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Experiments

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Wizardblizzard

Wizardblizzard

@disqus_PW1MzRyGwx a year ago

I thought it might be fun to have a thread of the experiments our scientists are doing. A lot of us have described very colourful-sounding things their characters are supposed to be studying, but I can't remember when we last actually saw any of them do any research. (Except for a few like Lewis, whose field of study literally is spying on the more exotic Lodgers, so he can't help it.) And all going wrong as much as we like and colliding with each other. Definitely a fluff thread, unless something unexpected happens which, of course, it often does.

Rules of play for this thread: start as many separate bits as you like as far as I'm concerned; not everything necessarily takes place at the same time; more than one person at a time welcome; try not to split timelines but if it happens it's not the end of the world.

No, I haven't posted myself yet, but I will do when I make my mind up what I'm going to do! Meanwhile, other peeps, go ahead!

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Annieloo • a year ago

((Oh jeez, get ready for a lot of shouting from Ashton and probable broken chalkboards. They have a very… erratic method of study.))

Ashton threw the chalk down with a flourish, having calculated the one-hundredth decimal in the square-root of 2. They looked at the whole of the chalkboard and… no pattern. Harrumph, they thought. They continued onto the next chalkboard, mentally calculating as they went. There was a pattern, there had to be a pattern, if I could just see it! They reached the 200th number and stopped again. It was a jumble of numbers, the only uniting factor was the randomness of it. Ashton threw the chalk at the chalkboard and sulked, when they finally got to do their research, without anything pressing going on, they weren’t given an easy answer. They weren’t expecting one, but a success early on in the day would’ve brightened their spirits, couldn’t the universe bless them just this once?

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Tairais  Annieloo • a year ago

(( Enter the birdman!* Also Ashton no, chalkboards are expensive ;-;

* Totally normal human ))

Charricthran poked his head into the room just in time to see a Lodger he didn't recognize throw a piece of chalk at the chalkboard. He'd originally been intrigued by the frantic scratch of the chalk against the slate, but the sheer amount of numbers had more immediately arrested his attention.

He let out a low, quiet whistle as he stepped all the way into the room.

""S a lotta numbers ya got there, kid! What sorta expression ya workin' on?"

His rough-around-the-edges voice curled like smoke in the relative quiet of the room.

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Annieloo  Tairais • a year ago • edited

"The square-root of two. There’s something I’m missing, but I swear the math is correct." Ashton turned to face the intruder to the room, realizing that they weren’t just another part of their own thoughts.

"Who are you? Don’t you know it’s not polite to barge into private rooms?" Their usually warm, playful voice was icy, Ashton detested being interrupted.

((I’m sorry about this goober, they’re actually nice I promise!))

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Tairais  Annieloo • a year ago

(( Worry not, Charricthran is just as chill as their icy voice and always eager to be friendly, if a bit odd! ))

"If it's somethin' missin', why not jus' go work on somethin' else for a bit an' come back with a fresh perspective? Works for me anyhow."

Charricthran smirked, though it was warm in a way that suggested the expression was really a smile.

"I'm called Charricthran, kid. An' I didnae exactly 'barge' in- door was open, see? An' ya sounded all frustrated-like when the chalk went a-clatterin' against the board, so I figured I'd see if I couldnae come an' help, or at the very least, meet someone new seein' as how I ain't heard the likes o' your shadow traipsin' about yet."

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Annieloo  Tairais • a year ago

Ashton was unimpressed. "You don’t know my situation—Charricthran, was it?—so I wouldn’t expect you to understand that my time is limited. I don’t have time to take a break." They finished processing his last remark. "Shadow? Is that some sort of slang?"

They took a breath, remembering their manners. "I’m Ashton. Ashton Logan. I use the singular they for my pronouns, and I prefer getting that out of the way so people don’t call me 'mister' or 'miss'. I’d appreciate if you refrain as well."

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Tairais  Annieloo • a year ago

"Nope, shadow as in actual shadow. Ain't heard yours about all whisper-like."

He took the request for a change in pronouns in stride with an understanding nod.

No worries, I'm used ta all kindsa pronouns- younger siblin' o' mine became a god an' went ta 'they' cos they had so many souls runnin' about with theirs, wouldn'tcha know? Pleasure ta meetcha, Ashton."

He bowed and straightened the feathered cuffs of his jacket, more out of habit than anything, then squinted at the numbers on the board as if calculating something of his own.

"'S that you've got your head all balled up abouts, then?

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Tairais • a year ago

(( For the sake of timelines, this will probably have to happen before Kerstas for me- maybe even directly before. Else char's

Experiments for either of them tended to, on a good day, explode into flames at least once. For once, this was a good day- the Society really didn't need another bad one.

"Charricthran, if you would?" Coughed Richard between lungfuls of black smoke.

"Already on it kid- an' don' say I didn't fraggin' tell ya that mixin' quartz an' copper with that sorta enchantment was a bad idea!"

