Amazonian Discovery Unleashed

In 1987, anthropologist John Whittlesey leads an expedition deep into the Amazon, seeking the legendary Kothoga tribe. Amidst primordial jungle, he discovers a mysterious hut filled with human skulls and a bizarre, reptilian figurine—Mbwun, "He Who Walks On All Fours." The local guides flee in terror, warning of a curse. Whittlesey, undeterred, sends a crate of artifacts—including the figurine and strange plant fibers—back to the New York Museum of Natural History, then vanishes searching for a lost colleague. The crate's journey is fraught: it's delayed in Brazil, then arrives in New Orleans aboard a freighter whose crew is slaughtered in a manner echoing the Amazonian legends. The crate finally reaches New York, its contents largely ignored and left in storage, but the seeds of horror have been sown.

Crates Lost and Found

The Museum receives the Whittlesey crates, but tragedy and bureaucracy leave them unopened for years. The only partially catalogued item is the Mbwun figurine; the rest, including the plant fibers, are neglected. Rumors swirl among staff about a curse and strange accidents. The crates are eventually moved to a secure vault, but not before their contents are tampered with. The plant fibers, used as packing material, are of unknown origin and significance. The figurine is slated for display in the upcoming "Superstition" exhibition, but the rest of the artifacts remain shrouded in mystery, their true danger unrecognized.

Museum Murders Begin

As the Museum prepares for its blockbuster exhibition, a series of gruesome murders rocks its halls. Victims are found decapitated, their brains—specifically the hypothalamus—removed with surgical precision. Panic spreads among staff and visitors. Police Lieutenant D'Agosta leads the investigation, joined by the enigmatic FBI Agent Pendergast, who links the killings to similar unsolved cases in New Orleans. The Museum's leadership, desperate to avoid scandal, obstructs the investigation, while rumors of a "Museum Beast" grow. The murders escalate, and the sense of dread deepens.

Panic in the Halls

The murders create a climate of fear. Staff whisper about curses and monsters, and attendance plummets. Security is tightened, but the killer—seemingly able to move unseen through the Museum's labyrinthine subbasements and abandoned tunnels—remains at large. Attempts to track the killer with dogs end in disaster, as the animals are slaughtered. The Museum's administration, more concerned with the success of the exhibition than safety, pushes forward, setting the stage for catastrophe.

The Curse of Mbwun

Graduate student Margo Green, under the mentorship of Dr. Frock, investigates the Kothoga artifacts and the Mbwun legend. She discovers that the plant fibers from the crates are not only unique but may be central to the murders. The figurine's three-clawed forelimbs match the wounds on the victims. As Margo, journalist Bill Smithback, and others dig deeper, they uncover a pattern: wherever the crates have gone, death has followed. The "curse" is not superstition, but a biological horror unleashed.

Science and Superstition Collide

DNA analysis of a claw found in a victim reveals a shocking blend of human, primate, and reptilian (gecko) genes. The Museum's own evolutionary theorist, Dr. Frock, proposes that the killer is not a known animal, but an evolutionary aberration—perhaps even a human transformed by a virus or plant. The scientific team, using advanced genetic extrapolation software, attempts to model the creature, revealing a being of immense strength, intelligence, and a monstrous appetite for hypothalamic hormones.

The Beast Stalks Below

The killer, dubbed Mbwun, is revealed to be a creature living in the Museum's subbasement, feeding on the plant fibers from the crates. When deprived, it turns to human brains as a substitute. Its intelligence allows it to evade capture, hide its kills, and even anticipate traps. The team discovers its lair, filled with the remains of animals and humans, and realizes the full extent of its predation. The Museum's leadership continues to cover up the truth, prioritizing reputation over lives.

DNA and the Impossible

Margo's analysis of the plant fibers uncovers a virus capable of inserting reptilian genes into a host, causing radical transformation. The extrapolation program suggests that a human infected with the virus would become Mbwun—a hybrid monster. The horrifying implication: the creature may once have been human, possibly Whittlesey himself, transformed by the Kothoga's ritual use of the plant. The "curse" is a scientific reality, a biotechnological nightmare born of ancient knowledge and modern ignorance.

