Touring Dr. Jackal's Lab

JP with Jaxx and Cindy

Monday, May 20, 1889
Ellington Estate - Paris
Dr. Jackal's lab
Mid-afternoon

This time, being that the doctor and the Duke were both men, not in need of a chaperone and had already met, the Duke made his way to the doctor's lab by himself.

Besides, Elizabeth had meetings for the rest of the afternoon. Interviews with potential tutors for the children and a meeting with a designer to help redo the downstairs of the manor, among other things.

The Duke, obviously, knew which building was the lab and he arrived, knocked on the door and waited for Jackal.

Dr. Jackal was busy in his lab studying his blood samples in a microscope and taking notes in his journal. He was doing a lot of comparison and contrasts to his untainted blood to other samples of his blood mixed with other test samples. He had everything labeled via sample number, scientific name and general name on a data roster. He was caught up on his other work for Lady Elizabeth, so he had time to work on a proper solution for his inner rampaging demon. It was a very long and tedious task of testing and recording data for a large graph. He was at the beginning of his research since he was unable to properly study his blood while he was on the run from the law. Then he heard a knock at the door and marked his journal before cleaning up and washing his hands before opening the door. He was a bit shocked to see the Duke on the other side. He replied, "Your Grace? Is it that time already?" Dr. Jackal knew he had to be polite and respectful to the man who allowed him a future of not being hunted by the police.

"Yes," The Duke nodded. "If you are ready, that is. I would very much like to see what you're working on."

The Duke was polite. He knew that doctors deserved an amount of respect, it was not an easy profession to aspire to.

Dr. Jackal let the Duke into the lab as he held the door open. He then replied, "Of course. This is your daughter's lab, I just work here. As it turns out I was doing some research on my..........disposition. Now that I have the time, Lady Elizabeth has granted me the opportunity to analyze my inner demon in order to undue the problem or find a chance to control it. So for safety's sake don't touch the samples I am working on by that microscope." Then Dr. Jackal explained the layout of the lab design to the Duke and then he gave a lot of details on the failed formulas that Dr. Laurent Lemaire was working on before he stole the good doctor's blood samples. Dr. Jackal then explained the danger levels of his blood samples as well as the danger to anyone using his new serum.

The Duke listened intently to Dr. Jackal, asking questions as needed and getting detailed answers. "Do you believe someone with knowledge of science in the Children of the Sea could replicate Lamaire's formula, easily?" This was of concern to all involved.

Dr. Jackal shrugged and then replied, "I am leaning on a yes to that question. Apparently Latrine.....I mean Lemaire was working with his father when taking my blood. I would not be surprised if the dad was once a part of the Scientific Guild of Paris like his son. I know its a long shot but you may want to investigate their history in the Scientific Guild and anyone else who else they associated with along with their backgrounds as well, since the Cult was recruiting them. We know my other half killed Dr. Lemaire, but we lost track of his father so that is a big concern. Now they only had a pint of my blood so that will limit the amount of serum they can make and victims who take that serum will most likely turn into monsters before they die. Now I can assume they will try to use the blood from the test victims to make more serum, but that will be more diluted and toxic. Unless they have a large base to work from with a lot of resources they will most likely be desperate to finish their work. So you may want to have some spies investigate the flow of goods on any supply depot for odd orders of rare plants, wild animals and dangerous metals." Dr. Jackal then rubbed his neck and popped it since it was a bit stiff.

The Duke nodded, "I will get people on that." Which really meant he would tell the Baron to get people on it. "Do you believe you will be able to create an antidote, given enough time?”

Dr. Jackal sighed as he shook his head no. He replied, "Sadly I am concerned about that option. My blood is rather toxic to most races so the mortality rate of anyone taking in my blood, except Orcs is high. So like 1 out of 10,000 might survive with severe organ damage as the serum wears off. So I have been experimenting with Orc blood as a possible solution, but its not at the "cure" stage. If anything my demon blood is not neutralized by orc blood, but instead it just goes inert as if its simply dormant till it is metabolized. It pains me to say that there will most likely be more victims because of this." Dr. Jackal was sad that his curse combined with the cults evil goals equaled a disaster.

"Yes, I read the interesting properties of the Orcs blood. I can just ask you to keep at it. If you need more of anything do not hesitate to ask. " The Duke stated. He did sense the depression that crept into the Doctor's voice, maybe some guilt. "Dr. Jackal none of us are above making mistakes. The fact that you are willing to try to right the wrong speaks volumes of your character."

Dr. Jackal forced a smiled as he nodded. He replied, "Thank you, your Grace. My thirst for discovery left me cursed, broke, an outcast, criminal and turned me into a man eating demon. Lady Elizabeth was kind enough to offer me a chance at redemption after five years of misery. I doubt I can atone for my misdeeds, but that doesn't mean I should give up. I can only hope I can either remove the demon or learn to at least control it in the future." Dr. Jackal had a forced smile on his face and a deep sadness in his eyes. He knew he was a monster and was struggling to deal with that fact everyday since his accident.

"Well, I believe my daughter has created a good team. That includes everyone on the team." The Duke understood progress with anything to help Dr. Jackal and to curb the potential usage of Lamaire"s serum was going to be slow. "I do hope progress can be made to help you in that endeavor. Speaking of which, I should probably let you get back to work but before that did you have any questions for me?”

The good doctor pondered for a moment. He did have a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but alas many of them would fall under taboo topics. Then he replied, "Actually it might speed up my research if I had several blood samples from each race that I could test for anomalies. If possible I would like samples of Mage blood from the races as well. By testing those samples I can see the reaction to various races and even if I can't find a cure I may be able to find a way to make the serum inert so it goes dormant till we can remove it later on. Of course till I can expand my research I am merely speculating." Dr. Jackal ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed.

"I will be sure to get you as many samples as I can. For the mage ones why don't you ask Mr. Sung and Elizabeth. Mages that aren't human or Eldren though are hard to come by. I can speak to the Countess at the Mage Guild and she if she knows of any." Duke Ellington explained. "I am sure I can get you plenty of samples of the rest.”

Dr. Jackal seemed a bit relieved that he would soon get more resources for his research. He had a long way to go before he could make some headway but a big cross analysis of blood samples would help him set up a large database to cross compare to his blood. He replied, "Once again I am in your debt, your Grace." The good doctor gave a bow as the Duke agreed to aid his work.

"You are welcome" The Duke replied. "I believe I should let you get back to work. I appreciate your time, Doctor." With that the Duke left the lab.

Dr. Jackal rubbed his stiff neck and then poured himself a cup of coffee from the snack table. He sipped the warm coffee and let the warm fluid seep into his stomach before he exhaled in relief. Then he slowly finished his coffee before going back to work on his blood samples.