I started playing Harry to help me get my head around his character and write from his point of view. I carried on playing him because he's a really interesting character who has such little canon we don't know that much about him. Well, we know about him, but not really much about how he came to be in the places he is and how that affected him afterwards.

It definitely has been useful in writing him because I find his tags a lot easier to write than I did at the start. And because I now know a lot about him, it makes it easier to write him not from his point of view because I have a better idea of how he shows what he's thinking.

Prompts I find helpful for writing generally. Because a lot of them lend themselves towards short things I don't worry over it as much as other fic and don't tend to get it beta-read, so it doesn't take as much time. It also forces me to write every month for all the comms I'm in because otherwise Harry'll get thrown out. Well, it did. Admittedly I'm not really well enough to do that anyway, but pretty much all the comms I'm in don't have activity checks, or not very often these days. But having to write gets me into the habit and then when I want to write something that's not a prompt, it's a lot easier to get into it.

Harry didn't want to be here. He didn't need to go on a date, especially when he didn't know who it was going to be with. But he did need to eat and it might as well be in The Winchester as anywhere else. And more importantly, he wasn't going to let a woman sit here by herself waiting for him all night. She didn't deserve that, whoever she was.

The clothes box, of course, wouldn't give him anything that might resemble a tie, but it had managed a blazer, so he didn't look a complete mess, even if he didn't look very smart.

He made sure not to look at the door. He'd find out who it was soon enough, there was no need to make himself any more nervous about the whole thing than he already was. He checked his watch - he had got here a bit early, so there was plenty of time yet.

Idly, he played with the red rose he'd laid on the table. That had come with the message in his mailbox, which at least meant they could be sure of getting the right person. It wasn't that empty in the pub tonight, and he couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Saturday

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm contemplating not seeing Elaine for two weekends in a row and having a teenage girl living with me for a week, I'm not so sure. Kelly and I get on well enough, but I don't know anything about teenage girls and I've never had to be responsible for one of them before. The only consolation is that Elaine's just as nervous as I am. She called me when she got back from dropping Kelly off at the airport and asked me to ring her the moment I got back from picking Kelly up. I don't know how she's going to cope when Kelly goes off travelling. I said something to that effect and all of a sudden she was terribly busy. It's quite endearing really and I know she'll be in a better mood this afternoon.


( Read more... )

Harry had no time for jackets: either it was warm enough for a blazer or cold enough to put a coat on top of it.

Have your muse write a letter to someone that would never get sent detailing things they would never say to the person normally

Dear Father,

Now I understand why you sent me away to school. It's so I wouldn't interfere with your life and I wouldn't put your girlfriend off marrying you. Now I have to be nice to some woman I've never met who's going to be my step-mother whether I like it or not. Well, I won't. I don't want another mother and I don't want someone else for you to take up your time with while you ignore me.

Why is it so hard to remember I exist? When mother was alive did she have to remind you? I'm sure you only keep me around out of duty. It's the same reason you insist I write to you every week when I'm at school, I think. There are duties you have to perform with your son and none of them include spending any time with him.

Maybe I'll just run away one day. Would you notice? Would you be able to work out where I'd gone? Would you fetch me home? Would you just slap me and send me to my room afterwards, or would you know why I'd done it? Would you even ask?

Maybe I'll be really horrible so you'll have to notice me. I'll drive your girlfriend away and embarrass you in front of the neighbours. Then you'll be sorry.


Harry

Harry scrunched up the piece of paper into a ball and hurled it into the bin. It missed, so he sighed and picked it up, then threw it in with more force than was necessary from that distance. He knew he'd never do any of those things - he was too scared of his father for one thing. And he didn't want a conversation with him that involved shouting and silences.

So he'd do as he was told, as usual, and hope that one day things would change.

Harry had just finished doing the washing up when the doorbell rang. He frowned - it was late for anyone to be calling. He'd been out all day at the sailing club he'd just joined and dinner had been late. But after that he'd been looking forward to a relaxed evening. Martha had been right - he was feeling a lot better for doing the things he enjoyed instead of working. If only Elaine could have been here it would have been perfect. However, he had managed to speak to her on the phone every night and while he still wasn't sure everything was going to be right between them, he was at least reassured that she still wanted to marry him. They just needed to get through the summer term then they would at least be living in the same place.

