The lab was unusually focused as the teams tried to prepare ingredients for smaller-scale testing. It had been a quiet day, which Theo was grateful for, but Sheer and Heatran were already packing up finished ingredients and arguing across the room.
"All I'm saying is that mine worked and yours didn't," Sheer pointed out. "That's all. Just a fact."
"I also didn't blow up a room full of people and blind an aquamancer. Just another fact." Heatran set an alembic over a low flame and adjusted it until the contents were boiling strongly. "And since you seem to be so interested in facts, all of my past teammates are still alive, unlike yours."
"That was years ago!" Sheer protested.
"It still makes me wonder why he kept you on," Heatran said loudly.
"Well clearly he thinks at least one of us needs to get s*** done around here, and it isn't you," said Sheer. He unwrapped a clean wooden stirring stick and started mixing a few drops of light blue liquid into a packet of black powder.
"Bulls***, I do everything around here. Just because you can make some smoke and loud noises once a week doesn't mean you actually contribute. It makes you look like a goddamn idiot."
Sheer rolled his eyes and threw the stirring stick at him. "I don't care if you're gonna be a smartass, but can I get a little more 'smart' and a little less 'ass'?"
"Nope, deal with it." Heatran poured the alembic results into a new vial, corked it, and set it aside. "You almost got me killed twice in the last three weeks. You don't get to complain about me."
"It was for a good cause," Sheer insisted.
"There is no good cause that's going to kill me before it kills you. Go back to your f***ing station and try to make something that works for once." Heatran picked up the fallen stirring stick and threw it back. "If you don't mind, I'm taking my team out of here before they end up blind, or worse."
"Hold that L," Creaam hooted from across the room.
Sheer pointed his frostbite at him just as the door opened and Fontn walked in.
"By the gods, this is a college, not an elementary schoolyard!" The grouchy pyromancer slammed the door closed and glared around at the teams. "I want everyone's weapons stowed out of sight, and the next open mouth I see will be catching a fireball. Understood?"
Everyone nodded silently.
"Good. Tomol, I want to see your teammate Theo about her material requisition list for this upcoming season. There are some… unconventional items that need to be approved. I've also arranged for the abandoned mining site outside of Stormwind to be used for perfecting the smaller-scale explosion. There's no way we're ever trying that indoors again. Keep in mind, you are all still under orders not to speak to anyone about what we're doing out there. If they ask, refer them to me. Good luck, everyone, and let's avoid more… incidents." Fontn directed the last half of the sentence at Sheer. "Theo. Library, please, at your earliest convenience." He shot one last look around the room and left.
"Well, I think this has been productive for all of us so far." Tomol's smile was forced to the point where it looked visibly painful. "We've fixed a severe problem with the mining system, hopefully introduced a little more quality of life for the workers, and we've all confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sheer is a murderous psychopath."
"Agreed," Theo muttered. Her jaw was still sore, even though it had been a few days. Sonic had done a good job of replacing her broken teeth and repairing her ear, but she hadn't been able to see one of the more professional aqua medics. They were too busy trying to fix Plikie's empty eye sockets.
"Let's get some good documentation of the lab prep. Now that we're certain we can synthesize shards, we need to try and dial back the amount of escaped energy. Start prepping the ingredients, and we'll run tests outdoors tomorrow. Fontn asked me to warn all aquamancers not to allow any water near the reactants, so Sonic, I need you to sit this one out. It's for your own good." Tomol twisted the dial on the gas burner and set a beaker of purple liquid on the surface. "Theo, stir until it evaporates and then you can go see Fontn about the requisitions. I'll take care of the really difficult ingredients, but I need Kirby and Ninja's full attention for it."
Kirby raised his head from the book he had been using as a pillow and blinked sleepily. "My what?"
"Your… you know what, never mind."
Fontn was already at the library by the time Theo arrived. He was holding the tiny brass summons bell from Sindre's desk and ringing it, but the librarian was oddly absent.
"Ah, there you are." Fontn put down the bell and unfolded Theo's requisition form. "So here's what I've got for you so far. The nitric and hydrochloric acid are standard issue. One large natural void shard, a testing-size gold ingot, and a liter of chlorine solution. As for the other items... I've made a deal with Sindre for the, um, full human skeleton that you requested." Fontn squinted at the form again. "You will be responsible for returning it in the condition that you received it, and should any parts of it be damaged beyond repair, you will cover the cost of replacing them. And before you ask, no, that does NOT mean that you should go out and kill someone for the part. I have had that happen and it was very difficult to explain to the family of the deceased."
Theo nodded and tried not to cringe.
"The second request… I cannot guarantee. Sindre is very protective of the artifacts in his care, particularly the one you asked for." Fontn rang the bell louder, but Sindre was still nowhere to be seen. "Anything with historical significance like that is generally not permitted for loaning. Are you sure there are no substitutions for the item?"
"I'm sure. It has to be silver, and it has to be from the House of Light. But… I guess I could use anything. A ceremonial coin, or a pendant, maybe. Even a chalice or something would work."
