Completed The Opening of The New Research Location (Val, Ino, Abs)

[Amolina]

~ Amolina Moletta ~ ~ 2nd day of Winter 513 AV ~ Timestamp: Day 2 of Winter 513 AV, around 10 bells in the morning Location: Nitrozian-Moletta Sanitary Station, in the outskirts of Noble District It was a few chimes before ten bells in the morning and Amolina arrived first to the new research location. It was a modest three room house of good quality, in the outskirts of the noble district. She waited outside, wearing her white linen dress and very resolute looking make up, very suitable for playing the role as nurse. Not that she thought they would treat people today, but it seemed best to play the role properly from start and be prepared for everything. The administrator they were going to meet today might very well fall ill or become injured and need instantaneous medical care all of a sudden! There had been many more things that needed to be done to the building than they had realized and it had also taken longer time. An elaborate poison lab for instance, isn’t something that you can just pick from a shelf ready to use. Everything in an advanced lab is quite valuable and needs to be crafted with very high precision and quality, this in turn takes many days even for very skilled craftsmen to do. There was a lab room in the house already, yes, but there had still been things that needed to be adapted to the requirements of the new lab. And then there had been the changes to the interior design that Amolina and Valerius had wanted. It hadn’t seemed so much to them, but it was because none of them knew much about buildings and crafting. The works had been ongoing all the fall. But now, finally, the new sanitary station was ready. It was the opening day, and it was time to pay their shares. This was what worried Amolina a bit right now. She had been trying to convince Valerius to let her buy a somewhat bigger share than he had approved at first, but Valerius hadn’t been easy to speak with about this. She wasn’t sure he had approved any changes, really. But soon she would know. She suspected that Nolan Parnell might have done the same. It wouldn’t surprise her if he too wanted to buy into the project a bit more than Valerius had wanted. So. Had they been speaking without her? Made financial agreements already ? Or had Valerius been as difficult to Parnell as he had been to her? Amolina didn’t have the key. They would meet outside and the key would be delivered to them by some kind of administrator that was working with city planning and buildings. But first they must pass some kind of control she wasn’t familiar with. Valerius seemed to know what it was about though and had just said that the Nitrozian family had it’s ways of working and even the family members were to follow the rules. Besides, the administrator could complain to the head of the Nitrozian family if something wasn’t done correctly, so it was best to be…perfect. While she waited for the others she thought about the interior. She was so exited to finally get to see it! The walls would be pink…no, not pink, Valerius didn’t wan’t that, he had said very pale rose. But as far as she knew there could still be some old dark furniture left there, and the new furniture of somewhat lighther wood was likely not ideally placed yet. Then there was the carpets, and the tapestries Valerius had said he was going to borrow from the Estate… there could also be lab equipment that remained to be installed…

[Inoadar]

Inoadar was out the door of the shop at 8th bell, figuring to give himself plenty of time to arrive at the location of the new project site. He'd spent every spare waking moment copying notes, charts, project parameters and research findings from his shop library. This was, of course, when he wasn't giving Vera, his new girl, training sessions.

It was fortunate the way sales had gone lately. The things he needed to restock were very basic concoctions. Vera was capable of the basic processes. Inoadar had spent some time cracking vine husks, separating fluids, boiling sap and mulching grindings into poultices for Vera to then simply boil or dry. Much of the rest of her chores were arranging shelves, which hadn't been tended to for a few days; cleaning utensils and general wiping and sweeping. He'd get to more advanced gadgetry as the season went by.

But for now, he said his good day to her and grabbed up his papers and samples of mixtures he felt would have a medicinal application and took a last look around to see if anything else needed to be brought. The truth was, he didn't know if he even needed to bring these. They were only seeing about finalizing the sale and seeing to installation of...what? He really didn't know how much work had been done. 'Did they install the lab already? The gurneys and tool kits, the furniture, the shelves, the locks, the doors?'

Nothing had been paid yet, as far as he knew, and he did not know if the city authorities were inclined to begin work on such trust. Did Nitrozian prestige negate this concern? Surely they would assume the city's first family could be trusted not to renege on the arrangements. His own shop had been only half finished when he started making payments. But it was finished before his second payment. And he did most of the actual set-up himself. In this case he was probably the last one to issue instructions in that regard.

Though it appeared that Valerius was trusting him to foot a larger initial payment than Amolina, it was still her baby far more than his. The fact of having a luxury class lab to work in was more than enough share as far as he was concerned. If some legal connivance was to rob him of this right, he would sabotage the whole array.

For now, though, he made his ravosalian way to the Noble District. On an inspiration, he paid the boatman an additional ten mizas to request an arrangement to meet with the higher authorities among the ravosalamen, to discuss upping his seasonal "courtesy payment" to forty mizas. As it stood, Inoadar paid the boatmen a seasonal bribe of thirty mizas to inform him of any rumors overheard regarding himself and his shop. He thought that a 33% increase would probably secure this same courtesy for this new facility.