After drying his hands he went to answer the doorbell. He was stunned to find Elaine standing in the hallway. For a moment he just stood there looking at her. She must have left straight after school to have got here by this time. She smiled at him and stepped inside to hug him. He pulled her close and the feel of her in his arms reminded him how much he'd missed her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not wanting to let go yet.

"We hardly saw each other last weekend and I couldn't wait another week without seeing you."

He smiled into her hair and let go enough to lean down and kiss her. "I'm so glad you're here," he said softly.

"You do look well," she said, letting go of him. "You can bring my bag in." She patted him on the arm and went inside.

Harry found her bag on the floor outside his front door. He didn't remember her dropping it, so she must have put it down before he'd opened the door. Which wasn't a surprise given how long it had taken him to answer the door and how heavy it was. "What have you got in here?" he asked her before taking it into the bedroom.

"I had to bring some marking," she said, looking apologetic when he returned to the lounge to join her on the sofa. "I really can't put it off at this time of year."

"I understand." He didn't really care as long as she was here. He kissed her again, this time not stopping until she pulled away.

"And we have some wedding things to do."

He sighed. The list of things that needed doing never seemed to get shorter. He would be glad to get it over with, if just for that.

"We do have to come up with a guest list." She sat up and he let her go reluctantly.

"Does it have to be now?" he asked, trying not to sound too petulant. He could think of too many other things he'd rather be doing, now she was here.

"We need to cross off one thing a day and if we don't start now we won't manage today's."

She had a point. Harry briefly wondered if all teachers were like this, or if it was just Elaine that tended to be organised. He knew he wasn't going to win so he sat up with a sigh.

Elaine had already found a couple of pieces of paper and some pens and she handed him one of each. "We need two lists," she told him. "One of everyone you want to come to the wedding and reception, and one for people you just want to invite to the reception." He looked doubtfully at her and she added, "Start with your close friends and family and work outwards. We can always cross people off later."

She industriously started scribbling on her sheet, so Harry had to follow suit. It wasn't easy, though. There were people he ought to invite, but didn't really want to have to, and people he wanted to invite but who would mean inviting other people to avoid causing arguments.

"What have you got?" Elaine asked when he stopped writing, and he handed the paper over. She frowned as she looked over the list. "Are you inviting all your ex-girlfriends?"

"No," he said defensively, but he already knew where this was going. "Teddy's my best man and he'll bring Esther even if I don't invite her. And you liked Sarah."

"Yes, but not at my wedding."

"It's my wedding too and they're my friends."

She bit her lip and he did appreciate that she was trying to get her jealousy under control. He could understand her reluctance to allow them to come to the wedding, but at the same time they were his friends and she was going to have to live with that.

"As long as we get married does it really matter who's there?" he asked her.

"I could say the same to you."

Harry put his face in his hands for a moment. It wasn't so much that he wanted to win this argument - and he did - but he didn't want to have the argument in the first place.

"Harry."

He looked up when she put her hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea."

The contrite expression on her face was enough to make him hug her again. "No, it wasn't." He kissed the top of her head. "But maybe you don't decide who I invite and I don't decide who you invite."

She nodded her head against his chest. "Sometimes I just wish we were married already."

"We could elope." Although he had considered it, he still didn't say it seriously.

"We can't, my mum'll kill me."

He laughed at that and she looked up to laugh along with him.

"I missed you," he said and stroked his thumb across her cheek.

In response she kissed him hard enough that he forgot what they were talking about.

1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for?

I'm not sure Harry would kill for anything. Sedate, maybe, if he had to, if the other person was a threat. He's learnt from the Doctor that even killing the evil aliens isn't necessarily a good thing either.

He'd die for his country. He'd die if it meant saving other people.

2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?

Hit a woman because you shouldn't hit women. Even if they hit you.

3. What do they dream about?

A quiet practice in the country.

4. What’s their biggest fear?

Losing someone he loves.

5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why?

In TR it would be his boat, since it has his mother's name on it, and it's his escape from everything strange there. In the present it would be the box of Will's things he left in Harry's flat because Harry's really not good at letting go.

6. What is their fondest memory?

Any memory with his mother in it.

7. What is their worst memory?

His best friend dying on Christmas Day when he was twelve. Ironically, he can talk about it, but as if it was nothing special.

