ataraxion | 001

[ ENCRYPTED 75% TO MEDICAL AND XENOBIOLOGY/GENETICS STAFF + BRUCE BANNER: ]
I took the liberty of checking out the blood samples we were able to get from the creatures at the end of the maze. Some of them seemed to have bacterial infections, which isn't surprising, but I also checked them against known DNA samples from Earth.

I don't want to alarm anyone, which is why I've encrypted this for now, but so far the results are all coming back in essentially the same manner. The DNA of these creatures is a mix between Earth creatures -- the lion is a large component, and there are also what appears to be genetic material from the Australian dingo and some sort of crocodile. However, at the present time it appears as though the largest genetic contribution comes from human beings.

Obviously the samples may have been compromised, as I've really only been able to work off their blood and some hair. I'm going to request a larger sample, preferably an entire specimen -- dead, obviously. Hopefully we can get more answers, and hopefully the human genetic material was just cross-contamination.

[ OPEN: ]
I've heard a few things about people returning to the end of the maze to clear out the rest of the creatures, in addition to a possible salvage operation. My name is Elizabeth Ross -- I'm a cellular biologist and university professor back home. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to request a mostly intact -- though definitely dead -- specimen of the creatures. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are wondering just what they are and how they got here, not to mention how they've survived the jumps, and I'm hoping that an entire specimen might be able to give us some answers.

How is everyone feeling?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Significantly less disgusting.

That's good to hear.

Did you get to the end of the maze before you came to medical?

No, I missed out on fighting the monsters. Shame.

[ the words are wistful, but her tone is lightly sarcastic. ]

How unfortunate.

[ So is hers -- though really, it would be nice to have reports from people from home. People Bruce trusts, and therefore people Betty trusts by extension. ]

I could ask them to leave one for you, if you'd like.

[ oh betty, she likes you. ]

That's okay. I'd like to hear more about them, though, if you happen to get your hands on a specimen.

[ :D ]

Once we have more concrete data, someone will release it.

[ There's a pause, and then Betty locks the conversation. ]

You know the circumstances around what happened to Bruce, right? What General Ross was doing?

[ natasha sees betty's encryption and bumps it up, for her sake and bruce's. ]

Yes. What about it?

[ 'what about it has to do with what happened', or 'what did you want to discuss about it'. she's not sure which one applies yet. ]

Preliminary examinations are showing that the creatures' genetic makeup is mostly human. Considering the possible sample contamination, I'm not ready to make that information public yet. The data has all been wiped from the computers. There are no medical records from the old crew, and medical now has samples from people who came in sick. There are members of xenobiology and genetics who want samples from everyone as well. If someone attempts to recreate the experiments, or any experiments, we could be in a lot of trouble.

[ there's a long beat as she processes this. ]

Is this just an 'if', or do you think someone's already tried to?

It's an 'if', for now. I want to trust these people, but sometimes someone will say something and I'm suddenly not sure if I can. I had one member of xenobiology ask me if I would put someone's consciousness inside of me, if given the opportunity.

[ well, that's...disturbing. ]

Do you know the names of the people who were asking these kinds of questions? Or their numbers?

Kabuto Yakushi, 002 » 180. Of course, he was sick at the time, and he's still in medical now.

Still wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him.

Do you think there's a connection to the sickness and the creatures, aside from them guarding the lab the cure was found in?

So far, no, but at this stage I don't know how much we can rule out. I don't think people would have turned into the creatures if they weren't cured, if that's what you're asking. That, at least, definitely wouldn't make any sense from a scientific standpoint.

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