What was probably the biggest thing to happen to Lyre/Animalia, aside from the IAC, was the announcement that there was going to be a solar eclipse viewable in Nevada, Oregon, and Texas. Because of that, both Dino City and Lyre/Animalia were a little overwhelmed with people coming to see it. However, this wasn't a bad thing in and of itself. In fact, there were some pretty shocking things happening that were actually rather amusing.
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The biggest "shocker", so to speak, happened during an outdoor barbecue sponsored by the BARA and ROSE houses. Both BARA and ROSE house members were taking advantage of the time before the eclipse actually happening by showing off in an informal bodybuilding competition, both for the visitors and the IFBB members, since professional sports were finally coming to Animalia, but that wasn't the highlight of the event.
Instead, the highlight was Frankie reuniting with hir ex, and hir introducing her to hir new bondmate, an asexual who had become a herm Belgian Blue. The shock, surprise, and bamboozlement on the ex's face would become one of the true 24K comedy gold moments and be made into a meme for generations to come.
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Another shocker (though of a different kind) was taking place at the Animalia Opera House, though technically it was a rehearsal for Spookyville.
"Is this really how they do theater in Japan?" asked Gloria, her skin betraying her cultural shock.
"It's called Kabuki and Noh." said the Actor who played William (or Anjin) during When Worlds Collide....
"Why are ninjas moving the props around so quickly?" asked Gloria, as the scene shifted from a forest to a ship on the sea.
"They're not ninjas, they're prop handlers." replied "William", "It's their job to get things set up and taken down as quickly as possible, and they wear all black from head to toe to indicate how they're not part of the story."
"I see..." said Gloria, still reeling from culture shock.
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One final shocking thing actually came from Andy and little Tommy, who were visiting Sylvia for the weekend to watch the eclipse. However, when Tommy saw the clip of the Mystery Gold Nugget Suspect, he asked a question, in his innocence, that ended up helping provide an important clue.
"Before school let out for the summer," explained Andy, "him and me went to a local museum, which had a temporary exhibit of the Vietnam War."
"And...?" prompted Inspector Cohan via Zoom.
"One of the things that was on display at the exhibit was a jacket worn during the conflict." Continued Andy, "When Tommy saw the footage of the suspect, he asked if he had stolen the jacket from the museum."
Fortunately, Andy had taken several pictures that day, including one of said jacket. When comparing the jacket in the picture to the jacket the suspect was wearing, there was enough similarities between the two to suggest a possible connection.
"So, the suspect might be a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD..." said Inspector Cohan, speculatively. "We'll have to look into that Brisbane address before we can look into your jacket clue. But thanks for the tip."