An average work day

    The weather out side the slime lab was frightful, but inside it was delightful and the necromancer had no where else to go , so he was ok with the snow. His mount was parked in the stable next door, burrowed in a large bale of hay, and now Setsuna had all day to get his work done. At the moment he was making sure none of the slimes were to cold, all he needed was Uta to blame him for the new creation of slimecicles. Worse she could want to market the idea. Either way it was best for now that he continued to check temperatures and make sure all was good.

Yeowang knocks on the door, then enters. She has not before been to the slime lab, and even now seems hesitant. "Good morning," she begins. "My name is Yeowang, and I'm trying to get an idea of the economic strength of the organizations players have set up. Most of what I've reviewed has been pretty straightforward, but this place ..." She eyes the sign: 'The Royal Society for the Appreciation and Study of Gelatinous Creatures'. "...I'm not sure what this place is at all. Looking around outside, I noted you're part of the Peko ranch, but there's not much here to do with pekos." She lets a questioning silence hang as she watches Setsuna critically.

    Setsuna was taking the temperature of the slime at the moment , which means he was putting his gloved fingers into every slime, counting 3 hp ticks , and nodding his head and moving along. He really misses thermometers. " Sure Uta you can take the holidays off , I got it. Oh wait I don't have magic medical scan that you doctors get so I have to do it all the ..." The bell on the door to the slime lab rings and Setsuna looks up as he still has two fingers in a slime. " Oh um welcome. The owner is out at the moment but I can do my best to assist you. " It takes a moment before he feels a little stronger bite of pain on his fingers realizing the slime had dissolved the gloves. " Damn it." Pulling his fingers out he removes the destroyed glove and looks back up. " This is the lab to study all things related to slime. We are not directly affiliated with the Peko Ranch. If you have business with them you need to find Rylen. "

Yeowang has never before seen a man putting his finger into a slime, and she just stands there for a moment, not sure how to react. Then he's taking HP damage, and he's explaining, sort of. "Why would you want to study things related to slime?" she asks incredulously after a brief pause. She looks around, and she can see all the slime-related paraphenalia, but the /why/ still fills her with confusion. "Do you not understand the situation we're all in very well?" she wonders. But then, perhaps this is some great subterfuge? Well, she can't ask about it directly, can she? So, she sticks with the direct questions, hoping to work out some of the answers sideways. "So, what about slimes do you study?" she asks.

    Setsuna hears the questions and any attempt at keeping a smile on for the customer is washed away with the second question, however he does try to maintain politeness. " I am aware that I am in a digital world where magic exist and the laws of this faux reality is a mystery made up by some mad man and protected by some system. Which is why studying monsters is important. " As he talks he walks over to a different set of slimes, first dipping his hurt hand into one and it still takes his hp but he seems to be expecting it. "For example slimes can take on the properties of items that one absorbs. This can lead to interesting results, like a wyvern slime that can't fly. However it has scales that can still be used for armor and weapon creation." Moving his hand from one slime to another , this time his hp seems to recover as the signs of healing appear around the burns. " Or a slime that can sterilize anything given to it and another that can heal ."

Yeowang boggles as Setsuna uses the various slimes to do ... whatever it is he is doing. As the smile fades and the stern description makes clear that Setsuna does, in fact, understand the situation, she is forced to nod. As for studying monsters, and slimes in particular goes, she can only shrug. She asks, "What grand discoveries have you made, then, that will benefit players?" she wonders. The description of slimes' properties is ... interesting, but there has to be a purpose, right?

    Setsuna blinks and then looks down at the slime healing his hand and then back up at the visitor. " Well as I just mentioned I have a slime here that sterilizes any object placed in it, and I have a slime here that can heal anything it touches. Both of those are rather grand, considering the majority of monsters would instead dirty or corrupt an item and in the year of time I have been here I have never seen a monster heal adventurers naturally. " Removing his hand from the slime he takes a towel and wipes his hands. " I don't know what you are hoping for at the moment but both those are pretty important discoveries. Especially as the game continues to throw things at us that will damage our cosmosphere. " Taking a moment he looks around at the other slimes, " We have slimes that have taken on the natures of other animals, we have slimes that have taken on the natures of the elements. We have created a massively important testing environment for all monsters. " Suddenly stops and looks back at Yeowang, " Who do you work for again that I am trying to justify all this too? "

Yeowang introduces herself properly when Setsuna challenges her. "I am Yeowang of Grandeur, in the New World Alliance," she states. "And while those are quite worthwhile discoveries, I agree, I have not before heard of them. Nor have most players. So I would hesitate to call them grand discoveries. So, you have discovered useful properties of slimes, then, that's a good thing," she agrees. "But I sense there is some complication that makes public dissemination not yet appropriate? Are there side effects? Or are you simply not in a position to put forward your discoveries, perhaps?"

