Taking the Poison Out of the Garden

[Jessica Med-Beq]

After having won another battle that would rank among the greatest victories she won as a grounder, she was well on her way to become a name that would resonate in Jedi history in that respect. In fact, by her estimate, Kashyyyk will net her a very similar amount of fame and glory as she got from her role in the Rift campaign. That, even though the Sith elites turned out to be only marginally more competent (tactics-wise) than the main Primeval army she fought in the Rift, repeating many of the errors of the Primeval, namely clustering large artillery formations very close together without air support. Meanwhile, the cleanup operations near the Kachirho beach were proceeding smoothly, and the Silvers suffered only a little over a thousand casualties (including the dead in the hospital), while the Sith were routed with only a small fraction retreating to Ossus. Another day in this cleanup operation was happening, which was going on for weeks now. When an ambulance came to carry a patient that was all too familiar with Jessica, [member="Jairdain"], the medic dispatcher wasted no time notifying Jessica about it, while sensing a dark side-contaminated body inbound, contaminated differently from the other survivors that the Circle of Healers is currently treating:

"General, an ambulance has arrived on landing pad #1; the patient is Jairdain" the medic dispatcher announced to Jessica.

"Jair... she seemed poisoned by the dark side but she's still alive. I can sense it, but I will have to be there in the sickbay to get to her. I can't treat her properly in the command center" she tells the people in the command center before heading to the sickbay closest to landing pad #1.

 

[Jairdain]

As Jairdain had been preparing to take the price she was the advisor of on a journey of discovery, she had been captured by a sith lord. This woman had then given her a poison in an attempt to corrupt her. Jairdain had done her best to resist it, but the amount that had been injected into her had left her unable to. Succumbing to it in the end, she had barely made it back to Silver territory and sending out a distress call.

Not knowing how long it had been since she was injected and in a furious rage at pretty much everything because of that poison, when help arrived, she needed to be restrained. They ended up needing to sedate her and kept her in that state until their arrival. She was alive, but not much more than that in her state.

She didn't know what she had been given, Jairdain only knew there was a constant anger in her that hadn't been there before. Even in her sedated state, she dreamed mad dreams.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Ouch, Jairdain has been contaminated by dark-sided Sith poisons - regular Detoxify Poison won't be very effective at this stage of the game. Don't be alarmed if you see my body's nerves and my brain once you awaken: it's what happens when I use Force-light"

Poor Jair! That's atrocious! Even if she did survive the treatment, her nervous system won't be the same again, she thought, while seeing [member="Jairdain"] in a near-comatose case. And the damage seemed to be focused on Jair's nervous system, much like a neurotoxin. Yet it was different from commonly encountered neurotoxins, since the dark side contaminating her body, and especially Jair's nervous system. So Jessica started increasing her use of computational power, recalling on her knowledge of chemistry, biochemistry as well as AMO, as she feels is relevant in Jair's case, and neurotoxins, and also thinks harder and harder about how to go around neutralizing the alchemical neurotoxins, in an attempt to get her brain to glow intensively enough to be used as a basis for Force-light and, from there, get the dark side bonds in the neurotoxins to break. And then use Detoxify Poison once the dark side bonds are broken. So once Jessica's brain glowed strongly enough in the Force, she started projecting beams of light-sided energy at the points in Jair's body where the poison's concentration is the highest; she had to project the bulk of the total energy of the process there, where the remaining light-side energy trickles down to the rest of the patient's body through splash effects, via Jair's nervous system in this case. Once Jair awakens, she will likely see Jessica's nervous system glowing as if it was a phosphorescent object for a while, even after Detoxify Poison is used.

 

[Jairdain]

The sith poison had started to corrupt Jairdain's system and that damage would not easily be able to be fully undone. When the Force Light was applied, if there was a device that read her vitals, it would indicate her heart rate sky rocket while it was focused on her. It hurt her even if she couldn't feel it and stressed her body even more. Even in her sedated state, she had no control over her base body functions so when the Force Light touched her and started to cleanse the darkness of the poison, she succumbed to sleep.

This gave Jessica the time she needed to use the Force Light and not worry about Jairdain crying out in pain. When she woke up from the procedure, her head was pounding, but the corruption was gone. There was still the poison that needed to be removed from her blood.

