Paired Psychosis

Posted on 06 Oct 2023 @ 2:40pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley" & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater

2,606 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 11, 2047 hrs

[ON]

Allyndra materialized in sickbay along with her patients which where being kept behind separated shielded biobeds. As soon as she could she called out. "Computer, please activate the EMH."

The photonic blue-collared doctor known as Shirley shimmered into existence within the Nova-class' small and compact medical ward. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," she said, her green eyes scanning her surroundings while her distinctive amber hair lightly fell just below her shoulders.

"The nature is that these two," Allyndra indicated the pair behind shields on the biobeds. "Both exhibited a psychotic break thinking they were...elsewhere. They thought they were fighting for their lives or something. What I need is a full scan on both, but I need you to see if you can find anything at all that previous scans might have missed or that I overlooked. I am particularly interested in making sure that, somehow, filters and such did not allow something...unusual to pass through. Secondly, while we are trying to look at this mystery, I need you also to scan me and keep an eye on me as I was in the same situation that they were. I need to make sure I am not going to be a danger also."

The EMH frowned after hearing the orders while moving to procure the nearest medical tricorder. This didn't sound good. Humanoid bioscans weren't difficult or time-consuming to accomplish but her programming matrix lingered on the doctor's last sentence. "Are you infected with something, commander?" she queried. "How many others of the crew are experiencing similar symptoms? Has the captain been notified? Perhaps you should be in isolation right now."

"So far, these two are the only two that have shown anything. I've checked and double-checked the filters and scans, but I want you to use your own expertise to make sure nothing was missed. I do not disagree, but if you think it is best then I am leaving you with the ultimate authority to make the determination."

Shirley extracted the small silver probe from her medical tricorder's front compartment then quickly walked close to the winged Akkadian. "Please hold still." Right now, her priority assessment was to first ensure the head doctor was well-enough to continue her tasks treating others. The EMH tapped her tricorder's small interface then raised the probe above the doctors head where it softly whirred and displayed varying lighting colorations. When Shirley finished scanning Warraquim from head to toe, she quickly walked to the nearby wall-mounted LCARS console then began to corroborate the data she'd just received. Her fingers danced across the display for close to a minute before she spoke.

"Brain scans appear normal. Your frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes are fully functioning. No degradation or abnormalities detected." She then quickly compared the doctor's prior documented brain wave patterns to the new scan. "Your synaptic patterns conform to those from your latest medical analysis. No changes in your physiology aside from the recent trauma to your wing nodes." Shirley closed the tricorder with a soft click. "I don't detect anything wrong with you."

"I thought not, but still if you detect anything out of the ordinary, you have ultimate authority until ready to hand it back."

"Understood," Shirley curtly replied.

Walking over to the invisible forcefield behind which Chief Warrant Officer 3 Darius was contained, the EMH first placed her tricorder on a small adjacent table then displayed her open palms to the disruptive crew member. "Chief Warrant Officer Darius. I need to approach to perform several scans of your body and brain activity. Please do not resist," she informed before stepping through the isolation field which shimmered upon her entry.

Lamar felt groggy and weak. The after-effects of being stunned by a phaser were never pleasant but had been a part of his Marine Corps training. Yet combined with his emotional exhaustion and still-lingering sedatives within his bloodstream, there was only so much fight he could put up. With drowsy yet narrow dark brown eyes, he managed to prop himself up on one elbow while the rest of his body lay motionless on the biobed. "Computer, deactivate EMH... Deactivate this entire program...!" he softly yelled.

A quick verbal retort from Galileo's computer core answered, "EMH deactivation not authorized." He slumped his torso back on the biobed, sulking. "Whatever." None of it really mattered in this cold station simulation. The creature -- whatever it was -- had already defeated his and Ullswater's attempts to break free. Multiple times.

Shirley moved next to Darius then began tapping the LCARS monitor above his head with swift and successive motions. Within less than a minute, the display was now showing immediate scans of his entire physiology and cerebral activity. "Hmm...interesting," mumbled the EMH while she tapped at the medical screen once more. "Doctor Warraquim, I have found something you might be interested in."

Allyndra knew the EMH could analyze things much faster and she wanted to see what could be found. "What did you find, doctor?"

