Nitrogen-Based Discipline (mdu)

[Anonymous]

((OOC: Nifty! I'm in a TRIM thread with a med student! This helps because my latest biology teacher had no idea what she was doing. I'll reclaim the thread in Plots & Plans because That's What It's For.))

"No, sir." Tetra put his pen down momentarily and massaged his temple with his free hand. He is quite undernourished. A healthy subject could have shaken this off more easily. He  flipped to the next page on the notepad and scribbled "get the mage checked out," so he would remember. "The good news is, the antivirus should be done by this afternoon. The bad news is, I'm having you examined, and evaluated for health. If you're determined to be too undernourished, we'll have to use said antivirus, and spend a few weeks bringing you back up to standards—if you've ever been there in the first place, that is." He paused, and sighed. "That may not be such bad news for you, but it certainly is for me. The really bad news, for you, is, it'll feel just the same the second time around."

He paced around the room, nerves getting the better of him. The experiment itself may be running smoothly, but as a whole this is not going well at all. "Let me assure you," he said, as much out of nerves as the fact that Zelo was just... radiating fear, "you won't die. We wish nothing but the highest standards in physical health for our subjects... this is my fault." Your constant cowering isn't helping this at all, mage. If anything, it's freaking me out. He stared at Zelo, quickly developing a headache himself. He's been nothing but obedient to me, though. In the eyes of a Mordecai, his very existence is a punishable offense, but, for TRIM Geneticist Tetra Zarovia, I need a justifiable reason before I do something like that.

"I need to go arrange your examination, but I won't leave you totally miserable." Tetra knelt down in front of Zelo, still a head or two taller. "Take deep breaths," he said calmly. "Don't focus too hard on anything; it makes it worse." I learned that with the last subject. He was certifiably insane, and didn't have much of a problem with unfocusing his mind... except when I asked him to talk. "Let your thoughts wander, and just breathe. Okay?"

[Anonymous]

102379 understood little of what was happenning: he was going to be treated, the pain would go away and the experiment hadn't gone well. Thank you master, thank you. He had no idea if he had said it or whether he was conherent. He uncurled from the ball and tried thanking his master again. When he saw that his master was in front of him and very close, he panicked and shied away before realising what he had done and started apologising. His head hurted so much and everything was so cunfusing. All he could do was apologise and hope he wouldn't be punished for being a failure.

[Anonymous]

The subject spoke, and Tetra could almost understand him. However, it wasn't long before he went all... panicky and lapsed back into apologies, which quickly became incoherent as well. I get to look forward to more of this for the next few weeks, apparently. Lucky me. "It's not a federal offense to look at me, you know." I'd say I don't bite, but I don't tend to lie to subjects. Tetra sighed. "I tried." He stood up and left the room. "I'll be back shortly. Just breathe, and don't focus on anything."

Tetra walked back down the hallway toward the main deck very quickly, blowing past a few guards on the way, who tried to follow him running. "Oh, relax," he said exasperatedly. "The wing's not on fire or anything, I just have to get somewhere." They stopped, and would have scratched their heads if they weren't wearing helmets, and then walked back to their posts. He walked past the medical facility, then doubled back. A few people were standing idly in the hallway outside one of the surgery rooms. "Are either of you doctors? Like, hospital-type doctors?"

A woman spoke up. "I am. What do you—"

He cut her off, holding his hand out to shake hers. "Tetra Zarovia, from Genetics. I need a checkup on a subject. It's absolutely urgent. He's testing a virus that's supposed to give the infected psychic abilities, but he may be too undernourished for it to work without killing him. I can't do it myself; I need to finish the antivirus."

"Can you bring him in?" the woman asked. "If not, I think I can—"

"No, it's fine," said Tetra, cutting her off again. "I'll bring him in." He disappeared back around the corner and into Wing Alpha.

The door to Zelo's cell swung open, more force behind it than usual. "Can you walk?" Tetra asked hurriedly. "If not, I'm carrying you."

[Anonymous]

102379 calmed down and took deep breaths. His master wasn;t angry at him. 'Thankyou sir,' he said as his master left. His master must be one of those kind people, the ones that thought of mages as almost human rather than the abominations that they were. Perhaps he could help his new master. Perhaps he could...

102379 groaned. Not thinking was something he poor at. His previous master had always needed to disipline him over all the irritating thoughts that flowed across the mind-link. He started to control his breathing again and let his mind wander until his master would return.

It turned out that it was very shortly.

