In the filthy streets of the Containment Quarter, life lingered, wretchedly.
On the muddy pavements and in the burnt husks of houses did the life linger, clinging, like a parasite on the city itself. In the gutters pale children played, skipping through mud puddles, and their even paler parents limply sat in the streets, immobile as fossils.
 
For it was a wretched part of town, one all citizens would happily forget ever existed. Big, strong gates excluded it from the town, reinforced by iron and many, many bolts. Unhappy guards stood at their posts in the gatehouses, watching inward for any sign of an attempted breakout - any sign of a containment breach. They were a surly lot, all of them punished for one offense or other during their service and committed to various sentences of Plague Watch. And so, unhappily and uneasily, they watched.
 
They stirred as they heard the sound of footsteps below - from the other side of the gate, from the city, came a tap-tap of high boots on the clean and orderly stone that made up most of the city, the Quarter not included, naturally. They watched as a man approached, all in black robes and a dark wide-brim hat, and a white, bone-like mask that resembled a beak.
"It's the Doctor again," They muttered among themselves. This doctor wasn't like the others - when the Affliction struck, many doctors visited the Quarter to offer remedies and study it's nature. Many of them succumbed to it, and many more gave up their hope for a cure. This one was a nutter, they reasoned. A lucky one.
 
He whistled as he approached, and then tapped the large gate lightly with a gloved hand. The guards glared at him for a few moments, and then the sound of many bolts sliding open was heard - again and again, and then a great groaning as the gate swung inward, slowly. The doctor strolled in then, quite undisturbed by his surroundings, and before he was quite out of the gate, it had already begun to swing shut again. A few steps in, the gate was already firmly closed and the sound of many clicking bolts was heard once again, this time sealing him in with his patients.
 
"Ah, a lovely day, to be sure", he mused through his mask, and continued whistling as he strolled down the street. Men and women in ruined clothing and sick coloration stared at him as he walked through, the tap-tapping of his boots adding rhythm to his whistling. He glanced around, appearing completely at ease, until he arrived at rather large temple set in front of a fountain square - both now derelict and crumbling, the fountain completely dry and covered in rotting vegetation, but both impressive nontheless.
 
With the same stride he approached the temple doors and knocked lightly, and stopped whistling. He stood then, waiting patiently for a response.
After several minutes, a shuffling was heard and one of the doors swung open, and a head poked out.
"Who are you?"
He was deathly pale like the others, but he had a sharp suspicion in his eyes. The doctor lightly tipped his hat.
"Tell the lady of the house Dr. Roswell is here for her, would you?"
The man stepped outside now, and crossed his arms.
"Dunno no Doc Roswell."
"Yes you do, Samuel," the doctor intoned, before lightly tapping the man on the forehead.
 
A shadow moved across Samuel's face then, his eyes clouded for a moment, and then he nodded passively, clearing the doorway.
"Yes, doc".
"Thank you, Samuel" the doctor said, his smile evident in his tone, as he entered the temple. He stood at the entrance, resting lightly against the wall, as Samuel made his way down the aisle and then behind the altar. A creaking was heard, a door opening, and then it closed again and his footsteps were heard no more.
 
The doctor resumed his tune then, whistling idly as he waited. The dilapidated temple was still quite beautiful in his opinion - the shrines were gone, of course, and all the idols were missing from their alcoves, but the sense of grandeur only high ceilings and white marble could grant was still there. A vision flashed before him, of blood spilling across the marble floor, of the wooden shrines going up in flames. He was not a personal witness, of course, but the Quarter was full of witnesses.
 
A creak was heard and he snapped back to reality, as a figure rose from behind the altar. He heard mumblings and a snapped order,
"Now, Samuel!", and then the door slammed shut again, the figure approaching him.
He stood apart from the wall now, and stuck a hand out.
"Lady Matriarch", the doctor intoned, "Always a pleasure."
"To be sure, good doctor" she replied cordially, taking his hand in her paw. He dimly noticed the claws got larger since last time.
 
"Lady Matriarch, I bear good news" said the doctor, trying to focus on her eyes as they let go. The lady's body was a mesmerizing sight, and she wore her usual dress - a robe that half revealed her beautiful human figure, and half concealed her... abnormalities. Her face was human completely, except for her eyes - like oil reflecting the sun, a distorted and dim rainbow.
"Do tell" she whispered, her eyes running over his body.
"The High Apothecary will be dining at my home a week hence, as I have told him I have had, uh,"
The doctor's eyes betrayed him then, darting over the Lady's body momentarily, stealing a glimpse of the top of her pale breasts, where a large red scar began at her collarbone and stretched downward, he believed all the way to her stomach.
 
"Go on," the Lady motioned, her gaze piercing. He knew she noticed his look and tried not to stutter.
"-Told him I worked out a formula that might bring an end to the, uh" he motioned around him uneasily, "current state of affairs."
"And I presume your dinner with him will most definitely end the current state of affairs" the Lady smirked, and he felt more at ease. "Yes Lady, indeed. I believe once we have the Apothecary, we could spread quite quickly."
 
She smiled broadly then, and gestured around them.
"You said once we have him we could spread by water, did you not? Imagine it! The city ours, and before long... how many others?"
He removed his mask then, his pallor identical to hers, and coughed.
"Oh, my Lady - many, many more."