Even though Richard couldn't see past all the smoke, this had happened plenty enough times that he could imagine Charricthran's outstretched hands twisting the smoke to curl around his fingers.

After a handful of moments, all that remained of the botched experiment was a mass of charcoal and strange green ooze on the table, the lingering haze of smoke in the air, and a lingering sense of amused frustration.

"I believe this is, as you say, 'a bust'."

"Nah, really? What gave it away- the half-sentient ooze, or the fact I can taste the failure in the air?" Charricthran placed his hands on his hips and shifted his weight onto one foot, grinning with wry sarcasm.

Richard laughed and brushed some of the soot out of his hair, really only succeeding in smearing ash and oil across his face.

"Shall we call an end to that particular line of inquiry? I could use your help in testing the resilience of the.. what am I to call that particular prototype, anyways?"

"Beats the nine Hells outta me, but you bet I do! You know me, anythin' requirin' fallin' from a grand ol' height is my kinda a good time!"

"Of course it is. The thought would perish that you have a smaller than lethal idea of fun than the rest of us mere mortals."

"Well that's your mistake then, en't it! You an' I both know I cannae exactly bite the bullet, kick the bucket, get bumped off- whatever ya wanna call dyin'!"

Two strange kinds of laughter danced in the air- the sound of breaking crystal, and the sound of a cawing crow (though if anyone asked, 'twas a raven).

Eventually, Richard and Charricthran found themselves in the main hall, complete with skeletons and glass displays. Perhaps not the best of testing grounds, but it was one of the tallest, and that was what mattered.

"I believe you know how this goes, yes? I have altered the hydraulics systems, made some slight adjustments to the steam intake and release pipelines, and overall attempted to make the outward frame achieve a higher level of resilience while being lighter, so as not to impede movement as dramatically as earlier versions."

"I'll say ya have, Ricky-boy! Don't actually feel them- sight different from wearin' cement shoes."

Charricthran melted, warped, shifted with the blink of an eye, reaching upwards. He stood on the banister of the third floor mezzanine above the main doors to the outside world, eyeing the clutter below with an appraising eye.

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment, yes?"

"Ya should, yes! An' y'know what else ya should do?"

"Turn off the pylons, there?"

"Turn off the pylons, an' how!" agreed Charricthran.

Richard smiled, all sphinx-like and bemused, and did as he was not-quite ordered to.

Facing Charricthran once more, though some distance away, Richard pulled a notebook and pencil from his pocket.

"I do not believe I have to remind you to obey the laws of physics as one like myself might, yes?"

"Yup!" Charricthran then adopted a frightfully accurate mimicry of Richards accent: "The first trial is to be with the average mass of the typical human male. The second, for the mass of the typical human female. In this way, the trials will alternate- 'male' and 'female', in intervals of twenty kilograms such as until the time as we cover the broader spectrum of human mass. We will measure the stress on the prototype in the amount of force per the surf-"

Richard only just managed to get his words out between his chuckles.

"I believe you quite remember this, yes! You may begin at your leisure: I have already made the necessary tables for this experiment, and checked your runes twice beforehand."

With that, Charricthran gave a dramatic bow.

"Trial one, then!" And then he jumped.

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Annieloo  Tairais • a year ago

Emilia was on her way to the garden, her usual spot when she wasn’t... someone else. She passed through the great hall, only to be greeted by the sight of a man jumping from the third floor bannister. On instinct alone, she moved toward him and shouted "Stop!"

((Emilia is shook XD))

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Tairais  Annieloo • a year ago

Richard took the concerned shout in stride. As Charricthran was currently mid-air, it didn't make a whole lot of sense for him to stop as he was bade.

After all, he'd only just told Charricthran to obey the laws of physics. It would make little sense to disregard that now.

Granted, the point of this set of trials was to test the effect of varying weights and masses (never forget that those two were different things, now) on the prototype's structure. Landing on a human body was likely substantially different from landing on solid ground.

Thankfully, it was an easy enough matter for Charricthran to land next to Emilia, rather than on top of her. There was a distinct 'thud' regardless, but thankfully not a 'squelch'.

He wasn't particularly in the mood to hide a body, see?

Richard sucked in a nervous breath and rushed to the woman's side with a worried look, notebook clutched to his chest.

"Goodness, are you quite all right, miss? I assure you, Charricthran is in no danger at the moment, nor is he to embrace the call of the void anytime soon."

Charricthran, for his part, merely danced back a step and bowed.

"A-okay over here, kid. Ain't nothin' ta worry about- I trust Ricky-boy's inventions somethin' fierce-like, see? Well, somethin' ta worry about after all- namely squishin' ya!"

He chuckled, but the creases at the corners of his red eyes had concern written all over them.

"I didna hitcha, did I?"

Richard shook his head.

"Charricthran, had you done so, it is more likely than not she would have cried out in pain, yes? Seeing as how you had falling from some great height?"

"You're gettin' your words all twisted outta concern, kiddo. It's all right!"