Through the Force, she sensed, saw and knew Jessica was there. Of all the Jedi she felt would be able to accomplish healing her, Jessica was her first choice. There might be others that could do just as well, Jairdain didn't know them well enough to trust her into their care.

Attempting to raise a hand to her head, she let out a groan and would have tried to sit up but found herself still bound in restraints.

"Master Jessica. What happened? I know what happened before I got here, but why am I restrained?"

The actions she had done​ while on the way here she had no memory of. Last thing that was clear in her mind was requesting aid, then things got fuzzy.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"We need a hemodialysis machine with blood transfusions, stat! There seems to be poison-induced anomalies with her blood"

"Master, what's happening? You seem to be a walking light bulb!" a nurse asked, realizing that Jessica's head shone like a LED lightbulb of nearly-blinding intensity, and the nerves in the rest of her body were now outwardly visible if a body part was exposed, like her arms and neck, all of that shining a light yellow, much lighter than her natural complexion.

"I just used Force-light in an attempt to cure a patient afflicted by a dark-sided poison"

There was, in fact, a vital sign monitor strapped to [member="Jairdain"]. And soon a hemodialysis machine, because Jessica feels it was more prudent to rely on that kind of methods before attempting to use Detoxify Poison - Detoxify Poison she could do, but it was safer to be done on smaller quantities of poison than a volume of nearly 40% of a human-sized patient's bloodstream. Luckily for Jairdain, the dialysis machine would inform the nurse not only what blood type(s) would be a good fit (Force forbid that Jair be O-, otherwise other O- blood would be necessary, and usually Rh+ blood was better for receipt than donation, in which case Rh- blood was preferred) but how much to fetch. By now, however, word of Jessica's freakish condition spread across Silver Rest, and Jair will find herself surrounded by many, many different people that may or may not have known either her or Jessica before before long. Hehe: the more computational power I use, and/or the longer I'm using it, the longer my brain will glow as it does now, but my luminescence, or rather, phosphorescence, while fed by my computational power to an extent, requires me to use Force-light as a trigger, so I may, in fact, be a walking light bulb provided I use Force-light regularly, whose peak intensity depends on how intensively I used it, she thought, while collecting herself to answer Jair's question. Jessica could sense the rush of people coming in, and she had to answer Jair's question before they came.

"Jair, it would appear that the poison was, in fact, one of those neurotoxins that make people convulsive, feel seizures or become unstable, both physically and mentally. Just to make sure you're safe, that the process of poison removal does not cause you undue problems, you're still restrained until the poison removal is over. It's possible the removal of the poison may cause side effects; although it's more likely to be related to anaemia, your body can still be destabilized. You saw me once in that condition, with my brain, my nerves glowing as they are: when I taught you Force-light"

 

[Jairdain]

Remembering the procedure done to her by the Sith Lord, Jairdain knew much of her blood had been physically removed and the poison put into her body in its place. That pain had been great as it burned through her system. The removal may not be as painful, but she felt like she was on fire. The dark of the poison had filled her veins and the light of Jessica had burned as much away as it could.

Looking at Jessica through the Force, she was indeed glowing as much as she had when she taught Jairdain how to cast Force Light. Then something hit her. She had the Force back. Once again it had been deprived of her and she had been a mere blind human. While spending that night in captivity before an escape had been provided for her, that Sith had given her actual vision for a time. It was at the cost of her Force.

With her vision gone, but her Force returned, Jairdain started to relax. She was in the hands of friends and allies. Once even a part of the Silvers and maybe she would return again soon. Her job had taken her away from them, but now circumstances had brought her back. The Force worked in mysterious ways. Perhaps this is where it wanted her to be and not with Commenor.

"I understand...did I hurt anybody? It is Sith Poison in me and I felt like dying. The burning pain as it went through my body and a feeling of a constant anger. That's still there, Jessica. I feel mad and I don't know why."

