01. The microscopic section of this gland or organ is extremely beautiful.

[bestsir]

[ The morgue and the coroner's office are in the basement of the Riverview Hospital, which would be depressing were it not for the fact that the coroner's office is placed so that it has a window. The basement also features a large storage room that has become a dumping ground for miscellaneous furniture and supplies. At times where Harry's been at loose ends and in need of something to do, he has reorganized that storage room ... and now he's found a new use for it.

The incursion of small pesky critters has a lot to do with it, as does the fact that his office is starting to overflow with items that he's collected around the quarantine in his time there. Soon the storage room starts slowly transforming into a distinctly 19th-century-flavoured laboratory, with tanks and cages for living creatures and jars for preserved specimens—not just of the pests, but also other interesting plants and insects. There's also an eyeball from one of the large predatory pterodactyl creatures, and feathers from the same are kept on his worktable.

It doesn't occur to him that it might be nice to mention this side project to the hospital administrators, but he doesn't exactly get a lot of visitors, so it's going to be a little while before anyone notices.

...well, once these messages go out, someone probably will. ]

To Captain Anali Apple and the Perimeter Guard
Greetings. I am Dr. Harry Goodsir, and I have the privilege to serve as Coroner to the Riverview Quarantine. I write in reference to the small Creatures that have been plaguing the city, and for which I understand you have offered a Bounty. As an Anatomist and Naturalist by training, I am very interested in these particular* Creatures, and would welcome the opportunity to acquire from the Guard any Specimens of these Pests*—living or dead—so that I may make a Study of them. Perhaps such a Study will yield results that are Relevant to the control of their Population and Range. Please advise how we may arrange Delivery.

Your obedient servant,
Dr. Harry Goodsir

Network text post | [Bad username or site: hds @ goodsir]
To my fellow Riverview citizens, greetings. I am Dr. Harry Goodsir, and I have the privilege to serve as Coroner to the Riverview Quarantine. I am also a Naturalist by training, and I have begun to collect Specimens of the local Flora and Fauna with the Intention of developing a systematic Catalogue of the life we encounter here in the Quarantine and without the walls. I should like to humbly request the Assistance of my fellow men and women in this Endeavour. I seek information about* Specimens for study, as well as any visual or written Reports of curious sightings that I may investigate further. You may write to me via the Network, or you may seek me in person in my Office at the Riverview Hospital.

Your obedient servant,
Dr. Harry Goodsir

[ Feel free to pop into his office with something awful in a cage or a jar. He'll (probably) be delighted. Post title is from the writings of the historical Harry D. S. Goodsir. ]

[ * These parts added after Nat sets him straight. ]

Comments

@frankenstein

[jolting]

Dr. Harry Goodsir,

I'd be very interested in seeing what sort of specimens you've collected thus far if you don't mind sharing. I'm afraid I don't have any specimens to offer in trade, but I do have sketches of various plant and wildlife I've encountered during my stay in the Quarantine if you'd like to see them. Let me know if you're interested.

Sincerely,

Dr. Victor Frankenstein

[bestsir]

Dr. Victor Frankenstein,

I would be very interested in seeing your Sketches; thank you kindly for the offer. I can meet you at your Convenience, and of course you my find me in the Coroner's Office at any time during the day.

Sincerely,
Dr. Harry Goodsir

[jolting]

I'll be sure to stop by, then.

By the way, you don't need to compose your text messages like letters.

text; username: nat

[unmakeme]

I don't think it's a high priority for many people to keep them alive. It's annoying, and at the moment they're worth just as much dead.

What are you offering for live specimins?

text

[bestsir]

[ Imagine, if you will, a certain amount of scrambling as Goodsir realises he hasn't even thought of anything to offer, and tries to come up with a fair price. Not to mention the fact that he's going to have to pay for it out of his own pocket. He tries to balance that against what the Perimeter Guard is offering, and finally settles on a number that seems all right to him. ]

Considering the difficulty and potential Danger of capture, I can offer 75 Units in exchange. Though I can only offer so much for the first Two of each Species that I am brought.

[ And that's going to leave him slightly in the red for a little while, but he has gotten by on less. ]

text

[unmakeme]

[Consider it imagined.]

How much storage space have you got ready?

[She may or may not be planning to bankrupt you almost immediately. Never underestimate the potential of a bored woman with very little sense of self preservation and access to a truck.

I can bring you a couple of live crab dogs, as well. If you want them. Or as many dead ones as you want. They're very easy to kill, not as easy to catch and hold.

