The Laboratory is No Place for Cowardice

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 Our scene begins with an exterior view of the ruined aqueduct on the outskirts of Zerhem. An isolated chunk of the worn stone, raised above the saplings and shrubs that cover the hillside by crumbling pillars, has been further stabilized with wooden supports. A ladder descends from its edge to provide easier access to what was once a workshop for the druid refugees from the Star-Crowned that helped to construct this edifice. A pulley, clearly new, controls a wooden platform that may be raised and lowered to transport materials as well.
 A woodpecker settles on the platform, glancing about curiously, tapping a couple times before fluttering away toward more promising fare. The view is one of peace and tranquility. This is a place of both worship and science, where its current denizens examine the mysteries of the past to forge a path toward a future of wisdom and inno--
 *BOOM*
 Smoke spurts from both ends of the broken aqueduct.
 "Guh... gahh... Argent, are you alright?"
 Cut to interior.
 Ivo flaps his cloak as though he's shaking out a rug, banishing the fumes that billow from the vacuum-sealed (or not, apparently) aetherglass chamber in which he first fashioned the elespheres he provided her before their descent into Aurita Meloda's Drowned Undercity.
 "And how's our little friend?"
 In this, he refers to the lone inhibitant of a little terrarium that has been recently set up on the other side of the lab: the Heavenly Crowned Beetle (******, Super-Mega-Ultra Rare). Its twin antlers twitch, energy sparking between them. Within its tiny body, wind and fire aether are fused in a highly unusual yet totally organic process to produce pure lightning. Should our heroes learn how to mimic this process, they may acquire the capacity to produce a greater variety of elesphers beyond simple ones of wind, earth, fire, and water. And with Ivo making refinements on his floating sword Hauteclare to allow it to channel the power of elespheres, this could enhance both his and Argent's combat effectiveness.
 "Well, my throat feels like garbage after breathing all that."
 If they don't suffocate first.
 "Shall I mix you a drink?"
 Speaking of noxious fumes.

• Character: Argent
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  For her part, Argent seems unusually unbothered by the fumes lingering in the air. The homunculus just breathes in the smoke, inhaling without even a trace of the burning, choking sensation that poor Ivo experiences. "I am unharmed." she declares, her tone as even as it ever is.

  She too looks over the terrarium, gazing unblinkingly at the insectile inhabitant. The homunculus doesn't respond to the question at first, instead seeming content to watch the poor beetle. Eventually though, she realizes something.

  Ivo probably wasn't talking to the bug.

  "...ah. Yes."

• Character: Fabroxo
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  There is, at first, a sort of high pitched whirring from below. Faint at first, it's the quiet hum of friction against a rope, accompanied by a swift, rhythmic and metallic clicking noise, all of it growing steadily louder as something, or SOMEONE, approaches.

  "IVO GALIVANAKIS!" And then the nasally scream of Fabroxo echoes out as he comes whizzing up the pulley's rope, attached to it with what appears to be a high-powered, back-mounted winch that has violently brought him up from the ground far below. A brake deploys, possibly too late, and the intruding mad scientist (sometimes) of the woods comes to an abrupt halt, causing the whole pulley setup to quake and shiver from the impact.

  Now somewhat more weakly after being shaken up by his sudden stop, in what could now be described as an involuntary inside voice, Fabroxo states, nay demands, "I require a gallon of sulfuric acid, because I am MELTING THINGS! Assist me and I shall return your--oh, what's that smell?" The greasy man sniffs the air as he dangles and slowly spins about the rope, somewhat helplessly it seems, and a rare look of concern crosses his face.

  "Ah, I didn't realize you were having dinner." He looks between Ivo and Argent. "I didn't mean to interrupt you two. Since I'm already here, I'll just grab what I need and get out of your hair and leave you to your date." He sniffs the air again. "Smells delicious though, I didn't know you could cook."

