Catharsis of Cthulhu

It takes you a while to finally catch up with Doctor Hall. His vital signs, along with Doctors Dahlik and John, continue to move in tandem along the starboard side of the ship. You follow them with as much speed as you can muster. You have to keep stopping to pick up the weapons and ammunition of fallen soldiers. Though your own strength is more than enough to put down the infected crew, bullets are faster and much less messy.

Suddenly, you sense Doctor Hall's vitals jump. You immediately recognize the signs of an injury and signs of shock. You work to pick up your pace.

Finally, you catch up with them in a small storage bay, where they had closed themselves in. You quickly dispatch of the small knot of infected around the door and clear them out to stand before it.

You knock politely, "Doctor Hall, Professor Dahlik, Doctor John?" you call. "Please open the door. I have eliminated all volatile persons on this side, there is no danger at the moment."

You can hear a small scuffle on the other side of the door, along with some elevated voices. But, after only a moment, the door opens to reveal the beaming and relieved face of Doctor Randal John.

"Oh, gosh, 23! Thank god that you're here! We were pinned down," he gushes.

Dahlik is wearing an obvious expression of disgust and malice. Hall is in the corner. His face seems drained of color and you can see the source of his situation is the large gash in his leg.

"Yes, I had observed your plight upon tracking you here and eliminated the infected that were outside. May I please enter?" you ask, worried that more will be drawn towards the sound and smell of your strife.

"Oh! Yes, yes, of course!" John exclaims, stepping aside to allow you in.

Dahlik remains unhappy with your presence, but Hall seems to relax once the door is closed.

You immediately move forward and place a hand over Hall's wound, attempting to staunch the bleeding.

"Doctor Hall, you are going into shock. I am going to use one of my lasers to cauterize the wound. Please hold still," you advise as you tear the fabric of his pants to clear the wound of flammable materials. "Were you infected with their body fluids at all?"

"No," Dahlik snaps. "They've started to use weapons. He was caught with a blade."

You nod your understanding.

As you burn the doctor's wound shut, you relay to him how you had observed the chaos of the Medical Bay and your encounter with Doctor Scrofa. You also explain that you sought him out for his guidance, as he is the Team Leader and you no longer have permissions to decide course of action yourself. Of course, this is almost entirely superficial programming, as you have been making decisions yourself this whole time. But, you intend to avoid the repair shop for a while. Some of the new coding they're coming up with is difficult to break.

"I see," Hall says in disappointment, wincing as you finally finish closing the would. "What Scrofa said is disturbing, but should could have just been driven insane by the infection. The way she ... passed even more indication of just that. In that case, we still don't know where we are, then. We need more of an idea of what this thing is."

"Catharsis was the one who first seemed to loose it," Doctor Hall comments, almost off-handedly. "She bit Scrofa and everything just seemed to go downhill from there. We only just got away. We need a plan of attack."

Doctor Hall thinks for a moment, before he seems to decide on a course of action. "23, you don't have any issues with the infected outside, do you?"

"No. I am much stronger and faster than them, especially in their damaged states. And, even when they attack me, I am not a biological creature, so there is no tissue for them to infect," you explain.

"Great. Listen, would it be too much to ask you to go back to the mold where this all started and get a sample. We need to know what we're dealing with."

"Of course, Doctor Hall. Right away."
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