Mystic Studies Institute

Doctor Solari tinkered with the leviathan of plastic and metal which rested against the wall of the rather large experimentation chamber. The overly bright and sterile white room was empty except for him, which made Doctor Solari overly aware of his reflection’s movements in one way glass of the observation room just to his left.

He ignored it and continued typing into the small screen mounted on the device in front of him, running diagnostics. The machine was premium. A state of the art device, capable of observing photons, electrons- even the Higgs boson. He had no idea where the institute got the money for these devices, but years of working at university labs made sure Doctor Solari wouldn’t question it. Funding was hard enough to obtain.

He finished his diagnostics. Everything was running perfectly. Hopefully, tomorrow would bring the same news. He stepped gingerly around the massive device towards a contrastingly small table, stacked with everything else he believed he’d need for the experiment to run properly.

Carxanius’s magic was parasitic. He needed to steal it from others. As he checked the item numbers associated with the shipments of potted plants and lab rats, Doctor Solari off handedly hoped the kid wasn’t squeamish.

He finished after about an hour. All he needed now was a doctor’s approval and Carxanius himself.

Dr. Leigha Amerson made her way down the pristine corridor halls to the Testing Wing. She read the shining silver plaques on the doors carefully, until she spotted Examination Room 101. Yes, she believed that was correct. Gently tapping her knuckles against the door before entering, she stepped into the sterile lab-like room. Dr. Solari was already present, and seemed to be dealing with a few instruments and preparations.

"Good evening, Mr. Solari," she said, by way of simple greeting. "I'm here about the approval form, I just need to ask a few questions about the nature of the experimentation." She had her trusted clipboard with her, the front page displaying all of the inquiries and information she needed to conduct the proper approval. She always felt better having a sturdy, solid plan and preparations.

He was startled by the sudden sound of Doctor Amerson's voice, but he recovered quickly and turned away from the small stack of boxes he'd been categorizing. "Oh, hey doctor Amerson," He said easily as he leaned back on one of the boxes. She didn't stick out much in the bleached out room she was standing in. Her expression said she wanted to get down to business immediately- and he was desperate to have his approval forms- so he skipped his usual idle chatter.

"What did you want to know about the experiment?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"To start, a basic overview and intention of the experiment. I also need to look over some of the equipment, and I'll ask a few more specific questions. After that, if all goes well, I'll be able to sign the forms and you can proceed with your testing," she kept her tone professional, that being the way she tackled most things. Dr. Solari had a more....relaxed yet studious air about him, and it caught her off guard.

"Sure," Doctor Solari said, his gaze found its way to the ceiling as he recalled what he'd written earlier- he was too lazy to walk across the examination floor into the observation room to retrieve his notes.

"This experiment is meant to establish a sort of... mathematical baseline for magic. If all goes well, Carxanius will be able to use his parasite to extract magic in its raw form from these plants and animals," he said with a gesture at the crates he was leaning on, some labeled to contain live animals. Lab rats. Another crate sat open near his feet, full of small potted plants.

"When he extracts that magic, for the briefest second, I'll be able to observe it using that machine over there," he said as he pointed with his pen at the massive machine- looking more like abstract wall art than a simple observation device- which rested against the wall across from him. He smiled a little. "The LHO 2. It's an observation device. I'll be able to see how magic affects the subatomic. It shouldn't hurt him."

He paused. "Oh- and any lab rats we use will be sedated. Y'know, for their comfort."

The doctor nodded, writing down a few notes. "That sounds like a most benefical experiment," she said, as she wandered about the examination room. She inspected individual peices of equipment to be used, careful not to damage anything. Equipment was delicate, and rather expensive, after all.

After looking over the equipment, she turned her attention back to Dr. Solari. "Has Carxanius agreed to the experiment?" She asked. "And are you positive no harm will come to him?" Everything thus far had seemed well, sterile lab equipment, a purposeful experiment, and a seemingly harmless procedure. Leigha just had to make sure consent and safety was an element in the experimentation.

"He hasn't written anything, but he said yes this afternoon," Doctor Solari said with a shrug. "I can get an informed consent form for him before he starts."

He looked past Doctor Amerson at the LHO 2. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't chomping at the bit to test it out. He'd never had the opportunity to work with such state of the art tech, even though some of his research helped contribute to its creation. University labs just never seemed to get enough funding to justify such a hefty purchase. Especially for experiments donors considered useless. Apparently, the subatomic offered little profit.

He shifted his gaze back to Doctor Amerson."Excluding some sort of strange or magical phenomena, everything should be safe. The experiment shouldn't deal out any more radiation than a chest x-ray, collectively. I'll have him wearing a lead vest for safety of course. Though, the machine is precise enough that he may not even need it," he said with a smile.

Leigha nodded, taking note of everything Dr. Solari mentioned. “Well, the procedure and equipment all seem safe, I can provide you with a form for Carxanius to sign when he arrives,” she said, having brought the form with her just in case. In most cases, being prepared worked out rather well. She detached the slip of paper from her clipboard and held it out to the scientist, glad she had thought to bring it along.

“I believe all is well, and I will sign the medical approval form now,” she stated, having checked off all of the safety requirements. Safety came first, that she had to remind herself of. Being eager to find the answers...that was a second priority.

“Thanks,” he said as he took the form from her and folded it. “If you want, you can help oversee the experiment with me. I’m sure Carxanius’s vitals will put out some interesting data.“ He put the folded form in the pocket of his lab coat.

