(Untitled)

[king_ofcups]

He'd found a lab coat of his own, two... three days -- weeks, perhaps? -- ago, which came quite in handy, when at such a great risk of splattering his favorite sweater in coagulated blood. On the lab table, there was a irregular mass, lumpy and gray. Quite a prime example of a malignant, metastatic tumor, textbook, really, which was both

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[pylean_cow]

Fred hears the sound of a cow before she knows where the sound is coming from. She knows that there are stables and cows elsewhere on the island, but it's much to loud to be coming from either of those places.

When she follows the sound and pokes her head into the lab, her eyes go a bit wide at the combined sight of the cow, and of Walter working with some kind of specimen.

"...I think a stranger question is why a polka-dotted cow is here in the first place," Fred says in response to his question, "Also... 'why is it polka-dotted?'"

[king_ofcups]

"I haven't the foggiest," he admitted, a bubble laughter tacked on to the end, "Specifically, why she's here is quite beyond me. As for the spots... It's a bit of a long story."

One that he was willing to tell, assuming he could remember the details.

Pulling off his gloves, he moved to the sink to wash his hands. "I'll need to set up a proper stall for her. Right about there, wouldn't you say?" he said, motioning toward the back corner of the lab, letting flecks of soap and water dripping onto the floor. They'd need to do some rearranging to insure she had plenty of space, of course, but surely no one would mind.

[pylean_cow]

"Somehow, I don't think anyone's gonna be too happy about you keeping a cow in the lab," Fred replies and she tentatively approaches the animal, if only so she can get a closer look at its abnormal spots. Despite being from Texas, she doesn't have much experience with cattle.

Well, except for being treated like cattle for five years, but that's another story entirely.

[king_ofcups]

"Oh," he said, instantly deflating, "You're probably right." Turning to catch the girl approaching the animal with some caution, he said, "Oh, don't worry. She's quite friendly. Though, I should warn you, she does have a fondness for licking."

Drying his hands on the tails of his lab coat, he made his way over to the animal and patted her gently on the nose.

"Where should we take her, do you think?"

[notaparker]

It's not like there's some kind of rule about who can use the lab, but I'll admit that being lab assistant to Doc McCoy makes me feel less like I'm trespassing, even if I'm actually just working on personal research. Some of which I just do at my hut, with the chemistry equipment the island's one moment of magnanimity granted me, but I don't have everything there. The lab has plenty of things I don't.

Such as, just plucking an example out of the air here, a polka-dotted cow.

I stop partway in the door and just stare at it.

"Yyyyyes?" I say, drawing it out. "Sort of provisionally yes. I mean, I see a polka-dotted cow, but I Feel like I should rule out 'hologram' and 'mass hallucination,' first. Oh, and 'dream sequence,' definitely." I pinch myself. "Ow. Okay, one down."

[king_ofcups]

"Unless you recall me having offered to dose you with LSD, the chances of this being a shared hallucination are quite slim. Not impossible, mind you," he said, peeling off his gloves and tossing them into the hazards bin.

"Though, you do seem quite young. I, of course, was experimenting with all sorts of drugs at your age, but I very rarely hand out illicits to minors."

[notaparker]

"Strictly high on life, here," I say, giving him a slightly less befuddled look than I was directing at the cow.

'Very rarely' is encouraging, and all, but maybe not as encouraging as 'never'.

"So... that probably actually is an actual cow, then. In the actual lab. That's new, right? I'm pretty certain I'd have noticed that if it was here before."

[king_ofcups]

"Quite new, as far as I know," he said, a bit absently now as he approached the animal to check the tag hanging from her ear.

"The spots are a bit confounding," he admitted, then, with a chuckle, he added, "Though, I think I quite like them. Very whimsical, wouldn't you say?"

[theboywhowaited]

Rory had been trying to avoid the clinic. Autopsies were a part of medical life, he knew, and Walter had permission to examine Xavier's body. It was probably a good idea, all in all, given what the island could throw at them at any minute, and though Rory didn't know Xavier very well, he somehow didn't think the old man would mind much. But it still squicked him a little

[king_ofcups]

"I don't believe so," he answered, frowning briefly as if trying to recall if he had, in fact, brought the cow there, somehow.

