Awwwwww. Hopefully she has not doomed the baby and the baby's entire planet. Congratulations.

:Thank you: 

Shavri heads off. Again, she's gone for a couple of candlemarks. 

Julie frets aimlessly and panics every time she coughs and gets steadily more fuzzy; she keeps half-drifting off to sleep and then startling herself awake.

Shavri comes back with a bounce in her step. 

:Good news!: she says brightly. :The Herald on circuit is here, and we've sent word to Haven - Savil can do a Gate to the nearest bigger town. We'll make up a wagon more comfortably for you, we can burn the linens after - we'll need to leave in a candlemark - I've given them instructions for setting up a room for you, we'll probably use a stone Work Room that we can just fireball the interior of afterward -: 

She's in a good mood and excited and her mindvoice is very fast. 

Great. Julie says. She has no idea if it's great but Shavri seems to think so. Haven is - the seat of your government?

:Yes. And it's where the Healers' Collegium is, all the best Healers in the entire kingdom: 

She bounces a little on her heels. :We'll need to sort out some things before we go. Do you think you can manage using the ship thrusters to burn the field? I Looked at it and there's still dormant Proto further down, our fire wasn't hot enough. We can give the family a new farm: 

Shit. Julie tries to sit up. She isn't great at it. Yeah, I can - I can do that. We should probably hurry, in case it's been - dispersing itself, getting deeper underground -

:We can bring you over in the wagon - I'll have someone get it ready. I'll take your first aid kit in case you need to take some of the thing you took before, to be more awake...? And I can do a bit of Healing while we're waiting for the wagon. How are you feeling?: 

For what feels like the thousandth time, she plays her Sight over Julie, first just scanning for her overall strength and the level of Proto activity, then checking up close in her lungs and gut and brain. It's nearly automatic by now. 

The Proto is doing really well! It's grown back in her lungs and gut and is everywhere in her brain. There's also some spreading right under the skin on her arm and some right under the skin on her cheek, apparently trying to replace the function of the tissue there. Julie is running a fever, now.

'm kind of tired and out of it, Julie says. I should take adrenaline for the ship, just because it's important to get it right. I was having a bit of a hard time breathing, earlier.

Shavri looks around for the waterskin of sweet cider, pushes it across to Julie. :Try to drink some more of this. I'll try to bring down your fever, that should help you feel less out of it: 

She settles down, gets a link up and starts a steady flow of Healing-energy - at least half of it's going to the Proto but right now she doesn't see a better option, and maybe it'll get the Proto to consume less of Julie's strength. Then she dives in deeper with her Sight, hunting for the source of the fever - is Julie's body trying to fight the Proto, or a different opportunistic infection, or is the Proto somehow causing it directly...? 

There's a minor opportunistic infection in Julie's lungs but it looks like mostly the fever is Julie's body trying to fight the Proto, which doesn't seem to mind the fever at all.

Julie drinks the cider, shivering.

If the fever isn't actually helping then Shavri feels fine about poking the relevant metabolic pathways and noping it, at least for the next candlemark or two, she'll need to keep doing it. She whacks the minor infection, soothes some inflammation, and then allocates another few minutes to Looking as closely as possible at the Proto in Julie's lungs and trying her teeny Healing-energy nudges to coax it elsewhere or at least less in the way.

She muses, vaguely in the background, that it would be awfully convenient if she could talk to the Proto. Tell it that it needs to stop growing, because if it keeps this up then Julie will die, at which point it will die too - well, she's actually not sure if it's now strong and smart enough to keep going, wearing and animating her corpse, but either way at that point Shavri would feel just fine about burning the remains with the ship's thrusters. Note to herself, she should ask Julie for instructions on how to do that, once they're at the ship... 

After a while there's a knock on the door, and someone informs her that the wagon is ready. 

Shavri levers herself up, hands on her knees. :Julie, are you up for crawling out again? How's your breathing feeling?: 

I can probably crawl. 

She can, though she gets winded every few seconds and has to take breaks.

The wagon is lined with blankets and pillows on top of the waterproofed tarp, this time. 

Shavri brings the vomit-bucket, carefully covered to avoid splashes; just incinerating it seems like the easiest way to deal with it. She also checks whether the sheets or blankets on the straw mattress are contaminated with Proto. 

They are, near where Julie's face was.

