netherwork | audio ↪ un: 012601

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audio ↪ un: 012601

We've all had some time to settle in. Hopefully everyone's holding up all right!

For those of you I haven't spoken with, my name's Sakura. I'm both a doctor and healer and I have a little ad hoc clinic down by the docks. （ a helpful location ping follows this. ） If you ever find yourself needing medical care, please reach out and let me know. There's at least one other person here with medical experience that I know of as well, but I'll let them speak up if they want to make themselves known — and I'm happy to collaborate with anyone else, none of us can be everywhere at once.

（ paging

terraria, party of bird. ）

As for my reason for addressing you all... I'm looking to keep blood on hand for medical emergencies, transfusions and any surgeries that may be necessary. If anyone is willing to come down to the clinic and give a donation, it'd be very appreciated. I promise it only hurts a little! And you'll even get a candy afterwards! While supplies last.

Those with O-negative and O-positive types would be ideal. If you don't happen to know what your blood-type is, I can run a test for you.

Thanks everyone!

（ she's almost finished, and it seems like that might have been the last thing... but a few minutes later, she clicks the feed on again: ）

I'm still looking for information on anyone who's undergone the soulbond as well. Purely for research purposes. You can reply anonymously if you'd like, or privately if that's easier. I promise anything you say will be kept confidential.

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（ she gets suited right up, down to little paper booties. just in case! ）

Well, I'll contribute to that research as much as I can. And I appreciate you letting me know about it. I'm immune to most diseases anyway — just to put your mind at ease — but if it does turn out that Stygia has affected it somehow, I'd prefer to avoid contact transfer if at all possible.

（ she does give the tail a sideways glance. ）

Do you have any metabolic or heat-related concerns before we get started? I'd like you to be as comfortable as possible.

（ she may not be the local snake expect (thanks, sasuke) but she's done some research here and there. ）

My body temperature is slightly lower than most people. Rarely close to thirty-seven, but never below thirty. [centigrade, he means.]

I notice the cold more readily, but it will not bother me so much. ... Unless it's the weather. [he'll have to make that distinction, he's just so used to the medics at home knowing because they deal with people from different races all the time.

then he takes off his shirt, an automatic action from the countless times he's been in the medical ward. shalem looks pale and delicate, but he has muscles and scars underneath his layers, and a smattering of scales on his lower back that lead to his tail.]

Do you have any other questions about Oripathy? Because I have questions about your immunity. [why would he not be intrigued?]

Nothing pressing at the moment. You can ask me questions afterwards, how about that?

（ she ushers him into the little clean room, and we are Handwaving the Examination Part because otherwise it would be so boringly medicinal...

etc etc, samples taken, blood drawn, questions asked, everything neatly stored in vacuum-sealed containers with all due precautions taken with respect to the disease, and once they are finished and everything is Over, she's moved them to her little office — quite literally a hole in the wall joint that's been punched (literally) into the abandoned building beside her little canvas-walled clinic.

(if a building falls on her, she'll be fine. if a building falls on her patients, less so.)

she's doing some work to fill out his patient chart — she hadn't started in the clean-room just in case there was any transfer, so the details are being filled in by a rather frighteningly accurate memory. as she works, writing in incredibly neat hiragana — ）

So you wanted to know about my immunity, right?

[shalem goes through the motions with the ease of someone who has done this song and dance before-- almost every new medic rhodes island got tended to do the same, and thus he got used to it. the only difference is that they had his files on hand and just needed to make sure they were still accurate. here, however? shalem improvised.

age? twenty-eight, the same age he put down on his soulidarity app, not his real age but close enough.

allergies? none.

tongue? forked.

sexual activity? none since arriving in this world. (he can't bring himself to say "dead" when they still act as if they're alive.)

other illnesses to be concerned about? no.

~~hotel? trivago~~

he wasn't even surprised at his x-rays and the way his organs look blurry, the way there are dark spots in some areas. oripathy, he simply said, that's what it looks like in scans. eventually there won't be anything to see in a scan. (is it him, or are the black spots larger than his last x-ray...)

his little show of ease towards this routine is interrupted when he looks at the hole in the wall (he's seen enough combat to know what a hole punched through concrete looks like, thank you) and at her writing, even if he tries not to actually look. he can't read it, he never learned the language even if he's sure it's something similar to either yan, lungmen, or higashi.]

I do. I need to know-- what are you immune to? How did you cultivate such a robust immune system? [and is there any hope for other people to have the same?]

Edited 2022-11-08 13:09 (UTC)

Well... that's a little bit complicated to explain, and a lot of it involves medical mumbo-jumbo I won't bore you with.

