Part 15: - I hate Mondays

15 - I hate Mondays

(Music: On the Cutting Edge of Medicine.)





"Where could he be? I didn't think he had any patients today. ...Is this a new thesis? Heh, I guess he still finds time for academics, after all. Netherlands... Utrecht... Euthanasia. Why would he keep a euthanasia thesis in his files?"

"...Oh, there's a letter. 'Thank you, Doctor. Because of you, my husband finally found peace.' What the?!"

_{"We'll bring that up at the next conference, then."}

"Crap! He's coming back! Where do I put these?!"

"Hey, what's happening, Derek? Need some help with something?"

"Uh, I... uh... wanted to ask you... about... something... It was, uh.. oh, right! Medication for the GUILT patients!"

"Post-op medication? Hm. As far as I know, there hasn't been any-"

He seems to notice his papers are out of order.

".............Hm. ....*sigh*."

"Oh, well, okay.. If you don't know, then I'll just...- Sorry to bother you! See you later, okay?!"

"Wait, Derek. I've been wanted to show you something. You would have found out about it sooner or later, anyway."

"Wh-What! I swear, I didn't-"

"Follow me."

"-Recovery Ward, Room 305.-"



"How're you doing, Amy?"

"Not so good..."

"Oh... Sorry I made you get up. Derek, this is my sister, Amy. She's been hospitalized here for two years."

"You mean, she's infected with GUILT?"

"Yeah. Amy's condition is the reason I came here in the first place."

"...Amy, this is Derek Stiles. He's an old friend of mine. He's going to be treating you, so go easy on him, okay?"

"Hee, okay."



"Leslie Sears, age 26: One of the many nurses on staff at Caduceus. She currently looks after several GUILT patients, including Amy Chase."

"Nah, just came to see how my little sis was holding up."

"Oh, I see. Amy hasn't been doing her homework lately. I was actually hoping you could talk to her about that."

"But, it's soooo boring!"

"Sis.. If you slack off, then you'll end up dumb like your big brother."

Yeah, making six figures a year and working for the United Nations.

"You want people to know how smart you are, don'tcha? Anyway, I gotta run. I'll come visit again tomorrow, okay?"



"Yeah, I guess it's payback for what I've been doing, huh?"

"Huh?!"

"Look, dude, I know you saw my paper and that letter. I've been practicing euthanasia ever since I graduated. ...That's my deep dark secret."

"I've heard rumors, but I never thought the Death Doctor could be someone like you. Why would you do that?"

Because we have to reference Black Jack somewhere in this game.

"...One of the professors I had before we met died of cancer. It was already too late when they found it. Professor Bonca told them that, himself. All he had left were a few weeks of suffering and painful treatments. Good people shouldn't have to go through that pain before they die. ...So I gave him the gift of a painless death."

Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka is a manga from the 70's about a supersugeon who, like Derek, can cure any disease with his amazing concentration and skill.

"But, that's-!"

"Of course people would prefer to live. It's only natural. ...But if everything causes pain, and there's no chance of recovery... Then, are you really living? No, you're just staying around so other people don't feel bad."

"That isn't true.."

In the series, there's also a friend of the main character who is a Death Doctor. He even has a little sister, and both are involved in an epidemic of space jellyfish in people's stomach.

"I know it's naive... But, I knew there might be consequences when I started. You probably think it's just suicide. Or worse, murder. ...But things are different, now. I want to be there for Amy! If you're gonna turn me in, at least wait until Amy's gone, okay?"

I could be looking too hard into that, but I only say reference because after this update, this plot point will never be mentioned again for the rest of the series.

"You can't do that to Amy. I won't let you."

"........."

Anti-euthanasia tracts in dramas are so boring. We've all heard "euthanasia is wrong because it is!" before. (Except on pets. That's obviously different.)





"Her vitals dropped to the low 40's, and she's losing consciousness!"

"What?! Everyone, prepare for surgery! Angie, bring in the patient. I'll meet you in the O.R. Hurry!"

"Yes sir!"



"........."

"What are you doing?! Let's go!"

"........You can't operate on her."

"What! I have to!"

"Haven't you seen the PET results? GUILT's already migrating. Her respiratory system's in trouble, and her digestive tract is next."

PET = Positron Emission Tomography. It creates a three-dimensional image using a tracer molecule. It's often used to visualize metastasis of cancer.

"What are we supposed to do?! Are you just going to watch her die?!"

