Patchwork Universe

Dr Jewel · Posted: 03 Feb 2004 08:29 pm Post subject: Dr Jewel's Arrival at the Museum

Dr Jewel blinked as the mist cleared on the other side. She looked up at the Museum, surprised by the sheer size of it.

"Things have definitely changed around here." She said.

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

Dr. Odom stepped past the ticket counter, heels loud against the marble floor, and raised his arms to draw attention to the grand display. "Yes," he said, turning back around, "we've made some changes."

Oak cabinets with glass doors lined the walls. In them were books, children's toys, party hats and baskets. Swords and spears shared cabinets with three-hole punches and staplers; feathers from assorted birds were displayed near a small collection of mobile telephones; batteries and musical instruments and mugs and glasses sat surrounded by delicate figurines and small paintings and drawings. Balconies from the next two floors up were hung with larger paintings and bas-relief murals and friezes acquired during the grand, flamboyant temple-robbing days of archaeology. Four small islands of large displays divided the room so that it could be imagined as nine rectangular sections with an island where four sections met. These islands included Kenmore washing machines beside washtubs with washboards, a wicker chariot, a billiards table, and the engines from an F-16 and a Nieuport 17. Above the engines, suspended by cables from the ceiling three floors above, were the aircraft belonging to those engines.

On top of or beside each object was a card explaining briefly what it was and where more like it could be found.

"Dr. Eddison calls it clutter. I call it variety. It's like a small sample of what lies beyond."

Dr Jewel · Posted: 03 Feb 2004 11:33 pm Post subject:

Dr Jewel peered at each display in turn with great curiosity.

"I would be very interested in a complete tour." She said. "My area of expertise is the Roman period, but the rest would still be fascinating. Although I imagine it would take a while."

She glanced back at her host.

"But I'm forgetting my manners." She smiled. "You said you wanted a cup of tea ? To talk over the changes outside ?"

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

Dr. Odom led the way down the main hall, waving his hands and maintaining a steady monologue on changes that must have taken place since he imagined Dr. Jewel had last been in the Museum. He mentioned name after name, not stopping for the least mumble of acknowledgment, rambling on as if enjoying merely being able to relate accumulated news to someone unfamiliar with it. Similarly, he only hesitated long enough to plunge his cigarette into the sand of one of the omnipresent ashtrays before continuing his march, into the heart of the building and down the stairs, arriving at the commissary some twenty minutes from the time they left the front door.

The enormous low-ceilinged room with its wobbly formica-topped tables was rarely much more or less than a quarter full. Dr. Odom waved to the empty tables.

"Please, sit wherever you're comfortable. I'll be with you in a moment. Is there anything besides tea I might get you?"

Dr Jewel · Posted: 04 Feb 2004 12:36 pm Post subject:

"No thank you." Dr Jewel waited for him to head towards the counter, before selecting a table against one wall.

With a certain amount of care, she settled into the chair in question. Fortunately it seemed able to bear her weightlessness without any obvious difficulties.

As she saw her companion return she let him put the tea on the table in front of her.

"Which topic would you like to start with ?" She asked carefully. "The Museum or outside ?"

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

"Well, the Board of Directors appointed me Curator General when Dr. Eddison resigned. That's about all I can tell you about the Museum. Beyond that it's about the same as ever, with a few displays moved about.

"Now, what about you? How long has it been since you last visited the Museum? How long has that park been out front? And what are these difficulties your expedition has encountered? You mentioned a thing of some sort."

Dr Jewel · Posted: 04 Feb 2004 05:35 pm Post subject:

"I'm afraid I've never been here before." Dr Jewel looked around. "I come from Cambridge University - my department is well-known - and I've never seen a Museum built on this scale before."

"Also, that green space isn't a park. It's an area of Norfolk. A mile from the Museum steps is a village called Maypole Hill. That's where my expedition is. Was I mean. The difficulty we encountered was a number of deaths - on a rather large scale. That was after we found a corpse; and I now think that the body caused the problem."

She paused, looking to see if any of her words were sinking in.

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

Dr. Odom came to a realization. He did not like the looks of it at all and tried to knock it down but it was too big. Neither could he find a way around it or even ignore it looming over him.

"We've not been having the same conversation at all, have we?"

He drained his cup and waved it at a very junior staff member, someone who was junior enough not to point out that table service was not provided. Dr. Odom longed for the bottle of akvavit in his filing cabinet but settled for rolling yet another cigarette. A prominent part of his mind pointed out to him that his hands were no longer trembling and wondered whether this was necessarily a good thing.

"I recall hearing you mention Cambridge University and Maple Hill. I don't doubt the existence of your university, and I even expect we've a sizeable collection of your yearbooks. This Maple Hill, though, I took to be a district of the city -- a city you tell me is no longer in front of the Museum, although I haven't checked the back and sides." He paused while his fresh cup was delivered, then continued, "If I hadn't just been outside I'd suspect you were mad. Or that I was, but I don't like that as much. You've got deaths. I've got disappearances. Why don't you tell me more and we'll see if maybe we can help each other.

