[network] @jwatson; Quantum Nursing [video] [Morning 160]

[jumpthegun]

[The static has died down today, some of the fear and paranoia creeping away with it. There's a message that needs to be sent out and John feels some... obligation - connection? Jia had spoken to him in the dreams. It feels important to share her story. His expression is grave when he speaks up on the video.]

For everyone I haven't spoke with, yet, my name is Dr. John Watson. I'm presently in Norfinbury Hospital with Ms. Tifa Lockhart, Mr. Alphonse Elric, and Quark. Following an application that Ms. Lockhart--Tifa--received some time ago, and that Dr. House supplemented with something else found in the hospital, we were able to locate the final resting place of Ms. Jia Xú, a Nurse Practitioner who lived in Norfinbury one hundred years ago.

Quark was very brave and entered into a small room on the first floor's southeast corner. Please be aware that there is a dead body in that room. It was holding an SD card that recorded the final moments of Jia's life. We've added it to the public record and it's attached here. It is graphic, horrible, and not fit for anyone with a weak stomach.

[John attaches the files from the SD card.]

Briefly, Jia was murdered by one of the patients here. There was an epidemic that somehow overloaded the NIMA system and left them with only 'iodine.' That's typically used as a topical disinfectant in a clinical settling like this, which falls in line with what I saw when I- [There's a brief pause.] For those who read my casebook, you'll be aware that I was suffering from a form of dual reality at one point. I was both existing in Norfinbury itself and in the hospital here while it was experiencing a flood of victims. I couldn't see anyone's faces, but the patients were wrapped in gauze, presumably due to some wise-spread skin disease.

Jia also says in her final message that the patients were beginning to exhibit strange behaviors. The man who murdered her did not respond to any of the physical retaliation she inflicted on him while trying to fight him off. At least one of the actions she took should have moved him. He had no affect and his motions were jerky and stretched out.

To those who might have seen clips of Jia before or who might have met her in their dreams like I did, I'm very sorry. She got this information to us, though. I'm not sure how we can use it, yet, but we have it.

Comments

@itsybitsy; audio

[redrooms]

[Natasha hates all of this so much.]

Can you tell me more about the room the body was found in, or the body itself?

@quark; audio

[averytinyparticle]

Uh, yeah. It was really small, so nobody else could fit in there. I felt around as much as I could, but it seemed like it was just the bed with the body and nothing else. It was dark--too dark to see anything properly, even a tablet wouldn't light anything up.

[And this is the worst part--it's clear by the hesitation in his voice.]

She was still breathing.

[redrooms]

[Well, okay. First thing's first here:]

Are you alright, Quark?

[jumpthegun]

[He hadn't wanted Quark to have to answer, but here they are.]

My mini-torch wouldn't pierce through the dark, either. There was something unnatural about it. There was also a cat meowing. It's part of what led us to the place where we could break through the wall.

@Mnemosyne; voice

[bookofnope]

[Between being half-asleep with the death price, and the latest round of madness in the town, Beckett mostly forgets that he shouldn't be talking to Quark.]

Still breathing... the machines, keeping her alive, like they do to us?

@Enoch, audio

[warriorscribe]

Oh, Lord above...what medicine makes a man move like that? It looks more like the work of demons than tiny machines!

[He composes himself with a shaky sigh.]

Oh, poor Jia. She was trying to help them all...

[jumpthegun]

It's no medicine I know, Enoch, but it's something like what we've seen in the other videos, the jerky motions, like he's being puppeted. It makes me wonder if that might not have been the start of some sort of malfunction with the nanomachines if the NIMA system was overloaded and things were only just starting to come online. Something might have been broken irreparably.

And she was. To know she died like that... It's terrible.

[warriorscribe]

But the way his motions stretch the way they do, and how perfectly he acts without his sight...

[He shudders. Even if these machines work through their own bodies, they need those bodies, don't they?]

There was intelligence behind that, that was nothing merely broken.

[Not to mention, it's starting to feel more and more like...well, possession. And the thought of something else controlling his body to attack the ones he cares about again...]

@milkevoli, voice >> private to Watson, Tifa, Alphonse, Quark

[brokethefirst]

Given what happened when other systems overloaded in regards to medical emergencies... maybe they experienced something similar. There was already mention before that our supplies are limited, if I remember correctly. Perhaps that just means we're... lucky.

[There's no joy in the vague guess. It's all said somberly, a tinge of exhaustion in her words. What a horrible, horrible video.

