07.08.3013: Ice Burns
Summary: A Medical team including Lady Ariana, Lord Brigham, Dr. Helena and Lady Reena arrives at Niveus to help Lady Elodie determine the cause and cure for the mysterious disease that's begining to claim lives in White Gates outpost.
Date: 08 July, 2013
Related: After Lock Down on Ice
Ariana Brigham Elodie Helena Reena 


RP Room 3
White Gates Outpost, a supply post and emergency garrison of Niveus
08 July, 1938

Dr. Emily Hyland, one of the Resident Medics in the Infectious Disease Research Department of Academ in Landing fielded Lady Elodie's request for a Medical Team, and set about collecting such a team. At the suggestion of one of her collueagues, Dr. William Moreau, she contacted Dr. Helena Dalton, her partner, Drake Fellows, and then a few students to help with research and grunt work. Lord Brigham Peake and Lady Ariana Larent were both students known to excel in the sciences and research, even if the former was known to be … eccentric at times. When a messenger went to summon Lady Ariana, she happnened to be in the company of Lady Reena, who offered her services as well.
The trip from the Shelter Waygate to White Gates took a few hours, in which the medics got to view the lush scenery of Niveus under the midday sun. In other words, white, more white, and blinding silver. When they finally arrive, they are greeted by White Gates medic, who nods with relief. "Thank Goodness, our Chief Medic came down with the disease this morning. I'll take you to Lady Elodie, she's… taking a break at the moment, but she asked that you brought directly to her."
Lady Elodie's break consists of sitting at the bedside of one of the patients, her gloved hand holding the man's hand. Lady Ariana would recognize the patient as Evald, Elodie's personal guard. From his labored breathing and the sheen of sweat on his body, the disease clearly has him it its grip.

Elodie herself doesn't appear to have had much rest, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail that isn't so sleek anymore. There are definite dark circles under her eyes as she turns and rises to greet the Medical Team. She recognizes Reena and Ariana with a smile, and nods a greeting as she's introduced to Dr. Hyland and her partner, Dr. Fellows, and the rest that she doesn't know.

Reena is bundled up for the cold of Niveus, in furs and woolen garments. A fur-trimmed hat is jammed firmly down on her head, and a heavy cloak helps to cut the wind some. Still, the native of Volkan shivers at the chill and her nose and cheeks have gone red. Through chattering teeth, she murmurs, "How can any disease survive in this cold?" to the more studied sorts. When Elodie joins them she inclines her head in greeting. "This is certainly not as much fun as cards in a warm tavern, Milady," she notes with a wan smile.

Going from Inculta to Niveus is not only a culture shock but a full-on system shock as well. Some of the members of the transport team might have giggled a time or two at the sight of Helena bundled up in so many layers she could barely walk — but they were a necessity. Standing beside Reena, the doc is shivering in exactly the same manner, and she turns her head to look at the Khourni woman. "I say we — burn it all down — and go home. P-problem s-solved."

This is not the first time that Ariana's set foot on Niveus, but the freezing temperatures are a difficult thing to get used to. Dressed in medical attire made of a thicker and warmer material, the Larent lady also wears a fur cloak to further try to keep the cold at bay and, for now, warm gloves to protect her hands. Her usally fair cheeks are flushed with color, but for the most part, she tries her best not to complain. She's not the only person freezing up here. She manages a polite enough smile for Elodie, despite the situation, but her gaze does focus on Evald who lays there in the grip of whatever ails him. "You would think that the cold might kill them off, but often times, they simply remain dormant until contact of some sort is made again."

Brigham's HUD is up, which is why he walks smack into the back of someone taller then him… which is almost anyone, and he mutters a completely insincere appology, his hand flicking through the holo-images as he goes over the reports they were given, trying to absorb all of the information he can. "Wow. So… what I see here is that we know… very very little. Sweet." he beams a smile that is not comforting though he obviously means it to be. It looks… crazy more then anything else. He's not bundled up at all, or not seriously, though he's made the consession of some gloves (who's finger tips are worn away to nonexsistence like a homeless mans gloves), and insulation in his boots. His hat, which remains atop his head with it's usual exploding halo of hair sticking around it, leaves his face bright cherry red from the cold outside. He doesn't seem to notice it at all really, "So!" his gloved hands clap together hard and he rubs them vigorously, "Where do we start?!" his eagerness, plus the smile, plus the hand rubbing, gives the young man the distinct impression of being a crazy person. Unintentionaly fingerless gloves on a 'Lord' don't help the image.