"Hmm. Well, if Sindre ever bothers to show up, I think that will open up some more options." Fontn irritably smacked the bell against the desk surface. "For the love of the gods, I am not paying him to sit around and-"
"Who is making so much noise out here?!" Sindre bellowed. He threw his office door open, but stopped short when he saw Fontn. "You. Of course."
"I told you to be expecting me here, and to bring one of the anatomy skeletons and the engraved silver medal. So far, you've failed on all three counts. Would you like me to deduct that from your pay now, or shall I hold off, in case you're not done being a disappointment yet?" Fontn threw the bell aside and glared at Sindre. "I have been here for almost ten minutes."
"And I know damn well you haven't got that much time left in you anyway, you old windbag," Sindre growled. "You pay me next to nothing as it is."
"It will be nothing very soon if you continue to talk without fetching me those items right now." Fontn waved the requisition paper at him. "I said now!"
Sindre looked like he dearly wanted to argue, but he stomped away, muttering to himself. Theo bit her lip, not daring to say anything to either of them.
"I must ask, I was very curious about why you needed all of these things," Fontn remarked. "Of course you don't have to tell me, but if it might pose a safety threat to you or anyone at the College-"
"It's safe," Theo lied. "I just found an old booklet at the library earlier about… um, plating bone with gold. My sister is an acolyte at the House and I thought I could make her a little necklace out of her baby teeth with a pendant engraved with the inscription from the medal. It's the kind of weird little thing she'd like, but I need to practice on something bigger than a tooth first." In truth, Theo had no idea if the bizarre recipe poem she had found in her book would even do anything, or if she had interpreted it correctly, but she'd decided to try anyway. Fontn didn't need to know.
"Oh, you could have just told me it was personal." Fontn shrugged and looked around for Sindre again. "Well that answers all of my questions. Alright, here he comes. Looks like he's got a couple of different things for you to look at."
"Unfortunately, the exact medal you asked for is being re-etched and restored," Sindre huffed as he came back with several boxes. "I cannot lend it out until the process is finished, which might take a month or more. In the meantime, here are some artifacts of similar composition with different markings."
The first box held a gold medallion on a matching chain. Theo carefully opened the glass cover and set it aside. The natural light from the open skylight caught the details of the casting beautifully.
"This is a rather valuable piece. Solid gold, possibly upwards of three hundred years old. The engravings are in the common speech, and in excellent condition."
Sindre picked up the second box and opened it himself. "Here is the one I would prefer that you took, a lead medallion with the standard Blessing written on it. It's not perfectly preserved, but it is useable."
"Hmm." Theo picked up the third box. A silver ring lay on the white cushion inside. "Um, is this plain or marked?"
"It was marked, at some point. I think the engravings are still visible… oh dear. Maybe not." Sindre shrugged and covered the box again. "I'm not even sure if this was from the House or not. Documentation said it was found at the same site… Well, it was an alternative."
The last box contained a silver cup. A long heavy chain was looped through the handle. Theo turned it over in her hands, examining the intricate script around the base and rim. "What's this from?"
"It's a fairly modern satoire necklace; I believe it was donated from the House several years ago. The Ministers wear them as a temperance symbol. Anyway, here are your choices. I will have whichever one you choose brought to you in a day or so." Sindre put all of the lids back on the boxes and stacked them up. "Here is your… skeleton as well. Do take good care of it."
"I will," Theo promised. "Is it okay if I don't pick one of the artifacts right now?"
"Of course. Just come back by the end of today and tell me which one you want. I've heard that the teams are very busy as of late." Sindre shot an irritable glare at Fontn, who was dozing off on one of the desks nearby. "Evidently no one has told him that this is not a place to sleep."
Theo didn't know what to say to that, so she just shrugged noncommittally and unwrapped the folded cloth package containing the skeleton. All of the pieces were there, and the smallest bones were in a tiny wooden box. "Thank you. I'll be back when today's lab session is over."
"That is fine. Just do me a favor and don't bring him along," Sindre muttered.
When she returned to the lab, the prepwork was already finished and the team leaders were trying to run a demonstration lecture. There were already several shattered frostbolts melting on one of the walls, and Theo took the farthest seat she could find.
"We've done some good work so far but obviously there's some room for improvement- Creaam, just stop making noise. Just stop." Sheer threw his sheaf of papers down on the desk and took a deep breath. "Oh my gods. Anyway, the issue here is that the resulting shards aren't really as good quality as the original ones that were mined. But I think we can try to trigger a second round of explosions that generate the right heat and pressure to improve them if needed."
Fahsil opened a glass case in front of him and took out some of the cloudy void shards. "As you can see, these are basically unusable. It's going to take some time, but for now we need to concentrate on fusing these two inferior results into one seamless whole."
"That shouldn't be too hard for you," Tomol said innocently. "It's basically what you do to your eyebrows, right?"
Fahsil reached for his void edge. Theo looked at the two cryomancers and decided, for the second time that week, to run for cover.
