[you should be a nice doctor instead, Gabe, your patients might like you better.]
That's better than a flat out 'no.' You would have Victor's assistance, and he knows what he's doing better than anyone. [the implied answer here is no, no one else can. And he'd rather have someone he knows operate on him than an NPC surgeon.]
[...well true, but he is an exception, okay. And he can laugh at that, because he doesn't think that's a serious threat, okay. Not that he would tell anyone, but he doesn't actually think Gabe would do that. Little does he know...]
Right, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Anyway, Victor already has the diagnosis, the problem is it's something we've never had to deal with before, so there might be unknown variables involved in both my condition and the procedure. I'd have asked you to help out with the diagnosis, but... I'm not too sure how familiar you are with GUILT and related diseases.
[He's still debating calling you Nurse Derek to Angie, don't test him.]
So, wait. I want to make sure I have this right. You're trusting your life and your health to a man who hasn't done surgery in years and knows almost nothing about this disease.
The surgeon that operated on Dr. Kimishima? [yeah that would be helpful BUT ALAS.]
Right. Still, though, it would be helpful to know how familiar you are with GUILT. I don't know how much background information Dr. Niguel or I will have to give you on this. [spoilers: he's assuming a lot]
[man he is from a year after Trauma Team aka post-Under the Knife 2. This isn't spoilers for him. But he finds that unusual, so he will just make a note to mention it later on.]
Right. Well, forget that for now. [there are other more important things to talk about]
As you know, GUILT is a man-made disease created by the organization called Delphi. There are seven strains: Kyriaki, Deftera, Triti, Tetarti, Pempti, Paraskevi, and Savato. Each of the strains is different and has its own signature, I guess you could say, that's visible when you open a patient up. If you can't figure out the strain from the Chiral Reaction [which... you should be able to.], that's an easy enough way to figure it out.
Kyriaki was the first strain we discovered. When you open a patient infected with Kyriaki up, you'll see two different types of lacerations: shallow and deep. Once those are taken care of, the GUILT itself will show up. Kyriaki hides within the organ, making itself known by creating more lacerations. To eliminate it, it must be extracted from the organ and burned with the laser. There are two different types of Kyriaki: the immature form, which is smaller, and the mature form, which appears later, and creates a signature asterisk-shaped wound in the organ. The mature form is naturally harder to eliminate than the immature form. Recently a mutation has been found in Kyriaki in which it actually lays eggs in the organ that hatch if not removed before eliminating the adult Kyriaki.
The second strain I encountered personally is called Deftera, but it had been known for a while longer than that. [since Amy Chase was sick with it for years, oops.]
Deftera is a sort of tumor, that creates more tumors. It comes in two different strains, which, when they collide with each other, destroy each other instead of creating tumors over the affected organ. When the two different strains combine, it's possible to drain them from the organ. Of course, if two of the same strain collide, it... isn't good. Deftera usually affects two different organs at once, so it requires a two-part operation to fully remove it. You can't just leave half of it in the patient and come back later.
Next would be Triti, a strain that Angie and I first encountered on a mission with the military in Africa. Triti is basically a membrane that covers an organ and replicates itself if not handled properly. To remove it, you have to remove the thorns before you can even attempt to remove the membrane underneath. If two of the thorns are immediately next to each other when a piece of the membrane is removed, the membrane will reform between them, so caution is needed to make sure you don't accidentally wind up enlarging the affected area.
Tetarti is the next strain, and it creates toxic diverticulum on the affected organ that need to be injected with the proper medication and removed before Tetarti itself will manifest and attempt to reconstruct the diverticulum. Tetarti comes in a variety of colors, giving off a different poison depending on which color it appears. So naturally, there's a different medication for each different type of Tetarti, and you have to be sure to use the proper one, otherwise new diverticulum will be created.
Pempti... is the next strain. [and everyone infected with pempti in UtK1/SO is dead now, oops. And it brings back all those Emilio feelings so give him a second.]
Pempti took the longest to find a cure for, compared to the others I was directly involved with, and we were the most pressed for time with this one. The old director of Caduceus was infected with Pempti, and it's a gelatinous mass that coats the affected organ. To get it into a state where it can be removed, a nanomachine developed by Dr. Niguel is necessary, as it makes the fluid retreat and forces the core to reveal itself. From then on out, the scalar laser--also developed by Dr. Niguel--is is all that's really needed to take care of it, excluding any damage done to the organ during Pempti's counter-attack.
We learned about the next strain, Paraskevi, when a Delphi agent actually broke into Caduceus. [GREAT SECURITY, RIGHT? and not mentioning how that was Angie's dad okay]
Paraskevi is fibrous in nature, so the only way to really remove it is to cut it into small enough pieces that pulling it out won't cause massive bleeding. Not very refined, but... there was nothing else to do. Paraskevi's main goal is to head to the heart, and if it gets there, well. I've never seen it happen myself, but I can assume what will happen.