Chewing on her lower lip, she hoped that wasn't the case.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I have no idea as to whether or not you actually hurt anybody: what I do know is that the poison causes your anger hormones to get out of control. Not only that, but the poison seems to be made up of... several varieties of anger hormones, which are individually specific to a set of species"

With the poison being taken out of [member="Jairdain"]'s body and fresh blood being transfused in its place, it would seem that the Sith poison is mostly made up of an amalgamation of anger hormones, with the dark side ensuring that at least one of those hormones will hijack the area in the victim's brain responsible for emotional regulation, pretty much regardless of the species. That is why I directed Force-light at her head and, to me, the bull's eye was her amygdala, she thought, while realizing that she was using a lot of computational power even without using Force-light, in an attempt to break down the residual anger hormones closest to Jair's amydgala, under the eyes of the amused personnel that saw Jessica's head shining so brightly that her hair was a low-quality lamp shade in comparison. To those people, Jessica's brilliance has taken on a new meaning, more than simply being about how Jessica was a brain. You will find herself without any anger hormones left in your body once the process of hemodialysis is complete. There were enough anger hormones in your blood to make hundreds of people angry if broken down into doses for injection: you were very lucky to survive that amount of poison, and once the poison has been removed, I can attempt healing the damage the poison caused in your body and relieving the pain that is physical in nature, with the mental part being best handled by someone else, she thought, in hopes that Jair will actually respond to this telepathic transmission.

 

[Jairdain]

If Jessica didn't know if she had harmed anybody, then there was a good chance none had happened. It made Jairdain relax a little and she nodded. At least her head was free to have movement.

As the poison was removed and natural blood replaced, Jairdain's burning pain lessened with each passing moment. At least it felt that way to her. She also said there was a mix of poisons in her meant for different races. Finding that a odd, the question would be on her face, but not voiced.

Not for the first time, Jessica reached out to speak to her telepathically. She explained to Jairdain there had been enough anger hormones to make many people angry and that she wouldn't have any left after the poison was removed.

Does that mean I will never get angry again?​

There would be a real sense of hope the answer would be yes. It would be great not to feel angry ever again.

I​ don't think I'm going to need as much help as before, but you never know. Thank you, Jessica.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I feel you have a question about why there are anger hormones for multiple species in the Sith poison, it's because the Sith poison is designed to make people angry from a wide variety of species. Species-specific poisons are often much simpler to brew for an alchemist because there are much less reagents. It's a juice containing many different varieties of amino acids, eicosanoids and steroids. Now I do realize the poison may have other effects unrelated to anger, and it's often due to mixing anger hormones from several species with different biochemistries and it's a good example of multi-drug interaction"

Her computational power usage was still high in an attempt to understand the poison and how it works, based on what precipitate was trapped in the hemodialysis machine, with the supernate being the blood. It was not satisfying enough to her to just realize that there were many different varieties of anger hormones; she feels the need to understand where the dark side fits. In doing so, her head's luminosity increased another level because her brain was glowing even more intensively in the Force; in fact, Jair - and other Force-users, too - would pretty much feel one thing from Jessica in the Force: her brain shining brightly with its curves, at an intensity that was rather close to its maximum for her level of power. Which meant that Jessica radiates in the Force with the very same blinding light her head outwardly radiates. From what I can tell in the Force, the dark side acts pretty much as a catalyst in that poison's case; there are many different mRNA sequences corresponding to several protein-based anger hormones in there, and sometimes separate hormones from each other if there are receptors in the host's body. Mixing a hormone with another can sometimes yield a dangerous cocktail that is due to how the shape of the new molecule is different from the shapes of the old ones, she thought, while also realizing that, as hormones interact with each other, their conformations change and sometimes their effects in the body change as well. Hence why the poison traces that were still left in [member="Jairdain"]'s body were broken down into its constituents, which, by themselves, were harmless, be it amino acids, lipids or other substances entirely.

"As to whether or not you could become angry again, it might be unpleasant to hear, but you may potentially become angry again, since anger hormones are produced naturally, in a person's body, but your anger would be quite different then, provided that you do not consume anger-inducing substances, and even then it would be very likely that you would involuntarily or inadvertantly consume those"

 

[Jairdain]

"I understand. Far better than I would have when we met."

In the years that had passed since they met, Jairdain had learned a great deal about many things. History, math, science, just to name a few. Her knowledge had been lacking back then and even today she still had weaknesses, but those were most likely due to her being physically blind. Not being able to read was one of them.

"Id there a way for me to learn how to read? In the Force, I can see writing on items, but it means nothing to me."

Through the Force, Jessica wasn't so much glowing to Jairdain because her sight did not deal with using the Force, but emotions. She knew she was using the Force to help with removing the poison from her and for that she was thankful.

