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Pollen Effect/Treatment?
Topic Started: Sep 7 2009, 08:07 PM (361 Views)
Lieutenant T'Mar of Twelve
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(Cont. from Episode 2 Discussion. Last post by Liz Archer, 7 September, 5:22 pm)

Well, that's several very valid ideas we could use. Currently, what has been established in posts about the pollen from T'Mar's research is that it effects both the respiratory and nervous system, and produces a drug while inside the synapses. The actual creation of a life form from scratch seems very advanced, but like Liz said, the Tritons are likely to be experienced in the use of genetic engineering in plants. Perhaps this life form is found on Liz's body, and is somehow reverse engineered to destroy the pollen.

Liz, you say no one has been affected, but actually Lan made this comment in his post:
Azon Lan
 
When the Tritons had delivered their 'gift' to the crew, Commander Simmings had had an even worse reaction to the pollen that had affected the Captain than she had and had died within hours of inhaling it.

Which poses a slight problem to that idea, though it could be the pollen was engineered to seek out a rare genetic marker, which while rare happened to be shared with Archer and Simmings.

The idea of her condition remaining uncured and her simply adapting is very interesting... If you support it, Liz. How she would get by with the pollen escapes me thoguh... not only is her mnid being decieved by violently realistic hallucinations, she has lost all sensory and motorary capability due to the pollen blocking her synapses.

I definately wouldn't have put so much detail into my first post if I'd foreseen this... No matter; more challenge= more fun :D
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Lt. Commander Jennifer Ashman
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I would presume her reduced reaction to stem from her unique physiology. Correct me if I'm wrong, skipper, but from what I've read, nebular radiation that should have killed Archer instead served to make her body more resilient than the average human's. Whereas the unfortunate death of miss Simmings (a device we should use sparingly with our stunted crew) is likely indicative of Archer's condition, if it can be termed as such. The Tritons may have intended to kill her using the plant, and while one of our officers did, in fact, pass on, our Commander was lucky enough to have been merely incapacitated.

Has T'mar yet had the opportunity to perform an autopsy on Commander Simmings? Her body may hold clues as to the pollen's deadly method, which may in turn allow us to ascertain what allowed the Captain to live.
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Captain Liz Archer
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Jennifer Ashman
Sep 7 2009, 08:57 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, skipper, but from what I've read, nebular radiation that should have killed Archer instead served to make her body more resilient than the average human's.
The radiation that changed her dna did not come from the nebula.. ;) , it came from a sun with a very unique composition. This sun and its solarsystem is hidden so starfleet could not know about it! The whole thing is still a mystery to be unraveled. There is a reason why she survived. She got help from someone, ... somebody! :D
Edited by Liz Archer, Sep 8 2009, 07:20 AM.
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Commander Alister Maxwell
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T´Mar and Ashman. Remember to post your discussions in the current ep. Your discussion is great !!!

Here are som Sweeping Electron Photographs of pollen. Hope you get inspired. I really love their structure, very unlike materials I have studied myself

Posted Image
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Lieutenant T'Mar of Twelve
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Jennifer Ashman
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, skipper, but from what I've read, nebular radiation that should have killed Archer instead served to make her body more resilient than the average human's.


Shhh... it's Sci-Fi! :D

The idea of an autopsy didnt occur to me actually, good thinking. Considering the effectiveness of a normal medical tricorder, i think the 25th century equivalent of an autopsy would have been instantly performed after death. Perhaps T'Mar of Twelve will review the sensor logs with Ashman to find a conclusion? They could rule out the differences between Simmings' and Archer's physiologies; Archer is a Betazoid/Human hybrid, Simmings was Human. I presume Archer's unique longevity is known to Starfleet? T'Mar would have it in her medical files, and could come to the conlcusion with Ashman that her superhuman resistance allowed her to survive the pollen.

Oooh, pretty pollen :D Yeah, they do have nice shape to them...

And don't worry, Max; we're currently working on a JP via PM to coincide with their combined research.
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Lt. Commander Jennifer Ashman
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Liz: I doubt anyone but Liz would have any idea what happened to her in that system. However, since she had been overcome with amnesia, it seems as though nobody has a chance of knowing. Her more-or-less superhuman attributes are no secret, though. Nosy scientific types like Ashman would share a more-or-less superhuman fascination with it.

