Trapped on Predator Planet by Holt Vicky L

Author:Holt, Vicky L. [Holt, Vicky L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Victory Sci Fi Romance
Published: 2023-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 38

Pain

Pain is an interesting phenomenon. You would think scientists had it all locked in by now, the 2570s. Humans conquered intergalactic travel. Managed a semblance of world peace. Eradicated cancer and several genetic disorders.

But the concept of pain remained elusive.

Everyone understood intuitively that emotional pain couldn’t be measured, compared, computed, lessened or eradicated by artificial means.

But not even physical pain could be sufficiently dissected, forgive the pun, or understood with artificial means, such as with diagnostic machines. Sure, modern-day scans such as the fMNT could “measure” pain levels and pathways, just like ancient fMRI had helped researchers better understand chronic pain sufferers.

Even so, no current medical professionals, pharmaceuticals, nor diagnostics like the functional Molecular Neurotransmitter Test were any closer to advancing humans’ understanding of the pain experience. In the absence of cancers and degenerative disorders, there were still plenty of opportunities for people to suffer and endure pain.

IGMC had an entire department dedicated to pain management and mitigation, considering their employees encountered it at astronomical levels across galaxies. Pain-free employees were productive employees, and all that. Mining accidents, repetitive use injuries, and of course, injuries and diseases people were likely to incur when exploring new worlds all fell under their umbrella.

That’s probably why the EEPs were decked out with dozens of helpful gadgets in addition to the ordnance. I always maintained a sidearm and ammunition would have been a better choice for the occupants than the fractionated quark bomb—far more economical too! —but what did I know?

Nevertheless, the provisions found in the EEP would have been invaluable. The supply team had done a great job, as well as Pattee Crow Flies with her ingenious design.

VELMA, too, had turned out more phenomenal than I could have predicted, although I’d been reasonably sure the programming would do its job.

I would sigh, but sighing cost more pain tolerance than I had the chits for at the moment.

Instead, I rehearsed phrases in my mind until I had the pronunciation down. And I wrote my treatise on pain management and the human experience in my head. And I replayed the last twelve hours I’d been on the Lucidity on a continuous loop, retracing my steps and wondering if there could have been a better way, but I remained convinced I’d made the right decisions in the right order.

My only regret was not knowing how my colleagues fared. But they had to have been doing better than me. Even if they’d died; they had to be doing better.

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