ne week had rapidly turned into two

The dream from which he awoke was always the same. Even so, it left him in the same cold sweat each and every time it didst recur. He'd seen it all coming, even back then, and had worried at the fate of the Court, as well as the patient, due to those events. His reality had become his nightmare.

The Haichemoh were the first to infiltrate the Order of the Medi, soon followed by the Peepeeoh. Both added 'strengths' to the Order, which all seemed fairly good, at least on the surface. The approach was passive with the attack and battle being completely bloodless, with all of the infiltrators insisting,

"We're here for the betterment of all..! There is no need for your weapons.!" But gradually, the Medi Court became aware that their Healing Order was changing and now had 'limits' placed thereon. No longer couldst a test or lab be ordered, lest it be approved and decreed upon the scrolls of the Haichemoh or Peepeeoh. It had all happened so quickly that it was of little note when the evil ally of the Haichemoh and the Peepeeoh was revealed to be behind the entire take-over. Indeed, the Suiraunce was to become the ultimate answer to all questions of healing. And that, of course, included everything done by the anyone in the Court of the Medi.

The dream was a relentless reminder of the past... he'd seen it coming, and yet, there was naught could be done. The Haichemoh and the Peepeeoh, backed by the Suiraunce, had become the Triumvirate of Treatment, in short order.

And woe be unto those that didst seek said 'treatment'. Healing was indeed changing, and many in the Court of the Medi couldst see that adjustments would be necessary. Meetings were held and spirited exchanges didst fill the Court. "We shant be able to pay our own expenses..!" some didst complain. "These requirements are not good for the healing of the sick..!" said others.

And then, as if the Court needed more grief, the Plan of the Business was introduced. Medi Knights were taught about such things as "productivity", "coding and compliance", "contract negotiation" and "documentation for best reimbursement"... and so many things that had naught to do with the healing arts. Many times he had left those sessions in disgust ; some, he even refused to attend. He grieved at seeing what he considered a "Noble Calling" becoming a "profit center". Yet the profits came not to the sick nor to the Medi, but to the Suiraunce.

'All rather moot now', he thought to himself. He was too ill to treat anyone and what energy he didst still possess had to be directed toward the illness. This battle was even bigger than all the woes of the Court of the Medi combined. And, in fact, the Court itself was in large part responsible for the fate of all in Morgdom. The Medi was tired but knew he had work to do. He collected himself and sat upright on the edge of his bed and decided to forego his morning trip to the window. It was quite clear, from the small amount of grey light attempting to pierce the shutters, that the cloud upon Morgdom had not budged. No, these days he had much better things to do than dwell on dreams or wait on clouds.

He stood and quickly prepared himself for a much earlier than usual visit to Morgdom Square for a first hand look at the 'board'. And, if luck was with him, perhaps a chat with a few who might be inclined to frequent the 'dragon boards'.

A full fortnight had passed with no reply from the young academician and though many things were stirring in the realm, this one thing, above all others, began to bother him greatly. 'Why wouldst an offer from a learned Knight of the Medi be ignored.. ? ' he had asked himself repeatedly. It made no sense for a student, especially of a prestigious university like the Uga, to ignore a knighted member of the Medi Court. He couldst not imagine what she must be up to, for her reply to be taking so long.

So much had transpired that fall...

Knights and Ladies from many different courts didst take up arms and battle the Dragon of the DOP. The slayers had more than their share of dragons to ward off or kill. The time had come for all to lend a hand to the battle for Morgdom.

And then there was the conference session at the Council of the Okla where the Medi didst learn many things. He listened intently as the Lady Asmuss, of the Court of the Wyo, didst present to all regarding the teaching of the DOP. She quoted from the very Court of the Medi scrolls themselves and pointed out all of the atrocities in the data which had heretofore gone unnoticed, or had been ignored. She analyzed each of the famous 'studies' regarding the DOP and didst disembowel each and every one of them. Ah, yes... even the sacred scientific one from the revered Osu was present and didst express amazement at the Lady's presentation.

When he reached the square, the Medi was approached by a young courier with whom he'd had a good working relationship for many months and the young man said, "Sir Medi, I have something for you." The Medi smiled, "Aha..! She has finally responded to my request."

"Oh, no, Sir," said the courier, "Quite sorry, Sir, but I have no response from the young academician. But I have scribed for you what I have found out about her." With that he held out a small, tattered scroll which read :

The Medi was appalled at what he had read and stood staring at the words. "It's from a recent publication and I thought you'd best see it first," said the courier. The Medi asked, "Is there more of this 'publication'.. ? " The courier promised to scribe the entire document and deliver it on the morrow.

The Medi took his time and carefully began to peruse the scrolls. The 'publication' consisted of eleven statements and one question from a woman in the Morgdom community, who obviously had the illness and was desperately seeking help from the young academician. Each of the one line statements was followed by a comment from the young academician about her job or her education. The indifference to the patient was so overwhelming to the Medi that he wondered why the young academician had not simply used eleven horizontal lines across the page.

But the most pain came from the last entry of the woman asking of the young academician,

Then he came upon the part that stood him up from his desk.

"... I met with Dr. Nancy Hinkle."

He'd heard the name from his first day in the realm of Morgdom and knew it to be a curious situation. 'How does one who studies bugs become an expert on the DOP.. ? ' he had always wondered. And then, as if the mention of the name was not enough, he found, at the very end of the 'publication' :

Reference : Hinkle, N.C. ( 2000 ) . Delusory Parasitosis. American Entomologist, 4 6 , 1 7 -25.

'Ah..!' he said to himself, 'The Hinkle... hmmm... this could all prove to be very interesting.'

But then... things got worse.

One day the courier didst present to the Medi even more words from the young academician. "She is ever-present on many of the 'boards' and most prominently on the 'dragon board' of late. And, Sir... none of it seems in favor of the community," he told the Medi, as he handed him yet another set of scrolls.

And from the 'boards' he read more of the young academician's handiwork :

"Thank you for replying.... Your interest in research seems intense.

So you must already know that to have research approved you must engage in "full disclosure"-- meaning, participants must know exactly what the research is about before the research is conducted.

Because of your asserted knowledge about research.... Clearly, you would know that if I were studying DP, I would say, "DP," but as I am in the entomology department extension agency at the University of Georgia, which has strict IRB requirements and ethics standards, I study bugs."

This sounded promising, thought the Medi, for he knew full well the dealings of IRB committees, and as for those 'strict ethics' of the Uga.... ? He'd learned those firsthand, many years before. So, is the young academician following the rules ? he wondered. Then came more from the 'board' :

"Let me refer to your title. "DOP... you don't say." That is true. I don't say DOP. Research requires full disclosure to participants. So educated, perhaps, that I follow the ethics of approval sponsored by the UGA RBI.

It is actually quite common for thousands of people with no history of madness to share the same delusion.

Because you’ve never had mental health or physical illnesses before, does it mean you can never acquire them ? "

The Medi didst begin to ponder the situation and found himself questioning what he was reading. 'Me thinks young academician doth protest too much.' But he continued on through all of the scrolls and wound up reading :

"We don’t have to make up a disease that fits. It’s called Delusory Parasitosis."

For a few days he just made sure that all of what he had read was correct. Then, he set about writing to the young academician - for the second time. This time, he included his Medi Seal on the message, just to make sure the young academician knew with whom she was dealing.

It was difficult for the Medi to contain his anger, but below is a portion of his second request of the young academician :

---

 

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The Python Menace