PONID-21 Day 2 · 9:22pm Mar 24th, 2020
#general
Sally 1/07/2021 7:12 AM
Do you ever sleep, Lisa?
Lisa 1/07/2021 7:16 AM
I do, just where I can. Some jerk found a bug in the bot and got into patient info. Thankfully there's nothing really medical going on there yet.
Sally 1/07/2021 7:20 AM
A hacker? What'd they do?
Lisa 1/07/2021 7:22 AM
Integer overflow. My own stupid fault, but it's fixed now.
Not that my fingers are helping.
Sally 1/07/2021 7:23 AM
Good to hear.
Sore fingers? Mine were a little stiff today.
Lisa 1/07/2021 7:25 AM
You thinking what I'm thinking?
Sally 1/07/2021 7:26 AM
That it might be another side effect? Yeah.
How many do you think this is going to have?
Lisa 1/07/2021 7:29 AM
No idea and whoever heard of a side effect that changed one of your eyes?
The blurriness is a little worse now. It's like my eye just doesn't want to focus unless I really work at it.
Sally 1/07/2021 7:31 AM
Guess we should talk about all this in #day-2
#day-2
Lisa 1/07/2021 7:50 AM
Blurriness in right eye becoming worse, but can correct it with a bit of focus.
New symptom of stiffness in fingers and toes.
Still feel like crap from flu.
Sally 1/07/2021 7:54 AM
Fingers stiff. Still feel like crap.
Toes too.
Devon 1/07/2021 7:55 AM
Same as others. Fingers and toes stiff, back's a little sore. Felt like I coughed up a dozen slugs first thing in the morning.
#general
Sally 1/07/2021 8:01 AM
So. Many. Boogers!
Lisa 1/07/2021 8:03 AM
I know, right?
Seems like every time I blow my nose, more come out.
Hey, you guys want to have breakfast at the caf?
Devon 1/07/2021 8:09 AM
Sure. I'll head down.
Sally 1/07/2021 8:11 AM
Sounds good. I miss home cooked meals already.
Lisa 1/07/2021 8:04 AM
The price we pay for helping the world.
Subject: Department Memo
Three patients already are claiming their extremities have irregularities. Highly suggest all morning exams include nerve and blood flow testing in hands and feet. One subject reported some back pain.
—Doctor Simpson
Subject: Department Memo
How the hell did you find that out so early? Who are you? I haven't seen you in the lab.
—Doctor Bell
Subject: Doctor Simpson
Please forgive me for not introducing her sooner. Dr. Simpson is a research professor specializing in statistical analysis. They are working parallel to our efforts here and have some advanced data gathering techniques.
Afford their words the respect you would mine.
—Doctor Howards
Subject: Department Memo
Sorry, Dr. Simpson. We'll prepare testing for both neuropathy and radiculopathy in extremities, and I'll arrange an xray and sonogram.
—Doctor Bell
—private-message—
Lisa 1/07/2021 11:45 AM
Have you met Gunnar yet?
Sally 1/07/2021 11:48 AM
I haven't. Their picture hints at them being a woman, but… I dunno.
You want to eat lunch and chat about it?
Lisa 1/07/2021 11:57 AM
Sure. There was something else odd. All our patient IDs were a big string of numbers. The first few were all the same and the last few were the year. But the middle ones seem to identify us.
Me: 240
You: 251
Gunnar: 999
Sally 1/07/2021 12:09 PM
I'm in the back corner waving. I didn't realize there were so many living here now.
Lisa 1/07/2021 12:12 PM
Still not a thousand of us. I see you.
#welcome
Emergency Medical Hologram Mk. 2 1/07/2021 12:51 PM
Welcome to COVID-19 Treatment Chat, @Bob
! Please @ me and give your patient ID number.
Bob 1/07/2021 1:15 PM
What's this?
I thought this was the website the doctors gave me?
Lisa 1/07/2021 1:18 PM
Hi, @Bob
!
This is, it's a chat thing that runs in a web browser, or you can install the actual client.
We've been using it to keep in contact and track our side effects.
Bob 1/07/2021 1:22 PM
Ah. I guess this works. The first website they told me to go to was wrong.@Emergency Medical Hologram Mk. 2
113823102021
Emergency Medical Hologram Mk. 2 1/07/2021 1:22 PM
Thank you, @Bob
, your patient number is registered.
Bob 1/07/2021 1:29 PM
That's clever. So now I'll go fill my details in with the other chat like the bot said.
