Per Aspera Ad Astra

The Curse of Their Name still looms large on the whole Spriggan race. Doomed to no respite from the whispers, the whispers in the Darkness they call home.

"Traitors." - "Murderers." - "Wicked."

And others, that shall not be repeated in polite company. But we don't consider those. Anyway, if we add to the syllogism that there is no rest for the wicked, it follows logically that there is no rest for the Spriggan. Let's look at Uta for a textbook example: she is sleepily scribbling away at her desk, coughing a little at the fumes of some medical experiments which are underway. Her notes are still organized with maniacal precision, and apart from a few specimens of Tabby Slime in the Enriched Behavioural Study Environment (it's -not- a playground! It's an /Enriched Environment/!), all other slimes are neatly stored into glass vats.

She rubs her eyes, tired. "Oh goodness me... I really need some sleep but... I must finish these reports by tomorrow..." She sighs, "All while subsisting on a steady diet of menu food and mushrooms."

Well, that explains how she managed to pull the recent all-nighter. "...Coupled with the fumes, I think I'm starting to smell Time Itself..."

This shows that Musical Kung-Fu Nursing is not a full time job: it's -three- full time jobs, to be crammed into the space of one full time job, so one has to optimaze and get multiple things done at once. And among those things, it's inviting Gwen over, so she can be supervised during her Magical Training.

...How dare you even -suggest- that Uta did this to score real-tasting snacks? How DARE you?

I mean, it's not wrong, but still, how DARE you?

Gwen has been working with her magic, she's got a bit better at it so far and today she's wearing her mystic knight outfit. She feels it's suitable for this visit. OOC https://i.imgur.com/DSsOOi6.jpg. It is for a class that's heavily about magic after all. She hasn't been to the ranch in ages and was comming to one check up on Uta, two deliver a few things and see what Uta might have forsale. What could go wrong with a simple visit, right?

Haru is akin to a clockwork prince in that there is a schedule and said schedule is used to keep everything that needs to be done, done. For one that extols Freedom so much, it is ironic that he uses the confines of Order to keep his life in balance. Yet it is that which brings him to Slime Labs. His work on Enchanted Glass has many applications. One such application is for Slime Labs' vats for the more unruly Slimes. A couple of experimental vats were installed months ago and Haru is stopping by to check in on them.

It is not too uncommon to see Uta running on fumes. They share that. "Uta," he half scolds like the trope of the class rep, "are you getting enough sleep?" Correction: Haru is nagging now. He rubs his forehead, considering, then noticing Gwen and the 'outfit'. Fashion. "Ah. You requested help. Wise. It is important to ask for the assistance of your allies, so that you do not drown in your burdens by youself. A lesson I learned well from you." Well, that would be true if it wasn't for Gwen getting help from Uta. Misdunderstandings, ho!

"The answer to that, dear brother, is 'I have deadlines'. You get one attempt at slotting that into either a 'yes' or a 'no.", Uta replies to the question about whether she's getting enough sleep.

"I need all the help I can take," she then blurts out, unsure of what exactly she's saying at this point. "And yes, I can take a lot of help at the moment." She turns to Gwen. "Thanks for stopping by by the way, Gwen. I know how busy you are these days, just as I am," she begins, "but it is vital that when one begins a Magic training, practice is kept up, daily, regularly. Under proper supervision. Spotting is vital to avoid the roll of shame."

The roll of shame.

Nobody wants to be caught rolling dice that failed more than once in a row.

Uta sighs with relief, "But now that you're here, I feel reassured." She notices one of her bottles on a bunsen burner bubbling, and with a swift movement of her tongs, she grabs its elongated neck, and pours the contents into an Erlenmeyer flask. "There is only one thing that remains to be established."

She turns to Gwen. "Please remind me, which one of us is undergoing the Magic training and who's supervising?"