"Though, it would be quite a valuable skill, don't you think? Producing a cow out of thin air." He was, of course, visibly excited at the very idea. "I am almost certain she wasn't there a moment ago."

[theboywhowaited]

"Yeah, very valuable. Most popular guy at the barbecue," Rory replied, somewhat distracted still by the whole polka-dotted cow thing. His mind was racing ahead to worries of What if it shits in here? and How do we get it down the stairs? Don't they have a problem with stairs?

"I think this happens here, sometimes." Rory took a few tentative steps toward the cow, not sure if it would startle like some freak extra-dimensional cow or just stare at it lazily like a normal cow. With polka dots. "Things appear. You know, like the people. Same concept, probably."

[king_ofcups]

"Well, I suppose it's fortunate that the two of us are already acquainted," he said, approaching the cow as he would an old friend, bending a bit to look her in the eye any saying, "Hello, Gene."

In answer, Gene mooed.

[off_the_ceiling]

"There is," said Jess, which was pretty much the only thing she could say to a question and situation like this. There was, in fact, a polka-dot cow in the lab. She completely forgot her original mission to grab herself a band-aid from the clinic in favor of standing and staring. "I'm going to guess that you can't explain the cow, let alone the polka-dots."

[king_ofcups]

"Why she's here, no I can not. Though, this cow and I are not on unfamiliar terms," he said, peeling off his gloves and tossing them into the hazards bin on his way to the sink. With a friendly smile for the cow, he said, "Isn't that right, Gene?"

In answer, Gene let out a soft, almost gentle moo.

[off_the_ceiling]

"Then you can answer the question of the polka-dots," said Jess, approaching the cow a lot more cautiously. Sure, she lived what was essentially a rural life these days, but she'd still never been much of a farm girl. "Her name's Gene?"

She might not have been a farm girl, but she could at least tell cows from bulls.

[king_ofcups]

"Yes, though the polka-dots are a bit of a mystery," he admitted, crossing over to give Gene a gentle pat on the nose.

"I feel as though I should... It seems so familiar," he said with a deep frown, picking through the shambles of his brain for answers. He recalled Olivia in a tan fedora, a case of true love, a glass heart and...

Tears for Fears?

"No, no. That can't be right."

[agirlnamedchuck]

Charlotte Charles had not been expecting this scene. It was hard to conceive of a time in which this would be a perfectly normal thing, but she was certain that it must be somewhere. In the meantime there was the question of what she should be done about this. The idea of checking to see if anyone working needed a snack or more coffee immediately flitted from her mind.

Placing her hands on her hips, a confused smile cracking across her features as she nodded. "Why yes. There is in fact a polka-dotted cow behind you. Which is kind of a little strange, but there might be weirder things that have happened."

[king_ofcups]

"Not strange at all, in fact. A bit of a shock, to be sure, though she seems to be taking it quite well," he said, peeling off his gloves on his way to wash his hands.

"Gene is a resident of my lab at Harvard. I'm quite pleased to see her, though the polka-dots are a rather unexpected addition."

[agirlnamedchuck]

The fact of the matter was that Charlotte Charles would not be able to tell if the cow was taking it poorly. However, this was something that she was willing to accept on faith and take Walter's word for. After all, the man seemed like he would know a bit better.

"Does she perform experiments?" Chuck asked jokingly, a laugh evident in her voice. "I think the polka-dots are kind of cute. It makes her special."

[king_ofcups]

"No, of course not," he said, chuckling along with her, "Her original purpose was as a subject, but to be honest, I believe she's more useful as a milk cow. Besides, we became rather fond of one another, isn't that right, Gene?"

Crossing the lab, he approached the cow, smiling when her nose lifted to bump gently against his palm when he reached out to pet her.

"They are unusual. I suppose she has me to thank for them, though I haven't the foggiest how or why I did it."