(no subject)

[leftbehindagain]

[A couple days into Liminal Space, but before it changes, Naoki puts out a message. He sounds... tired, but satisfied.]

I've worked out something that will counteract the radiation exposure most of us just got. There's some in the workshop and some in Kanji's place - there should be enough for everyone who was on Gehenna.

Please, guys, take a bottle. I don't care how invincible you think you are, I don't care how much you might think I hate you, I don't care how bad you think it tastes - I did the best I could, but it's still pretty clearly medicine. Radiation is serious business, and none of us deserve to be stuck with the long-term effects if there's a way around it. If it turns out you absolutely cannot get it down for some reason, let me know and I'll try another version.

Comments

[thornsofmalkav]

Oh thank fuck. The last thing I need to be is a radioactive vampire.

[Even if she's being more of a rock right now.]

[leftbehindagain]

The last thing any of us need to be is radioactive anything.

Helena-san helped me work things out. [Because who else would you ask, in this situation, but someone who not only predicted atomic bombs being a thing but that they'd be used in war all of once before people realised it was overkill? It's a bit timey-wimey threading-wise, but oh well.]

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah, she would be the one to do it.

[leftbehindagain]

I figured I might as well start with the closest thing to an expert we've got, at least that I've met. Probably could have worked something out on my own, but I didn't want to take chances.

[loyalrebel]

Is this radiation disease contagious?

Should we be burning bodies if people die of it before your cure goes in to effect?

[Malik. This is not the plague.]

[leftbehindagain]

It's not exactly a disease, and it's not that fast-acting. Besides, this is alchemy stuff - it'll do the job it's there to do quickly.

Radiation's a type of energy. It doesn't really get along well with organic life forms. And because of all the accumulated crap dumped on the planet we started on, not to mention how most of that stuff got there in the first place, there was a decent amount around - not enough to kill anyone outright, or we wouldn't have made it long enough to fix anything, but the long-term effects aren't anything good.

[loyalrebel]

So it is not contagious except when you are where it exists?

So.... like glitter but it will kill you as well?

[leftbehindagain]

[Naoki has to try really, really hard not to laugh at that.]

Not... really. Glitter is just a craft thing. And a nuisance, I'll grant you that, but not actually deadly. It's also in the human-visible light spectrum. Radioactive stuff glows in the dark, but in normal daylight you can't tell it's there.

[someonetocarry]

Don't give a gorram hoot what it tastes like. I'm on my way. You still there, yourself, or will I be pickin' somethin' up without a chance to thank you in person?

[leftbehindagain]

I'm at Kanji's place, if you want to talk.

[someonetocarry]

I'll hunt it down, then.

[And she does show up maybe half an hour later, looking around with interest. She hasn't been by Kanji's yet.]

[shiroganeheir]

Thank you, Naoki-kun. I will take an extra for Souji, in case he doesn't for himself.

[leftbehindagain]

Not a problem. None of us need to be stuck with that.

[Private]

...Incidentally. You don't happen to know whether the Conditioning thing stuck for you too, do you?

[howexciting]

If anyone is suffering any symptoms of radiation sickness - that is, nausea, vomiting, headache, fever, cognitive impairment, thin blood, weakness or tiredness, blotches that appear to be bruising, or any hair loss - please contact me immediately. I have healing spells which will restore harmed cells to their rightful state.

[Private]

[This part is private, strictly to Naoki.]

You do not need to worry about giving me a dose, so that is one less antidote you must make. Since using my healing spells takes up far less mana than any of my other spells, I have merely healed any potentially affected cells. I will keep checking myself for any signs over the next few days.

[leftbehindagain]

Thank you for that, sensei. I'm possibly not as up on the symptoms as I should be.

[Private]

[Naoki's response very strongly suggests an exasperated sigh.] I've already made enough for everyone, including you. Or did you think there's someone else around here laboring under the false impression I hate them? That was only true before Hanamura went missing. [And even then they cleared that much up.]

Even my healing spells aren't cut out for this crap. Too many people care about you to leave it to chance.

Private forever

[howexciting]

Then keep it for use in a more serious case. Store it as a prototype in the event we get stuck on another planet with large doses of radiation. I can heal the damage any radiation might have caused, so you needn't worry about me.

[He pauses for quite a long moment at that statement. Did.. did Helena tell him? Or did Naoki just guess? Either way it jars him, so much so that a private thought accidentally gets broadcast to Naoki when it wasn't meant to be.]

... but you clearly don't like me. And I lost your respect months ago.

[The nerves are raw, there, raw and painful. They still are. And he has no one to blame but himself for this. The rapid, clipped tone of an anxious, upset person resonates strongly over the Network now.]

It isn't chance, it-- I can take care of this myself. I do not want to impose-- please, just... save it for an emergency. Save it for another Traveler.

[senpaidol]

Wow I am already there. Thanks, Konishi-kun.

[leftbehindagain]

Not a problem. I might as well put what I've got to use.

[senpaidol]

I wanna live a long, full life and have like four kids. I'm not gonna miss out on that because I method-acted a robot once.

[bluejade]

Given I don't know if these are one of the things Raksura are more sensitive to, I'll be dropping by. I've swallowed more than a few unpleasant medicines in my life.

[The mentors try to not make things that make everyone want to vomit, but some are just unpleasant.]

[leftbehindagain]

Let me know if you have any trouble with it. I tried to make something that'd be as cross-compatible as possible, but... well, we do have a preponderance of humans. [Something might not line up across the handful of other species here, but those people don't deserve to be left out in the cold.]

[bluejade]

I will. And there are things that affect Raksura different than most groundlings. [Jade had once seen a simple that was harmless to groundlings, but could knock a Raksura out and block her shifting, and kill a Fell]

But having a healer on hand might not hurt. Just in case.

[neverfeltthatway]

...Do we have a way of telling whether someone has been exposed to radiation exposure? I'm curious whether those of us who were infiltrating were even affected, since it wasn't exactly our current bodies we were in at the time.

[leftbehindagain]

If there is one, I don't know it. And for all that's a good point... if this weren't radiation, I'd be more willing to test the theory. But it is, and I'd rather not find out the hard way that it does matter.

[neverfeltthatway]

Is radiation really that bad?