Page 56 of Experimental Voyage
Even if she did die, she would do so in comfort.
I wanted her to live and thrive.
Viva beat the Veloc back, and she introduced me to her fancy machine, which could do ultrasounds and other scans depending on her needs. As the mare was more inclined to cooperate with us, Viva showed me how the machine worked, doing a bone scan of the animal’s head first. Then she pressed a few buttons and did another scan.
Somehow, the machine could detect hemorrhaging, which showed as faint red on the black and white results. “How can it detect that the blood isn’t where it belongs?”
“Blood vessels have a specific structure the machine can identify. When blood—or other fluids—are intermingled with other tissue, it shows as red. It has trouble identifying active hemorrhaging versus old bruising, but it’s a good starting point for treatments.” Viva pointed at the mare’s brain, which showed the red markings. “And this explains whyhomo sapienslikely die. This sort of damage in ahomo sapiensis often a death sentence. I wonder why she’s handling it better.”
“Evolution?” I suggested. “Perhaps they have adapted to the fungus infection, having more space in the brain to allow for fungal growth? Or perhaps the fungus doesn’t invade the brain to quite the same degree?”
“That’s a possibility. In good news, we have that stallion’s brain, so some scientists can get a good look at what the fungus is doing to them.” Viva sighed, moved the device, and began doing a scan of the mare’s neck. “I’m betting the fungus has been adhering to the circulatory system walls, also lowering blood oxygen levels. Maybe the trick to savinghomo sapiensis being prepared to handle the mass hemorrhaging issues resulting from the fungus?”
“Or it could be heart attack risk from the fungus ejecting into the bloodstream once it’s killed and releases off the vessel walls.”According to the neck scans, the entire mare had evidence of mass bleeding. “Why isn’t she dead?”
Viva pressed a button, rescanned the mare’s neck, and waited. Then she showed me a complex network of large red tubes going through the mare’s body. “It appears their blood vessels are significantly larger than ours. Perhaps the extra space is allowing the body to break down the fungus without them having a stroke or heart attack?”
“And humans would just immediately suffer from blood loss and a stroke,” I guessed.
Viva nodded. “And it probably takes a year for the fungus to establish itself in the vessels and organs sufficiently to trigger the bleeding once the fungicide is administered. Smaller animals will probably just die immediately.”
I grimaced. “I sent Fogali to get one of the tree cats.”
“It’s possible the cats have larger vessels to handle the fungal infections, too. Humans just didn’t survive long enough to evolve. Cats and horses have short enough lifespans and fast enough breeding to evolve ahead of the fungus. It might just be species with slower reproduction cycles are the ones incapable of surviving here. Waldren and his sister were exceptionally fortunate.”
“But the fungus did damage them, right?”
“Yes, they were infected, but for them it isn’t a lethal infection,” she confirmed. After a moment of silent thought, she headed into the ship, returning a few moments later with a digital tablet. “Until I get a chance to see how adept you are at your link, especially with complicated files, I’ll show this to you on a tablet.” She handed it over. “This is Waldren’s medical file, specifically regarding the damage he suffered during his treatments. This is publicly accessible information as part of the biohazard listing for this planet. He offered it. His sister’s data is also available, but we’ll start with his.”
“Should I use my link with this?”
While I’d gotten the hang of modifying certain things at school with my link, I struggled with more modern technology, especially if there were numerous menus. Even with the chips designed to teach linkers how to adapt, I sometimes became overwhelmed at the plethora of options. Practicing with the school’s systems had helped, but I feared the tablet would win.
“Not this time. I need to review which link chips you have and configure it so you’re not slammed with information.”
“I have a full range of chips, but I’ve been mostly sticking to my beginner chips. They’re good enough to navigate the school’s systems.”
“Your manipulation of the school registration systems is a thing of beauty, and I’ll help you get upgraded to intermediary chips. If you can handle their system, you can handle the intermediary chips. It just takes time to get used to it. This tablet is rough even for an experienced linker. Honestly, I did most of the work manually with it.”
“That sounds good.” While I wasn’t a doctor, nurse, or anything of that nature, reading medical reports fell under the domain of an exploration lead; understanding how someone had died, been injured, or had become sick meant the life or death of an entire colony. Had Waldren’s failed colony taken all the necessary steps to protect life? Had the fungus somehow gone undetected?
Waldren’s medical records told a sad story of a boy skirting on being a young man suffering from intense headaches, the inability to learn social cues prior to treatments, and of someone who behaved more like an animal than anything else. His ‘immunity’ to the fungus seemed to be an immune system response that stopped the progression of the fungus to just below the lethality point.
He’d shown evidence of hemorrhaging following treatments as well, with a note indicating the medical staff had been uncertain of its source.
The behavioral problems indicated a lack of general empathy, a standoffish attitude, and anxiety regarding food availability. That I could understand.
The island didn’t seem to have much in the way of healthy natural resources, especially for children. According to the record, Waldren had avoided his sister most of the time, and he’d been rather skeletal by the time they’d been rescued. I opened his sister’s record, discovering her name was Amalieta, and that she’d emerged from the failed colony in far better physical and emotional condition.
Her husband had played a role in that, as the record mentioned he hadn’t left her side from the moment he’d met her, taking on the burden of caretaker before settling into the role of partner and lover.
She had health issues from her time on the island as well, but her specific combination of issues caused her little problems in Veloc society.
Waldren’s made his life challenging outside of Veloc communities, especially as he was noted as craving the company of otherhomo sapiens.
“Why did Waldren’s sister have an easier time than him?”
“From what I understand of the report, I think it’s a matter of physical activity level. Waldren spent his days running around the island, wild and free. His sister spent most of her time on the ship and cultivating crops. They were both infected with the fungus, but her development of the fungus was closer to the six month mark in regularhomo sapiens, where his was just below the threshold for death.”
