The Doctor had run scan after scan using every instrument and every calibration of every instrument he could think of, but they all told him the same thing; Nothing. This person was clearly human and gave off an energy signature similar to that of a human's bio-electric field. But the difference was enough that the scanners issued a response of "species unknown". He had told the captain this, but as is the way with captains, it wasn't enough.
"Are you sure, Doctor?" Riker asked.
"No Captian," The Doctor said, "That's my point. I have tried everything I know and a few things I just thought of, but I'm afraid that I have no more information than what Mr. Torik gathered with his tricorder. He appears to be human, and very much dead. But he gives off a bio-electric field as though he were alive, but it's not registering as human on any of the scanners."
"Alright Doctor, keep me informed." Riker turned and walked out of Sickbay.
The Doctor turned back to his patient. "Alright my friend, lets see if we can't learn any more about you."
He picked up a tool from his tray and walked back to the bio-bed. Before he could use it however, the door slid open and and a bleeding Ensign Donaldson walked in. He held a cloth over his hand, but blood had already soaked through. The Doctor could tell the cut was bad before see it. He rushed over, grabbing the dermal re-generator as he passed the tray.
"Donaldson, what happened this time?" He chided.
The fresh faced ensign looked embarrassed, but it faded in favor of pale nausea.
The darkness was oppressive, smothering him like the heaviest of blankets. But it did more than that. It invaded him, saturated him, covering everything about him. Even his soul felt mired in the oblivion.
Suddenly, a light in the darkness. Something familiar, something corporal, something real. The sensation burned away the darkness in a flash of brilliance. His consciousness began to claw its way up from the dark void, trying desperately to make it to the surface.
The Doctor ran the dermal re-generator over Donaldson's in a slow back and fourth motion, causing the cut to knit together. The whole time he did, he hummed La donne e mobile, one of his favorite pieces. An alarm pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked over at bed four to saw the energy levels emanating from his corpse patient were rising.
"Nurse!" he called.
One of the ship's three duty nurses, Lieutenant Kwon, ran into the room. The Doctor handed her the re-generator.
"Finish up here, I'm going to have a look at our other patient."
He grabbed a medical tricorder on his way to the bed. He immediately began scanning the patient and just as immediately, his readings didn't make any sense. The energy levels were rising, but his body temperature stayed at 22 degrees. His heart didn't beat and his blood didn't pump. Brain activity began to increase.
"What are you?"
His awareness finally broke the surface. He opened his eyes, but after so long in the darkness, he didn't know how to see any more. One thought kept pushing him, one thing that he needed, one thing that he must have. It took him forever to remember how to make his mouth and voice work, and even longer to remember the word. Finally, after what felt like and eternity, he said it.
"Blood. I need blood."