Vigil VII: Strife Amidst the Clouds

[Shadowcaller]

[Anika's Room==> A lab?]

"Umm, good question, Lapis." Anika remarks, having wondered the very same thing once. "It depends how dead they are usually. A person can just be a little dead, that means they can be brought back with magic. But then they can be totally dead. That means they're gone forever. I guess the difference is how they died. If it's just an accident they can probably be brought back. But if some evil dude killed them they're usually totally dead. Each case of death is unique though. Can't know until you tried bringing them back. Don't worry about me being mad though, I'm sure that even if they're dead they're just a little dead which isn't anything to worry about."

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"I don't know. I lost track of her after you fainted. She's an angel, she only looks like a little girl to make people comfortable. You fainted after she... turned into her actual self and ate the star she'd made from my fire. It's not been too long. Are you OK? I've got a first aid kit, but no actual training, and... And I haven't tested for possible chemical reactions between my biology and most liquid drugs in first aid kits. I should really do that next." So at least Felicity has a new goal, even if it's likely to raise more questions for Dr. Eun.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Okay, so, Felicity's got a different metabolism, but Eun had a vague idea about that already. And the kid... was an angel. That made more sense than... whatever that ungodly blank spot in her memory was. "I should be fine." Eun says, gingerly tapping the back of her head again. "It feels like it's just a bruise. Check for a penlight or a mirror in there and make sure my eyes are dilating properly. I don't think I have a concussion, but then I probably wouldn't if I did." She groans as she sits back against a nearby table, reaching for her Hotbox before remembering that the radiation had knocked it out.

Eun found herself handling this much more calmly now that she was once again dealing with relatively mundane terms. Even a possible medical emergency was something she'd trained for and understood. Much more so than little girls breaking reality in new and inventive ways.

[Rebonack]

[Toward a Lab Maybe?]

"Just a little dead?" Lapis repeats curiously.

That makes her feel just a little better.

If someone dies by accented then they can be brought back! That's good. Lapis had thought that if someone died no matter the reason they were usually gone forever. Or else their soul got gobbled up by the Dreamheart and you have to go through great trials in order to retrieve them.

"If I died I would go to the Elysium Fields and I would have to find my way back again," Lapis says, remembering the things she had learned about death previously. "I don't think I can ever really die; I just got to another place. But I don't want to! What if it takes a long time to get back and my friends miss me?"

What if it took her seven years to get back like it took Mother?

Cora would be WAY older!

"Have you ever died just a little bit before?" Lapis inquires of Anika.

[Shadowcaller]

[Toward a Lab Maybe?]

"Me? Nah! I'm way too tough to die that easily. I'm just like... uh... more than twenty." Thereabouts at least. "I mean, my great grandmother is like thousands years old! It's insane! Can you believe living for that long? But I bet your mom is like... a billion years old!"

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

Felicity grabs a small mirror from the first aid box and goes back to check Eun's eyes for dilating. She'll tell Eun what she sees, because she doesn't know what she's looking for.

Assuming it's all OK there, Felicity has another question. "So, do you know if any of these medicines react with volatile hydrocarbons?" She puts a small tube of antiseptic cream, a bottle of eyewash and a bottle of purple healing potion on the table. "I used to work for a guy who manufactured superpower serums, and made one for myself. I had his permission, and I was hoping I'd get something new that he could then market and so I'd maybe get royalties, but... it didn't really work, and I could no longer work with fire." There's probably enough knowledge there to figure out what superpower Felicity gave herself, given her earlier comment about not knowing if these drugs would react with her biology.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Yep. She's fine.

Eun frowns. "I couldn't tell you for sure." She says with a shrug. "The ingredients list on these are obnoxiously obtuse. For example." She holds up the antiseptic cream. "'Contains SCP-[blahblahblah]'? What the hell is SCP-[blahblahblah]? Do you know its chemical structure? I don't." She sets the cream back down with a little sigh. "It's a matter of experimentation, I think. The trouble would be finding a safe way to do it. We might be able to determine if it reacts with, say, your blood or saliva in an adverse way, but determining if it presents a danger to your brain tissue might be a touch more difficult. Until then, I would assume 'yes' for safety's sake."

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"I don't actually know. I've got plenty of samples of my blood and saliva, but testing my blood's a bit tricky. It ignites on contact with air, and I'm not yet sure what part of my blood is responsible. It all does it, when I split the plasma from the red blood cells and the rest. My saliva, sweat and tears just burn really quickly when exposed to fire, though fortunately my skin, eyes and other tissues are flame retardant. I don't know how effective they are, because I've done some experiments there, to see how hot I'd have to be to get burnt, but stopped when I reached temperatures I couldn't test safely." And testing how well something doesn't burn is usually quite dangerous any way.

