Just Keeping Swimming | March Planet Mingle

[thespaceopera]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: Anywhere on Mafik
When: The month of March



[Welcome to Mafik, the water world! Hope you brought your best swimming gear and don't have a paralyzing fear of water, because that's all that's here! So get out those wet suits and enjoy life under the sea!

In other words, it's a mingle! ]

> System Information

Comments

[arfvader]

Ah. Right. Well, good to finally meet you in person! As an otter!

[It doesn't seem prudent to pry for details, so the safest route seems to be to drop that line of conversation altogether.]

Doing some field work?

[axiomed]

I am, in fact. The last planet and this one seem to share oddly similar characteristics. I try to catalog as much flora and fauna as I can.

[arfvader]

That's fantastic! Always good to have more knowledge about the places we visit!

[He's about to ask what Charles has found so far, when he remembers the body bag and its contents and sobers up about his own task. He clears his throat a little awkwardly.]

I've been trying to do a little work too. Help out how I can.

[axiomed]

[ He swims in a circle, looking at him. ]

The disease, I presume.

[arfvader]

Yeah, the disease. Epidemiology was kind of my specialty for awhile back home. And my background as a forensic pathologist should hopefully be helpful as well.

[The lack of the lab augment is slowing him down immensely though. Much more than he'd like to admit.]

[axiomed]

Would you like assistance? I am a geneticist.

[arfvader]

That'd be great, actually. I think the Dasioe could really use all the help they can get.

[axiomed]

They certainly could. They've been very accommodating.

[ Especially since they all live underwater. It still surprised Charles that they had air-tight rooms available. ]

I imagine any work or help we do provide will take time. The water being a diluting agent after all.

[arfvader]

[Ravi nods and sighs a little. Even as an optimist, he's more than a little troubled by this whole situation.]

I'm worried about the timeline as well. Given how things usually are, we'll only be here about a month. Even if we find a "cure", that's not nearly enough time to put it through the appropriate trials.

But anyway, I was heading to the Iskaulit to use the surgical centre.

[axiomed]

[ The otter lets out a soft chirp of agreement. ]

I'm afraid it might take me time. My chair is not on the Iskaulit and travel in this form takes a while.

[arfvader]

Is there anything I can do to help?

[axiomed]

[ His ears twitch. ]

With what, precisely?

[arfvader]

I don't know. It was an open-ended kind of offer, really.

[And now he's feeling a little embarrassed. What can he do to help someone like Charles Xavier? Not much, probably.]

[axiomed]

[ The otter is bemused. ]

I do appreciate it. Most of these, ah, problems are ones I'm accustomed. If you don't mind waiting, I can be at the Iskaulit.

[arfvader]

Yeah, of course, I'll be there. It'll probably take me awhile to get started anyhow.

[axiomed]

[ The otter chirps. ]

I'll be there shortly.

[arfvader]

[Ravi nods his acknowledgment and swims off with the body bag in tow.

If Charles does stop by the surgical centre later, Ravi is pretty much wrist-deep in viscera and looking very serious about the task at hand.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles arrives, late as he predicted. He doesn't look damp at all as he maneuvers his hoverchair towards Ravi with a congenial smile. ]

How does it look?

[arfvader]

[He looks up briefly at Charles, and then focuses back on his work.]

It's too early to say, but I have my hypotheses. Of course it'd be nice to have a "normal" to compare to, but that's rather out of the question.

[axiomed]

Let's hear your hypotheses then. I have plenty of samples dating back to the toxic moon. We might be able to separate the unusual from the norm.

[arfvader]

[It's almost like he's been hit with a jolt of lightning, he reacts so quickly to this piece of news.]

So you've seen this elsewhere? And you have samples of the toxin? Because this has all the signs of a toxin overload, essentially causing multi-organ failure.

[axiomed]

I have enough samples that we might be able to correlate the data. At least . . . I hope so.

[arfvader]

I'd love to see any notes you have on it, and if you can spare a few samples there are a few tests I think are worth running.

[axiomed]

[ His hands smooth over his pants out of habit as Charles hands over his communicator. ]

I certainly can though they're back on the Heron. My notes are on my communicator though.

[arfvader]

This is brilliant. Thanks.

[He pulls off his surgical gloves and takes the communicator with a smile. But he places it down on one of his surgical trays and moves back towards his "patient".]]

I just have a few more samples to get, and then I'll sew her back up. I promised I'd bring her back out, observe their traditions.