scientific network, spies behind the curtain
United Nations Space Command Priority Transmission 65483-4GE58/15641-T945
Encryption Code: Orange
Public Key: file/oscar/hotel/
From: Agent [REDACTED] Holbrook, ONI Section [REDACTED] (service number [REDACTED])
To: Private Dexter Grif, UNSC Army (service number [REDACTED])
Subject: Re: Brain Surgery
/start attachments list/
/start main message/
You don't ask for much, do you? As it happens, yes, while the science of making SPARTANs is still super-secret, the medical care and feeding of them has been declassified. I got you the damned clearances for whatever else, too, which is why this took as long as it did. Do what you got to do, then let us know.
--H.
/end main message/
/start file (Simplified Explanation by Dr. Andy Otero)/
Not having been told, I can only imagine just how they tried to explain this to you before, so I'll try to break things down into the "really small words" you asked for.
To start off with, I've looked at your scans, and I can tell you that, as much as you may not want to believe this, the problems you've been experiencing are not the result of incompetence in the course of the augmentation work. As it happens, there have been those who, despite clean compatibility tests and flawlessly performed augmentation work, have nonetheless had the same trouble. (While it was irresponsible to subject you to the procedures without testing you first, a clean set of tests is, unfortunately, still not quite an absolute guarantee.)
The root cause of the problem is the procedure that replaces a SPARTAN's nerves with superconductors (it improves your reflexes). Obviously, we don't just slice you open, brain and all, pull out the old, and stitch in the new. Instead, it's primarily a nano-chemical conversion. (That horrible pain you felt while it was going on was from the materials that make up your body changing.) In subjects like yourself, there's some confusion between what's nerves and what's... well, any other part of the actual brain, and it causes extra little bits of superconductor nerve to get created along with the rest. Unsurprisingly, the brain doesn't exactly like the stray signals. The initial burst of them is what causes the memory damage, as well as a more localized damage that insulates the brain from any further ill effects in the short term.
What you're now experiencing is the effects of your brain slowly rerouting in a misguided attempt to reconnect to the nerves it'd known are there but hadn't quite been able to reach, which is why it took a while for you to notice it. (Actually, that it took this long to go from noticing it to having it become enough of a problem for you to speak up about it is fairly impressive. Generally, most soldiers would've reported it a lot sooner, but your handlers have told me enough about your history to have an idea of how much else you've typically kept hidden. It shows a remarkable amount of self-restraint, in any case.)
Fixing the problem requires a multi-pronged approach. The primary one will be nano-surgical (as opposed to the original procedures nano-chemical methods), in which teeny-tiny robots will, with our direction, prune back the errant nerves to the correct configuration. There are also a number of drug therapies that will be injected to help the brain cope with what the nano-surgeons are doing, and, finally, a bit of circuitry that will be installed in order to monitor (and, if necessary, regulate) any remaining minor irregularities. (Yes, this will technically leave you, by any definition, as a cyborg. Strictly speaking, though, SPARTANs are pretty much already there anyway, so it's not nearly as big a deal as, say, if we were to replace a limb with a mechanical version or anything like that.)
What will this mean for you, effects-wise, once all is said and done? Well, about the only downside is that, unfortunately, this will not bring back the memory fragments you've lost, although neither will it make it harder to do so, if we eventually figure out the means. (We can't rule out the possibility that, with the influence of the malformed nerves removed, the memories themselves might someday resurface, but we've never had any actual reliable reports of it, so it's not very likely.) Other than that, though, it should all be good. The most readily apparent effect will be an increase in non-crisis focus, due to a lack of interference from the malformed nerves. (Well, there may be some every so often, but only as much as any other person's brain normally would.) Contrary to what you may fear, while it will help you be a more balanced, stable person, it will not turn you into a vegetable or automaton, and it will not brainwash you to the military cause. As your handlers are apparently accustomed to telling you, relax and let us help you, okay?
Contact information for me should be in the file that I'm told you're being sent. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.