"Do you have any idea how many things we've tried?! Dr. Clarks couldn't help, and he's the best there is! All he could do is thin out some of the tumors. I just watch her get weaker, day by day.. Amy doesn't have a lot of time left. 'What are we supposed to do?' We're supposed to leave her alone, so she doesn't have to suffer! Do you really think cutting her up even more is gonna do anything?"

"So what? You want us to watch GUILT tear her apart?"

"You don't get it!"



"Even if this operation helps, she might never open her eyes again. She'll just be connected to some machine... waiting to die.. If that's the case, I'd rather send her off myself."

"You call yourself a Doctor?!"

"I'm Amy's brother before I'm a doctor! I'm supposed to watch my sister suffer because that's my job?! I don't care if I lose my license! We're talking about my sister!"

"What are you still doing here?! Hurry up!"



"Dr. Clarks?!"

"We may not... be able to operate."

"What?"

"The GUILT's in her lungs. It moved a lot faster than we expected. I'm afraid she's not strong enough to survive surgery."

"What if we separate the operation into two procedures?"

"No good. If we don't extract the GUILT entirely, we'll end up right back where we started."

"Now do you get it, Derek?! This is how it works. I always knew it would come down to something like this."

"I'll operate on her. She'll be okay if we can extract all of it, right?"

"Leave her alone, you bastard!"

"With the Healing Touch, it might be possible."

Oh, fuck you, Clarks.



"Amy!"

"Tyler... Please, do.. the operation..."

"I know you heard us. Aren't you scared?"

"...No... I'll be... fine...! You worked so hard... to become a doctor... I'm going to try hard, too... I'm glad.. that you became a good doctor."



"...But I was being a coward. I didn't even consider what she would want."

"Derek, can you handle this operation for me? I don't deserve to touch her.. with these hands..."

"I joined Caduceus so I could help people. What about you, Dr. Chase? Shouldn't we do everything we can if it could save a person's life?"

"..Yeah."

"Dr. Chase, please brief Dr. Stiles on the Deftera strain of GUILT."

"Yeah, no problem. Hang on, sis... we'll be right back!"

(Music: Patient Profile)



"It replicates its DNA while actively moving throughout the body."

"A tumor that... moves? That's impossible!"

"Well to be fair, "moving" is kind of a bad description. It copies itself to other locations. So, it just looks like it's moving. It keeps on replicating its DNA and creating new tumors."

"That's horrible!"

"Good news, though: we might just know its weakpoint."

"What is it?"

"Deftera comes in two flavors. We'll call 'em Type A and Type B. Type A and Type B's likely to eat eachother when they meet up. But they're both equally strong, so they kinda just stall there. And, when they're not moving, they're just like any old tumor, right?"

"So after we drain the GUILT's tissue, we can just excise it!"

"Hopefully. I mean, it's all theoretical. One wrong move and they multiply, so there's no room for trial and error. It's not like we could safely test the theory before trying it."

I would hope that there are very few hospitals that also go, "oh, we'll just open them up and try some shit and see if it works."

"But... you have the healing touch. I've seen you use it, man. It's amazing. If anyone can save Amy now, I know it's you. I don't need to tell you the objective of this operation, do I? -Remove the GUILT from... the patient's stomach and lungs. That's all. Just save her, man. All that stuff I said before? Just forget it. ...Please, Derek."



(Music: Gangliated Utrophin Immuno-Latency Toxin (GUILT))

(Watch This Operation: 3-4, S Rank)

"This is really bad... We need to hurry!"



I wonder how I knew this operation would start in the stomach? Anyway, we do so. You must do it quickly or else they will regenerate and kill your vitals.

"Our data indicates the Deftera could appear at any time. When the Deftera combine to form a tumor, use the drain to remove them. That's the plan... are you ready?"



Say 'hello' to Deftera! It is actually a fairly easy strain of GUILT. What difficulty it has comes from its randomness, no operation with Deftera is ever the same.





You literally need to wait around for the Deftera to meet three times. ...I wonder if we can make this process any faster?



Look at that, it's stuck. Antibiotic gel acts as a cage.



Nice. You can really slap that shit on everything. Let's do that again.



Wait, what?

"This is bad! I'll take over from here, Dr. Stiles!"

"Derek. I'm not blaming you for this. But... I told you before. There are people who need doctors like me. And... trying to give them more hope only increases their suffering!"

