By David C. Daoust
“All I’m saying, is things went much smoother when we were all packed in the Ark Ships…” Dr. Hen said as he swapped out another tray of black mucus from under his microscope.
“How could you possibly know that?” One of the lab assistants suddenly blurted out in response to the local doctor’s baseless declaration.
“I doubt that anything was ‘smoother’,” Dakota Sun spoke up, siding with the lab assistant, “We like to think the previous generations had it easy, but I’m sure people were fighting just as much.”
Dakota had spent the last several days locked away in this lab, looking for any way to narrow down the cause of this infection. A large portion of the City Station’s population all seemed to be presenting with the same symptoms, an oily black mucus forming within their lungs, threatening to choke them to death.
An infection the locals were calling Black Lung, appropriately enough.
Dakota had managed to find a way to halt the build-up of mucus, but as of yet had no idea the cause. All normal tests came back without a definitive answer, which left them with very little option, but to go through said mucus with a microscope as a last ditch effort to find the culprit. The two doctors had spent so much time within the Med-bay of Dori 5, with no positive results on the matter that conversation had wondered to other areas.
“Well, of course fighting,” Dr. Hen conceded, he was the senior doctor and did not seem pleased to be questioned by the lab assistant, the lab assistant that quickly got back to work after witnessing his displeasure, “but at least we all shared resources. No one was starving… now it is as though everyone wants to take as much as they can for themselves, all others be damned.”
“It has always been my opinion, that socialism has far more to do with population than people’s desire,” Dakota stated, referring to the fact that the Ark Ships were so completely overpopulated by the end of their long trek through space, people were bunking two to three families in one living quarter, “in this way I agree with you, now that we are all scattered throughout the Onion, clearly no longer over-populated… Yes, everyone wants to have the largest portion, to insure their own livelihood.”
“It doesn’t help that the Royals managed to horde so much coin in their reign of the Ark Age,” Dakota suddenly tacked on, referring to the Royal’s massive hold on the system.
“Oy!” Doctor Hen laughed aloud at her sudden jab at the Royals, “You’ll bad-talk the royals at the drop of a hat, despite the fact they ushered humanity through the Ark Age, yet say nothing of the Trade Consortium’s antics… they’re the true villains.”
“Well, at least the Consortium earned what they have,” Dakota said simply, without informing the good doctor that much of what she had to say was formed solely on the fact that she knew he was pro-Royal. She had just as many bad things to say of the Trade Consortium, though would save those for someone who favored the Consortium.
“Earned it how? Through the manipulation of laws,” Dr. Hen responded with a grimace, “most of the Corporations are entities in and of themselves, entities formed solely to circumvent laws, with very little care for the people. Even those they employ, could just as easily be cast off if they fail to toe the line.”
“The Trade Consortium is not ALL corporations,” Dakota answered, as though ludicrous that the Consortium could be summed up under such a small portion of what made up the government, “in fact the only reason most corporations sign on to Consortium law, is that it benefits them the most…”
“All right, I don’t even know what we’re talking about anymore,” Doctor Hen said flabbergasted at what was pouring out of Dakota’s mouth, “was that s’posed to be pro-Consortium, or pro-corporation? I realize your ties to Otomo Corp, but you can’t truly think, as smart as you supposedly are, that corporations are good for anyone but themselves?”
“Ah ha! Here it is right here!” Dakota suddenly announced, breaking the train of the conversation and calling everyone’s attention to her findings.
“What is it…” the lab assistant said as she peered into the microscope in front of Dr. Sun.
“I had a feeling we were looking in the wrong place,” Dakota said punching the findings into a terminal, so that Dr. Hen could also see what was under her lens, “It’s not a virus at all!
“What?” Dr. Hen asked as the image came up on his screen, studying it for a moment he asked, “Is that… a nanite?”
“Yep, a tiny microscopic robot,” Dakota said triumphantly, finally the last piece of the puzzle was found and the theory she had been tumbling around in her brain, during their conversation, came together perfectly, “it looks like they were breathed in, causing the body to produce mucus to expel them… but the nanites are fighting back… producing their own toxins, to break down the mucus, making the patient ill… and obviously, turning the mucus black and oily.”
“We’ll have to check some of the other patients…” Dr. Hen responded, trying not to seem too impressed with the much younger Doctor’s findings, “this could just be a fluke…”
“If you wish doctor, but I’m sure this is it,” Dakota said, not at all interested in starting an argument on the matter, or at being involved in any more lab work, “it’ll be easy enough to shut the little guys down long enough for the body to expel them.”
“We’re just lucky no one died,” the lab assistant stated, grateful that an answer had finally been given.
“Sure is gross though!” Dakota said as she got up from her chair, lifted her cane from the lab table before her, and headed towards the door. The discovery could not have come at a better time, as she knew she had just lost her side of the debate, and wasn’t at all sure what kind of point she was trying to make with that last quip about the Trade Consortium.
“It’s been a pleasure, doctor,” Dakota said with another tip of her imaginary hat, “but I really must report my findings to my head office.”
Head Office was, of course, her best friend and ‘sister’, Suzanne Otomo. As interesting as this case had been, she sure was glad it was over. Wanted nothing more than to get back to lounging around the Otomo Corp lab without a care in the world!
