”These folks seem more like people modified with animal features than animals modified with human features…”
"Didn't you come in that way?" asks the tigress, but she answers anyway. "That's the hall to the hexagonal room with six doors to different zones and a map of the station."
Nissa recalls her past kneejerk reaction to bluff. So it *is* the same door, she’d have said so casually, so naturally, she even believed the lies herself.
Now, she found herself biting her tongue—not to prevent herself from lying, which Mother disapproves of—but to stop herself from blurting a truth that need not be told.
“Thanks,” she says sincerely, admiring the tigress. She flits to the door, ready to proceed to the map!
”These folks seem more like people modified with animal features than animals modified with human features…”
"That would fit with what we know of his stated goals," Unity comment quietly.
Now that Nissa is satisfied with their safety, Unity open the door and walk through.
A small hexagonal room has 6 doors. You came through one. It is labelled 'Tropical Forest 1'. Going clockwise facing the door you came through, the doors are unlabeled, 'Tropical Forest 2', unlabeled, 'Tropical Forest 3', and unlabeled.
The room is white paint over concrete.
"Well, I guess we decide if we are all gonna be 'good guests', and start with the labelled doors. Or be our usual selves and explored the likely restricted areas", Theo smirked, hands on his hips, reading the doors.
"I wonder if it'll cause issues if we open and peek?" Zellgato also tries to look for scuffs-claw marks, worn down paint, boot marks, etc in the white paint. Trying to judge if any given door sees higher visitations, and which may see the least.
"Exploring the tropical zones sounds fun", Theo admits.
"And some of those animal hybrid forms could use some exploring as well", the godling winked and chuckled.
Unity roll their eyes at Theo. "Depending on just how they're created, some of them might well be only months old by some definitions, you realize," they say.
"It seems unlikely that the other tropical zones would be what we're looking for," Unity say. "Isn't it strange that they're all tropical? Shouldn't there be more than this? Maybe there's a larger portion of the station through another door."
They trot around the room, sniffing at each of the doors.
With doors on every wall, Henri looks at the ceiling and the floor for anything approximating a map. If he doesn’t see anything, he asks the room, ”May we see a map of the station?”
"Certainly," says a voice. A map appears on all walls, showing the rest of the station. Many parts are left light grey and unlabelled. What you see is that the station has 16 quadrants shaped like the pupils of cat's eyes. Each quadrant is labelled with reference to climate and geography: Arctic 1; Coast 1 and 2; Desert 1; Tropical Forests 1, 2, and 3; Temperate Forest 1, 2, and 3; Grassland 1 and 2; Mountain 1 and 2; Swamp 1 and 2. Each zone also has a six-digit code.
You are currently in the zone that connects the three Tropical forest zones. If you go through the door to Tropical Forest 2, you can cross TF2 and get to the Desert 1, Tropical Forest 2, Coast 1 intersection. If you go the other direction, you get to the Temperate forests section.
You know, however, that there are areas not elaborated on this map that must correspond to the administrative areas.
"Unity. This is still Moreau-coded. Where does your intuition tell us to go?"
”So there are two ‘public’ doors for these environmental sectors. We’ll have to pass through this zone to reach this one. I presume this nexus has three administrative doors, as well. Perhaps observational ports into the zones…. This Doctor has a full staff, if he’s getting observational data in all these areas.”
He looks to Unity, wondering if they have an internal instinct that will guide them through this maze.
A thought occurs to the speedy medic, ”Do we have a moment? I think I want to see if I can detect anything in their tech.”
Unity stare at the map for a bit. Where would... somewhere around the center? Was there anything in the center? Or perhaps an oddly blank spot somewhere?
"To be honest, we're somewhat expecting that Dr. Moreau has or shortly will notice we're here and will *hopefully* want to talk instead of just sending people to attack us," they comment as they look at the map.
”Good point. I’ll be right back.”
Henri finds a spot to sit and begins to take deep breaths as he tries to reconnect with his internal nanite colony.
Henri doesn't shut down the burst. The party sees his body stiffen in reaction to some unseen stimulus. After a moment, Henri nods and appears to be speaking to someone that isn't there.
The meditating medic gives a small smile and says, "Hello, Montgomery. It's a pleasure to meet you. I feel like we've met, but I'm sure you would remember. We are not patients, we are travelers. We hope to meet Doctor Moreau regarding a mutual acquaintance. One of our number is particularly interested in meeting the good doctor. When will he be available?"
