
The location of the Medical Deck on the USG Ishimura.
The Medical Deck of the USG Ishimura was a large complex located amidships towards the dorsal surface. This complex was very large with numerous sub-divisions. The Medical Deck also seemed to be the Ishimura's center for non-agricultural and non-mining related studies, such as research areas which were tangentially connected to medicine (biological and chemical research) or not connected at all (research on the Marker).
The Medical Deck was a sprawling location encompassing numerous laboratories, office spaces, storage spaces, and centers for medical diagnosis and treatment. When Isaac Clarke arrived, it was one of the goriest and ominously uninviting locations on the Ishimura.
Tram Station[]
The Medical Deck Tram Station, of course, was like all others on the ship: it had a sheltered waiting space, encased in glass and furnished with seats, presumably for those who were departing the Medical Deck to wait for their tram to arrive. There was also a vending machine full of refreshments, and a Store located near the waiting area. The Tram Station was located next to a door leading to Medical Cargo Depot that led to the Flight Deck.
Medical Cargo Depot[]
The room located beneath the Tram Station featured cargo related to medical equipment as well as scientific research. There were many rails and goods were placed on them so they could be safely moved around using Kinesis.
Security Station[]
The Ishimura's Medical Deck was very sprawling; to facilitate ease of access, the level's Security Station provided access to the many discrete locations for one visiting the Medical Deck. During normal operations, Security personnel were stationed here. Such personnel were likely given at least rudimentary training in routing incoming patients to the correct areas of Medical Deck: sending those with emergency injuries to the E.R., those who needed to visit the main labs for diagnostic work to Imaging Diagnostics or the Main Lab, and so forth and so on.
The Security Station contained a Store, a Save Station, and a security kiosk with a console capable of overriding remote hackers and restoring environmental life support throughout the deck. It also had seats for waiting patients.
Access to the Ishimura Clinic was blocked off by a large barricade which was built by Gabe Weller, Nathan McNeill and a few other officers after they fled from the clinic to prevent Necromorphs from getting to the Security Station as the door was jammed. When Isaac Clarke had to get into the Clinic to retrieve the Captain Benjamin Mathius' RIG, he ended up having to build a makeshift bomb in order to destroy the barricade and get through.
Imaging Diagnostics Wing[]
The Imaging Diagnostics Wing was a large two-story room with many holograms and computer stations, as well as a large tube where patients would be placed and have their research treatments done like Magnetic Resonance. This was presumably where X-Ray, Magnetic Resonance, and/or other more advanced forms of medical imaging took place. It also contained the corridor to Chemical Research Lab, the Consultation Room for members and patients suffering from depression, the Diagnostics Techinician room, Dr. B. Warwick's Office, and the Zero-G Therapy Room. There was also a corridor to the Coolant Pipelines and the Observation Room for doctors and scientists to observe patients in the Zero-G Therapy Room.
Observation Room[]
The Observation Room was a small room located on the second floor of Imaging Diagonistic Wings where all doctors and scientists would treat their patients after medical checkups like magnetic resonance. There was also a large window where they would observe patients undergoing Zero-G Therapy sessions.
Zero-G Therapy[]
The Zero-G Therapy Ward, accessed through the Imaging Diagnostics Lab, consisted of a hallway which gave access to Dr. B. Warwick's Office and the Chemical Research Lab, opening into another hallway, containing interconnected medical storage rooms and finally the Zero-G Therapy Room itself: a vast, cylindrical chamber in which gravity may be switched on and off. A small maintenance room on the far side of Zero-G Therapy contained medical supplies, including the Hydrazine which Isaac Clarke needed to retrieve in order to build a bomb. There was also a large widow that connected to the Observation Room for doctors and scientists to observe patients undergoing Zero-G Therapy sessions.
Dr. B. Warwick - CPO Office[]
Chief Psych Officer Dr. B. Warwick's Office was located in the corridor leading to the Zero-G Therapy corridor.
Chemical Research Lab[]
The Chemical Research Lab was a small room located next to Imaging Diagonistics Wing and Cryogenics Lab. It had double doors and the windows were armored. The Chemical Research Lab contained many hazardous, toxic and acidic chemical and biological materials.
