02 ▒ EVENT: STASIS SICKNESS ▒ MEDBAY

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: Medbay.
WARNINGS: Sickness, body horror, etc.
SUMMARY: Sickness central. Treatments, dying slowly, related events.
NOTES: Divided by days a la medbay organisation log in the comments!

You're not feeling too well. The last couple of days have been - rough. The medbay seems to be a bit more full than usual, but you're sure it's nothing to be worried about; whatever the illness is, it'll go away once you've rested and gotten a check-up. Right?

Comments

[therangerking]

[ It is still strange to Aragorn to think of time here. He marks them by the noise or silence of the halls rather than a ticking clock, and he knows now that it's in the middle of the night. He can't tell - though the clocks tell time, he sees no sun, and with the constant brightness of the lights, Aragorn forces himself and his body to believe that it is constantly light out, such that he will continue to work.

Two days since he has seen those strange symptoms on Erik Lensherr, and he has seen many others come in with the same. Aragorn knows not what it is, but the blue seeping into skin has him worrying. Earlier in the night he has taken to the herbalism files that he has found on the communicator (with some help from Nederlands on how to reach the library archive and look for what he needs), but now he has his hands on a few athelas leaves. They work differently - in some cases, better - when dried, and now he has popped them into the microwave used for food to see if that will dry them.

After all, there is no sun.

He becomes aware of the unblinking stare at his back an hour ago. From Doctor McCoy he has known his name to be Data, but not much else. Aragorn folds his hands while waiting for the leaves to dry, turning around and looking at him. The man's vigil reminds him of the Elves as they sleep - that is why he has taken so long before moving into action - and he decides to test that theory. ]

Do you sleep well? [ Softly. ]

[anthropos]

[ He acknowledges it without seeming to wake so much as simply to incline his head, considering the question. ]

I do not sleep.

[ But to Aragorn, perhaps it had seemed as though he was. He stepped forward, approaching the other man while the microwave continued to hum and hiss, the water content of the leaves evaporating from within the cells themselves, proteins breaking up into shorter, more manageable strands. It would be far more efficient like that.

He picked up one of the leaves left behind, raising it high and slowly turning his hand as he studied it. Data was an exobiologist, familiar with plant and animal life on a number of different planets, capable of manipulating planetary terraforming systems in order to create sustainable environments, and yet in all of his experience he had not seen anything quite like it. It appeared to be a flowering, deciduous forest dwelling plant - the colour and shape of the leaves suggested such - but that was all that Data could establish from simple observation. ]

I am unfamiliar with this species of flora. Does it have medicinal qualities?

[therangerking]

[ There is something particularly unsettling about this man, in the strange, smooth way he moves and the stillness in his eyes. Aragorn has not met an Elf other than Legolas in this place, but Data reminds him of one- yet not. Not without the gentle serenity of the Elves, or the glow that comes from their skins. It seems... odd, almost artificial.

Aragorn ponders upon it for a long moment, turning his observations in his head even as he tips his head up and looks at Data. He parts his lips to answer, but at the time the microwave beeps, and Aragorn blinks as he pulls open the door, drawing out the tray. The leaves are dried, browned and wrinkled, and he takes up three leaves and places them in a cup.

He pours hot water over them, and lets the tea steep. ]

'Tis athelas, which gives strength. Will you try it?

[ He pushes the cup over. ]

[anthropos]

[ He considers Aragorn's actions for a moment, and while he is familiar with the action of brewing tea, it is still rare that he sees it performed recently, after all the Enterprise's replicators provided the finished tea, not the materials by which to make it.

Still, it was polite to take the cup, raising it in both delicate hands up to face level, where he circled his nose across it, inhaling carefully. It was irrelavent - he had learned some time ago - to detail the compliment of flavours, or the exact water, tanin or alcohol content of something he was asked to try or taste. The purpose of tasting it, after all, was not to dissect it, but to offer a pleasurable response, the example of a new sensation, of a new flavour to add to a library built up over a lifetime. Data could taste things too, but he had not gone out of his way to seek pleasure in such things, and given the circumstances on board, now did not seem like a good moment to activate his emotion chip. Instead, he took the sip, considered the flavour, and inclined his head slightly toward Aragorn. ]

It has a pleasant favour, not unlike chamomile. [ He offered the cup back. ] Perhaps it might benefit from the addition of citrus?

[therangerking]

[ Aragorn cocks his head. Citrus he knows - oranges and lemons - but he is less interested in the reaction than the fact that athelas seems to have no effects on this Man. It's curious, but he only takes the cup, setting it on a nearby counter. ]

Perhaps. [ Quietly, and his gaze on Data is piercing and searching. ] Though I know not what the addition would do for its true purpose.

[ He straightens slightly. ]

Forgive my rudeness, but are you one of the race of Men?

[anthropos]

[ He understands only that he has made a faux pas at some point during this conversation, because of the way that he is being examined. Considering that Data can taste almost anything without finding it unpleasant, even engine oils, it wouldn't be unlikely that he's made a social error during this interaction.

However he does not flinch under the assertion, instead tilting his head, examining Aragorn in turn. He does not seem to fit this situation, and his turn of phrase is archaic and fascinating. ]

I am an android. [ Because obviously that explains everything, doesn't it? ] I was merely created in the image of a man.

[therangerking]

[ He's heard of creations of Men having their own voices and minds, and yet the last one he had met was in the full shape of Man. Though this one seems to be,it's rather obvious that his body only has the look of a Man, and not its shape. ]

In the image. [ Lowly murmured. ] Athelas is a healing tea; rare has those who commented upon upon its taste, for their tongues are too caught up in the warmth that it brings their bodies.

[ He gives Data a flicker of a smile. ]

Were you named by Man as well?

[anthropos]

[small> He raises both of his eyebrows. Brings warmth? Then it's unsurprising that it doesn't work on him. He has no biological parts to warm. ]

I was named Data by my Father, Doctor Soong. He formed me in his own image. [ He touched his own face. ] And embued me with the desire to seek out my own humanity, to try to become more human.

[ He offered his arm out toward Aragorn, then very gently took off the access panel over the inside of his forearm, showing him the circuitry underneath. ]

[therangerking]

[ The circuitry affects him more than words can say. Aragorn stares at it, breathing in sharp and harsh, the air scraping against his throat. It is one thing to be told that there are creatures that Men have created, but it is another to see it for himself; to speak to this 'android' and to know that there seems so little different from him than Men.

He reaches out and presses his fingers against Data's wrist, moving inwards until he touches the edge of the access panel. ]

Can any Men control your actions? [ A little wonderingly, but there's a striking sharpness to his tone. He doesn't like the thought, and it shows. ]

[anthropos]

[ Seriously that button was getting stuck all of yesterday.

Data knows that it's a big leap to take, and he's incredibly patient with Aragorn, noting his breathing and watching him attentively as he reaches out towards the circuitry. There's nothing there that's exposed, and will harm him, and so he remains very still. ]

My positronic net is an incredibly complicated piece of machinery, and few exist who can understand even a small part of how it works. Even I do not know.

However I cannot deny that it is possible. In those circumstances, my superior officers are aware that I can be deactivated.

[ He will have to make sure that Spock and McCoy know how to do it, too. ]