un: Dankovsky | video

[thantagonist]

[Daniil posts live from a café near the museum. He has no patience for typing responses, and his own visage should explain why. His nose has recently been broken and reset. He looks exhausted and irritated, but he has a duty.]

I need a couple people to come down to the café near that absurd museum with the sewn up fruit exhibits. Bring a stretcher, we have a patient who could use some more urgent treatment.

[From somewhere offscreen, a voice that is distinctly not Daniil’s states:] This Etrayan shot me in an attempt to get information I did not possess. I would appreciate his removal from my presence.

Now- That’s not true at all. That is not the reason you were stopped. [Daniil now regrets making a video, but what’s done is done. ]

Comments

[thantagonist]

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.

[nightattending]

[ 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.

[thantagonist]

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. ]

[nightattending]

[ Jack stares at Dankovsky and waits a few seconds. The quality of his handwriting, even if it were demonstrated before him this moment, is not what he cares to comment on. ]

You know a better way to ensure everyone receives that information, and if people's safety is your top priority, you will take action to ensure everyone receives it.

[thantagonist]

… What if I have my assistants make a copy for everyone? Hand delivered?

[ He is not eager to get back on the network so soon. Please don’t make him do it. ]

[nightattending]

Hand deliveries will get people killed.

[ Jack crosses his arms. He understands not wanting to give everyone the opportunity to yell at him again after that post after he shot Castor. However, based on everything Dankovsky says he values and believes about the value of his own work, there's only one ethical choice. ]

You said your discoveries could make the difference between life and death. That means their lives or deaths are in your hands. What are you going to do?

[thantagonist]

I’m going to make a public post with all my findings.

[ And then ignore the comments unless they’re a truly genuine question. He does a poor job of hiding his displeasure, but Daniil is good at facing the music and taking the flack. If he must, he must. ]

[nightattending]

Good.

[ Jack gives Dankovsky a small nod. It will also give him the chance to assess what Dankovsky really learned from those autopsies without stepping out of the medical tent to read the version he posted by the supplies board. Jack tries not to monopolize that board, given people need things besides medical supplies to stay alive.

God, who knows how many people even pay attention to the paper Dankovsky posted next to the sign. That's another problem. It's just something easily ignored in those circumstances. ]

I know most Polluxians who've died would be glad that some good measure came from their deaths. That it wasn't all in vain.