After a bell or more, the boat pulled up to a platform and he stepped out. He merely nodded to the boatman, receiving the same in return. They knew how to reach him. He turned a few corners and saw Amolina standing alone by the locked building. She looked as though she was going to be tending to customers this very day. He suddenly was concerned with his attire. He had dressed in the same manner as he had during their previous meetings. He had brought no shop frocks or aprons. They were part of what was being paid for, so he hadn't thought there would be any need.

He approached Amolina, taking care to announce his arrival with a few scuffs of his shoes. He didn't want to project any appearance of stealth. He and Amolina had only very recently smoothed their murderous...well, his murderous attitude...toward each other. He had been bent on killing her for a full season or more, but had had an epiphany of sorts regarding her, finding her a far more useful accomplice alive than dead. And he would very likely be dead or imprisoned right now if not for her, and he would not forget it. Cruelty and cynicism aside, he was a man of his word.

He smiled and bowed. "Good morning, Amolina. I must say, I'm genuinely glad neither of us is dead. It would certainly dampen the spirit of this endeavor. Who'd have thought I'd be saying such a thing a season ago, eh? You're looking ready to start. I hope I'm not inappropriately dressed. Were we expecting to actually begin operations today?"

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius didn’t consider being late fashionable in any way, but he still arrived after the actress and the poisoner. His grandfather had needed something from him, and as much as the new research project mattered to him, his family was even more important. He didn’t apologize for not being on time as he arrived at the new house, but just inclined his head in a greeting before he approached them. It hadn’t been his fault that he was late, he hadn’t done anything wrong, so why should he apologize?

„Miss Moletta, Mister Parnell“, he spoke. As he noticed that Amolina’s outfit looked a lot like a nurse’s outfit, he arched an eyebrow. Had she done something behind his back and arranged for test subjects to come today? Valerius wasn’t dressed like the doctor he was supposed to pretend to be, and he probably wouldn’t be wearing some kind of white coat in the future either as white just wasn’t his color. The Nitrozian was dressed in a very tasteful black suit, and a warm, likewise black coat.

„The man that has the key should be arriving soon“, he informed them. „I hope that you are looking forward to our new collaboration as much as I am.“ In truth Valerius wasn’t sure how much he was really looking forward to it. He had spent a lot of money and taken a great risk. Almost all his savings had gone into this building, his aunt still refused to pay him more than a handful of golden mizas, and his courier had demanded a raise. If it didn’t work out, he would make sure that Amolina Moletta regretted ever making that suggestion!

For now though he gave them something resembling a smile, stepped closer to the house and took a look through a window before he turned around and faced his associates again. It was then that he saw a person approaching them. „That might be him“, he informed Amolina and Inoadar.

[Abstract]

The administrator who approached them was, in fact, not a man... but a woman. She was of average height with long medium-brown hair. It was tied up in a neat bun with a simple black ribbon, though one strand hung in front of her face. She wore a simple but elegant black dress as well, nothing remarkable, but well tailored for her shape. Lastly, she carried a clipboard and a bag, the latter slung over one arm and the former held carefully in the other hand. "Good morning" she greeted them as she approached, nodding to the three. "I assume you are Valerius Nitrozian, Amolina Moletta, and Nolan Parnell?" Her smile was nice, though a tiny bit false. This was a simple transaction, and she really had no pleasure from speaking to these people. "I am Maria Halyca, your administrator for today." She practically smirked at the statement, but turned it into yet another smile. "So, shall we get down to business? The total cost of this building was 2440 gold mizas. Who will be paying, or is it a joint compilation?" She'd apparently read up on the situation beforehand, as she didn't even need the clipboard for all this information. While waiting for an answer, she shifted the bag on her arm, moving it to be more easily opened later on.

[Amolina]

