Ace Dreamer
07-03-2012, 11:26 PM
Healthy Brains - 04/Jul/2012
Early Summer, 2008, Luna.
Brains woke. In his own room. Funny. He didn't remember going to bed.
The curtains were drawn, but he could see 'daylight' through them, from the central courtyard of the house. He didn't go to sleep during the day. Even now he lived on the Moon.
Turning on his bedside light, he saw there was a large machine, next to it, where his alarm clock usually went. Was this an Uran prank? Then he recognised it, 'The Machine That Goes Ping', a "Tehoptimum Supplies" product. One of his friend Dave's waved medical instruments, you could set up to do almost anything medical, as long as it got to go 'Ping!' every so often. Good idea commissioning one off him.
So, maybe he was unwell. The last thing he remembered was working on Doctor Venus. He'd finished, they'd wheeled her into her bedroom for incept, then when she didn't wake... It all went blank. What happened next? He didn't feel pain, anywhere. That was hopefully a good sign.
A knock on his door. Uran's "May we come in?" was also a good sign. Really sick people didn't get to choose if they had visitors. "Yes."
He was a little bemused by the crowd. Uran, of course. He quickly recognised Doctor Venus. Who was the red-headed woman? She looked strangely familiar.
"So Doctor. Will I live?" Strangely the red-headed woman passed something to Uran, who grinned. "Say it!", exclaimed Uran. "Are you sure?", returned Doctor Venus.
The doctor turned to Brains. "Tests show you've got a week to live." She paused. Brains mentally gulped. "But, the test results came back six days late." Brains relaxed, having recognised the joke. "And you wont be able to play the piano, either!" inserted Uran. The red-haired woman stuck her tongue out at her.
Doctor Venus wasn't obviously fazed by this byplay, and reached across to check Brains pulse. The machine went 'Ping!', in a slightly indignant way, and she glanced at its screen, then nodded. "You've been over-doing it, and not watching your blood-sugar level. Also, you've not been properly following your agreed exercise programme." "I told her", said Uran, "You've been getting Brainless to do the exercise runs for you. He may like them, but he doesn't need them!"
Doctor Venus nodded, "I know I'm not your appointed doctor, but it was obviously a medical emergency. Fortunately", and for some reason she glanced at the red-haired woman, "your sister as a family member agreed to me treating you". Brains boggled a bit. "I was quite amazed when she left, and came back looking like this", ended the doctor.
'But the only sister I've got is Uran', thought Brains, 'Who...' Then it dawned on him. Was there any point trying to hide things from Uran? She was wearing the customised 'squish-bot', as she'd christened them, that supposedly looked like his niece from New Zealand. And, it was to be a surprise.
"Tell me, are you a shape-changing alien to? All medical indications are that you're human, and Uran was kind enough to show me your medical records. Though, your computing equipment does seem to work in strange ways[1]. Soft screens..." Doctor Venus shook her head.
"That's private information, Uran!" Brains blustered. "And, it was passworded and encrypted too!" The hovering Uran inspected her finger nails. "You should use some better passwords. And that encryption is pretty pathetic, too. Anyhow, it was an emergency, and something in there might have let Doctor Venus save your life!"
Brains gave up on an obviously lost cause. But, somehow, he'd get his revenge. Or, at least get in a lesson or two on the importance of privacy. "No, doctor. This is the only shape I have. And thanks to you its not a bad one, at the moment. Uran is... unique." He sighed. "So, what life-style changes have I got to look forward to?"
"I want you to start a regular exercise programme. As a wheelchair user I'm surprised you aren't more careful." Brains winced. "Your diet seems reasonable, if a bit lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables. You don't seem to have food pills here, for optimum nutrition. So, unless I synthesise some, we'll need to make do with a traditional diet." Brains realised, to his horror, he'd overlooked that part of the "Fireball XL5" setting. This could be bad, very bad.
"Uran tells me you have plenty of room here, and good manufacturing facilities. That it wouldn't be difficult for you to quickly assemble exercise machines." "Yes...", Brains said, reluctantly. "A wonderful opportunity to built some which exactly match your health needs. You're paralysed, but your muscles need more lower-body exercise."
"Now. My personal situation."
"I'm told you built me, this body for me, because you needed a doctor. Uran tells me there's nothing that requires me to stay here. But that I'm welcome as an indefinite guest. She also tells me that you're prepared to pay me, for your care. Is that correct?"
Brain wilted.
Uran'd been thinking things through, far more carefully than him. 'Need doctor, build doctor.' That'd been far too simplistic a plan. But, something like an Emergency Medical Hologram smelled far too much like slavery, to him. No wonder he'd had so much trouble getting Doctor Venus right.
"Yes", said Brains, after a longer pause than he was happy with. "I realise that the ethics of it are... strange. But, you can argue that none of us choose how we arrive in the world. What's important is what we do once we get here."
"So, yes. Please consider yourself a guest here. As long as you like."