Gwen looks to Uta and then to Haru. "Yes I have been don't worry and I have come here for some help..." She looks a bit embrassed at Haru talking about the lesson he learned from her. Still she's in a good mood. She's bouncing in place a bit and then casts a spell to float off the ground, she'll cross her legs sitting there grinning from ear to ear.

"I did, I was looking for certain spell materials which your slimes produce, I wanted to talk to you about that and you are helping me Uta with my magic training..."

Haru does the whole 'yes, my friend has attempted to bake me a cake and burned my kitchen down' face before taking a deep breath and exhaling. Of course Uta hasn't been sleeping. Pointing that out isn't going to help anything. "I'll help," he says. What is needed is support. Haru makes time for that. The other people on his schedule can eat crow. He starts out by looking for the clip board of Slime Lab errands and snagging the short list, looking it over in a very Ayame fashion. Elegance!

"You are looking for Slime Juice for Magical Training," Haru asks Gwen as he looks over with his one blue eye. He has watched anime. HE KNOWS WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE! Next up is the Eas Lake monster. What kind of training is this? Magical girl training. He blinks. By Elder Tale Logic, that probably would work with the Goddesses. He flips a page. Making a note here, huge success.

"...maybe if I turn this into a death game between slimes, reviewers will go easy on me..." She rubs her eyes. "No, no, this is not working. I need a break. Deadlines or no deadlines."

Her clipboard is placed on the desk, and the burner turned off. "Thank you, dear brother," she says to Haru, before turning to the opposite side of the slime labs with respect to where Gwen is sitting. "Sure, I-"

Silence.

180 degrees turn. Face Gwen. "Sure, I will be glad to tell Haru to get you the ingredients."

Turn to Haru. "Haru, can you please get Gwen some materials?"

The things we delegate for friends!

Gwen floats there grnning and then looks to Haru and Uta. "I think I'm getting the hang of of this. I'm having fun." She will watch uta for a moment. "So just what are you working on anyway Uta? Sounds like you have a project of your own going on."

Haru flips through the pages. Two globs of Fire Slime phlematons. One ball of Water Slime gelatiniskin. Earth Slime... ACID?! Haru keeps a good poker face on as he goes through the list. "Yes," he tells Uta as he navigates the Lab to where the storage lockers are located. There is the sound of rustling glass jars. The clank of metal. The sound of a chainsaw? The roar of a fire?!

Eventually Haru returns with a small box that does not befit the previous sound effects. "You have renewed your Church insurance, correct, Gwen?" he asks deadpan, putting the box on the table. What is a little memory loss between friends... right?

"Trying to improve the composition of painkillers. Minimize ingredient impact. Them getting used all over the place is draining already scarce ingredients," Uta explains. "Also looking for a cure for the Slime Flu. Not going well so far."

In the background, there is a squeaky sneeze, and the glass of a specific vat marked 'QUARANTINE' is sprayed in goo.

"Gesundheit," Uta replies, without skipping a beat. The tiniest sniff follows.

"Also, more importantly, you have signed the standard liability waiver before entering the Slime Labs, right?"

It might not be a widely known fact, but as a Godhand, Uta is trained in Law.

Gwen says "Oh is there anything I can do to help with that and Slime flu?" She looks curious as she see the vat and nods for a moment.

"Wait what there's a waiver to enter here?" Gwen looks embrassed ends the floating spell and will stand right up, thinking for a moment. "No but there is something I wanted to show you I'm having some experiance with some new kinds of magic! Watch this!" She starts to chant, golden runes dances about her, and then something goes wrong. Not that Gwen knows it. There's a bright flash of light, she was going to show off her new clothing illusion magic. This backfires, hard. How hard why it looks like Gwen's teleported away and left the most perfect looking slime of unknown type that Uta could ever want or hope for. Gwen talks but it sounds like burbling...thankfully it's an illusion but does Uta know this...?

