Third Gate [Video]

[forsometimenow]

Who: Jennifer Keller and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Near the docking area of the bug ship, the goodship Wonderduck... idk, give a place and she'll be there.
When: June 22nd

[The video message is short; Jennifer sounds like her mind is elsewhere as she speaks.]

Part of being a doctor is learning your limits- and having to acknowledge that sometimes, there's nothing you can do. That no matter what your skill level is, that no matter how hard you try, there are some patients you can't save, and being unable to save them doesn't make you a bad doctor.

Sometimes I need to try really hard to keep that in mind.

[Anybody who finds Jennifer- at the medical station she helped set up, in the Wonderduck, or elsewhere- will find her quiet (or quieter than usual) and contemplative, looking at some data written down on a tablet. It's about the bugs, and the fungus that has infested them, if anyone cares to look.]

Comments

Voice

[wilder]

You're not...looking at the crew's medical records right now, are you?

[It's half a joke, and half concern right now since MAN THATS OMINOUS]

Voice

[forsometimenow]

[There's a bit of a laugh at that.]

Nah- you guys are protected by doctor-patient privilege. It's the bugs, actually.

Voice

[wilder]

Oh, whew.

Wait- what about the bugs? You mean the one on that ship?

Voice

[forsometimenow]

Yeah- myself and some of the other doctors have been doing some examinations on them. It seems like they've been the victims of some sort of parasitic fungus- it may explain their behavior.

Voice

[wilder]

Seriously? The bugs got turned into zombies by some parasitic thing?

[You can't see the face, but the groan might illustrate what he's feeling well enough]

Uuuugh! Why does this happen every time I'm anywhere near space?

Voice

[forsometimenow]

All signs point to "yes". ... this has happened to you before?

Voice

[wilder]

Yeah, when I was...I dunno, in the army I guess it was? [He rather not get into the details of Exsilium right now] Not that it was much of an army.

Anyway, we were in some trouble so we needed to take refuge in some old abandoned moon base. Turns out the reason it was abandoned was because the people got infected with a parasite that turned them into zombies.

It wasn't fun.

Action; bug ship entrance

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Wanda approaches Jennifer slowly, the injury to her leg causing her to limp slightly. While Dr. Keller and Dr. Crusher had done a good job of treating her wound, it was still noticeably causing Wanda discomfort.]

Dr. Keller? Is something wrong?

Action~

[forsometimenow]

Oh! [She smiled at Wanda and gave a half-shrug.] I'm glad to see you're up and about. Ah- it's about the bugs we've found on this ship. I'm not positive, but it seems like they may have been more complex than the simple drones we've seen in the past.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

Thank you. It's a bit difficult, but I can move around. I owe you and Dr. Crusher my life.

[Wanda then limps her way over to sit next to Dr. Keller, gesturing for her to show her what she means on the device she was looking at.]

[forsometimenow]

[Jennifer smiles.] You're welcome. I'm glad Beverly found you- those bugs don't mess around.

[She then nods toward her tablet, shifting it so that Wanda can see, turning serious again.]

Their biology isn't like anything I've ever encountered, but they seem to have been infected with a fungus that interfered with their normal brain functions.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

A fungus? But I have not seen anything around this ship or even on their bodies that could be called a fungus.

[forsometimenow]

[She nods.]

It's microscopic... infecting one of their body systems. And to answer what I anticipate will be your next question, it doesn't seem to have infected anyone in the Fleet- considering we've been coming into contact with it all this time, if it was going to spread, it would have.

Action

[hearsthesea]

[Shirley's been checking in a lot on the bug ship with people trying to keep track of how the ship and the bugs are doing, so seeing Jennifer's particular attention to a tablet catches her eye. It's not too long before she makes her way over to the medical station, maintaining a respectful distance from Jennifer but still clearly interested in what she might have to say.]

Have you found anything interesting?

Action

[forsometimenow]

[Jennifer looked up as she was addressed and nodded, gesturing for the young woman to move closer if she wanted.]

Seems like it- these bugs may have been intelligent creatures at some point.

Action

[hearsthesea]

[That's a pretty horrific statement, if it's true. Shirley does move in closer, and she's thankful her own augment and other studies give her better grounds for understanding what she sees. Still--]

What do you mean, at some point?

Action

[forsometimenow]

I'm not entirely sure, since their physiology is different from anything I've seen, but they appear to have been infected by a parasitic fungus. You know how they kind of mindlessly move around and don't like to be interrupted at their tasks...? That could be why.

Action

[hearsthesea]

So they were infected, and they were robbed of their intelligence...can that really be because of a fungus? I've never heard of one so horrible before.

Action

[forsometimenow]

I haven't, either... not a fungus, anyway. [Jennifer's eyes are briefly distant as her mind roves someplace else- to a cave, Rodney on the floor, the sound of a drill, then a blast from Ronon's gun after a parasite crawls out of a hole in his forehead- before she's back in the present.] The only thing I can say is it doesn't seem to be able to infest any one of us.

audio;

[feathery]

Parasitic fungus. [Less disbelief and more semi-annoyed resignation.] Isn't that the premise of a horror flick.

Does that mean the rest of us are going to wake up with mushrooms growing out of our ears or something.

audio;

[forsometimenow]

Yeah, I feel like I've seen more than a few with this exact premise.

I don't think so, no- I haven't found any indication that it's spread yet, and I'd think after a few weeks of fighting and killing them and inhaling spores, it would have.

[feathery]

Well, I guess it's not all bad news. Or good news. I dunno how to label this kind of news. Maybe gross news. Bug news. Parasites-in-your-brain news.

[forsometimenow]

Doubleplusungood news? Except it's not entirely bad, just... gross. So I'll go with gross news. I can't wait to be away from here, personally.

[feathery]

Same. I mean what's the likelihood Atroma just manufactured this shit to stir up trouble.

[forsometimenow]

Yeah- we've been attacked by mystery ships that swooped in, peppered us with laser fire, then left before, so the thought's crossed my mind. They have to keep the drama up, after all, without actually killing us.