Alister: Thanks! That does give the 'investigation' a new dimension. I also want you and everyone else to know that as of my last amendment, T'mar and I may be taking half the discussion into our JP. This may even go smoother utilising equal parts discussion and improvisation, but we'll see.

If the episode moves beyond the promotional dinner, we can implement a time shift in the JP, but I still want to post the big finish to the simulation. Let me know when you guys want to move on.
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Captain Liz Archer
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I agree Ashman, it must be known to most people! Liz wouldn't like the special treatment or attension.

I would like to add that Liz unique dna resequencing makes her by no means a 'superhuman'. When she is hurt she bleed and so forth...

As I see it what has changed with her is her lack of aging physically and perhaps she is more tolerant than what is usual. No one really knows what is going to happen in the end, if she will ever grow old or if she will die when she pass 100 earth years?

Her amnesia was not a result of the radiation, it was something that was done to her by the ones that in the end saved her from the fate the others suffered, simple so she wouldn't remember anything about their 'home' and tell the world about it. By taking her to their 'home' and ultimately exposing her of their suns radiation.. she changed into one of them. Of course she does not know this..

I am playing with the idea of species which world lies outside the timeline that we know about,.. well something like that. Their solarsystem lies actually in a pocket in the space-time continuum. Actually It could be a mix of species, does not have to be one. *coughs*.. i should shut up now.. ::grin::
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Lt. Commander Jennifer Ashman
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Pfft. Posting within the same 60 seconds as each other. Hope this is some sort of omen! ;)

Anyway, I agree. Whereas Simmings was a complete Human, Archer has a Betazoid parent (father/mother, or both being Human/Betazoids? I cannot find the notation), which may have reduced her reaction. However, it is probable that the mutation also had a hand in her survival.

Also, I had a thought yesterday during my last addition to the JP. If this flower were actually produced with the intention of killing a particular target, the output of its pollen may be attenuated for a more economic dose to the target. By which I mean Simmings may have died not because she did not have Archer's unnatural/racial resistance, but because she received a much larger dose.

Of course, this would imply that Simmings may have been 'sneezed' on by (if, perhaps, not gradually exposed to the) plant while doing something as innocent as delivering a PADD to the Captain. Thereafter, the Captain may have walked around her couch (if she has a couch?), saw Simmings laying on the floor, and, before she could notify sickbay, getting 'sneezed' on again.

To address why the Captain or her family never noticed a strange plant lurking in their quarters: A Triton hid the plant (or a seedling that grew into the plant) on the underside of the aforementioned furniture, and once the time was right (i.e. it grew into maturity) it waited for the right being (likely a anthropoid) to come near enough for it to shower with pollen. Like a venus fly trap, but with sneezing.

I admit that a death by getting 'sneezed' on by a flower is sort of humorous in context, but I can't think of any other verb to describe a rapid expulsion of pollen! It's a sneeze! And as an afterthought, should we be worried about new plants growing out of Simmings and/or Archer's bodies? Pollens generally don't work like seeds (to my knowledge) but this is an artificial/alien plant! It could happen!

And Archer: I probably just spent too much time typing during your post. Cool ideas, though! Nobody knows about any of this, of course, but there are a lot of curious people who would want to! And not just in-universe either. ;)
And another thing! The Archers' quarters would likely be quarantined until the residual pollen was/is filtered.

This also brings up the question of how the two of them were found. If it was by another crew member, they may have gotten a minor dose as well. But maybe Storm found them? Detected the danger and had them transported directly to sickbay with all the appropriate precautions?

Whoah. Maybe I should shut up for a little bit myself! :hehe:
Edited by Jennifer Ashman, Sep 8 2009, 01:02 PM.
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Captain Liz Archer
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He he, I don't mind some comedy to this!

Does this mean Archer's quarters are off limits until it has been cleaned out? Can't remember the English word...

What if this plant spread into the ships systems in a future episode or in current?
Ahh, that is the word, ...Quarantined! Thank you!

