Exeter Symposium (Part 4)

Posted on 23 Feb 2016 @ 12:32am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Duval & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"
Edited on on 23 Feb 2016 @ 12:33am

1,239 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Jupiter Station - Deck 75, Auditorium 4
Timeline: MD 82 - 1110 hrs

Previously, on Exeter Symposium (Part 3)...

The real Cyrin rushed out from one corner of the stage, where he'd been hiding the entire time, his face scarlet, his eyes wide and definitely not looking out at the crowd as he hurried over to try to save his hologram before it failed entirely. Cyrin had just reached it, had begun to reach for the small projection unit he'd placed in the lectern earlier, when the hologram decompiled under the barrage of trying to answer questions it hadn't been programed to handle.

Cyrin took one, terrified glance at the audience, then fled from the stage.

Anthony Duval was curious about the symposium so he was seated in the audience, he held his silence as he regarded the guys up on stage.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

1110 hrs: Mott Presentation

Olsam shuffled out onto the stage and turned to face the audience. He squinted from the lights bearing down on him; beads of sweat populated his forehead, perhaps from nervousness or just the exertion of moving his portly frame to center stage. He dithered for a moment and then began speaking. While doing so, his head rhythmically swept back and forth to direct his voice at the entirety of the audience, moving as if it was suspended by a pendulum.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and other genders, my name is Dr. Olsam Mott. Wait, did they introduce me already? I didn't hear the introduction. I was in the lavatory. They did? Okay. Well. I should… Should I just do the… Right. Okay. As many of my colleagues can attest, there has been a marked increase in the involvement of photonic lifeforms in the medical field over the past decade. In Starfleet, this is principally the Emergency Medical Hologram or EMH, a computer program designed to assist Starfleet crews in the event their medical personnel are overwhelmed or incapacitated. Though its stated purpose remains the same, its usage has evolved. In many cases the EMH takes regular duty shifts in Sickbay. Onboard my own vessel, the Galileo's Mark X-B unit has assumed a name - Shirley - and regularly provides so-called 'medical care' to patients.

"The benefits of the EMH in an emergency situation are undeniable. But the trend toward further integrating the programs into starships, starbases, and other medical facilities is alarming and represents a danger to those against whom we swore to do no harm. These programs should represent nothing more than a supplemental tool to extend our current capabilities, not replace physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals altogether. Many of you may see this point of view as naked self-preservation or a reactionary take against new technology; however, that could not be further from the truth.

"EMH and similar programs fail to achieve the same level of patient skill, bedside manner, empathy, advice, and caring that we see from sentient doctors. Patient studies have shown-"

Dr. Mott continued talking but the voice amplification was gone. He was loud even on a quiet day so those in perhaps the second or third rows might have heard him but to everyone else his lips were only silently moving. It took him a sentence or two to realize what had happened (after all, this was more sermon than hard-data presentation) but when he did Olsam's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of the smirking face of Galileo's Emergency Medical Hologram Mark X-B. It would be clear to any fair-minded observer that Shirley had sabotaged the voice amplification system in order to prevent him from disseminating data and information on the dangers associated with her program.

From stage right a Benzite gentleman appeared dressed in one of the metallic-looking suits favored by his people. He was carrying in his hand a portable voice amplifier and had a very ingratiating smile on his face. He passed the device to Olsam, who took it up with a great huff. He would not be silenced.

"As I was getting to... One of the principal differences is in intuitive versus precision medicine. Intuitive medicine is care for conditions diagnosed by symptoms and pattern recognition and treated with therapies of unclear efficacy as no clear treatment presents itself. This is what many might consider the art of medicine as intuitive medicine is dependant upon clinical judgment. Precision medicine, like that we might expect to be practiced by a computer program, is the delivery of care for diseases that can be precisely diagnosed and treated with predictable, evidence-based treatments. While this may seem to naturally give way to an era of post-sentient medicine, I would argue that intuition is indispensable to the proper-"

With a pop, the portable voice amplification device seemed to deactivate. Almost immediately Olsam began turning a deeper shade of blue, something that would soon comfortably enter the indigo range. He shook the device violently and pressed several buttons to no avail. The Benzite at the edge of the stage seemed to be in a panic as he neared the Bolian doctor, who was now in the midst of an expletive-laced diatribe on the dangers of technological over-reliance. The word "Shirley" could be seen to cross his lips several times.

"Uh, we seem to be having some technical difficulties here," the Benzite said apologetically, wrapping a friendly arm around Dr. Mott in an attempt to settle him. Mercifully his ranting had died down as the functioning voice amplifier had approached, so only the first couple of rows managed to catch any portion of it. "We're going to see if we can't address those and reschedule Dr. Mott's presentation for a latter date. Thank you, everyone, there are refreshments in the foyer, and we'll reconvene for Lieutenant von Haeften's presentation shortly..."

Duval who was seated in the audience was finding all of this to be deeply educational, he was almost enthralled. "This is great.." he muttered to himself.

The EMH could not help but smirk as the Bolian became unable to continue his tirade against her program and her various siblings throughout the fleet. It was obvious that the EMH program brought a myriad of benefits to Starfleet Medical, and it was just simply a case of mathematics that such distateful conversation was not necessary in the hallowed halls of this conference.

With a wink and a few subroutines the hologram quickly disabled the extra voice recognition command she had embedded into the presentation system, a safeguard in case the Bolian had done exactly what she had thought he would do based on the notes she had serruptitiously been reading inside his personal database. Her ongoing study of his paranoia continued.....

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Manuel Lucero V
Asst. Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Yeoman to the Commanding Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC McCarthy]

LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
(and a few temp NPCs asking questions)
USS Galileo

Lieutenant j.g. Naois Mercy
Counsellor
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

PO2 Rheneas Malacy
Archaeologist/engineer
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

...and other assorted Galileans

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