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[driftsintobuffetline]

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Comments

[driftsintobuffetline]

Nobody does!
I'm curious, okay?
Plus, as you know, we're dealing with something that could crop up again and I want some data to consider in the interim. Not that this is my main concern right now and I'm sure the % chance of reoccurance is smallish, but I'd like to think if we can gather some info, next time we might be better prepared. Or if something like it happens.
And I sort of need an idea how this is affecting other people, other than Hermann, since his case is understandably unique.
I really appreciate any info you're willing to fork over. More the merrier. Consider it a donation to science.

[superposition]

[man come on don't pull the science card on him]

Look, I see where you're coming from. I do. But you have to realize that some of those questions are personal. I'm not going to answer all of them.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Fine fine. I get it. I mean ideally I'd conduct this anonymously, have you medically and psychotically evaluated by a professional (and not that creepy Chilton dude) during the gas and after, and you wouldn't have to worry about the personal aspect as much, thus not trainting my study or something, because it get self-reporting comes with a whole slew of issues, but yeah.
If it helps entice you, though, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.

[superposition]

["psychotically evaluated" yeah ok sure]

That's if this was a study. In case you've forgotten, it was a terrorist attack. People died. I'm willing to indulge your curiosity to a degree, but at least try to sound like you're taking it seriously.

Ideally, no one would be exposed to this agent at all.

[driftsintobuffetline]

[sleepy+autocorrect *shakes head at self*]

Okay, and I realize now autocorrect or tiredness hit me on that word. I meant psychologically--that's beside the point.

I get it. I AM taking it seriously. In an IDEAL situation, no, nobody would be hit with this shit. No, it's not a study. Yes, people were hurt and people died. And after the fact, there's little I can do about it but figure out what the agent was, how to combat it or safeguard against it for next time, so people don't get hurt again. For that, I need to collect information. Either indulge my curiosity or don't. I'm going to see what tests I can run independent of self-reports. I would prefer that the next time this kind of thing happens, I don't have to sit there and watch people break and have no idea how to stop it. If you think I enjoy that out of some sick scientific curiosity, go to hell. I had front row seating to watch and feel what it did to Hermann and that's about as personal as it gets short of it being actually me. If I get a little flippant, it's what I do. I haven't exactly had a great couple of days here. But science is also what I do. I'm not the superhero type. I can't charge into a burning building and rescue the orphans. So. Knowledge is my power, dude.

[superposition]

[it's okay we knew what you meant :'D

... Qubit's just gonna take a deep breath and rub his forehead off-camera here. Newt's got a point, of course. He hates when he loses his temper at people just for being right. Maturity is knowing when to back down.]

All right. Sorry. You have a point. Retrospective understanding is better than none.

[He just hates talking about himself, habitually hoards information, and has acquired some serious trust issues over the last few months. It's not a great combination. There's a pause of a few minutes while he puts his next message together.]

Phys. symptoms at the time: racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, shaking, sweating, some nausea.
Phys. symptoms after: same, in spurts. Attacks lose intensity over time. Some headaches, but those might just be stress or lack of sleep.

Psych. symptoms at the time: extremely vivid visual & auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, loss of awareness of reality, generalized panic.
Psych. symptoms after: recurring panic attacks as described above. Irritability (as I'm sure you've noticed). Difficulty sleeping. Strong desire to kick perpetrator(s) in teeth.

[Now for the hard part.]

Hallucinations were a combination of current environment + past events. Without going into too much detail, what I saw was a worst-case scenario extrapolated to its logical conclusion. For a while, it seemed completely real and completely plausible. Eventually I started seeing things I knew were impossible, though, and that... I don't want to say "snapped me out of it," because I didn't stop hallucinating, but I was able to fight it somewhat once I realized what was going on.

[driftsintobuffetline]

I'd like to fillet the perpetrators, personally, but kicking in their teeth is something I'd go for too. Sell tickets. I'd buy front row seats.

Good. That's all good to know. Thank you, dude. Sorry I can't offer more right now, but it's helpful. I don't know what it tells me exactly YET, but I'll figure this out. So far everything continues to support the theory that this was just a chemical, a straight-up drug and not, like, the gas facilitating a legit mass mind-control power or something more out there. I really hope it wasn't that.

Have you had any difficulty with limbs? Like, trouble walking, etc? Taken anything for your headaches or sleep difficulties? Issues with powers?

[superposition]

No, I doubt it was actual mind control. I'd probably have known if it was.

I haven't had any mobility or power issues. (Why, have you?) Haven't taken anything for the symptoms, I didn't feel like discovering new drug interactions on top of everything else.