Richard chuckled, and this time when he shook his head, it was with fond exasperation. He addressed Emilia with a tilt of the head and a slight bow, warmth twinkling in the one aspen-green eye visible to her.

"My apologies, miss. My nerves do often catch my tongue, and that would appear to be double for my manners. I am called Doctor Richard Prince, and this is my associate Charricthran-Kothar, more often referred to as Charricthran or Char."

The man who had toppled from the banister- Charricthran- gave his own bow, though it was much more grandiose than Richard's.

"He studies all sortsa mechanics an' stuff ta do with rocks an' metals an' the like, I make sure he don't go blowin' up the buildin' in the process, an' test the stuff ta make sure it works afterward."

see more

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Wizardblizzard • a year ago

Like Ashton, Isabella was busy trying to see patterns in unpromising places. On a table in front of her was a shiny copper frying-pan and a jug of water. Next to them was an open notebook with the date and time neatly written at the top of the page, and a flower-patterned commonplace book, its cover faded with age.

Miss Walker herself was on her hands and knees on the floor, chalking a not perfectly circular circle around the table. At certain points she marked peculiar symbols. Other than the notebook, it did not look like anything most would have recognised as science.

When the circle was finished, she filled the pan to the brim with water, and turned back to the commonplace-book.

"Method to conjure visions of things far off..." The book brought back memories of long -ago visits to her aunt's house, of cousins and Latin and long but rarely dull evenings... How long had it been since she'd last done this? Too long. She began to recite words from the book. It might have been Latin, if you didn't know Latin.

Isabella was a careful girl, so she had written out a "Do Not Disturb" note to put on the door before she began. She had then used it as a bookmark and forgotten all about it.

((It is presumably not even her room, since she hasn't got one. I don't know where she is. For that matter, you could turn up in this in TWO possible ways! Incidentally I haven't decided what she's trying to look at.))

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Wizardblizzard  Wizardblizzard • a year ago • edited

The reflection in the water shimmered, shifted. The back of Miss Walker's neck prickled. Something was about to happen.

Then it didn't. It was rather like almost but not quite sneezing. The pan of water returned to being a pan of water.

She wrote to this effect in her notebook, and began again, returning to the instructions. Concentrate on the place, thing or person you wish to see - She laughed. I forgot to actually choose a place! No wonder it didn't take!

Making a note to that effect next to the first entry, she started again.

Suppressing an impulse to spy on the Matron having her tea break, she chose the Houses of Parliament for a test; that should, she thought, be hard to miss. Although she remembered, at fifteen or so, becoming something or a family joke for so often getting the wrong place or person altogether.

With her finger she traced imaginary lines on the water, dividing it into quarters, and recited the words again.

One quarter of the reflection changed, began to expand, filling the bowl with a different picture entirely.

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Pyrogue • a year ago • edited

((Alright! First roleplay! Time to make up some sciencey-sounding stuff))

Ezekiel leaned over his bench, squinting at his tiny test subject -- a white mouse, currently trapped under a ventilated glass dome.

Holding his breath, he took the virus sample in a gloved hand and placed it under the dome for the mouse to eat. The animal turned around and sniffed the sample suspiciously, almost like it knew what it was.

Ez was silent, eyes wide.

After a moment's hesitation, the mouse decided to eat the sample tentatively. Ez knew that in a day's time, the mouse would never eat again; or, for that matter, do anything at all.

A gust of wind blew through his open window suddenly, causing the door to his quarters to slam. He started, knocking the dome to the floor accidentally. It shattered, scattering broken glass everywhere and freeing the mouse out of its tiny prison.

Set loose, the mouse took the opportunity given to it -- scampering across the floor, it squeezed under the gap beneath the door and into the hallways of the Society.

Ez winced.

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Wizardblizzard • a year ago • edited

Tucked away in a drawer in Isabella's lodgings there was a journal bound in blue leather. The front page bore the title, On Astral Projection: Notes, Observations, and Practical Techniques. Life had been busy and somehow it had been forgotten until now, especially as Isabella had fallen into one of those inexplicable phases of not dreaming at all.

A few days ago, while looking for something else, she'd chanced upon the book. Two nights later, she had as inexplicably started to dream again. Sometimes it was like that, they only appeared when one was looking for them.

((Hey Jekyll1886, wanna play something about the book Lewis gave Isabella at Christmas? Not necessarily with Lewis in person (although that could happen too). It would probably be with her trying it by herself and you chiming in with what's in the book, at least that seems to me like what would make sense. Either way, I'm open to other people finding their way into this, too - I think there are several players who run people or things that could turn up to complicate such an "experiment"!))

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Jekyll1886  Wizardblizzard • a year ago

((I've messaged you on Hangouts.))

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Wizardblizzard  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

((Roger!))

Isabella had begun trying out one or two of the Practical Techniques. Naturally the first few attempts hadn't led to anything very startling, like everything else it took time, but as she continued to practice, she felt she might be beginning to get somewhere.

