Darwin's Vision Improves

Posted on Sun Apr 17th, 2016 @ 10:20pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Ignatius Reilly & Senior Chief Petty Officer Edana
Edited on on Mon Apr 25th, 2016 @ 10:27pm

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III / Piper Medical Center

* Archadia *

Must we leave? Ignatius, perched on Darwin’s shoulder, very obviously did not want to leave the boat, the sun, the water.

Neither did Darwin - Iggy’s feelings just reinforced how much he didn’t want to leave the Penelope. But duty called. With Oralia still sidelined for medical reasons, Darwin needed to get back to help Gilroy, to give the part-Klingon some relief. “Yep, we have to, Igs. Just think, you can see Oz and check in on her.”

And my children, she agreed. Fine, we will go back. But we must make plans to do this again. Perhaps instead of movie night, we could have sailing night?

Darwin laughed. “Ah, that’s a lot of work for just one evening. Maybe a couple of days off, though.”

Good idea. I will hold you to that, the spider said before falling silent as Edana joined them on the dock.

“I agree with Iggy.” She smiled as she took one last look around. It had been an eventful two days for her, especially where Darwin was concerned. “I also have to get back to handle a few things. But first, we have to go to Piper. Doc Harding is waiting.”

“Right,” Darwin nodded; he could tell Iggy and Edana were worried about him. “Stop that; I’m fine.”

Physically. Edana has no complaints there, Iggy spoke for the Orion.

“Well, she has a good point but…” Edana stopped and frowned. “That right there, Darwin. See? You knew what I was feeling.”

“Yeah, I did.” He saw she was ready so he called for a transport to the Station. Once there, they headed for Piper. Iggy called out to anyone she saw who she thought she knew. Darwin finally had to threaten her: either hush or find herself abandoned on a turbolift. She hushed.

* Piper *

Ophelia had shown them into a room to wait and a few minutes later, the door opened and Will stepped in. “Hello, Michael, Edana, and Iggy. How was the vacation?”

Amazing! Iggy answered before Darwin or Edana could. Darwin took us sailing and showed me the most wonderful things, including a cave carved by the sea.

Darwin laughed. “Yeah, during that swim, we found out Iggy not only floats but will bob back to the surface if pushed under water. ‘Course, we also discovered that Archadian fish have a taste for spider legs.”

“Good to know.” Will laughed and reached out to touch Iggy’s back for a moment in a friendly gesture. “Now then, I have only a few notes from Edana’s call so why don’t you all tell me what’s up?” He motioned Darwin to the biobed as Ed sat down in one of the chairs. “Be specific.”

Sitting on the biobed, Darwin swing his legs up and leaned back to let the biobed do its thing. “Ah... I’m not real sure, Doc,” he started, “Edana... we noticed that I’ve been picking up on other people’s feelings. Iggy’s, too. Though I suppose that’s not hard to do.”

“Iggy does broadcast so that makes sense,” Will replied, his attention on the biobed scanner’s arch. “And to a degree, as humans, we are wired to read those close to us but not always with pinpoint accuracy such as an empath has.” He tapped his comm badge and summoned Chanella. “I want you to have a look at Chanella when she arrives, see what you pick up. I called her as she is, in no way telepathic or empathic, thus, can’t project as Iggy does and she is someone you don’t know all that well.”

“Ah okay. I can tell you that I’ve been pinpointing Ed’s emotions,” Darwin glanced at her. “Rather well, too.”

“That says a lot but then you two are, ah...close.” Will left it at that as the door opened and Chanella entered. She greeted everyone, then turned to Darwin. “So take a look at Chanella and tell me what you see.”

Sitting up, Darwin looked her over, nearly appraising her. He reddened slightly and said, “Ah, sorry, Chanella. I just ticked her off, but before that, I caught that she’d sort of cloud nine, happy about something that happened... last night?”

The nurse nodded. “Yes,” she admitted with a smile. “How much can you tell Darwin?”

“Hmm,” he looked at her more intently and thought about opening his mind up, the way Sakkath’s father had. “Oh,” he sighed, “that’s more than I needed, really. Doc, I’d rather not repeat what I just picked up.”

Will frowned at Darwin’s words. “Are you saying you read more than just emotions?” He nodded to Chanella, who departed. “And if so, how, exactly?”

“Some impressions, really. She had a really good night,” Darwin cleared his throat. “A date that didn’t end till this morning. I couldn’t tell you who the guy was, but I saw his face.” He shook his head, “I haven’t a clue how I’m doing this. I’m not telepathic.”

“Sounds like you are now,” Edana commented. “That was much more exact than what you could read two days ago. Then, you picked up on my emotions but vaguely and weren’t sure where it was coming from.”

Will turned back to the scanner as he listened, then addressed Darwin. “Would you say that’s accurate?” He touched the panel and a new scan began.

“Well, I was trying just now; I focused on her and opened my mind the way Sakkath’s father did. I didn’t do that with you, Ed. So... I’m not sure... Did Li leave me with something?”

The mention of Li brought a frown to Edana’s face and likely a flood of emotions to Darwin.

“That would be my guess at this point,” was Will’s reply. “I want to do a full neural scan which will take a few minutes. I’ll be right back.” He glanced from Ed to Darwin, then departed to get the equipment he needed.

Once Harding was gone, Darwin said, “Don’t be mad at me just for mentioning her name. You know I’ll have to work with her, right?”

Edana sighed and nodded. “I’m sorry. It was just instinct. Chalk it up to my species and don’t worry about it? Would it help if I said I really like Li? That we’ve been close for a long time?”

Darwin and Li do not want their physical relationship advertised on the Station, Iggy spoke up.

