Part 23: Episode 4-5: Studio Emergency

Episode 4-5: Studio Emergency



Elena: Oh, sorry. I'll do it right away.

Leslie: What's gotten into you? I know you're upset about losing the competition, but you have to get over it. You're bringing everyone down. …Where are the doctors?

Elena: The Director asked to see them.

Leslie: Yikes. That doesn't sound good.



Valerie: How can you stand to watch that?

Irene: I'm not watching it because I have to.

Markus: Is this your penance for the fiasco?

Irene: The Secretary of Health and Welfare is furious, but that's to be expected. Nobody is blaming you two, since you performed a flawless operation. I called you here for another reason. Take a look at this.

Well, S-rank is nearly flawless at least.

Markus: A letter? How old-fashioned. "Dear Caduceus Staff: Congratulations on your recent appearance on Miracle Surgery! Seeing you perform that operation on national television really inspired me. That's why I believe it's now my turn to make an appearance…" Is this guy a doctor trying to promote himself, or is this another challenge?

Irene: Keep reading.

Valerie: "What you encountered at Concordia was Cheir, the hand. And in Maryland you received Soma, the body. But now, I shall reveal Ops, the eye, for the entire country to witness. I assure you, it will be something to behold. The miracle of modern times: Stigma!" He knows about Stigma!?

Irene: It appears so. That's why I can't just ignore this.

Markus: Is he the one who created it? Is he the one who kidnapped Professor Wilkins?

Irene: We contacted the producers of Miracle Surgery, but they're not taking the threat seriously.

"Terrorist threat? Heh. Well maybe that's a problem when you can't operate QUICKLY." And then he made a face so smug she could percieve it through the phone.



Bello: Wait, this isn't an ulcer! What is this!? I- I just need to use my Healing Touch… No, I can't keep up with it!

Markus: It's a new type of Stigma! Bello can't handle this. Even with his skills, he doesn't know how to deal with it!

Valerie: Let's go, Markus!



Yeah, everything above the chin is melting.



As opposed to this Guy, who's just sweating an obscene amount. His chin is still fine.



Aaand he's out.

Guy: Leo! Leo! Pull yourself together! You have to finish the operation!

Valerie: Step aside! We'll complete the operation!

Markus: He pushed himself too hard. I guess he doesn't know his own limit. Make sure you take good care of him.



Stigma number three, coming at us. Despite inserting lots of artificial bits in the last patient, this one is a different person.

Elena: The patient's already been opened up, but her vitals are stable.

Valerie: Whoever wrote that letter called this one "Ops." That means eye, right?

Elena: I do see something that looks like an eye, but I have no idea what it's function is.

Same as every other video game boss with one eye: weak point.

Markus: Did you notice anything while Dr. Bello was operating?

Elena: There was some sort of reaction at the core. But it seemed like it needed energy. I haven't seen anything like it before.

Valerie: So, the key is to not activate the core.

Guy: Team Caduceus has suddenly burst into the operating room here at "Miracle Surgery"! Will they save face from the other day? Will they get their revenge on Dr. Bello? There's only one thing we can do… we have to pray that they can perform a miracle!

Markus: Revenge has nothing to do with this. We're here because there's a patient in need.

Valerie: That's right! This is what Caduceus does.

The duty and honour of exterminating this Stigma once again goes to…



Dr. Blaylock.



This one'll look way better in motion.

OPERATION VIDEO

Viddler Backup



Stigma strain 3: Ops
You've already been told, but this one means "eye." I compared Soma to Pempti, but Ops is much more similar. For starters, it fills the entire area with it's "body" in the same way, but there's also a huge similarity in the general flow of the battle. That is, it's very fluid and has you playing defence most of the time. With two players, this is very easy, but alone, it's the most challenging strain yet.



Ops releases blue globs of "nutrients" from the bits that orbit the screen. They fly in a straight line until the hit the core or a wall. You don't need to worry about them hitting the wall, but having them hit the core will cause a reaction that breaks your chain. Oh, and they do like 20 damage as well. To eliminate them, you can drain the liquid, similar to Soma.



After a little while, Ops will begin periodically releasing larger red lumps, which must be burned with the laser. Other than that, they're the same as the blue globs. The main issue is the fact that, since you use the laser to damage the core, you might run out of laser and be helpless while a red chunk crashes into the core and wrecks everything.



The last normal attack Ops has is the generate these tumours, which look like the red nutrients encased in blue stuff. They do a little damage on their own over time, but if any nutrients hit the core while a tumour is present, it will explode and vitals will plummet. As with the normal red bits, you need to burn them with the laser.



Incidentally, the Healing Touch, especially Valerie's, can be useful here, but it's a little risky to try using it once there are enough projectiles flying around.

(This shot is from a totally different run, in case you noticed all the continuity errors.)



When low on power, Ops splits itself into two cores. Unlike Soma, both of them are real, and perfectly capable of causing damage. The main problem is having them appear on top of a shot, but you can avoid that by keeping the middle of the screen clear when the single core disappears.

First, concentrate on one core until it's gone, then get the other.



Ops explodes when you defeat it. I don't know why.





OPERATION COMPLETE



The screenshots and video are different runs. I actually missed every single bonus on the screenshots.



Deliberately getting hit will cost you. You might also need to stop and spend some time draining and lasering at the end to get your score up high enough for XS.



Valerie: Give me that mic!



Valerie: It's a serious disease that's still unknown to us. But Caduceus has been researching potential countermeasures, and because of that, we were able to save this patient's life. That's part of our mission here at Caduceus. I think it's important for the public to understand what our organization is all about. I believe that those of us in the medical field have two major responsibilities. One is to help patients with existing conditions. The other is to arm ourselves against new diseases that may arise. In other words, Caduceus is fighting for all of our futures.

Markus: …Valerie, why don't you start wrapping it up.

"I can't hold this face forever."

Valerie: Every doctor is a part of this fight, so please, consult your local physician if you have any unusual symptoms. If necessary, feel free to contact us as well. That's all I have to say. We here at Caduceus hope to continue serving you. Oh, and by the way… This will be the last episode of Miracle Surgery! Good night!



And that it for the fourth chapter. It will be missed. The excitement continues, though! In chapter 5, you can look forward to our doctors coming face-to-face (kinda) with the forces behind Stigma, experiencing shocking-yet-often-predictable plot twists, completing increasingly ridiculous operations, and outwitting a children's toy.