（ she hadn't been quite truthful about it to begin with, mostly wanting to set his mind at ease. it isn't as though she's immune the way sasuke is when it comes to things like poison, but as far as diseases go... there's very little she wouldn't be able to heal herself, the legacy of the byakugou and the hundred healings technique at her beck and call.

she'll pay for it when (if) she gets old enough. the cellular mitosis ages her, even in the few times she's needed to use it she's aware of the changes it's made to her body. but it's a small price to pay for what she can do. ）

But the way my healing works... I can rely on something called 'adaptive immunity', so please forgive me if it seemed I was implying innate immunity. I'm used to speaking in shorthand, not many people take a more granular interest.

（ a thoughtful tap of her pen to her chin as she thinks. ）

Essentially, I can isolate and remove any diseased cells in my own body and encourage replication of healthy cells instead. As a healer, the body you're most familiar with is your own, you know?

I understand what both are, yes. Such was part of the research of the medics that I've worked with. [he listens, even if they think he doesn't. people talk, shalem keeps a pointy ear out.]

But the adaptive immunity I'm more familiar with tends to come from medication, vaccinations, and surviving the specific disease such that it will no longer affect you... You seem to be describing something far more advanced than that.

[as if she was controlling her body the way a captain would control their unit.]

（ hey, at least those pointy ears are being put to good use! ）

I am. It's not something to use carelessly, however, and it's not a common skill in my world. Does that answer your question?

（ that's said cheerfully enough. ）

It does. [it does make him worried though. and for good reason.]

I'm assuming it's not easily taught or learned, then, given the immense benefits and... equivalent drawbacks. [whatever those are. but he can imagine, can't he?]

（ drawbacks, hm? ）

I don't believe I could teach it to anyone here, if that's what you're wondering.

（ not entirely true. both naruto and sasuke could at the very least work towards it — but the lack of chakra in the rest of the populace is an insurmountable barricade. ）

[shalem's shoulders fall-- he was thinking of asking her if he could learn, she was right about that.

oh well. he'll just continue to "live" with this, then.]

I had expected something along those lines... So it's back to the regular state of affairs for me.

（ her expression softens, and after a moment she reaches up and sets a hand on his shoulder, fingers curving in just a little. ）

Hey. You aren't alone, okay? I'm going to do everything I can.

（ she's not about to give him false hope, or proclaim she can find a cure when she truly only knows a little about what she's up against. but she is at least going to try. ）

It's all right, doctor. [shalem smiles, but it's lopsided. tired.]

I will survive here as I lived in my world, and see what I can do should the inevitable end come for me once again.

[he says that with such a sure tone. namely because he does know what he used to do, and what needs to be done.]

Do you think that was what resulted in your death in your world?

（ there's no point in being delicate about it, and it's likely important to know for future treatment here. ）

Yes, I do. It tends to be unpredictable, after all.

[then he smooths out his shirt, feeling self-conscious, especially given what they've already discussed.]

I won't blame you for anything should we not be able to find solutions for this problem.

Don't sound so glum about it already!

（ she knows she shouldn't try to get his hopes up. but she really will do her best. ）

Do you remember the Firstdawn tea they had at the festival? I've been experimenting with the leaves and various infusions. （ give her a moment while she walks over to a small medicine cabinet, pulling a few items out in neat little twists of cloth. ）

So, until I've had a chance to study your blood panel in earnest, try taking this. It has a mild calming and restorative effect, and it should be able to help with any symptoms of pain you might be feeling. Steep for five minutes.

（ and it's fairly stable — she had of course first experimented with it on herself until she found the right combination of compounds, the leaves and ground-up bits of shroud from the shadowlands. ）

[shalem pulls himself out of his self-depreciating funk, looking up with a flick of his tail. he will always, always perk up for tea.]

Tea, is it? [well, it's different from downing bitter syrups or dry pills. he holds out his hand for it.]

How often should I drink, then? Or only when I believe it's Oripathy-related pain?

I'd say no more than twice daily.

（ it doesn't have any ill effects that she can determine, but better to be a bit on the conservative as far as considering long-term effects. ）

If that turns out not to be enough to really help against the symptoms, I'll see what else can be done, okay?

All right.

[shalem falls silent, the tea cupped between his hands, and feeling a little awkward because he doesn't know what else to say or do. is he dismissed? is he still needed for more?

then:]

Thank you for the tea, then-- and the warning. If I hadn't thought to ask, I may have finished everything within days. [okay look, he loves tea.]

You're welcome.

（ gently, ）

I'll try to have more on hand if you need it. Let's meet once every three weeks for a check-up, okay?

Of course, Doctor. [that sounds like a dismissal to him, so he pushes himself up to his feet, tucking the tea into a jacket pocket.]

And if I need you before that time, I'll come here as soon as possible.

Contact me first on the phones, just in case. I'm not here every day.

（ a bit of self-deprecating humour there... because it's not every day, but it sure as heck is most days. ）

But thank you. For coming by, and trusting me with this. I'll do my best to help!

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audio ↪ un: 012601

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gently godmodes... lmk if this works!

all good!

'trivago' made me choke thank u

just doing my duty 😌

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