Brigham's eagerness draws an amused glance from Elodie, but she addresses the group in general, shepherding them towards one of the offices. "You can leave your wraps in here. If you would like the temperature turned up in the rooms a little more, we can accomodate that easily, although you'll find when the shock of being outside wears off, it's not that cold inside." She smiles as she indicates the hooks on the wall for outerwear. "You may have a point, Lady Ariana. The first victims were men and women working on expanding on the outpost, adding barracks rooms for troops who would need to bunk in on the way to or from battle… or wounded that might be brought in. That area has been sealed off, as well." She takes a breath. "Basic symptoms, fever and complaints of chills and aches before it progresses to siezures, some of which have been… impressive," she finishes with the last word on a definite low note. "We have a few that I'm afraid have been in fever so long that even if they recover, they will have permanent brain damage."

Reena begins the process of unwrapping herself, hanging up garment after garment, until she's left in a clean, white jumpsuit. Her hair is back in a bun to keep it out of the way. She listens to the explanation with an intense expression on her face. "Did they discover anything unusual while they were prepping the area for expansion?" she asks.

Oh man, she has to take all of this off now? Helena sighs quietly, eyeballing a hook while unwrapping the heavy scarf that encircles her head and neck. Hat, gloves, second scarf, cloak, coat, sweater - one by one she removes the articles and drapes them on the wall hook. When she's done, she looks pink-cheeked and a bit flustered, but otherwise more professional in her tailored labcoat complete with her nametag. She pulls out her tablet and turns toward Elodie and begins flipping through the information sent to her, following along with the description. "Good question, my lady. Yes, has anyone been out there to collect samples, photos, et cetera?"

Ariana is glad to be rid of all of the fur. Not that her cloak wasn't beautiful and elegant all the same, but when one is doing research and work such as this, you don't want to be dressed too extravagantly. "How long have these people been infected? A full day? Or slightly beyond that by now?" She, too, is looking up charts and files on her own datapad, before she asks, "Has anyone expired from their symptoms as of yet?" None was mentioned, but she figured she would ask.

Brigham shrugs out of his coat, unleashing the full power of the eye blistering shirt he wears mostly hidden beneath the coat. Mathematically improbable geometric patterns emblazoned in colors so bright and undiluted as to cause involentary 'squints from any that see it. "Fever, chills and aches, so bacterial infection of some kind. Presumably you've tried the traditional anti-biotics, which means it's a resistant strain to say the least. Interesting." his hat goes onto the peg with the coat, his gloves tucked inside it. The hat was apparently the only thing containing his hair, which now explodes free and unchecked from his head. He nods his head at Helena, "And is your lab set up for the appropriate level of tests we'll need to run?" This is one of the reasons you bring Brigham. Dr's don't generally run their own tests or maintain their own equipment. He can. Good thing they're not bombarding the nice host lady with a million questions, right?

Elodie shakes her head. "We haven't had the chance, yet. It started fairly recently, I'm afraid with the influx of trauma patients from the ice slide, we didn't take much notice at first, so I can't be sure exactly when it started, but incubation is rapid. My guard, Evald, was assisting the medics with a rather heavy patient in one of the ice baths not long after we arrived, two days ago." She turns away from the others as she reveals that bit of information, leading them out the door again. "Lady Una sent biohazard suits and a portable lab with the quarantine team, but we haven't been able to spare the personnel to do any tests of the area yet. We did seal it off when we noticed the first victims were people from that work detail."

Reena nods and follows Elodie, pondering the predicament. "It might be prudent to have some of us go to the work site to take some samples. Are any of those infected in the earliest wave able to answer some questions for us? Or did they note what they ate or drank while there?" She rubs her hands together to encourage them to soak in the warmth of the indoors.

Helena follows beside Reena, listening to the answers to each of the questions posed to Elodie. One has to admire the woman taking it all in stride, what with an outside team to catch up on all of the information. "As much as I am dreading it, I can go with a team to the site to collect samples if my presence is not needed immediately here." She glances sidelong to Brigham, eyebrows rising, and makes a mental note to turn him into the lab monkey.