    Setsuna hears the guild and alliance and sighs with annoyance, "Of course you are." The necromancer moves on pass returning the curtesy as he is already being grilled again. At the question about sharing the discovery he looks at the tabby slime within arm reach and considers many things. " Yeowang was it? You sound like one of the professors at the university I attended. Prove your worth or get the hell out. Are you eeking results to close us down? Do you have that kind of power? I doubt it, especially on this island." Picking up the tabby slime into his arms as if it was any other house cat he even pets it for a moment or two before he considers. " Since you have came here you have seemed to be going around the topic of saying we are wasting our time here, so I am curious what brings you here Yeowang of Grandeur."

There is a sudden hurling-open of a nearby door, as if to facilitate the most dramatic of entrances. A chilling draft howls in through the open portal, as a flash of distant lightning, a rare sight in winter, briefly casts the figure in the doorframe in a decidedly ominous silhouette.

"I," Prophylaxis of the Scale Emblem Alliance declares, "Have arrived with a proposal!"

There's a beat as the defacto day-to-day leader of the alliance peers around the room until he finds what he's looking for. Or rather, who he's looking for. "Setsuna," he says, "Where is Uta? I wish to determine if slimes can be made to produce specialty medicine."

He turns and finds Yeowang then, and cants his head curiously. "...Ah. Hello to you too."

Yeowang winces at Setsuna's reaction to Grandeur and NWA, and sighs. "And our actions do us little credit, I am aware," she says. "Which is why I am doing what I am doing, trying to find out what is going on in the greater community." As for the tone of grilling Setsuna, she can't help that. She's been a corporate lead for so long, the attitude is ingrained. As far as the power to shut the lab down, she laughs dismissively. "Of course I don't have that sort of power. I am here, as I said before, to seek out and learn what people are doing, so that we can bring benefits to all of Yamato. I am not saying you are wasting your time, I am simply inquiring how you are using it. It /is/ unconventional, I think you will agree, and as such warrants some extra explanation. Or are slimes an ubiquitous part of games? It sounds like you have found some good things, but not shared them. I /can/ help you do that, if that's your goal. I organized the Red Chain organization that will help Landers after the waves," she gives some of her recent accomplishments. As far as proving her worth, she replies cooly, "And how would you have me do that?"

"Hello," she replies to Prophylaxis, and she eyes Setsuna, and says, "Now that is the sort of useful property that I am interested in as well. Pure research is well and good, but if you can provide a product, you can benefit many."

    Setsuna wasn't about to throw the tabby slime in Yeowang's face and is only stopped because one of his many bosses in life has walked in. He is also glad to hear it has nothing to do with the Tower Progress Status reports, TPS reports for short. Instead he simply takes the tabby slime and sets it on a counter top and looks at the doctor , " Interesting, however you have to assume that whatever you mix with the slame may take on an acidic characteristic. However we have the cleaning slime and the healing slime now, so who is to say. I will add it to the list Uta keeps. Vertina should provide the ingredients for sake to see if we add the ingredients in the slime, if we can harvest sake. If so it would mean its possible to use Slimes to ferment things. " Setsuna takes a moment leaving the tabby slime on the counter as he was back to the desk that consist of Uta's office and begins to rummage through papers here and there and after minutes of digging he finds several copies of the list and scribbles the note on all of them. " When is she going to hire that office assistant." Looking over at Yeowang it is now clear on what she is after, " If you are here seeking products to distribute you are talking to the wrong person. Uta is in charge of that I simply care for the creatures. You will need to make an appointment with her."

"Hmn, more of the humanitarian information-gathering work that the Lizardman mentioned?" Prophylaxis asks with a quirked brow and a shrug. "Well, it is what it is. Ultimately the decision is Uta's to make, though. This is, after all, her venture."

And woe betide any who would deny the slime mistress ready access to her most beloved creatures.

Setsuna brings up an interesting, if mildly unsettling idea, then. "S...sake slimes...? Would we then drink the slime itself? I mean, I guess Doburoku /is/ a thing... Or maybe if they just excrete it instead? Hmm, that'd make it some kind of... Sake Luwak?"

No, best not to chase that rabbit slime down its slime hole.

"I'll mention it to her," the doctor shrugs, "But using them for fermentation does seem like a useful trait. Drug manufacture would be considerably easier with living reactors."

Yeowang peers at Setsuna as he explains the workings of the slimes in far too much detail for her to keep track of. As he explains that she'll have to work with Uta on anything of that sort, she simply nods, and says, "Very well." And apparently that's the end of it.

She nods as Proph mentions information gathering. "That -is- what I'm trying to do, but I appear to have offended the lab's caretaker." She doesn't sound particularly remorseful. She nods as Proph reiterates that any major decisions are Uta's. She seems about to depart, but Proph's line of questioning makes her curious to hear the answer, and she pauses.