When the administrator arrived Amolina noticed several things of interest. Maria Halyca was the first suitable model for impersonation Amolina had seen in half a year! Amolina decided to study the woman and memorize as much as she could of how she looked, moved, smiled, spoke, everything she could observe. She noticed the clipboard too. It looked very professional indeed. Perhaps Amolina would get one for the nurse job. And maybe a bag. Why not. But now she needed to think of other things…business. When Amolina visited the Nitrozian estate there were always servants or slaves opening the door and taking her to Valerius quarters. It occurred to her it could be good to do something similar now. “Good Morning” she said, taking the opportunity to practice impersonation at once, by using exactly the same tone as Maria Halyca had spoken in. “Welcome here. I’m Amolina Moletta, the research nurse in charge. Doctor Nitrozian will soon speak with you, but first we need to make a few practical administrative things clear.” She made an utterly respectful and somewhat ceremonial gesture towards Valerius, implying that he was a man of very high standing and importance. He would likely make this clear himself too, and better, but Amolina had done what she could to add to his prominence - she hoped. She continued: “Before we get down to business , we would of course like to inspect the location. We can speak about other things afterwards. The price of 2440 gold mizas has been a preliminary suggestion we received. But we have certainly not accepted to pay that much and the negotiations are still ongoing. I believe a third of it would be more than enough for a used old building like this...600 gold mizas in total,or perhaps even less, if Mr Nitrozian finds reason to think so ! And if we find any defects in the location, we want discounts for that too. We aren’t going to pay at all if something is lacking.” She smiled at Maria Halyca - and as a small first test of the new impersonation subject she smiled back the same way the administrator had smiled at them. It was best to negotiate and drive a hard bargain here, she thought. Haggle, even. Maria Halyca must be mad if she thought they really were going to pay as much as 2440 gold mizas. Oh no, never...well, Amolina’s associates were perhaps satisfied with paying that much, but Amolina was quite poor and found it horribly expensive. She also felt sure there could be reasons to complain once they inspected the place. The prices on the so called "official price list" were unreasonable. Extortionate, that went without saying, as the NHC was a monopoly. The total prize must be lowered ! She hoped Valerius and Parnell realized this too. She turned to Parnell. “What are you thinking of Parnell? Are you going to just stand there ? I think it would be polite of you to help the lady carry the bag.“

[Inoadar]

Inoadar let slip a flash of shock. Outrage bubbled beneath the surface at Amolina's demeaning insistence. 'What am I? Her slave?' Fortunately, he was not looking at the administrator at the time. He'd been watching Amolina go through her initiation of the haggling process. He'd been ready to back her up, and still meant to, but her sudden reproachful charade had surprised him.

He repressed his rebuttal, realizing he had best follow along. He stammered for effect, "I...oh...I'm sorry, Miss Moletta. Propriety escaped me for a moment." Then he winked at her and turned back to the administrator "I was taken aback. I assumed such an exorbitant asking price must include a retinue of slaves for such tasks."

He recalled the figures he, Amolina and Valerius had discussed days before. The figure this "Maria" was proposing was for the entire package, furnishings, equipment, accessories and all. A grudging respect for Amolina's catch on the woman's wording, that it was for the cost of the building alone, nearly brought a smile to his face. Two could play that game.

He gave an indulgently patient look back at Amolina, speaking to her in an offhand way that clearly made Maria the target of his remark. It was time to find out if this "administrator" really knew the prices of what was involved, or if she was just a face on a department. "Surely it was just a slip of the tongue. I mean, the two deluxe Philtering and Toxicology labs would be a little over a thousand right there. Once we get inside and can verify the high quality of the equipment, as well as all the furnishings, supplies, outfits and everything else, I'm certain the twenty-two forty will seem more reasonable, even without slaves."

He extended his hand to relieve her of the bag, knowing perfectly well that they had only requested a single "deluxe lab", and that the philtering equipment was just a "kit". If not for the anticipated price breaks, even those would have been nearly two thousand. But any concessions they could squeeze out of this woman would be a bonus. He'd brought more than his promised eight hundred. A thousand in fact, in case of surprise expenses or timely bribes. But he was not giving these up unless there was some great additional benefit to be gained.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius arched an eyebrow as he noticed that the administrator was a woman. He had expected it to be a man, but as long as Miss Halyca was professional, he didn’t mind. „Good morning“, he greeted her politely and inclined his head, but he didn’t extend his hand for her to shake it as he didn’t like such gestures. “I’m Valerius Nitrozian.“

He was just about to explain things to her – since the new business bore his name, and he was going to invest the most money he felt that he was in charge – when Amolina raised her voice. He looked at her disapprovingly, - she was just the nurse while he was playing the part of the doctor - but he let her be. He didn’t want Miss Halyca to have a bad impression of them and think they didn’t get along.

„What Miss Moletta has failed to tell you is that we will all pay, although some of us will pay a larger sum than others“, he spoke as the actress had finally fallen silent. He didn’t appreciate the choice of Amolina’s words – she had sounded a little too angry and a little too much like a poor woman who couldn’t really afford the building – but he agreed with what she had said. If Amolina and Inoadar wanted to play a game to lower the price, then he would play along.

Valerius was much too proud to admit it out loud, but buying this building would use up all his savings.

„And as she has also said, we would of course like to take a closer look at the location before we finalize the purchase. We need to make sure that the laboratories we are going to buy are in good condition and that the price is justified. I’m sure you understand that, Miss Halyca.“

He didn’t comment on the matter of slaves or the lack thereof and that Amolina suddenly treated the poisoner like one.

