User blog comment:Le Rottweiler/How do these 2 powerups function?/@comment-1496755-20151206145242/@comment-1496755-20151207114629

Also consider the different types of medikits - you have the smaller (15) version which appears dark, i.e. non-functional, and the larger (25) version, which is lit and seems to be activated.

So does this mean that the 25 kit does some active work on Ranger's body (stitches, debridement and such), whereas the 15 kit only allows its user to passively use its medical content (since the electronics don't work)?

It gets even weirder in Quake 2, where the smaller medical kit is a box with two syringes, and the larger one contains something like a plug (or maybe it's supposed to be a large syringe with two needles?). As for the 100 health - it's something like a machine (it even has a keyboard).

At least Q3 stuff is easy to explain - it is a controlled reality where an object can do what its creators want it to do. Hence, the glowing orbs give you health. Period :P