    Setsuna looks at the doctor with the question , "Wasn't there a medicine that came from bread mold? I mean bread can mold pretty quickly, we could always test if a slime primed with bread will mold. If nothing else if the mold can be placed in the slime and become a bigger source to harvest from. Which I suppose is something we should also look into, harvesting the products safely. Could we mass produce healing potions, probably dilluted by running them through slimes?" So many questions it is no wonder that Uta has spent the last six months just studying slimes, there are so many questions about what can be done with them and how they revolutionize so many things. The necromancer falls back to giving the tabby slime attention as he asks, "Will you be providing the base materials?"

"Mm, well there is some history there, you understand," Prophylaxis says, of Setsuna being somewhat testier than expected, "I'm afraid that certain events are still not quite water under the bridge." It's somewhat hard to forgive and forget about the whole Goblin thing, after all.

"You're thinking of Penicillium," the doctor answers, then takes on a thoughtful look, "...I mean, I guess it's possible. I wonder if there's some kind of Penicillium monster we can farm for antibiotics?" /Are/ bacteria even a thing here? "Mass producable healing potions would be nice, though. I'll supply whatever Uta might need, as long as she's willing to remit a portion of the proceeds, should the venture bear fruit."

Yeowang speaks up as Setsuna mentions moldy bread. "Pennicillin, is what you're asking about," she replies, but Proph has said the same thing. "But antibiotics in general seem not to be a thing. Wounds tend to heal without infection in all the cases I've seen, using magic or otherwise. That said, the game designers seem to have put a great deal of realism into other parts of the game, so there may be a use for antibiotics we don't yet know about."

Aaaaaand Proph has basically the same idea she has, with respect for mass-produced healing potions. "Well, it seems Scale and Crescent are well on your way to organizing things without NWA's involvement," she observes with a tone of regret. "We would, or at least -I- would like to work with you two. The goblins are obviously noone's ally, and the person responsible for doing it has been removed from what little authority he held. I am not sure what I can do to earn your trust?"

    Setsu looks at the doctor and then drifts back to the all the IOU's this place has written and is really glad power isn't a thing in this world, else they would owe it. Running dungeons just to pay the bills isn't really how a lab should function but you don't see anyone giving out grants these days do you. " Yep, obviously if their are any proceeds you shall get a cut." If setsuna can convince Uta any of the slimes can be sold, not given as gifts, not borrowed, but sold then yes potential proceeds. Taking a moment he scoops the tabby slime off the counter and puts it back in it's cage and checks off a check list, 'Gave Tabby Slime attention'. Casting a glance over towards Yeowang he adds, " Sides you never know when healing will need to be more real. Oh Doc have you seen the healing and cleaning slimes?" Finally he adds, " Again I can not make any deals with the Slime lab, whether I wish to or not. You will have to take it up with Uta when she returns. Otherwise I can leave her a message like I am doing for the doctor. "

"You never know. There may be a monster out there somewhere that likes to spread stacks of <<disease>>, and even if bacteria isn't really a /thing/ here, penicillin or something like it might still have properties of <<remove-disease>> or <<disease-resistance>> or something of the sort. It's still a potentially valuable avenue of research." Of course, that is all still dependent on a very, very long list of 'ifs.'

He arches a brow at Yeowang, then. "Hm, it's not so much a question of 'trust' on my end, and I certainly would not object to a greater distribution network for medicine and the like. I think we are just of the opinion that we need to see some kind of 'result' from the NWA's outreach efforts first. Or rather, that they are negotiating from a position where there's already a significant amount of groundwork done, and something of a logistics or information network already in place. In other words, it's a matter of putting the cart before the horse? Though I may be incorrect in that regard, if you all do already have that groundwork done then that's a different story. Nevertheless! I'd not object to cooperation, but I want to know that there's a material benefit from doing so. Minimize risk, maximize profit, you know? Now, if you'd like some kind of investment, I think that could be arranged, pending negotiations and the like. I think there's a deal to be made here, but in this case... Hm."

He gestures towards Setsuna, "In /this particular/ case, I think you're dealing with an independent proprietorship, tangentially related to the Alliance system. Setsuna and Uta may be members of the Scale and Olympus, but I don't think this laboratory is directly tied to either Alliance. Do you have any documentation on hand about what kinds of services your initiative will provide? It may be worthwhile to give for Uta's review."

But then, there is a Setsuna here as well. "I've only heard of them so far, but if they can be coralled and kept from being too injurious, a few of those slimes could be useful to have around. Especially once we start cleaning up Karluin."

Yeowang nods as Setsuna reiterates his admonition to speak with Uta. "I will," she agrees. As to healing getting more real, she observes, "That may happen." Prophylaxis's speculation about <<disease>> draws a nod, that was what she was thinking. "I do know that I have not pulled a muscle or strained a joint since I've been here. That's atypical for a year to go by with nothing, as solid as my training may be. Any injuries are generally treated by magic." She doesn't sound /pleased/ to say that. "It seems like, in that one regard, healing has been entirely subsumed by magic, where nearly everything else can be dupicated by mundane effort as long as your knowledge of the task is sufficient."