"Perhaps this is why there are some who wish that all labor that may be considered dangerous or a risk should be done with drones." Ariana idly notes as she trails gracefully behind Elodie along with the rest of the group. She continues to sift through information on similar infections to what has been mentioned so far. "Very good, Lady Elodie, I am glad that preparations were made and I was hoping to be able to look in on those who have contracted the disease to see this all personally. And yes, I will offer my assistance in any way possible. Whether it be to remain back at the lab here to run various tests or to inspect ground zero, myself."

Brigham nods his head, "I'm assigning myself to the lab staff." he states emphatically, "The less contact I have with the patients the likely it is better for everyone. My instructors tell me I'm inappropriate and people are rarely helpful when it comes to curing them. Plus they scream a lot and it's distracting… That said, I get dibs on assisting in first autopsy!" his grin widens, "Who do I speak to about requisitioning things if your lab ends up being limited?" He's already beaten Helena to the punch it would seem, and if the way he speaks about the patients is any indication, that's a very good thing.

Elodie leads them to the vehicle bay where a couple of the containers have been opened but not completely set up.
"Perhaps if you can set up the lab, Dr. Helena? Dr. Fellows and I can head up the research team in the work area, and bring the samples here to be processed," Dr. Hyland proposes, reading her data pad as she walks.
Brigham's enthusiasm for an autopsy causes Elodie to blanch slightly, but she manages to keep her composure. "We don't have any casualties, as of yet, Lord Brigham," she tells him softly, "so perhaps you might be able to help with the - " at this point a medic hurries out. "My lady," he says urgently, handing over a data pad. She swallows and nods. "Or, I was mistaken. Three of the first workers to contract the disease have lost their battle. Give their families a few minutes before you take them away, please," she instructs the eager man.
As for Ariana and Reena, Elodie lets Dr. Hyland assign Reena to the hazmat detail and put on the suits while Ariana is assigned to go with her and look over the patients.

Reena pulls on the hazmat suit with a grimace. "Well I suppose its better than armor. Had to wear that after the volcanic eruption. Too much unstable ground, lava flows, and debris avalanches." She fits the hood on, making sure she can see properly through the visor, and tests all the seams, as well as her air supply.

"Better you than me in any case," Helena murmurs to Reena with a sigh, watching for a moment as the Khourni suits up. "I'll ask for an extra heater to be set up, so you can stand in front of it when you return. Be safe, please, my lady. Your brother would have me flayed otherwise." She turns away to eyeball the lab setup and then Brigham, crossing her arms for a moment. "You've worked in these before, right?" The question is neither insinuating nor patronizing, but an obvious probe for more information on the man's background.

"True, My Lady." Ariana responds to Reena now as she gets suited up. She has done this a few times in the pat, though usually for training purposes. "This isn't the worst outfit one could possibly wear, thankfully. And it will keep us safe from whatever it out there. When news of the casualties finally arrive, the Larent lady's lips purse in a small, subtle movement, "It looks like we'll need to work quickly. Time is certainly not on our sides."

Brigham blinks at Elodie, "Of course they'll have a few minutes." he says, almost sounding vaugely offended. In his head it's obvious he needs time to check over the lab before he gets to play. He misses the emotional aspect of the request entirely. He looks over to Helena then, "When I was eight I built myself a robotic dog out of the remains of two kitchen appliances and the fuel cell of an ancient speeder." he says as he eyes the lab with a look that most men save for girls wearing inappropriately short sheet clothing sitting at a bar in front of a row of empty glasses. Predatory. "Worked in one? I could build you one." he seems to be vibrating in place with pent up energy and happiness.

Doctors Hyland and Fellows suit up along with Reena, and follow a local guide who suits up as well, to go to the work site. It's being dug directly into the mountain that White Gates is built against, and the stone here is mostly a dark granite color, with veins of white and gray, with an occasional streak of yellow or green here and there.
While Helena is left with the eager Brigham to ready the workspace, Elodie leads Ariana into the wards. "We've tried all of the usual techniques, and even resorted to ice baths to try and bring the physical temperature down. So far, we haven't been able to find anything that works."

