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 Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:36 pm
"It's no problem at all" He waved off. "It sounds like a really nice city. I don't mind the definate seasons up in the Northeast. It can get cold, and the snow can get frustrating.... but it can also be so pretty there."
He stretched a bit, settling more into the chair. "I am trying my best - going to all the competitions I can make as well. I have my eyes set on the olympics... someday" He said with a bit of a reddening of his cheeks and a bashful smile. "It might sound rather out of reach, but everyone's got to have a dream."
"I'm from Concord." He said simply.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:51 pm
"The Olympics? Really? Wow!" Greer was felt vaguely honored, never having met a potential fencing great before. "I love fencing, but it'll never be a career for me. Insects and the study of them are my life."
She bit her lip. Gee, that last bit didn't sound amazingly nerdy, did it? Naw. Her mind raced, looking for something else to say.
"Concord? Isn't that pretty upscale?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:57 pm
"Well... I hope to!" He interjected, trying not to sound too arrogant, despite the fact that his coaches were saying that they thought that he had a decent chance if he kept up his practice in the next couple of years. "It really is my passion. I think everyone needs something like that - be it bugs or swords" He said with a chuckle.
He shifted a bit uncomfortably at the mention of money in the round-about fashion "Yes... I suppose you might say that. My parents are... well... pretty well to do you might say..." He sighed, and pushed on "Although I don't know if I'll ever be seeing any of that anymore." A frown tugged at the corner of his mouth, but he quickly shook his head.
"Nevermind that. So - are you here for the study as well?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:04 pm
"Oh no, I've been out of school for five years now. Almost about to get my dream job, actually!" She smiled, happy to let a subject that bothered another drop, especially since money was not something they had in common.
"I always wanted to be a field entomologist, out discorvering new species and roaming the rainforest. I wasn't able to find a professor who would take me on his team, so once I was out of grad school I got a job as a forensic entomologist to the pay the bills while I worked on getting a sponsor." She stuck out her tongue. "Creating death timelines based on insect activity was not something I wanted to do with my life. Thank goodness Doctor Moreau contacted me with an offer of working on the research team he was assembling - otherwise I'd still be there and no closer to my dream!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:08 pm
"Forensic entomologist?" Ambrose's knowledge of forensics was primarily limited to glorified drama shows on network cable. "I would think that that would be a rather interesting job... although I guess being out in the field and finding new species might be more like what you were wanting to do. I would imagine that in the middle of jungles like these there might very well be undiscovered speices. I think I remember hearing somewhere that thousands of species in the amazon are dying every so often - many still undiscovered. Does it have something to do with that?"
Ambrose's brow furrowed however at the reference of Moreau and entomology. "I thought Moreau was a medical doctor..." Ambrose hesitated. "Doing a medical study on drugs for therapy..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:16 pm
"Forensic entomology is about looking at larvae that were found on a body and using their life cycle to determine when the poor thing went from person to cadaver. The dead are not my cup of tea."
Nodding at Ambrose's description of field research, she smiled at his confusion when he mentioned the doctor. "You have no idea how many medicines actually come from insects, insect venom, or are discovered in plants due to their relationships with insects. The largest form of employment for enviromental researchers like myself is by medical companies."
Gesturing vaguely, she continued. "Moreau owns this island and all the people who live and work on it. He's practically a company in and of himself!" she cocked her head. "Medical testing? Is that why you're here?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:22 pm
Ambrose nodded, consenting "This is true - I don't think that I myself would very much enjoy the actual practice of examining dead bodies" He winced. It was very different watching a television show and doing it in person, especially examining maggots and other unsavory insect life that had chosen to inhabit the remains of a person. He gave an involuntary shudder.
"That's true" Ambrose nodded. Of course, why hand't he thought of that. Perhaps some of the insects found on this island were the basis for the revolutionary drugs that he was talking about. "I can imagine how lucritive whatever he's working on must be from the facilities here alone... let alone owning an island!" He nodded. "Yes... he said he's testing some sort of enhancer.... primarily for the aid of people with medical problems, but for obvious reasons he's wanting to test it on a healthy subject first. He wasn't very specific, but from what I've heard studies like this they have to be pretty vague with the subjects so that they don't have any psychosomatic reactions." He looked a bit embarrassed. Here he was, some sort of guinea pig talking to one of the actual scientists here. "IT's not very glorifying... but to be perfectly honest, I needed the money..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:33 pm
Greer chuckled. "Don't worry, I know exactly what that's like. Working at Starbucks put me through grad school." She made a face: that was two years of employment she would rather not admit to.