The Chemical Research Lab also had two squared flotation tanks for human occupancy; when Isaac Clarke first entered the lab, one of these tanks was empty and the other contained the Hunter in a dormant state. The Hunter did not break free until it was awakened by Dr. Challus Mercer, who put it into a state of dormancy and roused it through unknown means.
Cryogenics Lab[]
The Cryogenics Lab was located away from most of the Medical Deck. The only foot access was through the Imaging Diagnostics Wing; however, it was very close to the Bridge and its Tram Station. The Cryogenics Laboratory itself was capable of flash-freezing biological organisms into cylinders of ice; presumably in medical use, this was for the purpose of immediately stabilizing critically-wounded trauma patients, placing them in suspended animation such that physicians could study them (presumably in the Imaging Diagnostics Wing) and determine a plan for treatment.
When Isaac Clarke first arrived, Dr. Challus Mercer taunted him from behind locked doors in the control booth. Mercer set the Hunter upon Isaac and left quickly via the Bridge Tram Station, and Isaac froze the Hunter in cryogenic suspension. The room contained many Necromorphs already frozen by Mercer for transportation to other planets.
The Cryogenics Lab is where a Marker Fragment can be found in the New Game+ mode of Dead Space (2023).
Coolant Pipelines[]
The Coolant Pipelines were a room with pipes needed to flow cool liquids to Cryogenics Lab where they could be used to freeze subjects.
Research Wing[]
The Research Wing of the Ishimura was a relatively compact section of the Medical Deck, compared to the other wings and wards. It was presumably the location where most of the research aboard the Ishimura was done, though it also housed the BPC, which presumably amputation patients would need to visit in order for their limbs to be reattached.
Main Lab[]
The sprawling Main Lab of the Research Wing was a large room, spread over two floors vertically. Most activity seemed to occur on the first floor, as most of the second floor consisted of a catwalk around the perimeter of the first floor with only elevator access; both an elevator on the catwalk's edge and the elevator access through the Biological Prosthetics Center. The Main Lab had a door that led to Limb Stimulation Therapy and was linked to the Biological Prosthetics Center.
The Main Lab opened into Dr. Terrence Kyne's Office as well as Dr. Nicole Brennan's Office, and it had a back hallway containing a storeroom and a bathroom as well as the Changing Room before Biological Prosthetics Center.
Nicole's Office[]
Dr. Nicole Brennan's Office was located on the first floor of the Main Lab next to the elevator, despite the fact she was in fact the Senior Medical Officer treating patients both physically and mentally. Inside, Isaac Clarke found a text-log of his girlfriend's thoughts about treating patients who wanted to leave Unitology without retaliation from the Church. In another audio-log, Nicole mentions how Brant Harris' treatment from Marker Dementia was getting better and how there was hope for others suffering on the Aegis VII Colony, but that she wished Dr. Challus Mercer would stop interfering and leave her and her patient alone. It featured shelves filled with medical logs as well as Nicole's desk and some chairs where she would examine and treat her patients.
Dr. Kyne's Office[]
Dr. Terrence Kyne's Office was located on the first floor of Main Lab in front of the elevator. Inside, Isaac Clarke found video camera footage of a conversation between Kyne and Captain Benjamin Mathius. There was a hidden room in the back, accessible by moving a book-shelf with Kinesis, containing some useful items, another log, and a Unitologist statue of the Black Marker.
Dr. Kyne's Office is where a Marker Fragment can be found in the New Game+ mode of Dead Space (2023).
Limb Stimulation Therapy[]
The Limb Stimulation Therapy was located on the second floor of the Main Lab and it contained several appliances and sports-related items like yoga balls for patients who had undergone limb transplants in the Biological Prosthetics Center and needed to have them stimulated to maintain full functionality. There was also a bed with a Shock Pad that was used to induce stimuli in the form of electricity; Isaac took the Shock Pad to make a bomb.
Biological Prosthetics Center[]
The Ishimura's BPC was a location on the vessel where crew members, having suffered amputating injuries, may come to have a biological prosthetic grafted on. These sorts of injuries seemed to be frighteningly common aboard the Ishimura given the size of the BPC. The biological prosthetics were apparently created by means of cloning the individual, rapidly aging the clone to adulthood and then harvesting the prosthetic limb or organ from the clone; no mention of how infant clones were grown to adult size in anything resembling a speedy manner. Presumably the clones were created with no higher brain functions.