[driftsintobuffetline]

How would you have known?

(Hermann had mobility issues, so I did by extension. To a lesser extent, anyway. No power issues aside from our heads going haywire.)
Good. I figured you wouldn't, but just wanted to check.

[superposition]

Because I've dealt with it before. Knew an esper back home, once, who forced an entire town into committing mass suicide. That didn't look anything like this. It takes a phenomenal amount of mental energy to force that many people to act against their will, and even more to cause so many disparate effects custom-tailored to each victim. Not to say it's impossible, but the effects make more sense if it was our own brains doing all the work.

Doesn't he normally have some...? I don't mean to pry, just curious.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Why?
Any way you know of to fight something like that esper?

Well, YEAH, he doesn't use the cane because he's a PIMP, no.
But. Normally it's just the limp.
At one point during that thing, his legs stopped working.
I mean, full stop. Like paralyzed.

[superposition]

Why'd he do it, you mean? ... Sort of complicated, not really relevant at the moment. [Plus, he'd feel bad talking shit about a guy who eventually committed suicide himself. Burrows had had Problems.] It's definitely possible to shield against psi attacks, though. Once you've done that, it becomes a simple fistfight. [Unless they have powers besides telepathy, of course.]

[And... right. That was where he'd seen Metalman. "He took my legs."] That's unusual. Did anyone else have that happen? Any idea why? Odd that that would bleed through your link, unless it was psychosomatic...

[driftsintobuffetline]

Okay. Someday you'll have to tell me how.


Possibly. Hermann's condition itself is nerve related--for his sake, I'll stop my explanation of it there--but I think the paralysis was purely in his head as a result of the gas, which triggered a worst-case fear and his body responded. Maybe my body responded with sympathy pains? I don't know. It wasn't nearly the level of what he was experiencing.

I'm really thinking it was just Hermann, that it was a specialized fear. I don't know if I like that or hate that option.

[superposition]

[> gets mad about invasive questions
> proceeds to ask invasive questions]

Honestly, I'm not even sure my method would work in your case. Having two brains involved increases the complexity exponentially, even in the best case.

... Come to think of it, how's he holding up? He didn't actually answer me on that, now that I look at it again.

[driftsintobuffetline]

And here I thought it might better our chances. It's worth knowing anyway. Never know when info might be useful!

Hermann is
I don't know if I should answer that, if he didn't. But since you're a friend-- don't tell him I said anything.
He's okay-ish. FYI the legs thing is a touchy subject. He's pissed off, same as you, as me. Pretty determined.
We had a fight, but that's good now.

Hermann is Hermann. Grumpy, pissy, mathematical.

[superposition]

[Well his method is pretty drastic and involves unlicensed brain surgery but let's be real, that would not deter Newt at all would it]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. [the legs thing, that is.] At least we know he's not going to do anything reckless. Hell, I'm tempted to do something reckless.

[driftsintobuffetline]

[would not normally. But Hermann might have just enough sway now to cause Newt to reconsider.]

Who isn't?

Speaking of. He's going to try out his teleport power. You're going to double check his equation, right? Because, and I am loath to admit it, I can't. And would be really not cool for him to, say, not come back.

[superposition]

Right, I already agreed to. Given what I've seen of his capabilities so far, I doubt he'll manage to strand himself in the fifth dimension or anything, but an extra set of eyes never hurts.

[driftsintobuffetline]

If he betrays our faith in his abilities and does in fact get stuck in the fifth dimension, can you just portal him out?

Unscientific aside: thanks a lot. I now have Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In stuck in my head.

[superposition]

Almost certainly. Although I think it'd be less a matter of portaling, more a matter of isolating him from background noise and projecting him back down into 4D spacetime... Not something I've had the opportunity to try before, actually. But we'll cross that bridge if and only if we come to it.

[Still, it's interesting from a theoretical standpoint. How would he do that, if he had to? That'll be something to think about in front of the fridge.]

... Damn it, now I do, too. Except I only know the chorus.

[driftsintobuffetline]

I feel totally reassured. :|

There's not a whole lot more to those lyrics, to be honest. Here!

[superposition]

Well, what do you want? Overoptimistic reassurance or an honest assessment? You're the one who said science is inherently risky.

Also I'm not clicking that, the cure for an annoying earworm is not more of the same song.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Honest assessment. But risky science is different when the risk isn't your own.

I tried.

[superposition]

Point. At any rate, I do promise I'll do whatever I can on the off chance something goes pear-shaped.