Part 37: Episode 6-6: Signed in Blood

Episode 6-6: Signed in Blood



What an awkward thing to say.

Valerie: But I guess the President succeeded in suppressing the guerrillas.

Markus: It's a high price to pay for peace. This isn't what we came here to do.

Maria: Dr. Vaughn, Dr. Blaylock, Elena, I want to thank you all for saving the village. You put your lives on the line, despite the risks. I also want to thank you for negotiating with the President.

Markus: Well, that was… kind of… spur of the moment. Anyway, I'll leave it to you to make sure he keeps that promise.

Maria: I hope I'll be as good a doctor as all of you.

Valerie: I'm sure you will.

Counterpoint: She forgot how the immune system works.



Lopez: The former Major General is in our custody, but badly injured! We've also detained two foreigners. One is in critical condition, and the other in unconscious.



Ramirez: Just kill me…

And someone give him a handkerchief or something, at least.

Moreno: I want to hear everything you know about the guerrilla forces.

Ramirez: Like I'd tell you. I will… be president… some day.

I guess he wants to be Ghost President or something.

Markus: He has an abdominal injury. Is it his liver? …How ironic. First you want to kill him, then you want us to save him.

Moreno: If I wasn't the President, then I might have killed him. But now, I must save him for the good of the people.

Valerie: Markus! Over here!

Markus: You!?



Not exactly surprising.

Markus: Kidman's crony!

Leland: Ngh, ah… now I recognize you. *chuckle* I… never expected… to see you guys here.

Elena: So, Kidman's behind the Stigma outbreak?

Valerie: It seems so, but I don't understand why they were cooperating with the guerrillas.

Markus: The were probably after the mining rights of the Culurium.

Leland: He promised us world domination… I guess I was a fool… to believe.

Markus: Does that mean this guy over here is Kidman?

Exactly how many masked clowns do you think you're likely to find hanging out with that guy? I mean, really.

Leland: Why don't you ask him yourself?

Markus: That won't be possible. He's already dead.



He died as he lived: standing up.

Markus: All right, Val. Let's establish priority and begin the first operation.

Valerie: They're both in critical condition… severe external abdominal wounds... Is this ruptured? We may have to consider a transplant.

Markus: Elena, get the cross-matching ready and bring Kidman's body into the room.



I was hoping for Leland's name, but Ramsey Ramirez is probably about as funny.

Today, we're doing a split-organ transplant. The liver is regenerative, so you can even donate your liver while alive, although the transplant of a full liver has a better chance to succeeding. It's not like the doctors have much choice here, though. Rejection, when the body's immune system attacks the donated organ, has always been the biggest issue with any organ transplant. Unfortunately, while serotyping(determining the compatability of the donor and recipients, basically) was alluded to just before this briefing, there is no episode 6-7: Prescribing Immunosuppressant Drugs.

Elena: According to the results of the examination, both survivors show signs of severe liver damage, as we anticipated.

Markus: Their livers are too far gone to be healed. Val, how are the cross-matching results?

Valerie: Fortunately, the cross-matching was negative. The panel reactive antibody tests were clear, too, so a transplant is possible in each case.

Markus: Then, let's split Kidman's liver between the two of them.



Maria: We're performing a liver transplant? Here!?

Valerie: Why? Do you morally object to using an organ from someone who died in battle?

Maria: No, I understand, but…

Markus: I'm afraid we don't have time to debate. Elena, ask the other team to extract the donor's liver. We'll perform both transplant operations.

Elena: Got it. Please be ready.

Alright. I'm giving this one to…



Dr. Vaughn!



OPERATION VIDEO

Viddler Backup

This one is long and difficult, but not as much as doing 6-5 in ten minutes was. Let's jump right in.



There was a transplant in Second Opinion, and this is mostly the same, other than being performed on a different organ. There are four coloured tubes to connect. The order is: vein(blue), portal vein(green), artery(red), and bile duct(yellow). You use the white goop they give you to shrink the tube, then make an incision, connect the tubes with the forceps, and suture them. Each one you do raises max vitals by a bit. It's all very easy and simple, except for one… little problem.



A group of Cheir appear as soon as you connect the vein. The first thing you want to do here is suture it, to raise the vitals cap and prevent anything stupid from happening. From here, you CAN finish the transplant, but I recommend dealing with it and exterminating Cheir first. The liver is a small area, and the only place Cheir can attack, but this Cheir has some new tactics.



The second wave of Cheir will create tumors that must be located and excised, instead of lacerations. These can be a pain if you don't pay attention, since they can't be seen without the ultrasound. Luckily, it's just these two creating them. The others are normal Cheir.



The third wave of Cheir fuse into the boss. It's important to keep vitals up near your max here, as the multi-cut will take most of them away. Don't use the Healing Touch yet, though. Once Cheir is gone, finish the transplant.



It's over for now, but Markus correctly points out that if the Stigma was in Kidman's liver, this is going to happen again when we do Leland's operation. Still, there's nothing to do but continue.



True to form, as soon as you connect the vein for Leland, Cheir will appear. Actually, it gets worse: take a closer look at the liver, and notice that one of those things is diving into the organ.



Leland's new liver has Cheir AND Onyx in it. You'll be facing them both at the same time, with low vitals. Luckily, the small area of the liver makes it easy to find the Onyx, and there's only one Cheir present initially. The correct approach is to ignore Cheir until Onyx is gone, except to suture the lacerations.



Onyx has as much health, and the same attacks, as it did last time. Cheir still only has three waves, and won't make any tumours this time. If you need the Touch at any time, this is the place to use it. Once the fused Cheir is dead, you can finish the transplant.



I pretty much made this look easy in the video, but it's probably the hardest operation thus far, especially when you don't have advanced knowledge of all the twists. From here on out, the game loves throwing new elements into the middle of operations just to screw with you.



OPERATION END



I wasn't paying attention, so I missed with the syringe and got a miss, which broke my chain. I got those bonuses on my test run to obtain an S-rank, and my time in this run was much faster, so I think I would probably have an XS if I hadn't screwed up that one time.



Especially since I still got an R-rank, despite missing two bonuses.



Valerie: Hopefully, they can shed some light on Stigma.

Markus: That should put an end to the Kidman family, and to the uncertainty of Professor Wilkins' whereabouts as well.

Valerie: We have to leave soon, Maria.

Maria: In that case, I should try to learn as much as I can before you go.

Valerie: Listen, Maria, it's not the President that will shape this country's future, it's people like you. You're the one's who are going to build a better future.

Markus: We have to get going, but we'll be rooting for you.

Maria: Thank you. I'll do my best to make you proud.

That's all in chapter 6. Chapter 7 will take us through to the end of the game. Look forward to the final operations, featuring moms, cameos, ridiculous sci-fi shit, and the final Stigma. And Jesus.