S.T.A.R.S., Reporting for Duty!

[starsescapist]

WHO: starsescapist, starspointman, starsmedic
WHAT: Immediately upon arriving in Desai, the STARS are on the job and heading to the morgue to see the body that was collected from the Tayon sewers.
WHERE: The morgue, located underneath Center City.
WHEN: Right after thisMorgues were never a happy place to go to. They always weirded Jill out, despite the training she's had and the

Comments

[starspointman]

In his rational mind, Chris knows these bodies are already dead. Both from the massive damage to their heads and the fact that they haven't attacked anyone yet. But the survivor part of him is switching over to instinct, and his hand finds its way to the butt of the handgun on his thigh without Chris realizing it.

He takes a glance at the toe-tag (Mulberry, Howard S. Caucasian male, 31 y/o) on one of the bodies, then looks over to the coroner.

"We're gonna need to look at all of the autopsy reports on these guys, and Becky's probably gonna need to use a computer."

[starsmedic]

Becky nods, distractedly, already formulating what she wants to say in her head.

"A computer would be good," she says, resisting the urge to nervously put her hands on her face. She steps past Chris and Jill to lean over one of the bodies, peering at the skin and into the head wounds in particular.

"Well... virtually all strains of the pathogenesis we call the 'T-virus' have a common tendency to attack the host's glial and spinal cells first, which bears a closer resemblance to rabies than Ebola. Once they capture the glials they co-opt the body's natural nutritional balance and signal transmission to the nervous system, which is the chief reason for their... change in dietary habits." Becky says. She, on auto-pilot, reaches into her sidebag and grabs a pair of white latex gloves. "Have you taken a closer look at the viral glycoprotein envelopes or the cellular plasma membranes?"

Welcome to the wonderful world of biochemistry and viral warfare, ladies and gentlemen: wake-up call is at 6 sharp.

[starsescapist]

"Y-yes! Right away," the coroner says with a bit of a stutter and logs into the computer terminal on the nearby desk. The screen seemed to have shut off mid-task. There's a projection of the current slide on the microscope that's next to the computer: icky, icky brainmatter

[starspointman]

"Yeah, you're right." Chris says in agreement. He's standing next to Jill, looking over the papers with her. "I mean, I'm no virologist or anything, but from what I can see, this looks like classic T-Virus. Except for how goddamned fast it takes effect."

He reaches up and runs his hands through his hair, letting the hands stay there and rest on top of his head.

"What the Hell happened to these guys?"

[starsmedic]

Becky waits until the coroner relinquishes his chair to slide into it and roll forward, leaning over to squint at the screen. She reads it over a few times.

Once she notices what's on the slide, she tentatively looks in. She takes about twenty-five full seconds to take a good eyeful, turns back to the console and then gets down to work: she pulls up about eight different windows without touching the mouse and unleashes her ~125 WPM on the computer's keyboard, flashing back and forth between applications so quick it's probably impossible for a layman to follow what she's really doing.

She's completely quiet, save for the Olympic Speed of her keystrokes and the creak of the rolly-chair when she leans back and forth to compare the slide to what she's reading onscreen.

[starsescapist]

Jill takes advantage of Chris's arms being up and pokes him in the side. With that out of the way, it's back to serious business. She nods as Chris thinks aloud, flipping through this guy's pre and post mortem medical records.

"New strain?" The mere thought of it scares her. If it's a new strain, she won't be immune. None of the people brought here to help would be. Granted, they'd survived T-virus outbreaks before, but there's always the off-chance that something could go wrong. And knowing the luck of STARS, it usually does.

The coroner hovers over Rebecca for a few moments and then decides that it's best for these foreigners to do their work alone.

"If you have any questions, I'll be just outside at the desk," he says, and then departs.

Once he's gone, Jill speaks up over Rebecca's typing.

"I think the only way any of us are going to be able to really figure this out is that if we go to the site of the incident."