As to whatever groundwork she's done, she can only reply, "If you mean a humanitarian group with global outreach, the Red Chain is such an organization. We are still somewhat limited in scope because we've olny got so many resources, but we plan to expand it as much as we can as quickly as we can. The Red Chain is, we plan, this world's version of the Red Cross. So far, only a few medical people and one ship, but with a decent supply and logistics backtrail." Because she's organizing it.

Quick-Feather Ranch was one of Kauchemar's usual places to freeload so it's not much of a surprise to see the Nightmare Were Fang make her way across the field and into the barns. Along with the bellow of "MAIL CALL" that can be heard as clear as if she was standing in the same room as you. Oh, sounds like she's actually about on business this time. She makes her way along, handing off letters and small parcels to various workers, making sure a few are taken by someone that will make sure it gets to Rylen.

Eventually she trots into the Slime Lab proper, catching the ends of the current conversation as she enters. "I'm pretty certain the lab is an independant operation that just has the support of the Alliances and it's members. Much like the multi-Alliance libraries." She makes a brief face at the mention of libraries, then shakes it off. "Uta must be out looking for new things to prime slimes with."

    "Uta is out being Uta, and that is all that I really know." Setsuna says looking at the people before he moves over to continue his work in the background for the moment. He was going to be busy in the back for a few as he continues to listen in. He didn't want to get stuck here snowed in...again.

Don't worry Setsuna, there's no 'getting snowed in' when Doctor Prophylaxis is on the job! In sleet and snow and rain and bullets, the medicine will get delivered. It just might involve more fireballs than normal, is all.

"Well, Medical Practice does get more 'real' when the system's usual protections are suspended. In those cases, a surgeon's or physician's expertise is absolutely necessary in order to save lives. Fortunately, such instances have been few and far between so far, but they /have/ cropped up, and may do so in greater frequency in the future."

In which case, there will be a need for more doctors.

...Perhaps there's something he should do about that, in the future. Hm.

"Well, I've certainly got no shortage of respect for the Red Cross and its sister organizations," the doctor says with a shrug. "If you need any supplies or expertise, please let me know. Have you picked up my book? It's a very handy reference resource!"

Beat.

Oh, there's a Kauchemar. Hi Kauchemar!

Yeowang looks up as Kauchemar arrives, and seems impressed. "You have mail delivery set up, impressive infrastructure." As Setsuna makes himself busy in the back, she turns to Prophylaxis and hrms abbout system protections. That's not a thing she's familiar with. But she absolutely agrees with the need for doctors. She nods about Proph's book, though she says, "We've only got one of the common editions without the special illustrations." As far as supplies and expertise, she says, "I'm sure both will be in need come the next wave. We were not in time for the last one, unfortunately."

Kauchemar briefly bows towards Yeowang. "Dark Pony Express, at your service... But since Landers don't use Chimlinks and there's always parcels and such needing to get around, there is never a lack of things to do." A pause, and she smirks a bit. "Plus it's the best way to keep a finger on the pulse of rumors and such. Never know when something useful might come from the seemingly idle chatter of the peoples."

She shrugs. "Anyways, I have a fe--" Kauchemar is interrupted by the letters she's holding being snatched by a bounding Tabby Slime that wibble wobble womps it's way off through the lab. "--Well, I was going to give those to Setsuna, but I guess this is why he's always getting beat out for Employee of the Month."

Uta bursts into the room. Without waiting, without looking, she tosses herself to the ground, kowtowing into the tightest ball of contrition, wings flattened against her back.

"I'm sorry, Gwen, I'm sorry!", she sobs, almost choking on her words. "I have been a terrible person and I've destroyed your creations during my Strange Mood, and I broke you, and... and..."

She looks up, tears streaming out of her eyes, down her cheeks, and dripping from her chin.

"Uh..."

She sniffs, and looks around, voice still cracked by emotion. "...Oh, you've redecorated the Chain Mail Bikini Plus One, Gwen? I... I like what you've done with the place."

She dries her eyes with her gloved forearm, sniffs again, and- blinks.

"Uh, hi, folks!"

She blinks and looks around once more. "...Where is Gwen?", she asks, tip of her index finger on her lips.

Lin is pleased to get to the slime lab. Not because of the chaos that's probably clearly audible from outside, but because it's still winter and his coat is *still* missing a sleeve. The last month has been overwhelmingly busy and, finally, he's getting around to other things on his checklist. He fumbles through some of the pages in his spellbook and gets to a small checklist at the back. 'Inspect Slime Page' - ready to be checked off. "Hi!" The Pooka bounces in, gleeful to be away from the season's cold.