Can you walk?
Without thinking, 102379 went to obey his master. His strength to get up failed and he fell back to the floor before trying again. He must obey his master. To let himself be carried would be an atrocity. He tried again and managed to hold onto the sink for support.

[Anonymous]

Tetra watched the subject try to stand, fail, and try again, this time clutching the sink as if for dear life. He lowered his eye membranes momentarily, in lieu of rolling his eyes. I wonder if he knows how sad that looks? Not in a sympathetic way, but in a "silly mage, stop trying" sort off way. "Fine. Yeah, I guess." Tetra walked over. "Lean on my shoulder, if you insist on walking." Maybe he's got a fear of pointy people or something. Aichmoanthropophobi a. Things like that seem to be common among Edanithian mages. I saw one when I was a kid with a fear of books. Always a good thing for a slave.

[Anonymous]

102379 obeyed his master and wrapped his arms around the man. He tried to say thankyou but it didn't come out properly. He focused on trying ot speak but the pain in his head intensified. He tried again but ended up letting go of his master and clutching at his head. He screamed and fell to the floor. Without realising it, he had feinted. I'm sorry master. I didn't mean it. Master Kaenos, I'm sorry. His master was attacking his mind, ripping at his thoughts and forcing him to relive his memories. Not just the bad memories either.

[Anonymous]

The subject clung to Tetra and tried to speak. That's probably not such a great idea. now... Before Tetra could start walking, the mage let go, screaming and holding his head. A particularly painful surge... that's definitely irregular. If he's experienced psychic torture before, he should at least know what to expect... The mage lay on the ground, unresponsive. Tetra kicked him lightly in the stomach. "Unconscious," he said aloud. "At least now he doesn't have to trudge down the hall." Tetra picked him up—he is indeed light..., opened the door and left the cell at the same speed he had come in.

The lady doctor seemed shocked to have Tetra come back so soon, not to mention leave so fast. They entered one of the surgery rooms and Tetra lay the mage on the hospital cot. "He's having severe headaches. The last one knocked him out, apparently."

The woman looked concerned. "I can take his blood pressure and heart rate, maybe weigh him, and get a blood sample if you need one. Do you need a brain scan?"

Tetra did the membrane thing again. "I gave him the virus, ma'am. I know what it's doing to his brain. I want to know if he's fit enough to take it without dying of malnutrition. A blood sample appears to be in order, and if you could put him on an IV... he hasn't eaten since he arrived yesterday morning." He looked uneasily at his unconscious subject, clenching and unclenching one hand. He did not want this one to die. He did not want to have to find another subject, or worse, borrow one from another scientist. Most of the other scientists are either neophytes or freaks. Better to fix the one he had. "I'll stay with you until he wakes up. Then I need to go work on that antivirus."

The woman sighed and went to work. Most of the scientists here are freaks...

((OOC: You can skip to when Zelo wakes up, or w/e. :3 ))

[Anonymous]

OOC: I have no idea what w/e stands for so I'll just have the woman do what tests would normally be done on an unconcious patient (or at least what I can think of). I'm not exactly sure what the virus would do so I'll go with what an extreme phobic response might be.

BIC: 102379 was laid out on a bed and his shift cut from his body, which revealed the many scars that covered 80+% of his skin. The most important things came first: controlling his breathing then pulse rate.

His tounge was pulled flat and a flexible tube was inserted through his pharanx (throat)and into the top of his larynx (adams apple area). This was connected to a ventilator so that his breathing would be deeper and continue on a more normal rhythm.

The medical doctor then stuck a 3 lead ECG to his heart to check the pulse rate. The electrical impulses were strong but rapid. He would need something to slow heart rate - an injection of beta blockers (stop adrenalin and similar compounds) straight into a vein. This would probably also help with the migaines and nausia caused by the virus.

Next, an inter-arterial saline drip and a nutrient drip were used ot increase blood pressure and give his body some energy for the repair work. The poor creature looked worse than the prisoners of war that needed medical treatment before becoming test subjects. She gave him a closer look and noticed the plugged up drill holes in his scull; he was an Edanith mage.

She then checked both cutaneous and core body temperature. Cutaneous was fairly low but that was probably normal due to how lightly dressed he had been. The core body temperature was interesting, he had a fever: possibly due to the flight-or-fight response. Best to keep an eye on that.

'Doctor Zarovia, do you have any records from before you gave him the injection? The drugs will take at least half an hour to work, unless you'd prefer me to do a cardio-thoracic injection,' said the doctor. 'I suggest coming back then.'