”We do not seek to call on the doctor in his professional capacity. It is really a social call. But perhaps he will appreciate meeting my friend. He is an amazing example of the sort of work the Doctor does, himself. And we can be patient, we know the Doctor is busy.”
A door slides open in the room. Henri can now see Montgomery, just beyond the door. He motions and says, "Follow me."
A door slides open. A 50 ft. long white-walled corridor invites you into an administrative zone.
Nissa gives Henri space as he meditates with the nanites.
She recalls the nanites that were inside her. How she “birthed” them from her hand the way she was reborn from Theo’s. —and now Darkstar is growing up with no knowledge of her birth mother. Only resentment.
She flies to Theo. “Dad… I don’t fear Zeus or Hera. I probably should, but I don’t.” Mother’s requirement of honesty makes Nissa feel freer than she ever did when she made buIIshitting an art form. Not that she ever lied to the team… but she kept her most awkward thoughts to herself. Now the truth flows naturally to friend and foe alike. “If we ever get a break, I want to meet my half-siblings. I mean… if visiting them wouldn’t compromise their safety.”
—of course a door opens by the time Nissa has mustered the courage to say this!
Theo was surprised by his daughter's admission. But that surprise was quickly replaced with a smile. "I would like that very much, as well."
As the door opens, The Olympian adds, "Come on. Let's go meet some more animal people."
Later Henri passes a video image of a winged human. He looks a lot like Valkryie genetically. He soars over a forest.
"You may be wondering why none of our zones are aerial zones," says Montgomery. "In fact each region connects, at its highest point, to a large aerial zone that encompasses the entire complex. Our winged residents can circle the entire research station or fly straight across its circumference. This was the only way for us to help our guests develop the strength they need for the long glorious flights ahead."
On one of the screens, Nissa spots a man that looks like Valkyrie. He's flying over a forest.
Nissa smiles back. “Great, Dad…!” And she leaves it at that for now, knowing the conversation can always continue later!
For now, there’s a male equivalent of a valkyrie! Nissa notes the location, then flies up to the winged man.
“Hi—Nissa van Donk—I used to don valkyrian armor when I first earned my wings!”
As her body glows quasar bright, her sundress bursts into orange sparks. They dissipate. Sunbeams converge onto her body, covering her in a fairy-sized version of the original Subatomic Bombshell costume!
Even with her shiny fairy bod, the valkyrie motif still suits World Zero’s littlest supermodel!
Henri’s eye remain closed as he stirs. He stands and motions toward the door that has opened. ”Montgomery is going to take us to the Doctor. We will see if he has time and inclination to meet with us when we get there.”
He walks down the hall, relying on his nanites to navigate so he can continue to see Montgomery in his mind’s eye. As Montgomery describes the environments that they pass, Henri relays the information to his friends.
Unity follow Henri in through the door. "Henri, mind explaining out loud what you're seeing?" they ask as they walk.
"Uh, Nissa, we're pretty sure that screen is one-way," they say as she shows off.
Even as they speak, they're taking in their surroundings, the different views. They wonder just how much Moore was telling them is true... and how much of it is true from a certain point of view. No doubt Moreau has his own point of view. But which will they agree with more?
”Yes, of course. This is an aerial view of a water environment. They seek to replicate the conditions of the planets where these people we saw will be placed. Those that can fly are able to fly throughout the environments so they can get strong enough to fly long distances when they are placed.”
"Uh, Nissa, we're pretty sure that screen is one-way," they say as she shows off.
Nissa backs away from the screen. “Heh… don’t know what came over me.” Her aura reddens as she blushes, and she flutters into the door quietly, searching for off-screen fliers.
At some point she is wearing her sundress again…
”Yes, of course. This is an aerial view of a water environment. They seek to replicate the conditions of the planets where these people we saw will be placed. Those that can fly are able to fly throughout the environments so they can get strong enough to fly long distances when they are placed.”
"Hmm, we guessed as much. But what did you say to get that door open?"
The party arrives at another door, which opens automatically. The hallway in front of you is 30 feet wide with no ceiling. The top of the dome is 100 ft above. The hall seems to gently curve in both directions and could be forming a circle about a kilometer in diameter. .You see lots of people in the hallway. Some are driving small trucks loaded with boxes. Others are walking in small groups engaged in animated debate. Some are helping patients try out their new legs. At least five of them are Prendick, some are PhDestruction. Others are unfamiliar. There are two dozen people in this hallway in total.