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 While Ivo raspily chatters, the beetle gazes up at Argent, its insectile eyes unreadable, the shimmering of its opaline shell and twitching of its antlers perhaps communicating some message beyond human comprehension, or perhaps producing only the illusion of an intelligible pattern. After his question, the young man lapses into silence as well, staring at the homunculus and beetle staring at one another. He has the odd sense that they are sharing a moment that he should not interrupt.
 This goes on for a while.
 "Ah!"
 He visibly startles when Argent finally speaks.
 "Uh, great. One moment."
 With the deftness of a mixologist, Ivo prepares two liquids within separate glass flasks, both fizzing up playfully. In the first, he adds honey and plant extracts with sour and bitter notes, preparing a refreshing sort of root beer. In the second, he adds what appear to be several chemicals marked with skulls and crossbones and, uh, rocks. The viscous fluid burbles like a swamp.
 Unhesitating, he pours the first into a tumbler for himself and the second into a tumbler for Argent. And then, not quite sure why, he pours a little more of the first into a thimble, and puts it into the beetle's terrarium. It slowly crawls over and begins drinking. It seems to like it.
 "Ah!"
 Ivo, lost in staring at the beetle again, and trying to figure out *why* he just did that, is startled all over by The Great Fabroxo's dramatic appearance.
 "That's-- pretty close!" he says encouragingly, breaking into a smile. Fabroxo is always so spirited. The mad scientist's indefatigable optimism (or whatever it is) always puts Ivo in a good mood. "We're cooking, alright." Good one, Fabroxo. He's so funny. "But the recipe might need a little tweaking." The Cosmopolitan crosses his arms, furrowing his brow. "At first, I assumed the problem was my apparatus. But we've had success thus far. I think there's a more abstract problem: the fusion of wind and fire could be smoke instead of lightning. That is, we may be *succeeding*, just not in the way that we intend."
 He glances at the Heavenly Crowned Beetle.
 "How do you do it, buddy? Is it something about your body's elemental composition? Or..." He trails off for a moment, arching a brow now. "...does elemental fusion involve some sort of positive or negative domain polarity that affects the specific result...?"
 He almost gets lost in the sauce, but Fabroxo's request stirs him back to the moment. Ivo looks to Argent.
 "Sulfuric acid, huh? A gallon is quite a bit. Think you can handle it, Argent?"
 Whatever could he mean by that?

• Character: Argent
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  The noxious concoction is given a speculative sniff as Argent brings her tumbler up under her nose, head nodding in satisfaction before she takes a small sip. Whatever horribly poisonous mix Ivo put together, it seems that it meets the woman's approval.

  With Fabroxo's rather spirited entrance, even she can't keep staring blankly at a beetle. Instead her gaze is turned towards him, silvery eyes staring unceasingly. It's a little worrying, actually.

  "Ah. I can grant this request. However, I will require a container suitable for the storage of sulfuric acid." she announces finally. "...additionally, such services are typically transactive in nature."

• Character: Fabroxo
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  Yes. Funny. Fabroxo is funny. Ha ha. "Indeed, I am given to understand that cooking is an art, an infinite, arduous path that only the most dedicated can pursue! I commend you for even daring to brave such a world, a world that even I, Fabroxo, as a man dedicated only to science, cannot dare to enter, lest the consequences once again be utter disaster! Although, really, it smells great, share the recipe with me later, I'll have someone else prepare it for me. BUT ENOUGH OF THAT!"

  Somewhat recovered now from his dynamic entrance, Fabroxo reaches behind himself and detaches from the rope, awkwardly swinging himself to fall upon solid floor. "Of course I was planning to return an equal amount once my own supply was naturally replenished, but my need is immediate, as the continued integrity of several relevant materials vexes me without end!!" Fabroxo crosses his arms and furrows his brow. "Still, if this is inadequate, I suppose I can deign to lend you my aid in whatever your current endeavor is. Ah, pun unintended, haha! I surprise even myself. Ahem. Because, lightning, you said, and..." He coughs, and for perhaps the first time, seems genuinely embarassed.

