Doctor stared down at the latest row of rats.

They were getting harder to catch, now, in Canis; even tricking them to come to bait (remnants of their former brethren, in fact) was difficult. And in any case, he wasn't too certain about his sample size.

They were all rats. These had succumbed to sepsis within days. It seemed that a comorbid fungal infection greatly increased rates, not to mention speed, of fatality from bacterial infections. But would a Greater Gembound react the same way?

"Their magics are different," he muttered to himself, hopping up and picking the first rat from the line, flipping it with his talons, inspecting it with his single eye. "If the bacteria feeds on that, it may well speed up--but if it fights it? No, that will not work."

What he needed were better test subjects. More of them, and varied. Occasionally his mind went to the multiple children these Sentinels had created: if they were injured, sickened, how would he know what to do? Surely it would be useful to create a second batch--one for testing?

"HEMLOCKE?" he called, and hopped down, spreading his ten-foot wingspan to soar down to ground level. He landed in a small puff of sand, and folded his wings, looking around.

"Hemlocke? Are you here?" His dark beak clicked hopefully, and he waddled along the tunnel, peering into its cracks and crevices--hoping the strange little creature would appear.

The vulture looked up, his demeanor and tone both friendly.

"As a matter of fact, I have," he replied, taking a couple short hops around the carcasses. He half-gestured a wing-tip their way--a wholly unnatural movement, for a bird, really--and drew closer.

"Every being, every body, reacts differently to... well, everything," he began, twisting his head a little to peer brightly at Hemlocke with his one good eye. "Rats alone are... limited. There's no knowing if other creatures will react the same way to... oh, say a particular infection, or dehydration or what have you. From what I know the rest of you are much older than I am--I presume you know more about the cave?" A brief, polite pause, and the good Doctor continued.
"Optimally, it would be best, you see, to have true Gembound to study. Ahh... adults, like you and I, though I do not think they'd accept these tests willingly," he added, glancing to the rotted carcasses again.

"But I was hoping that you might be able to tell me where to find--or perhaps bring back or... send your unruly children to fetch?--other types of Lessers--prey. But I would also like to ask if there's any possibility of... well." He shifted his wings across his back, uncertain as to how Hemlocke might take this: "If your group has enemies, prisoners, they could be of use to my studies. Or, barring that, perhaps it would be possible to create a separate line, just for testing?"

He imagined it, the possibilities: a separate test bank of Greater Gembound, proper studies with large control groups, the rapid advancement of true science.

Progress.

"My goal is a standardized body of medical knowledge. We are still woefully lacking in that, and rats... rats alone simply won't be enough."

"Yes, prisoners would be dangerous, hm?" Doctor looked over the remaining rats idly, thoughtfully (and he usually disposed of them elsewhere, lobbing them loosely into Canis or the entrance into Hydra, though often they disintegrated into nothing before he could).

"I wonder, would it be worth making a... caste, for experiments alone? If you think they would, as you say, adapt if they were told to. It might work well. Meanwhile! If you could bring little ones here. Ahh. Lessers. Good. That would be good." He turned, fixing that one eye on Hemlocke and peering at him, curiously.

"Your Desert Rose--he brought me here to serve as Doctor. But I wonder, now: your... ahh, culture, is much different than I'd thought. There was no place for a doctor, then, in your old ways? You lived or you died?"

Doctor thought about this, for a moment.

"Why, I would wonder--but is pursuit of perfection needing a reason? No, I think not. So! What of finding those who can... tolerate mending, better? That is closer to perfection, yes? Those who can rebound! Survive the broken bones and come back, with Doctor's help."

He puffed his feathers out, a little, proud of this idea. Near-super-soldiers, like those Vargas seemed to be trying to create, were one thing; but they had never tried to work toward resilience before? Bar natural resilience; they'd never looked for those who could make the most of a little bit of healing, and be good as new?

A real super-soldier would be just that, Doctor decided--though he was getting a little distracted, here, from his goals.

"Interesting." The vulture considered. "I'd imagine in modern times, others might be... might find more use, for medicine. Still, it is advancement; knowledge. Who knows what we might find?" Bright enthusiasm shone in that single, dark eye.

Doctor then glanced around.

"No--I have no pen. Generally I simply break the rats' spines. Then they hardly feel a thing! And will not run," he added. Moral, and logical. Certainly they still feared--he imagined they were terrified--but it was, all in all, the price they'd have to pay.

"Ahh, well. I will look into making a pen! If you find opportunity for more subjects, please. Let me know."

The good Doctor dipped his feathered head in a low bow, and then hopped up to his research area, looking over the ledge. He was trying to imagine how he could create some kind of containment system, here--restraints, or cages... Exactly how would that all work?

Doctor, at last, looked taken aback. He blinked (sort of) and drew his head away, peering at Hemlocke.

"Torture-?" he repeated, and he sounded rather shocked. "I hope that isn't what you intend, or expect me to research. I am doing this for healing," he repeated, and he sounded almost hurt; he turned and gestured a clawed foot to the rats.

"Their spines are broken quite high up. They can't feel a thing," he insisted (and hoped that it were true). That said, sometimes--when gauging pain was necessary--he didn't do that; but this was for a greater good.

Doctor lingered quietly, looking rather downtrodden, as if he now feared that this was how Hemlocke saw him. A torturer-? He was a healer, nothing more. Though... looking at the rats, it might be hard to believe that now.

Results, however, would speak for themselves; but that didn't mean he had any desire to be seen as some sort of monster.