Shavri balls them up inside some clean canvas, carefully without touching them directly. Hopefully that'll do for the wagon ride. She stashes the bundle beside Julie, and then carefully perches on the back of the wagon, where she can let her hand rest just above Julie's ankle and keep going with the Healing-energy. 

She absently examines Julie's brain while the mule carries them out to the ship, trying to figure out if the Proto there is responsible for Julie feeling so fuzzy and out of it. 

It might be! The Proto in Julie's brain seems to be trying reasonably hard not to disrupt its processes - it's doing a lot less tissue damage there than elsewhere - but it's still in her brain, relying on her blood flow, and there's a lot of it by now.

Julie winces every time the wagon goes over a bump and vomits several times on the way there.

Shavri is starting to regret not bringing the painkillers with her. She does her best to poke the densest concentrations of Proto in Julie's brain into getting out of the way, and she can nudge Julie's bloodflow to increase by dilating the vessels in her brain a little, and pushing her heart to beat a bit harder. 

She flinches every time Julie vomits. Probably it makes sense to just burn the blankets she's lying on now, and get new ones brought over. Or beg them off the farmers, who're about to have to vacate their house with all their worldly possessions. 

Shavri is really not looking forward to that conversation. She distracts herself with the submerged peace of Healing-trance as long as she can, thoughts meandering slowly. Why is the Proto behaving differently in Julie's brain - why does it care...? 

On some bizarre impulse, just as they reach the field with the ship, she opens her Thoughtsensing fully; she's been shielding it until now, out of habit and because she doesn't want to invade Julie's mind, but now she focuses on the feeling of the Proto's life-force, and strains to feel for anything there to be read. 

ĺ̶̙̪̂͋͐̓̔́̔̉͛̄͝͝o̵͓͈̤͉̞͍̫̬̭͊̃̀̐́̌̄ͅl̶̨̨̢͕̲͈̻̞͉͎̃̎̾͌̍̀͌̚̚ş̸̫͔̥͙̪̳̊͗̔͋̒͋̽̍̊͗̂͆̈́̚͜͝o̵̢̨̦̹͉̭̟̹̖̘̹͕͔͂́l̸̢̟̩̜̝͎͔͈͍̓̀̈̓͐̉̀́͊͐͘̚î̴̛̝̟̱̘̦̥̭̯̙͛̅͒͊̽̈́̑͋̌̚͘̕͜s̵̢̤͕̖͖̘̒̃̅ơ̷̧̙̹͚̩̼̹̬̳͈̗̈́̏͐̾̊́́̾̈͌̆̉i̷̞̼̻̠̟̞̼͗ļ̸͎͇̯̬̙̙̻̍͌͊̃͑͝͝ī̶̫̌́͠o̵͍͆̾́͐͝ḽ̶̡̠̯̬̫͋̐̈̓͜i̵͕͓̱̟̝̣̲̭̭̮͐̌̈̔͐̆̂͊́͒͗͋̔͘͜͝o̴̼͛̆̊̾͛̏̔͌͌̀̈̔̿̌̀l̶̬̪͈͉̘͂̈̒͠i̵̢͉͉̜̱͇̤̥̥̍̍̇̃̌̈́́͑̈́̒̀̚̕͘͝o̴̻̳̯̱̺͚̫̯̓̕͜ļ̷̡̖͖͉̝̟̓̈́̆̉̂̒͂̉̌̔͌͒͘ḯ̸̧̹̩̻̌

...What. 