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 Ivo stares at Fabroxo. Lingering silence is a running theme.
 "Ha ha ha!"
 He grins warmly, running a hand through his smoke-scented hair as he turns to beam at Argent, his lively expressions a striking contrast with her stoicism.
 "What better payment could we receive than Fabroxo's electrifying assistance? With him, we're sure to capture lightning in a bottle. Right, Argent?"
 He's already digging among their assembled collection of glass containers. Concentrated sulfuric acid must be stored in glass, and one of Ivo's first acts upon securing this location for a magitech laboratory was to prepare an amateur glass-blowing facility. Some of the containers are a little warped, but most are quite proficiently made. While he has never dedicated himself to a craft, the dexterity he puts to use in fencing suited the task of preparing their own equipment, as well.
 "Here you go, Fabroxo," he says, hefting a sizable glass container with a matching transparent lid lined with what appears to be a rubber seal. "A handmade gift from me to you. The contents will have to be courtesy of Argent, though." It must have actually taken him a while to make this, not being an artisan by trade.
 But Ivo doesn't dwell on it, turning back to their elesphere producing apparatus to leave Argent to... whatever it is she's going to do. Now that the smoke has cleared from the little chamber, he's able to examine it closely. It appears to basically be a glass box with what look like giant eyedroppers funneling purified elemental aether, likely extracted from powdered elementals or somehow otherwise distilled, into molds that then form into little marbles or eggs, stabilized but easily cracked to release the concentrated power all at once.
 "Hmmm... we could use the Crux to introduce a little aspect of Creation directly into the elesphere as it forms... would the most efficient way be for Argent to use her athame on it...?"

• Character: Argent
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  Before taking the container in her hands Argent sweeps her hair out of her face. It's always best to be safe when it comes to one's hair when you're working with chemicals, after all. "Due to the relative simplicity of for me to provide this service, I have no need for more of this substance in return." she says as she turns the glassware in her hands, carefully examining it for cracks or defects.

  It's only sensible, given the fumes still lingering slightly in the air.

  Then the homunculus nods with satisfaction, the container seeming to have met with her approval. "As such, we will require your aid. Currently, we are attempting to determine the exact mechanism used by this insect."

  And then, finally, the container is held right below her mouth, rubber stopper pulled free to leave it open. The homunculus parts her lips, and a trickle of clear, oily fluid starts to drool from them. Is...is she drooling acid?

• Character: Fabroxo
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  Fabroxo's face contorts in disgust as Ivo debases himself even further through wordplay than Fabroxo did. Why must he turn EVERYTHING into a competition? It lacks dignity.

  Still, let it never be said that Fabroxo is a dishonest man who goes back on his word in response to mere, base punnery. "Yes, very kind of you, kind of you both. Very well, I shall even MORE fully devote myself...to...huh." The greasy inventor leans in a little too close, staring at Argent with obvious fascination. "It seems you're an object worthy of study yourself. But another time, perhaps, for I am now dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of...this weird bug!"

  Fabroxo spins to face the beetle in its little enclosure, an intentness plain on his features as he stares the creature down. "You must remember, you seek to emulate an emulation, but to do so without fully understanding the phenomenon of which you ultimately seek is folly. Fire, I would like to point out, can be said to the purest of the base aetheric energies, and wind in many ways can be seen as a guiding force, an energy of pathways."

  The scientist taps on the glass (rudely, perhaps) to see if there's any reaction before he finishes, "I know not what effect this athame you speak of has, nor indeed have I yet even witnessed this beetle's abilities, but perhaps this perspective is helpful?"

