Cryogenics 101

[Faith Augustin]

81st Ashan 717

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It had been some time since Faith had agreed to work with Professor Til'na. He had wanted her to be his student, him to be her mentor, but his area of expertise was not what she wanted. It would have been prestigious, it would have been easier, she knew both of those things, but Faith had no interest in prestige and she was not concerned with easy. So, she had refused his mentorship for her Charter, but had agreed to work with him on the effects of sub-zero temperatures on flesh.

For him, it was about field medicine. For her, it was about surgery but the University had been pleased that one of their students was working with a professor of such stature and so Faith had been told by Professor Carter that she was able to go to his office and spend the trial with him.

Where she had seen him for maybe ten bits. During that time he had given her a pile of reading to do and told her that he expected it done, with notes and questions prepared by the time they left for Ishallr on the 91st. They were going to spend a trial there, as it was the coldest place in Scalvoris. Faith was happy to do so, it would be part of her contribution to the expedition Padraig had been on earlier in the season. Once her trial with Professor Til'na was done, she was going to spend two further trials mapping a particular cavern in detail. Faith didn't know the details, but that was fine. She didn't have to.

So, she had the pile of papers to read which Professor Til'na had given her and a deadline by which to have read them, made notes on them and the prepared questions. That was a full time job in itself, she considered, looking at the pile and she smiled ironically as she considered that it was a good job she didn't have work and study and family commitments too. Except, of course, she did. Still, it was an opportunity and she would make it work. If it meant that she had to get up when she first woke and revert back to sleeping four breaks a night for a few trials, Padraig would understand, she knew. More than that, he'd support her every way he could.

Sometimes, even after this time, nearly half an arc, she worried that she was going to wake up and it was all going to be a dream.

Though the pile of parchments brought her back to the real world and she considered with a smile that if she did not get started, she would never get finished.

[Faith Augustin]

If it was a new field of study, Faith wondered, how was it that there was so much already written? With a sigh, she curled her legs up underneath her and sat back. Having collected up what she needed to, she had returned home and now sat on the sofa in the living room. Cosmo, their Nightpup puppy was asleep next to her and Quattro, their strange little four-tailed Tangura cat was draped over the back of the sofa, snoring gently in her ear.

Faith started at the first research paper, as instructed by the professor. A lot of what he had given her was not about freezing flesh as a medical treatment, she realised, but it was about the causes, implications, progression and fundamentally everything to do with hypothermia and the impact of sub zero temperatures on the whole body. That made sense, she had to admit. When she knew what the situation was with the whole body, she could consider whether she wanted to target it and, if she did, how she would do that.

The notes that she took were clear, and first she wrote about the stages of hypothermia. What was key, she thought, was that the body seemed to almost disregard the extremities. People lost feeling in fingers and toes and the blood supply seemed to cease very early. Was that a fault of design or was it something which was purposeful? The body, Faith understood, was a wonderful thing and it maintained balanced and sought for it. Yet, in cases of hypothermia, the body seemed to pull away blood supply. Was that because of survival instinct?

That was interesting to the dedicated young woman. Did the brain function the same way? If she froze part of a brain or subjected it to sub-zero temperatures, would the brain 'pull back' in the way the rest of the body did? She wasn't sure, but it was worth to consider, Faith thought

However, as she continued to read, she realised that she couldn't use the cold temperature in the generalized way she had wanted to during the surgery which she was growing increasingly sure would be the answer. If she cooled Nir'wei down, to a certain extent that would be good. But not too cold otherwise his blood would cease to circulate where he needed it and it would pump too hard in the vital areas. Neither of those were good things, so when she found that the second paper was on the optimum temperatures for the human body, she made notes and put them to one side,
ready to cross reference with the texts on Sev'ryn anatomy she had.

[Faith Augustin]

Freezing temperatures, Faith would be concluding if she did not already know, killed flesh. It was akin to a burn in a lot of ways. She knew this as a doctor, but also as a chef. In this paper, however, Faith was reading about the effects of cold on the body and the desire and need to sleep. It really did slow down the body, it seemed and she couldn't help but think that it would be helpful in keeping Nir'wei asleep during the process. She needed to be able to access his brain in order to be able to get rid of this rot and that was where she needed to start.

Sitting, legs curled beneath her, Faith's mind was working overtime as she considered the ability granted by her Zuuda ability, that ability to regulate her temperature and she looked down at the parchment she was reading. As she did that, she caught sight of her fingernails. The blessing given to her by Vri. Faith looked and she felt a wave of irritation wash over her, aimed entirely at herself.

