//------------------------------// // Hospital // Story: Mass Effect: Element of Kindness // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Chapter 121 Hospital Let the Princess go, she’s way more knowledgable on magic depletion. 47% Luna signed and looked typed a message into her omni-tool. “I will be going Captain, I would be remiss if I let one of the few subjects I have here to perish without me doing the utmost to help. Doubly so for one of the bearers.” Shining gave her a respectful nod in return. “As you wish, Princess.” “You go meet your appointment. Having those sets of armor ready would be a massive boon to our efforts were we to find our home again,” The Princess said as she closed down her workstation. “I'll meet you soon at the hospital, Fluttershy.” “See you when you arrive. We're on the fifth floor, emergency room four.” Fluttershy closed the call again as she likely was busy filling in the doctors about pony physiology. “We shall meet up later again, I need to go.” “Of course, I'll be over at the hospital once I'm done as well.” With that Luna strode out of her little building, across the street to a taxi parking area where she got one of the shuttles to take her to the hospital. Once there she found the hallways relatively quiet so she could stride swiftly to the emergency room was located, multiple doctors walking in and out of the room and moving equipment. “Is this the room my subject is in?” Luna asked of one of the doctors. The asari looking over and making an awkward little bow. “Yes it is, we were told by miss Fluttershy to wait with any serious treatment until you arrived.” The asari led her into the room where Rainbow lay on the bed, Fluttershy sitting at the edge of the room so she wasn't in the way of the doctors. Rainbow, though, looked like a mess. Her hair was blackened and at least half the length it had previously been, her armor that had already been black was only charred further and around its neckline blisters were plainly visible for anyone to see. “How much do we know about her injuries?” Luna asked as she lit her horn for a scan of her own. “From what we understand she was subjected to an extreme amount of energy, scans revealed that her skin below the bodysuit is completely burned away. Her internal organs seem to be fine which, considering the state of her skin, is a bloody miracle. We're prepping to remove the armor and undersuit so we can access and tre-” “You can't,” Luna interrupted as she looked up from Rainbow briefly and once again lit her horn, the armor becoming slightly translucent which revealed the burned mess that lay below, a faintly glowing red gem embedded in her undersuit under the main chest plate. “Understand that our species has a very tight connection to magic and miss Dash here is completely out of hers… and that's not even the worst of it.” Adjusting the spell slightly, Luna made the undersuit light up in a faint red aura. “The gem on her chest has been the driving force in keeping her alive, I can feel it trying to heal her skin even though it's practically not there anymore.” “So removing the undersuit and element would disturb that?” Fluttershy asked getting a nod from the princess in confirmation. “We can't leave it on either though, our scans revealed that what remains underneath is fusing with the suit itself!” the asari doctor protested, bringing up a hologram with the particular scan open. “If we don't remove it now it might very well not be possible to ever take it off without killing her, not to mention that leaving it on might be just as lethal.” “Can't we treat her through the medical ports in her armor?” Fluttershy asked, trying to see if there were other options but only got the asari shaking her head. “Half of them have molten shut and we can't treat something like this where all of them available anyhow.” Fluttershy rubbed her head as she went over all the information she'd just gotten. “So to get this all straight, we either take off the undersuit and risk the Element stopping its efforts to keep her alive or we leave the undersuit and armor on and have a chance she succumbs to her injuries?” “Leaving it on also means she won't ever be able to take it off ever again,” the asari added, “We also don't know how it'll affect her movement, this isn't exactly something we deal with often.” “If the Element does its job well then it's my opinion it won't affect her in the slightest,” Luna chimed in as she refocused on some small patches where the red magic wasn't active, the tissue below cleanly bound to the undersuit and had none of the damaged scarrings that covered the rest of her body. “That's amazing… and impossible,” the asari gasped as she saw the healthy tissue. “I'm sorry but I don't have a good understanding of how this magic of yours works. My medical recommendation is still to remove the undersuit, graft some skin from her neck, and clone it to give her a brand new skin.” “That's provided she survives the removal of the suit in the first place,” Luna pointed out again. “What is the survival chance of the procedure, doctor?” Fluttershy asked, swallowing as she trembled slightly. “Something this extensive? Honestly, one in ten is probably a positive estimate,” the asari admitted, sending a cold chill down Fluttershy's before she looked over to Luna for her assessment. “Better than one in ten but even I have to admit I do not know what the element is exactly doing, they're mostly an enigma to me as well. My assessment is just the best I can give with what I can see and sense.” “But she'll most likely have a permanent reminder of what happened fused to her body.” “Yes.” Fluttershy looked back over to the unconscious form of Rainbow as the room was uncomfortably silent, Luna and the few doctors in the room quietly looking at her. “Why are you all looking at me like that?” Fluttershy asked as she noticed. “Well, from what I've gathered Rainbow Dash practically considers you her next of kin if anyone should make this decision it should be someone she considers family. Fluttershy's face became even paler than before, looking back at Dash's peaceful form, old anxiety she hadn't felt in a long time bubbled back up along with the associated doubts. They want me to choose… how can I pick between two options that might kill my best friend… 1. Have the undersuit removed and graft new skin. 2. Leave the suit on and let the Element do its thing. [Vote link]