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Sep. 26th, 2006 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gone_byebyeTuesday, September 26, 2006
Bengali Express Car #4
Wild Asia Outdoor Exhibit
Bronx Zoo
"If you look out the car on the left hand side, you should be able to spot part of the Zoo's population of muntjacs- barking deer. These tiny crepuscular mammals from China have been incredibly disturbed in the past several days by a phenomenon that has the zoo's personnel baffled: some sort of glowing, spectral presence that seems almost to coalesce out of the evening mist. It's affected all our animals in the Wild Asia exhibit to greater or lesser degrees, but the muntjacs seem to be the least happy about it."
Winston glanced sideways at Egon, who was frowning at his PKE meter. Without lifting his eyes from the display the taller man groped for the emergency intercom on the monorail wall. "When was the last time this presence manifested?" he asked, finger on the 'send' button.
"Last night. It usually appears sometime between two AM and five AM."
"Thank you." Then Egon looked up. "Ray? What do you think?"
Ray frowned, peering down at the tiny brown animals. "Too far," he said. "You'd have to lower me over the side on a cable, and at this time of day any responses would be all but useless. Let's keep moving."
Egon nodded and signaled the driver, who started the monorail again.
"We're not gonna have to spend the night here, are we, guys?" Winston asked. "I don't know about you, but I've done enough camping to last me a lifetime without being surrounded by tigers."
"Not if we can get some answers during daylight hours, no," said Egon absently. "Something has been happening here. I'm getting some pretty potent readings even hours after the fact."
The train stopped.
"We seem to have a little trouble on the track up ahead," came the announcer's voice.
"What kind of trouble?" asked Winston, trying and failing to get a look out the monorail's window. "We're too high up for it to be any of your animals."
"No, you're quite right, sir. What I’m looking at right now is a good twenty yards or so of the thickest, nastiest green goo I've ever seen- and I used to work in the babirusa pits. It could be a trick of the light, of course, but it gives the appearance of being luminescent. That's a pretty unique phenomenon outside the World of Darkness exhibit."
The three men exchanged glances, and then Ray and Egon said "Dibs!" at the same time.
Winston covered his face with one hand. "They're on their way," he told the announcer.
"Would you LOOK at this stuff!" Ray enthused, a handful of the glowing goo trickling through his gloved fingers. "This is absolutely prime diffusion-condensate ectoplasm! I can't even remember the last time we had a sample of this quality, let alone this much- Spengs, have you got the jars?"
"Right here, Ray." Egon handed over a thick-walled Mason jar and got out his favorite sampling ladle. "We need to come back here tonight, all four of us. It hasn't lost cohesion in the slightest."
"I know! Tell me about it- hey, check this out-"
Egon sighed. "Ray, you really don't have to make the 'thwip' noise. I get the Spider-Man reference by the finger positioning alone."
"Tensile strength doesn't seem like much," Ray noted as the string of flung goo broke apart and fell back to the track. "I guess the daylight's getting to it. We'll wrap the jars extra carefully-"
Above, the monorail's external speakers came to life again. "Yo, guys," said Winston's voice, "you've got company."
Ray scrambled to the edge of the track and poked his head over. Egon followed.
"Those would be Maxine, Patty, and Happy, the Zoo's three Asian elephants," the monorail announcer said. "Looks like they've come to say hi."
"I'll be the judge of that," Ray said. "Egon?"
"Way ahead of you, Ray." The physicist handed over the red megaphone Ray had insisted he bring along.
"Sir?" the announcer asked. "Dr. Stantz? What are you doing?"
"Testing something out," Ray said back. Lifting his right arm over his head in a snakey, wriggling gesture, he made a high-pitched, vaguely trumpet-like noise into the megaphone.
There was silence.
Then the elephants trumpeted back in unison, and Ray smiled. "Egon?" he said. "I think we're gonna get our answers. . ."
Bengali Express Car #4
Wild Asia Outdoor Exhibit
Bronx Zoo
"If you look out the car on the left hand side, you should be able to spot part of the Zoo's population of muntjacs- barking deer. These tiny crepuscular mammals from China have been incredibly disturbed in the past several days by a phenomenon that has the zoo's personnel baffled: some sort of glowing, spectral presence that seems almost to coalesce out of the evening mist. It's affected all our animals in the Wild Asia exhibit to greater or lesser degrees, but the muntjacs seem to be the least happy about it."
Winston glanced sideways at Egon, who was frowning at his PKE meter. Without lifting his eyes from the display the taller man groped for the emergency intercom on the monorail wall. "When was the last time this presence manifested?" he asked, finger on the 'send' button.
"Last night. It usually appears sometime between two AM and five AM."
"Thank you." Then Egon looked up. "Ray? What do you think?"
Ray frowned, peering down at the tiny brown animals. "Too far," he said. "You'd have to lower me over the side on a cable, and at this time of day any responses would be all but useless. Let's keep moving."
Egon nodded and signaled the driver, who started the monorail again.
"We're not gonna have to spend the night here, are we, guys?" Winston asked. "I don't know about you, but I've done enough camping to last me a lifetime without being surrounded by tigers."
"Not if we can get some answers during daylight hours, no," said Egon absently. "Something has been happening here. I'm getting some pretty potent readings even hours after the fact."
The train stopped.
"We seem to have a little trouble on the track up ahead," came the announcer's voice.
"What kind of trouble?" asked Winston, trying and failing to get a look out the monorail's window. "We're too high up for it to be any of your animals."
"No, you're quite right, sir. What I’m looking at right now is a good twenty yards or so of the thickest, nastiest green goo I've ever seen- and I used to work in the babirusa pits. It could be a trick of the light, of course, but it gives the appearance of being luminescent. That's a pretty unique phenomenon outside the World of Darkness exhibit."
The three men exchanged glances, and then Ray and Egon said "Dibs!" at the same time.
Winston covered his face with one hand. "They're on their way," he told the announcer.
"Would you LOOK at this stuff!" Ray enthused, a handful of the glowing goo trickling through his gloved fingers. "This is absolutely prime diffusion-condensate ectoplasm! I can't even remember the last time we had a sample of this quality, let alone this much- Spengs, have you got the jars?"
"Right here, Ray." Egon handed over a thick-walled Mason jar and got out his favorite sampling ladle. "We need to come back here tonight, all four of us. It hasn't lost cohesion in the slightest."
"I know! Tell me about it- hey, check this out-"
Egon sighed. "Ray, you really don't have to make the 'thwip' noise. I get the Spider-Man reference by the finger positioning alone."
"Tensile strength doesn't seem like much," Ray noted as the string of flung goo broke apart and fell back to the track. "I guess the daylight's getting to it. We'll wrap the jars extra carefully-"
Above, the monorail's external speakers came to life again. "Yo, guys," said Winston's voice, "you've got company."
Ray scrambled to the edge of the track and poked his head over. Egon followed.
"Those would be Maxine, Patty, and Happy, the Zoo's three Asian elephants," the monorail announcer said. "Looks like they've come to say hi."
"I'll be the judge of that," Ray said. "Egon?"
"Way ahead of you, Ray." The physicist handed over the red megaphone Ray had insisted he bring along.
"Sir?" the announcer asked. "Dr. Stantz? What are you doing?"
"Testing something out," Ray said back. Lifting his right arm over his head in a snakey, wriggling gesture, he made a high-pitched, vaguely trumpet-like noise into the megaphone.
There was silence.
Then the elephants trumpeted back in unison, and Ray smiled. "Egon?" he said. "I think we're gonna get our answers. . ."
