Ian Lynn Malcolm

It was a promise that he meant to keep, dinner for Loki. He had offered on multiple occasions and something had come up for one or the other of them. After Loki was gone so long, Ian felt the push to keep to what he said this time. After all the nudging to wear more color, Ian let Kelly go shopping with him and pick out the suit for the evening. The color was not his preference but unsurprising from his daughter.

He had dropped her off with Mrs Murphy this morning and busied himself with preparing food. As promised he made food from Kelly's mother's ethnic heritage. Thiéboudienne and Bassi Salte with Bissap to drink. The Tapalapa bread he bought though because he never picked up how to make it. While the food, which was mostly slow cooked, went about itself Ian dressed and set the table. Loki would show up soon and the dishes were out on the table. Senegalese cuisine was served shared. There were no small personal plates. Everything was shared and eaten from spoon or bread for the most part.

For all the continued threads and other assorted things.

The office of Dr, Ian Malcolm was dark. Both from the décor, deep walnut colored wood and black leather furniture, and the fact half the lights were off. Books lined one wall on a wide variety of topics. Some showed their wear more than others. A table sat in the corner stacked with student applications for the Fall internships in his department. He ignored them. Nothing in the office dominated over anything else. The balance between all items was something you could expect from a mathematician though Ian hadn't planned on any of that when he had decorated the space. Behind the desk, his degrees and various recognition all hung in frames on either side of the decently sized second floor window. Most people looked at the office and saw an extension of Ian into the space. It had the qualities of his aesthetic and personality; bold, dark, arrogant, and just eccentric enough to raise eyebrows. Among the books on the shelf were large pieces of amber with biological inclusions, bones, a piece of a meteor, a couple engraved turquoise pieces, a raptor fossil claw, a tasseled gymnastics baton, and other in-congruent items that, while they didn't seem at first to match, spanned the experiences of Dr. Malcolm in visual form.

Ian wasn't overly fond of having both of the women in his office at the same time but he also wouldn't pass up an excuse to make it happen. Despite Ellie's recent engagement to Dr. Grant and Sarah staying with him, there was still tension between the two that was tangible. Malcolm couldn't decide if it was better or worse without Grant in the room too. He had asked Ellie to dinner several times among giggles and dangerous looks from Alan Grant. She was a beautiful woman though, some days, Ian asked her just to raise Grant's hackles. He and Sarah, who knew what that was aside from a hot and cold running madness that even he, master of patterns, could not make heads or tails of most days. Over the past year Sarah had been everything everything from a lover to someone who seemed to never want to hear from him again. Still, he had to keep his word and this was the best way to get Loki the answers he needed.

They had been at this for most of the afternoon, and the day before too. Calculating, graphing, recalculating, discussing points and variables. Malcolm had called in favors and obtained the research and schematics for N-SATAS weather modification technology and the hydrolysis mechanisms he had consulted on years ago. The project had fallen into disfavor when genetics took the forefront but Ian saw potential in the application if the variables could be managed. The project had never gotten far enough to look at variability. If Loki had the right scientists, this would move their work ahead exponentially. Ian had even pulled his graduate interns in before they left for the day. The three remaining had their specialties and they were all the best in their fields. For most academics, this space would be intimidating if only due to the clout the three could pull among intellectuals. All three had a reputation for being forceful, shrewd, brilliant, and unabashed about expressing their expertise. Never mind the rumors that followed the trio whenever they were in the same city, let alone in his office behind closed doors.

Ellie knew plant life and the requirements for primary production. Sarah had spent years in the wilds with animals and the dynamics between animals and their environment. Ian knew the math and how to progress their commentary into future events, into infinity or breaking point if needed. Ian also knew the evolutionary theories that would come into play as they projected the future after half all life disappeared. He could theorize on what would be best to fill the gaps of any species that failed to thrive.

At this point, the large chalkboard, that spanned the wall of his office opposite the book shelves, was covered in complex equations and post-it notes. He had his laptop on the desk connected to a projector that shined on the wall beside the board. It was there to keep them all on the same page through dynamic graphic representation. It was more for the women than Ian. He could look at the equations and see how they would appear in adaptive matrices. Ellie and Sarah needed to see it in a concrete form. This was one of the biggest differences in how field and theoretical researchers worked.

It had gotten to the point in the debate that all three sat down for drinks and a much needed mental break. Ian was at his desk furiously typing into a systems dynamic application to get more data on how the, over 20, equations they had come to agreement on would plot over time. These equations would then need extrapolated for every species on Earth, at least the plants and animals. Once the equations were in he could import the suitability data for any species that had been analyzed. It wouldn't be all of them but it would be a significant number, maybe three quarters or more.