The BPC contained racks upon racks of infant clones suspended in green liquid. Presumably, this explains where the Lurker Necromorphs aboard the Ishimura come from. As there were no clones apparently in any state of growth between infant and adulthood, it seems possible that infant clones were made and then kept waiting until the rapid aging process was necessary; although it could simply be that many of the clones were created early on in the chaos spreading through the Ishimura, before anyone realized what was causing amputation injuries.
Ishimura Clinic[]
The Ishimura Clinic was the catchall phrase for the general medical and surgical suites aboard the USG Ishimura. The clinic was a well-equipped and well-staffed medical facility, which seemed to be used for both general practice and emergency activities.
Waiting Room[]
Immediately adjacent to the Main Hub, the Waiting Room was a fairly small area with a vending machine and a plethora of seats. There were glass windows looking into administrative space which was directly connected to the E.R. ward without doors; spaces which would normally be staffed with medical personnel directing patients to wait or enter. There was a notable lack of a location to perform emergency triage.
Emergency Room[]
The large E.R. ward had many beds, which were provided with ceiling-mounted bio-sensors and diagnostic tools. It contained Oxygen refill stations which were normally configured to distribute pure Oxygen to patients with breathing difficulties, and an assortment of medical supplies. Some beds lined the walls with privacy screens surrounding them, whilst others stood with their head to a pillar, configured so that many attending personnel could cluster around a patient. By one of the beds there was security footage of Nicole Brennan complaining about handling too many serious cases and mentioning how the command crew were shut tight about the whole ordeal. One of the emergency showers contained a secret passage to Nicole's secret room where she could have sessions with her patients without Unitologists spying on her in her office.
ER Hallways[]
ER Hallway A & B were large hallways connecting the E.R. with the I.C.U. They were lined with beds divided by curtains and lined with medical equipment and hook-ups. ER Hallway A contained Patient Beds 1 to 6, while ER Hallway B contained patient beds 7 to 12. This section seemed to be a rest area for patients who did not require intensive nor emergency care but must remain hospitalized. It contained an Oxygen refill station at the far end, presumably a distribution hook-up for providing pure Oxygen to patients requiring assistance breathing, and an emergency equipment storage which was locked and required a security clearance level 2 to gain entry. The hallways connected to the Emergency Room and the ICU.
Intensive Care Unit[]
The Ishimura's I.C.U. consisted of four medical units enclosed by armored security glass which was very resistant to rupturing. Three of these medical units were fully-sealed, upright cylinders which appeared capable of being filled with liquid. The fourth enclosure was not entirely sealed, and appeared to be a surgical suite - it contained a medical bed, and was larger than the tanks, containing space for attending medical personnel to stand around the patient. The I.C.U. had elevator access to the Morgue, and also contained Dr. Challus Mercer's Office.
By the time Isaac arrived, one of the four cylindrical enclosures had been violently shattered by massive physical assault from the outside, and one had a human infant laying, presumably dead, upon the bench. The cylinder closest to the door Isaac came in through had a pile of flesh and organs laying inside, both on the floor of it and partially splattered on the walls. The surgical suite had a conscious doctor laying upon the bed, and a female patient looking at him only to stab him in the chest and rupture it while the man chocked on his blood. She then slashed her own throat after Isaac had observed her for a few seconds.
By one of the shattered medical enclosures, there was security footage of Dr. Challus Mercer telling Brant Harris that he could unlock the secrets of the Marker by experimenting on him. Harris agreed and Mercer injected him with Necromorph tissue right to his brain, which slowly started his transformation into the Hunter.
Dr. Mercer's Office[]
Dr. Challus Mercer's Office was located on the I.C.U., indicating that he was a medical doctor, a physician of some renown before he went insane and began murdering the crew in an attempt to create unstoppable Necromorph variations. When Isaac Clarke first arrived, the room had been decorated with Unitologist symbols, the walls were scrawled with Unitologist script and the ceiling had red hangings hung from it. The shelves were full of disembodied human heads, some in jars and some hanging free. There was also a dead Infector hung on the wall as a glory figure.
Dr. Mercer's office contained a laboratory and a station where Isaac needed to override the Medical Deck lockdown as Kendra Daniels was locked out of these systems. On the bed, there was a man, one of Mercer's victims, who begged Isaac to get liquid nitrogen from Cryogenics Lab to poison the Leviathan for Elizabeth Cross and save Hydroponics Deck.
