revenge. ask game, talk about "The Relationship Between Houjou Emu and the Bugster Virus"
I actually had to make a discord with both air and chip to consult with them on the science side of things and we had several voice chats where I was like. ok tell me about viruses. ok explain epigenetics to me. ok tell me about dna. but I think the hardest part. was figuring out which citation style to use and how to cite non-standard information (e.g. the unreferenced conversation).
the absolute highlight of the fic is chip’s contribution:
The retrovirus encodes a receptor similar to ligand-gated ion channels—thusly named Gated Action Membrane Receptor (GAMR)—that is integrated into the membrane of cells.
but other than that, I did write 90% of the fic based on the information I got. and you know what’s hilarious? you know what’s hysterical? this wasn’t the first time I wrote a scientific(-style) article outside my field of expertise based on research and interviewing people who actually know/study the field (also for genetics) (after I spent literally a month working on this article the company decided not to publish it because of political stuff) (long story). And that experience was invaluable to publishing med report fic.