Out and about, Saturday

[sharp_as_knives]

Last week's abduction had derailed their original plans, but fortunately they'd been easy to reschedule. Hannibal had chosen this particular show with an eye to Alluka's youth, an ulterior motive towards Jono, and a bit of sheer perversity.

He was rather looking forward to it.



[OOC: For the two mentioned! NFB due to distance. WARNINGS: Link has pictures of plasticised bodies, and the comments will likely have descriptions of such. Also, Amsterdam.]

Comments

[that_oldsaying]

"Oooooooooooooh," she said her eyes big and excited as she solemnly handed her ticket over.

It was funny how doing so made her feel a little bit grown up, wasn't it?

But she'd done it right! That wasn't going to stop her from just as avidly watching to make sure Hannibal got through too though.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal would do just fine, but he appreciated the attentiveness. He handed over his ticket and nodded his thanks to the woman taking them before joining Jono and Alluka. He held out the brochure (they'd had them in English as well) and nodded at the first exhibit, right under the banner.

"I think happiness and music go well together; it's good to see it front and center."

[furnaceface]

//It's definitely expressive,// Jono decided, tilting his head at the exhibit. Never before had he seen a dead man so into playing the saxophone. //The focus of this whole gallery is the effect happiness has on the body, isn't it?//

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka was peering more at the body itself than at the saxophone curiously.

"But they're all dead," she said, puzzled. "So why would being happy matter to them?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"It doesn't now," Hannibal answered. "But you mentioned using bodies as learning tools at home - this is similar. Instead of learning how a poison might affect someone, we learn how happiness or the lack of it does."

[furnaceface]

//We might be able to see a comparison,// Jono added, //at some point, perhaps. The difference between the brain of a stressed person or a happy one, that sort of thing. Even if they're dead, they might still have bodies that show how healthy they were otherwise when they died.//

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka worked her way through that, absently swinging Jono's arm a little as she thought.

"So, so it's not really about the dead people then?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"It's partly about them, and partly about what they can tell us about the human body," Hannibal answered. He pointed. "There are plaques by each to tell you what it shows."

[furnaceface]

//People have learned a great deal about the living by studying the bodies of the dead,// Jono added, leaning over to peer at the plaque nearest to the saxophone guy. //Bodies generally complain less when you take them apart, I suppose.//

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka giggled and... completely ignored the plaque.

What?

"It'd be pretty funny if the dead people could talk," she said agreeably. "Though I guess they'd probably just scream if they woke up looking like instrument guy."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Perhaps," Hannibal said. "But all of these bodies were volunteers. They knew what was being done with them after death."

And yes, the dead tended to complain less.

[furnaceface]

//They all signed cards donating their bodies after they died,// Jono added, helpfully. //They didn't volunteer to be plastinated effective, er, immediately or anything.//

Look, Alluka was the daughter in a family of assassins. He thought perhaps it would be a good idea to clarify.

[that_oldsaying]

It was helpful!

She nodded seriously.

"Did they know they'd be playing instruments and stuff?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"They likely didn't know the details," Hannibal answered, "although some of them may have made requests. But they knew they would be displayed."

[furnaceface]

//People who signed their bodies over to have this done to them would have at least known what these exhibits are about. Not all of them can end up playing the saxophone, of course. A few of them become, er, more like spare parts, I suppose.//

There was a whole display of preserved body parts over there, for example. And a two-inch-thick slab taken clean out of somebody's midsection to show where certain fat deposits settled on certain bodies and whatnot.

//But for the opportunity to be preserved as... something of a work of art in their own right...?// Hannibal got a brief side-eye before Jono shrugged and pressed on. //Some people would love the chance to look this lively even after they've died.//