First Reply Bedside Manner at the Morgue

[Zelannia Arcrin]

The coroner hummed a tune under her breath as she tidied her instruments. Behind her, a droid finished disinfecting the room and moments later another body was wheeled in. Busy night. She did not mind one bit. Most who volunteered for the graveyard shift did so for the extra pay or the calm. The pay was nice, but she liked to keep busy.

She was less fond of the barely-sentient apes she had to interact with during the day shift.

Fortunately, people died at all times of the day. Especially addicts and drunkards.

"Oh my. Nicely preserved, aren't you? That's what I like to see.~" Skimming the accompanying notes, she pulled a scalpel from its tray, placed it against the torso... and then paused. Frowning, she placed the scalpel back in its place and retrieved a scanning tool.

Sighing deeply, she strolled off, then returned after a minute or two with a syringe filled with a mixture of bacta, adrenals, and more exotic chemicals. Soon after she injected the substance into an artery, the body began to shake violently, then cough, and finally its eyes shot open.

"You are supposed to be dead." The pale doctor's tone seemed downright accusatory.

 

[Théodoro]

Zelannia Arcrin
​

Théodoro jolted upright, looked at the doctor, then turned away and tried to throw up over the side of the cot. Tried to -- his stomach had been empty for what felt like months. His body felt thin, light and yet incredibly heavy at the same time, as though he'd been left to the sands of Thyrsus to wither and die.

But he was not dead. Where...

He flexed his fingers. His hands were pale, his nails long. Everything hurt.

He dry heaved again. After a few seconds he found his willpower again and turned to the woman- creature- who seemed to have woken him.

"Who are you?"

 

[Zelannia Arcrin]

As the body - patient - dry-heaved over the side of its - his - bed, she wrinkled her nose.

"Doctor Zelannia Arcrin. Do stop retching; I will be most displeased if you contaminate my dissection bay."

Retrieving a tablet from a nearby table, she glanced at the report and then back at him. "Name? Allergies?" The report had a name, but it had not been verified yet. She might as well test his memory and his honesty in one go.

Off to the side, a droid approached with a piece of cloth. The purpose eluded her for a moment, but he was quite naked, wasn't he? Perhaps something to cover himself with would heighten his willingness to cooperate.

Théodoro​

 

[Théodoro]

Zelannia Arcrin
​

He managed to swing his legs over the side of the bed. His body felt cold; he could almost feel his blood slowly flowing out from his heart, as though his veins had been frozen.

"Théodoro Pirran. I don't have any allergies."

A droid came over with... a pair of underwear? He took it and put it on.

"Where are we? And where is my armor?"

 

[Zelannia Arcrin]

Zelannia typed something on her tablet, nodded once at his response, and typed a bit more.

"You look like shit." In her professional opinion he was due for various treatments and examinations, but first she wanted to figure out how he had gotten himself declared dead. That sort of thing made them all seem unprofessional.

"In some storeroom or another, I would imagine. Assuming no next of kin have collected it." Based on the dates in his record, it was too early for it to have been auctioned off. If someone had done so anyway - well, that wasn't her problem.

"It says here your cause of death was soullessness..." Her tone was exasperated. "Ring any bells?"

Théodoro​

 

[Théodoro]

Zelannia Arcrin
​

He furrowed his brow in concentration, trying to remember. A hand came to his head, only for him to pat around and realize he'd grown a beard, and that his hair had become long and unkempt.

"I was taken..." he murmured. "That woman -- Antares. I was pulled into something- somewhere. And-"

His eyes widened slightly. "I was in the Sunless place," he said. "Hell."

 

[Zelannia Arcrin]

"She sent your soul..." The word was spoken in an acerbic tone, as if its utterance was a personal insult to Zelannia and the concept of scientific objectivity. "... to 'hell'? May I ask how?" If it could be replicated she might be able to finally procure some hard data. Unfortunately, the Jedi were unlikely to offer their assistance.

The kind of experiments she had in mind ran counter to their core ideals.

"What is the full name and organisational affiliation of this 'Antares'?"

Given the partially corroborating information in his file, she would treat him as if he was sane. For now.

Théodoro​

 

[Théodoro]

Zelannia Arcrin
​

"Madalena Antares. She was- of the Agents of Chaos. Force-sensitive. She did something, I think -- I'm not sure how it worked," he admitted. "But I thought my body was there as well- we're not on Rodia, are we?"

 

[Zelannia Arcrin]

"Hmm," She responded, typing the name into her tablet. "She's not in my files."

Given the circumstances, a search in SIA's database might have been more suitable, but she did not have access to anything of the sort. Her slicing might be good enough to correct medical files, but the SIA were another beast entirely.

"We are not, no." Like before, she paused to look through her files before continuing. "You were brought to Coruscant due to the mystical nature of your injuries. The Jedi were unable to correct your 'soullessness'." Reading between the lines, it was clear that their failure had made him an undesirable expense. With no hope of recovery, the plug had been pulled.

The fact that he had recovered soon after was quite embarrassing.

Théodoro​