[Video] An announcement

[10billionpercent]

[Senku will make sure everyone can see him, because this is kind of important. Thanks to several discussions with multiple people who think he needs to tell people what he can do, he can actually agree in this case.]

Hello. If I haven't met you, I'm Senku.

[Even if they had met, they may not have gotten his name.]

It's come to my attention, that aside from a woefully inadequate medical supply, this trip appears to be lacking in medical personnel.

It should be known that for about three years I've been acting in the capacity of a doctor where I come from.

I'm a scientist, but I did a lot of study in the medical field, traveling around the world and learning how to deal with different pathogens in my early teenage years.

I have treated and diagnosed illnesses, injuries and performed surgery including an IV blood transfusion.

The reason for telling you this, is if you require medical attention, you can come and find me and I'll help you.

[A pause, he remembers his conversation with Minako.]

I'm also happy to answer any scientific-related questions pertaining to any of the scientific-related fields, such as geology, physics, biology, chemistry, engineering and mathematics to name a few. Minako told me to mention that. [He shrugs slightly.]

That's it.

Comments

[10billionpercent]

[ He'll raise a hand in greeting, he's not much for social niceties, really. ]

Those sound useful. How do they work? [ He's already been scolded about magic even though he didn't do anything. ] Not because I don't believe you, I'm just curious.

My top pick for medical supplies is antibiotics, but there's a list on here.It would be good if you could do that. I don't have any points myself or I would.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Back in his own world, Curufin wasn't famed for his attention to the social niceties either! Far, far from it. But now he's living a very different life, and he's long since retrieved the social skills he was taught as a child. He nods and smiles in response to the wave. ]

I'm of the Elvish race, and due to our nature, we have a certain facility with the mind-body connection, and that may at times extend to the mind-body connection of others. We don't actually refer to our skills as magic, but rather as our arts. We put our thoughts into everything we do or make, and that means that the physical world is affected by our intentions, beyond the simple effect of our actions. Different Elves have differing specialties, though. I'm a metalsmith and a gem-cutter. I can forge a sword whose effect goes beyond its physical properties. I can summon light and install it in the heart of a gem, and that jewel will radiate luck as well as light. I'm not a master musician like my brother Maglor is, but he was my first teacher, and I have a small amount of his skill. [ Actually, Curufin's pretty damn good with any instrument he plays, and he can sing, too. ] If I play with the aim of getting people out of their chairs to dance, they'll find it hard not to. If I play with the purpose of creating a tranquilizing atmosphere, my listeners will experience the quieting effect beyond the mere effect of the music itself. I'm something of a sorcerer, as many of my clan are, and all Elves of my world are telepathic. If I craft a vision in my own mind and then transmit it to nearby minds, the receivers will see what I see and experience what I experience.

I don't know if that really answers your question, but that's my explanation.

Where's the list of medical supplies and antibiotics that are needed? I'll take a look at it and then try ordering some.

[10billionpercent]

[ That could very well be a valuable skill! Senku seems to have bypassed those skills altogether. ]

That's incredibly interesting. It's a nature due to your race?

[ He does sound genuinely curious at the moment because that's just now how things work in his world. ]

I wonder how it works. Are there any rules surrounding these skills?

[ He blinks at the question, wait he knows he saw it somewhere...

It takes a moment for him to realize it was something Ai was holding up in her video, but fortunately for him, he has an eidetic memory and he'll just repeat some of it]

Sorry, I thought it had been referenced somewhere. Ai's keeping that list. At the top of it was antibiotics, to her preference amoxicillin, and something to help with blood loss Dextran 70.

[so_dark_a_road]

Yes, my nature is due to my race. Elves were created to have these powers and abilities. The purpose, according to our sages, was for us to become teachers to the mortal race, to look out for them and make sure they learned all that they needed to know in order to become the guardians of Middle-earth. We Elves are called the Firstborn, because we awoke in Middle-earth before mortals did. They are therefore called the Secondborn. It wasn't exactly a rule that we were to take them on as apprentices, just an expectation. And as for actual rules, we were not to use our powers to dominate, control, or destroy other intelligent beings.

