#and yeah they made groundbreaking discoveries but at what cost

[vullcanica]

If you actually put together a comprehensive compendium of Nikodemus' medical history, all manner of death, illness, decay, etc, you would have a goldmine of data on forensic anthropology, virusology, traumatology, genetics, cytology, psychiatry and ancient curses. Walking body farm of a man. Survivor of the silliest deaths imaginable. Medical abomination. Doctors hate him for this one trick he used to avoid mortality. Doctors are hunting him as we speak. The subject has breached security. Code Red.

[elleonmybeloved]

So, I don’t really have any finished fics to link for the thing Raven tagged me in a while ago... but how about a snippet from one of my original works that’s in progress? It’s from one of my upcoming books, Shipwrecked on Apophyia.

~~~

“What were you really thinking about, staring so intensely into nothing?” The friendly easy-going tone he had made him popular on the cruise, several people flocking to him easily. Junia assumed he was the type who made a lot of friends wherever he went. 

Well, he’d asked, so don’t blame her for being honest.

“I was thinking about the ruins we saw today on our dive. I just find it odd that despite their depth, they show signs of the damage occurring in the water. In fact, almost all of the ruins we’ve visited have been like that. How would people or the elements have had access to it to destroy it while under the water? They didn’t have the kind of modern technology we have today. Did something collide with it underwater?...”

“...And yet the impact pattern suggests a number of close range blows rather than a single large one.” She mused, pinching a strand of hair between her fingers in thought. “Not to mention we can’t figure what made those marks. Granted these ruins are ancient, so the evidence left on the surface of the impacts must have eroded into the water by now, but if it was a hard material like stone or some kind of metal, it would have left traces somewhere nearby. A large enough chunk to analyze.”

“But there’s nothing. As if an invisible force was the one to collide with it. But how could that be possible. I also noticed the central impact indentations were about the size of an average human hand…”

Junia trailed off as she noticed Dr. Danforth staring at her. Irritation sparked in her chest. And this was exactly why people should just leave her alone if they didn’t want to listen.

“Yeah, I know it’s a long shot, all crazy theories and no evidence. Not really fair to blame me when you asked though.” She grumbled.

Dr. Danforth raised an eyebrow. “I never told you to stop, did I?”

“Your face was dropping hints.”

The doctor laughed. “No, no, you misunderstand me. I was just thinking that I wish I had more students that questioned like you do. Science is asking questions. Not taking things at face value like we are all so tempted to do. Even I struggle with that. I think you have a knack for it, Miss Klein.”

“Oh.” Junia dropped her gaze, unhappy at her inability to gauge a situation correctly, once again. “Sorry.”

“Hmm… I actually noticed the peculiar way in which the damage was inflicted as well. I’d love to hear more of your theories, but all that swimming gets a man hungry, and I know from experience I’m more than capable of talking all through dinner.” Stepping back from the railing, Dr. Danforth made a beckoning gesture. 

“Hopefully you’ll join me in the dining room then, so we can continue our discussion?” 

Junia bit her lip. She was hungry, but she preferred to wait until almost everyone had already ate and left to go get hers. Hence why she was out here in the first place. What’s more, she was willing to bet that any table with Dr. Danforth at it would soon be way too over-populated for her liking. 

“We can sit at one of the booths.” He said encouragingly, reading her expression. “More comfortable anyways.”

Junia couldn’t think of any other reason to refuse.

“...Alright.” She said finally, breaking away from the railing and trailing after him. 

—-

Play with fire and you will get burned.

Such a simple concept and she was born with such a capable brain. Yet, here Junia was, in a situation she knew was a risk and she’d took it anyway. Junia and Dr. Danforth had been able to exchange theories in their red-cushioned booth seats for exactly five minutes before dinner was ruined.

Miserably shoveling a bite of vegetable stir fry into her mouth, Junia glared down at the reflection of the intruders on the rim of her bowl. Across from her sat Dr. Danforth, and beside him, the big trendy glasses and dark red lipstick wearing, probably not old enough to be drinking that bright yellow pina colada “assistant” the Doctor had brought along, Erica Lockheart. 

The other unwelcome addition sat next to her, caging her into this prison of her own terrible judgement, Dr. Juliano Manuel, renowned across the field for his published ground-breaking research papers on pre-columbian civilization, and one of Dr. Danforth’s old friends apparently. They were happily drinking Corona and swapping stories as if she wasn’t there.

Dr. Manuel was also much younger than Dr. Danforth, in his early twenties, and acted as such, insisting on buying her a drink and asking her all sorts of questions she didn’t want to answer.

Between Ms. Lockheart’s shameless attempts to catch Dr. Danforth’s attention with the cleavage displayed by her low-necked cocktail dress and Dr. Manuel’s incessant flirting and attempt to put the moves on her, Junia was going to jump overboard of her own volition and swim her own way back hundreds of miles to the nearest shore rather than spend another minute enduring this torture.

Brushing her perfectly manicured hand over Dr. Danforth’s shirt, Ms. Lockheart teasingly rubbed the crisp white lapel and whispered something Junia couldn’t hear, but could definitely guess.

With an exasperated exhale, Junia abruptly stood, snatching her things off the booth. 

“Excuse me.” She demanded, looking pointedly at Dr. Manuel. 

“Where are you going, you’ve barely touched your drink.” He protested with a placating pat on her arm as he gestured to the light green mojito he’d forced on her.