"I'm sending the data to your console." Shirley transferred her scans from the biobed monitor to one closest to the chief medical officer, outside of the isolation forcefield. Detailed imagery of two small almond-shaped structures inside the center of Darius' brain magnified. "The electrical and chemical activity within his amygdala is remarkably high. The neurons within the structure are firing well-above normal stimulation frequencies. This could be contributing to an aggression response. But I'm unable to determine why this is occurring..."

"That is not unusual considering the patient's state of mind. It indicates paranoia and fear. What are you picking up on Ullswater? Can you run a comparison and see if getting the same transmitter levels?" Allyndra was pretty sure the Ensign would show the same, but perhaps there might be some differences.

"I will check now," answered the EMH who departed the conn officer's biobed isolation field then promptly walked over to the adjacent bed where the science officer lay.

"Ensign Ullswater," Shirley addressed the woman behind the invisible forcefield, "I need to approach to perform several scans of your body and brain activity. Please do not resist," she repeated verbatim as she'd priorly done with Darius.

Ullswater's eyes were fixed on the unfamiliar ceiling. From the moment she'd started to regain consciousness she hadn't moved, not a muscle, just staring up at a spot on the ceiling. She didn't respond, didn't want to make this situation any more real than it already was. Perhaps some part of her thought that if she didn't move then the world would stay still and she wouldn't have to go back.

Shirley observed the lack of response and movement from the science officer - the complete lack of recognition of her surroundings. The EMH stepped through the isolation forcefield with a slight shimmer then walked closer to Ullswater to observe her in more detail. The young woman didn't appear physically injured and Shirley could see her chest slowly rising and falling. She was certainly alive, but appeared catatonic. "This will only take a moment."

Just as she'd done with Darius, Shirley approached the biobed's LCARS monitor above her head then tapped away at its functions to initiate detailed scans of physical and brainwave activity. "Intriguing..." the hologram remarked more to herself than anyone else. "Doctor Warraquim, prepare to receive analysis of the second patient." Shirley transmitted the collected data to the Akkadian doctor's console then walked out through the forcefield to consult with her.

"Scans are detecting similar activity within her amygdala, just like Chief Warrant Officer Darius. Very similar, in fact. Do you see these electrochemical patterns here?" she pointed to a subsection of the console's display. "They are nearly identical to those from Darius." Then the EMH frowned and shook her head with a programmed Human gesture. "It shouldn't be possible for two distinct biological entities to have such closely mirrored neurological responses. Unless they are telepaths, which neither of them are. To my knowledge."

"To mine, either." Allyndra wasn't surprised at the results, but what was causing this, and why wasn't she affected also? "Let's do a comparison of both patients when they came here and up to one hour pre of their displayed behaviour, please." Allyndra knew the EMH could go through all that data much faster than she could.

"That shouldn't take long," acknowledged Shirley who swiftly started to tap the console to retrieve past medical logs in the computer database then contrast them with the most recent analyses. The LCARS screen chirped and shifted configurations as the photonic doctor processed the request as expediently as possible. She completed her task within less than sixty seconds.

"Before Mister Darius became disruptive and escaped from sickbay, his biobed's EKG scans recorded an irregular heartbeat along with increasing electrolyte levels following his anesthesia," the EMH reported. "Subsequent EEG scans recorded changes including heightened brain activity." Shirley paused then displayed a new screen containing the science officer's EEG and EKG medical scans from the same time period. "Mister Ullswater's scans, however, show no such change in activity."

"Interesting. That would indicate to me that perhaps a reaction to the anesthesia causing problems, but that wouldn't explain Ullswater. Hmmm.....there was something I remember from medical school. Paired psychosis....."

Shirley's head tilted slightly to side in thought, her red hair cascading across her face and neck while her programming searched through terabytes of past and present stored medical diagnoses. "Paired psychosis. Also known as induced psychosis, shared psychosis, or shared psychotic disorder," she verbally recalled. "First reported by Jules Baillarger in 1860 with the local designation folie à deux. Two patients in a close relationship share a specific delusion and their delusional beliefs." The EMH then frowned and gave the diagnosis further scrutiny. "All past records indicate this is an extremely rare occurrence, especially with such a sudden onset. Specifically, less than 0.048 percent of all documented cases."