[ He nods. ] All right, Amoxicillin and Dextran 70. I'll order them from the train stores tomorrow. Anything else?

[10billionpercent]

I didn't mean rules like that, more like limitations to what your powers can do. As a science, everything I do has rules and laws governing them based on what I do because that's just how science works. I'm interested in understanding your magic, but I was maybe drawing a parallel to what I was familiar with that may not apply...

[ His voice seems to get a bit quieter at the end, like he's thinking, and losing a bit of focus on Curufin himself for a brief moment. He does that. ]

Ask Ai what she prefers as her priority. For me, it was always the antibiotics.

[so_dark_a_road]

Oh, I see. My powers are limited by my nature. I'm not one of the angelic spirits who are guardians of my world; their powers are largely unlimited. We Elves can't change our forms, or use our powers at vast distances, or terraform the earth, for a few examples. I think there is a similarity between magic and science in that respect; there are limits that one must understand in order to use one's knowledge. Without that understanding, the use of a power may not be effective. Or it may result in outright failure or disaster.

[ He will say more, if Senku has more questions or asks for another clarification, but first, that matter of the medicines. ]

I will ask her, and I'll put together a list to take to the train store.

[10billionpercent]

[ He'll nod and trust Ai to take care of that with Curufin. ]

Yeah, that's more what I was talking about. I'm curious to know how your magic works compared to how the science I'm familiar works.

Science can do a lot of those things you mentioned, for example with a bit of work.

[so_dark_a_road]

How does your science work, with respect to rules, laws, and limitations? I taught myself mechanical and electrical engineering while I spent time in two worlds that were not mine, and I continue to study these technologies. However, I know almost nothing about medical science. How can it do those things I mentioned?

[10billionpercent]

[ He hums, that is a very broad, huge overview of rules. ]

There are so many rules in science that it's much easier to focus on a case by case basis to understand them all. I meant more the terraforming, but, let me focus my scope on medicine.

[ That is a very logical place to start. ]

The limitation, first, that I can see for medicine over magic is probably the time of effect. When I think of magic, I think of it as working quickly, and the reason that is, is because science moves slower than a person would like. The second, is that science has not yet discovered the answers to every possible thing that can go wrong in the human body, and most likely, the biggest limitation is that humans are fallible. They see the signs wrong, they don't always show up in the same way, and sometimes it can be a lot of work to get a diagnosis.

The laws that work best in medicine are probably the ones around reactions. When someone has a heart attack, for example, their body produces a number of symptoms. In treating that cause, you expect the symptoms to go away. When they don't, you know you're dealing with other issues, which is basically how diagnostics work.

You mentioned pain, so I'll speak narrowly to that point. You have music that causes relaxation and pain relief, if I understand correctly. Humans, in my world have things like pharmaceuticals, and then they also use a range of other techniques, such as breathing and relaxation to keep the edge off the pain. Injuries heal slowly, so pain can last a long time. Also, if your effect is very quick, something like acetylsalicylic acid takes fifteen to twenty minutes to take effect, making it less efficient. What we do know is that pain is caused by receptors in the brain and a bunch of chemicals are involved in the process, and they can be counteracted, sometimes naturally and that's kind of where medicine had gone to try and find answers.

[ He takes a breath. ]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin focuses all his attention on Senku's exposition. ]

A most interesting technology, that of the human body and the factors that induce or affect healing and pain relief! It seems that with modern medicine, a person could spend years studying the basics, and then a lifetime practicing this art and doing research in order to learn more.

[10billionpercent]

That's right. It was the fact that every year, scientists would discover new illnesses, or new medications that could help improve the healing and lives of patients. It's not magic, but scientists are very diligent.

In my world, we'll get back to that again someday.