Diagnostics Report

Posted on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 @ 1:38pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Commander Emergency Medical Hologram & Ensign Gianna Djokovic

1,283 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Prelude to Rebirth
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 27 January 2396

[ON]

Cadet Gianna Djokovic was feeling pretty good about her first few hours back on the Firebird. She'd met with the captain and also run into a few old friends. One last requirement for the day remained -- a check-in with the EMH.

She entered the darkened sickbay, the lights coming up automatically as they detected her and cleared her throat. "Ahem."

The EMH materialized next to Gianna. "What is the nature of your medical emergency," The EMH said by rote. He then blinked at looked at the person standing nearby. "Ah. Cadet Djokovic. How wonderful to see you again. And so swiftly upon your return." He picked up a medical scanner and began to wave it near her as he continued to speak. "Can you believe that there are still thirty-seven personnel on board who have not come to see me. It's required in the regulations! How would you summarize your medical condition? Starfleet Academy has substandard care."

"I'm sure people are just busy," Gianna could barely contain a smile, finding the EMH's offense sort of internally amusing. She could play to his ego. "Commander Llwyedd said this was important, so I made it a priority."

"And I would summarize my medical status as completely normal, Doctor. No issues recently with the implant at all," she continued, answering his question but ignoring the comment about the Academy. "Though if you ever wanted to unlock some more of its functionality, I wouldn't complain..."

"Patients always complain. It's in their programming." He snapped the medical tricorder closed. "But it is nice that, for once, my recommendations to the Captain have been heeded. Sit down on the biobed, cadet." He let her get settled and then picked up another tool. It was long and thin with a bulbous protrusion at the end.

"When I received copies of your orders I contacted Starfleet Medical. Did you know that your implant was an experimental creation? It wasn't supposed to be on the Firebird at all. That's why its functionality has been limited. I don't need to tell you that non-holographic entities have a severe lack of good judgment."

He touched the bottom of the tool and the rounded tip lit up with a soft blue light. "Please tell me what you see," he said.

"Yes... I remember... but I think you mean aboard the USS Trinculo. That's where I received the implant, not the Firebird. The Firebird was not in any shape to even fly at that time and I can't imagine you were even online." She paused and looked at the tool, shrugging, "Blue light." Another slight pause. "Were you offline when the ship crashed? Do you... you know, have any memories of the event?"

The EMH paused. "Yes... the Trinculo, of course. I appear to have a malfunction in a segment of my memory. Quite disturbing," the EMH said and shook his head. "I accessed the memory storage from the Trinculo's database in order to have a full update of the medical care for those affected. It is a simple matter." The sensor began humming as the EMH waved it near Gia's temple. "I was online while the ship was in an uncontrolled descent. I had my own part to play and I am a member of the crew, you know."

"You certainly are," Gia agreed. She remained still while the doctor worked. "I didn't mean to imply otherwise... I'm just glad you survived." She didn't notice any changes to her perception, so she figured he might just be collecting data. By now, she was used to doctors scanning the device and making slight adjustments.

"This is actually quite remarkable. The eye is experimental because it utilizes positronic pathways to process neural data and transmit it from the ocular sensors to your brain. A by-product of this innovative process is that the positronic pathways appear to be growing in an unexpected fashion. Have you noticed any halos or flashes of light recently?" The EMH asked. He pulled his hand away and stood up straight.

"Mmm.. no... I don't think so?" Gia answered, hesitantly. "What does that mean, exactly, growing? " The Doctor sounded more fascinated than alarmed and that might have been the only thing keeping her from completely panicking about the situation.

The EMH turned and activated a console, tapping on a number of screens before activating one of the holographic projectors. A large image of Gia's cybernetic eye and the surrounding ocular space appeared above the biobed so that the patient could easily see what the doctor was talking about. The intricate electronics of the eye itself were displayed, along with the positronic network. The EMH tapped on the image, highlighting the positronic pathways.

"Here you can see the internal positronic network in the eye itself. You can also see the connections between the positronic and neural interfaces," he said, tapping again and highlighting the connections. "If we overlay the current connections with the last scan done at Starfleet Academy, it becomes clear that the point at which the connection is made has been moving closer to the brain. That is to say, the positronic network is expanding into your neural network. This is likely caused by the efficiency gain produced by closer proximity to the higher function areas of your brain. The growth is quite slow but it is also very clear. I have no prior examples of such a change in my databases."

Gia watched the display warily, but also with curiosity. "So it's making itself more efficient?" she concluded, raising a brow. That part seemed harmless enough. "You asked about auras. You think it could change how I perceive images?"

“Quite possibly, cadet. This is going to be a fabulous chance to expand what we know about organic and positronic interactions. We might even be invited to present at conferences,” the EMH said, his voice trailing off as he considered the possibilities. He realized the patient was staring at him and cleared his throat. “ Until then though, I’ll need to see you weekly to chart any changes. If you experience any auras, headaches, or any abnormalities, I want you to see me immediately. All of these are unlikely but possibilities.”

"Medical conferences," Gia digested that idea with some amount of unease. "Doctor, weekly checkups sound fairly aggressive. There's no chance this is going to like 'borgify' or something, right?"

The EMH sighed. This was the kind of thing he dealt with on a daily basis. "The technological differences between the borg and this positronic prosthetic are vast enough that one could place multiple galaxies between them. But, let me assure you, there is no chance that you will lose your mind and become a drone. My worst-case scenario would be your brain becoming a hybrid positronic neural network meshed with human biology."

That sounded bad enough, in her opinion, but the doctor seemed dismissive of any complications, so she shrugged it off. "I guess I could switch over to astrometrics if that ever happened," Gia said lightly, putting such thoughts out of her mind.

"So, weekly visits. Anything else then?" she asked as she stood from the biobed and straightened her jacket.

"Your cholesterol is a little high, especially for someone your age. Please adjust your diet accordingly," the EMH said, turning away. "I'll see you next week."

[OFF]


Commander Malcom Llwyedd
Commanding Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298


Cadet Giana Djokovic
Cadet Junior Grade
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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