At least five of them are Prendick, some are PhDestruction. Others are unfamiliar. There are two dozen people in this hallway in total.
"Ohhh sh|t."
”Yes, of course. This is an aerial view of a water environment. They seek to replicate the conditions of the planets where these people we saw will be placed. Those that can fly are able to fly throughout the environments so they can get strong enough to fly long distances when they are placed.”"Hmm, we guessed as much. But what did you say to get that door open?"
"I just, I just asked nicely. I'm pretty sure I'm talking to Doctor Moreau's digital assistant, whose name is Montgomery. He's opening the doors and guiding me to where we may be able to meet the doctor. Montgomery, are you able to interact with my friends or do you need me to relay information?"
Nissa whispers to her dad, “They haven’t done anything PhDestructive yet. Maybe I can sweet-talk them…”
She makes a rather demure pose, crossing one leg over the other, smiling sweetly…
“Hey there, boys and doctors… we’re rather late for long overdue appointment with Dr. Moreau.” Since deception is taboo, she clarifies, “I mean that figuratively. Literally, we’re walk-ins.
“Would you be so kind as to point us in the right direction?”
The Prendicks and PhDestructions are quite intrigued by Nissa and by Unity. It's a bit before anyone answers Nissa. Most turn to those around them and say something. One says to another, "Get Montgomery" and the other runs. Finally, a handful gesture and babble directions, pointing you further towards the center of this circular station.
The AI Montgomery continues to guide Henri while explaining, "I can certainly project a holographic image once we reach the Inner Complex, but it becomes more complicate while walking across the structure."
You do reach the Inner Complex, apparently, because after passing through another all white hallway, you come out into an large open area. In the center of it is a white building. It looks nothing like Moreau's house on the island, but it is white, in the center, and obviously where the power lies. A few smaller huts surround it.
As soon as you enter, a holographic image of Montgomery appears. He's clean and shows no sign of the alcohol abuse the Montgomery on the island appeared.
"You are now in the Inner Complex. Welcome. I'm told Doctor Moreau is with a patient right now, but if you'd like to rest in one of our guest huts, I believe he will be curious enough to come and meet with ..."
The AI Montgomery is cut off when the real Montgomery bursts from one of the doors. "Holy f&**! It's ... He did it! You're here!" Before Unity can respond, flesh-and-blood Montgomery snaps at the AI Montgomery. "Tell the Doctor that Unity is here. He did it."
The holographic Montgomery flickers and then says, "Done."
When Unity see the PhDestruction clones, their suspicions immediately sharpen, and when Montgomery shouts 'He did it!' those suspicions become near-certainty.
"So this *is* where we were supposed to 'return' to," they say. "You're probably going to say 'wait until Doctor Moreau gets here', but we're going to ask anyway, Montgomery: what *is* this all about? We seem to have some holes in our memories, you see, so we've been working off of vague hints and hunches to get here."
"Please, wait until Doctor Moreau gets here," says the AI Montgomery.
The real Montgomery, with a faint smell of alcohol on his breath, sighs and says, "It's a long story. I'm not sure where to start. What do you know about this place and what we do?"
"Know, have been told, or have guessed?" Unity ask. "You're combining human and animal in some way--from what we've seen, adding animal traits to human volunteers?" "And then inserting them... somewhere that takes 'acculturation'." "Primitive worlds, we guess?"
They stop their back-and-forth for a moment, as if to let Montgomery catch up. "The 'why' of it all escapes us, however," they state. "Perhaps you could start there?"
"Our clients and patients come to us for a wide range of different reasons," explains AI Montgomery. "Our clients want worlds populated with new and wonderful species. Our patients wish to be transformed. So, the 'why' might take a while to answer. You've grossly oversimplified the 'what', however. What we do is take worlds in the Julian Cluster, where no homo species arouse, and populate them with eager pioneers, who will found entire new branches of intelligent life. Why create 1000 different species of intelligent life on underpopulated dimensional backwaters? Moreau's mission is to-"
"We help our patients live their best life by giving them certain desirable genetic traits," interrupts real Montgomery, "Then we pop back every 10,000 years to cultivate their genetic heritage. Our clients are often looking for races with particular genetic traits, and we can provide them. Usually they're looking for soldiers. That's the 'what'. As for the 'why' for Moreau's it's an art and a passion. The rest of us are here to get paid."
