Viable Host?

Written by Omni

8.3.5 SW
20:00/21 SW-CP-Local Time
Crowning Point > Sci-Med Hex > Operating Room

Baird moved his headset microphone away for a second and addressed the doctor on duty, "Tried pulling it off. Fucker tightens up whenever you get a grip and starts chokin' him. Probably can’t take it off him without a knife or something, but it bleeds goddamn acid."

"We can't PULL it off and we can't CUT it off? Just how in the hell do you expect us to remove the damn thing without killing him?" asked Doctor Ellis.

"Fuck if I know, you’re the doctor, I’m just here for moral support." said Baird as he cocked his shotgun.

Doctor Ellis gave him a dirty look as he then turned away to continue speaking into his radio mic, trying to maintain two conversations at the same time. Baird found the doctor to be a pain in the ass and it sounded like Saygin and his team were having trouble.

Hikari Roku's eyes searched the ceiling from left to right, as if searching for an answer, "We might have to do just that..." she said to the three men in the room.

The doctor furrowed his brow in concern. "You're not serious..." replied Doctor Ellis.

Administrator Weisz held up a hand, "Now now, let's let's... hear her out."

"You are talking about intentionally killing a patient. A colonial marshal. A human being?" he replied sternly.

Roku took a breath to speak but Wiesz spoke first, " I value her opinion. And so should you. Aside from the Marshal, who is currently incapacitated, Doctor Roku is the only one in this room who has dealt with these creatures before."

"Not this creature, per se... but..." Roku paused. "Something similar... Judging from the scans, it has a similar reproductive cycle, implanting a parasite into a host..." she swallowed. "And the abortion had its' own difficulties... if we don't get it out of him, it WILL gestate and erupt from his body... violently... killing him anyway. And then it will go on killing and spreading more of its kind."

By this point, Doctor Ellis had crossed his arms and was nervously tapping his foot, "And your crew brought it here. To OUR colony." said the doctor in accusation.

Roku looked down, feeling somewhat uncertainty and ashamed. "If it was our crew... it was not intentional." she replied.

"Unintentional or not, this is a major fucking problem!" the man argued.

Baird butted in, "Hey, ease up, asshat. Some unregistered ship brought 'em down here. Landed out in Wombwood. Wiped out their crew. Now it's OUR problem so let's deal with it, Doc. And how about a little less bullshit?"

"Yes. Like it or not, it IS our problem. And it must be contained. Let's hear out Roku's suggestion and we will determine next steps." said Weisz. "Miss Roku?"

The woman shuffled uncomfortably before speaking. "There are a few ways we could do this... a) believe me, I like this plan as much as you do, doctor... but it's what Glenn... the Marshal told me to do if he was infected or implanted and impossible to abort... We kill them both and incinerate them..." she paused.

"Is there any option that doesn't involve killing a man and an unregistered alien species?" asked Dr Ellis impatiently.

Baird looked on sternly, awaiting a better option as well.

"Go on," Weisz encouraged.

Roku continued, "b) We try to use some kind of sturdy equipment or powerful machinery to restrain or... separate... the tail from his neck and help remove it by force... A vice or... retractor, or something... The issue with that is, we have no idea if it has the ability to kill him internally in some other way. For now, it's keeping him alive and breathing, SO we could c) Release all of the oxygen from the autodoc... suffocate him."

Considering her words, Doctor Ellis finished the thought, "Make it so the creature finds his body to be a non-viable host... Make it reject him. I see what you mean now..."

"Yes... But then we have to hope that it detaches from him. Then quickly kill it and resuscitate the Marshal as soon as possible to mitigate any brain damage." Roku finished.

"Ok..." Doctor Ellis sighed. "Any other ideas?"

"d) ...Since the thing has already put him into some induced comatose state, we may be able to operate on him to remove the parasite from his chest while it is still attached."

Baird rubbed his chin and a memory was triggered, "Hold up. Maybe it will let go of him when its done doing its thing? Saw one of these things just laying there... Deader than a door nail. No apparent wounds either. And the one that burst from the animal didn't have one still hanging on it."

The doctor appeared impressed and more certain of the situation now that he had more information and Roku seemed to really know what she was talking about, "OK... while I have no proof that you have discussed these protocols with the Marshal and I hate to say it... option C does look like our best option to start. We have some time before it grows, if we are lucky it will detach on its own. We prep the autodoc for vacuum environment. If the creature doesn't appear to be rejecting the Marshal after 2 and a half minutes, the pod is equipped with certain tools for retraction so we will force restraint and removal of the alien organism then immediately resuscitate him after."

"Something tells me that if this is anything like the creatures we encountered before oxygen depletion won't kill it, but it maybe put it to sleep. So I would like Officer Baird to stay here just in case it attempts to flee or attack." Roku persuaded.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on leaving until this critter is crispy or nothin' more than a puddle." said Baird