Rain pelts the windows of the manor house belonging to Senator Stapleton, and shafts of lightning intermittently illuminate the feverish swaying of the trees outside. The storm that cut short your hunting excursion is in full force now. A resounding report and blinding flash of light nearly knock you to your feet, and the house goes dark as the electric lights falter.
Match flames spring into the darkness and soon meet candles, bringing the room back to a soft glow. The murmuring of voices is broken by a horrific shriek from downstairs. You all rush to the basement, where your host had been checking on the electrical systems. There, the maid crouches over a horribly burned body; beneath the charred skin and blackened blood, yellow eyes stare up vacantly out of a green scaled face...
The maid shrieks again and stumbles back from the body. Behind her, the butler, Worthington, crosses himself and helps the lady to her feet, though his face is white with terror as well.
Thunder continues to rumble distantly upstairs, and the flickering candlelight casts eerie shadows across the room and a sinister glint from the dead, yellow eyes.
"W-w-what is that creature?" the maid stammers. She looks briefly at Worthington, but finding no answers there, she looks to the assembled guests.
Harry is aghast at what he sees. He had heard rumors, surely, everyone did, about aliens and such, but to have one here...in disguise as a very influential government official...well the ramifications were staggering! Was that why the Home Office sent him?
"Pardon my language, but Bloody Hells!"
He looks over the other guests quickly to see their reaction to this...this...monster.
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David has seen everything, or so he thought.
What the world is going on, the hunting trip dad forced me to go on got rained out. And now the "amazing" hospitality is...
These thought tumble around in his mind as he goes downstairs to the basement with everyone else. His thoughts are interrupted like a Mack truck careening off the road into a hot dog stand.
What the hell! What is that f#%$ing thing anyways? I have heard rumors of crocodiles in the sewers before, but this is all sorts of messed up!, he exclaims in both confusion and a little bit of anger.
After he composes himself, David looks to the British man next to him, than to his father, so, is what what you had in mind father when you wanted me to be "more civilized" and "more like my brothers?
He then turns away, the sight and smell before him is enough to make him gag on whatever he had just finished eating.
Ugh, now that I nearly threw up my dinner, can we please go the hell upstairs and try and get this figured out. I have seen worse things eaten out of the garbage on streets behind the burger shop.
The elder Trufant simply stammers, clearly shocked at the sight, and not yet able to cope.
Evelyn gasps, bringing her hand up to her mouth and stepping backward at the site of the senator's dead body. "Goodness me! He's not,... not human! But surely that's impossible?" she glances around at the others, her large eyes imploring. "What on earth is going on?"
Morroway stands, looking down his nose at the spectacle. His shotgun rests in the crook of his arm, chambers open and empty. "Now, let's not all get worked up into hysterics. I'm a man of reason, and I suggest we let reason prevail. Is there a doctor here?" He says, looking around. "I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for his condition."
Morroway's cool tone and stern demeanor betray nothing of his inward concerns. "Monster? Alien? Surely not. But if it were so... a senator? Something so inhuman seeking to become our master? Could there be others?" His head shook with a chill, which he let everyone assume was from the rain.
The tall, well muscled Indian nobleman bends down after his exclamation and examines the remains.
"I am not a medical doctor, but I know a fair bit about biology and the like. Maybe the young sir can escort Miss Cardue upstairs while we try to untangle this web?"
He moves his hand off the very functional tulwar he wears at his waist.He seems to have been squeezing the grip very hard.
Evie glances over at Thakur and turns back to the body. "If its all the same to you, sir, I think I will stay. I've never seen anything like this. I mean, after all, he has scales. Reptilian politicians might be common here in the colonies, but in England we're rather more conservative!"
"As we are in India as well, miss. Well then, I suppose we should search him, yes?"
Harry makes a through examination of the man's positions, laying out whatever he finds on the floor beside the body. He also looks at the electrical panel to see if he can deduce if it had been tampered with.
George Van Winkle looks on and says, "What pray tell is going on here?"
And after hearing Ms. Cardue, he says, "Young lady, we haven't been such for over one hundred years. And the politicians in the jolly olde, are just as crooked if not more so."
"You might have a harder time making that argument after tonight." Morroway quips in response to George's remark. His voice lacks any sense of humor.
Harry is quite certain that the electrical panel was not tampered with. Rather, the lightning strike traveled through the radio antenna on the roof (destroying the radio equipment) and exited through the electrical panel.
Going through Senator Stapleton's possessions, Harry finds ordinary objects: a few keys, a billfold, a melted tin of snuff, and a warped and fractured pocket watch.
However, he notices that the interior of the pocket watch contains not only gears, but miniaturized electric equipment. While the exact function is impossible to discern due to damage and the unfamiliarity of the design, it appears to contain the essential components for a wireless transmission device.
Explaining what he has found to the others, Harry sits back on his haunches.
"Well there you go. Our luck and his misfortune to be at the breaker panel at just the precise time the lightning struck the radio tower. Unfortunately the radio is out now as well. Notice the pocket watch...see beneath the regular gears the tiny electronic parts? Far beyond any advancements I have been made aware of...anyone have a hypothesis?"
Victor drunkenly heads into the basement. He slurs:
"whats thoe commotion all about?"
Upon seeing the senator he immediately becomes sober out of pure shock
"Oi! Bloody Hell is that!"
Van Winkle says, "No need for foul behavior there is a woman present. In essence, the honorable Senator has was electrocuted via a bolt of lightning however what has probably led many amiss is that my Senator, since I am one of his constituents was, in actuality, some sort of lizard man. Take a gander at his yellow eyes and scaley skin."
Pondering aloud, "Shan't we dissect him to see what foulness is afoot?"
Evelyn looks up as Victor enters. "That, sir, is our host."
