Order of Adunih Outpost
22nd Cylus, 717
22nd Cylus, 717
If Tio was to describe the way his mind worked, it would be like the side of a steep, snowy mountain. It was mostly unbalanced, easy to get lost around, and when a single new idea landed on it there was a good chance it would set off an uncontrollable avalanche of other ideas that often got out of control. Most of these ideas were good, but chaotic. Every so often however he had ideas that he thought were good at the time, but turned out to be really, really terrible.
And earlier that night one of these terrible ideas had popped up in Tio’s brain. The order of Adunih was perhaps the most trusted medical organisation in the world, and as such was trusted with some of the rarest, and most expensive, medicine… probably. If he could steal some of that medicine it could sell for a fortune on the black market! Well… providing he could figure out which medicine was the expensive one anyway.
And so that night he had sneaked into the order of Adunih headquarters, an easy task considering they left their doors open permanently. Unfortunately medical training had taught the members of the order who resided there to be perceptive, and sneaking around them turned out to be quite tricky. Tio had counted himself lucky when he slipped into a room to avoid one of the green cloaks sniffing around and found a wardrobe containing a small pile of blue cloaks the same kind as all the Adunih members were wearing. His mission would be a heck of a lot easier with a disguise, especially one with a hood he could conveniently use to hide his face.
And so, without a second thought, Tio had grabbed one of the hooded blue cloaks and wrapped it around himself, then used his Sesser powers to sprout a thick handlebar mustache. He took a moment to look at himself in the mirror and adjust his expression and body language to look the same as the doctors he’d seen walking around earlier; in desperate need of rest and/or more coffee but with a million more things to do today ahead of them, and stepped out into the hallway.
And immediately regretted it.
“Oh doctor! Thank Moseke! Mr Sarecco in room 24 has taken a turn for the worst, we need you right now!”
Before he knew what was happening Tio was grabbed by an unknown pair of hands and marched down the halls without a chance to get a word in. In what felt like a single trill he was thrown through the door to a room in the medical ward, which slammed shut behind him with an ominous bang, leaving him trapped in with a sickly looking patent lying in a bed and what seemed to be a human-avriel hybrid looking at him in confusion.
“Umm… who are you?” The half-avriel asked. Oh bugger! If people found out he’d disguised himself as an Adunih member in an attempt to steal their medical supplies they’d lynch him! Being exposed simply wasn’t an option he’d be able to survive, which left him with only one course of action!
“Who am I? WHO AM I?! Has the standards of the new recruits really dropped so low that they don’t even recognise the great Heimlich Schimmermimmerman? Rynmere’s premier medical pioneer!” Tio declared, giving his cape a dramatic swish. The key to pulling this off was confidence; confidence and intimidation.
“But… But you’re a blue cloak…” The mixed race replied unsurely.
Tio made a gesture as if swatting a fly. “Bah! Typical greenhorn!” He shouted. “If you let a piece of coloured fabric decide how good a doctor you are then you’re destined for mediocrity. A doctor is not made by his clothes, but his heart! Now enough chitchat, what’s your name?!”
“Oh-... um… Rami… but-…”
“Look sharp Romi! We’ve got work to do!” Tio demanded, deliberately cutting her off before she could bring up any questions. Storming over to the patient, a short biqaj man in his late forties with a face currently as pale as chalk, he grabbed a tool that looked like a magnifying glass from a side table and began examining them in various important seeming places.
“Hmm… Yes… Hmm… This doesn’t look good, not good at all. Inform surgery to prep for an operation immediately, we’re going to have to amputate.”
Rami looked alarmed. “An operation? But-... he’s been poisoned! Why would he need to be amputated?”
Tio tutted condescendingly. “Honestly greenhorn, do you plan on ever getting a gold trim or are you going to question your superiors at every turn? Obviously we’re going to remove the Oppothermial Hypoglermiax and give him 350cc’s of Yabadabaglistocide. He should be in and out of here within the break.”