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 "I'll say," Ivo, without looking away from the elesphere chamber, quips in response to Fabroxo's comment about the homunculus. "I could study Argent forever." Truly, she is a vision of loveliness as she, uh, spews a gallon of toxic chemicals into a vat.
 Look, we don't judge here. This is a safe space, if you don't count the noxious smoke and occasional explosion.
 "Hmm." The Cosmopolitan glances up and over his shoulder as Fabroxo soliloquizes. It's evident that their background training is very different, whatever, uh, Fabroxo's training may or may not have been. Ivo listens carefully. "When you put it that way, maybe the order is what matters..."
 While Argent is busy producing the acid, Ivo begins fiddling with knobs on the side of the chamber, adjusting the output for the next attempt.
 "If we set aside the notion of adding domain aspected aether to the mix, I could try adding fire first, then adding wind in a slow drip, to maintain the aether's energetic form and prevent it from taking on a solid material quality... perhaps that's the difference between aetheric lightning and smoke..."
 As Fabroxo taps on the glass, the Heavenly Crowned Beetle, still contentedly feasting on its thimble of nectar, startles. Normally sedate, it seems to react territorially now that it has food in its presence. Its glittering wings bristle and it does a little dance back and forth, lightning crackling, before a tiny electric shock arcs out toward the glass shielding Fabroxo's fingertip, as though its latent energies were stirred up by the movement.
 "Ah, we found the athame here," Ivo explains a little absently as he keeps his eyes on the chamber, the aether beginning to drip into the mold. "The druids forged them from fragments of the star they used to create the Star-Crowned, their homunculi. Homunculi can tune them to different aetheric frequencies and then project that energy as spells. We started making these elespheres here so that Argent could tune to any-- uh oh--"
 A quiet hiss is the only warning the denizens of the laboratary have before smoke begins gushing out of the chamber again.
 "Stay still!" Ivo shouts as a haze descends. "It'll clear in a moment! Whatever you do, don't go moving about blindly!"

• Character: Argent
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  A few seconds pass after Ivo's warning as Argent drips out the last few drops of oily, corrosive liquid, followed by the sound of her fingers deftly putting the rubber stopper back into place. With all that smoke filling the air she seems just as unbothered as before. She places the container calmly on a table before she turns back, watching the failing experiment with a placid gaze.

  "It is possible that adding wind slowly is the incorrect way of thinking." she speculates, head tilted to one side as the smoke starts to really fill the air. "Lightning is powerful, and highly energetic. It is possible that in order to recreate the phenomenom using aetheric arts, and cause them to react as quickly as possible."

  And then a beat passes. "However, it is also possible that this could result in detonation."

• Character: Fabroxo
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  "And are you sure your lines are clean? I would think that the heavy particulate density is born from earth contamination. Is the insect locally sourced? It could be a particular imbalance in the atmosphere, or...oh! Fascinating, clearly not." Fabroxo watches the electricity dance against the interior of the glass, finger still pressed against it.

  ...and then Ivo screws up AGAIN. Is he even trying? Fabroxo, scowling unseen, stands up abruptly, bumping the terrarium as he does so. It jostles, dangerously close to the edge of the table, but is stable...for now. The beetle's cocktail might have spilled, though.

  "Really now, your friend has a point. Did you have a name? Well, we can introduce ourselves later, after we test your reasoning. The laboratory is no place for cowardice, after all!" Fabroxo confidently moves closer to Ivo and his apparatus through the slowly clearing smoke, bumping several more knickknacks and schmoos and what have you, before leaning over nice and close to it, seemingly unconcerned with any potential danger.

  "Regardless of the result, I'm certain we'll learn something helpful!"

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 "Well, I don't know if--"
 Ivo is interrupted by a coughing fit, not noticing Fabroxo knock over the vials of the beverages previously mixed on his way over. Eyes watering, the smoke yet to fully clear, he squints between his two companions, hesitating for only a moment before grinning again, seemingly unable to contain himself.
 "That's the spirit," he affirms, reaching for the knobs again. "We'll give a go. Process of elimination, right?"
 What follows is, indeed, a process of elimination of a sort.
 *BOOM*
 The expensive aetherglass that shields the chamber is sturdy enough to endure the detonation induced by the too-rapid introduction of wind aether. But the force vented through the release valves is enough to send the one standing closest to the chamber flying back from the impact.
 "Whaaaa--"
 Like a storm-tossed ship, Ivo is helplessly flung into the embrace of--

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d4.
Comment: 1: Argent. 2: Fabroxo. 3: The beetle. 4: The forest floor.
Roll(s): 2. Total result is 2.