8. What or who was were their most significant influence? Expound.

There are a few people. His father because he taught Harry how he should act, the Brigadier because he introduced Harry to UNIT's world and the Doctor because he taught Harry not to accept everything without questioning it.

9. What do they believe makes a successful life?

Not to worry too much about it.

10. What makes them laugh?

Bad jokes.

11. What are their religious views?

Despite, or perhaps because of, all the religion in assemblies at school and every Sunday he's a typical Church of England person - church is for christenings, marriages and burials.

12. What is their greatest strength?

Being able to cope well in a crisis.

13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it?

Not talking about personal stuff - and not just how he's feeling, it's fairly innocuous stuff like the fact that he has a step-brother.

14. Who is the most important person in their life?

Probably his step-mother.

15. If they died, who would miss them most? How would they die?

His family and friends would definitely miss him - there's some canon that tells us Sarah and Will definitely will. He would die saving someone else - probably female.

Tell us about your character's parents/parental figures, and their relationship with them.


Firstly, and least complicatedly, there's Harry's mother. She died when he was a child. He loved her and of course he remembers all the good bits, so she's almost a saint in his eyes. He won't talk about her, though, because it's too upsetting.

Next, and most complicatedly, there's his father. As far as Harry's father is concerned his role in Harry's life is to make sure he's fed and educated and looked after etc, but nothing else. After Harry's mother dies he really needs his father to show him the love that he previously got from his mother. It's not something that's entirely conscious in Harry's mind and not something he's going to ask for outright anyway. His father's not the most approachable person ever, which doesn't help. So Harry spends a lot of his time trying to get his father to spend time with him. It's just as well that Harry's scared enough of his father and what he might do if Harry did that by acting up.

His father is also his teacher and he tells (and in some cases unwittingly shows) Harry how men are supposed to act and how they're supposed to treat women. So Harry grows up to be a lot like his father. Things between them improve a little when Harry's father re-marries, and his step-mother can see what's going on and does make an effort to get Harry's father to spend time with his son. It's only really when Harry grows up and can see that his father was hurting too at the loss of his wife, that he can understand his father a little more. Their relationship is also easier when they're both adults and can relate to each other as adults and a little more like equals.

It takes them a long time to bring them closer to each other, even if they don't see each other much when Harry's living in all sorts of different places not near to home. By the time his father dies it's clear that Harry really does love his father, despite all his faults - not least because he passed them onto Harry.

Lastly, there's Harry's step-mother. He initially distrusts her because he already doesn't get enough time with his father as it is, and yet here's someone else who wants some of his time. But he can't help but like her because she's so nice and caring. His step-mother is the person he goes to to talk to and to get advice. There's a lot of personal stuff that he won't tell anyone, but she can manage to get him to tell her. That's partly because she's seen a lot of Harry's childhood and knows a lot of what's going on. Also because she knows his father well it means she can guess from that how Harry is feeling.

TR continuity


- Doing up my shirt buttons
- Doing up my cuffs - I've had to roll them up
- Putting on my socks
- Getting washed
- Being of much use on the Dawn Treader
- Being of much use in the clinic
- Opening a bottle of moonshine
- Sleeping

Set in the_blank_slate universe


Harry was not so much bored as frustrated. Sundays usually meant going out on the Dawn Treader, but with one arm in plaster he wasn't much use there, wind or no wind. He couldn't go out rowing and he couldn't swim, and even when the wind did eventually die down it would be another five and a half weeks from now when he could. Not that he was counting. Not more than once a day anyway.

The best source of people, if nothing else, was the Compound, so he decided to head there and then see what happened. Sarah's hut wasn't exactly on the way, but then he had no reason to rush. He hadn't seen her for a while, so he hoped she was keeping out of mischief, but suspected she probably wasn't. When she didn't answer the door he wasn't surprised, but he did go round the back, in case she was in her garden. She wasn't, and he was about to leave when he caught sight of the inside out of the corner of his eye and turned back to check.

Not only was Sarah not in there, but nothing was in there.

If she'd moved she would have told him, and probably got him to help too, so there was only one reason for her absence. He didn't want to believe it, though, so he pushed the door open and called, "Sarah!" There wasn't a lot of hut to search in and he found no trace that anyone had ever lived here.

He sagged against the wall, eyes closed. This wasn't supposed to happen. All that time spent chasing dinosaurs and whatever else and Sarah just disappeared like she was anyone else and not someone that he desperately wanted to stay. After Donna and Benny, and now Sarah, who was going to be next?