[starspointman]

Chris is a big, pretty intimidating looking guy. Especially as of late, with his increased training and the god-bod he's built up. But despite this, he's still a big teddy bear. So when Jill pokes him in the side, he makes a silly noise of surprise and actually giggles"Hey, knock it off!" Chris says, laughing. The coroner looks over to see what's going on, then turns back to what he was doing earlier after a shrug from Chris

[starsmedic]

Becky is still parked in front of her computer; she's doing that geek thing where it's clear she can SEE the words, but she's leaning forward anyway, inches from the monitor, to see if she's reading it right.

She wheels back, finally, and looks up at the coroner.

"You said the symptoms mimic Ebola... you're right, of course, and there are a lot of ruptured blood vessels in the victim's corpse which fit the hemorrhagic profile."

She puts a hand in her hair and then stands up.

"The glial cells are still compromised, though, which is significant of rabies and only rabies as a disease..."

After a moment of exchanging a meaningful sort of 'we both know what's going on here and it's not good' way, Becky then looks back at Jill and Chris.

"It doesn't fit the protein distribution of our anti-virus. Our anti-agents won't work."

[starspointman]

"Let's pretend I have no idea what you just said, and run that by me again. In English, please." Chris says, smiling at Becky in his usual goofy way. But despite his smile, there's a look in his eyes that says he may be beginning to understand what Becky is saying, and that he doesn't like it.

He crosses his arms over his chest, awaiting her answer.

[starsmedic]

"We're dealing with a different strain," she replies, "the attacks with the T-Virus are actually caused by imbalances in the victim's brain which overstimulates and changes their hunger responses. If these results are anything to go by..."

She puts a hand on her hip, and one to her mouth, thinking.

"It looks more like rabies. Not hunger, but uncontrollable violent urges that might manifest through attacks with the teeth and mouth... at least to start with. Our anti-virus isn't suited to this strain, so it won't cure it."

[starspointman]

Chris is silent for a moment, looking down at his folded arms as he takes in the information. After releasing a strained breath, he finally speaks.

"So we're fucked then. And so is Desai, unless we put a quash on this as soon as possible."

His big arms uncross, and Chris sticks them in the hip pockets of his cargo pants.

"I don't like this. Not one bit. In fact, it su-...wait!"

Chris' hands come out of his pockets and he snaps his fingers.

"Sophie said that these victims has numerous puncture marks caused from injections. Have we looked at those closely yet? Because that means that someone is behind this."

[starsmedic]

"Possibly," Rebecca nods, looking very tired and very worried all at once. "But I do agree, we need to move on this, and fast."

[starspointman]

Chris nods his head, grunting out an affirmative, then turns to look over at the body on the morgue slab.

"I think we have everything we need in those reports that we're gonna find, short of calling in CSI: Miami. What do you say we head back to the hotel and gear up, then we'll go take a poke around in the field and get away from these microscopes?"

[starsmedic]

"I'll get the mobile infirmary set up," she nods, and holds her hands out for her bag. "We're going to need it."

"The... the field?" The mortician seems very confused. This has been a blitz of information, and now they're... leaving? D:?

[starspointman]

"Sounds like a plan," Chris says in reply, holding the bag out for Rebecca to grab it. "The quicker we get out there, the quicker we get back home."

He's not going to say he has a bad feeling about this one. No sir.

Chris turns his head to the mortician and smiles, taking the sunglasses from the collar of his shirt and putting them on. The mortician's image is reflected back in the mirrored lenses.

"Yeah, the field. We've gotta make sure this shit doesn't get loose. And besides, do I look anything like a doctor or a scientist to you?"

Chris punctuates the question by patting the side of the 9mm strapped to his thigh.

[starsmedic]

Becky has forgotten how heavy it is; she takes the strap, and the bag almost falls to slam against the floor despite her trying to lift it. She saves it just in the knick of time, though, and hoists it again.

"Good point," she says, and nods in the energetic 'let's DO THIS' way Beckies will when given a task. "I'll try to be quick so we can get going."

The mortician shakes his head, slowly. He's got the look on his face like he's wondering what he's just invited in.

"Of course not.

"...sir."