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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 14, 2009 18:22:55 GMT 1
The Institute of Biology at the Free University of Berlin is a large building located near the centre of the University. Students come and go here, many of them wearing the necessary white labcoats.
Maria made her way towards the building, still unsure if this was the right place. What she saw there, however, was probably one of the stranger things she'd encountered in human society. There was a group of about eight young people, probably students, dressed in animal suits. There were monkeys, rodents, and even someone in an elephant suit. They were carrying large banners with pictures of small helpless animals pinned to tables with their skin cut off and their internal organs exposed. One of the images had a monkey with the top of its head removed, and electrodes attached to it, although the monkey was definitely still alive. The signs all had words like "murderers", "stop animal testing", and "animals have rights too" slashed across them. They seemed to be a general nuisance, as most people were just glaring at them angrily as they left the building. One woman stopped to tell them off, but they didn't seem to want to stop harassing people.
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 14, 2009 18:33:50 GMT 1
To say the least, Maria blinked at the sight. So that was going on in the laboratory, and these people hated it. Maria had an idea.
She walked next to the group, and started to mimic their phrases, waving her arm in the air. " UNFANTOMABLE CRUELTY! HOW DO YOU STAND WATCHING THIS!" Maria howled and waved her hand, trying to deepen her voice enough to make it ring loud. The excitement of her plan made her forget the pain in her leg for a while. " I agree with your view, good...erh,sir elephant. I would like to help you" Maria said to the man wearing a elephant suit.
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 14, 2009 20:51:25 GMT 1
The elephant took of it's head and underneath was the much smaller head of a young girl, probably in her late teens. She looked flushed, probably from all the shouting, and partly because she had been wearing an elephant head.
"Did you know that the monkeys in our labs are kept in tiny dark cages all day with no leg-room?" she managed to pull out a flyer with large elephant-paws and handed one to Maria. "Rafael has a petition if you'd like to sign it. Stop animal cruelty in the name of science!"
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 14, 2009 21:01:45 GMT 1
The reveal of the gender of the elephant was just another great surprise after another to Maria, so she paid the detail little mind as she took the flyer. " How terrible, but where would they go if you managed to get them free?" Maria asked the girl, looking her into the eyes. " Or, are you sure mere words could help these poor animals in such situations. As much as your voices rang clear and proud, seems that they are not heard very well" Maria continued, gesturing towards the leering people walking past the group.
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 15, 2009 8:10:14 GMT 1
"Set them free?" The girl in the elephant suit looked a little surprised. "I suppose... I don't know. we're really petitioning for better conditions for the animals, but if we could shut down the experiments completely, that's even better." She looked around at the apathetic people and shrugged. "Our voices are all we have."
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 15, 2009 12:43:52 GMT 1
" Hmm, but what would come of the animals after that? Would they suffer a fate of death in the hands of the people who helped them? Or would they be given a better place?" Maria asked, hoping that her grand way of speaking would rouse something inside the girl. Of course, she well knew that the other option was that she were thought as a loony. " Really? You seem so strong to move that suit, and those signs, and I'm sure you know where the evil lurks, yet you do not lift a finger against it. Only you can possibly help the animals, others are blind to their suffering and by not seeing, but with not having a heart in their souls to care" Maria said.
(( impressive charisma roll is a go!!))
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 15, 2009 14:52:39 GMT 1
It seemed to suddenly dawn on the girl in the elephant suit what Maria was talking about. She frowned. "I'm a student here," she said. "I'm not going to break any laws. This is a peaceful protest. If we cannot move their hearts with words, then... there is something seriously wrong with humanity."
She backed away from Maria and put her elephant head back on. Maria noticed that the man with the pen and the petition paper was watching her. She remembered that the girl in the elephant suit had referred to him as Rafael. After a while, Rafael approached her. "Are you a cop?" he asked.
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 15, 2009 15:01:54 GMT 1
Maria scratched her head. Oh yes, human laws, the lovely things that make being a hero a crime. "Cop? I don't think so,no, I am just a concerned civilian who wishes to help the creatures of mother nature in need" She said to him. Then the offered her hand. "if it calms your mind, I will sign up your survey, good sir" Maria said to the man, smiling innocently. But she was thinking, thinking hard what to do next.
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 15, 2009 18:52:39 GMT 1
Rafael did not seem bothered by the survey anymore. He looked serious, and lowered his voice so only she could hear. "If you're serious about helping, come meet us at the corner pub in two hours," he said. "Do not tell anyone about this."
Then he took a step back, grinned, and held out a pen. "Would you like to sign our petition?" he asked, giving her a wink.
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 15, 2009 19:00:44 GMT 1
Maria gave Rafael a smile that could be traced to the days of the French revolution. It was a small, but certain smile of Percy Swiftclaw. Of course, Rafael couldn't know anything about that. " I will and do not worry" she whispered.
Maria signed her name into the petition, just her first name of course. " Good luck with your cause" she said to Rafael, winking back as she limped to the nearest bench to rest her poor leg. All the while, she swore she could hear the roar of the crowd shouting something in french. Maria mentally groaned at that.
(( sorry for the blatant ancestor point, thought of just giving the entry some flavour))
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 15, 2009 19:43:32 GMT 1
Maria waited. After a while, the protesters started to dwindle in numbers, until finally even the girl in the elephant suit had to call it a day and go home. The sun had set now, and the general activity at the university was thinning.
Time passed...
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 15, 2009 19:46:40 GMT 1
Maria didn't have a watch, or anything resembling it. But she could easily tell that she should leave soon, lest her only chance at doing this mission well could be lost. The fang rose to her feet and began walking towards the corner pub. And was surprised that she could do so, even if the steps hurt, she was starting to get her balance better.
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 15, 2009 19:57:27 GMT 1
The corner pub was easy to find. It was a small establishment frequented mostly by university students after a long day of lectures and seminars. It was a little loud compared to the places Maria was used to, and it was filled with the smell of cigarette smoke and beer. She didn't have a hard time finding Rafael either. He waved over to her as soon as she stepped into the pub. He was sitting at a table, along with the elephant-suit girl (who was now, luckily, without the suit) and two other young men. They looked suspicious. "Don't worry," Rafael said. "She is with us. Take a seat. I am Rafael, by the way, this is Richard, Christine, and Dominic," he indicated the man with a ponytail, the elephant-suit girl, and a slightly younger, dark-haired man respectively. "Guys, this is Maria."
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Maria
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Post by Maria on Jun 15, 2009 20:03:25 GMT 1
As Maria entered the pub, she felt like she needed to sit down and drink for a hour straight. But part of her mind told her that she needed to be sober in order to do this mission well. And to keep the humans in check. "Hello" she said to all of them as she sat down. Maria wasn't the best type of character, but aside from Christine, she was sure she would be placing these people into the 'villains' section of stories if it weren't for her mission. "So..you want to help those animals that are captured by the soulles men?" she asked, lowering her voice enough for only the people at the table to hear her.
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Post by Shehrazad on Jun 15, 2009 21:12:20 GMT 1
Richard and Dominic raised their eyebrows at Maria's strange speech, but Rafael nodded. "We have a plan," he said. "Wait," Dominic said. "How do you know we can trust her? You only just met her out on the street!" "Don't be stupid. Does she look like a cop to you?" Rafael retorted. "You should be more careful," Richard cut in. "People might hear you." "It doesn't matter," Dominic said angrily. "Since my brother here seems to be telling every random person on the street!" "She wants to help," Rafael said. "And we need her."
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