"... Wow, that's getting turned around even for you, Uta." Kauchemar remarks as she trots over and grabs Uta by the back of her outfit to pick up and put back on her feet. "You've come all the way back around to the Slime Lab. I had some letters for you, but a Tabby Slime ran off with them before Setsuna could collect them."

Yeowang ahhhhs as Kauch explains her role. "I see. That's interesting." She blinks as the deliveries are grabbed by a slime. "They are very eager," she observes. And then Uta bursts in. "Uh...." She's not sure what to say. "This isn't that place," she says. "This is your slime lab. You can tell, there's slimes. The bikini store doesn't have slimes," she points out helpfully. "Also, Gwen's not here."

Lin gets a puzzled look, but a nod of greeting as she waits for the tableaux to sort itself out.

"Oh, just the basic copy? I thought for sure Shibuya's library had one of the deluxe editions," Prophylaxis thinks aloud, then shrugs. "That's fine. I can see about getting a second printing in. I'll see if we still have one lying around. If not, I'm sure I can arrange for something to be provided."

Even if it might mean charging a little bit of money. That's not an obstacle, is it?

But then! An Uta appears!

"Oh, there she is," he says with a smile. "Uta, you've got a guest with a business proposal. A couple, in fact. Have you ever considered specialty medicine-producing slimes?"

Gwen has been busy the holidays had Gwen buried in various gift orders from interesting things for couples to general holiday attire also scarfs so many /scarfs/. She however wanted to catch up with people, and check out the Slime Labs. She'd hoped to locate Uta. she'd worked on something rather hard and hoped it would amuse her slime-loving friend. The towering woman was clad in a white outfit carrying a plushie pink slime under one arm. Her dress the hairstyle the stocking and boots? It's all clearly looking just like Uta. It seems Gwen has come to cosplay as her friend.

"Hey! welcome to the Slime Labs everyone!"

Now there are two ... Uta's?

https://i.imgur.com/HIdrXUv.png

"...I have considered generic slime-based production of /ingredients/ for medicine, but it's one of the projects I was going to persue down the line once a few projects likely to generate a more immediate long term revenue stream would have provided enough funds to finance more advanced research..." She scoots over to Prophylaxis. "But if you're interested in starting this right now, I'm all for it! Improving the world through medicine is my mission- well, /one/ of my missions. There's the part about finding out about the Deep Lore, particularly the Songs, Flight, how events in the real world line up with local events, the origin of the Spriggan and the reasons for them being so Loathed...", she keeps rattling out her to-do list, until she stops abruptly and turns to Lin. "Oh, hi, welcome! What can I do for you?"

And then, when the Sylph walks in, Uta shrieks and jumps back, gaze leveled, intense, stance lowered, with her hands kept straight, palms open ready to deliver karate chops. "YOU WON'T KILL ME SO EASILY, GIRL FROM THE MENU- Wait, Gwen?" She sighs and relaxes. "...gotta admit, you got me there." Rubbing her mouth, she walks around Gwen and, circling, she looks at her up and down. "...Wow, impressive cosplay! It really fooled me there."

And then -- the plush slime is noticed. Uta just freezes, beady eyes glaze over, pupils dilate, and she emits a high-pitched squeal.

Before noticing the slime and BSOD'ing, Uta comments to Yeowang, "Well, looks like Gwen /is/ here, after all..." She taps her chin. "Hmm... bikini slimes..." *she shudders* "...maybe not."

    Setsuna comes out of the back holding a cluck cluck slime and a quacker slime. "Oh good you're here, you have people to listen to. Now don't just agree though , actually listen to what they are saying and think on it. Also make sure you understand that we may have to lose some slimes if you agree. " This is of course all said to Gwen, before handing her the cluck cluck slime. " Somehow this gal got in with the quacker slimes and now I have to sort there eggs so can you hold her as well while I do things. Else the tabby slime will get her. " Yep Setsuna just forced the cluck cluck slime in to Gwen's hands , pushing the plushie off on to the floor, with some practice as if he has had to do this before. " Now then focus, it's a big day that could make the lab money. Also I know you went off to apologize to Gwen but I still think its a situation best left unmentionned. Anyways you have customers and such I am in the back. " With that Setsuna has left Gwen holding the cluck cluck and everything not noticing the Gwen Uta was in fact not the real Uta. It will take him a few minutes to get there.

What did he just step into? There's so much more going on than Lin expected. "I.. uh.. hm. There's a line for business stuff?" His friendly wave slows, then becomes a stationary raised hand. He sees one Uta's face covered in tears. Then another comes in through the door behind him. Lin has immediate second thoughts. Maybe it'd be better to come back later? He shuffles off to the side awkwardly, staring at Gwen in confusion. "I just came to check out that page that triggered your mood. This seems like a bad ti--" He's cut off by Uta's high pitched squeal.