"Damn it." With his right arm in plaster all he could do was shove his shoulder into the wall, which did nothing. So he opened his eyes, straightened up, took a step back and gave it a good kick. Which made him feel slightly better for a few seconds.

He sighed. He hated feeling helpless like this. Staying here was achieving nothing, but as he turned to go he realised the hut wasn't completely empty: on the bed was a brown folder. Harry didn't know where it was from or whether it had been Sarah's, but he was too curious not to check inside it.

So he sat down and opened the folder. The first page he recognised as an autopsy report, but it was the name at the top that made his heart stop. William Sullivan was a common enough name but it was hard to believe it didn't refer to Will, much as he disliked the idea. He grabbed the piece of paper and read it closely, noting how the man in question had died of a gunshot wound.

The next sheet of paper told him this wasn't a coincidence and it was his step-brother who was dead. This was a police statement from Sarah Jane Smith explaining how she came to be in the same building, but claiming she hadn't seen anything to tell her how Will died.

He threw the folder and its contents off the bed and the papers floated gently to the floor. "I'm ready to go home now," he called to the ceiling. He had just got used to being here, but he was damn well not going to let his brother get killed just because he wasn't there. He had to go and warn him not to go and do anything dangerous for a start, no matter how exciting Sarah might say it was.

He needed a drink. He didn't have that much moonshine left in his hut, but it would be enough to spend the rest of the day drinking himself into oblivion. On the way out he picked the folder up so he could study it later and maybe find out what happened. Since Will had been alive and well when he was last home, and Sarah was nowhere near him, perhaps he'd be able to find out how to prevent Will's death.

It was typical that the moment Harry's knee decided to act up and he grimaced and bent down to touch it (not that it helped), Martha Jones came along and saw. He barely managed to get a word out before she had him in the sickbay prodding it and scanning it.

"You were supposed to tell me if it got worse." He sat on a bed and she stood, hands folded, glaring at him.

Harry wondered how he'd managed to surround himself with women who told him what to do. He had been the one who had asked Martha if she wanted to be his deputy at UNIT Medical, but he had thought that meant she was working for him, not the other way round. "I know. I was just hoping that the painkillers had stopped working so well. Or something," he hedged.

"Are you sure you have a medical degree?"

He sighed, gave in and told her the truth. "I really don't want it to get worse and I didn't want to admit it. Happy now?"

At his words her expression softened and she came and sat next to him. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's not your fault. I'm just not a very good patient." He smiled at her.

She returned his smile. "I noticed. But I think I know what might be affecting it."

"Oh?" He sat up straighter because he really didn't have any idea and if there was anything that would help he would do it.

"Stress."

He frowned. That wasn't the answer he'd been expecting at all. "I'm not stressed. I don't get stressed." When you had to deal with multiple people needing you all at the same time, getting stressed was not the way to deal with it.

"All right then, call it overworked." She shrugged. "Either way I mean you've been doing too much: working long hours, flying back to England every weekend and planning a wedding." She counted them off on her fingers. "And I know how stressful those are."

"It's not forever," he protested. "And how do you know it has anything to do with what's wrong with my knee?"

She gave him a look. "And I suppose you know exactly what caused it?"

He opened his mouth, realised that he didn't still know the answer to that, much as it annoyed him, so he shut it again.

"That's what I thought. And this has all been going on long enough and it has to stop before you make yourself ill. As your doctor--"

This time when he opened his mouth she just kept talking and didn't let him get a word in edgeways.

"I'm ordering you to take a couple of weeks off, stay in Switzerland and and do something relaxing and fun."

Maybe she was his doctor, technically, but those weren't instructions that would do him any good. "I can't."

She frowned. "Why not?"

The reason was that it would mean not seeing Elaine for two weeks, but that wasn't exactly something he could explain to someone who'd had a fiancé that she didn't see for weeks on end. Although part of him didn't want to tell her what had happened last weekend, he reasoned that maybe she would have a different perspective.

"Elaine and I had an argument," he said in the end.

She at least managed to look sympathetic at that. "Have you spoken to her since?"

He shook his head.

"Then call her."

That was overly simplistic and, moreover, not the answer he wanted.

"Harry." Martha put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me. What harm could it do?"

