Medical Check Up

Posted on Wed Dec 4th, 2024 @ 5:33pm by Lieutenant JG Willow Wales (Kosugi) & Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma

Mission: Just Another Day on Gladiator
Location: Primary Medical
2191 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure

(Placeholder until I can send a proper starter. This post is going to be Mel stopping by for a standard medical check in. I don't have any major medical issues planned for Mel, but the standard 'You're putting on weight' or 'you should spend a few hours everyday in the Holodeck because you're used to 1.3 gravities and living in 1 gravity is having a slow, detrimental effect on you' or something. The other post I'm in with medical is asking questions about Dalacari life and the life cycle. Pregnancy and such. Feel free to strike up medical conversations to cover.)

One of the more familiar and friendly faces on the Gladiator belonged to Mel Torma. Well, faces was the better word, as she did have a pair of them. Though, rather than cheerful or outright smiling, something seemed to be bothering the resident Dalacari. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but something seemed, well, off.

That's what landed her in Medical. She sat, one form examining the room for any changes since the last, while the other picked up a PaDD to skim through the available reading material. While she was a patient patient, the waiting wasn't doing much for her concern. The longer she waited, the more her mind wandered to what it could be giving her that off sensation. Was it something she ate? No, no she hadn't strayed too far from her usual cuisine. She experimented a bit with spicy food but nothing excessive or unusual. She DID query the computer for a list of the more trendy foodstuffs being ordered on the ship to see about sampling the cuisine and staying in touch with trends, but the computer assured her that the ingredients were safe for her consumption. Was it the combination that was doing this? Now she was starting to worry.

Willow stepped out from one of the storage rooms noticing someone she hadn't met before. From her padd information, it was the Chief Science Officer Commander Torme.

"Greetings Commander, are you okay? And my name is Willow one of the medical personnel here. Well you probably have come to that conclusion." giving a friendly warm smile.

"Willow, hi." she started, a friendly pair of smiles. No teeth, Mel. These poor Single Instances don't like seeing teeth. "Please, just Mel. My parents put a lot of thought into my name and they didn't choose..."

"... Commander." a giggle each, "And, well it's weird but I'm feeling a bit, off. I don't know if it's something I ate, or just I'm coming down with half a cold or what but it's..."

"... throwing me for a loop. I don't know how to describe it to someone who doesn't experience it." she struggled to find common ground, then abandoned the cause, "So I figured head in, get a check, and..."

"... compare it to the last time when I didn't feel this way, if that makes sense?" she inquired. Dia, she hated coming to medical conclusions while not actually part of Medical.

"That actually does make sense. I had been wondering if being in that nebula where we were, had been affecting the crew. I know that I was feeling a bit off, it was the first time that I had experienced being in a nebula before. Do you know if there is research on the matter. And please have a seat on the bio bed, or bio beds." Willow paused for a moment, as she regarded Mel. "When it comes to medical examinations, do you end up needing to be on two bio beds? You are certainly the first Dalacari that I have met or even done a physical examination."

"I don't THINK there's any research on it, except for what research we did before everyone felt the effects firsthand. After that I don't think there was much room for..."

"... rational thought." she said, the conversation flowing between her halves as she hopped up onto the same bed. Sure it was cozy, but she made it work. After all, she was acutely aware of where she was, in relation to herself. "Dalacari biobeds are bigger. Also we hide our primary medical scanner in the..."

"... floor and ceiling, so we go through the preliminary scan on the way into the examination room. Recently we've begun calibrating them to ALSO scan single instance..."

"... life. Before that, the scanner would report a catastrophic injury if a non-Dalacari was scanned. That was a bit awkward the first time we really began to explore..."

"... diplomatic relations with the Ts'usugi." she giggled. "As for TWO beds, I've never been scanned on two before but I'm open to the experiment of seeing exactly what..."

"... kind of results it would yield. Just as long as they're close." and one of her forms slid off the bed and started to walk towards an unoccupied bed. "Gonna warn you, thirty feet it my..."

"... anxiety boundry. It's a limit of how far I can be separated from, well, ME. It's hard to explain to non-Dalacari, but I think you get what I mean?"

Willow looked towards the bio beds that were near. "I think that will be doable, keeping you close enough. And if this hasn't been done befoire, maybe it is time to do so. And we can enter in the information into the medical records." she pause then answered Mel's other statement. "I think that I do get what youi mean most definitely."

Mel sat still, twice, as the scan ran. Breathing, heart rate, vitals, all almost exact duplicates of each other. Her hearts beat within a fraction of a moment from each other. Internal temperature, endocrinology, everything that was somewhat within her control through diet and exercise were within a fraction of a degree of separation. Even neural activity was almost identical across the border. Then something happened.

One of the forms of Mel took interest in the results, or what she could see of them, and something shifted in the reading. A sub-empathic carrier frequency, the lowest and simplest form of documented telepathic capability, read slightly higher on the interested Mel than it did on the casual Mel.

