Unity Station

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Just outside of Imperium space, a small but well equiped research station.

Unity is a joint venture between multiple worlds, hence the name. Xenobiology, anthropology and astronomy are some of the things researched here.
There's a small school, a few shops, one or two tiny restaurants and a coffee shop but generally speaking, the majority of the inhabitants are either researchers or family of researchers.

The chief of medicine is an insectoid woman named Yessalia.
Chief of security is a man named Tias.

Asher nodded, the smile fading away at Dawn's words. "That must have been difficult for you, and I'm sorry you had to experience it. Let's hope that the doctors have good news, at least." It was a greater good sort of thing Dawn had had to do, and he knew how painful that could be. He wanted to talk to her about it, but he also knew that it would probably be better for him to talk to Dawn about it when Kay wasn't listening.

Dawn nodded "It was hard on everyone." She said, looking around as they walked together.

Kay flinched, yeah, he felt bad about that and he hated that it had to be done too.

But he didn't contribute the conversation.

The medical facility wasn't far and was fairly large, very well set out and clearly quite high tech. It was far more like a hospital than the medical bay they had on their ship.
A few nurses bustled about but if there but any patients were in private rooms it seemed.

One of the staff noticed the group and came over to see what they wanted. "Can I help you?" They looked to be terran but it was hard to tell out here, so many similar looking races.

---

Luka and Rigel headed into the station's shopping district.

---

Jarral tilted his head. "The words or the context?"

(What's the name of the neurologist they're supposed to see? I'm totally blanking on it right now, oops)

Dawn looked to the nurse and smiled softly. "We are here to see (name) the neurologist for a consultation."

~~~
"Both" Danika replied then shrugged a little. "The words are too big though I am working on reading better."

~~
Rigel looked around once they reached the shopping district, searching for a shop they might find some stuff for the SD and Vestia.

(Dr Webster)

The nurse nodded curtly and went to find the doctor.

It didn't take long to return with a rather tall, rather intimidating and faintly insectoid creature. Their skin was ebony black and scaled, their eyes large and amber. They had no hair, just two gently curved antennae.

"You must be Doctor Lupus and Nurse Ackermann." The creature had a stern tone but there was something melodic about the way they spoke. "I'm Doctor Webster." They extended a three fingered hand to shake.

---

"So what sort of thing are we shopping for?" Luka asked, looking around as well.

----

"It is a worthwhile goal, there is much to be learned from records" Jarral agreed

(Ohh yeah, I should have remembered that.)

Asher nodded in greeting to the doctor, but stayed quiet for the moment. Hey, he wasn't actually a medic. He probably shouldn't even listen once they started talking about Esk, probably. Hmm.

"Dawn" She said as she smiled and shook hands. He looked odd, but then again who didn't to someone?

~~~
"Parts for the SD and cloaking that would work with Vestia." Rigel said softly so they wouldn't be overheard.

Kay nodded. [This is our colleage Asher.] He indicated Asher to explain his presence. Maybe the doctor wouldn't know who the hell he was.

The doctor nodded. "My office is just down here." they led the way.

---

Luka looked curious "cloaking?" She spoke in a hushed whisper, leaning close. "that's complicated tech..." hmm, a science station like this though...

Asher smiled slightly. He knew Dr. Webster by sight, he'd been on this station ten years after all, but he wasn't sure they would remember him. He did, after all, have a pretty forgettable face.
"Should I stay out here? I'm... not really a medic," he asked. It felt wrong to be there for this discussion about Esk, even if he had played a part in setting up this meeting in the first place. Patient privacy, and all that.

