[video :: 001]

[because_its_cool]

[A man appears on screen. He looks startled for a moment before a grin spreads across his face.]

Marvelous! Not nearly as impressive as my transportation here, but nevertheless, Peter never let me near a communications device with this sort of capability. I don't know what he thought I was going to do with it...

[pause]

Oh, yes! My name is Doctor Walter Bishop, and I will be employed in the laboratories in the museum here near the resort establishment. I would be delighted to speak to whomever sees to the manufacture and maintenance of the transporter, as I'd be interested to find out how I was able to move through space/time without my atomic structure resembling a plate of scrambled eggs.

[another pause]

I shall have to make some eggs as soon as I unpack. Perhaps before.

[Oh, how he wants to get his hands on the spawner in his room.]

Comments

[archeologue]

Dangerous? No, seeking the lost Mayan temple of Uacmitun Ahau, that is dangerous. But money, money is comfort.

[He clicks his tongue at Walter's accusation.]

Dr. Bishop, smuggling artifacts is illegal on this world and I am a law abiding citizen. [And a liar.]

it lives, it lives

[because_its_cool]

Money is a distraction.

[Walter isn't impressed. At. All.]

I'll admit, arachaeolgy isn't my field, but I imagine most scholars are as passionate about it as I am for transgenic species. What I do know is that I wouldn't sell my ideas for a quick buck, especially not to those who would use such knowledge for nefarious purposes.

[Not anymore, anyway.]

[archeologue]

Do not think that just because I enjoy the profits of my work that I'm not passionate about my field. Archaeology is my life, my religion, my calling. I risk my life in exotic lands, chasing down shadows and rumours of ancient temples not merely for the money--although the money is good and I enjoy it very much--but because when you hold history in your hands, you are, for a moment, like a god, reaching across time to touch the past and hear the voices of the dead.

[because_its_cool]

It always comes with a price.

[Walter is very familiar with this feeling. Delving into the subconscious, stepping across universes, reading a dead man's thoughts, reading the history of an organism through the strands of it's DNA. Oh yes, very familiar.]

I'd like to see what you've found here, on this planet. I'll likely be visiting the museum either this afternoon or first thing in the morning.

[Greed doesn't mean the man isn't intelligent. Learning about Quadratus and finding out just how competent Dr. Belloq is at his job are two things he's very interested in.]

[archeologue]

I'm willing to pay it.

[He thinks the price is personal morality, isolation, he's accepted these things, that when you take jobs from Nazis you don't have very many friends. He doesn't think that there might be further prices to pay.]

We have acquired a nice little collection of local artifacts for the local museum through our digs. Before the quarantine, some of our nicer pieces were sent off to be displayed in grander museums than our humble building [And some conveniently "lost" and sold.] but we still have a fine assortment of ancient wares.

[because_its_cool]

So many are.

[His tone has grown dismissive in relation to money and all that comes along with it.]

When can we meet? I need to start familiarizing myself with this planet as soon as possible. It wasn't as if I had an in-flight magazine to describe the local atmosphere.

[archeologue]

Come to the museum lobby. I shall meet you there.