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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:55 pm
Packing for the culmination of a dream and a lifetime of work was pretty hard. It had taken Greer two entire weeks to finish, three days being spent on debating whether to take case three or case seventy-eight. In the end, she'd aranged a small overnight bag with one change of clothes, the bare minimum of shampoo, and the new pair of glasses her mother had bought her three years ago. The prescription was a bit off, but they were better than nothing. The three large, industrial cases she'd dragged from Seattle to the tropics were filled with her favorite specimin cases, two terrariums of her living insect friends, and her seven most dogeared tomes of insect lore. She'd only brought the essentials. Seventeen hours after kissing her mother and boarding a plane, she stood by her luggage on a helipad, waving good bye to the nice, booming man who had just dropped her off. She was here! Grinning, Greer supressed a squeal of delight as best she could.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:50 pm
Shortly after the helicopter pulls away and dissapears into the sky, a Jeep travels up the dirt road, parking just off the side of the helipad. The driver is a large, friendly looking woman wearing glasses and dressed in a tan business suit. She smiled warmly and quickly gets out the car and makes her way the woman standing there.
"Sorry I'm late!" she says in a voice that's slightly higher than you might expect from a woman of her size. "Welcome to the Island! My name is Doctor Aubrey Lockheart, but you just call me Aubrey!" She held out her hand to the lady. "You must me Ms. uh - " Aubrey took a look at the clipboard she tucked under her arm. "Cah-sen-war-ee?" she asked, saying the name phonetically and hoping she was pronouncing it correctly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:55 pm
"That's me!" Greer said brightly, shaking the woman's hand and smiling. "Call me Greer. The last name's a bit of a mouthful."
She eyed the jeep supiciously, glancing back at her cases. "Some of my belongings are pretty fragile - they're not going to get hurt on the trip in are they?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:59 pm
"Nice to meet you, then, Greer!" She shook her hand firmly.
Aubrey followed her gaze to the Jeep. "Oh, fragile? How so?" She hated to feel like one of stupid checkers at the airport or the post office - but for obvious reasons Dr. Moreau didn't want certain items coming to the island.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:01 pm
"The display cases are fronted with glass, and the two terrariums are made of it. I mean, it's all carefully packed but-" she bit her lip, realizing she was being impolite by implying Aubrey's vehicle was a danger to her collection.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine. Insects are very resillient!" She smiled, hefting the first of the three cases. "Where should I put this?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:08 pm
"Oh.. oh I see!" Aubrey gave a warm smile. "I'll be very careful, I promise. And even if something breaks, we'll be more than happy to replace it!" Aubrey went to the back of the Jeep and began rearranging some supplies, making room for Greer's "bare esstentials" "Thats right, you're the insect enthusiant, aren't you! Well believe me, we have got plenty of those here! I have the bites to proove it!"
Aubrey gave a bright jovial smle as she adjusted the first of the cases into the back of Jeep.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:14 pm
Greer quickly fetched the other two cases, placing them on the ground by the back of the jeep for Aubrey to arrange as she saw fit. "An entomologist, yes. That is why you wanted me here, isn't? To compete for the spot on the research team? You can't do a good study of the Amazon Rainforest without an entomologist!"
Breathing slowly, she concentrated on not hyperventalating. If she'd missunderstood the communications she'd gotten from the doctor and wasn't actually here to win her dream job, there was a possibility she'd drop dead right there on the tarmac.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:20 pm
Aubrey was blissfully unaware, or at aleast refused to accept, that anything but the voluntary desire to do research with Doctor Moreau was the primary reason they were volunteering to come to the island. But hey, if she wanted to collect bugs while she was here... certainly no reason Aubrey could see why she shouldn't?
"Oh, of course," she said, nodded absently, assuming she just didn't know the full story. She certainly didn't know of a "research team" here, except for the one being put together for the serum expeirements. Surely thats what she meant. She picked up the second case and began to try to find a spot for it. "Oh, I'm sure there are tons of new and exciting things you can learn here being an entomologist, Miss Greer! You're right, I suppose insects and things are pretty esstential to research on the Rainforest."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:25 pm
Greer let out a sigh of relief, belatedly worrying over whether or not Aubrey heard it and took it the wrong way.
"Okay, good. Just checking!" She smiled brightly, looking around. "This is a lovely island. Dr. Moreau owns it, right? Will we be staying in tents or in semi-permanent housing?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:31 pm
"Yup! Its wonderful. We have beaches, and waterfalls, and all kind of neat little areas... its all so exciting." Aubrey fit the last case in and made sure it was snug and secure. "And yes, the good doctor owns the whole thing, can you beleive? Not even 30 and he owns his own island. I think he inherited from his grandfather or something."
Aubrey help open the passanger door for Greer. "As for the housing, you're be in, uh, semi-permament housing I suppose. They're like little... bungalow-apartment-duplex-like...places. They're so very nice. You'll love them!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:36 pm
"It all sounds great!" Greer climbed in quickly, putting her small gym bag of clothes on the floor and buckling herself in tight. She could believe her luck! Not only was she almost employed in the job of her dreams, but the first person she met was really nice! And she wasn't saying anything wrong or getting odd looks! Today was a good day.
"I can't wait to unpack. Who else is here?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:41 pm
Aubrey got in the driver's seat and pulled (taking extra care) onto the dirt rode. "Wel, there's Doctor Moreau, of course, and your basic staff needed to run the place. There's also a young man named, uh, Amber or something. He's a cutie," she winked over to Greer. "Also a rough looking man named Pyroth - isn't that pretty? Another young man named Julian, but he's quite shy. And..." she tapped a finger on her chin, "oh, he lab techs, of course. But we're expecting more soon. I think your housemate is arriving later today, actually."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:49 pm
She nodded as she listened, trying not to flinch at how rough the road seemed. If her cases had survived unharmed up until this point, she reminded herself, there was very little to worry about.
"Housemate? Oh. Well, hopefully he or she will like me - I'm very quiet!"
Greer pushed her jacket sleeves up in response to the heat, frowning at the small rash near her elbows. A reaction from her vaccinations, no doubt. Unable to think of a useful thing to say, she began to babble. "Ugh, last week was horrible - I had to get four shots in one day to get ready for the trip, and anit-malarial meds make me woozy."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:51 pm
As the Jeep pulled around the corner, a large, spawling reseach complex began to come into view, the huge "Feral Laboratories" logo painted on the side.
"Well, hopefully you don't mind shots, too much, there is be more!" Aubrey said cheerfully as if was encouraging a child to eat their veggies. "Ah, look, there's the research facility there!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:55 pm
"I don't really mind them..." Greer's voice trailed off as she took in the huge complex. Wow. And she thought owning an island was impressive.
"You guys must have amazing facilities here... electronmicroscopes of unimaginable power..." Her eyes were huge, as images of butterfly scales at a million magnification danced in her head.
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