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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.

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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?

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[But he begins shaking his head even as she's discouraging him.]

I tried it. Only for a little while--but I tried it.

[ But you shouldn't have to. ]

What's your name?

I am Bran Stark. And I would be of help to you, if I could.

It's nice to meet you.

May I ask who the other people expressing concern are? They seem to know you.

I am glad to meet you, too, Lady Ross. And-- my brother Jon is the one who spoke first--and then my companion, Alayne Stone. She is a great friend to me.

But they'll let me help, I know they will.

I think you could help. But I think we all might feel better if these creatures were dealt with in another way.

... Though I would like to see your ability at some point, if I could.

[NO BUT--!!! Nearly immediately, his mouth turns down in a frown. She thinks you only a child, too. He tries to keep it from petulance, so he will not be seen as still more of a child, but--]

It isn't for showing off. It should be used in a useful way.

I don't want you to show off. I want to understand how it works -- help you understand how it works more than you already do, if I can.

I don't know anything about shapeshifting, or taking the skin of an animal and being that animal. But I'd like to.

[Oh. He pauses, warily.]

I think it is a type of magic. It isn't the same as shapeshifting, but--my friend, Remus Lupin, has been helping me to learn a little more of it. He is a werewolf, so he understands some of it--though it is different than being a werewolf, too.

Why do you want to know?

I'm curious -- and I'm a scientist. I want to understand things. We don't have shapeshifters or werewolves where I'm from.

It's entirely up to you, of course. Your brother and your companion could observe, if you'd like them to. It wouldn't hurt -- I would just want to see if there are differences in brain activity, to start out with.

How would you see that?

There are machines in medical that can do it. It's painless.

[There are too many machines, and perhaps it is foolish to distrust them, when so many are good and useful, but--]

These machines are here, on this ship--and they are safe? I would have to ask my brothers, and-- Alayne Stone as well.

Yes. The doctors are having people double-check all their equipment as well, since it was here before we were.

If it doesn't work out, no hard feelings, okay?

[Her kindness and her caution--these things make Bran warm to the Lady Ross still a little more, and he relents. And it would be good, to have more practicing at changing skins, wouldn't it?]

If it's safe, then it would probably be all right. So long as Robb and Jon and Alayne knew of it, and-- if they were allowed there, if they wanted to be. And I would have to tell Remus Lupin, since he has been helping me to practice. It would be right for him to know as well.

[ More practice and maybe more understanding, or that's Betty's hope. ]

Of course. They could all come and observe -- I'm sure they'd want to know you're safe. You can tell whoever you like.

And it would need to be secret--for now. It can't be known by others. But I will ask, and think on it. And--perhaps I will be of help in some other way.

It's not my secret to tell, so I won't. And if your brothers would like to speak to me about it, I'd be more than happy to.

[His nod is very serious and careful, a lord's nod.]

Then I will explain it to them. We will speak with you soon, Lady Ross. [And he would end there, except--surely the thought is silly, and not important, certainly not important to their conversation--] Do you know Mattie Ross?

[ A boy who wants to be a man. She wants to gather him close, tell him to be a child while he can, but of course she doesn't. Can't, due to the distance.

His question takes her by surprise and it shows for a moment before her face settles into thoughtfulness. ] No, not as far as I know. [ But it's not as though her father was ever great about attending family reunions. ]

[He nods, thoughtfully, not precisely disappointed by her answer. Perhaps she simply doesn't know.]

I have a friend here called Mattie Ross. Your Houses are called by the same name, so I thought you might be. And there are other Starks here-- [But now he is only chattering like a child, and he bites at his lip a little to stop himself.] It's interesting, that's all.

[ There's a slight smile. ] It is interesting. I'd like to meet her; I don't know many of my own relatives, back home. My father was in the military, so the two of us traveled quite a bit.

[ She's not so sure why she's telling him that -- perhaps because he's young, because he's trusted her with a secret far more dear and she can't tell him what the creatures really are, not yet. ]

[That certainly comes as a surprise--and if Bran had hoped to speak more of the monsters, he has temporarily forgotten.]

He was a solider, and he took you to the camps with him?

I stayed on the military bases with the other families who moved there, to stay by their loved ones. I never went near actual combat, or even training, really.

But a base--that is a camp, isn't it? Soldiers are allowed to keep their families close where you are from?

What if the base should be attacked?

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