"Which one?" Reena quips after Helena. She has three of the damned things. Brothers that is. She follows Doctor Hyland and company down the halls to the work site, toggling her comm over. "Have there been geological surveys done of this stone?" she asks. She has a pack over her shoulder, with containers inside for all sorts of samples, and tools to retrieve them. <RE>

Helena offers Reena a quick grin. "Lord Nitrim, of course." But then it's all work-work-work, and she turns back to begin unpacking the containers and setting up the lab. She gestures for Brigham to join her, if only so she doesn't have to be alone. "Oof, here," she mutters, pushing a heavy one with all her might; it budges a few inches. "Then let's build this one."

Brigham looks around the lab, leaping (sometimes literally) from one lab impliment to another, changing things around ever so slightly, reordering items into ways he informs anyone that asks are more 'efficient', and generally customizing the lab for his use. And he does so without asking Helena if it's okay. When she pushes the machine and grunts he turns to look at Helena and his eyes are giant and shiney with unshed moisture, "They just told me they'll have the first body here for autopsy in a half hour… I /LOVE/ this job!" he says before helping Helena muscle the machine into place before he quickly begins to assemble the machine with deft quick hands. He's humming a jaunty tune to himself as he works.

Ariana is the sort who hates to surround herself with citizens, but now here she is being surrounded by the incredibly ill, which may or may not, be worse. Still, she is definitely thankful for the protection of the Hazmat suit as she moves in to monitor the ill and jotting down notes on their condition, their vital signs and anything else that may be of interest. For the most part, when speaking to the ailing who can speak, she puts on her bedside manner mask, her tone is the usual, far too pleasant one that she uses in her Oculus promotional videos. Whatever new information she does gather, she sends them to the lab where Helena and Brigham are stationed.

Elodie can't help it. Despite everything, she grins at Reena's quip and Helena's reply. Although she's not wearing a hazmat suit, she's tuned in her headset to listen in as she goes about the rounds with Ariana.
"We have the geological surveys in the main office, Lady Reena," the guide replies to her question. "This section of the mountain is solid bedrock, the nearest fault line is two kilometres northwest from here. One of the reasons White Gates was chosen for an outpost." He shines his light along the walls as they go along. "Have to say, though. Haven't seen bedrock with this much veining before. It gets worse as you go. We thought they were cracks at first, but it's solid enough when we dig."

Reena stops to take several scrapings from the veins, placing the dust onto a swab which is then secured in a vial. She does the same with the non-veined portion of rock. "And what about beneath us? Any thermal vents or air pockets? Any caves or bodies of water that might have been frozen, which could thaw from the equipment being used?"

The guide shakes his head. "No, my lady. We're almost two kilometres from the nearest under ice shore." He gives a grin. "We don't have thermal vents here on Niveus." He shines his flashlight around the walls as they walk further, and come up against a dead end. "This is where we were working last. We've gone through three drills trying to bore into this rock."

Reena pulls a little orb out of her pack, which lights up and hovers where she sets it near the drilling holes. She begins taking scrapings, then air samples, and anything on the ground or the ceiling as well. She jots down the ambient temperature, depth on a range finder. "Any native flora or fauna found?" she asks as she works.

As Reena takes scrapings, she'll notice that the veins seem to increase, then come to a delineated end where the man said they slowed down. The stone is now darker, the scanner showing it to be denser than the rest of the stone in the chamber. "This deep into the rock? I don't think so, my Lady. Most native living things on this planet are in the water."

Reena frowns at the point where the material of the veins seems to overtake the normal granite. "Lets get these samples back to the others then. Maybe they can puzzle out what is causing this." She looks concerned as she stows the last of the samples in her pack, and begins heading back.

Brigham has brought his very own lab coats with him on this journey it would seem, or… he's somehow found a way to turn the coat provided to a shade of pure hue'd green with bright yellow plaid designs. He pulls black elbow length gloves down his arm over the crinklecrinklecrinkle sound of his full body fluid proof covering that does nothing to hide his lab coat of awfulness. "Alrighty then-" he eyes a floating holo display of the man's records, "Francis, lets cut ya open shall we? Recording on." there's a soft beep, "Beginning full body scan, highest available resolution please." then he begins to hum to himself, a floating little song while the web of lasers and lights scan over the body to make a map of it for later study. He chooses a scalpel while the machines work, and then the lights go down, he snaps his head forward, dropping a plastic face shield over his features, "And we're off to the races…"

Francis is covered with slight film of salt, not really evident to the naked eye, but the scan is picking up a heavy salt and beryllium compounds. His skin also shows some liverspotting, which is somewhat usual. As the scans start collating the information, the first thing that Brigham will notice is that the blood isn't as red as blood usually is. It's more of a brown… almost chocolate color.