Hey, we thought about the same thing at the same time..funny!
Jennifer Ashman
Sep 8 2009, 12:52 PM
This also brings up the question of how the two of them were found. If it was by another crew member, they may have gotten a minor dose as well. But maybe Storm found them? Detected the danger and had them transported directly to sickbay with all the appropriate precautions?
If this has not been defined earlier, you can make something up!
Edited by Liz Archer, Sep 8 2009, 01:23 PM.
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Lieutenant T'Mar of Twelve
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This is what I get for not keeping an eye on the discussion thread -_-
Having the plant engineered to lock onto Archer's genetic structure, either personal or species-al, sounds interesting, but how would the Tritons have gathered an eadequate sample of her DNA? as far as I remember, they never even met face to face. And also, the Tritons have never heard of the Betazoids, ruling out species-al (stupid word, I know) targetting. Unless you have an idea to compensate?

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Lt. Commander Jennifer Ashman
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That is what I had meant. If the plant attacked Simmings the first chance it got, then perhaps it was only waiting for a humanoid to approach it when it became fully mature. The Tritons may have predicted that they would have no more use for the Interceptor after a week and planted a trap (pun... quasi-intended) to dispose of the crew once they had outlived their purpose.

While it could have been intended for any humanoid, the Simmings-then-Archer theory indicates that it also couldn't have been intended for any specific individual, either. It could have been designed to attack humans or semi-humans, perhaps not by breeding it using human matter, but perhaps by planting it in a place where humans are the obvious majority. It may develop by absorbing ambient human wastes (hair, skin, etc.) and adjusting its functions to produce pollen that affect humans the most.

Revisiting the 'plants growing on the victims' thought, I know I'm not the only one here that recognizes pollen as a sexual construct, and rarely as a weapon. The aforementioned adjustments may actually treat the human matter as an example of a female counterpart to the flower, copying the most essential chromosomes, flipping a few around, and building a new hybrid life form (the pollen, in this case) capable of 'fertilizing' a given (or any given) human cell. A new plant would, of course, grow out of the body and skip the entire latency period, as the next generation of pollen will already be programmed to fertilize the potential mates that are the rest of the human crew.

Holy damn. That turned out a lot scarier than I thought. I want tickets to this movie!

POST-NOTE: This may be a sub-plot for now, but I think this may be an excellent plot for an episode prior to the Captain's revival. A real nail-biter!

Hmm?
Edited by Jennifer Ashman, Sep 8 2009, 09:51 PM.
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Lieutenant Azon Lan
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LOL and to think I was just trying to find a way to effectively and neatly dispose of Simmings. :D

I love the scary movie idea there Ashman!
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Commander Alister Maxwell
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Great discussion guys.
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68710.html

Some input from this episode perhaps? This side of Paradise :)
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Lt. Commander Jennifer Ashman
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Alister Maxwell
 
Some input from this episode perhaps? This side of Paradise :)
Interesting. The sneeze of love, and not of death!

We could take elements of that storyline under advisement, I think. For example: After being pollinated, a crew member would experience a change in behavior, a tell-tale symptom that they have been infected. I would even like to see a reversal of sorts, where the change does not hinder their reasoning or work, but in fact triples or quadruples the effectiveness of their skills!

In a matter of days, dozens of the crew are keeling over, while the ship is working at optimal efficiency. Suddenly, the Interceptor is attacked (or something) and the warp core threatens an overload. An infected engineer attacks the problem head-on, even though they should be holed up in their quarters (or receiving treatment?). They have just enough time to avert the disaster before falling unconscious to produce more flowers.

A double-edged sword, you see. Though this would be dependent on the second generation (and onward) of flowers producing a gradual dose, rather than one large dose.

At least... that's what I got out of the suggestion. Just brainstorming!
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Lieutenant T'Mar of Twelve
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Wow... we may need a few more episodes for this... I foresee a nice story arc beginning to take shape :)

I thought of bringing up the fact that pollen is a gamete myself, but I couldn't think of any application of that function. But an actual new plant being created would be very interesting.]

In the matter of the current episode, I say T'Mar returns to Sickbay (as she will in the JP) and soon after finds that the pollen has cleared partly, only to be replaced by these lifeforms we've talked about. They are still single-celled, but soon begin to multiply and develop. That's all I can come up eith for now :D
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