[Ironsmith]

Felicity's Lab

"I don't actually know. I've got plenty of samples of my blood and saliva, but testing my blood's a bit tricky. It ignites on contact with air, and I'm not yet sure what part of my blood is responsible. It all does it, when I split the plasma from the red blood cells and the rest. My saliva, sweat and tears just burn really quickly when exposed to fire, though fortunately my skin, eyes and other tissues are flame retardant. I don't know how effective they are, because I've done some experiments there, to see how hot I'd have to be to get burnt, but stopped when I reached temperatures I couldn't test safely." And testing how well something doesn't burn is usually quite dangerous any way.

[Felicity's Lab]

"Ah. I see the problem." Eun taps her chin in thought. "I can get you set up with some autoclaves when my Hotbox starts working again. They can handle temperatures in excess of twelve hundred degrees centigrade; if your tissue samples can survive that, it would give you quite a bit of tolerance to work with." Considering she's talking about heat that would melt gemstones, she's somewhat underselling her point. "As for your blood and saliva, have you tried a vacuum chamber yet? It seems like the logical choice. If you don't have one, I could put one together for you."

[Rebonack]

[Toward a Lab Maybe?]

"No Mother isn't that old but I guess some people are?" Lapis replies thoughtfully.

How old IS her mom?

She hasn't ever really asked before since it hasn't ever been important.

"I'm glad you haven't ever died before Anika you should keep doing that," Lapis helpfully suggests.

Hmm...

There!

The lab buildings up ahead!

They'll just have to take the elevator down into the science wing. Anika has been here before, right? The citadel of VIGIL's goblin magic.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"I've... got a vacuum chamber, but I don't know how to use it. I do have an autoclave, too." Part of the issue is Earl knowing little about the stuff a biochemistry lab would have access to. "I... experimented on how hot I could get without burning by being a little stupid. I poured molten lead into a jug and stuck my hand in it until it cooled and solidified. Then I melted it again to get my hand back. It felt hot, hotter than I'd felt before, and I ruined a t-shirt because I caught fire and couldn't get it off in time, but I wasn't hurt." She was already pretty sure she could handle such temperatures, so she perhaps wasn't as stupid as it sounds.

[Shadowcaller]

[Toward a Lab Maybe?]

"I never met a person who is I think but I just figured your mom was since she's like a, uh, ancient... person and all that." Anika had never really asked what Zee was but she assumed she was some kind of otherworldly being. Like a dragon or whatever.

"But yeah! I'm a pro at being alive Lapis so don't you worry about me. It's that girl we should be worried about, we better hurry down in the lab!" They've spent far too much time talking.

[Ironsmith]

Felicity's Lab

"I've... got a vacuum chamber, but I don't know how to use it. I do have an autoclave, too." Part of the issue is Earl knowing little about the stuff a biochemistry lab would have access to. "I... experimented on how hot I could get without burning by being a little stupid. I poured molten lead into a jug and stuck my hand in it until it cooled and solidified. Then I melted it again to get my hand back. It felt hot, hotter than I'd felt before, and I ruined a t-shirt because I caught fire and couldn't get it off in time, but I wasn't hurt." She was already pretty sure she could handle such temperatures, so she perhaps wasn't as stupid as it sounds.

[Felicity's Lab]

Eun's eyes widen as Felicity describes the "experiment". Holy balls that's reckless. After all, the entire point of such a test would be to figure out if her arm could handle that kind of heat; what would she have done if the answer was "no"? Between that and the miniature star she'd brought in earlier, Eun was getting the distinct impression Felicity might need some remedial training in lab safety.

"You might want to stick to autoclaves." Eun replies tactfully. "Save yourself a t-shirt or two."

In the meantime, Eun made a mental note to herself to make sure her own gear was sufficiently flame-retardant. She didn't want to end up with third degree burns by looking over Felicity's shoulder.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

The good news is Felicity's own fires aren't usually that hot unless they've been burning a while, so if Felicity goes up whilst Eun's looking over her shoulder the initial worst that would occur is losing her eyebrows maybe.