Brigham starts cutting away at the corpse merrily, humming to himself as he goes. The blood causes him to pause, "Blood has changed color to a deep brown or burgandy. Working hypothosis, deoxigination caused by the unknown pathogen. Facinating. Possibly normal side effect. Setting aside sample for later tests." he collects a test tube of the Not Chocolate and set it aside before picking up a bone saw. There's the high pitched hum of it starting up before he leans over the corpse who's skin has been peeled back partially. Then he places saw to sternum and in time with his humming tune, slowly cuts his way up the man's rib cage. Bum bum bum bum bum bumbum bumbum, bzz bzz bzz bzz bzz bzzzzzzz bzzzzzzz. He pauses as he finishes the cut and his head pope up, he uses his eyes to trigger his HUD's coms, "Hey uh… crap. Horrible with names. Alilama… no, um… Aririna, dammit. Quick Familial search, list female cousins of code name Stick In Mud." he waits as a list goes by, "There. Coms, page Ariana. Hey you. I have something weird here in the autopsy lab, namely blood like mud, you guys got an idea about that or will I need to run more tests and stuff? Just curious."

As Brigham delights in slicing up the corpse of one of the deceased, Ariana is working with the living. In the patients ward, she is monitoring one of the more still cohrent victims of this plague. She rechecks the woman's vitals and examines the information given about her bloodwork, if those tests have already been run. She asks a few questions of the patient as she does a quick once over to observe the woman's eyes and to see if any one area upon her body has developed any sort of rash or discoloration. This includes scans of the womans internal organs as well as a quick view into her mouth, ears and nostrils. "What were you and your compansions doing just before you came down with this ailment? Did you have anything to eat or drink while out on the field? Did you smell anything strange in the air?" She is patient enough to allow the woman time to gather her strength to respond, if she is able to. And then there is a voice that comes in over her comm, which she replies to as she continues to work. "Blood like mud? There are a few possibilities to that, but one of them is when the iron in the heme group is in the ferric state, rather than ferrous like normal." Here, she pulls up this particular woman's file to see what it says about her blood. "It's called Methemoglobin, if you care to look that up."

There's the tell tale CRACK! of ribs being broken open by a spreader before Brigham responds, "No need. I have an almost eidedic memory when it comes to anything I've read." that he finds interesting, "Which means," he pauses for a moment, "treatment is methylene blue solution and O2 with a saline wash afterwards. You may want to start a few of the worse off patients on a course of that, maybe it'll buy them sometime while we find the cause. Of course, with their fevers we've been pumping them full of anti-biotics, trying to fight the infection. You think this is a side effect of the meds? According to Price's Guide it's possible to cause that condition with AB's." he gruns as he pushes the ribs out wide and looks into the chest cavity. "Brown insides are weird." he informs her over the coms. "Cool."

The woman's answers to the questions are slow in coming. "I'm a cook. Out on the field?" She wants to know curiously. "We don't have fields…" she gives a little throat clearing cough. "You mean the digging for the new barracks? The workers don't eat at the site. They eat here in the mess hall." The woman's internal organs are fine, although she does have liver spots on her arms and shoulders. "Nothing smells strange." The woman's blood, according to the chart is type is O+.
Frank's blood is A+ and his inside cavity doesn't show anything abnormal, the lungs /appear/ to be normal in size and structure. Other than the brownish blood color that suggests his the increase in iron and decrease in oxygen in his blood, he seems to be fairly normal.
At this time, Lady Reena's samples are brought in for study, with a note from Dr. Hyland flagging the last ones for first scrutiny. They're from the most recent area that was being drilled.