Lisa 1/07/2021 1:31 PM
Thanks, I put a bit of work into it. Not like there's much else to do but sit around or exercise, and there's only so long I can use those machines.
Bob 1/07/2021 1:38 PM
I was just about to hit some weights. If you don't like treadmills and machines, freeweights could be more your thing.
Lisa 1/07/2021 1:40 PM
You know what, I'll take any excuse to get out of this room. I'll see you there, Bob.
Day 2 morning exam results
1/7/21
11:15 A.M.
Subject: 113822522021Patient is exhibiting the same slight lack of feeling in toes and fingers as the others have reported. Xray shows no bone changes in the back and even a sonogram revealed nothing. Have recommended extra exercise with a focus on back muscles.
—Doctor Howards
Day 2 morning exam results
1/7/21
11:22 A.M.
Subject: 113822402021Claiming similar nerve changes in fingers and toes, we are as yet unable to determine the magnitude of such.
Ocular change in this subject has come with a slight change compared to the others, their changed eye (right) seems to suffering from amblyopia. I have advised them treatment will be available and free of charge, but for the duration of the treatment test we'll leave it as-is.
—Doctor Howards
Subject: Apparent neuropathy
We're building a baseline for each patient and will have data available for future tests to explore the rate of degradation. For now there's nothing we can do to change this. As you well know the treatment for this is to remove the root cause and await healing, but this treatment has already been administered and there is no way to stop it.
No member of staff is to advise patients on this.
—Doctor Howards
To: Dr. Peter Howards
Subject: NeuropathyThe symptoms seem to be almost universal. I have no reason to believe there is any error in this. One exception has been patient 113823102021 who just connected to the chat (please ensure all your postdocs are pushing this chat). Unlike the others, his fingers and toes haven't had those changes, but he does have the same sensations in his back as 113822522021.
—Doctor Simpson
To: Dr. Karen Simpson
Subject: Your projectYour data continues to be invaluable. I had further words in person with my staff, you will not be questioned again in regards to your data.
Thank you, again, for finding these unique data points. I'll personally oversee special testing for 113823102021 and 113822522021.
—Doctor Howards
#inoculated
Bob 1/07/2021 5:03 PM
Given treatment at the same time and date as the others.
#day-1
Bob 1/07/2021 5:09 PM
Same flu symptoms. Left eye turned orange and I think something's happening to my pupil.
#day-2
Bob 1/07/2021 5:14 PM
Just my back feels funny. I don't got the tingles in my fingers and toes.
—private-message—
Bob 1/07/2021 5:31 PM
I had a great time in the gym with you. I don't suppose you'd want to grab dinner from the cafeteria and sit outside and eat it?
Lisa 1/07/2021 5:37 PM
Is this a date?
Bob 1/07/2021 5:41 PM
If I was ten years younger, maybe. Just thought you might want to talk more about all this.
Lisa 1/07/2021 5:55 PM
Yeah. I'd like that.
Also, you're not that old.
Bob 1/07/2021 5:59 PM
So it could be a date?
Lisa 1/07/2021 6:09 PM
Let's see how it goes first.
—private-message—
Lisa 1/07/2021 6:12 PM
OMG. Grabbing dinner to go tonight. On a kinda-date with Bob.
Sally 1/07/2021 6:21 PM
The older guy? What is he, 35?
Lisa 1/07/2021 6:23 PM
36
I haven't been on a date since college.
You should see his muscles.
Sally 1/07/2021 6:26 PM
Don't do anything I wouldn't do.
So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.
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Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Ender Voidwalker
KFS Crimson
Sirion123
Vi Watch
And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Lab
Doctor Howards, are you at all concerned about these coordinated side effects? In other medical trials I'm quite certain further administration would be halted with these unexpected results.
(But what if X isn't a pony
yet?xD)Already seeing the doctor's realizing something has gone wrong and already prepping to protect themselves legally.
To Lisa.
you wouldn't happen to be an employee or former employee of the post office...would you?
Well, at least no one with a yellow eye has experienced strabismus.
Yet.
I do love layered meanings. Especially when the speaker doesn't realize how many there are.
Ah. Seems Bob didn't actually get a pony strain. Very interesting.
And yeah, crap will be hitting the fan very shortly. If nothing else, the patients will soon be able to tell who was the control group.
... There was a control group, right?
Hi! Do you see me? I'm waving!
huh amblyopia you say?..