Anakin watched as his Master slept. The Knight had claimed that he was feeling much better, but Siri had still insisted that he stay resting for a while. This irritated Obi-Wan slightly, but he complied. Anakin knew how his Master felt, wanting to move around but not being allowed to. It was very frustrating, but Anakin felt that Obi-Wan handled it very well. Anakin himself would have gone mad.

He looked up as he heard the mechanics of the door move and open. Siri walked in, carrying a tray of food. She smiled at Anakin before stepping past him.

Anakin grinned. "Is that for me?" he asked, nodding towards the food.

Siri shook her head. "Nope. Your food is out there on the table. Better get to it before Ferus does. That boy could eat a tauntuan."

Anakin's eyes widened, then he hopped off of his chair and rushed out of the door, shouting at Ferus as he did. Siri smiled and took his seat. She gently shook Obi-Wan. "Wake up, Kenobi. C'mon. Wake up!"

Obi-Wan awoke with a start, looked over at her, then covered his eyes with is hands. "That is not what I wanted to see," he joked.

Siri slapped his shoulder. "Your'e so nice to me. Now sit up, I've got your food."

Obi-Wan grinned and sat up. As he was eating, Siri took out a small needle. "What are you going to do with that?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to take some blood. I need to do some testing on it."

The Jedi narrowed his eyes. "Why do you need to do that?"

"Relax. I just want to find out if that thing put anything in your blood or if it changed anything." Obi-Wan nodded, then pulled up the sleeves of his shirt. He watched as she searched his arm for a vein, then watched as she pulled out some blood. She patted his arm when she was finished and stood up. "Alright, I'm going to run some tests on this real quick. Eat," she commanded, pointing to the food.

He nodded and began to poke the stuff with his fork. Siri laughed and shook her head as she stepped over to the computer. She pressed the screen and sank down into the chair. She put the vial of blood in a collecting drawer and waited. Finally the computer gave her the chemical contents of his blood, along with the contents of a default human. Everything seemed normal at first, then she scrolled down to a new page.

She frowned and laid a finger on the screen. Obi-Wan's blood showed a high concentration of a chemical the computer labeled as 'mesalium'. She'd never heard of that chemical before. She turned to the screen with a typical human's results on it. This screen showed no mesalium in the blood at all. Not even a trace.

She turned to looked at Obi-Wan, who was eating with a shaky hand. He noticed her gaze and froze. "What?"

She sighed. "There's a high concentration of a chemical called mesalium in your blood. It's not supposed to be there, and it's the only thing that's gone wrong. I don't even know what mesalium is."

Obi-Wan frowned. "It's part of a liquid used in embalming on Kyros."

"Embalming? You've got embalming solution in your blood?"

Obi-Wan gave her a blank stare. "I suppose." Then he made a face. "How could I have gotten that in there? Is it deadly?"

Siri shrugged. "I don't know. It's used on dead people." She shook her head, still unable to figure out why the hell Obi-Wan had an ingredient to embalming solution in his veins.

"Perhaps that thing put it in there," Obi-Wan suggested. "After all, I'm pretty sure it was a dead thing."

"It wasn't solid though, from what you've told me. And I don't see how it could have put that stuff in your blood."

Obi-Wan looked down at his forgotten food for a moment. "We should go back. I'll bet the only way to figure any out would be to go back."

"You can't go back! It could try to finish you off."

"I feel like I have to go back."

"The Force is telling you to go back and put your life in the phantom hands of an evil spirit? I don't think so. I don't know what Force you're using, but the one I follow doesn't condone suicide." She turned back to the computer and typed mesalium in a database. She read the result out loud. " 'Mesalium, an ingredient in the traditional embalming solution of the native peoples of Kyros. The chemical is taken from the stems of the mahajeer plant. If digested, mesalium will cause a gradual shutdown of the body's organs. Contact medical support immediately if ingested.'"

"It doesn't say anything about what to do if it's in your blood."

"I'm pretty sure it'll have the same affect as it being in your stomach." She stood up from her chair. "I'll be right back," she said, stepping out into the cockpit. She turned on the comm and pulled a pair of headphones onto her head so the Padawans could not overhear. She dialed in a frequency.

"Hello? Hello? This is Jedi Knight Siri Tachi. I have a medical situation and would like to ask a medical expert a question."

"Siri Tachi, this is Maleb Deraxx. I am a qualified medic. Can I answer your question?"

"Perhaps. Are you familiar with the chemical mesalium?"

"Actually, yes. I was part of a research group studying the effects of different chemicals. What do you need to know?"

"Yes, I have a friend who has a very high concentration of mesalium in his blood right now. At the moment, he seems to be doing quite well, though he has developed a slight tremor in his hands."

"He has mesalium in his blood?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said. Now, is there anything I can do to help him, or will it even hurt him?"

"How long has he been affected?"

"Oh, about a day now."

"Hmm...Usually after twenty-four hours the victim is suffering from breathing problems. Shaking and tremors usually take affect after an hour. What planet are you on?"

"Teyrallist."

"Really? You couldn't have found a more fortunate place to be. Alright, there is an antitoxin. A plant called the sherub. If you were to find one of these plants, boil it, and use the liquid as a drink, that would cancel out the effects of the mesalium, dissolving it from his blood."

"Where is this plant located?"

"Well, unfortunately it's not on the surface of the planet. It likes cold, damp, dark places. Teyrallist has an abundance of underground tombs, which has ideal conditions for the plant to grow. So the best place to look would be an underground memorial or tomb. I know it's creepy, but I understand that the Jedi have a memorial on the planet. It should be no problem for you to go in there and find the plant. I'm also sure your database will have a holo for you to see."

"Alright. Thank you so much Mr. Deraxx. You've been a great help."

"Always a pleasure to help a Jedi," he said, then cut off the transmission. Siri practically leapt from her seat and rushed back into the medical bay, past a confused pair of Padawans. She sat down next to Obi-Wan's cot. He was staring blankly at his hand.

"Obi-Wan?" she asked, noticing the particular look he had on his face.

"I can't move my fingers."

Oh no, it's spreading, Siri thought to herself. "It'll get worse. Listen, I talked to a medic and he said that there's a plant that grows underground that will help get rid of that junk. So I'm going to go back into the Memorial and get some for you, ok?"

Obi-Wan nodded, still staring at his hand. "Take the Padawans."

Siri shook her head. "No. They need to stay here with you. I'm going to go alone."