Eye For An Eye, by Sasha Honeypalm

[sasha_honeypalm]

B2MeM Prompt, Card and Number: G50 (Scientific Achievement: medicine)
Format: ficlet
Genre: general
Rating: G
Warnings: injury and medical treatment
Characters: OFC, OMC
Pairings: none
Creator’s Notes: This whole thing just came to me in bed this morning and I ran downstairs without breakfast to write it and here I am and here it is.
Summary: A newly-sailed Elf encounters Valinorian medicine.

The healer gently ran his fingers around the edge of the socket. "When did you lose your eye?"

"Near the end of the Third Age." Morlind hoped he would not need any further details. Even now, she still sometimes had bad dreams.

"Hmm. So about two Ages, then." The healer's tone was level, professional. It was a relief after the pity and over-the-top sympathy that most of the Valar-swaddled Amanyar greeted injury with, and Morlind found herself taking an instant liking to these Disciples of Este.

The healer conferred for a few minutes with his assistants-- Morlind tried to follow, but her modern Quenya was still rudimentary-- and then turned back to his patient. "First we are going to determine the precise chords of your genetic code-- we have a bed in the next room, as Songs of Power have been known to cause temporary dizziness and vertigo. In two to three months, the new eye will be ready for implantation-- we will send a messenger when it is ready. Then we will spend the next week reawakening the nerve endings. I am afraid this step will be quite uncomfortable, but there will be a Disciple on hand at all times to help you with pain management. The implantation itself, of course, will be done under a general anesthetic Song. Your vision will be somewhat blurry at first, but within four to six weeks your new eye should be fully functional. Do you have any questions before we start?"

Morlind smiled. "Not right now." She slipped her glass eye into her back pocket. "Let's do this."

Comments

[shirebound]

a general anesthetic Song

Ohhh, may there be such a thing here sooner rather than later!

[sasha_honeypalm]

*sigh* From your mouth to Eru's ears.

[erulissedances]

Oh, how I wish there was medicine at this level these days. I also love the fact that these are the Disciples of Este. She's so often underestimated.

- Erulisse (one L)

[sasha_honeypalm]

I think I kinda took the idea from Fiondil, whose Valinor had groups of elves dedicated to every Vala.

[kayleearafinwiel]

I think my Atto Fiondil would have been honored. <3

[zdenka]

I like this -- it seems like a very Elvish way of combining science with music.

[sasha_honeypalm]

Sufficiently advance musical theory is indistinguishable from science. Or maybe it's the other way around.

[mybluerose]

that's funny!

[hhimring]

Very professional!
I'm glad that the Disciples of Este are able to help Morlind.

[sasha_honeypalm]

The Disciples are some of the coolest, calmest, most non-judgemental Valinor-born elves out there.

[senalishia]

That's freaking awesome. I love to see what elves can do with advanced magic

[sasha_honeypalm]

You should read anna_wing's fics, in that case; she has a lot of great Valinorian technomagic in her stories.

[octopus_fool]

Ooh, I had never thought about Songs of Power combined with medicine! Such a cool concept!

[sasha_honeypalm]

Thank you.

If everything in Arda is made of music, it stands to reason that a person's DNA has a specific melody. Whether or not that's less complicated than sequencing all your base pairs, I'll leave to your imagination.

[octopus_fool]

It definitely makes sense, that's what's so great about it! I'd definitely stick to sequencing, since I lack all musical talent. XD
There have been some attempts recently to convert DNA sequences to music:
https://theconversation.com/what-does-dna-sound-like-using-music-to-unlock-the-secrets-of-genetic-code-78767

[sasha_honeypalm]

That's so cool! Evidentially the elves are among us.

[kayleearafinwiel]

Oh, I LOVE the idea of Disciples of Este (Estenduri, Atto Fiondil called them, but I can see this being a particular group of them perhaps?) And I just love the idea that they can mix technology with "Elf magic" as Sam Gamgee would have called it *chuckles* Songs of Power used in such major healing! It's great! :)

[sasha_honeypalm]

I'm sure they've got a whole bunch of divisions, with different names for everyone. If there's one thing Elves love, it's naming things.

[nialoke]

Oh my God, I love this! Magical-medical treatments are my jam, and I love reading about what people come up with. "the chords of your genetic code" - I especially love this and it makes so much sense?!? This is awesome.

[sasha_honeypalm]

Thank you!