She turned back to her patient. He reaked of vomit so she ordered someone over to bathe him. There would be little use getting him stable if he was going ot die of an infection.

[Anonymous]

((OOC: That'd be "whatever". ))

Tetra thought a moment; the last few hours had been a blur to him. "I do," he said, "I left them in his cell. I'll go get them." He sighed. "He should be alright for half an hour. If I work quickly, I should be able to finish the antivirus in that amount of time." He left the room, looking a wreck.

He went by the cell first; no one had been by, so the door was still open. He picked up the clipboard with the mage's information and records on it, as well as his notepad and pen. He shut the door and returned to the surgery room. Hopefully this information is accurate enough, considering I didn't do it myself. He handed the clipboard to the woman. "This is what I have. If anything goes wrong, call me on the intercom. I can be back here in a matter of seconds." He left the room and nearly ran to his office.

---

Around forty-five minutes later, Tetra stood outside the door to the surgery room with the vial containing the antivirus, a syringe and hypodermic needle, a few cotton balls, and a bandage. He tried to knock on the door, but his hands were full. "I'm back, ma'am," he said, hoping she could hear him through the door. Or that she'd let me in, anyway. The medical staff tends to hate me for sending them all these diseased subjects...

[Anonymous]

The first thing 102379 felt when he woke up was a tube down his throat. He tried to lift his hands but they were strapped down. The pain in his head and mind began again and he started pannicking. He tried to scream but the tube down his throat prevented anything other than air coming out. He struggled before realising this was probably something his master wanted so he relaxed once more. He turned his head to the side and saw that he was hooked up to a large machine with lots of buttons and writing on it

[Anonymous]

The woman walked over to the door and opened it. Tetra nodded in thanks, and looked around for an empty counter to put his things on. "Is he awake?" he asked, rather more interestedly than usual.

She walked back over to the cot, and saw that he was, and panicking. "Yes. Everything's fine, Zelo," she said, using the name she had seen on the records sheet. "You're in a surgery room, you should be feeling better soon."

"Is he ready to be injected with the antivirus?" Tetra asked. There was a note of urgency in his voice. Anxiety, almost. This is a pain. Why am I so worked up over this subject?

"Yes, you can go ahead," the woman said. Should I leave you two alone for a while?

Thankfully, Tetra was not psychic. He attached the needle to the syringe and opened the vial, drawing a good amount of the solution from it. He re-capped the vial and put some cleaning solution on a cotton ball. "Don't twitch," he advised, and swabbed the area he was going to stick with the cotton ball; same spot, different arm. He aimed the needle carefully and pushed it in, then pushed down on the end of the syringe. Once all of the solution was safely in the mage's bloodstream, he drew the needle out and walked over to dispose of it, returning with the bandage. "There. That should hunt down the virulent cells and replace the altered DNA." He stepped back. "Blink twice if you understood that at all."

[Anonymous]

102379 saw his master and moved around in his bed to try and get up. His arms were still held down so he could not salute. He listened to his master, who was here to remove the virus. He blinked as ordered after his master injected him. He went to say thankyou but the tube was still down his throat.


OOC: coughing is the best way to get the tube loose while another person pulls it out. It won't hurt, it's just very uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Tetra watched the mage piteously as he tried to move his arm, to salute, no doubt. He's all shaken up because his routine's been interrupted. Like a displaced fish, almost. H turned to the lady doctor. "The antivirus should be through him by the end of the day. Do you think it's safe to take the tube out of his throat?" That way at least he can tell me how sorry he is for the whole thing, and thank me for fixing him even though the whole thing was my fault and we'll try again in a few weeks.

She nodded. "It should be fine, now." She walked over, and Tetra stepped out of the way. She stood at the side of the cot, near the mage's head. "Cough, please."

[Anonymous]

102379 did as he was ordered and was shocked when he saw the long tube being being pulled out of his throat.

'Cough again, please.'

He did so and the last length of tubing was removed. As soon as it was out he tried to speak. His throat was too dry so the doctor helped him to sip some water down before she went to do other work.

'Master? I'm sorry for ruining your project.' 102379's voice was husky from having the tube down it. He wanted to apologise for fainting, having to be carried, being weak, being undernourished and being a general failure. He wanted to obey his master. Servitude was the only reason he was born.

