Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Leah Hart (Nurse Practitioner/Counseling) in Main Sim: Sickbay - NE Piccolo Surgery

Posted by Gamemaster Pelican (GM) in Main Sim: Sickbay - NE Piccolo Surgery

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Leah Hart (Nurse Practitioner/Counseling) in Main Sim: Sickbay - NE Piccolo Surgery
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
OOC: This is the GM, trying to finish out this sim.

Posted by… suppressed (16) by the Post Ghost! 👻

SNIP

Piccolo furrowed her brow and bit her lip. She kept her eyes open, but this wasn’t like she was trying to look at an image - it was like she was trying to force herself to see backwards in her head.

“I had a weird thought when I first saw him, something like, ‘Why isn’t he using any voice commands with the computer terminal?’ We talk to the computer all the time, so for someone to be working on one without any voice interface use seemed… old-timey. Like something my great-grandfather would have found comfortable on an NX or a Daedalus.”

Pelican, GM
USS Sentinel

Leah nodded. “That might be useful, thank you Ensign.” She leaned over and read over the results, her mind immediately processing some of the implications, or at least the stories her brain wanted to create about the information. “We’re just going to run a more in-depth scan to make sure everything is good after surgery. All you need to do now is rest,” Hart said as she initiated the full scan.

~Leah Hart, NP

Bump

Looking at the results, Kreed’s black eyes stared for a moment. He then looked at Hart and said “I’m concerned about a few of these results.” He then looked at Piccolo. “Go ahead and relax. You are going to be just fine, but I just need to run another scan. That should tell us a bit more.”

Kreed, CMO

Bumps

Bump

OOC: I am not sure what all you are looking for, sonlet me know if I miss anything.

IC:
The scans came back confirming the stimulant in Piccolo’s system. Indications showed that she had been taking it for some time.

Results on her genetics were the same. 8 generations back she had Vulcan ancestry.

While Kreed and Hart did scans, Nurse Shrine had been monitoring the quarantine progress. She appeared at the door. “Dr. Kreed. Quarantine protocols are in place and teams are ready at your word to proceed through the decks.”

EvilJen, DDoSFEO

OOC: We already knew her ancestry went back 8 generations but the bloodwork itself was supposed to reveal ‘quite a bit’. Is there more to know there?

Despite her impeccable poker face, Leah’s body tensed. The quarantine itself wasn’t the problem, but the deception was. It just wasn’t in her nature. She pushed it aside and gave nodded to the nurse as she cross-referenced Piccolo’s medical record to see who had prescribed the stimulant.

~Leah Hart, NP

The blood work information, beyond the indication of seemingly Vulcan ancestry farther back than should be possible, and the chemicals in her system, also revealed how the chemicals were interacting with her body. It seemed to be actively suppressing the affects of the latent Vulcan genetics, as the chemicals were specifically linking with the copper-based hemoglobin and other Vulcan-specific blood proteins. Additionally, there were hormones present that, in Vulcans, was normally a seven-year cycle, but seemed to simply be a baseline for NE Piccolo.

The full body scan revealed other indications of what the system was indicating as distant Vulcan heritage, in spite of the fact that it should have been impossible - higher bone and muscle density, minor differences in major organ placement (albeit not the complete transposition of the human locations of the heart and the liver as in Vulcan-Human hybrids), and slightly different cartilage and bone structure formation. One aspect of her bone structure that didn’t quite line up with Vulcan or human physiology - her brow seemed to be denser than the rest of her skull.

Meanwhile, Nurse Shrine noticed Hart’s physical demeanor change, but Shrine didn’t interpret the event entirely correctly.

“I trust that this quarantine will reveal that there was little cause for concern, at least for anyone on board, Lieutenant,” Nurse Shrine said. “I have been through two quarantines before, and those affected were a minimal number in both cases.”

Pelican, GM
USS Sentinel

“I’ve been through quarantines too,” Leah said calmly.

Leah looked over the results and none of it made sense. And then it did. Her eyes widened and Hart stepped to the side and then to a nearby part of Sickbay, grabbing something from the emergency supplies.

[O] Asam to security, medical, and Alden. Deck 8, junction 29. Our quarry is there now. Attempting to bypass the comm lock down. He’s wearing an environmental suit.[C]

Cpt. Asam, CO

OOC: If I’m right, do I get cookies for this? Otherwise, Leah’s getting a reprimand.
IC:

Leah stepped back, her gaze utterly serious. She lifted her hand and had a phaser in her hand that she aimed at Piccolo. “Don’t move, Ensign Piccolo, not that that is your real name.” She didn’t look at Kreed, though she addressed him. “Vulcan ancestry a hell of a long way back, bioreading peculiarities, and signs of facial surgery all tells me that we likely have a Romulan spy with us. Which makes our quarry elsewhere either an accomplice or someone trying to stop our real intruder.”

