Pindhak, and I apologize. I have heard your name. Your work on creating an antiviral for Terothka virus has made a huge difference for my people. I never knew a human could be so intensely driven. Tell me where you are Dr Bonner and what it is you hope I might be able to do.”

Alexis recognized the man was giving her a compliment, but she was unaffected by it. “I have been observing the neurotoxin and it appears to be a very straightforward thing to counteract, except for one thing. The toxin is paired with nanoprobes that are programmed to seek out and destroy anything that might be a cure. I am not a computer scientist nor an expert in nanotechnology. That means that the first thing we must do is neutralize the nanites. I am hypothesizing that we can use our own nanites to hack the ones for the toxin, like a Trojan horse. Then use our nanites to deliver an anti-toxin. But first we must get past the nanites.

Dr. Pindhak stared at her long and hard, “In theory it seems simple enough. Why has this not already been tried.” Alexis shrugged, “Battlefield medicine is not equipped to deal with such.” Pindhak tapped two fingers, alternating, against the top of his desk. “I have been sent samples and data. I will need time to review and see if your idea will work or come up with a different approach.” Alexis nodded, she understood, he would need to be thorough and need time to test it. “Thank you Dr Pindhak. I have several ideas for how to deal with the toxin itself but until the nanites are neutralized I can not move forward. I am,” Alexis wanted to be sincere because she was, but picking the correct term was tricky, “eager to prevent others from being murdered by this.” Pindhak nodded; he had lost a close friend to this neurotoxin. “I will contact you in a week.”

Bonner, Med Research

A week later Alexis received a recorded message from Dr. Pindhak. He could do the work, but the coding was going to take more time than they had hoped. The coding on the neurotoxin’s nanites was complicated and laced with pitfalls and traps. He assured her it was simple programming, but if he forgot to counter even 1 of the defensive lines of code then their plan would fail.

Two weeks after that Alexis spent an hour on the comm with Dr. Pindhak while he explained exactly what he had down and how it worked. They also discussed the design and fabrication of nanites that would be able to hold her antitoxin and then inject it into the neurotoxin.

Another week later the program Dr. Pindhak had developed was confirmed. It neutralized the nanites in the toxin. But after watching how the neurotoxin worked, Alexis realized they had another problem. “We can’t inject enough of the anti-toxin to counteract each molecule of neurotoxin. The nanites we inject need to be self replicating. Once injected they will have to replicate rapidly to quickly find the toxin and neutralize it.” Dr Pindhak nodded, “That can be done, but isn’t there a risk of complications from that many nanites in the system? If they continue to work after their objective is complete within the body?” Alexis tapped a stylus against her leg, nodding slowly. “That has happened…what about a type of self distruct protocol? After say…24 hours of not encountering any neurotoxin, the nanites break apart and then can be safely filtered out by the body’s natural systems through the renal system.” Dr. Pindhak’s angled brows drew together forming a deep V, “I believe it can be done. But it will take time to develop the programming correctly. I will begin right away.”

In the mean time with the ability to attack the toxin directly with the nanites neutralized, Alexis got to work on the actual anti-toxin.

Bonner, med research

Work to neutralize the neurotoxin went quickly, at first, there were so many possibilities to explore. Mineral Spirits, Isopropyl Alcohol, and white vinegar were all effective in neutralizing the silicone toxin outside of the body, but they couldn’t just be inserted into the blood stream, it wasn’t healthy for the patient. Well at least the Isopropyl Alcohol wasn’t. But Alexis now knew the toxin could be neutralized. It was difficult, the work all theoretical. Alexis adored theoretical work, exploring the possibilities, but she needed to know if it worked in actuality. That mean a lot of waiting. She had several version of an anti-toxin ready to test, but that couldn’t be done until Dr. Pindhak’s nanites were tested and proven to neutralize the nanites that carried and protected the neurotoxin. The neurotoxin was considered too dangerous to transport out. Once the nanites were considered a success, there was a lot of back and forth as she developed possibilities and waited for them to be tested. Then once the results of the test returned she had to make sure that they had synthesized the compound correctly. The work would go exponentially faster if she could work with the toxin in person, but Alexis was not going to tell anyone that. Intel would yank her off Ogawa before the thought was completely typed out. The last thing she wanted was to be yanked off the ship again.

Bonner

While Alexis awaited the final programming of the anti-toxin nanites, she spent days scouring over complete medical records of those affected by the mutagen. It was nasty and ugly and brutal. The victims weren’t even human anymore. Oh there were base traces of their DNA, but their genetic codes had been mutated to alter their chemical and biological functions, rewrite their neuroprocesses, and what looked like merged Alien DNA that wasn’t quite humanoid. Or maybe it was just the way the two merged together. She would have to do more in-depth analysis before she decided. A first glance at the stages showed that intervention with aggressive targeted antibodies would stop the mutagen from progressing. Gene transfer therapy had been used successfully since the 20th century to correct genetic diseases and fatal mutations. It was a sole part of Genetic medical manipulation that was allowed. She thought something similar, but much more aggressive would work into stage 2. However, stage 3 appeared to be irreversible. However, Alexis knew that anything that could be done could be reversed, eventually. The psychological harm was a whole other matter that Alexis wasn’t qualified to treat.

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO