The new guy was- well, strange was one word. Very obviously hiding something was another way to put it. All in all- Scale didn't really trust him. Or well, more like really didn't trust him. The Xunari, a slate-and-white coloured male adult Tsabhua called "Scorpius" has kind of just shown up one day, knocking on Bloo's door complaining about an injury. Unfortunately for Scale, that made the stranger *her* problem to deal with. Scorpius, because of course his name was something shady-sounding like *Scorpius*, had been sitting in the waiting area for a while now, clearly nervous in the heavy atmosphere that had fallen upon the room after Bloo left. Even Matter, who was usually making some sort of noise even though she never talked, was completely silent while cleaning some of her tools- although not unaware of Scale's mood souring, looking at her with confusion from her workstation. Scale had been doing some paperwork, updating their stock of various medicine and other supplies, and since Scorpius didn't seem critical (not in the slightest, the Xunari was looking around the room, nervously tapping a rhythm on one of the tables while waiting for either physician to be have time for

him) had continued to do so while occasionally sending a glare his way. Subtlety had never been her best quality, after all. "I uh-" the stranger started, but quickly shut up when Scale glared at him. Scale muttered something under her breath, filling out the last few numbers on the paperwork, and then neatly arranging the pile. She'd have to drop them off with Gideon lately. She looked at Scorpius, eyes still filled with judgement. "Well then. What brings you here, *stranger*." the last part came out with a undertone that more resembled a hiss, a noise that someone unfamiliar might misplace as a stumble of words but that made Matter once again look up from her tools, raising an eyebrow at her colleague. While Scale was rarely in a good mood, it was rare to see her this upset about things unprovoked. "I uh- I twisted my ankle a while ago- I was just hoping to have it looked at, if that's okay." Scale's face fell. All this trouble for a twisted ankle? Noticing the face of the already provoked Physician, Scorpius hurriedly added "And ah- I ate some berries earlier out in the fungal forest and I've been

feeling really strange since " Scale's eyebrows raised at that. She supposed that that made the visit not entirely useless. The sprained ankle was easy to diagnose and treat- said treatment being some painkillers and rest. The stomach issues, however, were more difficult. It took some questioning until Scale realized a potential cause- walking over to her desk, she picking up a report written by the scholars- about strangely high levels of acidity effecting a certain area of the Fungal Forest. She walked over to matter, showing the other Physician the report. "Do you think this could've messed with the berries?" Matter thought it over for a bit, before nodding. "Should we draw blood? Send it off to Empress?" Matter nodded again, already grabbing the supplies from a nearby drawer, despite Scorpius' protests. The reports from Empress had been quite strange- and the scientists had yet to find a cause for the odd phenomenon, but had written it off as a non-concern since it hadn't seem to be affecting the colony much at all. But if it could cause sickness among Xunari that would definitely be a different story. Scale was pretty sure that the science crew would be more

than interested in the blood sample after she was done checking it herself to rule out other causes. Scorpius didn't quite seem happy when Matter was done drawing the blood, rubbing the spot on his arm where she had taken blood from. "So uh- rest for the ankle, right?" he muttered, clearly not quite *happy* with the treatment, which mattered none to Scale- who felt she had better things to do than to attend to vague complaints from strangers with secrets. Scale nodded, going back to modify the stock documents again now that supplies had been used, "it shouldn't be much of an issue. No frolicking trough fields for you, though." Scorpius made an awkward noise "I mean- I kind of don't have anywhere to- y'know, rest right now though." Scale dropped her pen in disappointment. So much for getting the stranger out of the colony, she supposed. She already knew what Bloo, who had always been weak for taking in strays, would say when hearing the news. She sighed, nonetheless, and dug trough her brain for the shred of professionalism she would so badly need for what she was about to say. "Fine then." she sighed, shuffling the paperwork

away. "I suppose I can drop you off at Bloo's, then."Investigation SCI-L1 II