"Ping!"
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
Early Summer, 2008, Luna.
Brains woke. In his own room. Funny. He didn't remember going to bed.
The curtains were drawn, but he could see 'daylight' through them, from the central courtyard of the house. He didn't go to sleep during the day. Even now he lived on the Moon.
Turning on his bedside light, he saw there was a large machine, next to it, where his alarm clock usually went. Was this an Uran prank? Then he recognised it, 'The Machine That Goes Ping', a "Tehoptimum Supplies" product. One of his friend Dave's waved medical instruments, you could set up to do almost anything medical, as long as it got to go 'Ping!' every so often. Good idea commissioning one off him.
So, maybe he was unwell. The last thing he remembered was working on Doctor Venus. He'd finished, they'd wheeled her into her bedroom for incept, then when she didn't wake... It all went blank. What happened next? He didn't feel pain, anywhere. That was hopefully a good sign.
A knock on his door. Uran's "May we come in?" was also a good sign. Really sick people didn't get to choose if they had visitors. "Yes."
He was a little bemused by the crowd. Uran, of course. He quickly recognised Doctor Venus. Who was the red-headed woman? She looked strangely familiar.
"So Doctor. Will I live?" Strangely the red-headed woman passed something to Uran, who grinned. "Say it!", exclaimed Uran. "Are you sure?", returned Doctor Venus.
The doctor turned to Brains. "Tests show you've got a week to live." She paused. Brains mentally gulped. "But, the test results came back six days late." Brains relaxed, having recognised the joke. "And you wont be able to play the piano, either!" inserted Uran. The red-haired woman stuck her tongue out at her.
Doctor Venus wasn't obviously fazed by this byplay, and reached across to check Brains pulse. The machine went 'Ping!', in a slightly indignant way, and she glanced at its screen, then nodded. "You've been over-doing it, and not watching your blood-sugar level. Also, you've not been properly following your agreed exercise programme." "I told her", said Uran, "You've been getting Brainless to do the exercise runs for you. He may like them, but he doesn't need them!"
Doctor Venus nodded, "I know I'm not your appointed doctor, but it was obviously a medical emergency. Fortunately", and for some reason she glanced at the red-haired woman, "your sister as a family member agreed to me treating you". Brains boggled a bit. "I was quite amazed when she left, and came back looking like this", ended the doctor.
'But the only sister I've got is Uran', thought Brains, 'Who...' Then it dawned on him. Was there any point trying to hide things from Uran? She was wearing the customised 'squish-bot', as she'd christened them, that supposedly looked like his niece from New Zealand. And, it was to be a surprise.
"Tell me, are you a shape-changing alien to? All medical indications are that you're human, and Uran was kind enough to show me your medical records. Though, your computing equipment does seem to work in strange ways[1]. Soft screens..." Doctor Venus shook her head.
"That's private information, Uran!" Brains blustered. "And, it was passworded and encrypted too!" The hovering Uran inspected her finger nails. "You should use some better passwords. And that encryption is pretty pathetic, too. Anyhow, it was an emergency, and something in there might have let Doctor Venus save your life!"
Brains gave up on an obviously lost cause. But, somehow, he'd get his revenge. Or, at least get in a lesson or two on the importance of privacy. "No, doctor. This is the only shape I have. And thanks to you its not a bad one, at the moment. Uran is... unique." He sighed. "So, what life-style changes have I got to look forward to?"
"I want you to start a regular exercise programme. As a wheelchair user I'm surprised you aren't more careful." Brains winced. "Your diet seems reasonable, if a bit lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables. You don't seem to have food pills here, for optimum nutrition. So, unless I synthesise some, we'll need to make do with a traditional diet." Brains realised, to his horror, he'd overlooked that part of the "Fireball XL5" setting. This could be bad, very bad.
"Uran tells me you have plenty of room here, and good manufacturing facilities. That it wouldn't be difficult for you to quickly assemble exercise machines." "Yes...", Brains said, reluctantly. "A wonderful opportunity to built some which exactly match your health needs. You're paralysed, but your muscles need more lower-body exercise."
"Now. My personal situation."
"I'm told you built me, this body for me, because you needed a doctor. Uran tells me there's nothing that requires me to stay here. But that I'm welcome as an indefinite guest. She also tells me that you're prepared to pay me, for your care. Is that correct?"
Brain wilted.
Uran'd been thinking things through, far more carefully than him. 'Need doctor, build doctor.' That'd been far too simplistic a plan. But, something like an Emergency Medical Hologram smelled far too much like slavery, to him. No wonder he'd had so much trouble getting Doctor Venus right.
"Yes", said Brains, after a longer pause than he was happy with. "I realise that the ethics of it are... strange. But, you can argue that none of us choose how we arrive in the world. What's important is what we do once we get here."
"So, yes. Please consider yourself a guest here. As long as you like."
"Ping!"
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