Dr. Mercer's Office is where a Marker Fragment can be found in the New Game+ mode of Dead Space (2023).
Morgue[]
The USG Ishimura had a large morgue, clearly with a capacity of dozens of bodies, if not hundreds. Such a capacity could easily be understood by reasoning that the Ishimura was expected to transport any mining colony fatalities (and of course deaths-aboard-ship) back into settled space for disposal according to the wishes of the deceased, such as by cremation, burial in the ground, or rendering to the Church of Unitology for preservation in cryogenic stasis. It also contained a glass-walled examination room for the autopsy of deceased personnel.
Isaac Clarke visited the Morgue because he needed to acquire the RIG of Captain Benjamin Mathius, who was killed early during the Necromorph outbreak and was transported to the Morgue for autopsy. The Morgue was one of the first locations the Necromorph infestation spread from, yet there were still untouched bodies (including that of Captain Mathius) waiting for an Infector to get to. Isaac had to battle the Captain's reanimated remains in the form of an Enhanced Slasher to retrieve the Captain's RIG, at the same time as he had to fend off the Infector which turned the Captain - a difficult task if the other remains in the Morgue had not been dismembered.
Trivia[]
- The Medical Deck is where Chapter 2: Intensive Care and Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion of Dead Space (2023) take place.
- In the remake, the sign above the Morgue reads "CAUTION: CADAVER STORAGE CAPACITY EXCEEDED". The Medical Clinic sign reads "WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT NEW PATIENTS AT THIS TIME".
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The Medical Deck of the USG Ishimura was a large complex located amidships towards the dorsal surface. This complex was very large with numerous sub-divisions. The Medical Deck also seemed to be the Ishimura's center for non-agricultural and non-mining related studies, such as research areas which were tangentially connected to medicine (biological and chemical research) or not connected at all (research on the Marker).
The Medical Deck was a sprawling location encompassing numerous laboratories, office spaces, storage spaces, and centers for medical diagnosis and treatment. When Isaac Clarke arrived, it was one of the goriest and ominously uninviting locations on the Ishimura.
Tram Stations[]
The Medical Deck was unique in that it had two separate Tram Stations. Given that on a mining vessel, very severe traumatic injuries could occur very suddenly, it is possible that both trams were used for medical evacuation. If the trauma was severe enough, it might be preferable for an injured crewman to be rushed into cryo-freeze for later surgery once the Ishimura's medical team had had a chance to study his or her injuries and develop a precise plan of action. Hence, a direct link to the Cryo Lab was not remotely unreasonable.
The main Tram Station, of course, was like all others on the ship: it had a sheltered waiting space, encased in glass and furnished with seats, presumably for those who were departing the Medical Deck to wait for their tram to arrive. There was also a vending machine full of refreshments, and a Store located near the waiting area.
Security Station[]
The Ishimura's Medical Deck was very sprawling; to facilitate ease of access, the level's Security Station provided access to the many discrete locations for one visiting the Medical Deck. During normal operations, Security personnel were stationed here. Such personnel were likely given at least rudimentary training in routing incoming patients to the correct areas of Medical Deck: sending those with emergency injuries to the E.R., those who needed to visit the main labs for diagnostic work to Imaging Diagnostics or the Main Lab, and so forth and so on.
The Security Station contained a Store, a Save Station, and a security kiosk with a console capable of overriding remote hackers and restoring environmental life support throughout the deck. It also had seats for waiting patients.
Access to the Ishimura Clinic was blocked off by a large barricade which was built by Gabe Weller, Nathan McNeill and a few other officers after they fled from the clinic to prevent Necromorphs from getting to the Security Station as the door was jammed. When Isaac Clarke had to get into the Clinic to retrieve the Captain Benjamin Mathius' RIG, he ended up having to build a makeshift bomb in order to destroy the barricade and get through.
Ishimura Clinic[]
The Ishimura Clinic was the catchall phrase for the general medical and surgical suites aboard the USG Ishimura. The clinic was a well-equipped and well-staffed medical facility, which seemed to be used for both general practice and emergency activities.