"Medical viability or not, I'm just here to find and catalog the island's insects. Someone else will be analyzing their chemical properties." It wasn't entirely the truth, but close enough for conversation. Greer had found over the years that only other entomologists actually wanted to hear everything about the things near and dear to her heart.
Her stomach growled. Hmm. Hadn't he said something earlier about a cafeteria. "Are you hungry? I don't think I've eaten since I left Seattle."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:38 pm
Ambrose admittedly felt rather relieved at her understanding of his predicament. "Perfectly understandable" He smiled.
"And best of luck to you and the cataloging! I hope you find at least a few new species that you can name after youself!"
At the mention of food Ambrose's stomach growled in agreement. He hadn't realized how hungry he had already gotten - especially after the huge meal he had eaten the day before. "Food sounds wonderful." He agreed as he rose to his feet and offered her a hand up. "The cafeteria is quite close, and the food isn't horrible considering."
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:41 pm
Greer accepted the hand, supressing a blush. Stop it! He was a college kid. She was an adult. She should have gotten over the blushing thing years ago. Speaking quickly, she followed him out.
"Thank you! I'll try and name one after you if I can. Do they have a vegitarian option? Hopefully beyond just salad?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:48 pm
He graciously opened the door for her as well, his gentlemanly mannerisms seeming to come to him like second nature. "I'm not completely sure, but I'm sure you can ask... and from what I've seen so far they seem to be rather accomodating."
Ambrose walked with her towards the cafeteria, the smell of cooking food already wafting out to them, inciting another embarrassingly audible growl from his midsection.
Sure enough, the woman at the cafeteria seemed to have already been prepped on Greer's dietary needs, and alongside the meatloaf, they had a green bean and cheese casserole with crunchy onions sprinkled on top. While perhaps not the most excellent specimin of such, it was certainly palatable.
Ambrose continued discussions over lunch with her about fencing: the people on the team, some former matches and close-calls. So caught up was he in his discussions that he didn't qutie notice just how much he managed to consume.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 8:02 pm
"Oh, I hope so! It's easy to be a veggie in Seattle, but not so much other places."
She walked quickly towards the smell of food, noting the pleasing buzz of insects that filled the sunbaked air.
Mmm, greenbean casserole! It may not have been her mother's recipe, but her hunger more than made up for it. All the tiredness she'd been feeling since she got her shot that morning vanished with a full belly - it was amazing how much better she felt as the meal progressed.
Of course, it could have always been the company. Fencing was one of the few areas she felt completely comfortable, and her long discussion with Ambrose about the sport in general and Umass in particular made her feel so accepted she knew coming to the island had been the right decision.
Slight, itchy reactions to the Doctor's immunizations not withstanding.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 7:02 pm
Greer had never been one for storms because comforting a cricket who was afraid of thunder was rather tricky and hard to explain. The sky was prematurely dark with menacing clouds, causing her to turn on all of her lights and wish she hadn't taken down the blinds. Logically she knew that having assorted strips of plastic between her and the storm outside wasn't going to help at all, but it still would have made her feel better not to have to stare at the oncoming clouds. Mei mei chirped nervously in her cage. Greer tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, it'll be over soon." She'd gotten her room in order in record time - she should decorate places solely in display cases more often! She liked this island even with the storm - it had wonderful weather, good food, nice people, and a wonderful array of native insects. She'd spent the day viewing and cataloging hundreds of species, and if she managed to beg a few more terrariums off of the staff here, she'd soon add to her collection of companions. She also needed to get some new display cases - there were types of beetle and moth here that her old university needed better specimins of! Mailing a few of them back to her favorite professors would make an excellent thank you present for recommending her to this program. "Meep!" a crash of thunder sent both woman and and cricket running for a hiding place, after making very similar noises of fright. Greer was glad that there were no other humans observing her at that moment - they always gave her funny looks when her behavior mirrored that of her insects. Mammals were strange things, and while she had done as well in that section of biology as every other, Greer really didn't understand them all to well. She understood colonies, not packs. Hierarchies, not friendships. She tried, and like many insects had gotten quite good at mimicry, it wasn't the same thing as being a social creature. Standing up, she soothed her pets a bit more before turning back to her notebook to continue checking her spelling and the anatomical correctness of her insect sketches. When recording rare and possibly new species, one couldn't afford a single miss-drawn line.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:52 pm