At George's suggestion she grimaces. "Whether a lizard or not, it is an elected official, and we are its guests. It would be very bad taste to dissect it, don't you think? But perhaps we should see whether we can find out anything else? Perhaps an investigation of its office?"
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After a few moments to collect himself, he returns back down to the basement.
Sorry about that everyone, but how can you all be so calm when there is some creepy scaly creature...who apparently was a high ranking official?
He hears the last bit of Miss Cardue's thought of investigating the person/things office.
Hmm, well it couldn't hurt could it? The worse that happens is that we don't turn up any ideas of where to go to next.
David, looks down at the strange creature once more, but this time doesn't cringe or anything as he has gotten use to it buy now.
A horrific thought crosses his mind just then...if this is indeed an alien or something, AND an official with some power...did my father know about this?
He doesn't want to go barging into the office, so he awaits the overall consensus of the group gathered in the basement.
Perhaps an investigation of its office?"[/b]
Harry will examine the worktable before moving upstairs. He also suggests that the group move the body to the main floor, and keep it wrapped up in a blanket for the time being.
Harry notes that the worktable is rather clean of clutter, and has drawers full of tools and components, but one of the drawers is locked.
"Hmmm, I wonder what is in here? Lets see if I can jimmy the lock."
Body:
Harry attempts to pull the drawer open, breaking the lock in the process.
Morroway remains silent, watching the others but not interfering. His decency tells him to stop them from rifling through a dead man's property, but his curiosity and caution tell him to go along with them. So he simply watches, remaining neutral in the whole affair, his eyes frequently drifting back to the original scene.
Harry struggles to open the drawer, but finally gives it a solid kick, warping the metal enough to muscle it out around the lock.
Inside is an assortment of jewelers' tools and magnifying glasses, along with other instruments whose functions Harry doesn't recognize, but look as though they're intended to be used on small mechanisms.
Harry gathers up the equipment before rolling up the body and carrying it upstairs.
"Sorry miss, for the foul language."
Victor heads upstairs to the office.
"What are you waiting for, c'mon!"
George helps Thakur Sahib Harisimhji Jaisimh wrap up the corpse and then goes to a Decanter and pours himself what he surmises is a Pennsylvania Rye and says, "Would any of you want a refresher?"
If someone does, he will fill up glasses for them afterwards he would take a healthy swig from his and then help Thakur carry the body.
Morroway nods at George, saying, "Yes, I think that's just what I need."
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Victor yells to everyone. "oi, guys, are you coming or what?"
With George's help. Harry brings the body into the office upstairs and lays it on the floor.
"Well, I suppose we should take a look in here as well. Did we ask if anyone was a doctor?"
He looks around the gather guests to see if anyone steps forward.
The office is lavishly decorated with a heavy oaken desk, exotic plants, and a well-stocked liquor cabinet.
The desk is clean, and except for a drawer of stationery, pens, and other writing implements, the drawers are locked. Unlike the flimsy worktable downstairs, these will be impossible to force open without the proper tools.
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Victor looks at the locks.
"That'll be a problem, eh? We can try shooting them."
He grins.
Morroway follows hesitantly into the office, responding to Victor's suggestion of firing shots into the desk. "Can someone tell me what we hope to find here? Why are we taking such drastic measures to criminally investigate this man's possessions? Perhaps we should leave this to the police and the coroner."
George looks around and shrugs his shoulders and says, "Your guess is as good as mine."
George looks through liquor cabinet looking for some good whiskey or maybe something else.
Detective
Van Winkle finds the most expensive liquor in the cabinet.
The younger Trufant checks the keys on the body, but they are warped and melted by the lightning strike. One appears to match, bit no longer physically fits the lock.
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Having grabbed the tools from the locked drawer downstairs, Harry examines the partly melted key and begins to work on reproducing it.
Mechanic:
Harry tries to salvage the key, but finds it too badly damaged. He would need a new key blank and locksmith tools to create a new one.
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"Sorry folks. Unless I can get access to some special tools, we will have to leave these drawers alone for now."
He turns his attention to the body, and examines the remains, especially around the injuries to see how the disguise was utilized.
Who else is here besides the butler and the maid? And us and the dead senator-lizard, of course.
Harry isn't able to glean much more from the body without a laboratory. The disguise seems to consist of an artificial skin, complete with vascular system, but the method of its application is a mystery.
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George says, "Look, does this manor have access to the telegraph, I need to inform the president about this. Foul things are afoot in the Empire State and if not the president then maybe the governor in Albany, However, calling the coroner would be a mistake because this thing who I assume was masquerading as the Senator, is an alien being and should be taken to Columbia University for further study by our best Biologists."
"Why the President? For all we know, he could be a lizard-man-thing to. After all, they may be putting themselves in positions of power to "take over the world" That's why the senator was a lizard man."
"This is all wild conjecture. Send a telegraph to Columbia if you wish, but we needn't involve the president. We don't know what this man is, or what his intentions were. For all we know, he could be the only one." Morroway stares for a long moment at the wrapped-up body, thinking. "But I could contact the secretary of defense. At very least, his voting record and associates should be investigated."
"Sorry folks. Unless I can get access to some special tools, we will have to leave these drawers alone for now."
He turns his attention to the body, and examines the remains, especially around the injuries to see how the disguise was utilized.
Evelyn looks around at the others for a moment and then pulls a hairpin from her hair, bending down to look at the locks. I think we should at least try to find out a bit more before contacting anyone. The radio telegraph is out anyway and its raining. When I was little father hired a rather strange man as a groundskeeper, no-one better, he said, than a poacher to protect against poachers. Well Fred (that was his name) took me under his wing and,... well he did show me a thing or two..... Let's see"