Waiting Room[]

Waiting Room
Emergency Room[]

Emergency Room
ER Hallways[]

ER Hallway A
Intensive Care Unit[]

I.C.U.
The Ishimura's I.C.U. consisted of four medical units enclosed by armored security glass which was very resistant to rupturing. Three of these medical units were fully-sealed, upright cylinders which appeared capable of being filled with liquid. The fourth enclosure was not entirely sealed, and appeared to be a surgical suite - it contained a medical bed, and was larger than the tanks, containing space for attending medical personnel to stand around the patient. The I.C.U. had elevator access to the Morgue, and also contained Dr. Challus Mercer's Office.
By the time Isaac arrived, one of the four cylindrical enclosures had been violently shattered by massive physical assault from the outside, and one had a human infant laying, presumably dead, upon the bench. The cylinder closest to the door Isaac came in through had a pile of flesh and organs laying inside, both on the floor of it and partially splattered on the walls. The surgical suite had a conscious patient laying upon the bed, and what looked like a female officer laughing uncontrollably as she was sawing up his organs. She slashed her own throat after Isaac had observed her for a few seconds.
Mercer's Office[]

Mercer's Office
Dr. Mercer's office contained a laboratory table within which he had stored samples of Necromorph flesh. Isaac Clarke had to retrieve this sample in order to poison the Leviathan.
Morgue[]

Morgue
Isaac Clarke visited the Morgue because he needed to acquire the RIG of Captain Benjamin Mathius, who was killed early during the Necromorph outbreak and was transported to the Morgue for autopsy. The Morgue was one of the first locations the Necromorph infestation spread from, yet there were still untouched bodies (including that of Captain Mathius) waiting for an Infector to get to. Isaac had to battle the Captain's reanimated remains in the form of an Enhanced Slasher to retrieve the Captain's RIG, at the same time as he had to fend off the Infector which turned the Captain - a difficult task if the other remains in the Morgue had not been dismembered.
Research Wing[]
The Research Wing of the Ishimura was a relatively compact section of the Medical Deck, compared to the other wings and wards. It was presumably the location where most of the research aboard the Ishimura was done, though it also housed the BPC, which presumably amputation patients would need to visit in order for their limbs to be reattached.
Main Lab[]

Main Lab
The Main Lab also opened into a room which was presumably Dr. Terrence Kyne's Office, as well as a second person's office, and it had a back hallway containing a storeroom and a bathroom.
Dr. Kyne's Office[]
Although not explicitly labeled as the office of Dr. Terrence Kyne, Isaac Clarke found this room accessible from the Main Lab, containing a video-log of a conversation between Kyne and Captain Benjamin Mathius. There was a hidden room in the back, accessible by moving a book-shelf with Kinesis, containing some useful items, another log, and a Unitologist statue of the Black Marker.
Bio Lab[]
Two doors in the Main Lab opened into rooms marked as the Bio Lab; the two rooms were on different floors of the Main Lab, and they did not connect directly to one another. One of the rooms seemed to be an office, while the other was an exam room of some sort. They connected to each other through the Biological Prosthetics Center, which was only accessible through the Bio Lab rooms off the Main Lab.
When Isaac Clarke first entered the Bio Lab, only the door on the bottom floor of the Main Lab was accessible; he had to enter it, traverse through the BPC, and enter the room on the top floor of the Main Lab in order to retrieve a canister of Thermite.
Biological Prosthetics Center[]
The Ishimura's BPC was a location on the vessel where crew members, having suffered amputating injuries, may come to have a biological prosthetic grafted on. These sorts of injuries seemed to be frighteningly common aboard the Ishimura given the size of the BPC. The biological prosthetics were apparently created by means of cloning the individual, rapidly aging the clone to adulthood and then harvesting the prosthetic limb or organ from the clone; no mention of how infant clones were grown to adult size in anything resembling a speedy manner. Presumably the clones were created with no higher brain functions.
The BPC contained racks upon racks of infant clones suspended in green liquid. Presumably, this explains where the Lurker Necromorphs aboard the Ishimura come from. As there were no clones apparently in any state of growth between infant and adulthood, it seems possible that infant clones were made and then kept waiting until the rapid aging process was necessary; although it could simply be that many of the clones were created early on in the chaos spreading through the Ishimura, before anyone realized what was causing amputation injuries.
