You must wonder what we're doing here in your part of the world.

[bestsir]

Who: Harry Goodsir and anyone who promised him some stuff, or hell, if you just want to bug him in the coroner's office in the hospital, so literally anyone.
What: Dr. Goodsir's office hours. Bring him things, come to chat, or tell him to clean his overgrown curiosity cabinet out of the hospital posthaste.
Where: Harry's office and impromptu lab in the basement of the Riverview hospital.
When: Anytime in July.
Warnings: Harry's doing an autopsy with Victor Frankenstein. Potential for grossness having to do with critters.

The truth is, there isn't that much for the Riverview coroner to do on a good week. There was a brief increase in activity after the business with the cult, but otherwise Harry is very much left to his own devices.

Hence letting his naturalist's instincts out to play. He now has a pet eyeball-eating lizard (he is still trying to work out a system of nomenclature and is hoping someone might have some ideas) and a couple of moths in a jar, a lot of botanical specimens, and some assorted feathers, bones, and other items that he's collected or that have been brought to him by friends.

When he's not attending his classes at the university, you'll probably find him here, working or studying. He does go back to the communal housing on a nightly basis, but he keeps very late hours. Come see.

Comments

Monster Encounter with Billy Rocks

[billyrocks]

Billy had done his fair share of adventuring in America, but he would never have considered them "expeditions," so this was a first. Meeting Harry at the agreed time and location--Saturday morning at the river near the southwest wall--to guide him to the spot where he and Peter encountered those crab-like creatures during the River Spirit procession months ago. Truth be told, Billy wasn't even sure if there were any more of the creatures left, but it had been dark during his first encounter and they seemed to favor burying themselves underground, so there was still a possibility.

He'd greeted Harry cordially, tipping his hat at the other man, and once all pleasantries had been exchanged, he took the lead. He made sure to warn Harry early into their trek about watching his feet in case some of the crab creatures popped up. Much to Billy's surprise, though, nothing happened, but that only made him more wary than relaxed. It seemed too easy. He was even more surprised to find a bunch of eggs clustered together in groups within mounds of dirt, like nests. He lets out a low whistle at how many there are.

"Damn... Didn't think there'd be this many," he comments.

[bestsir]

Harry has acquired a digital camera—a device more compact than his old daguerrotype camera and capable of producing infinitely more detailed images, and now that he knows how to use it and retrieve and print the images, he's a little bit in love with the thing. He's been taking pictures as they've gone, and when they reach the nests, he exclaims in pleasure and bends down to take more pictures.

"Perhaps there are changes leading to an increase in the population." He reaches out towards one of the eggs to pick it up, then pauses. "Do you think it prudent to pick one of these up? I should like to take one for study, but not if it will draw the creatures' attention."

[billyrocks]

"Maybe the Perimeter Guard doesn't see them as a threat since they don't seem to attack people unless provoked." Billy moves behind Harry to watch his back, arms resting at his sides but ready to whip out his revolver or knife should he need to. There's no sight of any of the parents yet, and Billy doesn't see any subtle shifting in the dirt around them. At the same time, he can't help but notice how awfully quiet it is around this particular area--no birds chirping, or other animals drinking from the river, except for some flying insects hovering over the water. They'd seen some nonthreatening wildlife while they were walking along the river earlier, so why was only this area silent?

"I wouldn't recommend it. Most mothers will fight to the death to protect their young. I don't see her around, but she can't be too far. She wouldn't just leave all these eggs unprotected. Then if she did leave, she won't be gone for long."

Billy's eyes flick in the direction of the river, but there's no disturbances on the water's surface.

"And have you noticed how quiet it is here compared to the places we passed through earlier?"

[bestsir]

Harry bends down to get a closer look at the eggs anyway. Billy's argument that they should be left alone is well-taken, but surely a closer look can't hurt. Very gently, he touches one, just to get an idea of what the shell is made of.

Then he looks up. "Now that you mention it—yes. Not even a bird."