Sarah was sitting on his desk looking down at the screen, watching Ian work. Ellie had sat in the plush chair on the other side of the desk staring at the equation filled board. The two women were talking to each other about their field work; Ellie in the Badlands and Sarah in Kenya. The debate had turned to how predators influenced plant life in an ecosystem.

Ian left a message for Loki to let him know that they had developed a reasonable start to tackling his problem with environmental collapse. All they needed now was for Loki to make an appearance or call so they could consult on some plans that would deter the ecological collapse Ian had predicted just over two weeks earlier. As far as the two women knew the man arriving was trying to uncover information on the prevention and intervention in ecosystem collapse due to human activity. He'd left out the part about exactly how it came about. Ian had described him, not as a scientist, but as an interested non-scientific party. Of course, Sarah of all people, had met Loki by accident. Still, it would keep the questions at bay, perhaps. It wasn't far from the truth and close enough to their own work to interest them both in leaving their own research for a few days to help Malcolm.

Ellie finished her glass of wine and stood up. “I should go. I have a flight to catch.” Ellie had looked at the clock for the third time though Ian hadn't noticed the first two.

“Of course.” Ian stood up and walked over Ellie. He hugged her and she returned the gesture though it made her blush. Especially, when Ian kissed her cheek and pulled her tighter. Ian let her go when she let go of him. He loved Ellie but not romantically though it wasn't quite as cool as a friendship either

“Here. Take this to Grant. Tell him, I said thank you.”

Sarah was watching with obvious displeasure concerning the affection between the two. Her body had tensed over the situation.

Ellie took the envelope and opened it. Her eyes widened at the check inside. “I.. I can't take this.”

Ian shook his head at her reluctance. “Let me fund your dig for awhile.. or buy that equipment Grant has been after funding for.”

Ellie smiles shyly. She loved Alan, but Ian was different. She never knew if it was his flamboyance or his love of family. Something about him always gave her butterflies in her stomach. It had ever since she first met him in the helicopter, and it never stopped.

He was insistent and she relented by tucking the envelope into her shoulder bag. “I have to call a cab or I am going to miss my flight.”

“No, no, no.” Ian pushed the loose strands of hair behind her ear. “Grant will come out of the desert to find me if I.. uh send to to the airport in a taxi.”

Ian moved away from Ellie and turned to face Sarah who still seemed hostile. The expression had become expected. Every emotion he could imagine Sarah seemed to have at one time or another. Ian fished his keys out of his pocket. “Would you?”

Sarah frowned at the request looking between Ian and Ellie. Eille too glanced at Ian.

“Please?” Ian changed tactics. He had the puppy dog eyes paired with a flirtatious grin. It visibly cracked Sarah and she smiled despite herself. Sarah hated Ian sometimes for the way he got under her skin. Harding imagined herself a strong, independent woman, but Ian waltzed past every wall she had ever constructed. He was magnetic and she hated that about him. He made it hard for her to say no.

“You'll owe me for this.” She was stern when she hopped off the desk and headed for Ian to get the keys.

“Brunch, tomorrow? Anywhere you want.” Ian bargained and offered her the keys.

“Your place.” Sarah took the keys. “You're cooking.”

Sarah kissed his cheek and Ian smiled more than he had in some time. Despite Ian flirting with Ellie it was easy to see that Sarah, he genuinely cared for her, maybe even loved her. It was hard to say, even Ian didn't know sometimes how he felt about her.

Once they were gone Malcolm relaxed and went back to his desk to finish up the last of the equation entries.

Malcolm sat in the dark limousine. The decor, in black leather and highlights of silver fit seamlessly with his own style. He should have appreciated it but he didn't. He hated it. One thing  broke the sea of black, a bone white, worn bamboo cane topped with a beautiful piece of amber. He let his mind wander as he stared at the amber.

Stegosaurus, gift, wife, hope, promise..mistakes.. death, injury, destruction.. there were words attached to this cane. He had to set it aside before he threw it. While the anger welled up he knew if he broke the cane he would regret it. He had carried the cane for 6 months. Hammond had given it to him when he was hospitalized. It was too short to use properly but Ian had chosen to carry it instead of a cane he could use for his own demolished leg.

"Dr. Malcolm?"

Ian didn't look up from the cane now sitting beside him.  The response was unexpected. Lexi, who had spoken crawled into his lap as if she were still the child he met many years ago. She curled up crying despite being a nearly grown woman now. Malcolm held her because there was nothing else to do. Nothing else anyone could do.

His mind was jolted back to the prison in Costa Rica. Lexi, he had held on to her as the guards hit him. Grant had been beside him holding Timmy and they both had Ellie pinned to the wall behind them. The guards were trying to separate them but for Malcolm things were a matter of pride. When they had been imprisoned Hammond had one request, that he protect his grandchildren. That he and Grant made sure no harm came to them.