One of Ariana's brow arches at the cook's response and without even a smile, she comments in a matter-of-fact tone, "Out on the field as in where your group was working." She taps some things into her datapad, "We don't send our field medics to go tralloping into someone's farm." She continues, "You were a cook, so you weren't present at the dig site and contracted this disease through one one of the workers here?" At Brigham's orders given over the comm, she leaves the patients side for the moment, to neatly rummage through the various vials of medications and solutions until she locates just the right mix for this procedure. Speaking over the comm now, she responds, "Fortunately, if that can be said, no. None of the antibiotics or medications would cause these side effects within the patient. They definitely show signs of Methemoglobinemia as they have a dark blue or purple coloring along the membrane inside of their nose." Quickly, she walks between several patient beds until she locates some of the worst degenerated from this disease.

Brigham lifts a lung from the body having cut it free and plops it down on a scale, recording weight, then a laser scan gives him dimentions as well, "I'm seeing signs of tissue hypoxia as well, but that's to be expected with Methemoglobinemia… Huh. That's a fun word to say. Methemoglobinemia, Methemoglobinemia, Methemoglobinemia… Is there any chance this is caused by anything they came into contact with? There are a number of minerals and toxins that would cause this sort of reaction. Bah. Do you have field test kits out there? I think I can use what's in those to rig you up a fast and ugly way to test your location for contaminates that would accelerate the condition to break neck speeds." he looks down at Francis and takes a couple of lung and skin tissue samples while he's thinking about it and sets them in the mass spectrometer. "I'm checking Deady McDeaderson here to see if he's been exposed."

The woman shakes her head to Ariana. "I don't know who I got the disease from my lady," she replies wearily, her brows drawing together. "I was doing my job, trying to keep cooking for the outpost, and help the medics who have been trying to figure out why people are sick and taking care of the sick." Her words are slow and raspy, and the monitors note that her temperature is approaching critical.
The patients who have the more advanced form of the disease have dangerously high fevers that continue unabated, and need to have regular hypos to regulate siezures. The cyonosis in the nasal cavities is more pronounced, but hasn't spread to their extremities. The most advanced are showing rapid heart rates, and are causing the most concern as the ones that have already passed experienced this elevation in heart rate in the last few hours.

While the woman isn't the more critical of patients as what Brigham had requested the test to be done on, Ariana decides to inject her with the methylene blue solution and 02 mixture to see if that, if anything, will help to alleviate the woman's rising fever, this is then followed by a saline wash. Though she knows there is something more at work, she runs this test to ensure whether it will help treat some of the symptoms if not all of them. Over her comm, she states, "It's not just methemoglobinemia, but it's clear that the invasion is airborne. Were the clothing of the victims already checked for any sort of residue? I wonder if we can find out what they may have come into contacted with to help figure out what could have been breathed in."

Reena has been tending to the cave-in victims while the scientists have been doing their thing with the samples she brought back. The Khournas woman now returns to the quarantine area. "Any progress?" she asks quietly, sidling up near Ariana with a concerned expression.

As Ariana passed Elodie in her rounds, the young medic accepted a call on her data comm. She apparently expected it to be her brother from the exhasperated answer, but then pulled up short, and changed her greeting. Who it was, Ariana didn't hear, but the Lady did take the call in a small office and returns now, looking slightly better. Her forehead does seem to be sweating a little, and her eyes are bright, but she hears the question. "Yes, they were scanned, but nothing out of the ordinary was found. The outer suits are all washed off the moment they return so they have time to dry. You are thinking it is airborne, my Lady?" She glances to Lady Reena. "How are the trauma patients? Any signs of infection?"

As she makes her way down the hall, Ariana catches sight of Elodie as she ducks into an office to take a call or other. There's nothing terribly wrong about taking personal calls during these times of crises, so the Larent lady thinks nothing of it. A polite bow of her head is given to the Lady of Khournas just as Elodie emerges from the quaint office. The look, which Ariana reads as relief is noted and she asks in an almost hopeful manner, "I hope you have some good news for us. However, I do believe that this virus may be airborne. The nasal passages of the victims are discolored with some form of irritation, the membrane found from within having been sent to the lab as it is. It also seems that one of the symptoms resembles a case of methemoglobinemia, however the fevers have no ties to methemoglobinemia, so there is something more involved."