He stands up quickly, an old sense of rising panic that he'd hoped to never feel again coming over him.

[billyrocks]

The egg touched by Harry begins to quiver shortly after the man stands up. Once, twice, and then there's a cracking sound as the creature within stirs. That same sound is what gets Billy to notice it's hatching.

"Hey, look." He points to it.

As more cracks spread across the shell's surface like a spiderweb, hissing can be heard from within, reminding Billy of the sounds the adults made.

"Watch it, it doesn't friendly," he warns.

[bestsir]

Torn between safety and curiosity, Harry stands as close as he dares, watching the egg as it hatches.

"Did I do that? Or is it simply luck of timing?"

[billyrocks]

Billy also gets a little closer, just so he can get to Harry in time if something bad happens.

He shrugs at Harry's question. "I don't know, but let's hope it doesn't call for its mother."

One angry crab-creature wouldn't be too much for him to handle, but there's more than one nest here, which could mean there were more mothers, too. It would be a challenge to keep Harry protected if the creatures swarmed around them, and he remembered how fast they moved.

Some holes are punched through the shell until the top half of the egg finally lops off, revealing the hatchling within, covered in slimy, green-colored fluid and roughly the size of a fist. To Billy, it looks more like a large insect than a crab, except for the tiny pincers on its front arms, but he isn't given much time to dwell on that when the hatchling hisses at them again. It's the only warning they get before it pounces off the ground and toward Harry's face with surprising speed, but Billy is faster, having caught the way it crouched seconds before, swatting it with the back of his gloved hand. It's not enough to kill the creature, though it does just lay flat on its back in a daze, twitching.

[bestsir]

When the creature pounces, Harry jumps backward, skidding on the ground and landing on his arse with a jolt.

"Perhaps we'd best not linger," he says, scrambling to his feet. He looks around and—oh no. Is that a movement he's seeing in the surface of the river, or just a rogue current in the water.

Harry desperately hopes that it's just a rogue current.

[billyrocks]

Billy just nods and is about to turn around, until he sees the disturbance in the river too.

"What the hell is that?" he asks, mostly to himself. However, as the swells get bigger, he realizes it's probably best they don't find out. "Nevermind, let's go--"

With a giant splash that sends spray everywhere, a monster just as huge bursts out of the water, unleashing a deep, enraged roar.

"Shit," Billy curses under his breath before yelling, "Go! Take cover in the trees!"

He knows the trees won't be strong enough to stop the monster, but at least they could slow her down a little and buy them some time. Billy also has a recent addition to his already-deadly arsenal, one that required him to take a formal training session before he was permitted to carry them around since it was one of the less-familiar, modern ones--a grenade. It was like dynamite, but more portable, and he didn't need a match to start the fuse. He only has two on his person, though, and decides to wait until the monster has a better opening.

[bestsir]

Harry has only just begun to learn about post-traumatic stress disorder and triggers, and he wasn't planning on being the subject of a practical demonstration thereof. But the sight of the monster brings back the most vivid memories of the depredations of another monstrous creature, and he freezes, his mouth open in a silent scream. He knows he needs to run, but his heart is pounding hard enough to burst, and his legs will not obey.

[billyrocks]

Billy starts at a run, but skids to a stop when he glances over his shoulder and realizes Harry isn't following. He's just standing there, frozen to the spot. It's a sign Billy recognizes having seen it from Goody. He curses again and sprints back to Harry, slapping one hand on his shoulder while the other holds his revolver.

"C'mon!" he shouts, dragging Harry towards the shelter of the trees.

He takes a shot at the monster's exposed face, but it only seems to piss her off. She shakes her head, sending droplets of yellow spittle towards them.

[bestsir]

He doesn't quite snap out of it until Billy physically pulls on him, and then he staggers back, slipping a little in the mud and flailing until he gets his feet under him again. At that point he puts on a decent turn of speed, though a few flecks of the spittle catch him on the shoulder.