Editing The Quick and the Dead

{{Era|Memories}}
{{Spoilerhd|3 December 2025|[[Discovery Tour: Medieval Baghdad]]}}
{{Memory Infobox
|name = The Quick and the Dead
|image = DTMB - Mission Quick.png
|description = The Bureau has heard that an agent from the Order of the Ancients has managed to locate and steal a piece of the Astrolabe. While attempting to escape, the enemy agent was injured and is now in the Bimaristan (hospital). You must make your way into the hospital and retrieve the piece of Astrolabe before it gets passed on to another member of the Order of the Ancients.
|appearance = ''[[Discovery Tour: Medieval Baghdad]]''
|type = Main
|reward = 
|fullsync = 
|heroclass = 
|previous = [[The Music of the Garden]]
|next = [[Dine Like a Prince]]
|concurrent = 
|source =  Alamut Brotherhood member
|location = [[Karkh]], [[Baghdad]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]]
|date = 860s
}}
'''The Quick and the Dead''' was a virtual representation of a [[genetic memory]] of a member of the [[Alamut Brotherhood]] active in Baghdad during the 860s.<ref>''[[Discovery Tour: Medieval Baghdad]]''</ref>

==Description==
A Hidden One is tasked with retrieving an astrolabe piece from an injured member of the Order of the Ancients.

==Intel needed==
*[[Database: Gates of Baghdad]]
*[[Database: Death and Afterlife]]
*[[Database: Dhimmi (Non-Muslims)]]
*[[Database: Arabic as a Cultural Unifier]]
*[[Database: Calculating the Earth's Circumference]]
*[[Database: Healthcare]]
*[[Database: Papermaking]]

==Dialogue==
===The Agent===
You make your way to the hospital and it does not take you long to find the room the enemy agent was taken to. But there is a nurse outside the room who stops you from entering and asks who you are. What do you say?

<tabber>
|-|Family=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 01 Choice 01.png|thumb|250px]]
Tell them you are related to the injured man, here to comfort him.

The nurse's eyes are full of sympathy as she explains that the injured man has unfortunately passed away and been taken to another part of the hospital to be prepared for burial. You know where to go next, that was the perfect excuse.

|-|Physician=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 01 Choice 03.png|thumb|250px]]
Tell them you are a physician, here to tend to the injured man.

The nurse looks at you skeptically, mutters that she does not recognize you, then tells you that the injured man unfortunately died and has been taken away for burial rites. It's clear that the nurse doubts you and it will not be long before she tells someone. Telling her you were family would have been more straightforward.

|-|Push Past=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 01 Choice 02.png|thumb|250px]]
You don't have time for this, just push past her.

As you push past her colleague rushes over, demanding that you apologize and telling you that the injured man has passed away so he will not be here anyway. You leave having drawn many suspicious looks. Using the nurse's sympathy would have been a better idea.

</tabber>

===The Burial Rite===
You arrive outside a second room to find a nervous looking student, who asks if you are there to supervise the burial ritual for the deceased. You reassure the student that that is precisely why you are there and enter the room with him. Inside is a cloth, a bowl of water, the enemy agent's body, and a small pile of his belongings. The student asks what he should do?

<tabber>
|-|Odd=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 02 Choice 03.png|thumb|250px]]
Tell him to wash and then wrap the body an odd number of times.

The student nods and performs the burial ritual faultlessly. He tells you he will go and inform the family they can collect the body. With the student gone you are free to look through the enemy's belongings, but you may not have long until he returns.

|-|Even=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 02 Choice 02.png|thumb|250px]]
Tell him to wash and then wrap the body an even number of times.

The student looks at you suspiciously and says he thinks that it is supposed to be an odd number. He finishes the ritual and leaves the room. You hurry to look through the agent's belongings as it's almost certain that the student now knows that you are not who you said you were.

|-|Admonish=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 02 Choice 01.png|thumb|250px]]
Reprimand the student for not remembering the ritual himself.

You demand that if the student cannot remember the ritual, he should leave. Backing out of the room, he says the body should be washed and wrapped an odd number of times, he just wanted to check. You frantically look through the enemy agent's belongings, you probably only have seconds until someone comes to investigate the raised voices.
</tabber>

===The Physician===
You search the agent's belongings in vain - the piece of Astrolabe is not there! Then the door opens and a physician enters examining the piece of the Astrolabe you are searching for. He appears to be a Dhimmi (non-Muslim). You tell him you are a scholar of astronomy and this recently deceased man had an important item of yours which you have come to retrieve. The physician looks skeptical and asks you to prove you are a scholar. He asks what is the shape of the Earth?

<tabber>
|-|Round=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 03 Choice 01.png|thumb|250px]]
Tell him every good scholar knows the Earth is spherical.

He smiles and hands you the Astrolabe peice, patting you on the shoulder and apologizing for doubting you. He holds the door open for you to leave and you walk out of the hospital without any trouble. That was smoothly done.

|-|Accuse=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 03 Choice 03.png|thumb|250px]]
Demand to know what this man is doing working in the hospital as a non-Muslim.

The physician looks angry and answers that there are many Dhimmis working in the hospital, the Caliph has need of their expertise. He recognizes that he lacks authority and thrusts the piece of Astrolabe at you before storming off. Perhaps answering that you know the Earth to be round might have been a more scholarly move.

|-|Flat=
[[File:DTMB - Mission Quick Step 03 Choice 02.png|thumb|250px]]
Tell him every good scholar knows the Earth is flat.",image:{src:r(d[110])},outcome:"He frowns, saying that all scholars would know that Ptolemy showed that the Earth is spherical. He accuses you of being a thief and a liar and you are forced to make a desperate grab for the piece and run!
</tabber>

===Outcome===
<tabber>
|-|All correct answers=
You strolled out of the Hospital, casual and calm. You knew there would be no pursuit, the hospital staff had completely accepted you as one of them. The Bureau is impressed by your skillful execution of this mission.

|-|At least 1 wrong answer=
You left the Hospital checking regularly over your shoulder, expecting to hear people coming after you. You weren't as effective during this mission as you are known to have been in the past.

|-|All wrong answers=
The hospital staff, made aware that an intruder was disturbing patients, chased you out. The news of the disturbance reached the Hidden Ones Bureau before you did.

</tabber>

Mission completed! You managed to leave the hospital with an Astrolabe piece! You must continue to gather pieces of the Astrolabe; however difficult it may prove. This task must take precedence over all others.

==Outcome==
The Hidden One recovered the astrolabe piece from the Bimaristan.

==Behind the scenes==
Choices within each step were reordered based on the score given in the application's source code, from best possible choice (score of 3) to worst possible choice (score of 1). Considering the hint included in each step points towards the best answer, it is assumed that is the canon choice.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DTMBMemories}}
[[Category:Memories of Alamut Brotherhood member]]