Charricthran had seemed hopeful about her chances, she encouraged herself; and if Charricthran was the kind of person she suspected he was, or anything like it, he ought to know. Had it been as long ago as Halloween?

"Ya seem like a clever sort, should be the bee's knees, methinks, so long's ya take care not ta bring 'bout the wrong sorta attention on

yourself."

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Jekyll1886  Wizardblizzard • a year ago

Isabella found she had been having lucid dreams more and more frequently as time went by. This, according to Lewis's book, was a good sign things were progressing apace.

One night, after going to bed, she found herself in a seemingly very ordinary situation: Getting out of bed to get a drink of water.

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Wizardblizzard  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

That was no surprise; waking up at random times in the night had been a frequent occurrence lately - to her it always seemed to be a side effect of lucid dreaming, or perhaps it was the other way around. Amiably cursing Lewis Weir and all who sailed in him, she rose and put her slippers on. Outside a cat yowled.

Not a single floorboard creaked as she made her way to the kitchen, at which she felt rather smug. She reached to take down a glass from the shelf.

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Jekyll1886  Wizardblizzard • a year ago • edited

Or, rather, she didn't put her slippers on. Her feet went right through them, just as her hand went through the glass on the shelf.

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Wizardblizzard  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

???

She tried again. No, she hadn't somehow missed the glass. She swept her hand through the whole row of glasses. There wasn't so much as a ping.

!!!

After thinking a few seconds, she tried to walk through the wall.

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Jekyll1886  Wizardblizzard • a year ago

The interior of the wall greeted her vision before revealing the next room over. She'd walked through the solid barrier as easily as if it'd been spindly spider-silk!

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Pyrogue • a year ago

Ez leaned over his desk, examining his latest experiment: a tiny white mouse, trapped beneath a glass dome. He almost felt guilty about how it was to meet its end. But the end justified the means, he supposed.

With a gloved hand, he took the small cube containing a sample of his virus and placed it carefully underneath the dome.

He held his breath.

The mouse eyed it suspiciously for a moment, as if it knew what would happen to it in the next few hours.

After a moment's hesitation, it took a bite of the sample tentatively.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the open window, causing his door to slam shut with a loud bang.

Ez started at the noise, knocking the fragile dome to the floor. It shattered, shards of glass scattering about the room and the mouse within it freed from its prison.

Ez watched in slight shock as the mouse scampered out through the gap beneath the door and into the halls of the Society.

((Oops))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago • edited

((Oh dear, what sort of virus was given to the mouse? D:

I'm interested in joining, but I'd like to know what I'm getting the girls into first. XD))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((Just a Generic Gothic Illness -- y'know, the red death. Nothing major. :D ))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago • edited

((Oh dear--Well, I guess we're all gonna die, then XD))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((Time for my girls to probably die in half an hour XD))

Hela happened to be passing through the hallway when she spotted a mouse scampering along the floor, her expression brightening.

"Oh, hello there, little fellow..."

She smiled and crouched to scoop them up in her hands.

"What are you doing over here? Running from Griffin?"

((Btw, I flipped a coin to see which of the two girls would be walking into this... and apparently all the bad things only happen to Hela. XDX))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

Ez burst into the hallway, slamming the door open and glancing around for any sign of the escaped mouse.

Hearing a voice he didn’t recognise, he turned a corner and saw someone holding it.

His eyes widened and he called out. “Wait! Put it down, it’s–“

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago • edited

Hela tensed at the sound of someone shouting and drew the mouse protectively against her chest, retreating half a step back.

"What do you want?"

She eyed the man before her warily, tension laced in her expression and every muscle coiled to flee.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

"That mouse, I've been... using it in my experiments, and..." He realized how heartless he sounded, using an animal to experiment. "It's not safe."

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

Her eyes narrowed further, her disdain and disapproval plain.

“Well, if you think you’re getting it back, you’re wrong,” Hela told him flatly, rubbing her thumb over the small creature’s back, “It’s likely suffered plenty at your hand already.”

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep calm.

"Please put it down."

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

“Why, so another lodger can stumble upon it and subject it to more tortures?” She growled in a low voice and backed away another step. The mouse remained carefully cupped against her shirt.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

"It's just a bloody mouse!" he exclaimed, making a grab for the animal.

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

"Stay the Hell away from me!"

Hela jumped back from him with a snarl, teeth bared as she sank into a half crouch.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

Ez took a step back, holding his hands out in front of him protectively. "N-now, there's no need to fight... Just put the mouse down--it's infected and frankly quite dangerous. I don't want the disease spreading."

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

A growl of displeasure rumbled in her throat.

“You’re the one who’s trying to go after me.”

She ducked her gaze briefly to look back at her tiny friend, petting their head.

“If this mouse is so bloody dangerous... then why the Hell was it wandering the halls?”

A huff.

“And if I set it down, it’ll only start running away from you again, and then another Lodger will find it.”

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

Ez looked guilty. "E-er... it kind of... escaped? And I don't exactly have something to contain it with, but..." He cursed under his breath.

