etraya | un: Dankovsky

[Daniil will not prove him wrong.]

Lidocaine. 2% solution. [Daniil wasn’t afraid of needles, apparently.]

[Daniil could be a good patient, too. But he really let it all fall by the wayside in an emergency situation. Behaving was for mundane days.]

[Daniil nods.] Very well. [He sits up straight, though his posture had hardly slackened in the meantime.]

[ Not bad medication to bring into Pollux, but Jack hopes Dankovsky isn't saving it only for his personal use. Hard to say when any trip outside can result in injury or coming across those injured. Presumably, the doctor does more than autopsy the dead and create patients if he's carrying around medication.

Jack settles back far enough to perform the exam. ]

Follow my finger.

[ He moves it up and down and from side to side. He watches Dankovsky's reactions, for any tics, or any other signs of cranial or motor issues. ]

You're from Etraya. [ Not a question. ] How long have you been there? Where and when are you from before that?

[ He does a lot of autopsy and what has amounted to funerary services and counseling. He has since branched out to scavenging medicine, reconnaissance, and reducing enemy forces. He doesn’t love that last one, but the enforcers have forced themselves to be dealt with. And Jack has already dealt with the consequences of Daniil’s information gathering.]

Yes.

[ Daniil is able to follow his finger properly, thankfully.]

I had only been in Etraya for… [ He pauses. ] A month? Six weeks or so? [ Its been two months. Unclear if his confusion and timekeeping is a recent issue. ] And before- I am from the Empire, well known otherwise as Russia. 1920, September. But I was pulled from a Town on the Gorkhon, in the steppe. I was dealing with containing a plague.

Edited 2026-06-01 15:01 (UTC)

[ Small blessings that it could be worse. He can provide support for a concussion, but imaging options are limited and not helpful in this case. Jack looks at Dankovsky again at the lack of clarity for how long he was there. Etraya isn't a war zone if they're Pollux's backup. Sure, there isn't the usual social markers to a week any of them might be used to, but it shouldn't be too hard to keep track of time.

He notes it mentally. ]

Extend your arms sideways. Then bring your pointer finger to your nose.

[ He doesn't know the name Gorkhon, but Russian geography isn't his focus. Plus, different worlds can have different names. That's fine. ]

If you've been away that long, then it didn't come with you. That's good to know. We don't need a plague here.

With some extraordinary luck, I seem to have a natural immunity to it. I would know if I’d been infected, as the incubation time is the shortest I’ve ever seen in my life.

I don’t carry it either. I’ve looked at my blood to be sure, and it’s easy to find under a microscope. But yes, that is indeed the last thing anyone needs. [ This is an oversimplification for everyone’s sanity. ]

[ He is able to do so with no trouble with his eyes open. ]

Epidemiology isn’t my specialty, though it may as well now be. What is your expertise, Doctor?

Natural immunity. Any idea what makes you immune?

[ 1920 doesn't exactly give Jack high hopes on that front, but the man was studying and trying to cure the plague. He could have been doing something that would appall today's medical associations using himself as a guinea pig.

He sits back and appreciates that a CT would be recommended if he had access to one, but he's not concerned about needing to perform immediate emergency surgery on the doctor's head. At least not yet. There's always five minutes or five hours from now. ]

Emergency and wartime medicine. Basically, this shitshow.

[ Well… If he’s going to ask. He’s not too sheepish about this, as it is observable fact. But there are aspects he won’t want to explain. That might be impossible anyway if he’s dealing with a fellow curious mind. ]

I seem to have a blood abnormality that prevents the sand pest from properly attaching and populating. I have these silver blood cells. I call them amalgam, and I think they’re positively influenced by ingesting mercury.

[ He doesn’t want to say that they store physical time. That sounds insane, and he’s trying to pass a neuro exam right now. He would suffer the humiliation of retreading his antiquated understanding of medicine. ]

I haven’t had enough time to properly understand it in the seven days I’ve had studying it. I have been much more occupied with routing the source of infection and developing vaccines with blood from patients with intercurrent illness.

[ It genuinely just sounds like this old-timey doctor is ingesting enough mercury to kill anything that enters his system. And maybe he has a blood abnormality? Maybe he’s going insane? There’s a lot to interpret here. ]

[ One eyebrow inches higher, not at the name sand pest (plenty of diseases have all kinds of names) but at silver blood cells. Like most people, Jack's familiar with red blood cells and white blood cells. Silver is a whole new concept, and he lacks the context to know whether the concept should be grouped with miasma or t-cells.