"Rare, yes, but not impossible." Allyndra tapped her fingers on the frame of the ship. "Let's give them both an antipsychotic and see what happens. Either way, we need to get them out of the state they are in now. Please keep an eye on them, and take a sample of Chief Warrant Officer's blood. I want to run a detailed scan of metabolites and also check to make sure there is nothing else that I missed doctor."

Walking back through Darius' isolation forcefield, Shirley knelt down to the local medication cabinet where she procured two more hyposprays. The EMH loaded one with a single dose of the required medication then replaced the vial on the other with an empty container. "Chief Warrant Officer Darius, I need to take some bloodwork then administer an antipsychotic. It will make you feel better," she explained before pressing the empty hypo against his neck. Within a few seconds, it had filled with crimson blood and she set the small instrument aside to administer the next hypo. A soft hiss sounded when she injected him, then she returned the blood sample to the isolation tray which maneuvered it outside of the forcefield for Warraquim to take.

The EMH repeated her procedure with the science officer, entering her isolation field and procuring a fresh hypospray with the exact dosage for an administration of antipsychotic medicine. "Ensign Ullswater, I need to administer an antipsychotic. This will help you feel better," she explained.

As the holographic doctor addressed her once again Ullswater became very tense. Her eyes screwed shut as her mind was desperately searching for some concrete thought to latch on to but it couldn't find anything through the fog (or was it maybe smoke?). She sat up in a shaky motion and opened her eyes to meet the hologram's green eyes but immediately looked away, unable to hold that eye contact. She pulled in her legs and buried her head in her knees, trying to scrunch up into the smallest little parcel she could.

The Human's stress reaction was quickly noted by the EMH who took another step closer and, using her programmed bedside algorithms, attempted to reassure the woman. "We believe you're suffering from a psychotic disorder. We're only trying to help you." She pressed the hypo gently against Ullswater's neck then placed it in the isolation tray before walking back out through the forcefield with a shimmer.

Allyndra went to analyze the blood sample and, while it was going through a detailed analysis, watched the interaction of the two with the EMH. She knew something was going on, and she was fairly certain nothing had made it back. A beep indicated the analysis was done and she poured over the results.

"Doctor, when you are finished."

"I haven't gone anywhere," dryly remarked the EMH who then stepped close to the Akkadian chief medical officer. "Have you made a discovery?"

Allyndra only chuckled. "Have you been putting in Vulcan mannerisms in your matrix. Never mind, don't answer that." She tapped a section on the display. "Here we go, various metabolites and stress factors that indicate that the chief did have a reaction. I think we've solved one mystery and perhaps the second. If our patients settle, I would like them both to see the counselor." She looked Shirley straight into her holographic eyes. "Would you concur, doctor?"

Shirley scrolled through the LCARS display's various sections with non-humanoid precision, evaluating the different medical procedures available from all known species within the Alpha and Beta quadrants. "Hm," came a simple comment in a neutral tone of voice. She continued to compare the physiological data collected from the ensign and chief warrant officer with various treatment plans contained within her database. Finally, the EMH lowered her holographic arms and turned to Warraquim. "I concur this is the safest course of action without performing an invasive procedure. However, I calculate the chance of successful therapy to be roughly 41.849 percent with a twenty-point deviation due to the lack of available data surrounding this syndrome."

"I will take the near 42% chance otherwise, it is a 100% chance that these two will be discharged from the service on a medical. I'm going to set that up for them. Mandatory counseling and any relapse into an incident that has happened will be medically discharged and mandated to the nearest mental treatment facility. I want to salvage these two, and I think it can be done." Allyndra fixed the EMH with her full attention. "I need you to monitor the progress of the anti-psychotic and will leave it to your capable hands if they snap out of things, then release them and assign light duties with what I just discussed." She went to turn away but paused. "I appreciate your efforts, doctor."

Although the EMH's features remained neutral, she was surprised by the agency the non-photonic doctor had just granted her. Finally. Shirley suddenly didn't feel like a supplementary crew resource and was instead being treated as a crew member. Well, perhaps not quite the same as the rest of the medical personnel, but it was a welcome sensation which her neural programming quickly processed and repeated in her head. "Understood, doctor. I'll continue to monitor them and contact you if any issues arise while you're off duty."

"Thank you doctor." Allyndra needed to update her medical log.

[OFF]

--

EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

ENS Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

RSS Feed