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((Quick question, do you know how the disease is transmitted and how long it takes until the infected person dies? I'm curious as to whether or not you are going off the original material.))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((Ehh, it seems to be transmitted via the air or by close contact in the original book, so that's what I'm going by. As for infection speed, I think it should be slower. Else this rp would be over very quickly.))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((That would make sense, yes XD

In the original, it was only half an hour... How long is this version, a full sixty minutes or several hours or...?))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((...Probably about an hour, maybe two. Idk, let's see what happens :D))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((Alright, fair enough! XD))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((I believe it's your turn :P ))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((Working on my response now!))

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

Hela snorted. Clearly somebody isn't good at their job.

"If you don't even have somewhere safe to put the poor thing, what do you expect to do with them?" She asked, scowling, "At the very least, I can hold onto them, disease or no."

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

"Alright, fine. But, er... probably don't touch it more than you have to."

He lowered his hands. "Sorry about that."

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((If it's alright with you, Litterateur, I would like to bring Jekyll1886 in on this with Lewis, so we can prevent Hela from dying a horrible bloody death, seeing how he's a doctor. XD))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((Sure! How do three-person roleplays work? Sorry, I'm not too familiar with Disqus commenting/tagging mechanics

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((It's fine, I'm happy to teach you!

We'll just take turns going you, 86, and then me, followed by you, 86, and then me again, and so on and so forth.

You'll respond to each of my comments, 86 will respond to yours, and then I will respond to theirs.

The formula for tagging someone is @[what it shows beneath their name whenever you click on the person's profile picture]:disqus, without the brackets of course.))

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Jekyll1886  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((I'm cool with that.))

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

"What's this about a disease?" asked Lewis as he came around the corner to find Hela holding a mouse, Ez nearby.

((Helen Jekyll ))

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Helen Jekyll  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Hela immediately brightened at the sight of Lewis, relaxing from her almost fight-or-flee stance.

"Apparently, this man here managed to not only infect a poor little mouse with some sort of sickness," She filled Weir in, shooting Ez a glare, "but he let the little guy escape too. I found them in the hallway, all by their self, and now he," Another cold look to Ez, "Wants to have them back, but he doesn't even have somewhere to keep them."

While speaking, she stroked the mouse absentmindedly, seeking to calm both it and herself.

((Pyrogue))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago • edited

Ez turned to see Lewis. "Oh, er, hello again! And unfortunately, what this young woman says is true. Sorry."

((Jekyll1886))

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

"What type of sickness, and is it contagious?" asked Lewis quickly with a look of forcibly quelled alarm. He well remembered Ez's field of study.

((Helen Jekyll ))

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Helen Jekyll  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Hela shrugged.

“I’d assume yes on that second part, considering how worried he is about getting them back...”

A brief glance down to her own hands petting the creature.

“...and he told me not to touch it much.”

((Pyrogue))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

“Rubrum Mori. Contagious and usually fatal.” He glared at Hela. “Hence my need to contain it.”

((Jekyll1886))

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago • edited

Red...Death? Lewis silently translated.

His eyes widened. A vertiginous feeling whipped through him as his stomach suddenly sank.

"Hela," he said, voice hardly more than a whisper. "Give him the mouse. 'Tis already doomed."

He looked at Ez.

"Vector of infection?" Weir asked, suddenly all business.

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Helen Jekyll  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Hela frowned, feeling a flicker of unease at the command and her protests dying in her throat.

Sighing, she gave the mouse another little pat on the head before reluctantly offering them back to Ez.

((Pyrogue))

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

“It consumed a sample of food containing the virus. I knocked its enclosure to the floor accidentally and it escaped...”

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

"Have we been exposed?"

The sober question hung in the air.

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Helen Jekyll  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Hela remained quiet, awaiting the answer, having been wondering herself.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

Ez breathed in slowly and bit his lip. Silence for a moment.

"Probably." Beat. "I mean, I can't be sure because that's what I was about to test, but according to historical outbreaks the likelihood is quite high..."

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

Lewis closed his eyes, struggling to rein in the intense fury he felt at Ez's incompetence, at himself for even opening the door that first day, at what was likely going to happen now.

But anger and anguish were utterly useless in this moment. Counterproductive.

Do what is necessary.

He opened his eyes.

"Ez," he said, tone at once deadly serious and briskly efficient. "Have you any vaccines or treatments for this?" That was the first answer needed.

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Helen Jekyll  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Hela bit back a quiet whine, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

It was never good when Lewis was losing control on his emotions.

She hovered anxiously near him, wishing to help but uncertain if touch would be allowed, seeing how she'd likely been infected.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago • edited

"I-I don't have a vaccine, because they take weeks to prepare and make safe. As for cures, not... not yet, exactly." His gaze shifted sideways.

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

"Understood," said Dr. Weir.

"Is the pathogen spread by air, touch, bodily fluid, or other means? I need to know all possible vectors of infection.