Finally, there's Savato. Savato [is a heart spider] leeches energy from its host via a web across the heart. Naturally that needs to be removed before you can even attempt to do anything to Savato itself. The web is simple enough to cut with a scalpel, but... they'll get damaged beyond use after cutting one strand, so it's best to have a number of them on hand if you ever encounter it. From then on out, Savato is vulnerable to laser damage, as are the smaller Savato bodies it creates. There are two types of those smaller bodies, one of which does more damage to the patient's vitals than the other.
Once Savato's protective coating is removed, it can be stabbed with the scalpel, and the medication designed to destroy it can be injected. Of course, this has to be repeated a few times before it's finally effective. But, um. I'm sure you won't have to deal with this strain. [and you need the healing touch. Oops.]
[In the meanwhile, while Derek explains this, Gabriel is going to light up a cigarette. Not just any cigarette, oh no. It's his preferred brand. One that has a light taste and always helps him get through his day. He's been a month without this delicious treat and now it's back in his mouth. And no, he's not going to let anyone take it away. The aroma is sweet to his nose, and the flame was warm, making him feel toasty even while moving around. It was his preferred thing to wake up to in the morning, along with Folgers. That cup of coffee just gave him a good start.
While listening, he placed the cigarette between two fingers, and took a long drawn out breath. Ah, smoke. For the first time in a long long time, it entered his lungs, and he loved it. He was paying attention, and taking notes with a clipboard he snatched, but he wasn't going to stop smoking if it effected Derek's sensibilities. Thank you very much. He grumbled and drew it in further.]
...Got it. Wrote down all the important things. Anything else I should know?
[hey, no smoking around the patients while inside the hospital is his compromise, okay.]
Well, the affected organ will be in a state of toxicosis. That's where Victor comes in, he has medication designed to stave off the effects while operating. The thing is, there are some, uh, unknown variables you'll have to deal with that I don't have any first hand experience operating on. Again, you'll need Victor's expertise for that. I don't really know how two different strains of GUILT will react when it comes to PGS.
[Derek doesn't get the respect he deserves, sob. But that's also because sometimes it goes to his head.
And really, he just sort of chuckles at that, because oh he knows full well how big of an ego Victor had on him most times. And really, it's not like it wasn't warranted, either. As much of a pain as some of the things Victor asked him to do could be, he certainly knew what he was doing.]
Well, he is the driving force of Caduceus' R&D department, I'd say that's reason enough to have an ego of that size.
video; but did you attempt it or did you just throw your hands up in the air sometimes?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
video;
That's better than a flat out 'no.' You would have Victor's assistance, and he knows what he's doing better than anyone. [the implied answer here is no, no one else can. And he'd rather have someone he knows operate on him than an NPC surgeon.]
video;
Believe it or not, between you and me, you're a pretty good guy. So I'd rather have you around.
And if you tell anyone I said that, I am going to refer to you as Nurse Derek for the rest of your career.
video;
Right, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Anyway, Victor already has the diagnosis, the problem is it's something we've never had to deal with before, so there might be unknown variables involved in both my condition and the procedure. I'd have asked you to help out with the diagnosis, but... I'm not too sure how familiar you are with GUILT and related diseases.
video;
So, wait. I want to make sure I have this right. You're trusting your life and your health to a man who hasn't done surgery in years and knows almost nothing about this disease.
Do I have this right, Derek?
video;
If you know of any other surgeons here that have at least heard of GUILT and would be willing to operate, let me know, then.
video;
I barely know of any other surgeons. Too bad that criminal surgeon we had back at Resurgam isn't here. He'd be much better at this.
I said I would do it, and really, what choices do you have in the end?
video;
Right. Still, though, it would be helpful to know how familiar you are with GUILT. I don't know how much background information Dr. Niguel or I will have to give you on this. [spoilers: he's assuming a lot]
video;
Refresh me at least. I know but I'm not young, Derek.
video; LET'S DO 1/7
Right. Well, forget that for now. [there are other more important things to talk about]
As you know, GUILT is a man-made disease created by the organization called Delphi. There are seven strains: Kyriaki, Deftera, Triti, Tetarti, Pempti, Paraskevi, and Savato. Each of the strains is different and has its own signature, I guess you could say, that's visible when you open a patient up. If you can't figure out the strain from the Chiral Reaction [which... you should be able to.], that's an easy enough way to figure it out.
Kyriaki was the first strain we discovered. When you open a patient infected with Kyriaki up, you'll see two different types of lacerations: shallow and deep. Once those are taken care of, the GUILT itself will show up. Kyriaki hides within the organ, making itself known by creating more lacerations. To eliminate it, it must be extracted from the organ and burned with the laser. There are two different types of Kyriaki: the immature form, which is smaller, and the mature form, which appears later, and creates a signature asterisk-shaped wound in the organ. The mature form is naturally harder to eliminate than the immature form. Recently a mutation has been found in Kyriaki in which it actually lays eggs in the organ that hatch if not removed before eliminating the adult Kyriaki.
video; 2/5, we can cut this down.