There's a beat before she slips a filter to the four relevant parties.]

Are the four of you okay?

private; voice

[jumpthegun]

We're as all right as we can be. Between that and the static, yesterday was just a bit not good. How are you doing?

private; voice

[brokethefirst]

I'm... [Fine? No. No, she knows she isn't, and she knows that Alphonse can see this. So she lets out a sigh and tries again.]

I'm very tired. But there's things that still need to be done, despite that.

I... imagine Alphonse told you about what happened a couple of days ago. I guess I could have been there with you otherwise, but we all got separated rather quickly.

I'm sorry.

@Ecks | text

[ecks]

the man looked possessed.
who recorded the video?

video

[jumpthegun]

[John doesn't feel like typing, so you get video, Ecks.]

Something wasn't right with him, that's for sure. I'd guess the nanomachines inside of him were malfunctioning for him to be able to take that level of damage and not be bothered by it.

I dunno who recorded the video. It's very likely surveillance from the hospital, itself.

@makeme; audio

[coyoteking]

Skin disease? Or radiation exposure? Maybe there was a bomb here, then.

audio

[jumpthegun]

Maybe... but there would be ongoing issues with the skin irritation if there were a constant source of radiation in the area. And we know there residents of Norfinbury went underground into cryostasis. At least Mr. Miller and Eve did. Jia should have been suffering the same effects as her patients if it were a constant environmental source within the city.

@expostfacto; voice

[whatjupitercouldnt]

[Admittedly, this isn't the first time she's seen something diseaselike display disturbing systems. Whatever feelings the video inspires she keeps to herself.]

Do we know whether the text report was the same one that she was writing when she died?

[It's not the most important conclusion, there's still a lot of important information here either way, but it could allow the two files to shed a bit of illumination on each other.

And then, because yeah, Quark was involved.]

Everyone's already covered asking if you're all right, so I probably don't need to add to be sure to take care of yourselves.

[Except clearly she is.]

[jumpthegun]

It's Phi, right? [Like the symbol. He'd seen her and Quark talking on the Admin's introduction message... and again when she was looking for clothes. Unfortunately, he hadn't had anything to offer, nor was he close.] We'll do what we can to take care of ourselves... and Quark, particularly. He was very brave.

We don't have any particular confirmation that this is what she was writing, but the text and video came together, and the way the text cuts off like it does is fairly good circumstantial evidence to link them.

@totheark, text

[0thingsonmymind]

thecat is
d e a d
?

*He includes links to two of Riley's videos, the one where the protesters suddenly walk away as if controlled and Riley's death video.*

video

[jumpthegun]

This is like that other message, you mean. The one that came up when Haurchefant released the video of Riley's death, right? Whoever they are, they've been quiet since then, it seems. The cat stopped meowing, though.

@guardian; text;

[phaseshifter]

If that state is what awaits us
The mindless unflinching savagery, I mean
It would shed extra light on why the administrator sometimes reacts so dramatically when members of our collective resort to violence, don't you think? If it's another stepping stone on the road to her initiating termination protocols again??

Excuse my language but this freaking *blows*

video

[jumpthegun]

[That is an incredibly chilling thought.]

But we haven't seen anything like that from anyone before, right? Everyone who's killed has done it of their own volition.

@starspangledhero; video; aimed at Quark but not private or anything

[fifty]

[No kid should have to watch something like that. America's seem worse, but that was awful, and Quark had to crawl around in some creepy dark room with a zombie. But America also knows that Quark is actually pretty good at taking care of himself, very capable, and he's sure Quark will just keep saying he's fine.

So, different route. America appears on video much more rarely ever since his altercation with The Joker--the chemical burn scars are still there, after all. But he's grinning widely and the grin looks completely sincere.]

Man, Quark, that was super cool of you to do! Like, definite hero behavior! [He sounds like he means it because he does. He hates that Quark had to do this, but he's proud, too.]

[averytinyparticle]

Hero behavior? Really?

[It might be a bit hard for him to believe, but...America really sounds serious about it! And that makes Quark feel good. He can't stop a smile from starting to stretch across his tired face.]

Gosh...I mean, I couldn't just chicken out when we found something like that, even if we didn't know what would be in there.

@Spoiler ; video

[spoileralert]

[ Steph watches the video, and while she doesn't have much of actual value to add it makes her feel she owes a response of some kind. ]

Jesus.

At least, maybe this will help us somehow.

[jumpthegun]

I hope so, Ms. Brown. How are you holding up?