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Description
“Five years, and no sign of remission. Whatever the Infier did, it was effective.” Doctor Emerson proclaimed, while examining the datapad. “We can find no signs of the RNA virus. I feel confident enough to say you are free of it.” He looked up at her and smiled. “But that does mean this will be our last visit.”

Meri could hardly recall a time in her life that she had not known Emerson. He had overseen her initial treatments as a child, proposed and enacted a plan to place her in cryosleep, and was a pivotal liaison in negotiating the treatment the Infier Corkal had prepared. While she owed her life to the aliens who had isolated and eliminated her disease, the doctor had been an essential part. While she was elated to be finally declared healthy, she would dearly miss her visits. “Thank you, I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am for all the work you’ve done for me.”

His eyes were warm as he looked over at her. “It was my pleasure to serve, Princess.”

“My father has planned a celebration next month. They are calling it a birthday celebration, although that feels terribly belated, and maybe a little arbitrary.” The last birthday she clearly recalled was before her sleep, and before her mother had passed.

“I saw that: eighteenth birthday…” he gave her a wry smile, “...almost two decades late.” Emerson set the clipboard down and turned away for a moment. “I’m afraid however I won’t be able to attend. I’ve accepted a teaching position on Isoldet and I’ve been asked to give a lecture there in a week.” Meri thought she heard some strain to his voice.

“So soon?” A lance of fear pierced her heart. “What if…”

The doctor turn back to her and gently brushed hair out of her eyes. His voice was steady, calming. “The only thing you need to worry about is what you will do now that you are healthy. You’ve been robbed of so much time.”

“I’ll make up for it; I already have plans…” she said with a mischievous smile, “I’ve applied to serve in the Guard.” Not that they would reject her, but formalities needed to be observed.

Emerson considered her words for a moment. “The Guard are an elite unit. Their training will be rigorous.” For a moment she thought was going to advise against it, but then he continued.
“From what I’ve learned in these last twenty years, you have a fierce spirit that won’t be easily quelled. I expect you’ll have little difficulty surpassing their qualifications.”

Meri flushed at the compliment. She certainly hoped he was right. “Father served in the Navy, and Archie followed him there, but it just didn’t appeal to me.” Besides that, Eibhan…

Emerson eyed her carefully and interrupted her thoughts. “Your young man… yes. He joined the Guard, just this past summer, didn’t he?”

Meri blushed. The doctor knew her likely better than anyone, and he had an uncanny knack for knowing what was on her mind. “That played a small part in my decision, I will admit.”

Emerson chuckled. “Well, whatever your motivations, I think it will be good for you to finally spread your wings and fly. You’ve been a caged bird for far too long, Princess.”

***

I’ve alluded to Meri’s sickness in earlier storyboards, and that time, as well as her time as a teenager with Eibhan will influence the story considerably. This is our first look at her primary physician, Emerson. I’ve deliberately left him off camera as I have not yet settled on a face. On the terribly long list of things to do is a timeline of events leading to the story’s start. These storyboards are helping me to flush out the characters but exact conversation and contents are likely to change quite a bit before I am done.

This scene was really fun to put together. I had a few missteps with the converted gown prop (explosions everywhere) and an odd rendering delay when adding lights that seems to have been due to an errant 3DL material on the examination lights (off camera). The pendant necklace I made, once again making an appearance, simulated surprisingly well. This is the new 8.1 version of Meri. I expect that future renders will include this one. The skin is a little more tanned than the original incarnation, which I may correct as more 8.1 skins become available (and affordable). It would be nice to see an upscale converter for the existing G3 and G8 skins. One of the more peculiar issues with this was the colour of the nails. I have 3 different red applications for nails and they all turned out pink in render.

Description
“Five years, and no sign of remission. Whatever the Infier did, it was effective.” Doctor Emerson proclaimed, while examining the datapad. “We can find no signs of the RNA virus. I feel confident enough to say you are free of it.” He looked up at her and smiled. “But that does mean this will be our last visit.”

Meri could hardly recall a time in her life that she had not known Emerson. He had overseen her initial treatments as a child, proposed and enacted a plan to place her in cryosleep, and was a pivotal liaison in negotiating the treatment the Infier Corkal had prepared. While she owed her life to the aliens who had isolated and eliminated her disease, the doctor had been an essential part. While she was elated to be finally declared healthy, she would dearly miss her visits. “Thank you, I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am for all the work you’ve done for me.”

His eyes were warm as he looked over at her. “It was my pleasure to serve, Princess.”

“My father has planned a celebration next month. They are calling it a birthday celebration, although that feels terribly belated, and maybe a little arbitrary.” The last birthday she clearly recalled was before her sleep, and before her mother had passed.

“I saw that: eighteenth birthday…” he gave her a wry smile, “...almost two decades late.” Emerson set the clipboard down and turned away for a moment. “I’m afraid however I won’t be able to attend. I’ve accepted a teaching position on Isoldet and I’ve been asked to give a lecture there in a week.” Meri thought she heard some strain to his voice.

“So soon?” A lance of fear pierced her heart. “What if…”

The doctor turn back to her and gently brushed hair out of her eyes. His voice was steady, calming. “The only thing you need to worry about is what you will do now that you are healthy. You’ve been robbed of so much time.”

“I’ll make up for it; I already have plans…” she said with a mischievous smile, “I’ve applied to serve in the Guard.” Not that they would reject her, but formalities needed to be observed.

Emerson considered her words for a moment. “The Guard are an elite unit. Their training will be rigorous.” For a moment she thought was going to advise against it, but then he continued.
“From what I’ve learned in these last twenty years, you have a fierce spirit that won’t be easily quelled. I expect you’ll have little difficulty surpassing their qualifications.”

Meri flushed at the compliment. She certainly hoped he was right. “Father served in the Navy, and Archie followed him there, but it just didn’t appeal to me.” Besides that, Eibhan…

Emerson eyed her carefully and interrupted her thoughts. “Your young man… yes. He joined the Guard, just this past summer, didn’t he?”

Meri blushed. The doctor knew her likely better than anyone, and he had an uncanny knack for knowing what was on her mind. “That played a small part in my decision, I will admit.”

Emerson chuckled. “Well, whatever your motivations, I think it will be good for you to finally spread your wings and fly. You’ve been a caged bird for far too long, Princess.”

***

I’ve alluded to Meri’s sickness in earlier storyboards, and that time, as well as her time as a teenager with Eibhan will influence the story considerably. This is our first look at her primary physician, Emerson. I’ve deliberately left him off camera as I have not yet settled on a face. On the terribly long list of things to do is a timeline of events leading to the story’s start. These storyboards are helping me to flush out the characters but exact conversation and contents are likely to change quite a bit before I am done.

This scene was really fun to put together. I had a few missteps with the converted gown prop (explosions everywhere) and an odd rendering delay when adding lights that seems to have been due to an errant 3DL material on the examination lights (off camera). The pendant necklace I made, once again making an appearance, simulated surprisingly well. This is the new 8.1 version of Meri. I expect that future renders will include this one. The skin is a little more tanned than the original incarnation, which I may correct as more 8.1 skins become available (and affordable). It would be nice to see an upscale converter for the existing G3 and G8 skins. One of the more peculiar issues with this was the colour of the nails. I have 3 different red applications for nails and they all turned out pink in render.