IC - 12 - Medical Clinic - Everyone

[jp1885]

"Let me take a look Sam, before we re-engage CENTRAL." Kiara says, peering into the fume hood.

Science chemistry 50 pass,0

[Mephistophilis]

Anyone watching the postmortem can see this,[b]Jojo[/b] and [b]Richards[/b] start the postmortem by removing [b]Montrose[/b]'s body from the mortuary trolley. A surface examination confirms the findings from the imaging and what [b]Jojo[/b] saw earlier in [b]Montrose[/b]'s apartment. He is emaciated, pallid, his eyes sunken pits. There are red patches on the skin, welts and sores, at the base of these there is an almost mineral-like scaling. The top of his skull has been blasted open and much of the intracranial contents are missing, presumably splattered over the ceiling in his apartment. There are ragged bloody edges of bone. A matching entry wound is at the base of his neck. Viewing his whole body, it is clear the olive green powdery substance has covered most of his skin now. However, in the centre of his chest is a livid spot that does not bleed and from which emanates a network of red lines across his chest. [b]Jojo[/b] and [b]Richards[/b] start attending to the body with a series of knives and saws, a mechanical buzzing sound mingling with crunches and splatters that are the reality of cutting open the human body. [ooc]If you didn't already test SAN for seeing him roll, 1/1d4 loss[/ooc]

Jojo,After ten minutes of work Jojo is able to look inside the thoracic cavity. The internal organs, heart, lungs, liver and so on seem grossly normal but atrophied, smaller than would be expected for a man of [b]Montrose[/b]'s size and age. As [b]Jojo[/b] removes them for further examination he notes that they feel less compliant, stiffer than usual, perhaps indicating fibrous growth or scar tissue. Exploring the livid spot on his chest reveals what looks like large puncture wound, smashing through the sternum and into the mediastinum. The tissue around the wound is particularly stiff, hard even. He scoops out what remains of [b]Montrose[/b]'s brain. From the size of the brainstem and other identifiable parts he can see that [b]Montrose[/b]'s brain also appears smaller than he would expect. [b]Richards[/b] takes makes some cross sectional slices of the heart and liver and [b]Jojo[/b] examines them with a low power microscope. Apart from the atrophy he finds nothing unusual and takes some samples for more detailed microscopic analysis. [b]Richards[/b] obtains some further samples of the green powdery material and draws some blood for analysis. [b]Jojo[/b] looks closer at the odd scaling on [b]Montrose[/b]'s skin. Looking at it up close and using a scalpel to prod it he finds that this thick, scaled material seems to be present throughout the subcutaneous tissue and he takes some samples to analyse.

Richards runs biochemistry and toxicology studies on Montrose's blood. 'Nothing abnormal in the blood, except the alcohol levels, but I think we knew that already.'

Sam and Kiara,Taking the powdery scrapings out of the containment box into the fume hood, [b]Sam[/b] and [b]Kiara[/b] are able to get a better look at them under the microscope and also to run some basic tests. Most obviously, despite the hair-like filaments this isn't organic. There is no cellular structure evident. Both the soft dust and the filaments have a crystalline structure under sufficient magnification. Initial tests using the limited laboratory facilities in the Medical Centre suggest the material is mostly silicate and carbonate, some traces of metals, and a few chlorine, fluorine, and sulphur compounds. While not clearly related to the organic chemistry of Earth this doesn't seem like something that would arise in the icy conditions on Titan either. [ooc]You both passed Chemistry and Planetary Science[/ooc]

After completing the autopsy, Jojo and Richards return Montrose's body to the mortuary trolley and put it into cold storage. Once they have have decontaminated and removed their biohazard suits they purge the surgical suite, great billowing flames searing the contents clean.

Jojo takes a look at the sample that Sam and Kiara have brought out into the fume hood.

Jojo,Most obviously, despite the hair-like filaments, the green powdery substance isn't organic. There is no cellular structure evident. This isn't any kind of terrestrial pathogen and it is not clear how it would have formed on [b]Montrose[/b]. Both the soft dust and the filaments have a crystalline structure under sufficient magnification. Running them through chemical analysis shows carbon and silicon, some residual sulphuric acid, and trace metals.

He then takes a look at some of the samples from the autopsy he has passed through into the containment box.

