[ROUND 19] PNPCs davies and DeCosta - Going Viral

[Arielle Teagan]

((Sickbay))

::Working in a quiet corner of sickbay, DeCosta hummed quietly to herself as she worked on the latest physical results, collating the results for the CMO and the Capt. She sat on a stool, swinging her legs and twirling her shoulder length hair as she worked.::

::Her boss suddenly appeared at the workstation, leaning against it with a sigh::

Malcolm: DeCosta, I need you to help Dr. Davies in the lab. I'm not sure if there is much you can do at this point, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the help.

:: Swinging round in her stool DeCosta slipped to her feet.::

DeCosta: Yes doctor.

:: Straightening her dress DeCosta walked out to where Dr. Davies was working. ::

DeCosta: I've been sent to assist you doctor.

:: Davies looked up from his experiment. Everything he'd been trying had failed, which as a researcher he was used to, but this particular conundrum was starting to frustrate him::

Davies: I'm searching for a antivirus here. ::He looked at her hopefully:: Do you have any experience with semi-organic viruses?

DeCosta: I've never heard of such a thing before.

Davies: ::raising his eyebrows:: And therein lies the rub.

DeCosta: ::Smiling:: I don't mind a bit of rub, shall we get to work on it then?

:: A few choice flirtatious comments sprang to Davies mind, but he was too frustrated with his experiment to act on them. He slid a Petri dish toward her and smiled. ::

Davies: Be my guest.

DeCosta: ::Taking the dish:: Thank you.

:: She walked over to the analyser with a wiggle in her step, as always, and began the process of analysing the sample. It generally took a few minutes for the machine to complete its analysis, longer if the sample was more unusual or complex. She watched Davies as she waited for the results. ::

DeCosta: You know, you really should come out to play more often. It's no fun being cooped up in a lab all by yourself every day...

:: Their conversation was interrupted by the subtle chirping of the machine, its work was done and she hoped it would reveal something useful to them. ::

DeCosta: Lets see what we have then...

::Davies propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand::

Davies: I guarantee you're not going to like what it says.

DeCosta: It's a massive 126 nanometers in size and it has a complex structure. It has an icosahedral head bound to a helical tail, and a heptagonal base plate with protruding protein tail fibres resembling small hooks.

Davies: Yes, it's a real beauty queen, isn't it?

DeCosta: I have to agree, it's graceful in its own way... shall we watch it dance?

::Davies wagged his finger at her, beckoning her to a different part of the lab where an electrophoretic microscope took up about three-quarters of a work table. He smiled at her::

Davies: I've been dying to get an excuse to use this thing.

::He slid their Petri dish into the machine and smiled as it whirred to life. He slid a stool over from another workstation for DeCosta and gave it a pat as he sat down upon his own.::

::They pressed their faces to the viewing lenses, entering the minute world of the virus and cells and watched the interaction between the two. The virus was easily distinguishable from the blood cells with its unique structure and strangely evil-looking hooks.::

::They watched as the virus surrounded a cell and pierced the outer cell membrane with the hook passing through directly into the nucleus::

::Davies wiggled in his seat and tapped DeCosta's arm::

Davies: There it is! Did you see that?

DeCosta: It is amazing the way it penetrates the cell so easily. Look, you can see it reproducing itself.

:: Davies inched closer to the machine, as if that would help him see better::

Davies: What's this little bit of mischief?

::Something interesting was going on inside the nucleus, something that looked to be more than just simple replication.::

DeCosta: There is a new particle or "something" there. What IS that?

Davies: Let's find out.

::He stood and removed the Petri dish and got to work isolating the virus.::

Davies: Let's see what it does with someone else to play with.

::From his stores of samples he filled three more dishes with different types of cells to see how the virus would affect them, and passed them off to DeCosta::

Davies: Lets try some white blood cells, skin and nerve cells to begin with. Let's see what the analyser has to say about these.

DeCosta: Okay, give me a minute.

:: DeCosta shimmied off the stool, smoothing her short dress down as she did so. She took the sample and took it back to the analyser for further analysis. Placing the dish under the device, Decosta spun in the stool and watched as Davies walked over, smiling to herself as she thought how good looking he was. ::

::Placing the first of the samples under the scope, DeCosta turned the dial to adjust the focus. As she did she ran her fingertips `accidently' over his arm. ::

DeCosta: Looks a nasty beggar, so how are we going to fight it?

:: Adjusting the focus she peered at the screen, placing both hands on the panel as if to make the image as still as possible.

Davies: Well it doesn't appear to be affecting the blood cells.

DeCosta: You know it reminds me of a scorpion , a nano scorpion. To be honest it looks slightly Borg-like, you know. Like their assimilation nano probes.

::Taking the second sample Decosta looked at the image on the small screen::

Decosta: Same thing in number 2, a scorpion like cell, it seems to be …. hang on, this is crazy, it's walking over the skin cells as if they're not there

Davies: No effect on the skin cells then.

::Shaking her head Decosta removed the second sample and placed it to one side, gently taking the third dish she slid it under the scanner head and looked at the screen, watching as the `nano scorpions' had an effect. Decosta squealed and jumped off the stool and backed away as the screen as the probes covered the cell and multiplied 30 fold in a matter of seconds, filling the dish and screen instantly.::

::Chris barely noticed her reaction, too focused on the images before him::

Davies: I see it's having an effect on the nerve cells. It looks as though it is interfering with the neurotransmitters. It appears to disrupt and send its own generated signals through the synapses.

DeCosta: That's really, really nasty.

::Sitting back down and blushing she brushed the hair from her ear, looking at the results they had coming in she frowned.::

DeCosta: Doctor, this virus, its strange, it seems to ….. I don't know..

Davies: It's using the nerve cell's electrical impulses for mobility. ::He rubbed his chin and thought a moment. He retrieved the dish from the analyser and brought it back over to the electrophoretic microscope and leaned in::

Davies: Instead of replicating itself there appears to be a secondary virus...::he adjusted some knobs:: being delivered? Is that possible? ::He waved DeCosta over:: Here look, it has a different structure.

DeCosta: Yes... they are a tiny 12 nanometers in diameter, with an equally complex structure. They look a bit like a conker shells.

Davies: That is what is interfering with the neurotransmitters.

::He sat back and ran his hand through his hair. He stared at the machine, letting his eyes fall out of focus so he could just think for a minute::

Davies: How on Earth are we going to kill this thing?

::The analyser beeped and he glanced in its direction::

Davies: Check that for me would you?

::DeCosta nodded and went to the machine. It had finished analysing Malcolm's and Davies' blood samples. She felt her stomach tighten as she read over the data.::

DeCosta: Your results are positive. And Dr. Malcolm's.

::Chris ran his hands through his hair, scrubbing them across his face and ended with his thumb nail in his mouth. He looked over his fist at DeCosta and raised his eyebrows.::

Davies: Great.

TBC...

(PNPC) Ensign Chris Davies

as simmed by Jen Malcolm (and Evanna Blackwood)

Medical Officer

USS Aurora

and

(PNPC) Ensign Orvia DeCosta

as simmed by Lt. Cmdr. Hugh Barnes (and Evanna Blackwood)

Nurse

USS Aurora