PSYCHOMEDICAL HISTORY — SUMMARY
DR. OLIVIA MORDLACK
When first discovered at Tringarrick, the remote scientific station where she had survived for twelve years since the beginning of the final revenant outbreak, Olivia suffered from malnutrition and bore a number of scars that indicated a very difficult life, including the loss of her left middle finger from a bite wound. She also carried the infection unique to her world which causes a process of revivification (or ‘revenation’) after death from other causes. Along with this, she had a form of liver cirrhosis caused not by alcoholism but by a food additive widely used in a failed attempt to eliminate the revenation bacterium. Most of her ailments were eventually cured by good nutrition and rest, while lyoxacin delivered via intracellular nanoparticle distribution was effective against the revenation bacterium. The cirrhosis could not be reversed, nor could a suitable liver donor be found. She continues to take regular medication to control the symptoms.
Psychologically, Olivia was extremely traumatised. After contact by the IU Exploration team, which brought news of her own status as the last survivor of her world, she shot two revenants kept in cages at the research station (presumed to be former colleagues), and then attempted suicide. She was prevented and conveyed to Grainger station and quarantine.
For nearly a year after arrival on Hub, she was withdrawn, taking little interest in her surroundings, and her physical recovery was slow as a result. She attempted suicide three times. Therapy proved to be virtually impossible. She was prescribed wide-human-spectrum antidepressants, which had no effect.
With time, she began to emerge from the depression and engage with therapy, but proved to be irritable and uncooperative. She is disruptive in group sessions, and was excluded from three groups she was assigned to. She shows little interest in resuming any kind of normal life, claiming it is impossible for her to update her scientific skills on an advanced world.
She suffers from poor sleep, which she claims is due to her cirrhosis, although the symptoms are entirely alleviated by medication. She also displays hypervigilance, especially at night. A cautious diagnosis of PTSD has been made, which she vehemently opposes despite the evidence.
She has formally requested euthanasia, but has not been willing to participate in the therapeutic programme prescribed for euthanasia candidates.
If the word ‘challenging’ had a human definition, Olivia would probably be it. She came in ill-tempered and sat down the same way. She hadn’t changed her clothes, nor had she washed them, despite the ease of the facilities she had access to. She hadn’t even washed her hair, and I suspected the shower in her en suite bathroom had gone completely unused. I offered her tea.
“I don’t want your rotten tea,” she said.
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
“You can get me out of here!”
“The only place I can send you is the Psychiatric Centre, Olivia. You know that.”
She stabbed a finger at me. “And you know that’s a load of crap. You can send me somewhere else and you damn well know where it is.”
“You’re referring to euthanasia.”
“Of course I’m referring to bloody euthanasia. And as it happens…” She looked at the view outside the window, across the endless forest. “What’s to stop me going off by myself and finding a nice cliff to jump off?”
“Well, first of all, there aren’t any cliffs here. But if you’re thinking of killing yourself some other way, we’d intervene and prevent it. We’d rather you didn’t hurt yourself.”
“Oh, because keeping me here isn’t hurting me at all, is it?”
“The idea is that we help you get better.”
“I’m not going to get better. I don’t want to get better.”
“Olivia…”
“That’s Doctor Mordlack to you. If a little shit like you can be a doctor, then you can damn well use my title.”
“If you like. Doctor Mordlack — if you really want euthanasia, we’re willing to give it to you…”
“No you bloody aren’t!”
“We are. We just need you to cooperate.”
“More bloody therapy.”
“A last attempt to get better. And an honest attempt. In your case, that means addressing your PTSD, which means you have to talk about what happened to you…”
“I don’t have PTSD. I’ve told you lot so many times I don’t know how often, but you never listen!”
“Then you won’t mind talking about your experiences.”
“I want my privacy! Can’t I have that? Last survivor of a dead world and I can’t even take anything to the grave because you lot want to satisfy your curiosity!”
“This isn’t about us—”
“Rubbish. You’re all wringing your hands and going ‘sorry we couldn’t save your species, please let us save you to make up for it’. Well I don’t want saving!”
“Olivia—”
“I told you. Doctor Mordlack!”
I took a stronger tone. “Olivia. The only person who can certify you ready for euthanasia is your current therapist. And that person is me. If you cooperate with me, you may just get what you want. If you don’t, then nothing will change. Are you willing to cooperate?”
“No I am not!”
“Would you prefer to go back to the Psychiatric Centre?”
“I’d rather go back to Tringarrick.”
“You have to understand, this is your last chance. If you can’t cooperate this time, we’re not going to try again. You’ll go back and we’ll reduce your therapy to a minimum. But we won’t let you kill yourself. Is that what you want?”
She stared back at me, furious but out of options.
I asked her: “Are you willing to at least stay here for a while and see what happens?”
She took an exasperated breath, the closest thing to assent I was likely to get. “It’s not going to get you anywhere.”
“Thank you.”
7. Iokan
PSYCHOMEDICAL HISTORY — SUMMARY
IOKAN ZALACTE
Iokan was discovered lying among a number of corpses, suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and his universe’s variant of cholera, possibly contracted from drinking tainted water. He had a number of small untended injuries, some of which were infected. He was only a few hours from death when found.
Initially, he was placed on emergency hydration and nutritional support. The cholera and other infections were then treated with wide human spectrum antibiotics, but these had dangerous side effects and were discontinued. It was soon observed that his own body was producing species-specific antibiotics which were far more effective. These were traced to surgically implanted glands in the space vacated by a previously removed appendix.
He awoke after three days of unconsciousness, and was first interviewed by therapists at Grainger station. He seemed to be aware of the existence of other universes and relatively unsurprised to find himself in our company. While his physical health showed remarkable progress, his psychological state was troubling. He claimed that godlike entities he termed ‘Antecessors’ had been responsible for the mass suicide of his species and their conveyance to a paradisiacal afterlife, and that he had been left alive to communicate their message to the IU.
It is difficult to determine whether he is entirely delusional, although the absurdity of his claims tends toward this conclusion. Scans were made of his brain function, and increased activity in parietal and temporal lobes was discovered, which is linked in most human species with spirituality and religious experience. It is possible to stimulate this artificially with psychosurgery, but it is difficult to tell whether this was done by the ‘Antecessors’, or whether Iokan has simply had a religious experience caused by malnutrition, dehydration and the stress of living through the extinction of his species.