Unfortunately anatomy can differ between worlds, even ones that seem awfully similar. ]

If we get the chance, I'd like to get a look at your silver blood cells. I'm curious, but I'd be remiss not to raise some concern about the mercury. Even if it helps your silver blood cells, any mercury they don't absorb will get attacked by your body. The dose makes the poison and all, but I don't have any chelation medications on hand.

[ He doesn't talk down to the man. They're both doctors, but people used mercury to treat syphilis for centuries. ]

Seven days isn't a lot of time for one person to do traceback or develop a vaccine, much less both. Not that it's our primary concern here. Our epidemic is violence.

[ Daniil has the sense that Abbott is a better man than he is, by far. He would certainly mock him were the roles reversed. ]

I didn’t bring my microscope. I wish I had, now. I usually don’t travel far without it if I’m working, if you can believe it. All medicines are poison on some level. …But I haven’t taken any mercury since I’ve arrived, to be clear.

[ He seems sheepish about it. He desperately wants to fight against being perceived as novel in his archaic medical knowledge. When Jack says “it’s not a lot of time” he lets out a mirthless laugh. ]

I wish I could bring you back there so you could tell this to my patrons. But no, it’s not. [ He sighs. ] I’m in the middle of an exam here. What would you like me to do next?

Odds are it'd have ended up like your nose. Better it's waiting for you back in Etraya than here.

[ If Dankovsky means his own world, that's another matter. However, Etrayans act like their AI is a whole lot better than Castor, and Castor gave him everything he asked for. So he hardly imagines the Etrayan AI would deny Dankovsky something as simple as a microscope. ]

I'd rather not get sand pests. Besides, epidemics and outbreaks get everyone uneasy and impatient.

[ Jack waves a hand. ] As best as I can tell from the exam, you're fine, neurologically speaking. But I have to ask, is it normal for you to shoot someone to try to get information?

[ That could be a sign of a problem, even if Dankovsky replies yes it's the most normal thing in the world. That could come from an altered mental status. Neither is easily treatable. ]

It’s not. I abhor death and violence. I don’t even try to shoot people trying to kill me …Typically.

[ Daniil puts his hands in his lap and frowns. ]

It made sense at the time. [ Daniil rubs his chin and furrows his brows. ]

I’d found him on a tip from a Polluxian. I asked him a few questions, but he’d started lying to me, and then he tried to get away before answering. [ That is distinctly not the order of events. ] And it’s life or death out here.

[ Not typical. On the plus hand, that means Jack hopefully won't receive many more allies as patients at Dankovsky's hand. On the other, it raises questions about his mental status. ]

I've served in war. I understand how much it puts on the line.

[ He slowly reaches out to squeeze Dankovsky's shoulder, ready to abort if it isn't wanted. ]

Even with all the training soldiers get, it's a lot of pressure. That's why we have rules, chains of command, and a lot of other essentials we're lacking here. So I get it.

I'd also like you to stay under observation for a while. Stick in camp. You can still do autopsies and help out here. But it means I'll be on hand if shooting Castor is a sign of some worse injury you have.

[ There are many questions about his mental status well worth looking into. ]

My father was in the military, and I was raised and expected to enter service as well. I did not. But I’m typically put in charge when no one else wants the responsibility of making choices when none of them are good, just so someone can take the blame.

[ Daniil looks up at Jack with a wide-eyed surprise. He doesn’t pull away or say anything for a moment. But it feels real and impactful, like someone genuinely cares about him and has the means and experience to help him in a way he has not really felt in a long time. Perhaps ever. He takes a moment and just wonders if this is what he should be doing, instead of his current deplorable bedside manner. ]

[ Don’t fall apart now over such a simple gesture, Dankovsky. ]

Observation? Do you think I have a concussion? [Or something else?]

[ He wants to bristle more, lash out, argue. But he’s very tired, and Jack’s manner has put him at ease. …And it’s reasonable. He knows the injury was bad. He knows he’s had multiple head injuries just days apart because of those damn enforcers. He knows he hasn’t slept properly all week. ]

[ He knows he shouldn’t have shot him. There was certainly other paths. He’s ordinarily more careful. This outcome was… Fine. But it was sloppy for him. But maybe that was just stress. He’d made serious errors before. ]

[ Jack's well familiar with the need to make decisions that could end poorly, that make the difference in how many people live or die. It's not all battles and gore. A hundred different things can make that happen. It's a lot of pressure and stress to put one person under. That builds up over time, and it takes a toll. God, he knows it takes a toll. ]

Indecision is still a decision. There's no way out of making hard choices. It's good we can make decisions. It increases the odds a better decision gets made, but hoo, that's no guarantee we make the right one.