Junia was nearing the end of her patience.

“Move, before I make you move.”

With a surprised expression of shock, Dr. Manuel scooted off the seat. 

Junia did not waste any time, stalking off as fast as her feet could take her. She didn’t even glance back at Dr. Danforth.

“Jeez, rude much?” She heard Ms. Lockheart say, but just clenched her teeth and weaved around the tables of socializing scientists in the dining room, barging through the swinging doors with more force than necessary and letting them bat together loudly behind her.

It was surprisingly windy out on the deck. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she raised a curious glance to the night sky. Just an hour previous there had been not a cloud in sight, but now a wall of thick dark clouds loomed from the west. The strong breeze was cool, a stark contrast to the warm night air it moved into. 

It was probably going to rain. She’d better get back to her room before her short wavy locks frizzed up. She hadn’t thought to bring many hair products with her on this cruise, but she hadn’t been planning for anything other than blazing sun. The many bottles of SPF 50 on her bedside table spoke to that.

Once safely back in the private warmth of her room, with a locked door between her and the world, Junia’s temper began to settle.

‘Well great, more people to avoid. Can’t a girl do her research in peace without people having to stir up drama?’ She thought to herself, eyeing the diving gear she’d dumped on the floor earlier. She should probably clean it. Though mostly dry by now, there were bits of seaweed, sand, and salt residue.

Grabbing some sanitary wipes and the small trash can, she got to work cleaning the suit. Zoning out at the repetitive motions, her mind returned to contemplate the ruins she’d seen today.

Junia thought it was odd how all the ruins of Apophysis that were most intact were deep underwater. If the city had fallen by war, which seemed more likely than disease given the deliberate destruction of several of the buildings and other structures they’d discovered, why would the few ruins they discovered on land be in worse condition than those in the ocean? Shouldn’t erosion and the disturbance of sea life have deteriorated those faster?

It all left her with so many questions. Which, to her, was exciting. If she could figure something out here she’d not only be a step closer to unraveling the mysteries of this ancient civilization, but any groundbreaking discovery would be enough to launch her into the kind of fame and renown that would greatly expedite her research.

Yes, she was being paid by the University’s graduate program to go on this cruise and conduct research on the ruins, but that sum just barely covered her living costs. Food, housing, and everyday expenses… but not much else. So getting her hands on quality equipment and materials was proving difficult. Even her diving equipment was a rental.

Something fell out of the swim fin she had been scrubbing. Scooting back, she reached between her legs to get it. Holding it up to the light, it was a round rock-like shape covered in grime.

Wiping off the surface, Junia peered at it closer. What was this? Beneath the dirt, it was a dark but beautiful blue, near-black color that was somewhat transparent, like a crystal, although the surface was more rough. It reminded her of sea glass, but less fragile.

Clearing away more of the grime until it was clean, Junia curiously inspected the circular rock. This was too well shaped to be natural, it had been cut by human hands. A smooth circular ridge framed the outer part of the circle. Was this decorative in nature? Flipping it over to inspect the back, Junia gasped. There were Apophyian symbols engraved in a circle on the back, and one large symbol in the middle. 

There was no official translation for Apophyian, having only been recently discovered within the past 20 years, but there was some loose suggestions for translations for the most popular recurring symbols put together by leading researchers in the field. Junia herself had her own theories of what each symbol meant based on their context, but due to the lack of undamaged ruins, it was difficult to find more than 5-6 symbols side to side intact. So there was no way to prove any guesses she’d developed, but she had discovered a few years ago that the symbols seemed to resemble ancient pictorial languages like Egyptian hieroglyphs and early traditional mandarin Chinese, and found enough similar patterns to make some connections and possible translations. 

Most of the symbols on this odd rock however, which she assumed was perhaps a votive amulet of some kind, were unlike the ones she’d observed on the other ruins. That made sense, considering those ruins had been architectural remains and she wouldn’t expect the words engraved on a bridge or a tower to be the same as ones carved into an amulet. There were a few she did recognize though.

The word she had speculated meant “ocean,” which she was definitely not surprised to see, was one. The other she recognized though, was the symbol for “power” or “force” which, if this object truly did have a votive purpose, also made sense. An amulet for protection. It was rather fancy to be a personal item, though. Perhaps this had belonged to an important person or rulerm, or even symbolically, to a deity. 

Regardless of its original purpose and value, this object was definitely priceless to her and her fellow Apophyian researchers. Putting it in a plastic baggie to help preserve it, she carefully zipped it into her jacket pocket. Junia didn’t intend to take even the slightest chance to damage or lose such an important item. She supposed she should notify the others of what she found right away, but considering her awkward exchange with Dr. Danforth and the others at dinner, she would rather not face them again soon if she could help it. Best to keep it with her for now and tell them tomorrow.

A loud knock on her door made her startle guiltily. Junia felt like laughing at herself - it’s not like she was hiding it from them on purpose, so what reason did she have to feel guilty? Shaking her head at herself, she glared at the door.

~~~