The Dude After giving up on trying to wake up the lazy bumm that crashed HIS boat into the cliffs, Captain Morgan decided to explore the new premises and maybe find something to fill his very empty tummy. Still not very trusting of this thing called ground, the kitty preferred to move on raised structures, like roofs, tree branches and fences. There he was, prowling along on top of a wooden beam that served as a rail guard for the balcony of Duplex #4, ruddy red tail in the air and green eyes narrowed in a distrusting scowl. Around his neck was a dog collar with a tag hanging off of it. Greer Cassenwari The trouble with considering text books casual reading material is that they were a bit heavy to take on trips. Becasue of this, all Greer had to pass the time between the care and feeding of her live pets and the care and glass cleaning of her preserved ones was reading over her field notebook. Not the she didn't think it was interesting but, well, she knew it all rather well. Hmmm... maybe the balcony would need cleaning up after last night's storm? Yes, that sounded like an excellent way to pass the time! Happy to have thought of something to do while she waited for the right time of day to go looking for bugs, Greer opened the sliding door and stepped out into the sun - and face to face with the small tiger she had ever seen. The Dude "MROW" - said the tiger and jumped down from the rail onto the cement of the balcony. He circled Greer and sniffed at her shoes then plopped down between her and the staircase down and looked at her with evil green eyes. "MROUWRRR" - he repeated more insistantly As in - "Yo, lady, got some grub?" Greer Cassenwari Greer blinked and attempted an uneasy smile. "Uh, hello kitty! Where did you come from?" The Dude If Captain Morgan could talk human, he'd be sure to tell the dark haired girl about his adventures on the high seas and his epic battles with scurvy dogs. But he couldn't. Instead he invited himself over into Greer's apartment, sniffing the air and looking for edibles treats. Gracefully, he jumped on the stand next to all the glass boxes to see if there was food there. Greer Cassenwari Greer followed the cat into her apartment, wishing she was brave enough to get close enough to the beast to get a look at the tag on his collar. But since he looked like he take her arm off with one swipe of the paw, she was just going to have to watch and wonder. The cat was looking at her insects! Meep! What if he tried to eat one? "Caful kit, those aren't food!" She loooked around frantically for something to feed the kitty instead of her pets. For the first time in her life, she regretted being a vegitarian. The Dude Tail high in the air as a fluffy flag, Captain Morgan sniffed at the terrariums, then pressed his face against the glass. There was FOOD there! Not a fish, unfortunately. But it was small and it was moving. With his paw the tomcat attempted to remove the lid on top of the tank. Greer Cassenwari Mei Mei, her great green bush cricket, was chirping away, warning others of the mass of fur that was trying to get into her cage. Greer frowned. No one threatned Mei Mei. "Not food!" she swatted the cat's paw away, fully prepared to lose a limb in defense of her treasured pet. The Dude Captain Morgan was not expecting the attack and looked perplexed at Greer. Then he MROWED and jumped on top of the bed form the stand, tail still up in the air and looked at Greer with his green evil eyes again. 'Food lady. Food or your buggers there get it.' - that look told Greer. Greer Cassenwari Casting around for something to feed the ornery ball of fur, Greer's eyes finally alit on the leavings of her breakfast, where the left over milk from her cereal stolen from the cafeteria sat by the door. She didn't have meat, but hopefully dairy would do. Emptying the pitcher in a scavenged dish, she laid it carefully on the floor in front of he bed. "There you are. Cat's like milk, don't they?" She sat in the chair at her desk, hoping to high heaven her peace offering was accepted. The Dude After having finished the milk, Captain Morgan licked his chops, preened his whiskers, and made sure his paws were impecably clean, then walked out of Greer's apartment, the tail still triumphantly in the air. Now that he was full, he wanted to find a sunny spot to lay in and ruminate upon this new change of scenery.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:47 pm
