A Rough Start
This drabble is preceded by Last Call and followed by Cutting Commentary.
Things didn't go well, at first. Not that you need my ability to have predicted that.
Everyone is assembled in the courtroom - witnesses, defendants, and legislacerators. Indrid Dynast, Ullane’s defense attorney, faces Artair Clonal, the prosecution.
She is short for her caste, a heavyset indigo with partially teal-dyed hair done up in a proper bun, and wears glasses. He is a cerulean with an unforgiving expression, a claymore gripped in one hand.
Halvir Urtyop is indeed there, along with various other medical staff who were present the night Calcit died. Yarrex is present, and Xrumon came along as well. Chimer Latrai sits grimly with her blueblood guard, Amdzah. Priori is, naturally, watching it all.
Indrid opens the debate by suggesting that the nanotechnology was hacked to cause Calcit’s death, rather than it being a mistake on the clinic’s part.
The prosecutor rolls his eyes at the pointless argument. Objection - this is irrelevant. The defense is already accused of criminal negligence, are they trying to defend themselves as being stupid enough to implant easily hacked medicinal robots into people?
Indrid raises that anyone can be hacked; technopaths exist, and even advanced technology such as nanites can be manipulated by those with the right tools. Sabotage can happen to anybody; there is no evidence to say the nanites were easily hacked, only that it was possibly done by the phone submitted as evidence.
The judge overrules the objection. It's a possibility worth consideration, it may mitigate the sentence if it turns out the machinery was indeed tampered with.
Ullane, silently conscious of the irony, nods encouragingly at Halvir to give his testimony about his patient’s demise as he is called to the stand.
He shrugs, stating calmly the time that he last checked on the victim and that he noted nothing out of the ordinary. He left, and some time later, the machinery in his room became alerted. When the crash team arrived, it was already too late.
Indrid, worried, inquires that he must have had a very good reason to leave during such a delicate situation, yes? When the patient was clearly brought in close to death?
"When I checked on him, he was recovering. I have at least 5 or 6 other patients to keep an eye on usually. I can't stand in his room the whole night watching him, anyone who's worked in a hospital understands that. That's why there are alarms on the machines, in case something goes wrong. Just a shame we couldn't make it in time." Halvir states.
Indrid, still concerned: But he was in very bad shape. When did you administer the healing nanites, if it was you who did it?
He shakes his head. "I didn't administer them. They're very specialized tech. Either Friday or Ullane would administer them usually, or one of the trolls trained on it. This time it was one of those nurses."
The prosecutor lazily swings a claymore the size of a small log through the air. "Cutting your own case apart in front of my eyes! Corr, you're makin' this too easy!"
Ullane as usual says nothing, but Friday is here too, looking upset.
Friday raises her hand. “May I speak?”
The judge fixes her with a death glare. "Are you in the stand? No. If you wish to speak, you will come forth to the stand once this cross-examination is finished."
Friday withers a bit and goes silent. Ullane sighs and looks apologetic.
Indrid presses on. "Apologies, your honor. I believe miss Lovely wished to confirm that it was indeed one of her trained trolls who administered the nanites.
Isn't it strange that no other patient at the clinic has ever suffered a malfunction like this, and they have also all had their nanites administered by the same two trolls? Indeed, no other patient that night did either. It was only Calcit Interg. What would either woman have to gain from the death of any patient, let alone a blueblood?
Additionally, Mr. Interg was...known to be considered difficult to deal with by several trolls he came to with his questions." She says delicately. "We have typed testimony from a friend of the deceased. It's quite possible he had enemies who wished him dead."
"So please, Mr. Urtyop. If you can remember anything unusual about that night - anything at all - please do tell us."
He thinks for a few moments. "It was a little weird that a blueblood got brought to us. I mean, we're a lowblood clinic, right? Then again, his condition was bad enough he probably wouldn't have survived trying to reach anywhere else."
Artair, the prosecutor, shakes his head as he rests his blade over his shoulder, but keeps quiet for now.
"His death came as a shock to all of us. I never knew those machines could do that to someone, but I guess it makes sense... I can't think of anything else unusual that night. Well. Unusual for the clinic at least."
At this, the prosecutor squints at him, but still refrains from breaking in.
Indrid, zeroing in on it too. "What do you mean? Not unusual for the clinic?"
"Uh..." he scratches the side of his head, looking a little uncomfortable. "Most of the staff are normal, yeah? But some of them are... not? There's that seadweller who didn't even understand the concept of money, the girl who seems to... well, it's hard to say, but she gives off the strangest vibe. And then there's those mannequins that keep wandering around everywhere. Is that even safe for a hospital?"
The judge frowns, while Artair permits himself a smirk.
"I don't mean any offense, but you have to admit, it's not a typical medical clinic. Even the head of security seems a little off his rocker."