Haru evokes the evocation of little evocative action. It is the reaction of aproximately 'What just happened' from the Artificer. Slowly a hand moves from his side to touch the side of his silver rimmed monocle. The purple lens lights up to Appraise Slime Gwen. He indeed did 'watch this'. What 'this' is? To be determined!

Illusion spells are usually imperfect; unless one walks the Way of the Hacker, illusions have an aethereal transparency to them, giving them away.

There are two factors to consider in this situation, though.

One, slimes are naturally diaphanous and transparent.

Two, Uta is so pumped up on Interesting Mushrooms that her perception of reality is already leaning heavily towards the artistic side; add to that eye fatigue and medicine fumes, and one can easily guess what comes next.

Which is, Uta stands perfectly still, and does nothing.

"Haru," she finally mutters, through gnashed teeth. "Containment protocol. We need to catch... 'that thing'." Quick flit of her eyes towards Slime Gwen. Then back at Haru. "It might do 'stuff'."

Maybe Haru can easily see through the illusion. Maybe not. But Uta's wording is so generic that she might sound genuinely worried that the spell might be dangerous towards Gwen. Or something else she cannot openly say at the moment. So much room for interpretation.

And by 'interpretation', of course, we mean 'misunderstanding.'

Gwen has an idea something is up she will ask what's going on but all the others hear will be a gurgles and blorps. Gwen does hear Uta and is starting to back away. She's slowly edging for the exit but will she be fast enough to get out of here, who knows what madscience is going to go on now due to this!

Haru is not fast on his own. Know what is? An air sprite the size of a softball. Zip. Zap. Zippiditydo. Blink! The two exchange spaces as Haru closes the exits one. At. A. Time. "Perimeter secured," the Artificer says, dismissing his familiar and pushing up his half-glasses in the process. "The experimental net is ready," he notes. The Option is upon us!

Slam.

As soon as action picks up, and it is clear that Haru has taken care of the door, Uta bolts up, and pulls a massive mechanical lever next to her desk.

Thick slabs of metal drop with clunking sounds, sealing off all the windows, and any other viable exit.

All that is left to illuminate the Slime Labs is the three lava lamps in the corners, the ones with luminous slimes in them.

Well, those, and other odd luminous slimes that happen to be around the area.

"We need to act fast," Uta says, sneaking slowly towards Gwen as if she was a dinosaur handler in a movie about dinosaurs. "Metal can resist being dropped, and can last long enough for short-term containment, but is nowhere as good as glass." No need to explain this to an Accessory Forger, but when you're as obsessed with narrative as Uta is, you occasionally slip into audience exposition mode. "Step one, exhaust and slash or capture slime without damaging it. Step two, find a way to extract Gwen before it's too late." Uta, of course, is worried that the slime might have swallowed Gwen; Gwen herself might or might not understand things this way. But other people might misinterpret it as 'extracting Gwen' from the spell. "Think you can use Dark Magic to drain its energy?" Careful step sideways. "Think your noodle arms have what it takes to cast the net?" More circling around the slime. Glance towards the wall."Think we have enough kibbles to feed it? I think we're running a bit low, and this is a -big- slime!"

Haru motions and sends the four ioun stones out around the Slime Gwen. "You have the right person here for the job. Enchanters excel at debuffing, finding a less violent solution to the situation." The four orbs begin to pulse and pacify. Nothing like a good ole 'Go to sleep' effect or 'Stun' that has been used so many times that it make an EverQuest Enchanter's crowd control a little jelly. "Arms are too noodly for a net. However. I could use an enchanted glass prison in a pinch." Stained Glass Citadelllll.

Gwen is making very paniced sound s she keeps going for the exit but it might not be quick enough to do so with what uta and Haru are up to. Wait sleeping spell? Gwen is too late she'll slump to the floor in a heap and the illusion done the same, a moment later Gwen is caught up in what Haru has done. Someday she will have to ask did these two enjoy this misshap far too much? Who knows because Gwen's out cold for the moment...