Secrets, Sabotage, and Cover-ups

As the evidence mounts, Museum officials—Wright, Cuthbert, Rickman—suppress key information, erase records, and hide Whittlesey's journal. Their actions, motivated by fear of scandal and personal ambition, allow the crisis to escalate. The exhibition's opening is pushed forward despite warnings, and the staff's attempts to warn the authorities are dismissed as hysteria. The stage is set for disaster as the truth is buried beneath layers of denial and self-interest.

The Exhibition of Terror

On the night of the Superstition exhibition's gala opening, thousands gather in the Museum. The beast, desperate for its fix, is drawn by the pheromonal scent of the crowd. When a hidden body is discovered, panic erupts. The Museum's new security system fails, sealing guests inside with the monster. In the chaos, the beast slaughters guests and police alike, including a heavily armed SWAT team. Margo, Pendergast, and Frock attempt a desperate plan to lure and kill the creature, using the plant fibers as bait.

Descent into Darkness

As floodwaters rise in the subbasement, D'Agosta, Smithback, the Mayor, and a group of survivors struggle to escape through the Museum's ancient tunnels, pursued by the beast. Above, Margo and Pendergast set their trap, using themselves as bait. In a climactic confrontation, Margo realizes the creature's vulnerability—its primate-like forward-facing eyes—and Pendergast kills it with a shot through the eye, ending the reign of terror.

Truths and Transformations

In the aftermath, the team pieces together the full story: the Kothoga's plant, infected with a unique virus, was used to create Mbwun as a weapon. Whittlesey, the lost anthropologist, was forcibly transformed into the monster. The Museum's leadership is disgraced or dead, and the government seizes the remains, erasing evidence. Yet the knowledge—and the danger—of the virus remains.

Aftermath and New Monsters

In a chilling epilogue, Greg Kawakita, the geneticist, secretly cultivates the Mbwun plant and its virus, selling its narcotic fibers as a drug called "glaze." He realizes the true power of the virus: it can transform humans into monsters, and he alone controls the source. The cycle of horror is poised to begin anew, as science, ambition, and hubris threaten to unleash even greater terrors.

Characters

Margo Green

A graduate student in ethnopharmacology, Margo is intelligent, resourceful, and driven by a need to prove herself. Her relationship with her mentor, Dr. Frock, is both supportive and challenging, pushing her to question the boundaries between science and myth. Margo's psychological journey is one from skepticism to belief, as she confronts the monstrous reality behind the Museum's murders. Her courage and insight are pivotal in unraveling the mystery and defeating the beast, and her empathy for both victims and the creature itself adds depth to her character.

Dr. Whitney Frock

Confined to a wheelchair by polio, Frock is a formidable intellect, known for his radical "Callisto Effect" theory of rapid, aberrant evolution. He is both mentor and father figure to Margo, encouraging her curiosity and scientific rigor. Frock's obsession with evolutionary outliers blinds him at times to practical dangers, but his insights are crucial in understanding Mbwun's origins. His rivalry with Museum bureaucrats and his own sense of professional exile drive his determination to solve the case, even as he faces his own limitations.

Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast

Pendergast is a study in contrasts: genteel yet ruthless, erudite yet pragmatic. Haunted by past failures, he is relentless in his pursuit of the truth, unafraid to challenge authority or conventional wisdom. His psychological acuity and hunting skills make him uniquely suited to tracking the beast. Pendergast's partnership with D'Agosta and Margo is marked by mutual respect and complementary strengths. His calm under pressure and willingness to listen to outsiders are key to the investigation's success.

Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta

D'Agosta is the everyman cop, skeptical of the supernatural but open to evidence. His working-class sensibility and street smarts ground the investigation, and his loyalty to his team is unwavering. D'Agosta's psychological arc is one of growing respect for Pendergast and Margo, as he moves from disbelief to acceptance of the monstrous threat. His leadership in the crisis, especially during the subbasement escape, is marked by courage, humor, and compassion.