[ We, Jack says, to include himself. Surgeons, hospital administrators, plenty of folks freak out at some of the decisions he's made. Admittedly, those decisions are usually risky moves to save a patient's life, not creating a patient. He gets it, though. He does. ]

I'd be surprised if you don't have a concussion, and in the state Pollux is in, if something goes wrong and you're out there, it'll cost you a lot more than it would in what I'm assuming are much better circumstances in Etraya. It will cost everyone. We don't have enough doctors as it is.

[ The man needs rest, to pause and to breath. Pot kettle and all that, but Jack isn't the one who shot someone. Someone not trying to kill him. He'd hardly be concerned if Dankovsky shot an enforcer. ]

When's the last time you ate?

I don’t remember.

[ Which sounds especially bad in his context. But he just doesn’t. He’s sure he’s eaten, he must have or he wouldn’t be standing, but his brain hasn’t saved that information at all. ]

You’re right. There aren’t enough doctors as it is and I can still stitch in any state.

[ He rubs his face with his hands. He knows he’s an excellent doctor. What was he thinking going out there? Especially like this, there was no chance to revise his choices. Still, he moved this all along. Accelerator told him so. Two things could be true though. ]

I should just stay and recover for now, though I spoke to a few people about infiltrating the tower. I wonder how close we could set up a tent, or if we could be hidden somehow, in disguise. I’m concerned that any injuries sustained there are too severe to make it back here in time.

[ He did also shoot some enforcers. But he’s not proud of that. Those feel like a big, ugly stain on his soul. ]

Then eating is your next order of business.

[ Before stitches, before autopsies, before anything else. It's part of recovering, and Jack doesn't want Dankovsky going out and having to make those high pressure decisions in the same state that led him to determine that shooting someone (not in self-defense) was the right decision. Not that it's impossible to get into trouble here, but here, there's an eye or two on him. ]

The tower's dangerous. Anyone getting too close risks becoming the very patient we're trying to help.

[ Jack closes his eyes and sees too many people he couldn't help. Every single trip near the tower he's taken involves them. People he liked. People he didn't. People he barely knew. They all didn't deserve to die like that. ]

You've got a point, but you're not in the state to problem shoot that right now. I don't know if there is a solution. I've risked going close a few times. Nearly died each and every time. Problem is, every Polluxian knows what stance every other still living Polluxian has taken, and since we know that, we can identify an Etrayan easier than a European tourist.

It'd be a good problem to solve, but unless one of your peers has a very specific superpower, I don't know if we can.

[ That doesn't mean they don't do it, but it means Jack doesn't say that right now while Dankovsky's in this decision making state. ]

[ “European tourist” feels incredibly pointed with how Daniil generally is, but he lets it pass. ]

Alright. I’ll eat something. Then I’ll come back here and rest right over there. You can wake me when you want to rest, or if you need a second pair of hands for surgery. I can’t do heart or anything too small and delicate, my hands aren’t steady enough. Romano’s barely steady enough by his own admission.

[ He heaves a sigh and crosses his arms. ]

But if anyone here needs heart surgery, they’re already well and truly screwed. Do we even have any units of blood? If they’re going to send a contingent to the Tower, and I know some have already gone there on purpose, then we’re underprepared.

[ He rubs his face and shakes his head. When tasked with “quit problem solving” he quite literally cannot. There’s no time. But he couldn’t afford to make worse and worse errors.]

I can think of people with specific powers. Maybe we just need to trust them. All they really have to do is install the new AI, and now they know where to look. How are you managing, Doctor? You must be tired as well.

Edited 2026-06-02 18:39 (UTC)

[ "European tourist" has nothing to do with Daniil and more to do with the way so many Americans assume people of color are foreigners but not white people, like European tourists. They have to open their mouths first, so their accents give them away.

The plan is sensible enough, so Jack feels no need to alter it. ]

Sounds good. I usually sleep in here or right nearby too. Oh, and I'm a night owl. I worked the night shift back home, so I catch what hours I can during the day and am the first one on things at night.

[ Three people aren't exactly enough for real shifts, but they may as well be aware of what each other can or prefers to do. ]

We have some blood, mostly mine. I try not to do more than two units a patient.

[ Jack shakes his head as Daniil discusses more and more beyond their control. Not that Jack's sure what anything thinks they're going to do about the Tower when they lose all their powers, and enforcers keep theirs. It's a death trap that keeps printing bodies. ]

Guess it's harder to plug a human body or brain into a server system, and that's what Castor has now. [ What's a new AI going to be like? At least he knows what to expect of Castor. ] Lets leave it to them. We don't have to be the hero personally every time.

And me? I'm fine. Tired, sure, but this situation's what I've got decades experience in.