For a start, Elaine might tell him she didn't want to be with him any more. That really scared him - but if he didn't talk to her at least there was still some hope. Although he wasn't stupid - he knew he couldn't leave it too long. And he was being just as much of a coward about this as he was about his knee. Maybe it would be better if he just faced up to it. So he nodded, said, "See you in two weeks," and stood up.

Martha smiled in response and he wondered whether she had some sort of vested interest in this, or if all women were just this nosy.

Just over a year and half ago I decided that just playing in relativespace wasn't enough RPing for me and I ended up joining the_blank_slate (which is called Tabula Rasa). At the time there were lots of other Doctor Who characters and it was great. Now there are just eight and I play a quarter of them (that's Jo and Harry). I think there should be more Doctor Who characters in there, because it's a terrible thing for it to be so underrepresented, especially given all the great characters in there.

I know there are people on Harry's friendslist (and Jo's and Ian's) who would be great there, but I won't single people out because I don't want them to feel obligated because I don't think that's a good reason to join a game. However, I am the world's worst salesperson. I could try selling you something you wanted and you'd end up not wanting it. So I'll stick to some basic facts and tell you what I like about the game.

There's loads of info on the Wiki and by loads I mean more than you can possibly read or remember in one sitting. It's a good reference for when you want to look up details (I'm usually searching on it on a weekly basis because I can never remeber anything). The best thing to read is FAQ, which tells you the basics.

A brief rundown of the game, with bullet points for easy reading:

• It's set on an island, where your character (called pup in the game) randomly appears from some point in their life


• The point of the game is to cope with a) being in a strange place they can't escape from no matter how hard they try, b) coping with the strange things that go on and c) try to live their lives, bearing in mind a and b


• The canons represented are mostly from hit American shows, big films, British shows and a few video games


• The OOC comm is friends locked, which I find intimidating these days when looking at games to potentially join, although I was obviously all right with it at the time. If anyone feels the same way and wants a summary of the sort of things that are posted there, I will happily oblige.

What I like about it:

• Although it is big, once your character makes friends it's easier to make friends with their player (called mun in the game) too. You don't have to know everybody - or indeed most people,


• There's a separate (unlocked) comm just for memes, which range from silly games to drabbles to exploring your characters to getting to know the other people in the game


• You can play as much or as little as you like. This probably depends a little on time zone (although because the game is big there are a big Europeans and Aussies and just nocturnal people in the game), and it depends on the player and the character as well, but if you only want to work on a thread for a day, or only want to post a tag once per day, you can do that. You just have to thread at least once every three months to stay in the game.


• There are (mostly optional) game-wide plots every month or two. They range from strange weather (blizzard, heatwave, rain, snow etc) to crack plots (genderswitch, bodyswap etc) to more mundane things like council elections and parties.


• It's easy to start your own plots as well, as long as it only affects a few characters. Whenever I've ever emailed someone about one they've always said yes.


• There's plenty to do there, depending on your character and what they like: there's building work, a clinic, a school (for all ages), cooking, gardening, sports, sailing, exploring.

Current DW-related characters are:
The Tenth Doctor
Sarah Jane Smith
Harry Sullivan
Jo Grant
Bernice Summerfield
Jack Harkness (DW, not TW)
Owen Harper
Ianto Jones

Gwen Cooper isn't currently available to play, neither are any of the Doctors. You can't play OCs, and they only accept characters with a confirmed canon presence (I can't define exactly what that means as I've never needed to know). Characters I'd love to see are: anyone at all really, but I'd love to see more old school companions and new school companions (since we don't currently have any) and SJA characters (we've never had any of those!).

I'll answer any questions, here or by email if you don't want the world to see itl. If any TR people are reading this, then feel free to add to my list of things that are good about the game - I'm sure I'll think of loads after I post this.

As the end of term neared Harry had been looking forward to going home, but now he was in the car he wondered why he had ever thought that it would better now. His father's letters never progressed beyond one paragraph, as if time stopped while Harry was away at school. Harry had tried not writing one week, but then that one paragraph had been a complaint and an order to write every week. His father never said anything about wanting to hear how Harry was doing, just that he wanted to be sure the education he was paying for was a good one. Harry felt sure the teachers could tell him that, but he wrote dutifully every week after that. It was easier than rebelling and besides, he hoped that his long letters would guilt his father into writing more. It never worked.

