1.1.01.01.001: due regard for the well being of others.

[needshumility]

[There is an awkward, stiff cough, and a shot of the eighth floor common room. A young, very smartly dressed, man appears on screen, and he straightens his tie, then offers a small wave,]

Hello!

This remote viewer is tiny, and... well, I never thought a remote viewer could watch you. Fascinating! [He grins, a touch nervously,] So if you're watching, hello! oh, I already said that...

I'm Edward Russett, but you can call me Eddie. I'm not quite sure whether this is the equivalent of Useful Work or a Pointless Task, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.

Who are the local Prefects? What're they like? I imagine I'll be the Red Prefect here.

[awkward pause whilst he ponders whether to ask or not, then he directs the camera to a lightbulb nearby]

This is going to sound silly, but can I have some lightglobes? There's no natural light in my room. I... [slight nervous intake of breath. Dammit, night terrors.] I need a source of light.

Comments

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

No. None of my patients have ever come to me with anything like that, nor have I ever read about it. Certain types of color blindness are not rare, though. But that specifically? No. I haven't come across it.

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

So people who can see... Green or Purple, or Blue? Are they just as non-existent?

Wait.

Patients? Are you a Swatchman?

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

And no. I'm a doctor.

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

...I'm sorry, I don't know what that means. I do collect obsolete words, though, so could you explain?

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

...obsolete.

A doctor. Physician. Someone who helps people when they're sick.

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

Oh. That is a Swatchman. My father's a Swatchman. I'll make a note of it.

[Private]

Is the Mildew bad here, if you don't mind me asking?

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

Oh, well, alright. There are a couple of doctors here, myself included.

[Private]

Mildew? I wouldn't know about that. I don't think so. Are you allergic to it or...[SO. CONFUSED.]

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

All... Previous like yourself?

[Private]

Don't pretend. The disease. The Mildew. Do you get a lot of it?

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[Private]

I have never heard of that disease before!

private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

Are you serious?

Because if you are, you're either a terrrible Swatchman, or... [a very, very good one, but that goes unsaid]

Could you show me some of your medicines? Just over the camera. I'm a little confused.

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

I'm not a bad doctor...[Pout.] But alright. [She gets up and goes off screen for a moment before returning with a few bottles. She opens the cap of one and pours a few pills into her hand to show him.]

Just normal pills.

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

[He pauses. And stares.]

What... do you do with them?

Solved the Mildew question, by the way. Never mind about that.

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

You swallow them. [Have a raised eyebrow.]

They're chemicals. They cause a reaction in your body to make it better. These release those chemicals to reduce pain. [She puts them back in the bottle.] The infirmary uses hyposprays, but I'm really not comfortable with those.

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

I know what a drug does. My father is a Swatchman.

I've just never seen them like that. What's a hypospray do?

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

You've never seen pills, so I was going off of that. I apologize. I didn't mean to offend.

A hypospray....releases those same chemicals directly into the body, rather than through a pill.

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

It was the method, rather than the concept I didn't understand.

Directly through what means? Is it used for a specific drug or purpose?

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

It's technology far beyond my years. That's why I don't use it. And it's used for all sorts of things. Pain relief, sleeping, waking someone up, vaccines. Everything.

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

I see. [It's just a little terse.]

So you don't use anything like... [He pats his pockets a little, and eventually pulls out a swatch of Lincoln.] this?

[Pause]

I only had this one because I took it off a friend.

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

What is that?

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

[He shoves it back in his pocket, without looking at the colour.]

It's a Swatch. That one's Lincoln. It has a narcotic effect. I can't look at it, or I'll get totally Greened and ruin my visual cortex.

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

That color...is a drug to you? Fascinating.

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

Of course it is. It's as obvious to me as that is to you.

Um. I don't suppose you've got any Swatches, do you? As I've only got this one on me, and Lincoln is possibly the opposite of a cure-all.

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

I don't know. Vampires get blood, so you might get swatches. But I wouldn't trust that, since it's just you.

Re: private

[needshumility.livejournal.com]

I'll... ask for some. I know what I'm doing with them, I've spent twenty years watching my father.

Re: private

[greatlightother.livejournal.com]

Well, you'll be the one with the most experience at it.

I still don't see how a color can do much.