Yeowang hrms to Proph at the mention of Shibuya's library having the high-res version of his book. "Ah, they may," she agrees. "Our alliance is, unfortunately, not very good at cross-communication. But I don't expect we'd be allowed to borrow the copy permanently in any event, so a copy would be welcome." She smirks at a surcharge. But the world works on trade. Provide something of value, you expect to be compensated.

She looks up as yet another person crowds into the lab, and it looks like another Uta. "Wait, what?" Oooooohhhhh. So confusing. Then Uta replies to her, and she realizes who it is. "I spoke too soon, I see." And then, and then .... "This place does get busy, I see," she remarks to no one in particular.

Kauchemar ... "Even I am not going to think about slime bikinis, and I'm typically the Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant." Which gets a neighing laugh out of her at her own dumb word play with the trope. "But look, here's Gwen after all. So you can take care of that business too."

"Hm, well I was thinking that it may be possible for a slime to attune to a finished, but basic, product. It would then be fed the required reagents and some other materials in order to produce copies of said finished product. Like making a Healing Potion Slime, feeding it the necessary ingredients, and then harvesting large quantities of product. Basically, the idea is to remove or improve the 'processing step,' freeing alchemists and pharmacists to make more specialized medicine."

But that may be a pipe dream. Or a slime dream...? But regardless, there is something else to take care of. "I think Yeowang here had a business proposal of her own as well," Prophylaxis says, gesturing at the travelling businesswoman. "I've got to make a few calls about a book, but I'll be taking advantage of your break room while I do that, if that's fine? It's pretty cold out there, and I don't think I want to make a trek all the way back to Alne through this weather."

Gwen notices Uta's response and just grins at her friend and bows slightly to everyone. "Hello to all of you." Gwen will pause for a moment she gets ready to hand the plushie off but then comes Setuna. The plushie tumble to the floor. She'll now have a real slime in her hand and she'll just take a look at it inspecting it. "I am not the menu- girl you are looking for Uta and don't worry about it. She seems very confused at this her cosplay may have worked too well for her. She will run with it if only to help Uta out with this. "Right, I was just a little distracted."

She'll go out to deal with the customer what is the worst that could happen right?

As the stuffed slime hits the ground, Uta's already picking it up and hugging and squeezing it and calling it George Ryu.

Well, ok, not calling it George Ryu, but still.

After a sufficient amount of cuddling and inquiring about who is a good slime, she finally blinks once again and returns to the present place, the present time. "Uh- uh- oh. Yes. Customers! One thing at a time."

She clears her throat. "Slimes seem not to deal well with complex compounds in general, the simpler and more basic something is, the better. Just how complex one can be is the subject of research. But we might look into it, who knows. Even if we can just produce some intermediate component, that might help a lot!"

She turns to Lin, and all businesslike (except for one arm hugging a stuffed slime), she flicks her menu open, and produces a yellowed page. "You are here for that page from the Original Slime Book, right? Here it is," she says, and hands him a yellowed sheet covered in instructions and pictures about how to handle slimes. It's then Yeowang and Kauchemar's turn, "Uh... which one of you was interested in doing business with me, again?"

Before people can answer, she does a very delayed double-take Gwen. "Oh. Oh, right, that's supposed to be me! I didn't get it at first! Uh. Impressive. It-" She returns to look at Yeowang and Kauchemar, but that doesn't last long. Once again, her attention snaps to Gwen. "...say, think you could stand in for me while I have to go around for business? That would be handy."

Yeowang hrms as Proph mentions she had a business proposal for Uta and then Uta asks. "That was me," she explains. "It was just a spur of the moment idea, when your assistant mentioned all the useful slimes you had. The ones that can do things and make things, they'd be quite useful to people," she says, "So I was wondering if you had a plan to distribute them. For money, of course," she adds, as the subject of expenses had come up.

Gwen, she has no idea what she's up to, so just kind of keeps a wary eye in her direction.

"Healing slimes sound really useful. Can slimes really replicate anything? I've got some weird monster drops that would be really useful to have more of." Lin brightens up and joins the discussion of alchemical slimes. When Uta clears some of the mysteries up, he furrows his brow. "How complex is complex? I mean, there's a lot of complex stuff in a single plant. Isn't there?"

Receiving the page from the Original Slime Book realigns Lin's interests. He squints carefully at it and shuffles over to a table. He lays his book down and starts to scribble in an already crowded page.

"It's a very convincing disguise," Kauchemar just plays along, "But I don't think Gwen could fool anyone for very long trying to -act- like you, Uta. You are very.... unique." But other than the wry comments she stays out of the way of actual business.

Gwen grins at UIta as she gets to work with her customs an the Stuffed slime is pretty much the hit with her she'd hoped it would be. She'll look to Yeowang for a moment thinking at what she said for a moment "That could be a very good idea though would you might need to talk about contracts in relation to breeding them after purchase after all. Though I think Uta cna handle it!" She looks to uta. "Unless you wish I the menu girl to make sure the deal goes smoothly?"