“We-... we are?” Rami now looked completely bewildered. “I don’t think I’ve seen any… Yaba-... Yabada-... that thing you just said, in the medicine store.”
Tio froze, acting as if he’d just heard something very important. “Yabadabaglistocide? You don’t have any Yabadabaglistocide here?”
“... I don’t think so, no.”
With an exaggerated sigh of exasperation Tio threw the magnifying glass over his shoulder, ignoring the way Rami jumped at the sound of shattering glass, and looked up at the ceiling as if speaking to the heavens. “They don’t even have any Yabadabaglistocide! Doctor Faith works for seven years to develop the definitive cure for a poisoned Oppothermial Hypoglermiax and the outpost in the very city she lives in doesn’t stock it!”
“Oh! You know Faith!” Rami asked, brightening up at the recogniseable name.
Tio nodded sagely. “Indeed. I taught her everything she knows. And if you stopped questioning me at every turn and started listening, you might just pick up a thing or two as well. Now tell me, what antidotes do you have around here?”
“Oh… um… I- I don’t…”
“Enough!” Tio sighed, rolling his eyes. “Just bring them all in.”
“All of them?!”
“Yes Rummy, all of them! And be quick about it!” He pointed dramatically to the door. “Go! Now!”
Rami squeaked and ran out the door. Wow, this was actually working! It had been touch and go for a while, but with a bit of confidence in his performance it looked like he was actually pulling this off. Now all he had to do was find a way to get the hell out of here without blowing his cover.
A few breaks later Rami came back, wheeling a trolley stacked with a range of different antidotes. Now if he was to just pick an antidote at random how likely was it that it would kill Mr Sarecco? As much as Tio wanted to get out of this unscathed he didn’t want someone to die because of it. So then, how to get the patient the help they needed without revealing his own incompetence?
“Tell me Runny, how long have you been with the order?” He asked.
“Umm… It’s Rami, sir.” She replied nervously. “And I’ve been here for about two arcs.”
Tio eyed her appraisingly. “I see… You know what Rainy, I think I may have been a little bit harsh on you, and for that I’m sorry. I tend to get a little bit frustrated when I see students who have the potential for greatness but get held back by a lack of confidence. And you know what Rainby, I think you have that potential.”
Rami looked happy, but still a little confused, as if she wasn’t sure whether she should be pleased or not. The poor girl was having a weird night. “You-... you do?”
Tio patted her on the shoulder in a grandfatherly fashion. “I do Rainbow. In fact you know what, I think it’s time to see if you’re ready to move up in the ranks. You ready to move up a cloak colour?”
“But you’re a blue cloak. Can you-... are you allowed to promote other people to blue cloak as well? I mean, I’m not even a gold trim yet.”
“Ah don’t sweat the details. Now come on, it’s time for your test. By looking at the symptoms of Mr Sarecco here what type of poison can you conclude he’s suffering from, and which antidote do you think should be used to treat it?”
Rami perked up, eager to prove herself. “Alright! Um… Well the lady who brought him in reported that he felt dizzy beforehand, he threw up a couple of times, and when I last spoke to him he thought I was a giant rabbit, so he seems to be hallucinating. All in all I think this is a case of Sweetwine poisoning.”
“Excellent work! Well identified! And the antidote?”
“Faldrun’s Bloom! Mixed in with some Roipo Nectar?”
Tio grinned at her and nodded his head as if he had a clue what she was talking about. “That’s it, fantastic work! Well you know what, I see that you know what you’re doing, so I’ll leave it to you to handle the patient from here. Hop to it Raincloud!”
Rami looked at him in bewilderment. “What! But hold on, I don’t…”
“Confidence Rainstorm, confidence! What did I say holds students with potential back! You are a student of the great Schimmermimmerman now, hold your head with pride!”
Before she had a chance to object Tio had already strode over to the door and, for want of a better word, fled. Like a bolt of lightning in a blue cape he shot over to the open doors, and ran away into the cover of night before anyone else could call him over to help with a medical emergency. Forget the medicine, forget the money, he was never coming back here ever again!