~Leah Hart, NP

OOC: Right ballpark, but you’re in the stands, not the field. No facial surgery, just a denser forehead bone - Hart rushed a bit to conclusions there.
IC:
Piccolo’s eyes went wide at the phaser. A Romulan spy… her family had warned her to do everything she could to spoof the scans. She had taken copper supplements on days for her regular medical exams, made sure to avoid injuries, and did everything she could to disguise her ancient heritage. She had never heard of or seen the human movie Gattaca, but her routines were similar, with a similar nature - to hide any trace that she wasn’t exactly who she said she was. Now that the Lieutenant had revealed the nature of her attacker, Piccolo was even more upset. The attack felt targeted - but if so, why was she alive?

“No, nurse, I am very much not a Romulan spy,” NE Piccolo said, trying to do nothing that would result in Hart discharging the weapon. “I have two Romulan ancestors who came to Earth in the twentieth century, as a way to escape from a Romulan government who wrongly accused them of treason. A courier service delivered them to the surface, where they altered their appearances and lived quiet lives in Thailand. My direct ancestor was born there, immigrated to the United States, and, using Romulan technology, had two human children with an Italian American immigrant who only became aware of his wife’s true history later in life.”

Piccolo shifted slightly, but she made it clear that she was adjusting her posture, not making an attempt to leave the bed.

“It’s a family secret we’ve been keeping for a while, and our family has been accepting refugees from the Star Empire since before the interstellar war a century ago. My great uncle, may he rest in peace, married a Romulan refugee disguised as a Vulcan - who has also since passed, so don’t get any ideas about contacting Starfleet security. My cousins by that union are quite content as Federation citizens. Believe what you will about Romulans in general - and I assure you, much of what is believed is accurate - but I am a loyal Federation. Romulans whose government have marked them as pariahs view Earth, and human society, as a safe haven where they would have none elsewhere.”

Piccolo leaned back and let out a sigh.

“If there is a Romulan spy on board, I can only assume that he’s trying to find people like me - or my ancestors - in order to complete the mission that the Star Empire has currently established - the permanent elimination of political dissidents.”

Pelican, GM
USS Sentinel

Leah digested the story with a nod. She believed her, and Leah wasn’t easily fooled. She lowered the weapon, though kept it in hand for the time being. Who knew if she would end up needing it. “I appreciate your candor, and I apologize for the… overreaction, though I think you can understand my concern. It sounds like our intruder is being dealt with, and I will say that you are very safe here.” Hart was actually pretty good with a weapon and had surpassed all the benchmarks in her training.

~Leah Hart, NP

Bump

Piccolo nodded. “Honestly, I can’t blame you for being cautious with an actual Romulan intruder on board. Hopefully you can keep what I’ve shared here in confidence; I know this isn’t exactly related to my medical situation, so doctor-patient confidentiality might not apply.”

“It’s no ones business but your own, under the circumstances, but I can’t promise what the uppers will say or do,” Leah said.

At that moment, a message came through the communications channels. [O]NE Chambers to Lieutenant Kreed. We’ve begun the scans for the quarantine, and included the scans you’ve requested, but we’re finding some weird readings. I’ve coordinated with the other scanning crews, and we seem to have all encountered at least one similar anomalous reading. Request to bring the findings to you in spite of Sickbay being closed off for the moment.[C]

Pelican, GM
USS Sentinel

[o] Hart here. I’ll meet you at the entrance and we’ll do special protocols, but yes, bring the information and chime Sickbay/ I’ll let you in and we’ll go from there. Sickbay out.[C]

Leah went and donned a rebreather to protect her and kep up the pretence, and then went to Sickbay entrance.

~Leah Hart, NP

The chime came to the door, and scanners at the door verified that NE Chambers was waiting, in full quarantine gear.

She opened the door and let him step in but no farther than to allow the door to close.

Chambers came in carrying multiple hand-held data devices. He looked and said, “I didn’t want to put these over the mainframe just yet, in case you have an explanation for the anomalies. But it seems like about one in every twenty of the human crew shows Vulcan ancestry that shouldn’t be possible. That, and we’ve got some… irregular cranial structures on three of our Vulcan crew.” Chambers paused for a second. “Does this virus mess up blood chemistry or tricorder readings? If so, we’ve got a pretty bad outbreak on our hands, even if the infection rate is the more worrying part of this virus instead of the symptoms.”

Pelican, GM
USS Sentinel

Leah took the PADDs and frowned. “That is rather unusual. I can’t so for sure about anything until we analyze the data, but thank you for bringing this to us. It might help us figure out the situation.”

With a nod, she let Chalmers leave and then returned to Kreed. “None of this makes sense,” she whispered to him as she gestured with her head towards his office. She gave a reassuring smile to Piccolo. “I’ll you’ll excuse us, Ensign, we just need to confer about something.”

Leah went and made herself comfy on the guest side of Kreed’s desk and looked over the devices, spreading them out so they could both see them at the same time. “If Piccolo has Romulan ancestry and admitted to it, then what about everyone? The cranial changes we’re seeing elsewhere don’t make sense for a Vulcan. We’re missing something here.”

~Leah Hart, NP

Bump for the CMO

Pelican, GM
USS Sentinel