So, as it turns out, instead of gel raising vitals, controlling the path of Deftera will cause the vitals to drop like a rock. Every time the Deftera bounces off the gel wall, it takes a slight hit on the vitals. It will also cause the Deftera to spawn more tumors a lot faster than it normally will. It might not seem like much now, but in faster-paced Deftera operations, it will cost you. This is also more pronounced in Second Opinion. Be careful with how you use this. Now, let's try that again.







Once you drain it three times, Deftera goes crazy, makes a bunch of tumors, and kills the vitals until you cut it out. After that, all that's left is to patch it up.



"We'll move to the lungs, next. First, finish treating those wounds."



"Amy's going to be okay! It's a miracle.."

"We'll move onto the lungs, next. We're counting on you, Dr. Stiles."

"C'mon, Derek! Save my little sister!"



All Deftera operations will have you incise and close up the wound twice in one operation, and the clock continues ticking. Don't relax, the worst is yet to come.



Now the tricky part. There are two pairs of Deftera, and if like colours meet, they will cause tumors and hit the vitals pretty hard. If a Deftera tumor has lost its colour from drainage, it will only meet up with a fellow Deftera of a lighter colour:



This mission is so easy, though, that it doesn't matter if you use the gel technique or not. I tend to not use the gel and focus on vitals and tumours while I wait. If there's nothing to do, I might.





The most annoying thing is that if one of the other Deftera crashes into the "mated" pair, vitals will drop by ten and they will come apart. It happened zero times in the screenshot run, and then four times or so in the video run. Damn it.





And that's all she wrote.

"Chiral reaction is negative. The operation was successful. *sigh* Good work, Doctor. Treat the other wounds and close her up."

"Thanks, Derek... Thank you so much. You're a real doctor, dude. I respect that."



"Derek... I owe you, man. How can I ever repay you for all this?"

In the video, I S Rank the mission. This is the easiest GUILT to S Rank, so much so that the X Mission of Deftera is known for being easier than the story missions. Finish in three minutes and thirty seconds or so for an instant S Rank.



"I'll resign. If that's what it takes, I don't care... I'm just glad Amy's okay. Thanks, Derek."

"Then, do me a favor."

Oh, here we go...

"Huh?"

"Re-edit that thesis you wrote, and donate it to Caduceus."

...

"You feeling okay, dude?"

"Tyler, you've always been good at writing detailed papers. Despite how you used the research, your thesis was no exception. Eliminating pain and suffering, facing death... Doctors and patients may be able to benefit from what you wrote."

Dare I believe my eyes? An anti-euthanasia tract that isn't completely strawman? A tract that agrees that the other side of the argument has some fair, humane points that can be used in positive ways?!

"Find a way to use that information to save people's lives. That's all I ask."

Just kidding! Euthanasia is still always wrong.

"....No problem. You got it, bro.

"......."



"Amy's going to be awake, soon."

"Let's check on her. What do you think, Big Brother?"

"H-Hey! Don't call me that!"




BONUS 2 - Stranger than fiction, Creeping Tumors Deftera

(Second Opinion ver- what the fuck?)

Deftera (Monday) is a type of GUILT that causes cancer. It was once thought that cancer could not be caused by organisms, but it has been proven that viruses, like HPV, and bacteria, like Helicobacter pylori, cause cancer in their hosts. But what makes Deftera truly unique is its ability to hijack the host's mechanisms to replicate its DNA at lightning speeds. This is the way it moves around.

But, come on. Most organisms only use flagella or the host's circulatory system to move around. There's no way something in real life could hijack the actual body's systems to move-


(Picture Source)

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that causes sepsis and meningitis with a 20% mortality rate. Listeria is ubiquitous, and can be found in soil, soft cheeses, dairy, vegetables, meats, and more. North America's worst outbreak happened in California in 1985, when Jalisco Cheese's queso blanco was found to be infected. 52 people were killed and many more were affected. It is also the worst case of food poisoning in North America.

I chose it as Deftera's bonus because, like Deftera, it snatches the host's systems to move around at rapid speeds. Seriously, look at that thing go. Like Deftera hijacks the DNA replication system of the host to copy itself to other random locations, Listeria hijacks the Actin Filaments of its host to perpetually rocket itself forward in a random direction. Once it finds a cell wall, it pushes through it until it breaks, invading and replicating inside the next connected cell.

Neat, but you'll never want to eat cheese again.

Next Time: Cops, Aum Shinrikyo, and explosions. Also the best part of the game.