@Ms. E. Bennet

[wit_and_sword]

Dr. Goodsir,

I believe someone has already stated, but such creatures are usually more of a nuisance alive than dead. Those claws of theirs are sharp and though not aggressive by nature, they certainly are when provoked.

[bestsir]

True, though I am hoping to find means of reducing their aggression, capturing them peacefully, or driving them away.

[ Also Harry has weird ideas about what constitutes suitable pets. ]

[wit_and_sword]

They do seem to have natural predators. However, for reasons unknown, the creatures have been gathering around the gates and attracting them. Hence the need for collecting them.

text | @ryo.asuka666

[apt666]

Perhaps if I find the opportunity to safely venture there, then I will return to you any specimens I may find. I'm not asking anything in return, of course. My own reasons for going out there are selfish curiosity.

Personally, I would be interested in seeing living specimens myself.

text

[bestsir]

Thank you very much; I appreciate the Offer.

As it is, I have captured one of the Lizards, and you are welcome to visit my office, should you wish to see it.

text, @hiccup

[thisisamazing]

[Oh hey, someone else who's interested in the animal life here! He's got to get right on this.]

I'm a surveyor with the Guard, I've been spending most of my time out past the fences studying the creatures that live here! I'm less knowledgeable about botany, but I have a bunch of sketches of animals and plants alike. I've even been up close and personal with several species. I could make you some copies of all my notes, but I only take samples from strange plantlife.

As for the creatures that moved in when the crab things did, I've uh. I've been trying to relocate them. Are people just- just killing them? That's horrible.

Uh. What. What kind of specimens are you looking for?

[Please don't say dead creatures.]

[bestsir]

[ Hello there, new best friend! ]

I should like very much to see your notes and your plant samples. I have not yet been beyond the fences, so I welcome any Information or Objects from there.

@pnwsalex

[11calls]

Are you talking about the weird invasion we've got going on by the fence?

[Because good lord what the hell is that?]

[bestsir]

The Crabs, yes, and also the various smaller Creatures that have invaded the city.

@citharede

[citharede]

You're the coroner?

Sort of assumed coroners smelled worse. So. Congratulations on not reeking I guess.

How's our lizard?

[bestsir]

[ Harry has NO IDEA how to respond to that. The bit about smells, that is. ]

Well—I try to maintain Standards of Cleanliness, I suppose.

In any case, Phoebe is well. I would hardly call her Tame, but she appears to accept my Company so long as it is accompanied by Food.

video; un: sg.rogers

[livingsymbol]

You want to catch some of the lizards?

[Sorry, Harry. Steve just stumbles right in with a short summary.]

Re: video; un: sg.rogers

[bestsir]

[ Harry appreciates the directness, anyway. ]

Well, I have caught one—

[ In fact, at the edge of the frame, Steve might notice a largish glass tank in which one of those lizards is clinging to a branch and devouring a fish head. There's a couple of denuded fish skulls on the floor of the tank, too. ]

It is a female, and now I hope to catch a male.

@c.beckett

[panacean]

I'd be happy to give you what notes I have. Working with the PG, I see more injuries than the things that caused them any more, but that's useful data in its own way.

And I'd like to do some genetic studies of the creatures here, myself.

[bestsir]

I would welcome your notes, of course. It is my hope that learning more about the native wildlife will also help in treating Injuries, or avoiding them altogether.

Do you have a Laboratory for your studies?

video; un: j.calhoun

[bardish]

Oh, hey! Hello!

[ IT'S JEFF. WE WERE KIDNAPPED TOGETHER. REMEMBER??

Okay, he's nice enough not to put it like that. Also he's not in the mood to text, so you get a video response. ]

I've got zero specimens to report to you, but what've you got so far?

[ This isn't really his purview; he's just curious. ]

[bestsir]

[ Jeff gets a broad smile in greeting. ]

Jeff! A pleasure to see you again.

[ The unspoken "under better circumstances" is too obvious to be stated, really. ]

I am developing a small menagerie, it seems.

[ There's a high pitched trilling noise in the background, and Jeff might see a tank over Harry's shoulder that contains Phoebe, the lizard that Athena helped him catch. ]

In addition to Phoebe here, I have a pair of moths, and a number of miscellaneous samples.

text; un: b.rocks

[billyrocks]

Naturalist, huh?

I did see a giant, crab-like creature when I was helping to keep watch over the River Spirit Procession a few months back during the Flower Festival. That was when we were having all those floods, too.

[bestsir]

[ Harry does love crustaceans; his interest is piqued. ]

How large was it? Have you seen any since then, and did it appear dangerous?