"No infections, Lady Elodie. They are all on the mend and recovering well," Reena replies. She peers at the Iah with a concerned expression. "You're sweating. Ariana, Lady Elodie is sweating." She digs for a temperature scanner to get a reading on the woman.

Elodie gives a nod of relief to Reena. "That is good to hear. Thank you, Lady Reena. I don't want to risk taking any infection from here for them." She passes her forearm over her forehead. "I've been working for awhile. I'm just tired." She looks to Ariana and gives a small shake of her head. "Isn't that something to do with iron?"

In the lab, the mass spec beeps and Brigham, covered in the blood and goop of some dead guy, is currently glove less and eating a sandwhich. He's semi-careful about not getting anything icky on it, which given the cleanliness of the lab itself is about as careful as he needs to be. He glances up from his food and mutters before walking over to check the holo read out. He pauses. Rereads it. Then reaches out with a hand for a respirator, tugging it on over his face quickly, "Coms: This is the lab. All medical personel are required to wear respirators until futher notice. The location of your dig was heavy with a nitrates, beryllium and other thi-Look, the short version is you guys have a chemical there that when evaporated from water creates an inhalent that causes extremely accelerated nitrate/beryllium poisoning. The sweat from the patients' skin is enough to trigger the change from harmless mineral to deadly toxin. Respirators should be worn at all times until every surface can be decontaminated. Every tool, every body, every/thing/ that's been in the area of the dig must be gone over and nothing shipped out. I might be able to synthisize a neutralizing agent, but that's for later…" there's a long pause, "Also let it be known that I just dropped my sandwhich in what I think is someone's kidney. This day sucks. Questions can be comm'd to the lab… and another sandwhich. I'm gonna need another one of those." he doesn't even realize that eating will be hard with a mask over his face.

Ariana's brow furrows a little when Brigham's voice comes over the comm and it sounds like he is speaking with his mouth full. She seems disturbed by both the fact that he /is/ speaking with his mouthful and that he is eating during an autopsy. Over the comm, she speaks out, "My Lord Brigham, I hope that you are taking a break during your procedure and have found a nice, sterile room to enjoy a meal in." At the man's warning, however, this is clearly something which she, too, had been able to figure out as well. At Reena's assessment of their fellow Lady and Medic, Ariana turns to Elodie, her words coming out in an inquiring tone, "My Lady Elodie, we must get you some fresh air and possibly some rest. With what we've found so far, you have been exposed to all of this for far too long." Even as she speaks to the Iah, she reads over the files of the currently deceased patients as well as others who almost seem like they are on the brink of succumbing to their illness. "The Beryllium. That's part of the key to all of this. There were signs of Methemoglobin, but something else that was pushing their fevered states, leading to siezures. It was the beryllium. However, it never works this quickly and this powerfully, unless the area was highly concentrated. But yes, everything must be decontaminated. The very suits that the ill were wearing must have been coated heavily with the substance for those who washed the uniforms were the first to catch the illness."

"Damn." That is Reena's response to Brigham's announcement. She pauses for a moment, as she realizes something. "The drills. They were using drills to cut through the granite. They were dousing the drill bits with water to keep them cool and keep the stone from splintering. When the water from the drills evaporated, the toxins from the dust went airborne." She rushes to the cabinets which house the respirators and puts one on. Then she begins handing them out, first to medical personnel, as they need to stay safe to keep everyone else alive. She is suddenly very, very sad to have taken off her hazmat suit. "We need to clear all personnel from that work site and seal it off. You can't drill there anymore."

Elodie nods when Reena explains about the drills, but then her eyes widen when the younger lady makes the connection. She accepts the respirator and puts it on. "We'll have to seal it off. We haven't had anyone out working since the illness started, so we shouldn't have any more contagion. I'll send a message to Lady Una and Lord Ronan, I'm a little overdue in checking in with them, anyways. But… we need to test cleaning solutions before we start cleaning, we can't use water, will this same compound react with alcohol?" She looks between the two, then down to her data pad. "I'll ask Dr. Helena to check it out." If she heard Ariana's suggestion for her to rest, she doesn't seem to be acknowledging it.

