Memory 6: Doctor Sheldon's Office

[wontforbidtherain]

Aphra and Caleb walk up to a building on a city street in late spring, and climb the stairs to a waiting room. They meet a middle-aged heavyset white man in an affluent office. He offers Scotch, which Caleb takes.

They are apparently meeting with this man about a person called 'Miss Frances Laverne' and her son, Freddy. The man goes on about skull structure and context makes it apparent that it is the sort of differences in the face that Aphra and Caleb have. The man is definitely of the 'scientific racism' sort of persuasion, and wants new measurements for his theories of human biodiversity. (Ew.) Aphra is already feeling tired, and definitely wants to tear this man a new one, but is forebearing.

Apparently based on Freddy's appearance and the fact his father was likely African-American, the man assumed he'd grow up stupid and prone to laziness and vice. The man was also quite willing to write off Aphra and Caleb's features as of the same type, until Aphra politely informs him that her people are quite educated and she was trilingual by age 12. Caleb adds that his fiancee is 'negro' and speaks five languages, two of which she learned in six months. It gets the man to back off about his anti-black racism, though it's clear he hasn't changed his mind.

The man continues to ask offensive questions and Caleb calls out the man for assuming they are inbred. The man tries to defer by noting that 'well, so are aristocrats' (with the assumption that aristocrats have some genetic advantage). Aphra defuses the situation by basically saying 'our neighbors liked to slander us with that and other things, and that led to a government raid that meant I and Caleb were the only survivors'. And that they are dealing with this person because the Lavernes are the first signs of family.

Again, the man backs off, but he's still clearly interested in their biology, and tries to sell it as 'understanding' and 'to find more of your family'. So Aphra and Caleb put up with him taking measurements, though it's clear neither is comfortable with this. He writes a letter to Frances basically as a way to let her know Aphra and Caleb aren't random weirdos, and warns them that Freddy is in with a bad crowd from what Frances told him. He also makes some nod to 'physical diversity is a good thing' (even as he treats it as, if not destiny, than a strong prediction of it).

Caleb comments that even if the man is less bothersome than about half of Miskatonic, he still wants to snap his neck. Aphra thanks him for his restraint.

Things Learned
• Wow, these people continue to be assholes about physical features. Given Aphra's contexts for racism are 'my people experienced the same nonsense and it got us killed', Cat is coming down firmly on 'racism is for assholes' camp.
• Caleb's fiancee is new, given the prior memory was of him flirting with both Neko and Miss Dawson. Cat might wonder if Dawson is the fiancee in question. (She is.) It places the memory as after their trip to Miskatonic.
• They are looking for 'family members'. Since Cat doesn't remember the Innsmouth raid beyond what she remembers telling others, or the story behind the Lavernes, since Frances didn't seem to know why her son looked especially like his water-born ancestors, she isn't sure if this is a lead. Or how closely they are related.
• If they catch Frances' or the doctor's address, Aphra and Caleb are in New York City at the moment.