"I'd tested a skin-sample with molten lead, so I knew my skin could take it. I just... wanted to see what it felt like. Would that level of hot hurt? And, no, it doesn't. I should have taken my clothes off first, though. I ruin enough clothes by accident without doing that kind of thing on purpose." But yeah, given her most recent employers are Doctor Valiance, whose own take on lab safety was incredibly casual (and also unethical, immoral and occasionally blasphemous) and Professor Payne, whose idea of 'safe disposal of dangerous substances' is to recycle them into more super-serum, a remedial course in lab safety is probably a good idea.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

...But she liked having eyebrows.

Well. At least Felicity wasn't being completely reckless. There was still a lot she hadn't accounted for, like whether that kind of heat would cook her insides even if it left her skin alone, but it was better than Eun had initially assumed. Well, actually, she could have tested other samples, too... Eun hadn't yet bothered to ask. For the moment, she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Eun gives a small smile. "I suppose that's a rare instance where taking off your clothes in a laboratory is a good idea." She jokes.

...Wait a second.

She joked.

Huh. All things considered, they must've been hitting it off pretty well. Vlad had suggested making friends here; maybe this was a good opportunity.

"...On an unrelated note..." Eun begins, setting her Hotbox on the table next to her. "Would you... ah..."

Come on Eun. You can do it.

"That is to say..."

Come on. Seven little words.

"Would you be interested in, maybe, sometime..."

Wait. Hang on. This might be a bad idea.

"I mean, have you tested your reactions to ethanol yet?" Eun asks, abruptly changing the subject. Flammable liquids plus a flammable lab tech might not be such a good combination.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"I don't work with acids much, or anything that would be do disastrous if I got it on my skin. I've tested my skin's resistance to acid, and other dangerous chemicals and I'm no more protected from acid than you are. It's just heat and fire, I think. Maybe cold too, that's trickier to test, but if I do get cold, I can heat myself up again quite easily." So long as she's got a box of matches or a lighter, anyway.

"I have tested that, yes. I don't get drunk easily any more, but that's about it. I guess I naturally produce some amount of ethanol amongst the hydrocarbons in my bile, saliva and other such, uh, fluids I guess. Do... you want to go to the Battered Shield with me?" Felicity's blushing slightly, though it's possibly hard to tell with her ashy skin. She's not sure if this is a date or not, and it's been a while since she's been on one.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Oh thank god. Felicity said it so Eun wouldn't have to.

"I... I would assume that's a bar around here somewhere, right?" Eun asks, still being relatively new to VIGIL and not entirely familiar with the surrounding area. "Sure. Yeah. I can do that." The last bit seemed to be more directed at herself than Felicity. "When would be a good time? Eight? Nine? Later?" She had no idea what Felicity's work schedule looked like, and had a creeping suspicion their earlier experiment was going to involve some fallout for them to clean up, so she shoots for a late-ish time.

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

"There is, the Battered Shield. Eight's probably good, give me time to sort this lab out and get stuff ready. Do you know where the Battered Shield is?" And if not, then Felicity will give directions.

The good thing with Felicity's schedule is a lot of what she does in this lab is done in her own time, researching what she did to herself and ways to either reverse it or mitigate it or come up with something that would let her sneeze on a candle without setting the table on fire.

[5a Violista]

leaving Training Grounds

Mia looks confused. "You get powers from a god but don't worship her?" she says "Don't get me wrong, but it sounds like you somehow owe her."

left the Training Grounds

The Paladin shakes his head.
"No, I don't," he claims. "I don't owe her anything."

He keeps on walking, looking for someone for the two of them to interact with.

This particular topic, he's not sure if he wants to talk about it or not. "Just power isn't worth a favor. If someone wants me to owe them, then they'd have to actually do something worth it."

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

"I have no idea." Eun admits. "I only started here yesterday. I don't know where anything is." She pauses, coming to a realization. "Including my own lab. I made a wrong turn to end up here in the first place." She grimaces.

"...But that can wait until later. Show me where everything goes and I'd be glad to help you clean up. Seeing as to how the mess is partly my fault."

[Rebonack]

[Felicity's Lab]

And low, this is the exact moment that Lapis and Anika come barging into the laboratory.

Anika, it should be mentioned, is very tall.

Also very purple.

Also given the fact that Lapis woke Anika up and Anika immediately run out of the room with the girl before doing anything else it is probably worth asking what Anika's present state of dress is.

Lapis isn't too worried about that, of course.

Mostly because Eun is walking around and looking perfectly fine.

"Miss Eun you're okay!" Lapis hollers as she goes running over and tries to hug the woman's leg. "Anika was right I'm so glad! Did Miss Felicity make you better?"

Felicity must have access to very powerful magic if she can bring people back from the dead. Even if they ARE just a little dead.