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 --Fabroxo, the two partners in science-crime sent skidding through the spilled root beer and horrific concoction in a tangle of limbs and passionate striving minds. Wherever they land, a loud cacophony follows, for some reason accompanied by a yowl of a cat.

• Character: Argent
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  Silvery hair streams from the vented force, the long strands of it becoming...just as neat and tidy as they were seconds ago. Slowly she turns around, head tilted to one side as the regards the haphazard tangle the two men create. The stare continues for quite some time before finally, she speaks. "I now understand the nature of your relationship." the homunculus intones slowly. "However, I would recommend that you do not engage in such activities in this place. Many of the objects contained in this room are delicate, and many dangerous and volatile chemicals are stored here. As such, excessive excitement may result in an incident."

• Character: Fabroxo
• 2 years, 6 months ago

  "WONDEFLURK!" Fabroxo exclaims aloud, only somewhat cut off by a human body being forcefully propelled into his own, both of them sliding through a variety of liquids. Some small pieces of clockwork scatter across the floor in several different directions, clicking and sputtering as delicate mechanisms shatter.

  "Did you see that? What efficiency! Ha ha ha! I am positively TINGLING with the rush of scientific advancement!!" Perhaps this tingling owes itself also to what they just slid through, but it is of no consequence! Fabroxo half laughs, half-wheezes as he pushes himself off of and away from Ivo, unsteadily trying to come to his feet before slipping on root beer and ending up on squarely on the floor again.

  "No level of excitement is adequate for moments such as these! Any incident resulting is merely another opportunity! Again! AGAIN!"

• Character: Ivo Galvan
• 2 years, 6 months ago

 "Ha... ha ha ha!"
 Ivo takes pleasure in scientific experimentation. It interests him and satisfies his sense of wonder. But rarely does he feel his work in the laboratory to be a joyous sort of thing. Fabroxo's unadulterated enthusiasm, as pure as the aether in that long-suffering chamber, buoys the young man's spirits. He can't help but burst into laughter, still laying on the floor where he's landed for a moment longer, as he sees a new side of science, or so it seems to him.
 "Again it is! We won't give up until we've found the answers we seek!"
 He scrambles back to his feet right around the time that Fabroxo is falling over again. Ivo hesitates for just a moment.
 "I'll just... mop up a bit first."
 Their mad scientist friend won't have to BYOM this time, as our heroes are prepared for a mess or two. Ivo retrieves a rather frayed and scorched-looking mop and begins cleaning up the spilled fluids. Some of them are sizzling rather unsettlingly.
 "Looks like I made this one a bit strong," he remarks idly, not seeming particularly concerned with how the chemical beneath his feet eats through stone. "I hope it was good nevertheless, Argent. I like to think I'm getting to know your tastes." It's tough to be a mixologist for beverages that would kill you to drink. "What about you, little buddy?"
 He lightly aims this question toward the beetle, only to pause. The creature in its terrarium is still next to its thimble, which was overturned somehow. Its antlered head lowered, the rare insect almost seems to be mourning its loss.
 "Uh... don't worry about it. I'll get you another--"
 Ivo is cut off as he, well, disappears.
 You see, distracted by the pathos of the scene, Ivo fails to notice the wet stone still sizzling beneath his feet. All at once, a circle of stone beneath him, eaten away by the beverage he prepared for Argent, gives way and sends him plummeting down to the brush below the aqueduct.
 *CRASH*
 Science faces many setbacks. But still, it forges on.
 Just after it climbs back up the ladder, and patches the floor.