The Dude Having taken a shower, but still wearing the stiff, salt encrusteed clothes from yesterday, the Dude trotted down to the cafeteria, hoping to find food and lots of it. From the corner of his eye he was keeping a look out for Captain Morgan. Where'd the feisty cat go? He walked into the cafeteria, hands in the pockets and took a tray. His dreads were still stuck in gravity defying directions and the bag under his eyes suggested he didn't have that great of a night. And he really wanted a cigarette but all of his were wet. Greer Cassenwari Between the excitment of insect attacking cats, putting her balcony furniture back in order, and spending the day sneaking upon and collecting various bugs, Greer was starving. Jogging gratefully into the cafeteria, she located a tray and sniffed for food, hoping for yet another tasty meal. The Dude From the corner of his eye, the Dude noticed a girl with short brown hair and glasses. He piled up a supersized portion of spaghetti with meat balls onto his plate, grabbed an orange juice and made a bee line for the lady to say hi. She wasnt' wearing a lab coat and the Dude wanted to know if hse was here for the "study" as well. "Hi there. Want a lunch buddy?" - he grinned amicably. Greer Cassenwari "Uh, sure!" Greer smiled defensively as she made herself a spinach salad and plate of spaghetti sans meat balls. Placing a tall glass of grapefruit juice on her tray, she nodded to her new companion. "Where shall we sit?" Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew walked briskly in through the cafeteria doors, glancing about curiously. Ah, alright, so it was somewhat like what he remembered from school a few years back. It was definitely a lot emptier than school had been, he mused to himself, spotting what looked like a beach bum and a younger girl going through the line for food. But hadn't Sabin said the other vacationers would be arriving later? He picked up a tray, pondering over what foodstuffs he could get. There were a few options, but whatever it was that the beach bum had grabbed looked the tastiest. Getting closer, he saw that it was spaghetti, and served himself a medium sized portion. Matt poured himself a glass of lemonade, and then carried his tray over to one of the tables to eat; glancing up curiously from time to time at the others. The Dude Setting down his tray on the next best table the Dude pulled out a chair and took a big gulp of the orange juice. Ah, that felt nice. He looked up at the brown haired girl and stretched out his hand to shake "I'm the Dude here. What's you name? Are you here for the study?" Seeing another guy entering that was NOT wearing a labcoat, the Dude waved to him and made a motion to com over and join them as well. If he was gonna be stuck here for a while, he might as well get to know the people fo the Village. Greer Cassenwari "Greer Cassenwari. I'm an entomologist." She sat, munching happily on her salad. Mmm, cherry tomatoes! She blinked, reminding herself to respond to all of the man's questions. "Study? You mean the one Mr. Maurlias is here for? No, I'm kind of part of the research team. I'm here to find bugs." The Dude "Oh cool. Bugs. What's Dr. Moreau gonna do with those?" - the Dude asked curiously, inhaling the spaghetti like a vacuum cleaner. Man, he hadn't realized before how truly famished he was. This spaghetti tasted better then anything he could rememebre eating in a long time. Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew glanced up from his meal, spotting the beach bum waving to him. He blinked thoughtfully, deciding it wouldn't hurt... besides, it was better to eat in company than by one's self, at least if you were in a good mood. He finished a mouthful of spaghetti that was already half-way in his mouth and picked up his tray, walking over to where the man and the other girl sat. "Er, hi there... I'm Matthew." He smiled politely, setting his tray down at the table and sitting. He wasn't quite sure what to say, so introducing himself seemed a good start. What about Moreau and bugs..? Greer Cassenwari "Make medicine from them, probably. I''m not entirely sure, since all I do is collect them." Salad gone, she moved on to the spaghetti that the ''Dude'' seemed to be enjoying. Didn''t she usually eat slower than this? "What are you here for?" She turned and smiled to the newcomer. "Hello! I'm Greer, and this is, uh, the Dude." The Dude "Yo!" - the beach bum waved again, then inhaled another fork full of the spaghetti. Damn, what did they put into this grub? MSG? It was delish! Turning back to Greer, he answered: "Well, nothing, really. The good doctor was so kind as to provide shelter and medical attention for a ship wrecked bumm like me." - if one could detect a hint of sarcasm in his answer, it was very subtle. Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew smiled at Greer, and would have offered his hand to shake were he not on the other side of the table. He quirked an eyebrow at the nickname of the beach bum, but... well, to each their own. "It's nice to meet both of you." He was just about to put a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth when he heard the 'Dude' respond to Greer. Looking at him in surprise, he wondered if the man had been kidding. "Did you... did you really ship wreck?" A dumb question, perhaps, but the thought of someone actually wrecking onto the island had surprised him. Greer Cassenwari "You poor thing!" Greer couldn't imagine sailing, let alone wrecking one's boat. How had he survived? "Are you all right?" The Dude Feeling a warm wave of empathy and consolation conserning his pitifull state of affairs from his dinner mates, the Dude perked up a little, ready to whine. Cuz dammit, his boat WAS ******** gone. And that sucked. And if Cassidy was not gonna take his pitifulness, maybe these two would. "Yeah" - he started somber, taking a sip of his OJ. "I'm from Marathon, that's on the Florida Keys. Three days ago I got into this freak tropical storm that carried me out all the way here. By a sheer miracle my boat survived that one. But then yesterady, another storm blew by. I'm sure you heard the thunder and the rain. Well, this storm crashed my "Maantee" right into those cliffs on the south side of the island. So it's gone now. And I kinda lived on that boat, so ... pretty much everything I had is gone, too." He put another huge pile of spaghetti into his mouth, looking pitifull. "Blows, huh? At least I still have Captain Morgan ..." Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew looked at the poor beach bum, definitely feeling sorry for him. Though he couldn't relate to the feeling of attachment one might have for a boat, he could only imagine what a horrible experience it must have been. Not to mention, if he'd lived on it, he had nowhere to stay now... "That's awful! I'm glad you've got shelter here, but... that's still terrible." He paused for a moment, then looked questioningly at the Dude. Wasn't Captain Morgan a kind of rum? "Who's that?" The Dude "Captain Morgan is my cat. Well, he is technically not mine. He came with the "Manatee". We were kinda, roommate, Captian and me. He's this big red tomcat with a collar around his neck" - the Dude explained Greer Cassenwari Greer choked on the swallow of grapefruit juice she'd been taking, sputtering and coughing for a moment before she was able to speak. "That's your cat? It's evil!" The Dude The Dude looked sheepishly at the girl: "Well, yeah ... um ... kinda. What'd he do?" - he asked curiously. Hopefully didn't scratch her Pomeranian or something. Greer Cassenwari She very nearly sobbed. "He tried to eat Mei Mei!" The Dude Oh oh. She DID have a Pomeranian. Or a pet gerbil or something. "Erm ... very sorry about it. You know, he''s a survivor and I didn''t get a chance to feed him yesterday, because the boat, you know ... crashed." - he scratched his goatee, not fretting too much yet. "Who''s Mei Mei?" - he asked with a sinking feeling Hopefully it was not a Best of Show Pomeranian. Last time the Captain took it up with a dog, the Dude had to leave town, because the dog turned out to be a priceless breeder or some such s**t. Something really expensive ... Matthewt3hd0rk "Good to hear he's alright, at least. But... what are you going to do now?" Matthew had gotten so distracted by the Dude's misfortune, he'd nearly forgotten his spaghetti. He ate a bite, glancing at Greer's odd reaction to mention of the cat. It really must have done something, to get her to choke like that. Uh oh... He gave the Dude a sympathetic look, waiting to hear exactly who this 'Mei Mei' was that Captain Morgan nearly ate. Greer Cassenwari "My Great Green Bush Cricket. I understand that he was hungry, but she's not really big enough to constitute a meal." Greer tried to compose herself, but just the idea of harm coming to her favorite pet made her tear up. The Dude "I dunno, man. For now I am stuck at Duplex #12, apparently to be injected with stuff by Dr. Moreau at his convenience." - he shrugged and was about to eat the last bit of his meat sauce when Greer replied and made him put down his fork on the plate. "Wow. You mean you are so worked up about a ******** cricket?" - the Dude tried to clarify, not really believing his ears. Greer Cassenwari Greer started at the Dude's yell, falling silent and looking down at her hands. "She's my favorite pet." She mumbled quietly into her chest. Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew blinked. A... cricket? It made more sense why the cat was a danger to Mei Mei, now, at least. And he supposed, people did keep stranger pets... But a cricket? The girl did seem very upset about this, though. Matthew smiled awkwardly, trying to think of something he could say to lighten the situation. "Ah... well, your cricket's okay now though, right?" He paused, looking askance at Dude. What was Moreau doing to him? "What do you mean by that? Oh, you mean the immunizations we got against the possible local outbreak of Dengue fever?" The Dude Wow, he didn't mena for her to get offended like that. Sheesh. "Erm. very sorry about that, Greer. Crickets have right, too. Sorry. Wow, he must have been really hungry" He turned towards Matt: "Yeah. The Dengue fever. What is that, anyway? I thought they made it up ..." Greer Cassenwari Greer smiled shakily. "That's okay. I should be used to people not understanding by now." She was so bad at this social thing. Immunizations? She got one of those, although she hadn't asked what it was specifically. "What are they vaccinating us for?" Ambrose Maurlias After an exhausting night after the storm and the swim, Ambrose had fallen quickly asleep in his room. But what an adventure! The next day his appetite had returned with full force, and after showering, shaving and dressing (in his nicer Abercrombie outfit as the beach wasn't in his plans at the moment), Ambrose strolled out towards the cafeteria, the inviting smell of spaghetti and meatballs filling his nose and getting an enthusiastic response from his stomach as he approached. THe doctor was right, as the days were passing he was feeling better and better - although it might have something to do with the tropical beaches, excercize and good, filling food. Strolling in, he smiled in surprise as he saw two familar faces - the Dude and Greer - as well as a third man he hadn't seen around before. Grabbing a heaping pile of Spaghetti, and a small side-salad (almost as an obligatory afterthought), he wandered towards the table. "Mind if I have a seat?" He asked, self-consciously running a hand through his hair. Greer Cassenwari Greer turned at the request and smiled gratefully at Ambrose - some one she hadn't embarrassed herself fully in front of! "Please do!" The Dude "Hey Ambrose!" - the smile on Dude's face was more then genuine. "Wassup, man! Gimme some skin!" - and the strange hand slappinbg ritual occured again, but maybe this time Ambrose was capable of following it a bit better. Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew did his best to switch the topic away from the cricket, into more neutral territory. Hopefully it'd distract Greer out of her upset mood... "From what Dr. Moreau told me, it's pretty new to the island, and was being spread by mosquitoes. And here I thought I'd gotten all the shots I needed." Matthew gave a small laugh. He was trying to remember just where he'd heard about Dengue Fever before... he knew it wasn't some made up disease, but it was the kind of name you only remember hearing in vague reference, not being able to pinpoint where he'd heard it before. "I'm not entirely sure of all the symptoms, but it's apparently pretty nasty. Dengue Fever is not something I want to mess around with." Matthew turned, catching sight of a new man walking into the room, and heading towards the table. He nodded, a friendly smile on his face, and offered his hand. "Hi, I'm Matthew. And you are...?" Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose smiled warmly at the joint invitation and set down his tray - just in time for his hand to be put through the same pattern of movements. He wasn''t quite as much of a slow tag-along this time. He''d get it, he told himself, then he wouldn''t feel quite so awkward next time. He sat down shortly after his tray and nodded again to the Dude and Greer. "How have things been going for you two...? You''re looking better today" He gave a small smile to the Dude, honestly glad that he seemed to be more coherent and perhaps starting to get past the loss of his vessel. His attention turned to the third figure. "Hello - I don''t believe we''ve met yet." He extended his hand across the table. "As you might have gathered from my friends here, my name is Ambrose." Greer Cassenwari Greer beamed at Ambrose's greeting, hoping that his arrival would help smooth over her recent faux pax. Watching the series of hand movements exchanged between the Dude and her fellow Umasser, she giggled to herself. It looked a lot like the games other girls used to play on the bus in grade school. The Dude "Well, if life give you lemons you make hard lemonade" - the Dude answered philosophically then turend back to Matt. "So wait, it is for real? Wow. Check it out Ambrose, my consiracy theory was wrong after all - the good doctor's actually good. They apparently have an outbreak of this Dengue Fever on the island, carried by mosquitoes. Wild, huh?" Ambrose Maurlias After returning the smile to Greer and getting a bite out of the Spaghetti he looked over to the Dude. "Oh really? Dengue fever? I don't know if I've heard of that before..." He thought on that. "I remember you mentioning something like that is what he told you when you got here, isn't it? I guess I might have gotten my vaccination mixed in along with the rest of them since my trip was organized through the laboratories." He shrugged. was that a note of disappointment in his voice, Ambrose wondered. He usually wasn't the sort to wildly speculate. Perhaps it was the exotic location and the eccentric natures of the doctors he had seen so far.... "Although... didn't you say something about that Aubrey woman saying that Cassidy was a part of the study?" He shrugged. "That seems to be to me the only real strange point of this whole situation so far. Do you think Dr. Lockheart might have been mistaken?" Matthewt3hd0rk Matt watched in amusement (and slight bewilderment) at the exchange between the Dude and this new person. It seemed as though people had already been here a while, then, if they'd gotten a chance to know one another... "A pleasure to meet you, Ambrose.' He smiled, shaking the man's hand politely before returning to his spaghetti. He'd gotten so wrapped up in conversation, it was beginning to grow cold; and that was something that just wouldn't do. Matthew glanced up at the Dude's response, pausing to swallow before he spoke up. "I'm pretty sure it's for real. I mean, I know I've heard the name before. Why would he make something like that up?" The fact that the beach bum had even suspected something strange like that going on made Matthew curious. What could have possibly happened to make them ask that? He paused, turning to glance at Ambrose with a questioning look. There was a study going on? Did he mean the things going on in the research facility, maybe...? Greer Cassenwari Listening to Matt and the Dude, Greer frowned, confused. "But... but Dengue fever is only trasmitted by two types of mosquitos, and neither species lives on this island. The only kind of mosquito-borne disease we could get here is Yellow Fever, and I'm sure the Doctor would know if they weren't clean." It was amazing how often entomology could be worked into a conversation. Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose nodded to Matthew around a mouthfull of food. Chewing and swallowing politely before speaking he commented "yes, they're doing some sort of medical study on a sort of temporary physical enhancer of some sort. Mentioned briefly it being used for medical purposes primarily, assist the disabled. But they were rather vague - as they would need to be" he interjected himself. "Why? What are you here for.." His train of thought was stopped cold at Greer's commentary. "Eh? Are you certain about that? I've seen a lot of mosquitos... and don't they all rather look alike...?" He felt somewhat sheepish about that as soon as he had said it. She probably knew her bugs a lot better than he did all things considering. "But, I mean, you've heard about this fever before?" The Dude The Dude's attention switched back to Greer, a strange admiration in his eyes. Nevermind the cricket fetish, this chick had brains! Something the Dude didn't really have that much off ... "Really?" - he grunted then raised an eyebrow at Ambrose. "Maybe the Aubrey chick just messed it up ... along with what she said about Cassidy." Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew blinked at Greer. That didn't make sense, and certainly didn't mesh with what he had been told upon arrival... "Are you sure about that? Maybe someone accidentally brought the mosquitos over?" He really didn't know anything about bugs, but Greer certainly seemed to. But how could what she say be right? Moreau himself had been the one to say it was Dengue fever, so it couldn't be miscommunication... could it? The young man glanced over at Ambrose, his brows narrowed in perplexed thought. "I came here on vacation. I thought that was what this island was being used for, aside from the research Moreau said was going on at the facility." Maybe that enhancer was part of the genetics research going on...? "But Moreau himself said Dengue Fever. I'm sure of it." He looked up at the Dude, now. "I wonder why he didn't tell you?" Greer Cassenwari She nodded, pushing away her empty tray. "It's actually a regional name for a different disease... I'd have to double check with someone more knowledgable about diseases before I could tell you which one specifically." Sliding into 'talking about stuff I know mode', she continued. "Mosquitos are a very interesting group of insects, actually. It's rather difficult to tell them apart at first, but you soon get the knack of picking out the species. Some species don't bite humans, and some are too small to carry and transmit the parasites that actually cause the diseases. You have to get a very specific species of mosquito to have it spread disease - it has to be the correct size, have the right length life cycle, and the correct feeding habits for it to work. None of the mosquitos here do." Glancing at Matt, she thought. "Well... I suppose someone could have brought the right kind of mosquito over recently, but it would have to be an infected specimine, which would be very hard to find and not catch the fever yourself." Ambrose Maurlias " Genetic Research??" Ambrose, politeness forgotten for the time being coughed around his food. "Isn't that... well... permanent??" Ambrose was no fool, but somehow he hoped he had misintrepreted the meanning somehow. A chill ran down his spine as, speaking together, the pieces of the puzzle that had looked so smooth earlier except for perhaps a small c***k now was looking rather haphazardly assembled. "That... that can't be right" he laughed. "I expressely remember Dr. Lockheart mentinoing that whatever study they were doing had temporary results, and would be out of my system by the time I left so as to not impede my chances at competition in fencing tournaments." Ambrose commented, but there was an anxiety in his eyes. "Maybe... that's just a part of the research they're doing here." He moved his fork around a bit in his spaghetti. "But, you know, I still find it odd that I am as of yet apparently the only person here because of the study..." He looked to Greer, and Matthew who looked older and apparently knew a thing or two about the research. "Don't you need a large sample size to conduct medical research?" Matthewt3hd0rk The growing confusion at the table was making it very hard to piece together a solid train of thought. He was getting conflicting information, things that vaguely fit, and then things that didn't sound right whatsoever. Matthew sat, trying to work through some of the confusion, getting somewhat distracted in trying to piece things together. He blinked when Ambrose asked the question about research, looking up. "Generally, I would think so, yes. A control group and then whomever you were testing on. Why?" Greer Cassenwari Greer fidgeted. "Not that medical research is my area of study, but, yes, to have a viable, publishable study they have to have a reasonably sized research pool from which to cull results. One person won't do it." This did sound ominous... but sitting and worrying wouldn't help. Brightening, she tried to cheer up Ambrose. "Maybe there are other research sites? And just in case, I'll keep track of the mosquito populations on the island and see what I find." The Dude As the other three were discussing the fever and mosquitoes, the Dude stood up with his empty tray and walked over to the cafeteria lady again, asking for a second helping and another OJ. No matter what the explanations were, he just couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his chest. Weird s**t. Man ... why was he still so hungry? Sitting back down at the table again he took a sip of OJ and listened to the progression of the conversaton. Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose put a hand over his stomach and suddenly his mouth opened and closed as he looked like he had gotten a particularly nasty taste in his mouth, his face washing a strange light green color. "urrghhhh.." He shook his head, looking thoroughly nauseated. "I... I'm sorry..." his stomach churned audibly. "I... really don't feel so well..." he swallowed, hard and shoved his tray away from him as he stood shakily. He looked as if he was about to say something more, but then turned tail and started walking .. quickly... away from the table and towards the door. As soon as he made it out of the door (and mostly out of sight) he ran for his bungalow and his restroom. Greer Cassenwari "Bye Ambrose!" Greer watched him flee, concerned. Was it something he ate? Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew watched Ambrose worriedly as the man ran off. "Is he going to be alright?" An uneasy feeling had begun to develop in the back of his mind. There had to be some plausible explanation for why things weren't adding up. It was, after all, easy to be misinformed, and easier to spread it. Maybe there had been some mix up in communication between all of them and the doctor? He poked at his remaining spaghetti with the tines of his fork. For some reason, he didn't feel quite so hungry anymore. The Dude "So .... erm ... can someone recap for those who slept thru college here?" - the Dude wondered, shoveling more spaghetti into his mouth. "Am I right that this island buisness is kinda fishy or are me and Ambrose crazy?" When Ambrose turned green, the Dude gave his own food a suspicious look but then just shrugged and kept on eating. Greer Cassenwari "I... I hope so." Greer looked at her tray for a moment, before shaking her head and picking it up. "I should go draw up a research strategy for looking at the mosquito populations on the island, although until I get collector nets I won't be able to conduct a prper survey." Busing her tray, she returned to the table. She wasn't sure why, but she wanted to look at the mosquito populations without her hosts' knowledge. "Do you think Aubrey or the Doctor would get me collection netting? I need it for general insect studies anyway, so they don't have to know it's for mosquito collection specifically." Turning to the Dude, she did her best to recap. "It seems it's possible we're being systematically lied to by our hosts." The Dude "Ah. See, I thought they were lying ... So if there is no Dengue fever here, likely, then what the ******** did they stab us with, then? Because as far as I know, everyone I met here has been immunized." - he paused, scratching his beard. "Then again, the people I know here is you all and Cassidy." Reaching for his OJ he suddenly remembered: "Oh yeah, and Madison. Dr. Madison Moreau." "I wonder if she knows something ..." Matthewt3hd0rk Matthew couldn't quite surpress a sudden jolt that ran through his spine. He'd just gotten here. He hadn't even been here a day. Why couldn't this strange stuff at least have waited until he'd gotten a proper chance to relax?! "If you need it anyway, Greer, you could probably go catch mosquitos without their knowledge. And even if they knew you were collecting a certain kind of insect, would they really notice?" He didn't know what Greer was here for, or her relation to Dr. Moreau's studies. But she seemed to be on the inquiring side of things, as opposed to the official... He held the side of his face with one hand. Whether from the conversation or the immunization he'd gotten earlier, he couldn't tell, but something was giving him the start of a headache. The Dude "Yeah man, but she needs the ... special collection nets. See?" - the Dude pointed out a fault in Matt's plan there. Greer Cassenwari She nodded, making up her mind. She'd track down someone official tomorrow and get her netting. She always felt better when she was working on things. "Only people versed in collection insect specimines will notice the difference in net types. As far as I can tell, we won't have that problem." Of course, if the things other people had been told weren't true, that meant there was a chance they'd lied about her chance to be a field entomologist- Greer stopped herself. No, the idea that her dream had finally been in her grasp and was now being yanked away wasn't something she could deal with. She needed to be calm. She had work to do. Standing, she smiled at her companions. "Thanks for letting me eat with you guys. I'm going to go start planning my study - I'll keep you two and Ambrose updated on what I find. See you later!" She charged off, mind made up and on a mission. When she was this gung ho about something, there was a chance she wouldn't sleep tonight.
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