Misbegotten Kittens

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5. Dr Fátima Valparaíso doesn't know how to fix Rayco

Back in a different substory, but at that very same hospital.

This is Fátima Valparaíso, phD in Biology and speculative Xenology. She is a Chilean pink viscacha, whose scientific brilliance made her one of the first researchers to be hired in Esperanza. Her favorite color is golden and her favorite cake is pineapple and cream.

Her work has helped erradicate diseases and given the denizens of her adoptive hometown the possibility to improve their bodies in miraculous ways. Unfortunately, this would not have been possible without her brutal lack of ethics, which makes her consider people as little more than improvable organ clusters.

She would much rather be back at her lab than here, but she guesses that being the best at something has a price. Oh well, she better just get this over with.

	<	Good morning, Dr. Valparaíso. Did you want to see me?
	<	Yes, Kraj, I did. I have been dragged away from my current investigation to fix something with which medics have no any idea what to do. And if I'm going to miss my coffee break, so are you.
	<	I shall happily share your burden. How else may I be of assistance?

Twenty-something year old male patient presents symptoms of life energy poisoning, or at least what we think are symptoms of life energy poisoning.

Single thoracic gunshot wound, multiple glowing lacerations and abrasions, cardiac frequency about 1000 bpm or so, we can't really count.

His internal organs are freaking rearranging themselves, the medics can't even recognize any of them anymore. He has been given enough painkillers to kill a herd of elephants, and that barely made him stop screaming and kicking.

	<	That is the usual result of an overdose of life energy. All of his cells are working beyond their maximum capacity, including his pain receptors. His body is trying to function so efficiently that it needs to acquire a more adequate configuration. The process is often violent and unpleasant.
	<	Yes, that is something we do not want to be happening to him. How do we stop it?
	<	We cannot.
	<	What do you mean we cannot?
	<	Raw life energy can be contained and consumed, but not manipulated nor extracted, not even by my kin. We can only wait until his organism becomes optimal and stabilizes.

	<	Great, and how long will that take?
	<	That depends on the species, and we currently lack the proper test data.
	<	Damn it, he still squirms...

(BANG!)

Holy shit!

(squeeeak)

Hello?

I'm sorry, I think I made a mess.