Bill Smithback

Smithback is both comic relief and a sharp observer, driven by a desire for the big story. His outsider status allows him to question authority and dig into secrets others overlook. Smithback's relationship with Margo is flirtatious and competitive, and his persistence uncovers key evidence. Psychologically, he is both self-serving and capable of genuine heroism, risking his life to help others during the crisis.

Greg Kawakita

Kawakita is a prodigy, driven by ambition and a hunger for recognition. His alliance with Frock is pragmatic, and he is quick to distance himself when it suits his career. Psychologically, Kawakita is detached, viewing the Mbwun phenomenon as a scientific opportunity rather than a moral crisis. In the epilogue, his transformation into a new kind of monster—one who wields science without conscience—serves as a chilling coda to the story.

Dr. Ian Cuthbert

Cuthbert is emblematic of institutional self-preservation, more concerned with reputation and career than truth. His rivalry with Frock and complicity in covering up the Museum's secrets contribute to the disaster. Psychologically, Cuthbert is driven by fear—of scandal, of failure, of the unknown—and his breakdown in the face of the beast is both tragic and telling.

Winston Wright

Wright is the embodiment of bureaucratic inertia, refusing to acknowledge the crisis until it is too late. His psychological rigidity and need for control blind him to the mounting evidence, and his ultimate fate is a direct result of his refusal to act.

Lavinia Rickman

Rickman is the gatekeeper of the Museum's public face, suppressing information and manipulating narratives to protect the institution. Her psychological need for order and authority leads her to ignore warnings and silence dissent, contributing to the catastrophe.

Mbwun (The Creature)

Once human—likely Whittlesey—Mbwun is transformed by the Kothoga's virus-laden plant into a hybrid monster. Driven by addiction to the plant's hormones, it is both predator and victim, intelligent yet bestial. Psychologically, Mbwun embodies the consequences of tampering with nature and the thin line between human and monster.

Plot Devices

Scientific Horror Rooted in Myth

The novel's central device is the collision of myth and science: the Kothoga's Mbwun legend is revealed as a biological reality, a virus-plant symbiosis capable of transforming humans into monsters. This fusion of anthropology, genetics, and horror drives the plot, blurring the boundaries between superstition and rationality.

Locked-Room and Siege Structure

The Museum, with its labyrinthine corridors and sealed security system, becomes a character in itself—a gothic fortress trapping both victims and predator. The narrative structure shifts from investigation to survival horror as the characters are sealed inside with the beast, heightening tension and claustrophobia.

Misdirection and Bureaucratic Obstruction

The plot is propelled by the refusal of Museum leadership to confront the truth, their sabotage of the investigation, and their prioritization of reputation over safety. This device not only delays resolution but also critiques institutional denial and the dangers of unchecked ambition.

Genetic Extrapolation and Forensic Science

The use of DNA analysis and the Extrapolator program provides both clues and red herrings, grounding the supernatural in plausible science. The gradual revelation of Mbwun's origins through genetic evidence mirrors the characters' psychological journey from skepticism to belief.

Foreshadowing and Parallel Mysteries

The fate of the Whittlesey expedition, the cursed crates, and the earlier New Orleans murders all foreshadow the Museum's crisis. The recurring motif of the "curse" is revealed as a chain of cause and effect, linking characters and events across time and space.

Analysis

Relic is a masterful blend of science thriller, horror, and procedural, using the familiar setting of a great museum to explore the dangers of unchecked curiosity, institutional hubris, and the thin line between myth and reality. The novel's central lesson is the peril of ignoring inconvenient truths—whether out of fear, ambition, or denial. The monstrous Mbwun is both a product of ancient superstition and modern science, a warning about the unintended consequences of tampering with nature and the seductive power of knowledge without wisdom. The characters' psychological arcs—from skepticism to belief, from self-interest to sacrifice—mirror the reader's own journey through the story's escalating terror. In the end, the true horror is not just the beast in the basement, but the monsters we create through our own ambition, denial, and failure to heed the lessons of the past. The chilling epilogue, with Kawakita poised to unleash a new wave of horror, suggests that the cycle of scientific hubris and monstrous consequence is far from over—a warning as relevant today as ever.

Last updated: May 22, 2025