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[doc_pompous]

[ Doctor Simon Tam ☤ SCI»010»030 ]

You've reached Doctor Tam. Please state the nature of your call.

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[doc_pompous]

We can meet in Medbay, if you like. Is there something I can do for you?

[doc_pompous]

Did you expect me to have an answer, or something? I'm just as in the dark on this ship as anyone else.

[faithinmedicine]

I'll explain when we get there.

[doc_pompous]

I'll see you shortly, then.

((action it up here? log? I am game for whatever!))

[faithinmedicine]

Thank you.

[And sure enough, shortly afterwards she shows up at medical. She's made sure the silver crucifix necklace she's wearing is very visible, in the hopes that if Simon is a vampire she'll have some warning. She walks up to him, waiting for a reaction.]

((here's good!))

[doc_pompous]

[No vampires here, just a slightly bewildered-looking doctor.]

Ms. Jaggat? Is that right?

[faithinmedicine]

[Well, it's a start at least.] Doctor Jaggat, actually. I'd like to help in the medical bay, but I have a few concerns about the way the place is being run.

[doc_pompous]

Doctor, sorry, my apologies.

[Cough. Already off to a super awkward start.]

What kind of concerns?

[bribed]

[ A grunt. ] Just don't like this place.

[faithinmedicine]

[as neutrally as she can manage] I understand that the medical bay supplies blood to a number of vampires on board.

[doc_pompous]

[Hoooo boy.]

Synthetic blood, yes. We have the technology to make a functional substitute.

[doc_pompous]

I'd be hard-pressed to find someone who does.

[bribed]

If it weren't for all the creepifyin' things, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. You two wouldn't be hunted all over the ass-end of the 'verse.

[faithinmedicine]

[Not the answer she was expecting, and now she sounds genuinely curious rather than attempting to be civil] None of it's real? And it still works?

[doc_pompous]

Well, we can't be sure of that now, either.

[tl;dr smiley knows about the hands of blue somehow and this entire situation is dumb and terrible]

[doc_pompous]

It doesn't come from any humans or animals, no. Any, uh... [he pauses for a moment, not quite liking the choice of words, but finding no better alternative.]

...feeding--what little there actually is--is entirely consensual. Close friends of the vampire in question, more often than not, and I don't solicit volunteers, if that's...what you were worried about?

[bribed]

Stars ain't right. This ain't our 'verse.

[doc_pompous]

Still, I'll move upstairs. We'll keep each other safe as best we can.

['We', of course, meaning the collective 'we', not you specifically, Jayne, because that's weird.]

[faithinmedicine]

What I'm worried about, Dr Tam, is how much you know about the people you're handing out blood too and the effect that it can have on them.

[doc_pompous]

Believe me, I know this is less-than-ideal. I'm not going to let anyone starve, especially if we can make what they need without hurting anyone. There haven't been any attacks in my entire time here.

[Though honestly, this is the first he's heard about blood being used for anything besides sustenance, and he folds his arms.]

But it sounds like you have some...experience.

[To say the least.]

[faithinmedicine]

What you mean is that there haven't been any known attacks in your time here. I understand that thanks to the apparent existence of parallel universes, we have several types of vampire on board, but the fact is we can't really know just how different they are. Where I'm from, chaotic violence is part and parcel of being a vampire. The only way they can hope to avoid it is to stay off blood entirely.

So you see how I might be concerned about being part of a system that provides them with it.

[bribed]

Yeah.

... Maybe you oughta learn to shoot, Doc.

[doc_pompous]

Yes, maybe I should.

Are you...offering? Maybe that's a little presumptuous of me.

[doc_pompous]

No, what I mean is that there haven't been any attacks in my time here.

[Which is something he's admittedly surprised by, because there are no vampires where he comes from, and it's hard to trust them, but the conversation is leaving a bad enough taste in his mouth that he doesn't want to divulge those facts.]

The fact of the matter is, there are unfortunately individuals who need it to survive. If they're not attacking anyone, I'm not going to deny them food if I have the means to give it to them and those means don't harm anyone else. We encourage everyone to be as up front with their medical needs as possible.

It sounds like there's someone, or...someones you know that you think we should watch out for. If that's the case, I'd like to know who.

[bribed]

Uh. [ He hadn't been, really, but now that Simon mentions it... ]

Prob'ly better me than one o' the others in gunnery. An' it's my job an' all on here, now.