Dawn nodded and followed the doctor, pausing and looking back to Asher at his question. "You are still considered a nurse on the ship, why wouldn't you come?"

~~~
Rigel nodded "Right, it is, but it should be here if it's anywhere nearby. We may need it no matter what ship goes."

Kay hesitated, reminding himself that yeah, it had been ten years for Asher hadn't it? It was easy to forget and drop into habit.
[It's your call.]

Dr Webster waited patiently.

---

Luka nodded hesitantly. "We may not be able to purchase such parts over the counter..." they'd need to be careful, but she trusted Rigel to know that. He knew his stuff.

Rigel nodded again and looked to the shelves. "At the least, we should be able to find parts for the repairs that are needed for both ships."

Asher hesitated a few moments, weighing his options. He thought Dawn calling him a nurse was being a bit optimistic, he'd never actually received any certifications, and his knowledge was pretty much limited to his programming and what he had learned on the fly to save people's lives.
And if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't really keen on returning to medical work.
But he supposed that was something he could consider later. Maybe he would be useful here. Somehow.
"I'll come along," he decided. He'd follow the others.

Dr Webster led them to the office and settled into a chair behind the desk. "I've gone over the scans you sent."

Kay nodded, looking a little awkward.

The doctor gestured they should sit. They'd gotten ahead of themselves.

Kay sat down. [How bad is it?] He asked, looking fretful.

"Brain injuries are always difficult to predict, you said in your message it was a drowning incident?"

Kay had been intentionally vuage. He nodded and looked grim.

"A great many drowning victims do recover in time, others... there's so many factors at play, so much uncertainty." the doctor continued.

Kay frowned. [So we just wait and see?]

"I think it might be worthwhile to meet the patient, to see what symptoms he's displaying for myself. "

---

Luka browsed, quite happy in this sort of environment. She liked ships and she liked engineering, it reminded her of home.

"He's had seizures and difficulty remembering common." Dawn said then nodded a little "We probably should have brought him to begin with."

~~~
Rigel found some parts they needed for Vestia's repairs and the SD's repairs. He put them in separate carts so they could be paid separately. They would have to find a 'black' market likely to get cloaking devices. He hadn't seen any yet.

Asher nodded. "That does make sense. I suppose we could probably convince him to come visit?" he wasn't sure. Esk was pretty stubborn.
But, Asher thought, maybe this justified him being here. After all, he was one of the few who could touch Esk without having his life drained out of him.

Dawn sent a message to Vestia that they needed Esk to come to the doctor so he could be examined.

Kay frowned, Esk wouldn't like this, but it was for the best. He nodded.

[thank you, for taking the time to help] He told the doctor.

the doctor nodded. "of course."

"Meanwhile, can you tell us anything more about his condition?" Dawn asked curiously.

Asher looked hesitant, but looked to the doctor curiously as well.

Vestia probably sent Dawn a reply saying she was working on getting Esk over there.

The doctor nodded, shuffling through some notes. "of course."
They explained a lot of medical stuff, about how brain injuries were often unpredictable, about how the brain was however remarkably good at rerouting itself but cautioned a level of realistic expectation, recovery could be long and difficult and some patients never fully recovered at all.

Esk had been deprived of oxygen, parts of his brain had been damaged in the process but that they're ressussitated him so quickly did improve his chances significantly.

Kay chewed his lip anxiously at all this.

Dawn listened, though this was all information they knew already.

Asher sighed. This had to be so awful for Esk and his family. He glanced to Kay, then away when he saw Kay's expression.
This was all so difficult.
"Thank you," he told Dr. Webster. He didn't really feel like he had the authority to ask more questions right now, especially not when this was about Esk, and Esk wasn't here.

(Ethan and Esk leave Vestia)

"If I ever start wanting to read blueprints, you need to stage an intervention for me, because that means I've officially snapped," Ethan said. His face stayed sour as always, but there was a glint of humor in his eyes.
He led the way to the hospital, although he was careful to keep an eye on Esk. He wasn't sure how much walking Esk could handle at this point.

Once they were off the ship Esk had nothing to hang onto for balance, his walking speed slowed as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

"Will do..." He replied distractedly.

Ethan frowned, watching Esk's careful movements, and slowed his own pace so he could stay near Esk. He opened his mouth, about to say something, then thought the better of it and stayed quiet.