I’ve had a week of it back home and I’m not too shy to say I hate it. Did I tell you this town didn’t have a hospital already? They had a theater, which we had to move all the seats for beds. They had me up on the stage doing examinations. There wasn’t bright enough light anywhere else. Which… [ As he considers the tent around them. ] It had real walls, at least.

A night owl, are you? I am, too. I prefer the peace and quiet, but I’ll do what I must.

[ His misophonia is probably too severe to survive a modern ER. He looks around, orienting himself. Right. He was meant to eat. He wanders off and comes back with something prepared by someone else at camp and a cup of coffee. He doesn’t even pay attention to it as he eats and starts to feel more like a person. ]

Right. I had heard about you, but I don’t think we were formally introduced. There’s always something more pressing, isn’t there? I’m Doctor Daniil Dankovsky, thanatologist. It’s been good, and a relief to meet you. [ He has a tired, breathy speaking voice, but a commanding air.]

Epidemics and pandemics are... hard. [ It hasn't been that many years since his last one. He lost so many patients then too. Coworkers as well. That time before they understood the virus was hard, and it hasn't ever entirely gone away. They still deal with it. ] Not every rural town has a hospital, so that makes sense. You don't want to introduce a disease to an uninfected area and make things worse.

[ He pats the edge of the tent. ] This is the most permanent medical station I've had since the hospital got attacked.

[ There's always work to do here, so Jack works until Dankovsky gets back. ]

I knew your name was Dankovsky because I saw your post. This is a better introduction. I'm Doctor Jack Abbot. Unfortunately I don't think thanatology will get us out of this emergency.

No, perhaps not. But it will help, as it already has. I don’t get queasy around corpses, and I’ve already drawn useful conclusions from my work in the morgue. More coddled doctors would have broken down by now.

[ his eyes follow his hand to the tent itself. Now that was depressing. Weeks of this? Months? God.]

Still, I’m used to proving myself. I’m still an excellent diagnostician and I have recently trained others in phlebotomy, wound care, edpidemiology, and microbiology. I’m an experienced administrator at my institute, having served on the board. All in the pursuit to battle death, you see.

[ It’s a lot of gloating, but it’s true. And he does make himself useful. He makes it annoying to really resent him in the big picture. He also distinctly doesn’t look his age, which pads out the sort of respect that he’s greeted with. ]

…But no, you’re right. I think it’s up to those kids with the copy of the AI. All we have to do is survive. Speaking of… You know, Dr. Romano and I were talking. Maybe you’ve grown attached to your tent, but perhaps you’d be interested in staying alive long enough to come back to Etraya with us?

Coddled doctors don't stay in the ER. [ So only people he sometimes works with on consults, and even then, anyone who regularly visits in the ER doesn't stay coddled for long. So it's not the brag it may be meant to be. It doesn't impress Jack at any rate. ]

What have you learned from your work in the morgue? [ He's honestly curious, and it provides the chance for Dankovsky to prove himself in fact, not only credentials or theory. The gloating means little to him. It's information to note the same way anything a patient says is. ]

Lets say these kids set up a new AI. What's next in Pollux? End of the war. Goodbye death tower. What else? If Etraya's the only way to stay alive, I'm not an idiot, but I don't know what I'm comparing here.

A lot, genuinely. What happens inside the tower is largely a mystery to us. Yet a dead body can only tell you the truth.

I’ve documented the injuries, frequency, the types of bullets, age of wounds, relative decomp- so we know how many people are in which groups. I checked blood and stomach contents to see if they were being fed or drugged.

This all serves largely as risk assessment and information gathering on the nature of what happens inside the Towers so our people can be prepared. After all, everyone who leaves is typically dead, so we cannot learn otherwise.

We had a serious blind spot in the information. I was able to build an accurate picture for those who are potentially willingly entering.

[ Daniil places his hands behind his back as he continues to speak comfortably at length. ]

This also tells us valuable information about the man we are up against, to form an accurate psychological profile as well as a motive. “Who is capable of such things?” we ask ourselves. Even what vague information I gathered from Castor points to this conclusion. It must be Scylla, or we’ve a second all-powerful psychopathy in our midsts.

[ The question Dankovsky answers may be the one he knows more about, but it's also the one that lets him show off his skills. Both are matters where more information is better, so he listens to what answers he gets. Jack cannot help but shake his head a little at the implication people might—might—willingly go into the tower that kills so many people. However, it's also possible Dankovsky means it to help those that get kidnapped.

He lets the man talk and waits until he's done. ]

Have you communicated all this to the general public? I'm glad to know, but I'm not the one heading into the Tower.

I have. It’s more difficult without a typewriter, but I made three copies by hand and posted them. I do have very neat handwriting. Unusual for a doctor, I know.

[ He would put it on the network, but he’s not trying to have more conversations today. ]

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