Patchwork Universe

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 155 Location: The Zoo

The journey back from the receiving dock took considerably longer than the journey there, and involved a lot of effing and blinding from Trubshawe as he struggled under the weight of his burden.

"Two coils of rope," he muttered under his breath at one point. "One for conducting experiments, and one to hang Odom from the rafters with..."

When he and George reached a point that he recognised as being no more than five minutes away from their destination, the next phase of Trubshawe's plan kicked in.

"This here is an extremely interesting display," he panted, feigning interest in some incomprehensible mouldering relic. "I wonder, George, if you could tell me all about it?"

That should be good for a fifteen-minute breather. Thus refreshed he would be able to saunter manfully back into the presence of the other two Doctors, with hardly a trace of beetroot in his complexion, bearing the wherewithal to save the day though rigorous scientific method. Odom would be laughing on the other side of his face then!

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 220 Location: The Museum

"It's a --" George obliged cheerfully. That was as far as he got, though, before he ran into a gap in his knowledge of the display. "Well, it's . . . it's a little like a hurdy-gurdy. And a cart from Housekeeping. And one of those thingies they get out in the commissary on Monday nights for the bingo games. And a rug. Oh, wait, that's a rug. And it's mostly grey, except where it's purply-black or wood, which is turning purply-black. And there's a bit wa-a-ay down here where you can only dust if you wrap a bit of your handkerchief around the end of a butter knife. I figured that out! And you can turn this handle, here, real fast, but you're not supposed to touch the exhibits, so you'd better not. There was a little girl who did, once, and this little door thingie here popped open and they coudn't figure out how to make it stay closed again even though they tried for daysanddaysandhadpeoplefromrestorationcomeinandtrytogetitto
stayshutandsomeonesuggestedusingtapebuteveryonesaidthat
wouldlookbadsotheydidn'tdoitandeventuallyitjustsortofstayed
closedallbyitselfandtheyneverreallyfiguredoutwhattheydidonevisitor
saiditwasjustlikethegloveboxofhisautomobileandthateverygloveboxwaslikethatsomaybethisisagloveboxandglovesaresupposedtogointothisholehere

George seemed ready to go on and on for far longer than fifteen minutes.

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 155 Location: The Zoo

Emerging some time later from a pleasant nap (he had perfected the art of taking these while standing up, during periods of invigilating Assistant Zookeepers), Trubshawe stretched and yawned. Could it really be that George was still yammering on? Once again removing his makeshift earplugs, he discovered that this was indeed the case.

"George," he interrupted. "George. THAT'S ENOUGH, GEORGE!"

Now that he had gotten the young guide's attention, he spoke in a tone that was almost fond. "Young man, I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have now learnt everything I could possibly want to know about this... object, and indeed in the time we have been standing here I have been filled with a great sense of renewed vigour and wellbeing. As a token of my sincerest gratitude I would like you to have this."

He thrust an unchewed flyer for the zoo into George's hand.

"Feel free to drop by any time. We will extend to you the fullest measure of our hospitality, and who knows, you may find something worth bringing back with you to the Museum when you leave."

Rubbing his hands, he prepared to shoulder the rope and stagger the last couple of hundred steps back to where they'd left Dr Odom and Dr Jewel.

[OOC edit: returning to "Bad News for Zookeepers"]