Dictated

[modernholmes]

 [If anyone has happened to run into Conan over the last few days they might have noticed that he's been a little sluggish in his responses.    That his voice has been hoarse and that he seems to be sneezing a lot.  Not that anyone has had much chance to talk to him with all the running around he's been doing this week.

What is a cold compared to all the things there were to investigate here?  

Whatever this illness was, Conan had been determined to ignore it.  With the result that this wasn't just a cold anymore.  

It is the dizziness and coughing that at last force Conan to accept that he needs to rest.  He reaches out for the journal and dictates into it in a  hoarse and stuffed up voice.]

I think I'm a little sick.  If anyone needs me I'm going to be in my room.

Comments

[atadiscoverer]

[Carson places two bottles of pills on the table.]

Multivitamin. Orange flavoured, loosely. And this is for the cough. Mutlivitamin once a day, the cough remedy once every four hours, and you'll be as right as rain.

[modernholmes]

[....Don't change the topic like that. Conan scowls irritably at the bottles.]

There is no doubt of that. I'm more concerned with what will happen if you ever mention certain things in public.

[atadiscoverer]

[Carson gives Conan a look] My notes are in Ancient and there is the matter lf Patient/Doctor Confidentiality. Your secret is safe.

[modernholmes]

No secret is ever safe, when more than one person knows it.

[atadiscoverer]

If it bothers you that much, I'll leave my notes here. But I guarantee you that no-one in Paradisa at this moment knows how to read Ancient, and I have no reason to tell anyone else what I've found out.

[modernholmes]

...What did you find out? Exactly.

[He glances away heavily.] No. I can't keep any kind of evidence on this with me.

[atadiscoverer]

There's an unknown substance in your body, and your telomerase are longer than expected for your age. That indicates that you're older than you look

[modernholmes]

...I'm seventeen.

[atadiscoverer]

Sevente- [Carson pauses as he comes to an assumption]

And I'm assuming whatever caused this wasn't supposed to happen?

[modernholmes]

The people responsible still believe that their poison is perfect.

[atadiscoverer]

I doubt that any of those people are here. Surely they would be a wee bit obvious, even here.

[modernholmes]

One of them was disguised as a doctor I knew for months without anyone noticing. And even if none of them are here now, that doesn't meant that one won't be brought here in the future.

[atadiscoverer]

I might be gone by then. Besides, I'm not some fool. I won't be tricked into sharing this information. I've been a member of the Atlantis Expedition for three years, and I've gone back to Earth countless times. You think the Air Force would trust me with knowledge of the Stargate, Atlantis and the like if I talked like a fishwife?

[modernholmes]

You'll forgive me for being wary. The stakes are too high for me to trust easily.

And... I refuse to bring people into this situation unless they understand the risks. You have no stake in this. Why should you want to put yourself in danger?

[atadiscoverer]

I'm a doctor. If I can find a way to cure this ailment, I will. I'm not one to sit by and watch when I can maybe do something about it.

[modernholmes]

[Conan takes his glasses off in an annoyed gesture as he thinks. Finally he says a single phrase in a serious, quiet voice.]

Apotoxin-4869.

[atadiscoverer]

[This is scrawled down, in Ancient, no less.]

If I'm going to do any tests on this compound, I'll need blood samples.

[modernholmes]

[Conan debates with himself. He still had very little expectation that this doctor would get anywhere. It was designed to be the perfect poison, after all. Not even the woman who had created it could find a cure. Not without the original formula.

It had been designed to be the perfect undetectable poison, after all.

But as annoying as it would be to give blood samples to two scientists, it was better than revealing Haibara's role in this. He was not prepared to sacrifice that secrecy. Better to risk himself, always.]

As expected.

[atadiscoverer]

... I'm wondering if it would be worth the risk to try and wish up some of my equipment from Altantis. That means that my work will go faster and adds the security that only holders of the ATA gene can access the data...

If the castle lets me, that is.

[modernholmes]

I don't trust in what the castle provides.

[atadiscoverer]

I wouldn't trust in my ability to exactly duplicate Ancient Technology, either...

[modernholmes]

What is this ancient technology you keep talking about?

[atadiscoverer]

It's what this is.

[He shows Conan the scanner]

It's the technology from a race of aliens we call the Ancients. Mostly because they lived millions of years ago.

[Deja vu.]

[modernholmes]

...That explains this, then.

[atadiscoverer]

Aye. The Ancient Database is one of the most comprehensive databases in existance. This device is only linked to the medical side of it, so it is a wee bit odd that this Apotoxin doesn't show up on it.