Coughing to cover his laugh, Darwin said, “Iggs, not helpful right now. Ed, it’s okay. Just, yeah, don’t take it out on Li.”

“I am far more professional than that,” Ed answered. She rose and leaned down to kiss Darwin. She’d intended to make it a brief one but it lingered and she enjoyed it for a bit longer. Finally, she scooped up Iggy. “I’ll take her home and let Leto know I’m here, then I’ll come back for you.”

“Hopefully I won’t be here that long... that’d be lovely: go on vacation then come back and end up in sickbay,” he held her hand a moment then let her go.

“Try not to worry, I’m sure everything will be fine.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Alright Iggy, which kid do you want to see first?”

“Must I choose? Could we call their guardians and have them meet me at Oralia’s quarters? Oralia is likely there as well, so you would not need to stay, unless you wish to, Iggy said.

“Certainly.” They started out the door and Darwin could hear Edana calling Louie.

A few minutes later, Will entered. In his hand was a small box and he set it on a table that he rolled over to the biobed. “This will be completely painless,” he said. “Did we lose the women?”

“Yeah, Ed is taking Iggs to see her kids,” Darwin said. He waited patiently while Harding set up the instrument. “You said this will take a few minutes? What is this?”

“This will take a picture of your brain, to put it simply, which I will then compare to previous scans of yours.” Will attached a small silver disk to Darwin’s forehead, then turned to the large display on the wall. “I also want to compare it to another image, which is why it took me longer to get back here. Tracking down Li is a tricky thing sometimes and I needed her permission.”

“Is the image of her brain?”

“Yes. You’ll indulge me in something I hope? Given what occurred with you two after Sakkath’s death, I have a theory, one you may or may not like.”

“Go ahead. So long as your theory isn’t that Sakkath is taking over my head again - not that he did before, but you know what I mean, things should be good.” Darwin settled in.

“You may rest assured that is not my theory,” Will promised him. “In fact I don’t think this has anything to do with him at all.” He turned to study the screen where the images were now appearing. “You may sit up and look if you wish.”

Darwin did, turning to watch as his own brain’s image filled in on the viewscreen. He always liked this part of a medical visit - seeing his body parts up there, his brain in particular. “Okay, so what are we looking for here?”

“Here is the scan from your last physical three months ago,” Will pointed to the first image, a brain with the various sections lit up in different colors. “And here is today’s scan.” He pointed out an area set directly in the center, lit in a dark pink. That section was missing from the first scan. “See this?”

“Can’t miss it in pink like that. Where did that come from? I mean, what could have caused it to grow?” Darwin’s gaze roamed over the two images, looking for any other weirdness. ‘Course, to him, it all looked weird.

“We’ll get to that. Now, look at this one.” Will pressed the panel and a third brain scan appeared. In this one the pink area was significantly larger. “Li’s scan taken while she was here just after Sakkath’s death. Keep in mind that this isn’t separate tissue, just an extra ability overseen by this area. Make sense? This, to be blunt, is the telepathic area. Now do you see?”

Darwin looked from one to the other in silence a few times. “So Li somehow made that grow? Transferred abilities over to me? Not intentionally, I mean, I’m sure. That’d be odd if she had.”

Will nodded. “That’s my theory. I think it came from your extended exposure to the link she had with Sakkath. He did pop up in your head briefly too. Such a link is very powerful, even among innate telepaths. For a non-telepath to be pulled into that link has to have had a profound effect. The link was eventually broken but it had plenty of time to..to take root, if you will.”

Nodding, Darwin accepted that explanation; he wasn’t a hugely deep thinker and could be satisfied with surface explanations, with medical stuff at least. “Huh... You’re not going to suggest removing it, are you?”

“I can’t,” Will answered honestly. “Your brain now has assimilated this ability and even if we removed that physical area, it would likely regenerate elsewhere. Basically, you’re stuck with it. And based on what Edana said, it’s expanding. Li is a very powerful telepath so if your ability is growing, it’s understandable.”

“Let’s hope this doesn’t grow into telepathy. I don’t think I could handle reading other people’s thoughts. But, then, you have drugs to stop that, right?”

“We do but only temporarily. However, if it does go that way, a natural telepath, such as Li or Ophelia, can teach you how to block outside thoughts so you don’t spend every waking minute like an antenna. Counselor Amani is an empath, he may be of some help as well.” Will paused, recalling the conversation with Chanella. “However, I want to try something. Focus on me. Tell me where I had dinner last night.”

Darwin looked at the doctor, then away then looked back and concentrated a little. “At home, with Seyla,” he answered after a moment. “I’m glad you two are still getting along so well.”

Will nodded, his expression pleased. “That is far more than sensing emotions, Michael. That is specific information. Telepathy. You have to really focus now, and it may be that it stays that way so you won’t pick up random thoughts. We will see. I want you back here in three days for another scan so we can compare.”

‘Three days. Got it. I’ll be here. In the meantime, I need to check in with Gilroy and get back to my investigations team.” Darwin stood, ready to head out.

“I want you to see one of the counselors. This is an unusual development and a lot to deal with.” Will turned off the display and joined Darwin by the biobed. “Will you tell Li?” he asked.

“Not yet, no.” Darwin shook his head. “I don’t think she needs any guilt about this right now. We’ll get it under control and then she can find out.” He glanced at Will. “Or do you have to tell her?”

The doctor considered the question, then shook his head. “It’s your issue, patient confidentiality decrees that I cannot unless you want me to. I understand your position, but I don’t think it’s wise. She may be the best help to you in this.”

“I’ll think on it, then. I’ll see you in three days, unless Gilroy decides he wants to spar,” he laughed and headed out.

***************
Lt. Commander M. Darwin
Ignatius Reilly
SCPO Edana
Lt. Commander William Harding, M.D.