She raises her eyebrows. "How so? Has Yarrex Fissaa caused any issues for you during the course of your work?"
"It's not like I knew the staff before I got hired." he replies, raising an eyebrow.
Artair speaks up. "Objection, how is this relevant to the case? The defense is clearly wasting our time, the head of security is not on trial for being strange."
Indrid, calmly. "I am asking whether Mr. Urtyop experienced anything out of the ordinary that night. If he can confirm he did not, then that will resolve this line of questioning."
"He already said so, or are ye deaf as well as daft?" Artair snorts, pacing behind his desk.
Halvir nods. "That's right. I said I didn't see anything unusual for the clinic that night. I saw the mannequins meandering around, but they always do that."
Indrid, unfazed. "Yet, the nanites going haywire are themselves extremely unusual, and there must have been a cause. Given what happened to Mr. Jegder as he informed miss Wistim when the sample was taken, it seems highly unlikely that there was no indication of Mr. Interg's decline until the moment it happened."
"If miss Lovely had wished to kill him herself, how could the reaction have been so delayed?"
Artair raises one incredulous, bushy eyebrow. "Are you mad now too, aye? We aren't arguing that your lot intended to kill anyone, just that you're stupid enough to put something that went haywire in someone and got 'em chewed up from the inside."
The judge shakes his head. "Objection sustained. Please return to questioning the witness about the events of the night in question, or turn him over for cross-examination."
Halvir speaks up: "Don't you have the machine readouts? They'll back up what I have to say. He was fine one minute. Then, well... you know what happened."
Indrid remains resolute. "Yet you essentially are arguing such a thing, because accusing the staff of such absurd and out of character idiocy is akin to accusing them of murder by supreme negligence. This has never happened before, so it makes no sense it would happen now, not when there was so much for them at stake.
Yes, we have the machine readouts, and no other readouts in the clinic's history show this kind of behavior. Nor did the patient seem to have any psiionic power or condition that would interfere with the nanites' work. With that said, the witness may now be cross-examined if he has nothing left to report." She nods encouragingly at Halvir.
Artair comes forward as Halvir shakes his head. "Mister Urtyop, you said nothing else was unusual about the night?"
The witness shakes his head, so Artair continues. "And is it true that nothing of this has happened before?"
"That's right. It's the first I've seen it ever happen."
Artair nods. "Aye, new technology be a fickle thing. Do you know how the machines work, then?"
He half shrugs. "Sort of. I know Miss Friday and miss Ullane have to work together on them. I think they're the ones who give them the commands to, you know, fix people. Initially, anyway. Obviously you can't mess with them once they're inside of someone."
Artair smirks, glancing back at the defense for a moment before looking to the witness. "Aye. So, once they're inside a body, they can't be controlled? Do you think that wise?"
Indrid raises her eyebrows. "It's a limitation of the technology, as all technology has while it's still being developed. There is a risk as there is with all surgical equipment; it was not always as refined as it is now, and used to be far more risky to operate on patients with.
Should we not use any advanced machinery at all because it carries some drawbacks? Especially when this is the first recorded case of a death? Far more trolls have died to improperly operated surgical technology, and that is still used in every hospital on Alternia."
Artair looks back again, unperturbed. "All good technology must be thoroughly tested. Nobody walks into a hospital signin' up to be a guinea pig for whatever bizarre machinations you've come up with. Supposin' this fella, eh?"
He looks back to Halvir. "How bad was his condition?"
"Critical. He was suffering extreme blood loss and had multiple contusions and penetrative injuries."
"Meaning?"
"Someone stabbed and beat him multiple times."
"Aye, so... would a blood transfusion and stitches have saved him too, in your medical opinion?"
Halvir hesitates, thinking for a few moments. "His brain was swelling from the beatings. We would have had to relieve pressure on that with surgery. I'm not sure he could have survived with his current blood loss. But..."
"But?"
"It... would have been possible. Especially given Miss Wistim's psionic abilities. The machines are partly made from them, but on her own, she can help heal the injured by speeding up their natural healing processes. In fact, just recently she performed a successful major surgery with them."
"There ye have it," Artair crows, jabbing the point of his sword into the air. "Could have saved him with alternative methods wi'out riskin' using something that chewed him up. All procedures carry risk, but must we pay with our lives in a most horrid fashion because testing them for this is too hard? It's one thing to risk a slip-up mid-surgery, another thing ta' risk chewing a man apart."
With a flourish, he produces the autopsy report and opens it up to read aloud. It describes, in gruesome detail, the extent of damage done to the man's insides. Most of his internal organs were dissolved or torn into shreds. His muscles and bones were being steadily chewed through as well. It is estimated he died within minutes in agonizing pain.
"Nay further questions. I believe that all speaks for itself."
A shocking, damning display, is it not? I admire Clonal, in a way. He is casteist and vicious, but he has a certain style.
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