Well, there's a lot of unintentional sexual innuendos in this chapter. I did it on accident, implied by the "unintentional" part of the previous sentence. But when I caught it, I kinda decided to overplay it. It was rather amusing. I apologize if anybody is offended by it. Please tell me if you are offended. I'd rather remove it than offend a large amount of people.
Also, sorry about the wait for this chapter. I've been buried in school work and plays. I have Chapter 12 already written out, just not typed out. It's how I do things. I pre-write the chapter, then type it. It allows me to do my own editing work. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
As the day went on, anxiety acclimated alarmingly. A big contributor was that there were rumors of the Fuhrer's delaying of the conference because he had fallen ill. So many people had just wanted to hear the Fuhrer's statements, regardless of the severity they may be. They wanted confirmation about whether or not the disease was contagious, or perhaps airborne. Ian realized that nobody else had realized Tetanus cannot evolve, but decided against releasing this information. A mass hysteria was already in place, and there was no need for hysteria of conspiracy as well.
Ian personally had "cleared" the health examination, as well as all of his physicists. There had been rumors about the misfortune of other alchemists, though. Word had it that a handful of people were being quarantined away. The military and government had given no affirmation to the statement. After the inspection, Ian wanted facts though, and knew Rusty would have them. The Board knew everything about the going-ons at HQ. It was their job, after all.
Unfortunately, Rusty wasn't in his office when Ian got there. Avoiding doing the rude thing, he didn't enter Rusty's office, despite the fact that he had a key. Perhaps this was how Ian had earned his respect and trust from the man. Maybe it was because Ian had the ability to do something, but didn't do it just because he could, that Rusty had placed so much into him. Deciding against waiting for Rusty to return, Ian hustled back through the Electricity Dept. and then into the Physics Dept., slamming right into Daniel. Something about Daniel was different, though; the air around him seemed lighter… less tense.
"Daniel, please be more care-"
"Ian, great news!" Daniel blurted excitedly.
Ian was slightly stunned. At this point in time, he could not see anything coming to be good news.
"Um… surprise me?" Ian requested.
"Well, I've been working on weapons specifically for us physicists. I never really had time to work on them, though. But, those days I locked myself in my office, I got all my paperwork done quickly-" Daniel said, cutting himself off when Ian quietly snorted, "-Shut up. Anyway, well… I got all the blueprints done those days, and sent them off, and just got the weapon prototypes made! They came in today. Check it out."
Daniel, who had been holding ah and behind his back while elaborating, revealed the hidden hand to show a metal rod, about seven inches in length. Ian stared at the weak-looking weapon.
"How am I supposed to be able to use this?" Ian questioned, disappointed.
"Take it," Daniel offered, handing Ian the tool.
Ian took it in hand. It was cold, and much heavier than he had expected. He still didn't understand how it classified as a weapon, though. He couldn't use it as a dagger or gun, or even a battle-staff. It was just a small metal pole.
"I still don't-"Ian started.
Ian cut himself off as the pole clicked and extended to hit the floor with a loud clang. It clicked again as it locked itself in place. Ian stared at Daniel, dumbstruck.
"What just happened?" Ian asked.
Daniel beamed back at Ian.
"Tiers! Tiers of metal tubing," Daniel vaguely responded.
"But, Daniel, I still don't understand!"
"It's like a monopod, except the tiers are on the inside!" Daniel exclaimed.
"Okay… more?"
"If you reduce the force of friction and increase the downward air pressure between the tiers, they slide in and out to whatever length you want! Then increase the friction force to lock it at the desired length" Daniel told.
Ian tipped and tilted the weapon back and forth in his hand. It stuck no matter how hard you shook or tossed it. There was absolutely no slip, no slide, no slack. The tiers held tight as a dead man's grip. Ian knew he needed to test it for himself, though.
"How do you get it to go back up? I'm assuming just eliminate friction and increase the upward air pressure?" Ian asked.
Daniel nodded. Ian attempted the procedure, and the weapon slid up to about 2 feet and 4 inches long. Then needing to extend it for confirmation of the procedure, he reduced the friction forces while still withholding a majority of it and pumped the air pressure enough to overcome it, and the pole slid to about 3 feet and 11 inches long.
"So, why did you make this?" Ian inquired.
Daniel shrugged. "I just figured it'd be sweet to make. And think about it, Ian! The thing functions as a mid- and short-range weapon. And you can throw off the enemy with the varying lengths. They won't know how to dodge it! It's an extremely useful thing for us."
"I'll need my own proto-" Ian began.