Malcolm relived the breaking point when Lexi screamed and started to slip from his grasp. Ian had startled Grant when he grabbed the man who had been hitting him. Ian was in the midst of a fevered delirium when he beat the man to death with his bare hands. He had killed the man before he realized what had happened. Still Lexi had clung to him like some koala Joey a poacher was trying to unseat from its mother.

Malcolm brokered a deal. He was taken away into isolation but the prison, for whatever reason, kept the bargain and did not separate Ellie and Grant from the kids. He learned much later that they thought he was possessed by an evil spirit. Luck of the chaotic universe and his fever unburdened him from the torture he was sure he had endured but couldn't remember.

"I can stay with you and Timmy an extra day." It was all he had to offer. There wasn't anything he could do to protect her from death. Hammond's had been long and drawn out. The vultures descended trying to take the dinosaurs. Those who knew him recognized that Hammond lingered to protect the animals and spite those waiting to piecemeal his work. Ian admired him for the tenacity to be such a thorn in the side of others. It was one of the many things that he and Hammond had occasionally agreed on, that simply living when you were supposed to die could make your enemies suffer.

Now Hammond was gone. Hammond had made bad decisions but they would be nothing in the face of the decisions now coming out of the corporate rumor mill. The vultures didn't even let the man be buried before they had started divvying up his estate, the park, the facilities, anything they could claim as theirs.

Lexi finally nodded to Ian's question. "What's going to happen to grandpa's dinosaurs?"

"Uh." Ian didn't want to think about this angle. "...All new mistakes in a long line of bad mistakes."

"Will they be hurt?" Lexi sat up brushing her hair from her wet face.

"Oh." Ian laughed full of cynicism. "No, no. The dinosaurs will be fine... uh.. the people, they are in danger if they are foolish enough to be involved."

"More people will die?" Lexi spoke but Ian could see the fear of the child in her expression.

"I'm afraid it is inevitable." Ian straightened up and shook his head in dismay. "If the people involved are looking for money, uh.. they always are. They are so preoccupied with money. They want to package it and market it and sell it. A lot more people are going to die."

Lexi picked up the cane from the seat and held it for a time before speaking to Ian again. "Dr. Malcolm?" She only continued after a long pause. "Grandpa trusted you. Can you keep the people safe?"

Ian lowered his face into his hand dreading what he had to say next. "I have been right before but..uh.. they never listen until it is to late. People will have to die before they will listen to me. If they listen to me."

Watching racing pigeons fly patterns thoughtfully.

OOC: this is geared for younger muses but any are welcome


Ian had no idea how he’d let his daughter convince him to do this. He straightened his collar again and pushed open the door. The shock of all the flashing lights took him a moment to adjust. It wasn’t loud yet which he was glad for but it would before the night was over.

Ian hobbled in among the students. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw this many kids under 16 in one place. Everyone was in costume and Kelly even convinced him to dress up. He pulled the half mask down over his face. He had insisted on a classy costume that wouldn’t look strange with his cane. It left him laughing at himself when he saw his reflection. The last Halloween dance or any dance he’d been to was… none that he could remember.

“DAD!”

Ian looked up in time to see the ballerina bounding toward him. He caught her in a hug and smiled.

“I told you I’d be here.” Ian let her go and waved at her friends who had followed along.

“You said a lot of other things and don’t show up.” Kelly pouted at her father.

“I’m trying to change that.” Ian gave her a little squeeze. “I think your friends are waiting for you.”

She tried not to smile but it came back. Kelly gave him another hug. “Love you dad.”

“You too my queen goddess.” Ian watched her disappear into the crowd of kids before he headed to find some place to pretend he was a responsible chaperon for a room full of teenagers.

The lady, or the tiger? Which door will you choose?

A logic problem? The basis of this story is a problem that has no solution. As a chaos theorist I do not believe that any problem is without solution even if the solution is less than desirable, which often times it is. The very groundwork of this piece is not something I believe in. There was an answer and the author neglecting to reveal it does not mean the problem was without solution as literature portrays it.

Personally, when life is analyzed and human nature regarded in a way the author intends I don't see a difference between the doors. The lady and the tiger are often equally dangerous. I lose the purpose of this exercise in my pessimistic views of nature and man. In a barbaric society violent death will come no matter the door choice; sooner or later it will come. The question is no longer a matter of moral dilemma but a commentary on society.

If I'm looking for an answer to society they will always choose the tiger. War and violence, bad decisions and repeats of mistakes are inevitable in human society. The extension of this story is a view of the justice system beyond moral and societal quandaries. Just under the surface this story is one of guilty until proven innocent by random choice. It revolves around the same idea of binding a woman; if she floats she's burned as a witch but if she sinks she's deemed innocent. Unfortunate for the woman she's dead from drowning despite her innocence.

Thoughtfully examining chalkboard full of equations.