"So, how do I look?" she inquired. That must be the focual shift that Dalacari mention, the back-and-forth of conversation between them is literally a hand off of psychic initiative. Figuring out which was was in the proverbial driver's seat. The focus shifted back to the casual Mel for a moment before returning back to the inquisitive Mel, as though just checking in to see if anything had changed. Neural activity in both forms was still active, it wasn't her consciousness that was being transferred or anything so vulgar. There was a small portion of that carrier wave present in both cortexes, while the floating bulk of that neural capacity passed back and forth, linking their two separate brains into one gestalt mind. Two Bodies, One Soul, just like she said.

"Well, actually I would love to get your input on this as you are most definitely an expert on the vitals of your people. However to me, it looks like you are in good health." Willow stated. " Maybe a little bit stressed, when wea the last time you had some relaxtion? And what do you do to relax?"

"Expert she says..." she giggled, the two forms sliding off their respective bio beds to join around the console. That carrier wave didn't need to go back and forth between the two for simple, casual things like walking to a location. Where was the line between transition and transit? At what point did either body need the focus?

"Okay, see that?" Mel pointed to the transitional wave, which shifted to indicate that the pointing form was the dominant focus, "That's me." she offered with a smile. "Okay okay so it's not ME me, but that's the one of me that's... oh how can I put it where it'll..." boom, it shifted to the other form.

"... make sense to a singular perspective OH DIA I didn't mean it like that! Oh no I'm sorry! I just.. it's so hard to describe something that..." boom, shift.

"... I don't even really know happens." she admitted, and then composed herself. "So, that's me, but it's more which driver's seat I'm in on this increasingly..."

"... embarrassing bus ride." she giggled, a gesture shared by both even though one of the bodies was certainly the focus. Simple actions and gestures apparently didn't need the Brain... but things like conversation did. "Oh gee, so when was the last time I relaxed? I dunno, how long..."

"...have I been on the Gladiator?" she teased, all in good humor. "So, to relax, a Dalacari could go shopping, get a bite to eat at a trending eatery, maybe a..."

"... harmoic massage. I swear by all that is, there was a drone back home that just GOT me. Beta Seventeen could turn rock into clay." she smiled, remembering, while the focus shifted.

"I used to head down for a session every three weeks after the paperwork was filed back home, and yes I know, I know, any drone could just..."

"... download the bio file and handle the session but I requested Beta Seventeen. He just... knew." it was a well documented fact that the Dalacari were forbidden, by treaty, to entertain research into artificial intellect. What they had instead was damn close, damn good, and damn scary. "There's just something cathartic about going to..."

"... places to do things that you can't accomplish from your own home. Nevermind that all the things I'd be doing OUT there, I could just..."

"... as easily handle back home. It's... the social aspect, you know? See what's trending, add to the trend? Maybe be a rebel and break the..."

"... norm? Oh who am I kidding? The most rebellious thing I ever did back home was vote for rain on Lensday rather than when everyone else..."

"... wanted it on Moonsday."

Willow raised an eyebrow at that. "Lensday and Moonsday. and you have weather control devices. As for massage therapy, for Dalacari's. I wouldn't mind seeing an example of how that works. And I have knowledge of massage therapy."

"Oh, sorry, so Lensday is originally the day that Dia, the principle deity in our old religion, would look down and observe us to ensure we were on our collective..."

"... best behavior, and we'd venerate them on that day. Now, it's just the first day of the week. Moonsday is the day that follows Lensday. We used to believe that the..."

"... bright moon in the sky was the light reflecting off Dia's lens as they looked away. Now, oh now we know for sure what it is." she giggled in stereo.

A pause, "And yeah, on Dalacari colonies it's one of the first technologies we build on new settlements. Gravity adjusters to get that perfect feel, and then weather control..."

"... systems to ensure that perfect day whenever you need it. The rain HAS to come eventually, we just want it to come on days that aren't perfect days for an aeronaut show or..."

"... a picnic or something. You know what I mean, right? So we put it to a collective vote ahead of time so people can adjust their schedules." the way Mel explained something as groundbreaking as weather manipulation put to a social vote was so casual. Dangerously casual. Was Dalacari society truly ruled by what was trendy at the time?

"And I'd love to really share the entire harmonic massage technique but the Captain won't let me replicate a Drone of my own. Wouldn't do much good without being..."

"... attached to a Thinking Engine, and I'm most certainly not allowed to have one of those. So I *suppose* I'll have to settle for flesh and blood." she giggled again.

"Okay so Dalacari harmonic massage involves being submerged in water pretty much up to your necks, and then a low frequency harmonic tone is run through the water." she explained.

"Bear in mind that Dalacar colonies are optimally at 1.3 gravities, so the water is a little thicker in viscosity." she reminded.

"Why not figure out something similar for the Holodeck and get a little bit creative okay? Could classify this as a science project. What do you think? I am all for working out something that will help you out." Willow giving a smile.

"I think that's a fantastic idea. Though I'd have to make absolutely sure that the Dalacari Only units are clearly marked. I'd feel horrible if someone got into the..."

"... wrong tub and had a little bit of a crisis. Otherwise, having the system figure out the proper harmonics for whoever is soaking in wouldn't actually be all that hard." she mused. Watching the focal shift on the medical scanner WHILE she was talking was really something. It actually just... happened. She probably was barely even aware it was happening.

Taking another look at the readings. Willow determined something. "You know from what it looks like. You are healthy, ahd we do need to go make a program for you to relax in. I am looking forward to this being put together. Shall we?"