Yet another time, Daniel cut Ian off, "Right here! Feel free to disassemble it all you want!"
Daniel slipped another of the weapon from his pant pocket and handed it to Ian, who took it, stunned once more.
"Well, I should go!" Daniel squeaked, running off.
Ian watched him off and chuckled to himself. Daniel was really serious about getting the weapon passed. It was amazing to see Daniel so excited about his work. The other physicists may have done good work, but they never put as much effort or energy into their work as Daniel did. He decided that, rationally, he himself was no weapons expert and he should probably have somebody with more expertise look at the weapon. Eva instantly came to mind, and relevantly as well. Eva had a brilliant knowledge base on weapons, as well as a firm foundation with the field of Physics. After running back to his office momentarily to grab a piece of paper, he scribbled a note to Eva explaining the functions and explanations of the device.
The HQ was rather empty-halled today, so it took much less time to get to the Armory than usual. When he arrived, Eva's office was unoccupied, but he waited for her. After all, what else better would be doing?
When Eva finally did arrive, it appeared to Ian that she'd been on the shooting range. She had large rings around her eyes where she would've probably worn her safety goggles, and she appeared to be covered in some sort of dust.
"Ian?" Eva questioned, surprised at seeing Ian in her doorway.
Ian bolted to his feet and smiled at her.
"What are you doing here? And what's that?" she asked, noticing the metal rod in his hand.
"Actually, that is why I'm here. It's really important for you to inspect it. One of my alchemist, Daniel- oh, you know Daniel, that's right- well, he's really intent on getting this cleared for legal use. I figured you're the best one for the job," Ian ranted.
Eva stepped to her door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. The bullet holes were visibly imprinted on the back from only a few days previous. Eva set her handgun, which was still smoking, onto the desk and turned to Ian who took the opportunity to sit in the vacant chair in front of Eva's desk. Ian had placed the metal pole upon the desk, and Eva snatched it up.
"So, what is this thing?" she asked, examining it.
"A weapon," Ian replied.
Eva sighed and stared a hole through Ian.
"No, really? I mean… how does it work?" she tried once more.
"It's all right here in this note," Ian answered, handing her the piece of paper.
Eva's eyes darted across the instructions on the paper. It seemed she read through them twice, logically, because her eyes went back to the top and repeated their scanning movement.
"So it's an expanding monopod?" she asked, disbelievingly and slightly sarcastic.
"It's more like a battle-staff," Ian told.
"Ian, we fight with guns nowadays. This weapon is outdated and obsolete!"
"But-"
"No! No 'but's. There's no way it will be accepted as a viable weapon."
"Eva, please, just experiment with it. It would mean so much to me! I mean… Daniel…"
There was a brief silence between them. He'd managed to slip that little comment in. It was probably a mistake to have said. Eva's emotion changed from a fierce determination to a sharp sympathy for Ian, perhaps even with a tone of love. Ian took notice of the change.
"Fine, but I'm telling you nobody will go for this!" she sighed, "So, why did you really come all the way over to the Armory?"
"That was quick," Ian laughed, "Well, I just missed talking with you. It's been awhile; with all of these Black Plague rumors going around, it's pure chaos."
"Think about the hell I'm going through, Ian. We're being sterilized. Ster-il-ized! I'm surprised I was lucky enough to be granted access to my shooting range. Yesterday, I wasn't even allowed to be carrying my weapons. 'Safety protocol' or something like that. Of course, I do have that tiny little fucker strapped to my leg at all times. They didn't find it, but still, they took my weapons!"
"Eva, be reasonable. This is mass hysteria! What do you expect the HQ to do?"
"But there were mine!" Eva declared sternly.
"Okay, okay, I see what you mean," Ian lied, avoiding an argument. She was in one of those moods where the slightest thing set her off, and she wasn't a small deal when set off.
"It was really sweet of you to visit though!" Eva said, adapting a suddenly humble attitude.
Ian was thrown slightly aback by the attitude change.
"Of… of course! And I meant what I said about missing you," he replied, going along with the switch.
Eva smiled at him, her face blushing wildly. Leaning over her desk, she reached out and took Ian's hand. Before Ian could react, she moved in and stole a kiss. The kiss, to Ian, was passionate. Oddly passionate, almost. She pulled away, and opened her eyes.
"So, are we going to do something tonight? I was thinking maybe we could hit a nightclub or bar maybe?" Eva asked cutely, dancing very subtly.
"We can't be out all night, Eva. We both have to be at work tomorrow!" Ian said, trying to be rational. It was tough, though. Eva was very tempting to him right now.