l̷̢̼̫̈́̀̆̈́̈́͜ḷ̵̲̱̦͂̏̾̏̑͋̕s̵͇͍̮̘͑̅i̶̡̮̹̻̽̆͊ȕ̵̢͇͈̱̗̺̝̤̈͑͝͝i̴̢̝͎͕̲͉͈̻͂̂̀̀̋̚o̸̧̥͍̱͇̪̐̾̍͂͂͜͠i̷̡̨̛̲̘̜̦̫̻͗̿̌̒̌͝i̴̛̥̞̦̗̰͖͎̻̅̋̃̐͂̈̕l̸̼̳̪͚͇̺̐͌̋͂͗͆͌̕͠i̸̡̠̘̠̮͇̾͐͘1̸̹̮̈́̌̄͛͠í̷̢̛͙͕̤͂i̵͙͓͎͘ḭ̷̓̊́̕͠ȉ̴̝͎̗̹̹́͜ḯ̸̘͕̐ḯ̸̘̰͈̼̳̮̝̳̦͗0̸̯̣̗̞͔̜̊̀̈̈͜͝i̵̛͓̤̩̟͉̙̜̘̦̝̓̽l̷̢̼̫̈́̀̆̈́̈́͜ḷ̵̲̱̦͂̏̾̏̑͋̕s̵͇͍̮̘͑̅i̶̡̮̹̻̽̆͊ļ̷̡̣͈̖̱̬̼̮͉͚̫͖͛̐͌l̴̜͎͍͇̦̱̪̯̣̣͇̉̍̕ͅͅs̸̛͎̘̪͉͙͊̒̅̉̽̿̌͝͝i̴̡̩̰͙̘̗̜̺̣̺̱̾̔͌̆̍͆̍̓̇̍͆̈́͆̕͝ȗ̸̝̼̤̳́͗́́͘̕ͅi̷̧̢̧̙͓̗̭̙̪͍͓͚͂́̇̒̚͜ò̷̧̨̘̼̜͙͇̼̣̻̞̠͉̘ḯ̶̢̭̦̺̺͙̫͖̟̟̖̳̘̩͍́̈́̈́́̈̓̚ĩ̵̧̛̪̝̬͎͎̗̳͓̞̖͇̙̲̎͊̊͒̈́͘͘͜͠ḽ̴̛͉̳̠͊̃͒͗͒̀̽̏̽̉͛͘í̶̢̛̥̯̮͈̹̝̘̱̱̿͊̽̿́̌̃̆͆̐̇͝ͅ1̴̦̘̺̹̮̜̦̓͌̇̈́́͗̂͊͂͑̄͐͜͠͝i̷̛̘̤͕̎̑͜͝ͅi̷͈̩͍̘͓͉̻̭̗̥̽̋̋̂̏̄̄͠i̴̢̞̖̭̲̘̖̱̭͚̘̿̏̏́̾̏̄̅͘ͅȉ̵̧̼̻̮͚̹̯̝ͅi̶̢̝͍̫̜̋̐̉̇͒̈́̈́̔̚ī̵̼̦̏̅̃̕l̷̤͚̖͈̱̜̟͊̄̏̚ī̵̩͎̮̟̯̻̺̬͈̒̈́̄͒̈́̅̇̐̄͛̄̌́̕p̴͇̫͓̫̼̙̠͔͖͑̅́́͊̽̑͝i̸̡̛͖̯̫̩̱̤̜͐̀͛̋̽ĭ̴̩͕̯͕̱͎͉͈̺̫̞͉̘̝̱̐̌̽̌̀̓̊͐̈̕͠ỉ̷̧͇̯̭͔̞͙͙͖͖͙̈́͊̌̃̇́̂̌̈́͋͘͝ḻ̸̖̉̽̈̅̂͋͝l̴̨̜͇̻̞͉̠͉̠̓̎̌̈̕̚͝1̷̙̭͇̺̅!̶̭͂͌̈́̃̈́̋́ͅ1̷̬̫͍͍̭̌͊̎̈́̂͑̎̆̓̑̄̈͘͜͠1̵̢̛̗͉̯͕̤̖̰̜̆̈̐̊̈́̆̈̀͠͠ͅ1̴͉̰͕͖̫͗1̷̥͉̉̈́̈́́̂͂̑́͌͑̅̽̊̅͜͝1̴̧̱͈̺̮̪͚̩̲̤̰̠͚͚̓̀̃̔̄̈́̍̀̐̐̆̚̚̕

Shavri sits frozen for a few seconds, and then, without really thinking or planning, she reaches out with a Mindtouch, focusing on that bizarre, incomprehensible presence. 

:Do you understand me: 

i̶̫̦̗̲̟̜̟̼̩͉̫̪̇̇͋̿̽̎ͅi̵̧̺̗̣̩͇̩̾̈́̾͑̅̈͒͜͜͠ͅȉ̷̛͓͍̻̬̘̼͖̤̭̮͈̭͎͒͆̍̋͗̆̚į̴̡̜̙͙́̇͊͐̈̆̉̾̿͠l̸̡̗̅̀̉͌l̴͉̼͙̤̂̂̓͗̌̄͑͊̂̽̇͠͝l̶̢̢̞̩̟̫͚̳͇̪͉̟̈́̄̌̊͋͆̇̽̊̊̐͆ͅl̸͚̲̮̀̎̋͊̓̅̾i̷̞͔͍̱͉͚͕̹͔̱̣̾̀͐̓̈͝1̸̙͚̺̅̇̄!̶̢̡̮̱͔͍̻͎̑̀l̷̜͑̔̍̓̿̑́̌̚̚ì̷̳͔̤̪̜̹̩̯̫̖͕̿̾̉́͝ͅḭ̷̧̫̲̺͛ļ̵̼̳̼͔͔̣̤͔̇̈́̇͋̎̎́̂̆͝͝

She gives up on words. Why would the Proto know words? 