The blessing of Vri allowed her to put herself into a state close to death. A trance so deep that she appeared, to all intents and purposes, dead. That meant that she had that power in her, somehow and Padraig was an alchemist of, to Faith's mind, limitless potential and knowledge. If it wasn't limitless then it was certainly beyond miraculous and Faith was sure that there would be something that he could help her with. If she could put Nir'wei into a trance like that, then it would make the surgery a lot easier, she knew that.

There had to be, Faith considered again, a medical means of doing this. Some medicines and poisons slowed the respiratory system. Could that be done in a controlled manner? Sure, it had to be possible, she made a note to look at it and continued with her reading.

Off Topic

Purchased 10 x medical text books from ledger (advanced medical texts)
10 x nonfiction books =100gn -10% (fame) = 90gn

[Faith Augustin]

Some of the drugs which alleviated Nir'wei's symptoms were hallucinogenics, taken as recreational drugs and yet they worked to prolong his life. She couldn't argue with that but right in the moment, Faith had to focus. Having moved on from the physical symptoms, the next paper professor Til'na had asked her to read was one which dealt with the effects of the cold on the patient's comprehension and cognition.

As one grew progressively colder, as hypothermia set in, the patient lost lucidity. That was interesting, Faith considered and she frowned slightly as she made notes. Did that mean that the blood supply to the brain was also compromised? Or was it the reaction of the brain tissue to the cold? More notes, carefully scripted and Faith realised that she was writing a lot of questions. She hoped that Professor Til'na found that acceptable. Yet, the simple truth was that every statement was the cause of another question or a multitude of them.

As hypothermia became more and more severe, so too does the individual get more and more confused and disoriented, this was without doubt. What was unclear, of course, was why. But still, there was even more strangeness to uncover yet.

In the final stages of hypothermia, Faith read, people tended to express feeling very hot. There were a number of theories as to why this happened. One suggestion was it meant the body's ability to feel cold had a limit and, once that limit was reached, the experience flipped into the opposite extreme. Another suggested that the muscles and reactions which had caused the blood flow to lessen simply failed and all the blood rushed back; the sensation of heat was indicative of the difference in temperature between the blood and the extremities.

She wrote it all down, diligently. It might all be useful. She couldn't find what time difference there was between the confusion and the experience of overheating, which often led to patients undressing in an attempt to get cool. There were also a number of instances of people who had experienced hypothermia who had either attempted to burrow into the ground or who had hidden in small, enclosed spaces. No one knew why that might happen as it had only been noticed as a finding once corpses had been discovered. Still, Faith noted it.

Once she was done, Faith gathered all her notes and then started again, but this time turning them into a summary of her summary, with key points and questions. She then made a copy for Professor Til'na which meant she could keep the original. They were going to the ice caves of Ishallr the next trial and, considering what Padraig had told her, she knew that her Zuuda mark and its abilities would come in handy. There was no denying it, though, Faith was nervous. Unlike Padraig, she was going and mapping one particular room where there were a number of strange phenomena. That was all she knew, but she and the Professor were going to work there together examining some of the bodies which had been subjected to the extreme cold over the long term.

Having read everything she could, and made all the notes she could, Faith gathered up her things and turned her attention to getting their evening meal ready. Tomorrow, she would be able to see the impact of cold on flesh in action and she was both excited and a little nervous.

[Arlo Creede]

Review: Rewards

Faith

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 0/5 (Solo)
Structure: 5/5

Knowledge:

Etiquette: Assisting the professor can also mean being his lackey
Logistics: Having information ready
Logistics: Keeping a copy
Medicine: Using an Immortal's blessing to aid your work.
Medicine: Combining medicine and alchemy
Research: Organization speeds up the process
Research: In order to focus you must understand the big picture
Research: Careful notes aid clarity
Research: Application of a technique to a new source
Writing: Make your notes clear
Writing: Ensure that you identify links
Writing: Construct questions clearly
Writing: Summary of a summary

The Rot: Might respond differently in Sev'ryn
The Rot: Will need surgery to cure
The Rot: Sub zero temperatures might combine with existing treatment

Fame: N/A
Devotion: N/A
Loot: N/A
Magic: These points may not be used for domain magic.

Comments: Nice little thread. An interesting and informative read. As an admitted and unashamed nerd, this kind of thing is right up my alley. You know the drill, I'm just a pm away.