"Ian, live a little! It's not like we're getting any work done here at HQ anyway, what with this virus going around," Eva countered.
"It's not a virus, for one. And two, though that may be true about not getting any work done… how do you know we won't end up doing something tomorrow? All this mess will be cleared up tonight with the conference, and we'll be back to normal after that."
"No… didn't you hear? The Fuhrer postponed it."
"What? Why would he do that?"
"I heard that he wasn't feeling well, but I'm not sure what the truth really is at the moment," Eva shrugged, walking towards the back wall of her office.
"But… what? Isn't it the Fuhrer's job to handle things like this, regardless of his health?" Ian asked, standing up from his chair.
The room had gotten very tense suddenly. Ian could not accept that the Fuhrer could ever have a good excuse for ignoring his duty, especially when the public needed it. It was ridiculous for a man of his magnitude to be doing thing such as this.
"It must be bad for him to postpone it, Ian. Just calm down. There's a logical explanation for everything," Eva said.
Ian scoffed, "Maybe there's an explanation, but that's no excuse. The public needs this. It's crazy out there!"
"I know, but what are we going to do? Go up to his mansion and drag him here all by ourselves? I'm sure that the guards, let alone the man himself, would totally go for that!"
Ian stopped. Eva was becoming angry again, and enraging her was the last thing on his agenda.
"Right… anyway, do you need me to explain any of those notes on the weapon?" Ian asked, quickly changing topics.
Eva pulled the sheet back up to her face, reading the note once more.
"Stay here for a second. I need you to check the equation I'm making for this…" she said, her words being muffled slightly by the paper.
"An equation?" Ian asked.
Eva sat the paper on her desk, and then grabbed another blank piece, continuing on to scribble number and letters across it. Once every few moments she would pause, as if to think, and then begin her scribbling once more. A couple times, even, she had to drop her hand to her side, relaxing it to relieve cramping. Finally, she heaved a sigh and pushed the paper to Ian.
"That should be it… The extension of the pole is equal to the current length of the pole times the quantity of the amount of friction acting on the pole times the air pressure applied on the tiers. Of course, that's disregarding gravity…" Eva elaborated.
Ian glanced at the paper, while still trying to take in what Eva had just said. The equation had some incorrect abbreviations for variables, and it seemed almost too simple. Regardless, what Eva had just said was true. He ran through some problems with the set equation, plugging in made-up numbers, but the equation remained consistent. The variables were negatively correlated, like they should have been. And then he experimented for a moment on the weapon, and the equation nearly exacted the effect of the friction and air pressure. Eva smiled.
"So, what do you think?" she asked excitedly.
Ian nodded, saying, "Ex equals L times quantity friction times air pressure. Simple, yet so complex. You're getting better at this."
"Thank you! You don't know how excited I am to hear-" Eva started.
The sentence was cut off by Eva letting out a scream of pain, and collapsing into her chair. Ian darted over to her.
"What happened? What's wrong?" he frantically asked.
"Just a cramp…" she answered, softly.
Ian stared down at her, and her fists were tightly clenched, and her eyes the same.
"Are you going to be okay? Should I take you to the Medical Wing? This could be serious, Eva!"
Eva breathed heavily and whimpered, "You should get around some women more often. This is a monthly thing for us, Ian."
"Oh… I didn't think of that…"
"Exactly. I'll be fine, okay? But you really should get back to work. I'll see you tonight, alright?"
Ian leaned down and kissed her, and time seemed to stop for both of them. He trusted Eva, and knew she'd be fine. She was tough. She'd pull through, no matter what, just like she had all those times before; and she wouldn't complain one bit.
Eva broke this kiss with a gentle tug on Ian's lower lip. She spun away swiftly, staring at the wall. Her back was to the young physicist.
"Ian, get back to work…" she said.
"But-" Ian started.
Eva threw her hand in the air, "No 'but's. Just… go."
Ian made another sound, just to be cut off again by Eva. He turned, confused and slightly depressed, and left the room. What other choice was there?
The trip back to his office seemed eternal. The hallways decorated with offices and nameplates drug on, almost looking as if they repeated themselves.
What the hell…just happened? Ian thought.
After what Ian believed had been hours had passed, he managed to find his office. Unlocking the door, he sighed, and peered into his office. The furniture was on the ceiling, like normal, but he didn't feel like performing the alchemy to return it to normal. He leaned against a wall and slid to the floor. Daniel peeked into the room.
"So?" he squeaked.
Ian gave no reply other than a tiny shrug, and Daniel turned, slightly annoyed, and left.