IC Inbox

[lastdecember]

This is the after hours contact for Nicholas Wolfwood, Logistics. If this is an emergency, stop wasting everyone's time and page me.

Comments

MED_A_Hilbert to OPE_N_Wolfwood

[tarakan]

L3TH3 has given me information on the captain's status. It is an audio file of the captain's conversation with Dr. Emerwen.

Do you want a copy?

[lastdecember]

[ Why does this feel like a trap? ]

Isn't that sort of thing supposed to be kept confidential?

[tarakan]

Quite probably.

[ Thankfully, Hilbert's concept of ethics is loosey-goosey at best. ]

But there are aspects of the captain's current state that have changed my mind about certain decisions I made before. I hate admitting it, but your attempt at killing Captain Drake was the right choice.

[ Except it wasn't. Except that from what he learned, Hilbert desperately wants to get a sample, to see the Captain in person and get just a vial of blood, a pound of flesh, something he can examine. Because this has potential. This could revolutionize his work.

And it would be a good idea to try and get the only person in Operations on his side. ]

[lastdecember]

[ This is definitely a trap. First the man threatens to space him for endangering them all, athen he pulls a 180 and says Wolfwood was right?

Hilbert wants smomething, and Wolfwood's willing to bet that it's the kind of something that doesn't end well for him. Still -- he has to know. That video Rin showed him is burned into his brain forever. He has to know more. ]

Send it over.

[tarakan]

[ That's the right answer. ]

Audio file attached.
session1.file

[lastdecember]

[ It had really been asking too much to hope that Drake wasn't there anymore, hadn't it? It would have been a small mercy if his mind had gone, and there wasn't anything left of him but bloated filth.

Turns out, the only mercy was L3TH3 killing everyone before they could inject themselves with the 'cure' too. ]

You tried drugging him. Did that work?

[tarakan]

It has. His blood pressure and bleeding has improved, but only slightly. I doubt I will be able to relieve pain in a more substantial manner unless I get more through vitals from the captain.

[lastdecember]

You can't just give him more of the same stuff?

[ He might not like doctors and might distrust pretty much all medicine, but if this stuff worked a little, surely using more of it will work more, right? ]

[tarakan]

I can and I will. But you heard the recording. Giving the captain pain relief treatment would be like trying to tend to an amputated limb with aspirin. It will help mitigate the symptoms. But it does nothing to remove the cause of the suffering.

Besides, we know next to nothing about the long term effects of this. Maybe it will continue to work. Maybe he will develop an immunity. I do not know. Unless I can actually see the captain, all we can do is try everything and see what works.

[lastdecember]

You try to go see him, and you'll end up sanitized.

[tarakan]

I know. I could attempt to derive a better antidote from a blood sample, but that has the same problems: the moment I step foot in that room, I will be sanitized. And while blood samples can be retrieved remotely, I suspect L3TH3 will not grant access.

If you or anyone else has any ideas on how to fix that problem, I'll happily listen.

[lastdecember]

Ask L3TH3 to get a sample for you.

[ Look, okay, maybe it's a stupid idea, but if the AI really does want what's best for everyone, then maybe it can be convinced that, as ship's doctor, Hilbert has to have a recent sample from Drake. And if he can't go in, then why can't L3TH3 send the sample out?

Maybe it's a really stupid idea, but it might work? ]

[tarakan]

L3TH3 absolutely will not consent to that.

[ It's a stupid as hell idea. ]

But there is no shame in asking.

ENG_V_Saverem to OPE_N_Wolfwood

[plantussy]

Coffee?

[lastdecember]

[ Saverem's placing orders with him now? Does he look like a damn barista? ]

Sure. Give me an hour. You want the same as before?

[plantussy]

[ Wolfwood's his favorite barista, okay? ]

Oh, I meant if you wanted to have some. You know, with me.

[lastdecember]

[ Oh. Oh. ...Okay, that makes more sense, sure. ]

It's not all fudge anymore right?

[ Somebody's been living on ration bars for the last couple days. ]

[plantussy]

Thank the stars it's not. That was only fun for the first meal. You should get nothing but the bitter taste of black coffee out of the synthesizer now.

[ Is that a dig? Maybe. ]

[lastdecember]

[ That was definitely a dig. Asshole. ]

After a week of sugar don't you want something bitter?

[plantussy]

It's not one of my favorite flavors, so it's not something I long for.

I did really like that we could have some savory things again, though. Pepperoni pizza should not be sweet.

[lastdecember]

I won't argue with that. Bitter is a good flavor though. Next time you have greasy pizza, have some bitter greens after, like arugula salad. It clears the grease taste out of your mouth.

[plantussy]

Really? Now I have to try it.

[ Vash still doesn't get why people think Wolfwood's an asshole, he's perfectly pleasant to talk random dumb things with! ]

What are you working on?

[lastdecember]

[ Amazing what happens when you ask a guy about food instead of yelling at him for trying to do his job! ]

I'm halfway through replacing all the optical emitter crystals in the holodeck. A couple of them were smudged and it's easier to replace them all with new crystals than to try and recalibrate the old ones to work with the new ones.

[plantussy]

[ Vash is just chronically unable to think the worst of people... and so far he's been right. ]

Twenty years without service wears on everything. I've barely even been in the holodeck since the turbulence.

Do you think you can hand me one or two of the smudged ones? They're decent weights to stabilize the cables while I solder them. I'm replacing some for Sheryl.

[lastdecember]

[ One of the things Wolfwood likes best about Saverem: the guy's a recycler! ]

Sure. I don't have any other use for them right now. I can bring them by later.

[ Oh, wait. Didn't this conversation start with a request from Vash? ]

I could bring them to coffee?