Deftera is a sort of tumor, that creates more tumors. It comes in two different strains, which, when they collide with each other, destroy each other instead of creating tumors over the affected organ. When the two different strains combine, it's possible to drain them from the organ. Of course, if two of the same strain collide, it... isn't good. Deftera usually affects two different organs at once, so it requires a two-part operation to fully remove it. You can't just leave half of it in the patient and come back later.
Next would be Triti, a strain that Angie and I first encountered on a mission with the military in Africa. Triti is basically a membrane that covers an organ and replicates itself if not handled properly. To remove it, you have to remove the thorns before you can even attempt to remove the membrane underneath. If two of the thorns are immediately next to each other when a piece of the membrane is removed, the membrane will reform between them, so caution is needed to make sure you don't accidentally wind up enlarging the affected area.
Tetarti is the next strain, and it creates toxic diverticulum on the affected organ that need to be injected with the proper medication and removed before Tetarti itself will manifest and attempt to reconstruct the diverticulum. Tetarti comes in a variety of colors, giving off a different poison depending on which color it appears. So naturally, there's a different medication for each different type of Tetarti, and you have to be sure to use the proper one, otherwise new diverticulum will be created.
video; actually 3/4 maybe.
Pempti took the longest to find a cure for, compared to the others I was directly involved with, and we were the most pressed for time with this one. The old director of Caduceus was infected with Pempti, and it's a gelatinous mass that coats the affected organ. To get it into a state where it can be removed, a nanomachine developed by Dr. Niguel is necessary, as it makes the fluid retreat and forces the core to reveal itself. From then on out, the scalar laser--also developed by Dr. Niguel--is is all that's really needed to take care of it, excluding any damage done to the organ during Pempti's counter-attack.
We learned about the next strain, Paraskevi, when a Delphi agent actually broke into Caduceus. [GREAT SECURITY, RIGHT? and not mentioning how that was Angie's dad okay]
Paraskevi is fibrous in nature, so the only way to really remove it is to cut it into small enough pieces that pulling it out won't cause massive bleeding. Not very refined, but... there was nothing else to do. Paraskevi's main goal is to head to the heart, and if it gets there, well. I've never seen it happen myself, but I can assume what will happen.
video; DID YOU READ MY TL;DR I HOPE YOU DID
Once Savato's protective coating is removed, it can be stabbed with the scalpel, and the medication designed to destroy it can be injected. Of course, this has to be repeated a few times before it's finally effective. But, um. I'm sure you won't have to deal with this strain. [and you need the healing touch. Oops.]
video; WHAT SEXY TL;DR
While listening, he placed the cigarette between two fingers, and took a long drawn out breath. Ah, smoke. For the first time in a long long time, it entered his lungs, and he loved it. He was paying attention, and taking notes with a clipboard he snatched, but he wasn't going to stop smoking if it effected Derek's sensibilities. Thank you very much. He grumbled and drew it in further.]
...Got it. Wrote down all the important things. Anything else I should know?
video; THANK YOU YOURS IS NICE TOO
Well, yes. GUILT itself isn't really the issue this time, which is a good thing. It's Post-GUILT Syndrome that's the problem.
video; YOU'RE SO KIND
So, what am I being careful for so you don't die?
video; NO I AM JUST SAYING THE TRUTH
Well, the affected organ will be in a state of toxicosis. That's where Victor comes in, he has medication designed to stave off the effects while operating. The thing is, there are some, uh, unknown variables you'll have to deal with that I don't have any first hand experience operating on. Again, you'll need Victor's expertise for that. I don't really know how two different strains of GUILT will react when it comes to PGS.
video; your truth is very kawaii
...Well, that's all great. Well, so long as nothing happens to him, this should all, hopefully, not go perfectly to shit. Right?
[and as always, gabe tempts fate.]
video; oh why thank you I work hard on making it kawaii
Hopefully. Victor knows what he's doing, trust me. The DNA treatment method for PGS patients is his new pride and joy.
video; i can definitely tell it's very kawaii indeed
...Oh yeah, that kid definitely needs an ego boost.
video; I am glad it is that obvious. you can't hide kawaii
And really, he just sort of chuckles at that, because oh he knows full well how big of an ego Victor had on him most times. And really, it's not like it wasn't warranted, either. As much of a pain as some of the things Victor asked him to do could be, he certainly knew what he was doing.]
Well, he is the driving force of Caduceus' R&D department, I'd say that's reason enough to have an ego of that size.
video; but did you attempt it or did you just throw your hands up in the air sometimes?
I've seen Presidents of the United States with smaller egos than that. He has no excuse other than he was born that way.
[LADY GAGA.]
video; saying ey-oh I'm so kawaii-oh?
Well, that might be part of it. I wouldn't suggest that to him, though. Not sure how he'd take that remark.
video; no. i'm going to slap you.
End the conversation and continue on like nothing's happened. I know his type.
video; wow how rude
video; you know how i beez
video; no I don't know that one
video; how do you not know that one
video; I don't listen to the radio okay
video; what about the song radio
video; no radio ever
video; poor unfortunate you
video; I'm good, I've got my mozart
video; ooo is that like nicki minaj
video; what is a nicki minaj
video; your mom that's what