As every day of the mouse's life has been, Zen was out fending for himself and searching for precious, shiny blue objects! It was like a quest for him, every item he found being a marker of his progress. Sniffing and bounding around, Zen came to a stop. What was this? This certainly was no shiny object and defiantly wasn't food. Turning to face the direction of the running mouse, Zen blinked as he looked to see what the mouse was running from. Keeping low, he side-shuffled into a patch of grass as he looked to find the nearest tree for shelter. "Hey! Over here! Hurry up and get over here!"

Timothy skids, not quite stopping as he hears the slightly quiet voice over his loudly beating heart and panting breaths, altering his trajectory to head towards the voice. The possibility of it being a trap flits across his mind briefly, but he's running out of options, and nearly anything would be better than being eaten by the monster following. Speaking of... Nearly the same instant Timothy reaches the patch of grass, a large, hulking rat with blood on his claws and a crazed, hungry look in his eyes emerges into the clearing, slowing a bit to look around. He sniffs about, ears perking as he listens for the slightest sound.

Well, for those of you curious, I ended up writing out a detailed 'short story' that isn't so short on Zen's past and where he came from... sooo... enjoy. Also, I recommend having a few tissues on paw... o.o

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Characters:Isabella, Albren (As spoofed by Cadmus), Merick, and Benjamin
Location: LVC: Infirmary -- Clinic

Do you want to know what events lead to Merick snapping? Read here! This is the day before the horrible murder of a random rat!

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Isabella is making her rounds, stopping occasionally to look at a patient's chart, and talking with the other doctors and nurses. Marking off a detail on her clipboard, she continues on her way, stopping near an empty exam table as she fills out the last chart.

Albren limped into the Infirmary, a sour look upon his face as he curses under his breath. "Damned rock...need to get rid of all of the flipping things..." he says, lightly stepping on his right leg and wincing as he does. "'Scuse me, don't mean to barge in or anything, but can I get a little help over here?" He makes his way on in.

As if he had something planned for the day, Merick seemed to be following behind Albren loosely as he watched him limp into the Infirmary. Hearing him curseing about a rock brought a smile to his face. What a fool. He makes his way into the Infirmary as he gives Isabella his usual wave. "Good day, Dr. Bradbury. I was just on my way to see how things were going. All is well?" Glancing over at Albren, he smiles softly and offers a paw to help steady him. "If you need a paw, with permision from Dr. Bradbury, I may be able to help you, sir."

Characters: Edward (spoofed by Isabella) and Merick
Location: LVC: Infirmary / Sauna

Having an interesting talk with Edward, Merick finds himself out of control for once! What will happen, concidering what he does when he -IS- in control?!?

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Merick smiles a bit as he talks to a recently met rat, Edward. Chuckling a bit, he brings up an interesting topic. "So, what do you think of perfection? You know... What is it to you? I mean, if you look at the world as it is, it's perfect. It's just... it's very flawed as well. Perfect in design, flawed in nature and behavior... A cancer cell, made perfectly except for one, single odd attribute that makes it lethal to the body... One flaw, destroying everything..."

Edward shrugs a bit, though it pulls at his shoulder and he winces. "I suppose there's something in what you say, Merick...though I don't know if we mortals can truly achieve perfection. Seems more like a divine sort of thing to me, you know?"

Characters: Isabella, Merick, Santiago and Cecil (Spoof by Santiago)
Location: LVC: Infirmary- LV: Meadow

After seeing a note left by Merick on her desk, Isabella finds very interesting news pertaining to Oswald's survival! With Santiago assisting them with his massive 'Vindicator', will they find Oswald, or something else!?!

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Isabella enters her office, intent on finishing the last of her paperwork for the day before going home. Catching sight of a piece of paper on her desk, she picks it up and reads it. "I believe the missing farmer, Oswald, is still alive--but we must act quickly if we're to save him. Meet me at the colony's entrance. --Merick". Throwing the paper aside, Isabella doesn't hesitate. She removes her medical bag from the shelf, and begins to add supplies to the stock already inside---bandages, splints, etc. Striding out, she exits the infirmary. First she'll have to find a guard--ah, there is Santiago, right there in the hallway.

Merick was slowly making his way towards Isabella's office. It had been too silent. No word of Oswald's body either meant the 'clean-up crew' was hot on his trail or that he had hid the body a little too well. He chuckled softly though, the thought of his perfect planning being too perfect amusing him. Since things were not going as planned, Merick had to take things into his own hands. If they would not find the body on their own, he'd lead them right too it. It was risky, but it had to be done. A simple note to a trusted doctor should do it... He stops in his tracks though when he looks up to find Isabella, raising a paw to wave at her. "Dr. Bradbury... there you are.."

Santiago appears to be back in action today, his shoulder wound having completely healed. He strides down the hall in his service uniform, coincidently heading to the infirmary for a follow-up, when Isabella spots him. "Dr. Bradbury!" he waves cheerily. "Good to see you. I just need to have you check my shoulder again, just in case." The arrival of Merick raises his hackles very slightly, but he took good control of his reactions. It would have been poor practice for the chief investigator to alert the primary subject of his investigation. "Dr. Hurtz, a good day to you as well!" he greets in a big, warm-hearted way. "I hear that you'll be around the colony more often. It'd be good to have a pleasant fellow such as yourself around ;)"

Out of curiosity and boredom, then NIMH rodents here all took a small survey to see whom they would be most similar too. Here's all the information about it!

Characters: Isabella and Merick
Location: LVC: Lounge

Running into Dr. Bradbury yet again, Merick brings some rather shocking news!

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Characters: Isabella, Merick, Justin, Eric and Cadmus
Location: LVC: Infirmary -- Clinic

Once again meeting up with Dr. Bradbury in the infirmary, Merick has a chat with Isabella and her husband as two other rodents enter... Slowly, the topic becomes a bit disturbing...

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Characters: Isabella and Merick
Location: LVC: Infirmary -- Clinic

Once again on his way to stalk up on supplies, Merick bumps into Dr. Bradbury again and ends up having yet another conversation with her.

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Isabella sits at her desk, filling out paperwork. It's a relatively quiet day in the infirmary, and for that she's grateful--busy days meant disaster, though of course the medstaff did everything they could--went above and beyond, in fact--to help. She's oblivious at the moment to any other extraneous sounds, busy with the scratching of the quill on paper.

Merick calmly makes his way into the infirmary. Once again, coming to stalk up on supplies. His smile softens as he spots Isabella at her desk. As always, he gives a polite wave. "Why, hello there Dr. Bradbury. How are you? I hope everything is well?" He keeps his suitcase at his side, standing with perfect posture.

Characters: Oswald (Spoof by Cadmus) and Merick
Location: LVC: Dining Hall
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Merick is filling a plate with various foods, making sure each is well balanced as he stands in line at the buffet. Like always, he was using very kind manors and such whenever he could. As he finished, he went to find a seat to sit in by himself and slowly started to enjoy his meal. It was obvious, something was on his mind.

A rat pounds through the corridor, shoving anyone out of his way. His eyes pop with rage, his face set in a deep frown with teeth almost bared. Slamming through the Dining Hall doors, he casts a look around. His tunic his disheveled, his fur ruffled. He didn't care who he got, he wanted answers, and he wanted them now.