"Also, how much time elapses from first exposure to death?" For he had read Poe's story, in his own dimension. It wasn't lost on him they might have less than half an hour to live.

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Helen Jekyll  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

A thrill of alarm jolted through her.

Bloody Hell, the disease can't be treated yet?

Now Hela was beginning to understand the reason behind Weir's emotion from before.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago • edited

"Well... I believe it's passed on by air and touch. And in the other mice I've used the time seems to be about an hour, sometimes two if they're lucky," he said quietly.

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

"Right. We're all going to your room. Now. As a quarantine. Touch nothing. Hold your breath if you can."

He put on a pair of black, leather gloves from his pocket and took Ez and Hela by the hand to Ez's lab...where he beheld an open window.

"What the Hell were you--?!" he exclaimed as he dashed forward and slammed it shut, then bolted it.

"Millie," he called out the door, which was nearly closed, confident her preternatural hearing would pick up his words, "we need you! It's the Red Death--Ez's room! Make haste!"

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago • edited

Millie heard Weir's cry from the garden where she is feeding her multicolored rabbits, alarmed by the call she dropped a whole bag of carrots into their pen.

"Sh*t!!" She exlamed as she sprinted back to her room for equipment. She burst though the door, startling her uncle and frantically gathered most of the tools and supplies she need while constantly repeating the word, "Sh*t!", Over and over.

"What the hell!?"Griffin asked completely confused.

All Millie could answer was, "Stay in the room! Toxic!" Before leaving, slaming the door behind her. One last item was required as she faced down into the basement that lead to a secret lab she made for her more dangerous experiments. There she took some of her 'blank slate' viruses and some files of geneticly altered Cobra venom. With this sprinted back to where she heard Weir told her to go, the whole trip in total took a little under five minutes.

As soon as she got there, arms and pockets full of what she needed, she knocked on the door with her foot.

"Lewis!? Dr. Ezekiel!? I'm here! Are you alright!?"she called through the door.

(Helen Jekyll)

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Helen Jekyll  MillieGriffin • a year ago • edited

Mutely, Hela walked alongside Weir, halting her breathing like he requested.

Though her lungs burned, the near thought-crushing panic in her mind was worse.

She sank to the ground in a corner of Ez's room as soon as they'd arrived, sucking in a ragged gasp of air and shuddering.

Stay calm, stay calm, for F*ck's sake, stay calm.

Drawing her limbs close to herself, she tried not to touch anything nor be a distraction, painfully aware of each breath she took.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

Ez followed close behind, his eyes wide. "S-sorry, I just..."

He began clearing his workbench, sweeping stacks of paper and books aside.

"Right, er, we need to find a cure."

He buried his face is his hands. "Not again," he murmured to himself.

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Jekyll1886  Pyrogue • a year ago

Lewis's eyes widened at Ez's words. Weir resolved that if they survived this, he'd ask what Ez meant by that.

For the time being, though, Lewis heard Millie at the door, and quickly answered her.

"Ezekiel, Hela, and I are in here, along with an escaped mouse Ez infected that Hela found and picked up in the hallway not ten minutes past. We've shut the window and door. The other lodgers must stay away--strict quarantine. Assuming we're infected, we've less than an hour, perhaps just under two if we're lucky, according to Ez.

"That's where things stand."

Please tell me we've a chance, he silently pleaded.

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

"Understood!" She acknowledged through the door, "Lewis, I think you, yourself, may be fine considering your-uh... physiology... But for Hela and Dr. Ezekiel, I'm going to have to take a blood test immediately!" As she instructed this her anxiety rose. In her head she pleeded to whatever God there may be to have mercy and let all this be okay. Troubling memories started to pop up in her head again, of her parents... How they died... How she failed...

This isn't the same... This isn't the same thing damnit! I won't let it be!...

(Helen Jekyll)

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Helen Jekyll  MillieGriffin • a year ago • edited

Hela exhaled in a muffled groan at Millie's response, curling tighter into her ball.

"God, this just keeps getting worse..."

She almost wished she'd forgotten to take her medication that morning--at least while unconscious she wouldn't feel the prick of a needle.

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Pyrogue  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

Ez looked up. "Millie, isn't it?" he asked. "Right, any ideas?"

Blinking a few times, he opened a cabinet beneath the bench and took out two syringes. He moved to hand them both to Millie but stopped. A wave of sudden dizziness swept through him and he swayed slightly.

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Helen Jekyll  Pyrogue • a year ago

((Oh dear, that didn't take long o-O))

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MillieGriffin • a year ago

Since the Moriarty event a few things had changed in the sociaty. Along with new doors to replace the old new doors there's a new "no betraying the sociaty" rule, some old faces left giving more room for new faces to arrive. The one noticable change for the two Griffins was after Hawley's betrayal and disappearance all of his resurch along with the invisible rats and his personal journals and other belongings was given to Millie's uncle since he's the only other optical fragmenter in the sociaty.