As Elodie continues to busy herself with work, tossing out these ideas and inquiries, Ariana looks to Reena as if sharing a look of concern regarding the Iah's health with the other young noble. She is satisfied, for the time being, that Elodie is wearing a respirator now, as she states to the pair, "We need to treat the ill with care. The oxygen will be gods sent to them, though we need to continue to ensure that they are kept comfortable while we work on cleansing their bodies of these toxins in the safest way possible."

"I'll need to be tested, too," Reena says, solemnly. She's been in here without a hazmat suit and the possibility of her own infection is settling over her like a reaper looming. "As will Lady Elodie."

Elodie probably won't have to be tested. She sends her report in to her family, and the request to Dr. Helena, then sets her table aside and lays her head on the table. One of the other medics gives a slight grin and nudges the tablet and reaches across to turn the desk light off, then freezes. They take out a scanner, and frown, turning around and searching. "My lady!" he says urgently, waving Ariana over. "She's burning up." His eyes are anxious as he looks between his lady and the visiting one.


Elodie's been making her updates on schedule as promised to Ronan or Una or both. The last was a little late, and she looked compltely exhausted, but her expression had that light one has when they have both good and bad news.
The news she relates is that they found the disease to be a mineral poisoning of a nature. Some of the rock they'd been drilling when the dust combined with the water, then evaporated, it gave off an airborne pathogen that settled into the lungs then through the bloodstream. Now that the cause had been isolated, it's only a matter of time/hours before they find a cure.
However, they are not going to be able to expand the barracks any further into the mountain, all additions will have to be to the outside of the outpost.
She also let then know that Evald was still alive, and she was confident the cure would come in time for him.

Thus ends the latest commique from Lady Elodie.


"Yes, I would insist upon you both getting test—" Ariana starts to say, though her eyes continue to follow Elodie's path when the noble lady goes to sit down and rest her head upon a table. Turning to Reena, she states, "Lady Reena, do tell me that you're not experiencing any feverish symptoms or other just now." Approaching the ailing Elodie, she anounces, "I need a bed ready for Lady Elodie immediately." The first thing that she does do is to check on the respirator to ensure that it's working properly and is allowing oxygen to flow through Elodie's lungs. "We'll give her something to lower her fever for the time being while keeping her under close watch." She then looks to Reena, hoping that the Khourni did not catch this thing.

"I'm feeling fine," Reena notes through the funneling sound of her respirator. She moves to help get Elodie to a bed and begins taking down notes on her vitals. "Just tell that Peake to move his ass with a neutralizing agent, will you?"

Trailing behind Reena as she helps move Elodie to an empty bed, Ariana keeps up communications with the lab, speaking aloud their findings, "Thank you, Doctor Helena, that does make perfect sense. The acute beryllium poisoning was accelerating their fever while the nitrate poisoning caused their Methemoglobinemia that in turn led to their siezures. Combined, this was definitely a mixture for a fast working deadly virus. Do we have an ETA for this cure? I see. We will continue to treat the patients as best we can until then." She turns to Reena, stating, "They are working as quickly as they possibly can and with a handful of victims already succumbing to death, they know that they are running out of time."

"The Lady's vitals are still in the green," Reena reports to Ariana. "I'll go make the report on her behalf to her family, and let them know her status." The Khourni squeezes Elodie's hand once, then she goes to send the news.

"Thank you, Lady Reena." Ariana says as she takes Reena's place besides Elodie for the moment. Unlike the Khourni, however, Ariana makes no real physical contact with their latest patient, perhaps not being as physically friendly or affectionate of any sort in that manner. Still, she dutifully continues to monitor not only Elodie's vital signs, but as the lady rests, she keeps up her rounds in monitoring the vitals of the others.

And race against time is what Dr. Emily Hyland and her team do. Lucky for the patients, Brigham's chemistry brilliance outshines even his clothing, and he manages to break down the compound and Dr. Helena uses his discovery to formulate a hypo injection to repeat said process in the patients, and to make a cleaning solution to decontaminate the outpost. The patients are slow to recover, and some that have been in fevers for a long time recover physically, but the fever has left them with lasting repercussions from neural damage. Evald, Lady Elodie's guard, will never see again. The fever killed the neurons that fed the impulses to the brain for him to see. However, some patients that were in fevers just as long come out of it just fine. It is a riddle that some researchers may wish to pursue in the labs at Academ.

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