Chirurgeon"Lord Captain, permission to address you with a request! Our head chirurgeon is sabotaging the ship's operations — he has quarantined several voidsman crews on account of a piddling sickness. People don't even go to the medbay when they come down with it — they just wipe their noses and keep working. Only a dozen or so die from it in a whole year. We're sitting on our hands here, so I ask you to talk some sense into him."
ChirurgeonYour vox clicks, and you hear a dry, nonchalant response: "Greetings, Your Lordship/Ladyship. My name is Lettard Forius, and I am the Chirurgeon Majoris of this vessel. As your chief medicae specialist, I assure you that the quarantine is well warranted. This 'piddling sickness' has claimed the lives of a number of meritorious officers in the past. This time, I intend to get the epidemic under control, study the disease thoroughly, and develop a proper cure."
Chirurgeon"I hope you will agree that a single period of downtime is a small price to pay for the number of lives that will be saved and the increase in the crew's performance during other such outbreaks in the future. Not to mention the fact that we won't have to waste stimulants due to the afflicted using them as a crutch to offset their limited work capacity."
YOU"How do you intend to study this disease?"
Chirurgeon"By gathering enough infected individuals together, letting the illness progress, comprehending its properties, and, finally, killing it. The disease goes through several stages, with each containing clues to its nature and vulnerabilities. The voidsmen will have to stay sick for some time until I discover the cure, assuming, of course, that the disease is reversible in its final stages."
YOU"How do you intend to study this disease?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Defeating a disease is a noble goal, but I cannot approve of your methods. Find volunteers among the crew who will agree to being infected in exchange for compensation. I expect you to cure every one of them once you are done."
Chirurgeon"This may limit the potential of the study, but... this approach is also acceptable. I will make up for the lack of material with my expertise. Thank you for taking your crew's health into consideration."
Chirurgeon"Should you require my services, you may find me on the bridge, Your Lordship/Ladyship."
end of branch
YOU"The voidsmen are to be treated and put back to work. If you want test subjects, tell the Master-at-Arms to provide you with the required number of convicts and other riffraff."
Chirurgeon"This may limit the potential of the study, but... this approach is also acceptable. I will make up for the lack of material with my expertise. Thank you for taking your crew's health into consideration."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Make the most of it, Forius. If understanding this disease will indeed let you delve deeper into the nature of wicked afflictions, then you may have as many test subjects as you need. You may expend them all if that is what it takes."
Chirurgeon"'Expend them'? What is that supposed to mean, Lord Cap'n? Now we'll have to teach new idiots the ins and outs of the voidsman's craft!"
Chirurgeon"Allow me to relieve your panic, Master Helmsman, by saying that I will not stand for any waste of life. The losses among the crew will be negligible."
ChirurgeonYou hear muffled grumbling over the vox. "Orders received, Lord Cap'n. I will redistribute the shifts between healthy crew members, and may the Emperor keep them from dying from exhaustion."
Chirurgeon"I thank Your Lordship/Ladyship for granting me this opportunity." A touch of warmth enlivens Forius's dispassionate voice. "Trust me, I am the healer who will live up to your expectations. Should you require my services, you may find me on the bridge."
end of branch
YOU"Forius is the officer in charge of all matters of health on this ship. Do not interfere with his work, Ravor."
ChirurgeonYou hear muffled grumbling over the vox. "Orders received, Lord Cap'n. I will redistribute the shifts between healthy crew members, and may the Emperor keep them from dying from exhaustion."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I object to these experiments. Get those voidsmen back to working fitness. You will have to find the cure some other way."
Chirurgeon"I wish I could discover the cure by sitting in my office and furrowing my forehead, but reality imposes other demands. Be that as it may, I obey your command and will search for other means to defeat the disease."
Chirurgeon"Should you require my services, you may find me on the bridge, Your Lordship/Ladyship."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Defeating a disease is a noble goal, but I cannot approve of your methods. Find volunteers among the crew who will agree to being infected in exchange for compensation. I expect you to cure every one of them once you are done."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"The voidsmen are to be treated and put back to work. If you want test subjects, tell the Master-at-Arms to provide you with the required number of convicts and other riffraff."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Make the most of it, Forius. If understanding this disease will indeed let you delve deeper into the nature of wicked afflictions, then you may have as many test subjects as you need. You may expend them all if that is what it takes."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Forius is the officer in charge of all matters of health on this ship. Do not interfere with his work, Ravor."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I object to these experiments. Get those voidsmen back to working fitness. You will have to find the cure some other way."continues where this line first appears above