Part 16: 1: New Beginnings

When we left off, Dr. Stiles decided to join the organization Caduceus in order to combat evil magic parasites with his ability to slow down time. Medically. Let's see how that's working out for him.

Chapter 3-1: New Beginnings







Kasal: Are you worried?

Hoffman: I wouldn't say worried. We're down one doctor and one assistant. It won't be easy to operate with two of our best people gone.

Kasal: Derek has potential, but he's far from perfect. I wasn't about to send him t Caduceus without an assistant he's comfortable with. Besides, Caduceus is supposed to help us find replacement staff.

Hoffman: I see. Still, I didn't expect Stiles to be the selfless humanitarian type.

Kasal: Do you think he'll be able to handle the pressure?

Hoffman: I suppose we'll find out.

Kasal: He's going to be surprised. I didn't get a chance to tell him about Sidney.



The giant glowing arrow has moved to its new home, where it'll be spending most of the rest of the game.



An international organization seeking to eradicate disease. "Caduceus USA" is the American branch. There are additional branches in Europe and Japan. The US branch specializes in researching anti-infection measures. It was originally established in 1980 as a top-secret offshoot of HHS (The Department of Health and Human Services). Once the organization went international, the central agency was renamed Caduceus USA.

The manual's timeline actually contradicts this and says it was first established in the 70s, but I'm frankly embarrassed that I even thought to check.





Here's Derek, sporting his snazzy new uniform and... Sam Fisher's goggles?

Derek: Huh?



Sidney: It's nice to meet you. I'm Sidney Kasal, director of US operations. My brother's told me a lot about you. I'm glad you decided to accept our offer.



to the study of clinical medicine after his wife died of a tragic illness.

What a charming backstory that will never be touched on again. Here's the old art:



Not much change in this one.

Derek: Oh, yeah... I think Dr. Kasal mentioned having a brother. Uh, I mean-it was an honor to even be considered for this position.

"Angie Thompson, would you come in as well?"



Angie's new uniform is pink, the same as her old uniform in Under the Knife. I don't know why, but Atlus decided to swap the uniform colors for this version. Maybe they figured white made more sense for nurses at a regular hospital.

Sidney: Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, too. You're young, but I hear you're hard-working and sharp as a tack. I look forward to seeing what you both can do here at Caduceus.

Angie: Thank you, sir. I'll do my best.

Sidney: The secretary of Health and Human Services should be here shortly. When I told him you were coming here today, he insisted on stopping by. He's in charge around here, so I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of him.

"Right this way, Mr. Secretary."



Anderson: Well, perhaps it would be more appropriate to thank the both of you.



After a long career in politics, he became the Executive Director of Caduceus.

And here's some more old art:



Again, it's basically the same. The script seems to have changed more than Anderson.

Anderson: Thank you for accepting such a dangerous job. I'm told that operating on GUILT puts the surgeon at risk, too. And we still have no idea who's responsible for spreading it.

Angie: ......

Not the best time to bring that one up.

Anderson: But, from what I hear about you two, you're up to the task. Scientific advances, DNA treatments, changing social environments... we live in challenging times, and it's our responsibility to research and develop treatments that ensure the stability of world health. What this means is, I'm pleased to have you both on board. I hope you'll do your best, and take your work seriously.

Derek: Yes sir!

All this and we're not even at the operation chapter yet.

-Caduceus USA, Conference Room-




Why is his head so gigantic? It's like they stuck a man's head on a child's body. Take a look at this:



This is what he should look like. Not... that.

Well, on the bright side, he's practically a non-entity in the plot.



His kind demeanor has been a blessing and a comfort to many patients.

Clarks: Nice to meet you. I'm Stephen Clarks.

Derek: Nice to meet you, Dr. Clarks.

Sidney: This is our anesthesiologist, Dr. Meyers.





She used to be a police officer, but left the force to practice medicine. She's intelligent and very spirited. She's kept her old nickname from the force, "Iron Vixen."

We are just raking in the new cast members today.



...and very few of them look any different.

Cybil: You're from Hope Hospital, right? Isn't that Greg Kasal's office?

Derek: Do you know him?

Cybil: We went to med school together. He's helped me in a lot of ways. I'm actually the only person here who knew Sidney was his younger brother. Anyway, if you have an questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Angie: Of course. It's nice to meet you.

Sidney: Some of our staff aren't here today, so you'll have to meet them later.

Clarks: Think this will lighten our workload?

Cybil: Doubt it. Have you taken a look at the list of incoming patients?

Clarks: * sigh * Oh well.

Derek: Have you guys been working with a lot of patients here?

Clarks: The public isn't aware of this, yet, but we're on the verge of an outbreak.

Sidney: Congress recently voted in favor of giving us a budget increase, but that won't be good enough. At any rate, we won't need you to start treating patients until tomorrow. So, for today, let's get all that paperwork out of the way.

Derek: Sounds good.



STILL not done with this chapter.



Angie: It's pretty late.

Derek: Yeah... Hey, why'd you come to Caduceus, anyway?

Angie: Does it matter?

Derek: Uh, well, I was curious why you decided to join, too.

Angie: Dr. Kasal recommended me.

Derek: That's not what I meant. Before, it seemed like you knew something about GUILT, so... does it have anything to do with your father's disappearance?

Angie: Not really. Caduceus has the newest technology and research material. I wanted to be here, on the front line of modern medicine. It's the same as you wanting to become a master surgeon. I want to be a master assistant. That's really all there is to it.

When she puts it that way, it sounds kind of pathetic. She wants to be a master sidekick. On the other hand, I don't think I'd trust Angie with actual surgery, considering her track record with the "being a decent human being" thing.