While Griffin went through the massive amount of paperwork to pick out any bits of information he seemed useful, Millie tended to the invisible rats Griffin passed down to her. Griffin casually leaned back with his feet proper on the desk, read through one of Hawley's diaries and making condescending remarks as he did. It really seemed that the more he learned about his alternate self the more distain and disappointment he desplayed for him which Millie found at the very least interesting. It seemed to her a bit hypocritical to criticize his doppelganger when he's done far worse things and more of them but she digressed after all her uncle was seen as the lesser of the two evils by a few of the other lodgers. It was all innocent enough though until Griffin read a certain part of one of the entries that outraged him.

"That pathetic little worm!"Griffin shouted as he threw the book on the floor. The racket caused Millie to momentary drop what she was doing to come to his aid.

"What, what's wrong?" Millie asked as she tredged through a mountains of books and paperwork to find her uncle still slouched back in his chair and rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

"Ugh! Nothing! It's nothing! I'm fine" Griffin snapped as he got up, "I just need a break from all this tripe I've been dumped with." He went over to the fireplace and started fixing drink for the whiskey tray on the mantle.

Millie picked up the book Griffin just going to the ground looking curious to what he read to cause such a sudden rage. "What did Hawley do now?" She asked with a sigh as she tried to flip through to the the last page her uncle read.

Griffin got one sip of his drink in before letting out an exasperated groan, "Do I really have to tell you everything about my life?"

"Well... I just thought talking about it may make you feel better, or I guess I could just read this to get to the root of the problem..."

Griffin suddenly reached over and snapped the book shut in Millie's hands then yanked it away from her and tossed it in the waistpaper basket. Millie looked at him with a patient but still slightly concerned expressions that made Griffin sigh in relent after a moment.

"Well, as it turns out... The idea of invisiblity... you know, that little epiphany I dedicated my life to? Yeah, that wasn't even his idea to begin with, it was pitched to him by-- Ugh...an old colleague from University... And he in fact was hesitant about pursuing it and had to be persuaded to do so! He just esentuesselly-No he flat out stole the idea of invisiblity from someone else! He was just a frawd!"

Millie winced at the reveal of information, the only audible sound she could make at that was a low uncomfortable, "Oooooooo..."

A moment passed before she could inquire more. "Did... Did it say who colleague was?"

Griffin didn't answer, but scouled down at his feet and finished his drink in one gulp, then made another and went over to lounge in the armchair. Millie remainder silent and rubbed the back of her neck, figuring itdi probably be better not to push the question and everything was silent for another space. "You know you're not the same as h-"

"I know that Millie!" He interjected then twisted around the back of the chair to face her, "I. Know. All. That." He reinforced before disappearing behind the chair again.

Millie sighed and pulled up a chair next to him and quietly leaned her head against his armrest while he drank his whiskey. She waited until his glass was halfway drank before speaking again. "Sort of makes you wonder what kind of person you'd be if you never pursued invisiblity at all..."

"Just another nobody..." He offhandedly replied between sips, "just like every other nobody around me."

Millie gave a slight nod but then idea started to Dawn on her and she straightened up to look at him, "You could always publish it all..."

"Publish his work!? Hell No!!"

"I was talking about Hawley's resurch, I'm talking about yours." As she said that she pulled a set of four books out of her coat all labledl 'Griffin's' and set them in his lap. "Didn't you say that your resurch was ready to be published back in our world and you were just waiting for all that crap you did to be forgotten? Well now that we're in a different world we have a fresh start on life, none of the stuff you did in the past matters because that was all in a different life and now that Hawley's gone you don't have any real completion now. You can be the famous scientist you set out to be istead of an underused movie monster the public made made you into."

Griffin remaind silent, looking over the books pensively as he pondered what Millie said. Though he didn't want to admit it she had a point now was a better time than any to spring his work on the world like he first planned when he first started his studies, and it had always been what he had planned to do even after everything he did. The thought was actually very appealing, but then he would have to abandone his previous plans for this world, plans that he had already made with Weir and some other certain individuals, plans for a new empire that would improve on the last one. That was a lot of potential to throw aside, but he had waited so long and worked so hard for an opportunity like this...

Millie had been watching him attentively waiting for an answer, whatever it may be. When he finally did glance at her again she tilted her head to the side giving him a little smile. That caused his expression to soften a little and a very slight smirck to from.

"That's certainly something to consider..." He finally said before lightly flicking her nose, causing her to reare back vigorously rub her nose with her finger. "Aheheheheh..."

"Ugh, see if I ever try to cheer you up anymore." She playfully complained.

"Hah! You're pathetic."

"Oh right, I'm the pathetic one." She sarcastically retorted, "that statement is only true if you say it while looking in the mirror."

"Only when I'm invisible and you're right behind me. Anyway, don't you have some geneticly altered abomination to feed or something? Go on, I have work to do!" He lightly gave her a shove off her chair before starting to get up himself.