Some clones of Prendick walk by.
"Well, not everyone gets paid," adds Montgomery glancing at the clones.
"Very few of us are getting paid," notes AI Montgomery. "I'm not getting paid."
"We were curious about the clones, too. We ran into some trouble from some clones of that fellow," Unity wave a paw at one of the PhDestructions, "Who were being so sloppy about things they just about triggered a demonic invasion of a planet. And we've seen some elsewhere. What's going on with them?"
"Yes, that's obviously why you're here. This is about what happened to Peter," says the real Montgomery gesturing that you should follow him.
"Peter? Did something happen to Peter? Is that why his security credentials have been deactivated?" asks the AI Montgomery.
"Let's go," says Montgomery. "It's time for you to meet Doctor Moreau. He will want to meet you."
Montgomery walks briskly towards the center of the complex, the big white building dead center in the middle of the domed research station.
"Don't be afraid to ask questions," asks the holographic AI Montgomery. "I'm here to help."
The Montgomeries quickly leads you through the wide main entrance of the central building. The walls are adorned with large images of strange new humanoid races in different terrain. "So, is it clear to you what we do here? I assume you have cloning technology on your world or you wouldn't be here. Are 'clone armies' a familiar concept or do I need to explain it?"
"No", Theo said deadpan. "We get 'clone armies'".
"No", Theo said deadpan. "We get 'clone armies'".
"Well," says Real Montgomery. "ours are free-range."
"That's a simplification," says the AI Montgomery. "By using dimension and timestream jumping technology, we provide something quite similar to a clone army at a fraction of the cost."
“Free range? —waaaait – aaaa-minnit!”
Nissa puts her hands on her hips as she flutters to the Real Montgomery.
“Did you guys send that giant chicken to our world?”
"By nabbing dimensional variants from other timelines?" Theo questioned.
Unity's eyes flick to their companions briefly before returning to their wary regard of their surroundings.
"We do know about cloning technology. From what we've seen, this... Peter has been cloning himself, and his clones similarly cloning themselves?" Unity say as they follow Montgomery. "The clones we've encountered seemed... a bit degraded, we must say. Other than, perhaps, the one responsible for, well," they wave a paw at themself. "But that might have been the original, right?"
“Free range? —waaaait – aaaa-minnit!”
Nissa puts her hands on her hips as she flutters to the Real Montgomery.
“Did you guys send that giant chicken to our world?”
"No, we don't even know you," replies real Montgomery.
"No, we do not create giant chickens," replies AI Montgomery.
[dice=Knowledge (mysticism)]1d20 + 6
"By nabbing dimensional variants from other timelines?" Theo questioned.
Doctor Moreau pops his head out a door and waives everyone into a large comfortable meeting room.
"Maybe Doctor Moreau can explain this better than I can," say both Montgomeries.
Unity's eyes flick to their companions briefly before returning to their wary regard of their surroundings.
"We do know about cloning technology. From what we've seen, this... Peter has been cloning himself, and his clones similarly cloning themselves?" Unity say as they follow Montgomery. "The clones we've encountered seemed... a bit degraded, we must say. Other than, perhaps, the one responsible for, well," they wave a paw at themself. "But that might have been the original, right?"
"Well, yes," says Montgomery, "This is why we've been expecting you. Peter, the original, was supposed to return from an away mission on CG-517 three weeks ago. Whatever it was that did return, was not Peter. We thought we had him contained to one quadrant, but he had awakened several of his clones and used them as distractions while he escaped into the Shuffle. Anyhow, come meet Moreau."
You've met Doctor Moreau before, and this one looks very much like the one you met. Their not dopplegangers, but you've seen movies where the actors playing a real person looked less like the person they were playing.
This Doctor Moreau is friendly and happy to meet you. He focuses his gaze on Unity and it is a gaze of wonder and amazement. He says to Unity without really looking at the others, "Welcome, welcome, we've been expecting you for days now and you've come at a perfect time. We're about to settle a population on CG-420, an Earth in the Julian Cluster. Tell me about yourselves. Where are you from? I suppose you had some kind of implanted command that drew you here?"