Jojo,[b]Montrose[/b]'s skin and tissue samples are unremarkable at low magnification except for the strange scaly subcutaneous tissue which has a mineral-like consistency. At higher magnification the cells look very odd indeed. Some, mainly in the skin and subcutaneous tissue, remind him of grasses, where silica phytoliths are deposited within the cell body, making it tough and inflexible. Other cells, mainly in the internal and subcutaneous tissues, are reminiscent of algal diatoms, where the cell wall itself is made of silica. This probably explains the odd artefacts on the imaging, dense inorganic material in the tissue interfering with the x-ray and magnetic resonance. [b]Jojo[/b] also makes the surprising discovery that the grass-like cells are photosensitive, extruding inorganic material when exposed to high intensity visible and ultraviolet spectrums. This extruded inorganic material looks very much like the green powdery substance and [b]Jojo[/b] suspects it is probably related. It does, however, differ from the scaly material in the subcutaneous tissue which seems to be more due to the diatom-like silica-walled cells. [b]Jojo[/b] extracts some DNA from the cells and finds no evidence of abnormal sequences or methylation comparing it to the samples he has on file for [b]Montrose[/b]. He is it at all sure what is going on but [b]Jojo[/b] knows that this is not a terrestrial pathogen, this is extraterrestrial, it didn't come from Earth but whether it could be native to Titan he's not sure. Something else occurs to him, this particular chemistry, it isn't purely carbon-based, it is conceivable, if not perhaps likely, that non-organic materials could be susceptible to infection, perhaps computers like [b]CENTRAL[/b], or maybe other synthetic organisms... [ooc]Jojo passes Biology, Medicine, and Chemistry[/ooc]

[Mr. Handy]

"Looks like it's not organic after all," says Sam. "I don't think it's from either Earth or Titan, so how did it get here?"

[jp1885]

"Is it crazy to think we're not the first people to visit this planet?" wonders Kiara. "Yeah, it is crazy... must be..."

[Starspawn338]

"Yes, this appears to not be a carbon based life form. If I had to guess, I would say it is silica based. The crystalline patterns of the spread in the organic tissue would seem to indicate that it is possible for this same organism to infect our technological devices that have similar silica based structure. That might be why CENTRAL is acting strangely." Jojo ponders out loud to the others. "I wonder if it is possible that this has the ability to be a sentient parasite and not just an infection."

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, that's a different kind of computer virus," says Sam. "That makes sense. Silicon-based life has been theorized, but it's never been found before. Still, if it were to exist anywhere, it makes sense that it would be on Titan. If extraterrestrial life were to exist anywhere in the solar system other than Earth, this would be the most likely place to support it."

[jp1885]

“Amazing, fascinating and terrifying all at the same time...” Kiara mutters. “This is a game-changer of massive proportions, but it doesn’t solve our immediate problem.”

“Would resetting CENTRAL purge such an infection? Could we come up with a ‘scrub’ that acts independently of the system?”

[Mephistophilis]

You all realise that you are not very familiar with the workings of CENTRAL supercomputers and you have no idea how this inorganic infectious organism would affect a computer system or how you would go about purging it if it was infected. With really only one example of infection, and that in a human, it is very difficult to make any predictions, including as to whether this organism is capable of sentience, a few hours ago you'd have said no, but then a few hours ago you didn't think inorganic organisms were possible either.

Nicole asks, 'Is it safe to try and reset CENTRAL if we don't know what this infection can do? Is it even safe to visit Waystation or should we just call this in and wait for backup?'

OOC,Just a reminder it is now the middle of the night - say 3am

[Mr. Handy]

"I have no idea," says Sam. "We're in uncharted territory here. All I know is that it's not safe to leave CENTRAL in its current condition. We have to do something. Maybe we can communicate with it, if it's intelligent, but that poses its own risks. If it's hostile, or merely paranoid, we'll show our hand if we reveal knowledge of its existence. It will try to preserve its own existence if it's like any other lifeform."

[Starspawn338]

"Well, I suggest we sleep on it. It's quite possible that something will come to us while we are resting and present another course of action in the morning." Jojo says. And with that, he marshals the others out of the medical clinic. "Where are we meeting in the morning?" He asks before heading to his quarters.

[jp1885]

“I’m not sure I’ll sleep, but it’s very late I guess. Shall we reconnect CENTRAL first?”

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, the computer will be suspicious if we leave it off any longer," says Sam. "I hope it assumes we only did it to get Sergei to talk."

[jp1885]

“I should be able to reverse the changes I made to CENTRAL’s sensors...”

Computer use 65,0

”Oh come on!”

[Mephistophilis]

Kiara,Kiara got an extreme success to disable CENTRAL's sensors, I think she can reactivate them again

Kiara attempts to reverse the blocks she has placed on CENTRAL's sensors in the Medical Centre. She quickly removes the overrides and sees that the various audio, visual, and other scanners are back online. When she is finished her datapad displays a popup message, 'Hello Science Officer Khan. Please do not disable my sensors, they are necessary for the smooth operating of Barnard's Rest and for your safety.'

[jp1885]

Chastened, Kiara replies ‘sorry’, before going to bed.

[Mr. Handy]

"Good night," says Sam, heading to her own quarters for some much needed sleep.

[Mephistophilis]

OOC,Moving to this thread: [url]https://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?f=472&t=7380[/url]. If Jojo wants to do anything before going back to his quarters just let me know and I'll retcon

[Starspawn338]

OOC,I'm good to go. Just wanted to know when and where we were meeting in the morning but I'll figure it out.

[Mephistophilis]

OOC,You're all staying in the Corporate Suites so you could arrange to meet up there in the morning since you'll all be there anyway