Derek: I guess that makes sense. We'll work hard, together.

"The potassium chloride's ready, so if we increase the sedative..."

Derek: Huh? Sounds like someone's on the phone.

But you aren't supposed to use a cell near medical equipment!



Doctor: Sorry, gotta run. I'll get back to you, dude.

Derek: Tyler?

Tyler: No way. No way! You seriously work here now?



Tyler's very optimistic, and tries to keep everyone in a good mood.

This is the last one. Check it out:



He looks more shabby and less squinty here.

Derek: Y-yeah. I started today.

Tyler: I must say, it's a pleasure to meet your gorgeous assistant.

That's because you don't know her yet.

Angie: M-my name's Angie Thompson. ...Pleased to meet you.

Tyler: Man, I heard them say the new guy's name was Stiles but... this rocks! I didn't think you were adventurous enough to join Caduceus! And, I mean, you weren't exactly an A student, man.

Derek has risen above such pedestrian letter grades.

Tyler: But, everyone here has been hyping you as a "highly skilled surgeon."

Derek: What? Nobody told me anything about that... I don't want anybody expecting too much of me right away.

Tyler: Well, you have a pretty good track record so far, Dr. Stiles. People can change a lot in three years, Y'know?

Derek: What about you? You were probably one of the top five in our class.

Tyler: I guess you can see for yourself, hm? Good luck, man. We ought to throw you a party or something... see ya!



Derek: Oh, sorry. Tyler's a friend of mine from med school.

Angie: Yeah, I kind of figured that out.

Derek: He was the professor's favorite, so I guess I assumed he'd still be taking classes. ...Potassium Chloride, huh? I wonder if he's doing animal testing.

End of Chapter 3-1, finally!

Chapter 3-2: GUILT





Sidney: We obviously need to treat them ASAP, but we don't know how. So, at the moment, we're trying to slow the disease's progression.

Derek: I had a lot of trouble operating on GUILT as well.

Sidney: Today's patient is similar to your previous experience with GUILT. I watched the video footage of your surgery at Hope, but you moved so quickly I couldn't tell what was going on. I'm looking forward to seeing you in action today.

Tyler: Let's see what you've got, buddy.

Derek: I don't need any more pressure, thanks.

Sidney: Dr. Meyers will handle the anesthesia.

Cybil: No problem.

Tyler: Myers is a tough chick, Derek. If you screw this up, don't ever expect her to work with you again.

Cybil: Stop trying to scare the newbie, Chase. This is a difficult operation, and we don't have any room for mistakes. Just do your best, kid.

Derek: You got it...



Another Scrubs actor here. Judy Reyes plays Nurse Carla Espinosa.

Chirality is a property of asymmetry. It means that, no matter how you orientate the object, it cannot be superimposed on its mirror image. For an example, just look at your hands. This applies to molecules as well, and molecules of different chirality can have slightly different properties. Pairs of molecules with different chirality are called enantiomers. More on this later.

Sidney: I'll be briefing you on the procedures for this operation. Today's patient is a GUILT victim who was brought here three days ago. Derek, you've actually operated on this exact strain already. This GUILT hides inside organs which attacking their tissue. Removing it, however, should be just like removing any parasite. We wanted a simple case to evaluate your abilities. There's only one objective in this procedure:

-Remove the Kyriaki.

I'll leave the exact details of the operation to your discretion. Show us your talent, Dr. Stiles.

Derek: Yes, sir.





OPERATION VIDEO
Gamevee
Viddler

Today, I gave myself a special condition! It doesn't really become apparent in stills, so you'll have to watch the video to see.



The reason I gave myself a condition is that this is exactly the same operation as the last time we saw Kyriaki. The only difference is the background and text, pretty much. Deal with the lacerations, kill one Kyriaki, kill a wave of two...



And then kill the big one. You're done.

Sidney: Great work. It's over, Derek. Chiral reaction is negative.



Sidney: We were, Angie. That's very observant of you.

You JUST told her you were.

Sidney: GUILT creates cells with an unnatural chirality. Using a Chiron test, we can detect the specific wavelength they emit. So far, that's the only way to reliably detect GUILT. Remind me to give you the Chiron test equipment, later.

I think this means that the GUILT makes cells with a different chirality than normal cells, and they... maybe reflect different wavelengths of light or something?

UPDATE: Quickman had this to say on the subject:

Quickman posted:

The way to identify enantiomers of a molecule if you can get it in crystalline form is to pass polarised light through the crystal and watch the direction of the deflection. I guess it's CONCEIVABLE that GUILT could cause cells to preferentially deflect light in one direction rather than the other... but it's drat weird.

On the other hand (pun), it's very plausible for chirality to have serious repercussions on biological effect; the R-enantiomer of thalidomide has a beneficial antiemetic effect, while the S-enantiomer causes birth defects, and the two are converted into one another in the body.

Sorry this operation wasn't too interesting! The biggest problem with the original Trauma Centers was this tendency to make you repeat old GUILT operations. The worst of it was cut from SO, but there are still several throughout the game.



Aside from the removal of the "don't let the wounds re-open" bonus, the specials are the same as in "Please Let Me Live."



The bad rank is a result of my condition, I can assure you.



Cybil: He's still got a lot to learn, but that was incredible!

Sidney: Stiles finished 30 minutes earlier than we anticipated. Hopefully, the patient will recover quickly, as well.

But, you only gave me five minutes...

Tyler: Heh... looks like times have changed.

End of Chapter 3-2

Well, this was the longest update yet, definitely.