Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station is an interactive fiction story published in Lightspeed Magazine's March 2016 Issue 70. Written by Caroline M. Yoachim and illustrated by Reiko Murakami, the 2100-word piece employs a choose-your-own-adventure format where readers make decisions that determine the narrative's progression through labeled sections (A, B, C, etc.). The story was later recognized for inclusion in the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 anthology, edited by Charles Yu and John Joseph Adams.
The article mentions that the story was published in Lightspeed Magazine's March 2016 Issue 70, written by Caroline M. Yoachim and illustrated by Reiko Murakami.
The article notes the story was later recognized for inclusion in the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 anthology.
The article introduces Caroline M. Yoachim as the author of the story published in Lightspeed Magazine.
The narrative begins with the protagonist sustaining an insect bite in a space station's hydroponics bay that develops into a spreading purple rash. Seeking treatment at the Medical Clinic, they encounter a satirical portrayal of healthcare bureaucracy: a sign displaying 'hours since the last patient death: 0', endless multilingual announcements about six-hour wait times, and a mucus-covered clipboard system prone to being eaten by patients. Regardless of choices made—whether waiting in line, requesting a mobile tracker, confronting human or alien nurses, or attempting self-treatment—every narrative path eventually converges on outcome Z: 'You die a horrible, painful death.'
This structure serves as commentary on healthcare systems where procedural hurdles and wait times often negate the potential benefit of seeking care. The story's loops and dead ends mirror real-world frustrations with medical bureaucracy, as the narrative emphasizes that no action changes the inevitable outcome, highlighting the theme of futility within impersonal institutions. Specific details such as the resource-allocation forms for prosthetic limbs and the Uranian Doodoo nurse's language further illustrate how the tale uses speculative elements to critique systemic inefficiencies.