Rhombus
RATING: G
SUMMARY:Nosedive never knew a simple homework assignment would him to such revelations about life and himself.
WARNINGS: None
DISCLAIMER: I NO OWN. NO MONEY. NO SUE.
Nosedive glared at the notebook laying in front of him. He lay over the arm of the couch, book on the floor, pen in hand, occassionally scribbling down a note or two. But right at this moment, he was officially stumped.
"Evil homework," he growled. "And evil Wing for Tanya make me homework!"
At last, with a groan, he sat up, and headed for the huge computer at the other end of the room, taking the malcontingent notebook with him. "Tanya," he called up the stairs. "This biology stuff you made for me is absolutely impossible! Just how the heck am I suppossed to know what the symptoms of Rhombus Desiese are?!? Nobody ever told me!"
A bushy blonde head peeked over the edge of the Drake One platform, then the face disappeared. "C'mon up," a stuffy, nasal voice called. "I'll c-call up some files on it to help you."
Nosedive rolled his eyes. "Typical form. 'Drake One has the answer'. Pbbt." But despite his obvious pessemism, he still climbed up the ladder.
Tanya turned from the wide keyboard as he reached the top level, and, adjusting her violet glasses, nodded to the screen. "T-there, I've c-called up all the computer files on R-r-rhombus desiese. W-will that help?"
"Yeah, sure," Nosedive said sullenly, flopping himself down in the rotating chair.
"Okay then, well, you're welcome," Tanya said as she climbed down.
She heard his sarcastic "Thanks Tauny.", then she left him to his work.
Nosedive was not impressed. It was bad enough that he had to do biology homework when he wasn't even in school, but he didn't even get help. He got Drake One.
"Alright, 'puter," he sighed. "Let's see what ya' got."
He clicked the enter key, and a short list appeared.
Rhombus Desiese
Disorders, Blood
Defects, Birth
Medecine, Government Control
Guardians (myth)
He snorted. "What the heck do mythical creatures got to do with desieses?" He shrugged, then opened his book. "Well, there we go, it causes blood disorders and birth defects. Got it. Next question."
He was silent for a moment as he read the next question, then he let out a cry of disgust. "'Detail the types of long-term effects caused by Rhombus Desiese'?!? That means I have to read the stupid things! And who ever said there were long-term effects?!"
Since banging his head against the keyboard did nothing to make the question change, Nosedive reluctantly clicked on the first issue, Rhombus Desiese, which he figured would probably tell him all he needed to know. With a sigh of resignation and the knowledge that Wildwing would force him to do two extra hours of practise if he didn't finish his homework, Nosedive started to read.
'Rhombus Desiese. The exact origins of the desiese are unknown, though it is believed that it originated on a sister planet and was transferred by travellers. An epidemic of this desiese struck Puckworld between the years 1200-1300, although there are isolated cases of the desiese to this day. It is a blood disorder that attatches itself to the DNA strands, causing the victims blood to become a silver colour. All can be carriers of the diesese, though it is contained in a recessed gene, so it rarely is manifested any longer. At the beginning of the epidemic, about 1 in every 4 was infected, though most did not carry on the prolonged side effects.
'The desiese is not fatal except in the very young and the very old, though the effects of it last the victim's lifetime. In pregnent women, it causes birth defects, the child being born with Rhombus, and, with more frequency as the various strains of the desiese adapted to treatments, unique birth defects of a kind not seen in any other case. Usually children of Rhombus desiese children have slight learning disabilities, such as mild autism or mild Attention Defficit Disorder. At one point these side effects were more severe, but some of their potency has been lost. Also, victims of Rhombus age exceedingly slowly, living sometimes for over a hundred years, looking no older than 50 when they finally die of 'old age'.
'There is no known treatment, and no vaccination has been developed.
'See also: Disorders, Blood; Defects, Birth; Medecine, Government Control; Guardians (myth)'
"Well, that helps me alot, " Nosedive grumbled. "Okay, let's see what this 'disorders, blood' has to say."
He scanned through scores of useless information, until he finally reached a highlighted section on Rhombus.
'There are many unique blood disorders, but none so unique or so once widespread as Rhombus. Unlike other blood disorders, this strain is stored in the victim's DNA, and is no longer contagious except that it can be passed onto offspring through DNA. At one point in time, one in four on the planet had contracted it, so most are carriers of the desiese. However, instances in which the desiese now manifests itself are rare, though no longer unheard of.
'The main blood facter of the desiese is that it turns the blood a silver colour, though it retains all other properties of normal blood. It also causes a quickening the immune system, so that victims of the desiese have a faster healing rate than other individuals.'
"Hey, what's with that?" Nosedive asked the air, brows furrowed. "You get this weird desiese that causes silver blood and birth defects and gets in your DNA so that you might pass it on to your kids, but it makes you heal faster?! Sounds like Wolverine or something, that's weird."
He clicked on Defects, Birth, looking slightly less bored. This stuff was kinda weird. That made it kinda cool.
'Rhombus desiese, which is passed on through the DNA from parent to child, usually causes very unique birth defects. In 1254, The Puckworld Medical Journal ran this paper by Dr. E. Falfelfeather:
'"My area of study in my field of pediatrics was with the victims of Rhombus desiese. When one or both of the parents had had the disease, there were often unique effects. Everyone has read the documented cases of Rhombus children being severly autistic, to the point at which they will communicate with no one but other Rhombus children. The idea that these children are communicating telepathically is generally held in contempt, but it is obvious that these children prefer the company of others of their kind above all others. Such are the things I study.
'"Last month however, I was in the pediatrics ward when an expectant mother came in, and I was informed that both the parents had been Rhombus victims themselves. Intruiged, I made myself present at the proceedings.
'"The birth was normal, if not easier than many other non-Rhombus births. The child appeared perfectly norm
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