[Abstract]

Maria smiled at Valerius' introduction and replied in kind, before turning to frown at Amolina. However, she didn't interrupt, instead waiting for all to speak their turn before coming up with a reply of her own. She didn't actually allow Inodar to take her bag, instead shaking her head slightly and shifting it further up her arm. At the moment, it actually held little to nothing... nothing heavy and annoying, at least.

Though her face didn't betray any of this emotion, the woman's eyes showed a kind of pleasure that the trio was taking this seriously... though Amolina didn't seem to understand the exact pricing situation. "Yes, the price is not just for the building itself, but for all that has been added. Mister Parnell... I believe it was just a deluxe poisoncrafting lab built in, though there was a philtering one added on. The entire total for the building was..." Finally she had to glance down at her clipboard, which held all relevant information.

"The full price of the building was 1377 gold mizas, but there were many extras added on that are inside. I'd tell you, but the list is long. They added up to another large sum. So the total is 2440 gold mizas." She gave Amolina a slight glare, before turning a smile on the two men.

"Yes, lets go on inside." She walked up to the door, slipped out a key from her bag, and opened it in moments, holding it wide to allow the trio to go in first.

[Amolina]

Amolina watched Maria and noticed how efficient and professional it looked when the administrator looked at the clipboard and how self assured it made her seem. Maria came off as a woman who had all important information at her fingertips, in perfect order and knew exactly what she was speaking about. Amolina studied her with professional interest and tried to memorize every small detail. And yes, she would definitely buy a clipboard ! Extras? Amolina wondered silently. What could the woman mean ? As far as Amolina knew it was a house with a lab and other necessary things, like the new furniture Valerius had asked her to get. She was wondering what the extras were and who had ordered them. Valerius ? Parnell? It must be one of them... She really hoped the others would be able to explain why they had added it. Or had the extras been added by the NHC administration? She noticed the way Maria frowned at her when she started to questions the price. And she noticed how she the administrator glared at her when she looked up from her clipboard again, while she smiled at the two men. Obviously she thought the men more important… or perhaps just more gullible. Admittedly, Amolina had sometimes found the poisoner easy to fool. She glanced at him. Nolan Parnell had obliged and obeyed Amolina’s orders, which was a good start. She had liked the humble way he had apologized to her. It seemed like the cooperation would be smooth. Nowadays, after he had stopped being angry at her and joined the project, he was neutral, well behaved and harmless. All he did, as far as she knew, was work night and day in his lab and his poison shop. She was actually also a bit impressed by his knowledge, though most of what he said was hard to understand. The administrator opened the door and Amolina walked in together with the others. They were now in the reception room. The walls were pale rose, not pink, just like Valerius and Amolina had requested. She quite liked it. In her opinion it would be a beautiful room once the furniture had been arranged in a good way. The new medium brown furniture of good quality had been delivered - two desks and a meeting table, six matching chairs, two good coaches. The two doors to the lab were on wall opposite to the entrance. Both those doors were closed. Amolina thought about how they seemed to divide the reception room up in two natural ‘halves’. They could have the office part with their desks to the left side, next to the lab door, and the right side next to the guest bedroom was where they could have a meeting table with chairs and the couches. Amolina turned to Valerius Nitrozian and said: “What do you think Doctor Nitrozian, are the walls the right rose color ? “

[Inoadar]

Inoadar stepped in after everyone else. Deferring to the women out of courtesy and to Valerius out of social protocol. The color scheme was not what he would have chosen, but then he knew he was not thinking in terms of arriving as a sick or injured patient, or anticipating the presence of a nurse, probably Amolina. He supposed most women would like it, and most men would want any women treating them to be happy with it.

He nodded in general approval. It was not as if he disliked it. He would have chosen a nice sterile white, like he had at his shop. 'Familiarity breeds competence.' he said to himself as he looked around at the floral motif of the upholstery. 'Oh well, I'll get used to it soon enough. I'm sure as Priskil's Perjury NOT getting flower patterns for the decor at MY shop.'

"Very nice." he said, trying to convey genuine approval, though he really was not interested. "I hope some of these "extras" you mentioned are to be found in the lab area. Hadn't we ordered some of those rolling trays and beds? What are they called again..."dollies" and "gurneys"? I hope the labs are as comprehensive as they are supposed to be, with the greater alembics and all." he deliberately used the plural hoping to catch the administrator off guard. "As well as the Philtering Lab and the Surgeon's tools, and is the kitchen fully outfitted as we requested? The Herbalist equipment? The lab tables, robes, shelves?"

He wanted to bombard her with details, hoping to get her to just agree, to quiet him. Then maybe they could hold her to a few details they had not truly paid for. "Why don't we go inspect the lab facilities? If we are done here, that is."