[Shadowcaller]

[Felicity's Lab]

To be specific, Anika is a little over 7 feet tall and is indeed very purple. Mercifully, Anika was too tired to remove her clothes before going to bed so she's nearly fully dressed. Meaning she's in the white garment at the moment. It should be noted that she smells awful though as she haven't had a shower in a while.

"Huh, I figured they'd be younger." Anika had pictured Lapis only hanging out with people that appeared to be a similar age to her. Which had included a bunch of children in a lab playing science, making this revelation almost disappointing. She wanted to see kids in those white goblin mage coats darn it!

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

Felicity's going to point stuff out to Eun to clear up. "Uh... hi, Lapis. And friend. I'm Felicity. Welcome to my lab." The ashy-black skinned woman leans back to look at Anika as the night elf enters her lab.

"Do you know what number your lab is? I'll help you find it." And she's given Eun directions to the Battered Shield, too.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Eun looks down at Lapis, internally cringing as she hugs her leg. "I...er, yes. She did wake me up." Eun begins, just sort of awkwardly standing there, trying not to tense up.

It the occurs to her that she never told Lapis her name. Which made it a little weird that she was calling her by her first name, instead of the more formal "Doctor Bu" the rest of the staff would use. But, then again, that was hardly the strangest thing to happen to her today.

"Right. My lab. Yes. It's 72-C." Eun straightens up, addressing Felicity again. "...I'm in the complete wrong section of the building, aren't I?"

[Rebonack]

[Felicity's Lab]

Nothing strange has happened today.

Everything has been mostly normal as far as Lapis can tell.

Because Anika told her that bringing someone back from just a little bit dead happens all the time so she doesn't have to worry about it.

"This is my friend Anika," Lapis says as she releases Eun's legs from her grasp so she can gesture at the night elf. "She told me I should come back and make sure you were okay and I did and I'm glad your okay."

And not dead.

Mostly the not dead part.

"Felicity do you want me to make a new fireball thingy? Do you need lots of shields first like Eun said maybe I can get them at the Battered Shield since they have shields there."

Lapis is doing a great job of totally misunderstanding what radiation shielding consists of.

[Shadowcaller]

[Felicity's Lab]

Anika raises her hand to greet Felicity. "Yo! Cool lab." She looks around, seemingly impressed. "So... do you all got your own labs down here? Does that mean I got one too?" The druid inquires. She hadn't even seen these people before yet they already had their own labs? Must mean that you got a free lab when you joined, right?
A lab would be perfect to put her stuff in so it would be protected from thiving goblins.

She looks to Lapis. "...what about Lapis, does she have a lab?"

[Zefir]

left the Training Grounds

The Paladin shakes his head.
"No, I don't," he claims. "I don't owe her anything."

He keeps on walking, looking for someone for the two of them to interact with.

This particular topic, he's not sure if he wants to talk about it or not. "Just power isn't worth a favor. If someone wants me to owe them, then they'd have to actually do something worth it."

not the Training Grounds anymore

"I don't think getting power isn't something not 'worth it'." Mia replies. "Imagine a friend lends you a tool you need or a cup of sugar. You won't owe them your life, but you would repay the favor. I don't know what it is you can do, but anything you can't reach by yourself might be worth something."

[Earl of Purple]

Felicity's Lab

If Lapis mentions she thought Eun was dead, then Felicity would correct her. However, Lapis is being stubborn and not saying a word about it.

"Um, not right now, Lapis. And those aren't the right kind of shield, they won't help against radiation." Probably. It's entirely possible there's a shield in there that does, but Felicity doesn't know that. "Um, we might be able to sort you out with a lab? What would you do in your lab, and would Miss Cessie or Doctor Geneva approve of it?" Earl isn't sure what- if any- title Geneva has, but she is at least on the scene. Doctor Valiance might also have a say, but presumably he's hung over somewhere out of the way.

"A Lapis-lab might not be a bad idea, though. For playing- I, uh, mean studying- those stars and see if you can do the same to water and what other stuff you can do." And once they know what limits Lapis has, they can maybe try breaking them! Or at least figuring out how to turn a miniature star into a nuclear reactor to power a portal device, or something.

"You're in the right building, but the wrong wing. We do need better maps." I don't think Vigil's science department take up more than one building, but it could also easily be a bunker complex in the rock under the castle but above the bit of nothing between the flying citadel and the ground.

[Ironsmith]

[Felicity's Lab]

Nothing strange has happened today.

Everything has been mostly normal as far as Lapis can tell.