If she could have shrugged her shoulders easily, she would have at what Jessica said about her feeling angry again. Letting out a sigh instead, she accepted the answer provided. A small sign of resignation crossed over her.

"Natural anger instead of something force on me by poison. I've never done anger inducing substances, so I don't think that would be an issue for me."

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Hemodialysis complete" the nurse next to Jessica told her.

"Good, remove the restraints on the patient"

While the restraints around [member="Jairdain"] were being removed, Jessica tried to get a feel for the internal damage Jair has sustained due the poison. She knew that just because the poison has been removed from the patient, the patient isn't necessarily fully repaired. But she is already going forward in stimulating Jair's healing, using the Force, focusing on the parts of the body most affected by the poison, like the digestive tract, bones and thyroid, again at a cost of computational power. Yet there was an encouraging sign that Jair's condition actually was improving: her question about literacy. How she would go around learning to read. But she could tell the black-haired girl has not progressed in literacy beyond being read to and answering questions based on that. I'm surprised the early stage of your schooling didn't even include basic reading, but perhaps read-along material would be appropriate for you. Don't be shy, what matters is how words and letters sound, and then you can begin to learn the alphabet. You must realize that, however grateful you are for me on lot of levels, I might not be the best resource for teaching you everything, it takes different skillsets to teach items at different levels, and also the same thing to different varieties of learners, she thought, realizing that there is, in fact, a reason why universities teach special education differently depending on whether one is talking about elementary-level, high school-level and adult education, as well as special vs. regular teaching in elementary vs. high school (and often subject-specific, especially in the high school case).

 

[Jairdain]

Once the restraints were removed, Jairdain would attempt to stretch if Jessica allowed her to. Not knowing how long she had been tied up, the movement would feel good. Not standing or even sitting up, she took a deep breath and the healing passed through her.

Why would they teach a blind person to read, Jessica?

It was all she said on the matter. Her parents had given her a device that would read to her and that is something she used even now.

Like what my device does. Reads to me. I'm able to speak fine, so reading shouldn't be too hard. Writing though I think is beyond what I can do.​

There would be some humor in her thoughts when she said that. Just showing how resilient Jairdain had become since they first met. Even if things were poor for her, a sense of humor was present.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

You may stretch now; so, if you can have an add-on to the reading device that uses a Miraluka-script keyboard, and usually such add-ons will have a button for reading the output at the desired volume, as well as a printer for printing such outputs in standard scripts, but the main problem with Miraluka typewriting devices is that you can't always spot errors as they are made. I guess, you could chalk that up to blindness. You are right in that handwriting may be out of your reach though, she thought. Miraluka script, usually called Braille by Miralukas, is a rather peculiar script that relies on relief, developed by Miralukas to read and write despite their blindness, although they had to enlist non-Miralukas to develop these devices: they were godsends for blind people like [member="Jairdain"] to communicate in writing. She also realized that maybe Eraton's resources for disabled students were limited, perhaps due to small student populations, but at the same time, expenditures of that nature were easier to justify with larger student bodies. Yes, Jair was blind, and she accepted as much. Just that there could be a practical reason for this state of affairs, understandable but not what's best for those kids.

 

[Jairdain]

Instead of actually saying anything as a reply, Jairdain shook her head in answer. Reaching into her pant's pocket, she took out a device that was about half the size of her palm and held it out for Jessica to take.

That is my device. At one end is like a sensor eye that can pick up on the writing I can't see. The other end has the speaker that reads to me. There is also a recording feature there and a few other options. ​

The only thing Jairdain had kept recorded on her device was her time when she was captive of Krest and her downfall then. She didn't know why she kept it anymore these days, but it was there and it might provide insight to somebody is they listened to it.

Again she shook her head.

I​ don't know how to read at all. Not in any format.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

I guess perhaps someone that is more familiar with literacy in a disability context would be of help to you while you recuperate here. I think proper precautions are in order to ensure that your natural anger, in the long-term, stays at a minimum, she thought, while realizing that holocrons are often the order of the day for blind Force-users such as [member="Jairdain"] to learn something other than literacy. Holocrons often conveyed information using the other senses, so that one's eyesight is not the end of the story. Just that the Miraluka typewriting machines were usually designed for limited amounts of text given the width of the paper rolls they usually used. Just that she is rather unfamiliar with the local disability education landscape; it's entirely possible that she would need to subcontract, on behalf of the Order, specialized literacy education for Jair - cases like Jair's are rather uncommon and that,s mostly because the Miralukas are rather isolationistic, and aids for blind people are the main Miraluka exports to the galaxy. And also Jair would need some time to properly recover, and also proper medical supervision, to ensure that Jair would be healthy should she choose to return to the Silvers.

