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It was over, and it hadn't ended in triumph... not really. Malodore wasn't really crushed that the Insanity had apparently spontaneously withdrawn, collected itself into its precious home and remained, but all its notes now felt like so much wasted paper. All its days poured into research, study, and frantic logic... gone, with nothing much to show for it.

Riley had been returned to it, and it had had nothing to do with the whole affair. Ashford had been healed without a single touch of its claw. The student body as a whole was, it supposed, largely free of taint. And not a bit of it had been by Malodore's own hand.

It wasn't angry, because those things were all good, and the source didn't matter... but it rankled, somehow, to have been bold and desperate and brave and have the rug pulled out from under it without fanfare.

The plague doctor had ended up at Cricket's office, feeling rather lost, but with an idea forming in its mind. An audacious one, true, but hadn't it been audacious all along? It knocked quietly on the door, wondering if his mentor was even in, or if she was with Professor Red wherever the werewolf had ended up. It wouldn't have blamed her.

It blinked, pleased, then opened the door. "Your pardon, Infermiera, I was not certain you would be in. I am sure you have much to deal with, given all that has occurred... though, if you have time, I would value your, ah. Opinion. And advice. On the... the nature of my studies." It wound its fingers together in an uncharacteristically anxious gesture as it came to stand before her desk.

The plague doctor could, indeed, relate; it opened its beak in a small, almost shy smile. "Si - I am heartened by her return, and by the events that ocurred in that strange place. You were there, yes? There was so much chaos, and the fog made it so difficult to see, but I thought I saw you..."

That wasn't the point, though. Malodore shook its head a bit and refocused. "Ah, but. The... the Insanity, it seems to have purged itself, you see. It appears my efforts to find a cure are not needed - first the Bogeyman developed their method, and now this..." It waved one hand as if dismissively, but the gesture was halting. It wasn't easy to let go of that task which had driven it for so long, and to admit it was fruitless. "I do not know what to do, now that my work has been... ah... made redundant, shall we say."

It folded its hands again. "But I find my curiosity renewed by the concept of, ah. Core studies." It waited, nervously, for her reaction. It was well aware that the topic was taboo.

"The general idea," it said, quickly, then looked sheepish. "While it would be fascinating to perform such tests, I have learned to recognize cruelty... what the Bogeymen did, I do not know, but I do know it was cruel. I do not know if it could have been less so and still worked, but whatever Arel brought was far kinder. And the touch of that place pulled all Insanity to itself, or that is my theory, at least... it wanted Home, and once we found it, it left the vessels it had tainted. Still..."

Malodore shook its head. "I wish to cure, not kill. If Insanity can so afflict and warp our essence, what else might be able to do so? And if the Hunters can turn it against us..."

Since the Hunters had been in evidence in the Haunted House, rather obviously, it had no qualms about mentioning them now.

Malodore tilted its head to one side, just slightly. "I... I would be honored, to see such things. Even the bits that are taboo, ah... if others have done such things, and learned from them, it would provide knowledge without having to resort to such terrible measures myself. And I have experience in seeking out 'forbidden' knowledge," it added, wryly. After all, the reason it had come to Amityville in the first place was because it had broken its own family's 'taboo'.

"It could merely be an unthinkable act," Malodore pointed out, but it nodded. "I would not wish to work on any being that had not fully consented to study, or to whom the study would be kinder than their current state. I find that after my, ah, ghoulfriend became a subject... I am quite a bit more concerned about such things. I am trying to convince myself it is not a weakness... but I do not think it is."

"Ah-" Malodore's beak clapped shut, and it looked thoughtful. Longtime subject, was it? It supposed that Professor Red's way of life would have landed her in Nurse Cricket's capable hands more than a few times. "It is not a bad thing, I am learning, to be one who supports," it said, after a moment. "I had come to this school intending to further my knowledge of science and medicine, and yet I think what I have learned the most is emotion-"

Then it shook its head, a little sheepishly. "But that is a tangent; my apologies, Infermiera. I am glad that my request was not too, ah, impertinent... I was a bit concerned. I would not wish to damage our relations."

It paused a moment. "Professor Red is well, then?" That was all it dared say on that particular subject.

"I am sure," the plague doctor said, with an understanding nod. "I... am envious, a little, of how much of her self she seems to have retained. The Bogeymen's methods were imperfect in the extreme." Its voice rang with disapproval for a moment. Then again, it had been the only option for quite some time...

It did seem pleased, flattered at her assessment of it. "I will be worthy of that trust," it said, soberly. "The only ones I wish to harm are those Hunters, and... I had some vague understanding that they were different from us, in that way? They are not made of FEAR..."