" Even Cells Have Rough Days, Especially Those Of A Shillian "
(Previous Post: "Operational Consultation")
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Stardate: 60314.0610
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
The night had been long for the Chief Science Officer
of the USS ANUBIS, but not in the way that she or
anyone else might have wanted it to be, and the first
clue of this had been that the Shillian woman had
spent it in Sickbay instead of in one of the many labs
that could be found on the ship. Ensign Summers had
worked her magic the day before in making the likeness
of the Shillian vanish to be replaced by that of a
Cardassian. The initial success of this operation had
filled the Assistant Chief Medical Officer with great
pride, but the subsequent wait to see if these changes
would hold had quickly replaced this satisfaction with
concerns.
Shillians, from a very early age, are taught to become
aware of their bodies to such an extent that they can
eventually manipulate their cellular structure
allowing them to shapeshift. Although this has many
obvious advantages, this special gift also carries
several drawbacks, one of which is the body's
unconscious will to want to return to its original
state. Under normal circumstances this means that a
Shillian can only keep animal form for a limited
period of time, which can be extended with training
and practice, but still to a finite level. Because
her father had not been able to fully train his one
and only daughter before the unfortunate destruction
of their home, the Chief Science Officer had only been
taught the basics of this gift as a mean for
protection. What this meant what that the Shillian
scientist, last member of her race, could only keep a
form other than hers for no more than fifteen minutes
before her cells began to break down which would
rapidly lead to her death.
The ability of shapeshifting for a Shillian had always
been a delicate balance between the mind and body, in
which the mind forced the body into a form that it did
not want to be in. For the Chief Science Officer of
the USS ANUBIS, this battle had been so much more
difficult for her to win because of her lack of
training and raged on even when the changes to her
body had come from an external source. Because of
this, Ensign Summers had spent the night watching over
the Shillian to insure that the aesthetic
modifications performed on the Shillian would not be
erased by her overzealous metabolism.
A moan from the Shillian woman alerted the Assistant
Chief Medical Officer that her patient had begun to
return to a more conscious state, which would
hopefully mean that the vigil would soon end.
Understanding the physiology of the Shillian as she
did, which in all honesty had not been all that much,
Ensign Summers had hoped that while conscious the
Chief Science Officer would be able to control her
body to subdue the reaction of her cells against the
foreign matter that had been introduced to help create
the appearance of the scientist being of Cardassian
origins. Instead, the Assistant Chief Medical Officer
was confronted with her greatest fear seeing some of
her meticulous work being undone at an alarming rate.
"Maya!" Ensign Summers said taking hold of the
Shillian, "if there is anything you can do to stop
this, you have to do it now."
The Shilian woman fully opened her eyes to see the
Assistant Chief medical Officer looking back at her
with a distinct expression of panic on her face.
"What is happening?" The scientist asked, not
understanding what could have caused Ensign Summers to
react in such a way or what she, as the patient, could
do to help in this matter.
"Your body is fighting the modifications I made to
your body despite my efforts," the Assistant Chief
Medical officer replied with urgency. "Your cells are
acting as if they had a mind of their own and are
actively working at undoing what I did regardless of
the steps I have taken to try and stop this. There is
nothing more that I can do and unless you can somehow
stop this I will have to report to Captain Simmons
that you will be unable to take part in the mission in
the capacity that had been assigned to you.
The Shillian scientist closed her eyes and began to
take long, deep breaths. Not having the slighting
inkling as to what was happening, Ensign Summers took
a single step back and gave the Shillian woman as much
space as she needed. Within a few second, the
Assistant Chief Medical Officer let out a sigh of
relief as she observed the degradation of her work
stop and even reversed in some instances.
"I am sorry," the Shillian woman said in a weakened
voice, "I had not realised that my body would react in
such a way to the surgery."
"Likewise," the Ensign said, "I knew that things would
get difficult the moment I started, but I had never
expected it to be *that* difficult."
"I am truly sorry," the Shillian scientist said, her
voice reflecting the fatigue that had spread
throughout her body. "My father did not have that
much time to teach me about all that I needed to know
about this special ability, I mean given that our
world was about to end I am very grateful that he did
what he did, but I am afraid that I do not know enough
about my own metamorphic abilities to be of help.
That said though I will try and focus my thoughts on
not having my body return to its normal form."
---
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #134
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