She tries, instead, three little Mindspeech pokes in a row, like how she would tap at a Mindspeaker's shields. Tap tap tap. 

i̶̫̦̗̲̟̜̟̼̩͉̫̪̇̇͋̿̽̎ͅi̵̧̺̗̣̩͇̩̾̈́̾͑̅̈͒͜͜͠ͅȉ̷̛͓͍̻̬̘̼͖̤̭̮͈̭͎͒͆̍̋͗̆̚į̴̡̜̙͙́̇͊͐̈̆̉̾̿͠l̸̡̗̅̀̉͌l̴͉̼͙̤̂̂̓͗̌̄͑͊̂̽̇͠͝l̶̢̢̞̩̟̫͚̳͇̪͉̟̈́̄̌̊͋͆̇̽̊̊̐͆ͅl̸͚̲̮̀̎̋͊̓̅̾i̷̞͔͍̱͉͚͕̹͔̱̣̾̀͐̓̈͝1̸̙͚̺̅̇̄!̶̢̡̮̱͔͍̻͎̑̀l̷̜͑̔̍̓̿̑́̌̚̚ì̷̳͔̤̪̜̹̩̯̫̖͕̿̾̉́͝ͅḭ̷̧̫̲̺͛ļ̵̼̳̼͔͔̣̤͔̇̈́̇͋̎̎́̂̆͝͝      i̶̫̦̗̲̟̜̟̼̩͉̫̪̇̇͋̿̽̎ͅi̵̧̺̗̣̩͇̩̾̈́̾͑̅̈͒͜͜͠ͅȉ̷̛͓͍̻̬̘̼͖̤̭̮͈̭͎͒͆̍̋͗̆̚į̴̡̜̙͙́̇͊͐̈̆̉̾̿͠l̸̡̗̅̀̉͌l̴͉̼͙̤̂̂̓͗̌̄͑͊̂̽̇͠͝l̶̢̢̞̩̟̫͚̳͇̪͉̟̈́̄̌̊͋͆̇̽̊̊̐͆ͅl̸͚̲̮̀̎̋͊̓̅̾i̷̞͔͍̱͉͚͕̹͔̱̣̾̀͐̓̈͝1̸̙͚̺̅̇̄!̶̢̡̮̱͔͍̻͎̑̀l̷̜͑̔̍̓̿̑́̌̚̚ì̷̳͔̤̪̜̹̩̯̫̖͕̿̾̉́͝ͅḭ̷̧̫̲̺͛ļ̵̼̳̼͔͔̣̤͔̇̈́̇͋̎̎́̂̆͝͝      i̶̫̦̗̲̟̜̟̼̩͉̫̪̇̇͋̿̽̎ͅi̵̧̺̗̣̩͇̩̾̈́̾͑̅̈͒͜͜͠ͅȉ̷̛͓͍̻̬̘̼͖̤̭̮͈̭͎͒͆̍̋͗̆̚į̴̡̜̙͙́̇͊͐̈̆̉̾̿͠l̸̡̗̅̀̉͌l̴͉̼͙̤̂̂̓͗̌̄͑͊̂̽̇͠͝l̶̢̢̞̩̟̫͚̳͇̪͉̟̈́̄̌̊͋͆̇̽̊̊̐͆ͅl̸͚̲̮̀̎̋͊̓̅̾i̷̞͔͍̱͉͚͕̹͔̱̣̾̀͐̓̈͝1̸̙͚̺̅̇̄!̶̢̡̮̱͔͍̻͎̑̀l̷̜͑̔̍̓̿̑́̌̚̚ì̷̳͔̤̪̜̹̩̯̫̖͕̿̾̉́͝ͅḭ̷̧̫̲̺͛ļ̵̼̳̼͔͔̣̤͔̇̈́̇͋̎̎́̂̆͝͝    ?