"Alright fine." Before he could get fully up she wrapped her arms around his neck in an ambush-hug and quickly admenasterd a peck on the cheek before he could shove her off again.

"EW!" He shouted as he wiped the kiss off his cheek.

"Haha! Tell me when you plan to publish so I know when to plan the celebration party!" She said as she went towards the door with a spring in her step that she hadn't shown in months.

"Please... No more parties, I'm sick of parties." he groaned.

"Okay I'll see what I can do~!" She chimed chimed before disappearing behind the door.

As soon as Millie was out of sight Griffin's smirck faded, with a sigh he picked up the four books and his drink and set them on the desk. He thought more about what Millie had said as he looked over his cryptic note. Should he give up his plans for the opportunity to become one of the most revolutionary world renound scientists in history? Or should he postpone it all even further for a chance to create a bigger, even better empire then what he had before? Such was with most difficult choices, each path had great benefits along with substantial costs...Griffin took the last sip of his liquor before his eyes wondered over to the waistpaper basket and the discarded diary of Hawley, his mood started to sour again as he remembered.

Yes, Millie did make some good points but she wasn't right about everything. There was still one loose end to tie if he wanted to even consider the former option, one main obstacle that could get in his way, and that was the former colleague Hawley stole the idea from.

He picked up the book out of the ben and went back to the page he last read. He looked again at the name of the man who would be detrimental to any of his plan with a fire of apsolute loathing burning in his soul as a foul fast formed in his mouth. With a low growl he spat out the name rather than just read out loud.

"Kemp..."

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MillieGriffin • a year ago

After her talking with Griffin, Millie went off to conduct her own research by checking up on her animals. For some reason she was feeling a bit chipper today, weather it was the meeting with doctor Rose or the arrival of spring Millie felt as if she was finally getting over what happened all those months ago. As she was gathering the aquitmen she needed she senced someone familiar to he approtching.

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Jekyll1886  MillieGriffin • a year ago

"Oh, hello, Millie," Lewis greeted as he happened upon her. "How are you doing?"

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

There was a slight nag at the back of her mind when she first saw Lewis but she was able to ignore it.

"Oh, hello Lewis. I'm fine..." She greeted him back, "how about you?"

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Jekyll1886  MillieGriffin • a year ago

"Doing decently, thankfully. I'm making the rounds to warn lodgers about the dimensional anomaly--as is Helen. Have you heard yet?" He wanted to ensure Millie was safe, but didn't wish to waste her time if Helen had already been by to tell her.

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

"No, I haven't." Millie said the little nag at the back of her mind was coming back, and a twinge started to form in her stomach.

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Jekyll1886  MillieGriffin • a year ago

Lewis explained that there was a reliably localized dimensional anomaly--a stable one--in two particular hallways, giving Millie their locations so she could avoid them or study the anomaly as she so chose.

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Millie was intreaged by what Weir had described to her.

"Huh... Interesting..." She said pensively, her curiousity aroused, "thank you for the warning Lewis, I'll be aware of them."

That's something I'll be sure to study them when I'm done with my animals...

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Jekyll1886  MillieGriffin • a year ago • edited

"You're most welcome, Millie," he replied.

"Take care."

His chance encounter with her reminded him Griffin still needed to be warned, so he went to the scientist's room and knocked on the door.

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Griffin answered the door with the journal still in his hand, "Weir." He addressed, a bit courteously. He wasn't very surprised or annoyed to see him, it seemed like Griffin was finally starting to see him as a nonthreat atleast.

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Jekyll1886  MillieGriffin • a year ago

"Griffin," Lewis returned, in like tone.

Weir revealed the reason he'd come, relaying to Griffin the same information he'd told Millie about the dimensional anomaly.

Lewis's gaze then chanced to wander to the journal.

"Oh, is that Hawley's old thing?" he asked nonchalantly.

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

As Weir explained about the dimensional anomaly Griffin started to go ridged, a feeling of dread started to well up inside him before his attention was everted to the book.

"Oh, yes. It is..." He answered before bringing the original topic back, "Have you tried to close them yet? The anomalies?"

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Jekyll1886  MillieGriffin • a year ago

"Well, the thing is, its structure seems analogous to that of a revolving door which turns at random."

He lowered his voice.

"Don't spread this around, but some of the other lodgers--and their rooms--have gone missing in those hallways. Helen hopes they'll 'spin back in' eventually, though I don't know."

A pause.

"Besides which, we don't have a way to close it," he admitted, chagrined. "Nor do we know how or when it got here. Just that it seems to be stable."

He regarded Griffin, unsure if the dread he was picking up on was borne of uncertainty or bitter experience.

"Have you ever encountered the like?"

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MillieGriffin  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

"Well, not with this particular kind of anomaly but if thes are basically open doors to God knows where and you don't know what could come through them, and I wouldn't want to leave them open long enough to find out. Plus if lodgers and whole rooms are disappearing into these things that can serve as a bigger problem then what you're letting on about." Griffin explained trying to hide the ergency in his voice.

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