Because Anika told her that bringing someone back from just a little bit dead happens all the time so she doesn't have to worry about it.

"This is my friend Anika," Lapis says as she releases Eun's legs from her grasp so she can gesture at the night elf. "She told me I should come back and make sure you were okay and I did and I'm glad your okay."

And not dead.

Mostly the not dead part.

"Felicity do you want me to make a new fireball thingy? Do you need lots of shields first like Eun said maybe I can get them at the Battered Shield since they have shields there."

Lapis is doing a great job of totally misunderstanding what radiation shielding consists of.

[Felicity's Lab]

Anika raises her hand to greet Felicity. "Yo! Cool lab." She looks around, seemingly impressed. "So... do you all got your own labs down here? Does that mean I got one too?" The druid inquires. She hadn't even seen these people before yet they already had their own labs? Must mean that you got a free lab when you joined, right?
A lab would be perfect to put her stuff in so it would be protected from thiving goblins.

She looks to Lapis. "...what about Lapis, does she have a lab?"

Felicity's Lab

If Lapis mentions she thought Eun was dead, then Felicity would correct her. However, Lapis is being stubborn and not saying a word about it.

"Um, not right now, Lapis. And those aren't the right kind of shield, they won't help against radiation." Probably. It's entirely possible there's a shield in there that does, but Felicity doesn't know that. "Um, we might be able to sort you out with a lab? What would you do in your lab, and would Miss Cessie or Doctor Geneva approve of it?" Earl isn't sure what- if any- title Geneva has, but she is at least on the scene. Doctor Valiance might also have a say, but presumably he's hung over somewhere out of the way.

"A Lapis-lab might not be a bad idea, though. For playing- I, uh, mean studying- those stars and see if you can do the same to water and what other stuff you can do." And once they know what limits Lapis has, they can maybe try breaking them! Or at least figuring out how to turn a miniature star into a nuclear reactor to power a portal device, or something.

"You're in the right building, but the wrong wing. We do need better maps." I don't think Vigil's science department take up more than one building, but it could also easily be a bunker complex in the rock under the castle but above the bit of nothing between the flying citadel and the ground.

[Felicity's Lab]

For her part, Eun had a lab dedicated to studying certain spatial anomalies. Or at least she would, if she could find it. Situationally ironic, in a way.

Irregardless!

Anika also weirds Eun out a little, but not to a degree that she couldn't cope with. Seven-foot-tall purple elf-lady? Okay, that was still within the realm of possibility; seven feet was tall for a person, but not unheard of, and the rest is essentially just cosmetic. Unless she starts doing magic in front of Eun, she can cope.

Unrelatedly, she'd heard quite a bit about this "Doctor Geneva" and was looking forward to meeting her in person, but neither of them had yet found the time. Shame, that.

Eun pushes her glasses up and takes a deep, calming breath. "Right. Okay. So." She clears her throat. "Is everything okay, then?" She didn't want to be rude about it, but she and Felicity were in the middle of planning a night on the town when they came in. As nice as they were trying to be, they were just a bit in the way of either cleaning up or heading out. Mixed with the ever-growing number of people in the room, she was becoming just a bit agitated.

Seriously, was it her imagination, or had the room gotten a little smaller? She hoped it was just her overtaxed brain playing tricks on her. She'd hate to have to deal with a spontaneous spatial compression incident on top of everything else.

[Rebonack]

[Felicity's Lab]

But definitely not Lapis' lab.

She doesn't have one.

As for a doctorates, Geneva has two of those. One in arcane engineering and the other in exotic-mass engineering. They're both EngDs as opposed to PhDs. She isn't terribly fond of being called Doctor Richards, however. Just Geneva is fine.

But then again, Geneva isn't here at the moment and-

Oh.

Wait.

A human woman with cherry blossom pink hair wearing a lab-coat just walked into the lab, currently looking down at the wrist computer on her left forearm. "Felicity I was wondering if you might be able to spare some time to help me with-"

Then Geneva bothers to look up.

"-oh. You have company. Is this a bad time? I can always rope one of the adventurers into helping me with testing," the engineer says a bit hesitantly.

"Hi Miss Geneva I accidentally killed Miss Eun just a little bit and Felicity made her better again but she said I don't need to make another fireball since we haven't got enough shields," Lapis proclaims.

Geneva glances between Eun, Lapis, and Felecity.

And...

Anika?

Why is Anika down here in the labs?

"I'm sorry I might be misunderstanding the situation. Would someone who isn't Lapis care to fill me in?"