'Sir, I can. I can...' His voice dropped as guilt stopped him from saying that he could enhance his master's abilities. He looked down at the floor beside the bed and tried to make himself as small as possible. He made a slight whimper and closed his eyes as the pain in his head increased. He wanted to curl up tighter but the straps were preventing him, they kept digging into his wrists as he pulled. 'I'm sorry, sir.'

[Anonymous]

Tetra was leaning against the wall nearest the foot of the mage's cot, listening to him apologize over and over. The subject strained against his restraints and whimpered in pain. He sighed, frustrated at the lost time, and stood up, walking over to the side of the cot, where he could see the man's face. "How many times must I tell you?" he asked rather harshly, but with a calm, almost kind look on his face. "It's not a big deal. You're not the first subject I've ever had to cancel an experiment on, and you won't be the last."

He reached over to loosen the restraints; being stuck in one position was never good for pain. The Mordecai treat their mages so horribly. This one must have expected much worse than I gave him. Contrary to popular belief, not everything we do here is brutal and inhumane. "Just rest for now. We'll try again in a couple weeks." He stroked the mage's hair reassuringly. "Stop worrying, above all. That'll only make it worse."

[Anonymous]

102379 tensed when his master cam over and almost wet himself when his master began stroking his hair. The machine behind his started beeping when his heart rate increased. He's not going to beat me. He's not going to beat me. It left him shaking in pure terror. The terror started off another migraine and he clutched at his skull and groaned. He pulled his head towards his chest and his legs up so that he was ina ball.

He tried to follow his master's orders to unfocus his mind and not worry. He tried to relax his muscles and lay normally. Eventually he was able to relax and his heart rate decreased, so long as he didn't look anywhere near his master. He started mutterring apologies and thanks.

[Anonymous]

Tetra noticed how the mage responded to touch; he could sense the fear around him, and feel him shaking under the hand of the taller man. He moved his hand away, but not before another headache struck the mage, and he grabbed his head and curled up. Pitiful thing. I don't think I could mess him up further than he is already if I tried. He walked back over to the wall. Well, maybe if I really applied myself.

After a while, the subject was able to relax somewhat, and his heart rate slowed down. Tetra watched the heart monitor intently from his preferred spot against the wall, the mage apologizing and thanking him for who-knew-what, still not looking at him. That's no concern of mine, aichmoanthropophobi c or not. "You seem coherent enough now," the scientist said, loudly enough that the mage could hear him. "Would you prefer to spend the remainder of the day and night here, insofar as the room isn't needed by anyone else, or be taken back to your cell? I have no opinion on the matter." Had I expressed one, he'd have given me the "it's the master's decision" routine. Tetra yawned silently, the hectic activity of the day thoroughly tiring him. Little does he know I don't care.

[Anonymous]

OOC: Unless there are nutrient solutions in the cell, he should probably stay here.

"Would you prefer to spend the remainder of the day and night here, insofar as the room isn't needed by anyone else, or be taken back to your cell? I have no opinion on the matter."

His master was getting him to decide, that wasn't normal. 102379 frowned and tried to think of the most apropriate answer. His master was trying to get him better so that he would be well enough to be tested. In the hospital was the best place for him to become strong enough. 'If it is your wish, sir, I would like to stay here,' he said. He left the reply as open ended as possible so that he would not seem bold or rude.

[Anonymous]

((OOC: I thought of that slightly after I posted... orz  How do you want to do the rest of this thread?))

That was a very unoffensive response, Tetra thought, unsurprised. "Very well, then." He sighed. "I'm glad your health is improving. I'll leave you here, then, and probably return later today or tonight." A thought occurred to him, and he smirked. "If I come back and you're dead, I will be quite angry."

He opened the door and checked the sign-out sheet on the other side. No one had signed the room out for today, so Tetra wrote his own name down, for the remainder of the day. And if anyone has a problem with that, I'd be quite happy to take it up with him or her in person. He left the surgery room and walked out toward the residential area. I need coffee if I plan on staying awake the rest of the day.

[Anonymous]

OOC: no idea. You're the doctor, or Tetra rather. I can offer a couple of ideas: go along with the research, use him for others after, use his enhancing abilities, test his enhancing abilities or send him back (once you think the thread is dead). LOL to saying the angry at being dead thing. That was quite amusing.

102379 nodded and continued looking away until his master left. He relaxed himself into the bedcovers and eventually stopped shaking. He kept one arm up around his head and allowed the other to fall loose around his thin chest. Gradually he fell into a normal sleep.