 

[Jairdain]

There was a glimmer of hope in Jairdain now. A reason to keep going with what she was doing. She had sent Bradshaw off to learn martail skills she couldn't teach and more about himself through further training. They would have seperate skill sets and could work well together when he was done. With the Sith poison taken from her system, her blood replaced, she only needed to learn how to control this false anger better. In time maybe it would go away, but now it felt like it would be a part of her forever.

Jessica I met in my original days at the Voss Temple a Miraluka Jedi Master. Well maybe not a master, but she at least was teaching a class. ​

It felt natural to communicate this way and remain silent. That might trace back to her days of captivity of the sith when she was left alone for months.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

I can feel you had good results with that Miraluka master; if she is still in the Silvers' payroll, then she is my first choice. However, as I said, what anger you will feel going forward will be natural, true anger, not of the poison-induced variety, she thought, while realizing that, when the Silvers left Voss, the League of Voss was formed by the people who were unhappy with the move to Kashyyyk, and that some of the people who grew attached to garrisons, or were disillusioned by the way the leadership handled warfare at the time, even more so when it came to the Belderone/Kulthis theater in the Ossus campaign, were more tempted to join the League. Except that the League did not have much of a leadership and they got their bodies handed to them on Ciutric IV. Now, [member="Jairdain"] knew that Miraluka master better than Jessica did, and it only made sense to Jessica that, if Jair had good results with her, perhaps it would be worth pursuing that relationship. And Jessica has come to realize that her luminosity is taking longer to fade because she has been using the Force after using Force-light.

 

[Jairdain]

She wasn't actually my master though. I don't even remember her name. It was so long ago, Jessica. Before I was captured the first time or even met Krest and the sith. ​

It was when Jairdain had first joined the Jedi on Voss, when she was a padawan and new to the order. Before her then master had sent her on a failed mission and she had met up with the people of the Dominion. They had rescued her from becoming a sacrifice, taken her in and given her time to recover from the abuse the cultists had inflicted on her.

Time had passed, Master Dune had knighted her and she returned to the Silver Jedi on Voss. Soon after the Dominion had called for help against the sith. It was there in that fight where she had first come across Krest and Lykos. There they had decided they wanted to kidnap and turn her. Their plans had worked, but she had broken free from those chains they had put on her and returned yet again to the Silver's.

Eventually her path had taken her from them again, but this time into the arms of Commenor and she advised the Crown Prince there. However, she had given him as much training as she could and had sent him to further his learning. A time would come for them to be reunited and they would return to Commenor together. For now though, Jairdain would again reside with the Silver's until that training was complete and Bradshaw was the prince he was supposed to be.

"How long will it take to know?"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Natural anger triggers are, in fact, pretty situational. As far as I can tell, it is best not to do things that are too rash, nor too far outside of your comfort zone for a while, while your biochemistry is returning to normal. As part of the precautions, it is best to stay in here for a week or so, so that proper follow-up to the treatment can be made. You can always go check at the infirmary lobby to see if there are any female Miraluka masters remaining if you wish, in hopes that the one you seek is still in there somewhere"

Understandably, [member="Jairdain"] told Jessica any additional information to allow her to re-position that Miraluka master. That was from... before she even met Jair in the first place. And Jair was also involved in Commenori affairs? Rumors from that place around Jair may have placed her into some sort of love triangle, or that the one who poisoned Jair was somehow linked to some court intrigues! she thought. Jessica was then more than happy to have left Glyss behind, even though she knew her wife on Glyss was actually taking her royal responsibilities. But perhaps the registry at the infirmary lobby would be able to determine which Miraluka master it could possibly be - there could have been several other locations, just that the infirmary lobby was the closest. Perhaps Jair would find that this place offers her a respite from court intrigue, but Jessica only wants what's best for Jair. Especially after Jair survived a poison made up of so many anger hormones that would make hundreds of people angry provided the right species combination can be found.