Febwhump Day 4 - Body Horror
A/N: What if a side effect of the Lethean's attack was rapid aging? An alternate version of 'Distant Voices'.
The sound of clinking glass greeted Julian as he stepped into an infirmary shrouded in darkness. For a split second he wondered if the Cardassian vole infestation had returned, only for his genetically-enhanced retinas to pick up a humanoid shape rummaging through his medication cabinets.
Maybe it's time I finally got Odo to install alarms on those things. "Lights."
Momentarily blinded, Julian blinked furiously until his vision finally recognised the intruder. It was the Lethean that Qu ark had introduced earlier, and he was currently clutching onto a sachet of biomemetic gel, a sinister look brewing on his face.
"What do you think you're doing?! I already told you, it's not for sale!" Julian snapped. He tapped his com badge in irritation. "Bashir to-"
A sudden burst of electricity slammed into his body, cutting him off as he began seizing uncontrollably. He could barely make out the Lethean through his hazy vision, who took the opportunity to make a break for the promenade with his stolen goods.
His body slammed into the floor of the infirmary, panting heavily as his muscles continued twitching involuntarily.
Well done, Julian. Maybe that wasn't such a bright idea after all.
A new sensation in his fingers caught his attention. Trying to ignore the painful spasms running down his arms, he raised one hand to inspect it further, only to find that his fingernails were growing right before his eyes. "What the hell?!"
He extended his arm to tap his combadge again, only for a sudden cry to tear away from his throat. Collapsing onto his side, he let out another scream as he felt his collarbone shatter under the impact, the splinters of bone seemingly disintegrating within seconds . Forcing his eyes open, he watched in horror as the skin on his hands began to wither away. Sunspots formed, wrinkles appeared and his fingers curled up with each passing second, his joints and tendons howling as they were quickly overwhelmed by rapidly-growing arthritis.
Before he had a chance to fully process what was happening to him, Julian found his body seizing once more. He rolled onto his back as he was overwhelmed by all-consuming pain, spreading like fire across each and every nerve. One by one the teeth in his mouth began to crumble, the remains mixing with his saliva as they were ejected from their roots.
He heard his scream becoming hoarse as his vocal cords decayed and withered, the sharpness in his throat increasing as though each individual cord was snapping.
He vaguely registered the infirmary doors opening before Jabara's face filled his deteriorating field of view, the cataracts growing in his eyes rapidly replacing parts of his vision with grey spots.
"Doctor!" Jabara's voice was firm, but with a slight edge of worry. "Doctor, what happened?!"
The skin around his mouth had become leathery and stretched, with thickened blood trying to drip from the new tears around his lips. Trying to force his lips and jaw muscles to cooperate to form a word, let alone a whole sentence, seemed impossible in that moment.
I have to try…It might be my only chance of surviving this…
"The…Lethean…" Julian's face morphed into an expression of horror as he heard the hoarse whisper that was his voice. Each breath was causing him pain, his lungs and alveoli practically screaming with each inhalation.
A loud gurgle escaped his throat. He tried to take a breath, only for his chest to seize up as he realised his lungs had begun to fill with fluid. The roar of blood fighting to circulate around his body was quickly dominating other sounds trying to enter his ears, and he realised that his hearing must be dying off.
The last of his vision faded into darkness, and he wondered if his eyeballs were melting. That would explain the stabbing sensation in his head.
Or maybe my brain is disintegrating…
What an undignified way to go…
****
"So then, how exactly did they manage to reverse this 'transformation' of yours?" Garak asked.
Julian finished his mouthful of Tarkelian tea and gave a quiet sigh. "It took a considerable amount of time. There was nothing in the literature about this sort of effect occurring with previous Lethean attacks, and they couldn't undo the damage that had occurred within my DNA. The only other option was to use a previous sample from the transporters and rematerialised me using that pattern to eliminate the damaged DNA sequences."
Garak's eyes were wide. He cocked an eyebrow with concern. "That sounds incredibly risky. What if it wasn't successful?"
"Then I wouldn't be sitting here and enjoying my tea. Lethean attacks are almost always fatal, and never usually cause physical side effects," Julian answered bluntly. "To be fair, Miles told me this morning that they had to use that technique once on the Enterprise, so I'd be interested in studying it further."
"And so you should! You and your staff may have discovered a new anti-aging treatment, doctor. That is certainly an impressive accomplishment."
Julian shook his head. "I can't take the credit, Garak. They barely got me into a stasis unit before I went past the point of no return. One minute I'm on the floor watching my teeth fall out, and the next I wake up as my normal self."
The severity of the situation finally dawned on Garak. He set down his rokassa juice and folded his hands together. "So you're telling me," He said quietly, "that if not for your staff's quick intervention, you would've continued aging?"
"That's correct." Julian took a bite of his bread roll, allowing Garak some time to gather his thoughts.
"That sounds like a rather uncomfortable experience, doctor."
"Uncomfortable barely describes it, Garak," Julian couldn't help but laugh. "But I tell you what…I'm now very glad that I am only thirty."
Garak smiled warmly. "As am I, doctor. After all, we still have many more novels left to discuss, and I doubt the Constable or Quark would be interested in hearing about Cardassian societal norms."