Uta replies, "The exact details of what slimes can replicate is still the subject of future research, but in general, they don't work like all-purpose 3D printers; they more like, remain acidic blobby little balls of hunger which happen to take on /traits/ of whatever you feed to them. That said, there is a lot we don't know, and future research might provide further insight into this. Which is why I am-"

Spin on one foot, she's now facing Yeowang. "-indeed /looking/ for a distribution network for my two latest creations, the Scrubber slimes, and the Healing slimes. I'm hoping to raise some funds while, at the same time, spread awareness about Our Gelatinous Pals Who's Fun To Be With. I am sure, Yeowang, that we could reach a mutual agreement there." She's subconsciously rubbing her hands in such a way one can hear the ka-ching cash register sound effect going off in her head.

She taps her chin. Finger raised, she suggests to both Gwen and Kauchemar. "You know what? You gave me an idea. We should make that the official uniform of the slime lab. Probably a different color depending on rank or something. White with black trimmings would be top rank, of course. As for what the bottom ranking color is... uh... I don't know, just ask Setsuna what color he likes."

She gestures towards Prophylaxis. "Feel free to settle here for the night. We have a couple of futons in the closet there," she gestures towards a sliding-door closet embedded in a wall. "I can go sleep in my traveler's cart."

Settled at the table, Lin flips open his menu and retrieves a set of overly complicated goggles from his inventory. He stares at the page through them, raising and lowering lenses while squinting at all the text. Is it a treasure map? Doubtful, but it's worth looking at anyway. Those national treasures won't steal themselves. The Pooka flips a page and continues scribbling. "So does that mean it's a hundred percent literal in what they copy? Or is this like a Platonic essence kind of thing?" An idle question thrown out to the room as he stares intently at Uta's page. Ultimately, he looks a little disappointed by it.

Yeowang nods warily to Gwen. "Of course there will be contracts," she says. "There's -always- contracts," she says, a tad wearily. "Er, how will you make sure the deal goes smoothly?" When Uta turns to face her, she listens and nods thoughtfully. Scrubber slimes and healing slimes?" she repeats. "And are there any complications people should know about? What to feed them, what to do and not to do, that sort of thing?" Because she's getting to know Uta and her level of attention to detail. "I think we can definitely set up a market for them," she agrees, and you should indeed see a return for your slime investment."

"Once a Slime is primed with an aspect they can eat almost anything and it won't effect.... what they are, for lack of better." Kauchemar isn't the slime expert but she's general monster savvy enough to know that. "Part of the cleaning slime's effectiveness is they just eat most of it, so there's less disposal afterwards."

Gwen at the idea of an offical uniform for the labs Gwen lights up like a Christmas tree. "I like this idea I will be happy to take this job Uta my dear slime wrangling sister!" Gwen's still a bit too in character down to being a little confused is Uta congatious she just might be...

"There is a lot of research still to be done on that, Lin...", Uta begins. "But they seem to specifically take on some traits of the species when fed biological samples. If DNA is still a thing in this game, which we don't know whether it is or not, they might be extracting some specific sequences from that. What we know is that they don't copy an individual specifically; they tend to go for species. Attempting to copy a Were Fang will result in them taking on traits of the monster form. And attempting to copy some very special creatures..." Silence. "...doesn't work."

Uta replies to Yeowang, "Contracts do not scare me. Turns out I'm capable of writing and deciphering them in this world. Ability readjustment while connected, another of those confusingly spooky and amazing traits of ETO." Uta chuckles. "What do you mean with 'make sure the deal goes smoothly?'" She nods at Kauchemar, "She is, indeed, right. Slimes will eat almost anything, require very little care, and being bottom-rung level monsters require minimal Monster Handling skills. Your two main concerns will be keeping them away by untrained people, and finding trained people to properly use them. Hmmm." She taps her chin. "Maybe we could also arrange a tie-in with the Peko Ranch's Monster Handling services... they rent out some of their Monster Handlers for a day of scrubbing a place down with Scrubber slimes, we provide the slimes, we both get paid... win-win."

Lin lacks any kind of monster savvy beyond 'apply lightning bolts directly to Monster'. The finer points of slime priming are beyond him. He nods distractedly, scribbling in his book, then snaps it shut. "If steam power actually works then DNA might be real. But if that's the case, what do Were Fangs have, and how does the tattoo alter it? We're generating questions faster than we can even come up with single answers." The Pooka wrinkles his nose and hands Uta her page back. When the discussion turns to ways of profiting from slimes, looks thoughtful. "This might be stupid, but what if you feed money to a slime? Can they make more? That could fund everything you want to do."