Dr Jewel · Posted: 04 Feb 2004 07:55 pm Post subject:

Dr Jewel nodded, then began her tale.

"Less than a month ago, my department were sent news that some Roman coins and pots had been located just outside a village called Maypole Hill, which was about sixty miles away. We examined the find, decided it was worth our interest and assembled a team. I was given the task of leading this team because I am an expert on the Roman period.

"We arrived at the village a week ago, set up a camp close to the site of interest and began an excavation. However, instead of finding an ancient Roman site, we unearthed the buried basement of what we presume to be a nineteenth century house. A house that must have been destroyed during the last hundred years.

"Inside that cellar was stored a collection of old Roman artifacts. I think these were probably the source of the original find, but I am not entirely sure. The other thing we found within the cellar was a dead body. And I think that the death was actually murder. We also found evidence that there is another layer beneath the cellar, but we never had time to confirm this.

"You see, within forty-eight hours of this discovery, everyone died. And I mean [i]everyone[/i]. Both at the digsite and within the village. They all died very suddenly; symptoms, mostly flu-like, would only set in about three hours before death.

"But if that wasn't disturbing enought, all those people have arisen again as ghosts. It is a little difficult for me to judge how much time passed before that happened, but I believe it wasn't long. The people don't seem to [i]know[/i] what has happened, though. They're carrying out their day-to-day business, but they can't interact with many objects and the resulting spectacle is... like a film with bad special effects.

"And one last problem. The cellar corpse has began to walk again. It started as a skeleton. However, it is becoming more... substantial with each passing day. I don't know what happened to the village or why - but it might."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

The obvious first reaction was disbelief mixed with ridicule and tinged with concern about the woman's sanity. As Curator General, however, displaying such a reaction would have been shamefully unprofessional.

The next reaction was a blend of concern and ire.

"I certainly hope you haven't brought contagion into the Museum," Dr. Odom began with mild reproof. "Perhaps we ought to get you to the infirmary so they might examine --"

The third reaction came lumbering out from behind the unpleasant realization. It was even bigger and uglier than the realization. Dr. Odom's mind started to back away from it.

"Everyone?!?"

Dr Jewel · Posted: 05 Feb 2004 05:27 pm Post subject:

"Yes, everyone." Dr Jewel responded quietly. "Consequently I doubt very much that I'm contagious."

She sighed.

"I'm not sure whether the actual site is still infected, of course. I would like to hope not, but, anyone entering it would have to know the risks. Although I suspect that something more supernatural was at work - or why would the village have died at exactly the same time as the site workers ?"

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

Studying his smoldering tobacco, Dr. Odom suddenly found it terribly inadequate. Akvavit would not be much better. He wondered exactly what might be in the steel mesh-reinforced case in Medical History. He brushed a lock of greying brown hair back into place and sighed.

He remembered the handshake.

"Well! I suppose we can skip the 'Nonsense-there's-no-such-thing-as-ghosts!" speech. I'll accept that part until someone sees me sitting her talking to an imaginary visitor and drags me off with my sleeves tied behind my back.

"What do you mean by 'supernatural'? That is, what do you mean in this context? You see, I would like to help -- things have been a little slow around here lately -- but I'm not too keen on dying, and I'm not sure whether I'm more nervous about this possible disease or this possible curse or whatever it is. And you . . . ah . . . say this thing might know what's going on? Have you tried to talk to it?"

Dr Jewel · Posted: 05 Feb 2004 11:01 pm Post subject:

"I appreciate the offer of help." Dr Jewel replied. "And I certainly could use some assistance. However, I'm not happy about risking anyone else in that basement until I have a better idea of what happened."

She leaned forwards and her arms appeared to rest on the table.

"I haven't tried to speak with the, well, I guess I'll call it the corpse still. However I do intend to. I was waiting to see how substanial it became. And whether it seemed interested in talking to me. But I can certainly go back and give it a try at any time. I've not exactly got any other pressing matters to deal with."

Dr Jewel shrugged, then an idea occurred to her.

"I don't suppose your museum might have anything helpful on such things ? Neither the nineteenth century or ghosts are exactly my field."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 42 Location: The Museum

"Ah, now Dr., you could not have asked anyone better," Dr. Odom answered with a smug smile and a very little preening.

"If you want big, lurid tomes with illumination and woodcuts and huge hinges and clasps, I direct you to the 12th floor. More scholarly stuff -- dissertations, tracts, pamphlets -- is on the 184th floor. The Special Collection, which includes such things as a spell book rumored to work, is on the 388th floor. Restricted Access is on the 1552nd floor and includes some very disturbing material.

"I would be happy to escort you or, if you would rather, I could write you a sort of letter of authorization."

Dr Jewel · Posted: 09 Feb 2004 01:26 pm Post subject:

Dr Jewel considered this.

"I think the 184th floor would probably be the place to start." She replied. "If you would be so kind as to take me up when you've finished your tea. Although, I have a nasty feeling that books might be of little use to me... now. Is there likely to be someone up there who could give me a verbal summary ?"