Isaac standing before tanks full of clones.
Imaging Diagnostics Ward[]
The Imaging Diagnostics Ward, accessible via hallway from the Main Hub of the Medical Deck, is presumably where X-Ray, Magnetic Resonance, and/or other more advanced forms of medical imaging take place. It also contains the Chemical Research Lab, an unmarked examination room, and Zero-G therapy, despite the fact that the Chem Lab would seemingly be a better fit in the Research Wing, and Zero-G Therapy would be a better fit in the Clinic. Presumably they were allocated to the Imaging Diagnostics Ward for gameplay reasons, though it can be rationalized in-universe as the lab space and Zero-G therapy not having been originally planned, and having been installed later on in the ship's life-cycle, and simply had to be placed wherever there was room, no matter how illogical or inconvenient it made the access.
Imaging Diagnostics Ward[]
The Imaging Diagnostics Ward, accessible via hallway from the Main Hub of the Medical Deck, was presumably where X-Ray, Magnetic Resonance, and/or other more advanced forms of medical imaging took place. It also contained the Chemical Research Lab, an unmarked examination room, and Zero-G Therapy, despite the fact that the Chem Lab would seemingly be a better fit in the Research Wing, and Zero-G Therapy would be a better fit in the Clinic. Presumably they were allocated to the Imaging Diagnostics Ward for gameplay reasons, though it can be rationalized in-universe as the lab space and Zero-G Therapy not having been originally planned, and having been installed later on in the ship's life-cycle, and simply had to be placed wherever there was room, no matter how illogical or inconvenient it made the access.
Imaging Diagnostics Room
Zero-G Therapy[]

Zero-G Therapy
Chemical Research Lab[]

Chemical Research Lab with the dormant Hunter.
The Chemical Research Lab also had two squared flotation tanks for human occupancy; when Isaac Clarke first entered the lab, one of these tanks contained a human corpse, and the other contained the Hunter in a dormant state. The Hunter did not break free until it was awakened by Dr. Challus Mercer, who put it into a state of dormancy and roused it through unknown means.
Cryogenics Lab[]

Dr. Challus Mercer in the Cryogenics Lab
When Isaac Clarke first arrived, Dr. Challus Mercer taunted him from behind locked doors in the control booth. Mercer set the Hunter upon Isaac and left quickly via the secondary Tram Station, and Isaac froze the Hunter in cryogenic suspension. The room contained many Necromorphs already frozen by Mercer for transportation to other planets.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Medical Deck is where Chapter 2: Intensive Care and Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion of Dead Space take place.
- This is one of the decks where Chapter 10: Déjà Vu on the Ishimura of Dead Space 2 takes place.
- This is the deck where Nicole Brennan commits suicide and records her last log. The exact room where she kills herself can be accessed in Dead Space but not in Dead Space 2, as many rooms of the Medical Deck are locked.
- When Isaac travels through the Medical Decks again in Chapter 5, a badly-wounded female nurse is sobbing over the corpse of one of her female colleagues at the far end of the Wards bay, near the Oxygen refill hook-up. How she managed to arrive there in a deck full of Necromorphs and an obvious insanity is unclear; she does not respond to Isaac in any way, and Isaac is unable to put her out of her misery, even by use of Force grenades or Line Gun mines. While her canonical death presumably occurs when Challus Mercer sucks the atmosphere out of the deck, if Isaac rushes quickly after retrieving the sample, he can get to where she is and find her dead before Mercer disables the atmosphere.
- In truth, her death is triggered when Isaac adds Sample 9797 to the chemical mixture he retrieved from the Chemlab. Add the sample, leave it in the mixing desk and run back out to the ward to find that she has mysteriously dropped dead, with no signs of (additional) violence upon her person. Possibly, she simply succumbed to her already-existing injuries.
- Curiously, the nurse's RIG reads zero prior to Mercer's removal of life support, suggesting that the nurse could be a hallucination. This is supported by an often overlooked detail: the body the nurse is crying over is identical to her own.
- The Morgue provides the first glimpse of the process by which corpses are transformed into Necromorphs.
- It seems the Medical Deck is much larger than it is perceived to be in the first game, as it was mentioned through multiple logs and seen through the comics that there were entire sections wiped out and others operational, with those working within the operational parts none the wiser of what was happening around them.
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