The last time he'd had this much time alone with his father had been on the way to school and Harry had been too nervous to say much. Now he thought he'd be able to have a proper conversation, but instead there was silence and Harry couldn't think of a single thing to say. All the news he had he'd already put into letters. The one time he'd asked his father to tell him something he'd enquired about the cleaning lady. The answer he got made him wish he'd never bothered because then he knew he'd never see her again.

He almost jumped when his father's voice broke into his thoughts. "There's someone coming round tomorrow I'd like you to meet."

Harry looked over, but his father was concentrating on the road and gave away nothing. "Who is it?" There wasn't even any point guessing because he couldn't think of anyone his father knew who he'd never met before.

"I'm going to marry her." He said it as if she was just anyone, which of course she wasn't. Not if she was marrying Harry's father.

Harry blinked and tried to work out which of the many questions to ask first. "Why?"

"I think you're old enough now to work that out for yourself."

He shook his head. "That wasn't what I meant."

"I think that's my business don't you?" His father finally took his eye off the road, only to give him a stern look.

Harry sighed. Since it was his father who was marrying her he rather thought it was his business too, but he knew better than to argue. "When are you getting married?" he asked instead.

"Next Saturday. Then we can all have Christmas together as a family. Won't that be nice?" His father smiled, but Harry couldn't bring himself to return it.

It was the very opposite of nice, as far as he was concerned, but he could hardly say that. When his father presented things like this as a done deal then there was nothing anyone could say to change his mind. He remembered his mother trying in the past, but even she hadn't been able to manage it. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Now, Harry, don't whine."

Harry frowned. He hadn't been whining, it was just a question.

"I think it was something best discussed face to face, don't you?"

Considering there had been very little face to face discussion, or indeed discussion of any kind, Harry wasn't terribly convinced about that answer.

"I've been clearing out your mother's stuff, ready for Anne to move in," his father continued, as if it had been a perfectly amiable discussion about the weather. "I thought you might want to keep a few things, so I've put a box in your room. You can go through it when we get home and decide what you want and what we can throw away."

At his words Harry turned in the passenger seat to look at the world going by. It was turning from fields to buildings now, so he knew they were nearly there.

"I won't have you sulking. You will be polite to Anne tomorrow, won't you?"

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak and already using up all his effort in not crying. Boys didn't cry and so he didn't. But he couldn't help wondering if the reason he'd been sent away to boarding school was because his father wanted to spend his time with this woman without Harry being around, getting in the way. He didn't believe for one minute that he would like her - in fact he was determined to hate her. All stepmothers were evil, weren't they?

I don't like change, nothing good ever comes of it.

Presumably, you love them, or why would you write them, yes? But let's say for a moment they were real. Are they someone you would want to call a friend? Or would the traits that make them a fabulous fictional character turn you off like hell in real life? (See: Dr. Greg House, just as an example...) So, could you be their friend? Their roommate? Their employer... or employee? Or would you just throw up your hands in disgust and write them off as impossible?


Harry
If I met Harry in real life I'd thump him. I really hate men that feel the need to always open doors and pay and hold your chair in a restaurant (in fact I refuse to sit down if there's someone holding my chair - I can do it myself, thank you very much). So despite the fact that Harry's very lovable and amusingly old-fashioned in fiction, in real life he would drive me up the wall. And I'm not sure I'd like being called old girl either.


Jo
Given that Jo's the sort of person no one could help liking, I can't imagine not liking her. She and I would have nothing in common at all and if we were housemates I'd probably kill her. Or would want to until she reminded me what a nice person she was. She'd probably have a good effect on me because she really cares about people whereas I really have to muster up the enthusiasm unless they're a good friend.

It was Harry's usual quiet Friday afternoon spent in the clinic on duty. Except that this Friday afternoon it seemed like most of the people on the island were in a coma. Well, more than one of them were, which was enough, frankly. The IPD and ITF were making sure everyone was hydrated and generally alright, and apparently this had happened before and people woke up with no ill effects. None of it made Harry feel any better, though.

None of it involved him being able to do anything either. He'd examined people, but the island was lacking instruments to tell him anything that might help. And that was assuming there was anything anyone could do to help, except wait. And Harry worried about how long they would have to wait.

So he drunk cups of tea and paced around the room hoping that either people woke up or nothing happened. For a place that had no ill people and a lot of doctors, that ratio had suddenly decreased overnight.