“I understand if you’re busy though. I can always send spreadsheets to your office,” he said.

Leigha considered the prospect, it would certainly provide her with valuable data... She thought about the work she had to do, weighing her options carefully. She had a few things to look over, and one or two files to update. It was nothing much, and she could take care of it in an hour or so. It wasn’t urgent, either.

“I think I’ll take you up on the offer,” she said, a hint of a smile on her face. “Thank you for providing me with the opportunity. Though...in any case, the spreadsheets may be important. Humans aren’t perfect, and overlooking things is rather easy. If it isn’t too much trouble, perhaps you could send over a copy of the results afterwards?”

“Good!” Doctor Solari said with a grin. He put his hand out to shake Doctor Amerson’s hand. “I look forward to working with you. I’ll have someone send those spreadsheets over as soon as they’re printed for you, too.”

Now, all they needed was Carxanius.

“I plan on starting early tomorrow,” he said after a moment, his hands returning to the pockets of his lab coat. “Hopefully the kid can wake up early.”

Leigha accepted the doctor's extended hand, shaking it firmly. "I look forward to working with you as well, and thank you. Documentation and data are always crucial here," she said.

Starting early tomorrow...that was doable. A good time to begin, actually. It would leave plenty of time for multiple trials, and the clean-up and sterilization of the lab room.

"Around when should I plan on arriving?" She asked, a believer of punctuality and not wanting to be late.

“I was gonna start at seven, but I’ll probably be in here around six to do some more prep work. I don’t think you’ll need to be here for that, but you’re welcome to come if you need to set any of your own equipment up.” He shrugged. “Your keycard has all access, right? You should be able to get in the room.”

He wasn’t one to keep an extremely strict timetable. One of the few laws of the universe science couldn’t explain was Murphy’s Law, and in his years as a researcher he’d never found a proper way to combat it. So, there was no use panicking over being a few minutes off schedule. As long as things got done, he was happy.

Leigha nodded, ingraving the time in her brain. She decided she'd plan on arriving a little before seven, for punctuality...and in case any assistance was needed, or if she did, in fact, find some equipment she needed to set up.

"That sounds like a plan," Leigha replied. "And yes, my keycard will grant me access to the room." She glanced at the card hanging off her lanyard, knowing it was rather important despite it's simple appearance. "Well, good day, Dr. Solari," Leigha said, as she pushed open the door behind her to exit the room. "See you tomorrow."

Doctor Solari gave her a half-wave and a smile as she left the room. He turned back to his clipboard and scribbled a few adjustments to his calculations in the margins of the list of supplies he’d been categorizing. If Doctor Amerson decided to bring equipment along- like a heart monitor- he’d need to adjust some measurements, just slightly.

He finished and took a moment to step back from his work, realizing Doctor Amerson would probably have a fit if she saw the way he took notes. He didn’t know her well, but she seemed like the ultra-organized type. Hopefully their personalities wouldn’t clash too much; he wanted to maintain a friendly rapport with all the staff.

Though, maybe that wouldn’t be possible, considering what Ms. Angevin told him earlier.

He decided there wasn’t much use in worrying about it, and he got on with his work. He finished everything late at night, and as he headed to the cafeteria for a prepackaged and likely lukewarm dinner he realized he hadn’t been able to grab an assistant to wake Carxanius up the next morning. He’d have to do it himself.

Oh well, that’s a problem for future me.

Carxanius stepped into the room, staring at all the expensive looking equipment with significant interest. It all looked impressive and was most likely experimental in some way or another. He looked around a bit before looking back at Solari. "So how is this going to work exactly?" He asked, looking around for Doctor Amerson as well.

“Yeah, lemme walk you through it,” Doctor Solari said with a nod. “You’re gonna stand on that red ‘X’ there,” he pointed at the white tile floor, where a prominent x was marked with red duct tape. “And you’re going to suck some magic out of those plants and animals,” he said as he gestured to the potted plants and caged rats sitting in the corner of the room. “While you do that, I’ll be watching you in the observation room over there,” he said as he pointed at the black, one-way glass which hid dozens of monitors and machinery behind it. “I’ll be recording you and the readings the LHO-2 gives me,” he said as he glanced at the massive machine at the opposite wall.

“Any questions?”

Carxanius followed Solari's explanation for the most part, not quite understanding how the device could read magic but he figured that it was just unnecessary technical details. He stepped over to the set of caged rats and potted plants, staring at each one for a few seconds before looking back to the doctor. "I can't draw magic out of them at a distance. I have to be physically touching them for it to work. That and... some of these rats don't have very much magic in them." Carxanius pointed at 3 of the rats that were caged near one wall on the table.

“You can tell they don’t have magic from a distance?” Doctor Solari asked, his brow furrowing as he walked over to the push cart of rats in cages. He pushed it towards the center of the room, toward the red x on the floor, and kept talking.

“Is it like a... pull? Or a pressure? How do you know which one has the most?” He stopped at the center of the room and looked up at Carxanius and pushed his glasses up.

Carxanius stared at the critters while Solari moved them to where the X was located. "I don't really know how to describe it well, I guess its like smelling something. You can tell which ones have a stronger scent than others I guess." He said, looking at them before pointing at a small potted flower and one of the smaller rats. "Those two have the highest amount I think."