Yeowang nods to not-scared-of-contracts Uta. "Excellent. And good to know about slimes being low-maintenance. I still think a pamphlet telling people, perhaps, /how much/ to feed it, what to keep it in, and so forth, might be useful. And how to use a healing slime. Mix it in water, then use the drained water? Do you handle the slime directly for healing? That sort of thing. For the less-skilled Monster Handlers."

"Wait, what, Gwen?", Uta adds. "I mean, I know I've been 'adopted' by your family but-- I thought this made me your adoptive sibling at best -- I didn't know it would get as precise as making me your /twin/!" She doesn't look like she dislikes this -- she just looks... confused. Brow knitted and all.

Gwen is backing down a bit and finally will set the slime down somewhere safe and she looks to Liun and ponders "Steam Engine slimes? I'm not sure that would work." She looks to uta for a momewnt she knows she's a secondary player she snicklers for a moment. "Twin? I just thought this might be fun! I'd been doing orders for a holidays for the last three weeks before christmas or cooking I neede to unwind."

Kauchemar rubs her neck with one hand when the Were Fang tattoos are mentioned, since that's where she bears one of a snorting equine. "I'll be honest, -as- a Were Fang, I thought the tattoo was just an indicator of Monster species rather than something that determines it." Then goes to cusp the other hand to her chin in a thinking pose afterwards. "There's also Were Fangs in one of the settlements on a Tower Floor that do -not- have tattoos."

"Like a medication package insert, but for slimes?", Uta says in response to Yeowang. "Can do! Will /absolutely/ do. To avoid lawsuits. Or Adventurers showing up with swords at your door. Or with undead minions. Can't be too caref-"

Slow, slow blinking.

"...So /that/ is why mages always live up in hard-to-reach towers!", she exclaims, punching the palm of her hand. "That explains soooooooooooooo much!"

"According to the story, which might or might not be accurate, the tattoo is more so the Landers can immediately tell a Were Fang even when in human form? I'm not sure how /needed/ it is, but my impression was that it has always been theoretically possible to make Were Fangs without a tattoo?" There is some thinking. "Although Spahtjahr /did/ mention that what we know are 'Were Fang Ausfuehrung Zwei'..." the German from Uta translates as something like 'Were Fang issue 2' or 'Were Fang MK II', or 'Were Fang version 2'. "Maybe they're earlier protototypes, it would be... hey, can someone check exactly what kind of monsters they are? If they are made from different monsters than the Were Fangs we know? Spahtjahr did mention they were different in their 'Uerspruengliche Versammlung'... probably something like... 'original assembly?' or 'original composition'?"

"Very appreciated, Gwen!", Uta says with a smile. "They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and, well, I'm a big fan of yours, and that's why I've dressed like you!" She frowns. "...I think. I'm a bit confused about the whole story."

"I doubt feeding money would work. You'd probably have a... metal slime, depending on what coin you feed it. Still, if we could extract gold from a gold slime... hmmm..." She shakes her head. "...Someone would have done it already. And besides, it'd crash the economy."

Yeowang arches a brow to Kauchemar. "A werefang without tattoos? Do they not shift?" she wonders. "Or ... I have no idea how werefangs work. Or any of the non-humam races, I suppose, which is why I chose human." She nods to Uta, smirking as she draws her conclusions. "Indeed," she says simply and leaves it at that. "And now, I will depart, to make what arrangements must be made." That said, she will depart out into the weather.

"A werefang without tattoos? That's pretty wild. I figured they were required and were evidence of reusable enchantments." Lin muses a little further on the nature of werefangs. He looks to Kauchemar, "Can I ask where that settlement is? They might have something the tower mages don't." The Pooka grabs his book and flips to a page at the back. It's getting very crowded in that notebook, but he finds space to scribble more theories down.

Kauchemar mmms. "I believe it was 2 or 3 or so. A year passed seems like such a long time ago... Slight bit terrifying, that." She shrugs. "Be careful if you go poking around Tower Floor settlements, most of the inhabitants have never seen or even heard of the world outside their little domain before Adventurers came along."

Gwen looks to Kauchemar and think for a moment at the bard. "Aye it's getting worse I'm not sure I'm going to go to floor ten. I know how it went when this was just a game...That aside do you do commision Kauchemar?"

Kauchemar raises a brow at Gwen. "Depends on what you're talking about by commission my dear."

"Honestly, I haven't looked into the settlements much. I saw a couple of empty ones on one floor and it was kind of weird." Lin says to Kauchemar while finishing his notes. He snaps his book shut again and looks to Gwen to hear about the commission.

Gwen says "Music I need to get a add for my shop after all!" She looks ove to Lin for a moment. "Some floors have people some don't."

Kauchemar snaps her fingers. "Ah! A jingle is what you want, is it? Why I am quite certain we can work out something." Considering how much Song has influence in this world, yes...

Lin laughs. "Do you think you could teach it to the Landers? I never made much progress on that."