Ian Lynn Malcolm

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.

Name the five most obscure things you know, and tell us why or how you learned them.

Only five? This is going to be difficult.

1. I can recall every equation for Chaos Theory, Quantum Mechanics and Analytical Calculus without a pause. Work, teaching and education forced me to memorize them. I can still recall the equations that have been proven wrong or discarded from the fields, usually.

2. I know the average scat size for fifty dinosaur species. Thank you Ellie for bringing this to my attention. I don't know how I ever survived without knowing.

3. I am aware of which Mesozoic plants produce fruits, leaves, roots and/or shoots that are edible and nutritious to humans. Ellie you really have expanded my useless knowledge. I celebrate every day that this remains useless knowledge.

4. I know more about the herbaceous sources of Lysine and how Lysine concentrations move through the food chain than most people would ever want to know. All of this knowledge is from researching dinosaur survivorship with Sarah and Ellie.

5. I have extensive knowledge about gymnastics and the proper execution of gymnastic stunts. I also know the rules and how the events are scored. A direct product of having a daughter obsessed with thte sport.

Jobs
Research assistant
Researcher
Author
Consultant
Babysitter
Professor
Tutor
Lecturer
Department Chair
Staff of the Santa Fe Institute
Academic adviser
Dissertation adviser
Doctoral Committee member
Pilot
Piano player
Bartender
Chaotician
Population specialist


I've never been a rockstar despite the allegations.

Your character has been called to give important testimony in a headliner trial. The whole world is watching! What are they testifying about, and why? And how do they react to the media firestorm surrounding the trial?


Ian hated the mail. It inevitably had something he didn’t want in it at least once a week. The bills were not among the unwanted. Those were part of life. Usually it was letters from lawyers or attorneys or Hammond. Today it was a white envelope from the Law Offices of Anderson and McKanon. Ian opened it with a feeling of dread.

It was a summons to a trial. He was being called to testify for a court case against Hammond. When Ian saw the name of the defendant his eyes rolled out of reflex. It was the family of the biologist that had been trampled by the triceratops when he jumped the fence into a pen with the mother and her two calves. Ian thought he deserved to die for being such a fool.

Malcolm didn’t want anything to do with yet another court case. He had been present at the incident. He and Muldoon had attempted to get the man out of the pen but it had been too late from the beginning. Trikes always gored human opponents. They were 12 ton fighting bulls when threatened.

Ian set the papers aside. Hammond would be livid. Muldoon would no doubt tell them their family member had been a fool. Ian was inclined to agree. Who climbed into a pen with any wild animal and their young? It never seemed to fail that all the lawsuits he was called to testify in were frivolous or dealt with people not using common sense. What more can be said than the man had jumped the fence clearly marked “do not enter” with a wild 12 ton dinosaur? Were they going to ask him why he didn’t jump in after the scraps left from the goring and trampling?

Ian shook his head as he poured a drink. Everyone should be lucky the male had not been with the female and her calves. If he had been the outcome would have been worse. This would be a wasted two days while they tried to couch his answers like he was an idiot then left him to wait for the call to the stand. The only thing that made this worthwhile is the thought of what Hammond was doing after receiving a similar letter. It served them right. Wrongful death was truly trespassing and disregard of rules. People sued for anything these days.

The down side was that it meant he would have less time in Boston unless Hammond had the trial moved to New York. Ian could hope the demanding, old man got his way. Ian could already see the outcome. They would question his credibility for siding with Hammond yet again. He would receive nasty letters and worse calls at his office. People would be back to assuming he was covering something up. Malcolm was in no mood to deal with the media or the grieving family of the idiot who was trampled.

He could always ask Hammond to move up the Sorna trip to right after the trial. That would keep the media and calls to a minimum. It was worth a try considering the favor he would be doing testifying.