snip

A second comm came in from the bridge,

=^= Corwin to Sickbay and Science. Lieutenant Gagnon has successfully generated a harmonic masking signal that appears to significantly reduce Lieutenant ch’Sorel’s discomfort without affecting communications or sensor telemetry. Uploading frequency profile and diagnostic data now for analysis. It may prove useful if additional crew begin exhibiting similar symptoms. =^=

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare

As the CMO was currently out of Sickbay the head Nurse finally answered the Bridge’s combs.

=^=Received Bridge, and understood. We will implement it down here. We have commenced studies on the harmonics effect on humanoid bodies.=^=

NE Nurse Sally

Nurse Sally acknowledged the bridge and turned immediately toward the medical station as the two data packages began populating the displays. Around her, the Sickbay staff resumed their work, comparing the incoming telemetry against the neurological scans already collected from personnel affected by Vey’lan’s harmonics.

The information from the bridge provided badly needed context. The harmonics surrounding Vey’lan were not simply an environmental phenomenon localized to the crystalline city. Lieutenant ch’Sorel’s work with Science had demonstrated that related harmonic patterns had been detected by the Merrimack well before reaching Vey’lan. Their strength and complexity had increased progressively during the ship’s approach, behaving more like overlapping waves than a conventional transmission. More recent analysis had substantially improved the predictive model, indicating that the phenomenon extended beyond Vey’lan itself.

That finding took on considerably greater significance when compared against Sickbay’s own records. The unusual neurological synchronization observed among several crew members followed relationships remarkably similar to the harmonic telemetry now arriving from Operations. The affected personnel were not displaying conventional radiation exposure, cellular damage, poisoning, or neurological trauma. Instead, their neural activity appeared to be responding to—or being drawn into synchronization with—the surrounding harmonic environment.

One of the medical technicians looked up from her station. “Nurse, Lieutenant Gagnon’s masking profile works.”

Sally crossed to the display. Tests against their accumulated neurological data suggested the masking signal was not simply useful for Lieutenant ch’Sorel. By introducing carefully controlled interference into the specific harmonic bands associated with his discomfort, the signal reduced the strength of the apparent interaction without disrupting ordinary communications or sensor operations.

More importantly, simulations suggested it might also reduce the neurological synchronization Sickbay had already witnessed. “Prepare the masking profile for medical use,” Sally ordered. “Do not activate it shipwide without authorization, but have it ready for individual patients.”

Another nurse transferred the latest findings into the medical log. The pieces were beginning to connect. The strange behavior experienced aboard ship, the neurological synchronization, the messages apparently delivered through affected crew members, Lieutenant ch’Sorel’s sensitivity, and the harmonic network surrounding Vey’lan could no longer reasonably be treated as unrelated incidents.

Whatever the Caretaker was—and whatever was now waking beneath Vey’lan—its influence appeared capable of propagating through the same harmonic environment the Merrimack had been encountering throughout its journey.

Sally looked toward the biobeds containing the most recently affected personnel before returning to the incoming telemetry. “Send our findings to the bridge and Lieutenant Grahams. Tell them Sickbay recommends continued neurological monitoring of the entire crew and immediate use of Lieutenant Gagnon’s masking profile if anyone develops headaches, disorientation, abnormal neural synchronization, or begins receiving messages.”

She paused. “And make certain the Captain’s medical telemetry from the Landing Party is included whenever we can get it. If he really is standing somewhere no living traveller has stood in a very long time, Doctor Grahams is going to want to know exactly what Vey’lan is doing to him.”

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare