Degrees of Separation

[Faith Augustin]

7th Saun, 717

"I'm not entirely sure why you study here when you have an office," Professor Carter said and sat down next to her in the library. Faith smiled at him and put her pen down.
"It doesn't seem appropriate or fair to study during my work breaks. I do my study outside of work," she explained and Professor Carter smiled, shaking his head slightly. She was, there was no doubting it, a strange one.

"So, what are you studying?" Professor Carter asked and Faith considered the best way to explain it.

"Blood," she said and he raised an eyebrow. "Blood has parts to it. I know this without a doubt. There is the red blood and the clear blood. Both of them seem to act as blood, but professor, it's strange." He seemed to agree with that assessment and Faith smiled at him briefly, even though her expression was intense and focused. "My red blood hurts you, if I put it in you, you reject it. But my clear blood? That seems to be something that I can give anyone. How is that? Because I can take my own red blood back. So it's the red blood which is unique or individual or categorised somehow. I'm presenting it to the seminar group tomorrow with the aim of adding it to my studies"

John Carter looked at her and realised that yes, she was entirely serious. No, she wasn't having some kind of an episode and yes, this stack of books next to her was probably just the first step. He gestured for her to carry on and Faith smiled, aware that there was an acknowledgement there. "I want to set up an experiment, to find out how to separate out blood. I'm going to ask Padraig to help me, because I need to build a device." As Professor Carter's eyebrow shot up Faith smiled. "Nothing big, I don't think. I can separate out my own blood into red blood and clear blood," she was going to have to come up with better names than that, "but that's because the blessing of Famula means I have a spirit in my blood."

Sometimes, Professor Carter thought, this job was just weird.

Information

Since this is pretty "out there" stuff, I thought I should link the threads where Faith has got to this point.

Thread	Summary
Gods Only Know	Faith and Padraig take a trip through the body of Treid. When Xiur's blood reacts with Treids, and again when Padraig uses their blood to eject them from the body of the Immortal, Faith realises that there are different elements to blood and also that not everyone's blood is the same
Testing Faith	Faith is in a class when she is thinking about how to put blood back "in" to someone. Famula interrupts, so she stops the train of thought.
One Oath Too Many	Faith is faced with an impossible choice and tries to separate out blood in order to save both a mother and her unborn child. Famula is there, too!

[Faith Augustin]

"So, you have a spirit in your blood, therefore you can separate out the red blood from the clear blood in your blood? Are you sure that the clear liquid isn't actually the spirit?" Professor Carter looked at her and Faith nodded. She was quite sure about that, yes. So that meant that she had more questions, different questions she explained. He gestured for her to explain to him what it was she was doing and so, Immortals help him, she did.

"I know only that mortal humans have this," she said and she wore a frown of concentration. "So, I need to devise a way to separate out the blood liquids. I know one way, but I want to find out if there are others. Then," she was on a roll at this point it seemed. "I want to find out if all mortal races blood has these two aspects. Then, animals. Once I have a clear baseline, then I can start experimenting."

Then, she could start experimenting? Professor Carter looked at her and wondered if he'd have to ask. He didn't think he would. It was strange, he knew Faith as a quiet and shy student who had become a generally quiet and relatively shy associate professor. He'd heard that she was confident when she delivered lectures, though, although he hadn't sat in on any. Yet, when she got something in her head, he'd seen no one more passionate.

It seemed, this was in her head.

"Yes, first I want to find out the chemical and alchemical components of the two types of blood liquid," she said. "Melting point, viscosity, Ph level, freezing points. Those sorts of things," she waved a hand like it was obvious what she was talking about. He determined that he'd ask a chemist what ph level was next time he saw one passing by. "Are they the same, are there similarities between the two liquids? What about the different liquids in each race? Are all red blood liquids of a particular viscosity? Or do all clear blood liquids have the same Ph? Maybe Sev'ryn clear blood is more acidic and the red blood has a greater alkalinity in order to counteract that?"

Professor Carter raised a hand and looked for all the world like he was going to surrender. "Alright, so a thorough investigation of the two types of blood across the races. I understand."

Faith smiled and looked at him rather sheepishly. "My apologies, professor. I get carried away, I understand that. It's the way that I serve all the people that I can." Professor Carter shook his head, dismissing her apology. It was, he knew, an act of worship to the young woman.

"It's good to see someone passionate in their work. So, tell me, what's the end goal for this?"

[Faith Augustin]

It was rare that a student looked at him like Faith did in that moment and professor Carter was suddenly very aware that she was dumbing down what she was telling him. To help him understand, to make it accessible to him, this young woman was explaining in simpler terms than she was thinking, to assist him.

When did that happen!?

"The end goal? I have no idea. But at the moment, I want to understand how I can use my blood, your blood, anyone healthy, their blood to help someone in surgery. To give them blood to replace what they've lost." Faith looked at professor Carter and she sighed. "I know how it sounds but why not? Why not? I was in professor Hamilton-Smith's class and I asked why we couldn't put someone's blood back into them. He told me I was being foolish, well I'm not." John Carter had to resist the urge to salute at her. Faith, meanwhile, had flipped over into forceful; a situation which happened rarely although Padraig would recognise it as a symptom both of her determination and the pregnancy which they had told no one about yet. "Blood is Famula's domain and this is part of service to her." Faith acted, as she always did, for Famula,for Vri and for Moseke. Her actions were to prolong life as long as she could, so long as it was the will of those three Immortals. Every action was dedicated to them.

"In so many of the surgeries which we perform, it is blood loss which is either the direct, or the indirect cause of death. If we can put the clear blood liquid back into someone, then they might be able to fight, to stay alive, to be more likely to live. That's just the beginning, I genuinely believe." She was correct, John Carter couldn't disagree and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a long way away, Professor Carter, I know that. But if I never start to study it, it will never get any closer, will it? Can you imagine what this could do? It could transform surgery. So many of the diseases which are currently incurable could have hope."

He couldn't deny it, if she could pull this off, there was no doubting it that it would be amazing. So, he nodded. "You have my support, if it helps?" Faith looked at him and smiled, a sudden and beaming smile.
"It helps a lot. More than you know. Thank you."

[Faith Augustin]

Faith watched as Professor Carter left after giving her a smile and a brief squeeze of her arm. Was it just her, she wondered, or did he look more like he was escaping rather than leaving? She was more than a little obsessed and clear about what she wanted to do, she knew that, but still. Thankfully, he had been very supportive to her throughout her time here and she was sure that he would forgive her, even if she had made him want to run away and reconsider their admissions policy.

With a sigh, Faith lowered her head once again to the books she had been looking at. There were a number of theories about blood, some of which suggested that it was one of the four liquids in the body which must be kept in balance or which, if not balanced, would lead to issues in the personality. She had long ago dismissed that theory as total nonsense, but this made it even less likely.

What amazed and worried Faith was how little they knew about blood and the differences between blood of the different races. Biqaj blood was silver, everyone knew that, but why? What about it was different? She had spent a number of breaks researching and had found a number of theories but no actual fact. Faith was finding herself more and more full of questions and less and less in receipt of answers. It was frustrating and exciting all at once and she knew that, in preparing this discussion topic for their next seminar, she was going to be creating a lot of questions amongst students and probably Professor Carter, too.

So, she lowered her head and she started to prepare her notes. Mostly, they were what facts she could glean and what questions that left her.

[Faith Augustin]

In preparing for the seminar the next trial, she had three sections. What we know, what we think and what questions to ask. Those were each further split up and Faith started to pull together the many and varied notes which she had made, in order to ensure that she was completely prepared.

In terms of what was already known, the truth was that it was not very much. Blood was life, yet not every race had it. Yludih were the most noticeable and well known race without blood but naerrick, too, in their true shadow form couldn't possibly have blood and everything else was just an illusion. How, then, had Lakia scarred, Faith wondered. How could it be that the Naer had a scar on the palm of her hand?

She had written a number of notes, each one labelled and with the source clearly identified. What they knew about blood was that in those races which had it, that it was necessary for life. They knew that Biqaj blood was silver, yet the blood seemed to work the same. This could only be surmised, however, by the fact that medicine and surgery worked the same and that blood loss worked the same and so on.

They knew about the heart, working as a pump and how heart rate was an indicator of health. Also, Faith had undertaken an extensive study of hypothermia and the effect of extreme cold and sub-zero temperatures on blood flow. Now, Faith knew that there were two distinct liquids in blood, it was made up of at least two components. So, they knew that there were a lot of things they did know, but also a lot of things they did not.

It was to what they did not know that Faith turned her attention and there the list grew.

• Do all races with blood have both types of liquid?
• Biqaj blood- consider the specifics here.
• Chemical make up (viscosity, ph level, melting point, freezing point) of red blood and clear blood.
• Patterns, comparisons and contrasting.

[Faith Augustin]

The next trial she would need to be ready to present the information, to discuss the importance of her idea. This would be an important first step towards 'selling' this. Faith wondered if she might be able to apply this to the study of the spread of diseases as well as applied to those diseases currently considered incurable. There were important questions, she knew, like whether the clear liquid from a human could be used in a surgery with a Sev'ryn or Biqaj and vice versa. It all needed to be looked at and it all needed to be considered, but it would all take testing and time.

If the university allowed her to pursue this it would make things a whole lot easier. The study of blood would be useful both to the study of the spread of disease and the curing of those diseases which were currently considered incurable and which Faith was working towards moving into the realm of curable. More than anything, the young woman knew that she had to get the university on board and this study of blood would be another step.

So, she looked back through her notes and began to put together a timeline. For the rest of Saun, she could gather samples and data, build up information. Then, in Vhalar, she would be able to look at comparisons between races, determine patterns and identify the possibilities for both the application to the spread of diseases and the consideration of different diseases in different races, genders and locations if she could.

And she could at the very least contact people in Rynmere and Viden; the university and academy in those two places. That would give her information from each of the three places and would allow her to gather data. Which meant, of course, that she needed to get the permission of the Chancellor of the University. Whilst Faith was able to use the Eclipse Portals, she would rather do it properly and not use the fact that she was allowed access to the portals by virtue of having taken part in the expedition.

However, for now, Faith was ready and she pulled together everything and looked up. The library had more than half emptied and she was due home. Padraig would be finishing work soon and so Faith gathered up her stuff and made her way to his office.

[Pash Raj'oriq]

Thread Rewards

Faith

Skill Knowledge:
➳ Persuasion: Explaining the impossible
➳ Persuasion: Persuading your mentor to support you
➳ Research: Parts of blood
➳ Research: Differences in blood between races
➳ Research: Putting together information
➳ Research: Using a range of sources

Other Knowledge:
N/A (nothing ventured, nothing gained)

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: New medical breakthrough +2
Devotion: Famula +2, Vri +2

Points: 10 These points cannot be used for magic.

— ⟡ ⟡ ⟡ —

Comments:
I really appreciated the info links, and while I’ve already read all of those threads (what is wrong with me?), it was helpful to skim back over them and remember how everything linked together. Faith’s poor coworkers and professors! I can’t wait to read all about the different kinds of blood.