Swamped

It would help if you knew more about this slime. And the hospital does have some equipment for doing research, even if it's not their main focus.

You head back to Mortimer's bed, and grab the one boot he still has. A bottle would no doubt be better, but you don't know where to find any empty ones, so you'll settle for this.

You wander around and look for the slime. There's really just one big puddle of it. A few patients are staring at it, but they're keeping their distance.

"Just going to show a bit of this to the doctor, in case it's infectious," you say, putting the boot down in the puddle. "I'll ask him about cleaning it up, too."

And as you head towards him, you keep an eye out for anything unusual. You soon find him back in the office, looking worried and confused.

"I put the sign up, then when I got back, everyone was awake," he says.

"The alarm went off. You didn't hear it?"

"No. I suppose the sound doesn't reach quite that far. Is everyone all right? Was it a real emergency, or a false alarm?"

"There was a muckbeast in the doorway. I chased it off. And I found a strange substance in a puddle on the floor." You hold up the boot, sole first. "I apologize for the crude method of gathering a sample."

"Hmm. Definitely not ideal, but I'll do what I can," the doctor says. "Then again, perhaps I should be calming the patients first. The nurses won't be here for around fifteen minutes. And, well, you're not hospital staff."

"That's fine, just take care of it when you can," you say calmly. You've still got your own investigation to do, anyhow.

And just as the doctor goes back in and puts the boot on the desk, you think you catch sight of something that warrants a closer look.