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Union Fleet captain's coma continues to puzzle

Union Fleet doctors remain perplexed by the case of Captain Lorenzo Clement, commander of the carrier vessel Versailles, who has been in a coma for three months since collapsing at a diplomatic conference on Earth.

Medical records made available by the Fleet show that Clement underwent a complete physical just a few weeks before his collapse. He had been given a clean bill of health and cleared for full active duty based on the outcome of that physical. Nothing found in those records suggests a pre-existing potential cause of something as drastic as this coma.

"We're absolutely baffled," said Doctor Hadley Raines, chief of medicine at Lazarus Medical Center on Earth. "By all accounts, before this incident, Captain Clement was a hale and healthy man, in fine physical condition. Aside from the coma, he is still in fine physical condition."

Doctors have found no tumors or neurological problems that might lead them to a cause for the captain's malady. However, one specialist at the hospital has suggested that the symptoms resemble those of a rare but increasingly common condition known as the "Black Fog."

"It's not a terribly scientific name," said Doctor Imchir Chamarinaru of the Lazarus Medical Center's Extraordinary Cases ward, "but it suffices to explain something we have yet to understand completely."

The "Black Fog," Chamarinaru explained, is a condition that's said to be suffered by a small percentage of Infomatrix users after stumbling upon data nodes known as "black sectors." These elusive data nodes are thought to harbor harmful strings of code that can trigger comas and other life-threatening conditions in otherwise healthy patients like Captain Clement.

Clement, the son of Everwar hero Terence Clement and classical pianist Adelia Martinez, is a decorated war hero himself. Before taking command of the Versailles, Captain Clement served as a fighter pilot aboard the UFCV Warren and as a senior officer aboard the UFCV Osirian. He gave his life twice during the Everwar at the battles of Hobbes Reach and Rigor Strand.

"We're still hopeful that we can help the captain pull out of his coma," Raines told INN. "But it has been three months with no sign of improvement and no clear diagnosis. We must assume the worst while planning for the best."