Dr. Andy Otero
ONI Medical Division
/end file/
Encryption Code: Orange
Public Key: file/oscar/hotel/
From: Agent [REDACTED] Holbrook, ONI Section [REDACTED] (service number [REDACTED])
To: Private Dexter Grif, UNSC Army (service number [REDACTED])
Subject: Re: Brain Surgery
/start attachments list/
- Medical file: Dexter Grif
- Diagnosis/Treatment dossier: Secondary Side Effects of Artificial Dendrite Malformation
- Former patient list: (Calista Tangiers, Tomaso Kirwan)
- Medical personnel dossiers: (Andy Otero, Mike Cowper, Julie Lessard-Gagnon, [...])
- Clearances
/start main message/
You don't ask for much, do you? As it happens, yes, while the science of making SPARTANs is still super-secret, the medical care and feeding of them has been declassified. I got you the damned clearances for whatever else, too, which is why this took as long as it did. Do what you got to do, then let us know.
--H.
/end main message/
/start file (Simplified Explanation by Dr. Andy Otero)/
Not having been told, I can only imagine just how they tried to explain this to you before, so I'll try to break things down into the "really small words" you asked for.
To start off with, I've looked at your scans, and I can tell you that, as much as you may not want to believe this, the problems you've been experiencing are not the result of incompetence in the course of the augmentation work. As it happens, there have been those who, despite clean compatibility tests and flawlessly performed augmentation work, have nonetheless had the same trouble. (While it was irresponsible to subject you to the procedures without testing you first, a clean set of tests is, unfortunately, still not quite an absolute guarantee.)
The root cause of the problem is the procedure that replaces a SPARTAN's nerves with superconductors (it improves your reflexes). Obviously, we don't just slice you open, brain and all, pull out the old, and stitch in the new. Instead, it's primarily a nano-chemical conversion. (That horrible pain you felt while it was going on was from the materials that make up your body changing.) In subjects like yourself, there's some confusion between what's nerves and what's... well, any other part of the actual brain, and it causes extra little bits of superconductor nerve to get created along with the rest. Unsurprisingly, the brain doesn't exactly like the stray signals. The initial burst of them is what causes the memory damage, as well as a more localized damage that insulates the brain from any further ill effects in the short term.
What you're now experiencing is the effects of your brain slowly rerouting in a misguided attempt to reconnect to the nerves it'd known are there but hadn't quite been able to reach, which is why it took a while for you to notice it. (Actually, that it took this long to go from noticing it to having it become enough of a problem for you to speak up about it is fairly impressive. Generally, most soldiers would've reported it a lot sooner, but your handlers have told me enough about your history to have an idea of how much else you've typically kept hidden. It shows a remarkable amount of self-restraint, in any case.)
Fixing the problem requires a multi-pronged approach. The primary one will be nano-surgical (as opposed to the original procedures nano-chemical methods), in which teeny-tiny robots will, with our direction, prune back the errant nerves to the correct configuration. There are also a number of drug therapies that will be injected to help the brain cope with what the nano-surgeons are doing, and, finally, a bit of circuitry that will be installed in order to monitor (and, if necessary, regulate) any remaining minor irregularities. (Yes, this will technically leave you, by any definition, as a cyborg. Strictly speaking, though, SPARTANs are pretty much already there anyway, so it's not nearly as big a deal as, say, if we were to replace a limb with a mechanical version or anything like that.)
What will this mean for you, effects-wise, once all is said and done? Well, about the only downside is that, unfortunately, this will not bring back the memory fragments you've lost, although neither will it make it harder to do so, if we eventually figure out the means. (We can't rule out the possibility that, with the influence of the malformed nerves removed, the memories themselves might someday resurface, but we've never had any actual reliable reports of it, so it's not very likely.) Other than that, though, it should all be good. The most readily apparent effect will be an increase in non-crisis focus, due to a lack of interference from the malformed nerves. (Well, there may be some every so often, but only as much as any other person's brain normally would.) Contrary to what you may fear, while it will help you be a more balanced, stable person, it will not turn you into a vegetable or automaton, and it will not brainwash you to the military cause. As your handlers are apparently accustomed to telling you, relax and let us help you, okay?
Contact information for me should be in the file that I'm told you're being sent. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.
Dr. Andy Otero
ONI Medical Division
/end file/