Completed Attempted Assistance at KRI (Valerius)

[Amolina]

~ Amolina Moletta ~ Timestamp: 8th Day of Summer 513 AV Location: KRI In the beginning of spring 513 AV the acress Amolina Moletta had been given acute medical care in KRI after having been poisoned during a burglary in the poison shop Ino Vations. Her screams that night 3rd of Spring 513 AV, had disturbed the neighbours and made it impossible to sleep for lots of people. Eventually a few NHC employees had arrived and opened the door to her cubicle. The sight that had met them had been beyond description. The woman had been on the floor, moving feebly and screaming like in mindless madness and it had not seemed like she was aware that she was not alone anymore. It had been very easy to deal with her though, because her body had been like a ragdoll, no resistance at all in it, which had indicated it might be some kind of physical illness or perhaps the effect of a drug. Finally Amolina Moletta had been transported to the Kelvic Research Institiue. She was a human, not a kelvic. but expert medical knowledge was avalilable at KRI. They had kept her in a separate room, tucked into a bed in the institute, comatose. Amolina Moletta had eventually woken up from the coma and recovered, albeit she had been weak and needed to take it easy for the rest of the spring. In the beginning of Summer 513 she had she started to feel fully fit and healthy again. Right now she visited KRI because the bill for the medical care was huge, and Amolina had convinced them to let her pay it by working in the institute and be available for continous medical follow ups, for the sake of science. For this first health control, Doctor Gaius Alzelin was taking samples and doing tests on his research object Amolina Moletta. He had so far not been able to find out the cause of the mystical disease that she had suffered from in spring. The object had not offered any ideas about what could have happened to her. Sometimes when he was struggling in vain to get anywhere with the case, he suspected she had just been stupid and poisoned herself by mistake, with some drug, but didn’t want to admit it. For now he didn’t try to question her about it though, but was satisfied to just take his samples and get the tests done. Amolina watched him make notes in a small notebook that was marked “The Moletta Case”. She made a mental note to find an opportunity to make that notebook “disappear”. She wore her often used violet silk dress for all occasions. As this was a workplace, her dark brown hair was put up neatly, and her make up was modest. Or so it looked to be. As usual it had taken effort to create the right style for the role – for a role it was, to her. She was going to do her enforced “volunteer work” and had settled for looking frail and pale. What she lacked in experience, she hoped to make up for by acting. As soon as Azelin was done with is observations, Amolina went out to start working. After looking around a bit she spotted a red haired, clean shaven male employee in his twenties. She walked over to him, acting insecure. "Excuse me ... "

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius Nitrozian did not wear used silk, and nothing about his appearance was modest. The head researcher’s nephew was dressed in a fine, new shirt of dark blue silk that had clearly been expensive and black pants, and his boots were made of dark leather and had been polished until they shone. He looked more like he was attending one of those gatherings that were so common among the elite of Ravok rather than cleaning Kelvic cages and occasionally cutting Kelvic up. As far as Valerius was concerned, looking good was of the utmost importance, and he didn’t see why he should wear plain clothes at work when he could afford a new suit every day if he wanted to. He was just preparing the food for the creatures when Amolina approached him. As he heard her voice, he turned around, frowing. He hated being interrupted, even when he was doing something as simple as making Kelvic food. „Yes?“ he asked. „What do you want from me? You are that woman that Gaius has been treating, aren’t you? I’ve always found it strange that he would treat a human at the KRI. But I suppose he had his reasons.“ Valerius shrugged his shoulders. She looked healthy and was not entirely unattractive, even though her dress seemed to be old, but he wasn’t here to compliment her on her appearance.

[Amolina]

“I have been told people were worried that the unknown disease I caught could be infectious. I was sent here in order to be kept isolated. They wanted to prevent it from spreading in the city. It was considered better to let a few kelvics perish.” She produced a faint smile. “I recovered and moved home again. But Doctor Alzelin wanted to go on and investigate if it’s possible to find a virus or other cause of the illness. ” Amolina had recently started to learn more about the art of intelligence, in one of her temporary jobs just to pay the bills. She had found out that she really liked to gather information about people, analyze it, and speculate on how it could be utilized. She made a few observations now. Albeit Amolina didn’t have the money for dressing in clothes of the very best quality (alas) she recognized it when she saw it. The elegant man showed all signs of being rich and successful. The way his red hair was combed, his clothes and the shine of his dark leather boots – everything spoke of upper class, good taste and style. Feeling intrigued, she made a quick analysis. She would have thought him a visitor, but he was obviously working with something right now, in spite of his elegant clothes. Perhaps he was a scientist ? A scholar ? He had commented on Doctor Gauis Alzelin’s actions, like he didn’t fear repercussions for saying things about people in high positions. Amolina had imagined the KRI employees to be a mix of plain looking workplace people and dirty zookeepers. She had not expected this. The man was handsome, well-groomed, elegant, stylish. Chances were he was endoved with a really big bank account and perhaps even intelligent. “My name is Amolina Moletta.” She extended her hand towards the elegant man like she expected him to shake hands with her. But she made the hand look a wee bit unsteady, not much, nothing exaggerated, it was subtle, the work of a competent actress. “I am here to assist people in their work at KRI. As a volunteer.” She produced a faint smile again. “What can I do for you?”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„That makes sense“, Valerius remarked as she told him that she had been sent to the KRI in order to be kept isolated. „While Kelvic are not entirely worthless, they are more easily replaced than humans. An outbreak of an unknown disease in Ravok would have been …“ He made a small pause, looking for the right word. „… problematic. What kind of symptoms did you have? I’m afraid that Gaius didn’t discuss the details of your case with me.“ Valerius Nitrozian was afraid of diseases, almost unnaturally so – he was afraid of disfigurement or depending on others – but at the same time he found them strangely fascinating. Even before his aunt had decided to promote him and allowed him to assist Gaius and her, he would often watch them and familiarize himself with their research (and wash himself obsessively when he got home to make sure that he would not become infected). „Miss Moletta. I’m Valerius Nitrozian. The head researcher, Amanda Nitrozian, is my aunt.“ He inclined his head and even gave her something that looked almost like a smile. The tone of his voice was polite, almost overly so, but he did not shake her hand. As far as he was concerned, it would be unwise to shake the hand of a woman who had just admitted to having suffered from some unknown disease. If she thought it was a sign of bad manners, then so be it. „Did you volunteer?“ he wanted to know and crossed his arms over his chest. „Or did Gaius tell you that you had to do it in order to pay for your treatment? Regardless, you can help me take the buckets with the food to the creatures. They are hungry. Clean your hands before you feed them though. You may feel well again, but I do not wan to take any chances.“ “I don’t want to have to tell Amanda that the creatures died.“

[Amolina]

Amolina lowered her gaze when Valerius asked about her symptoms. It was always a good idea to act shy and awkward and look away, when half-truths were about to be told. “I don’t know so much about the symptoms” she said. “They have told me I was shivering and screaming at first, but they weren’t able to contact me. Then I was unconscious, for days.” At this point Amolina thought about Gaius Alzelin’s notebook about "The Moletta Case" again. She needed to find an opportunity to get her hands on it and make it disappear. It made her feel uneasy that there were notes about her and her symptoms. It would have been different if she could have told the truth - poison. But truth included a paid crime. She couldn’t afford the luxury of truth. So she needed to get the notebook, albeit she had no idea how. Yet. She glanced up again, like from below, when he introduced himself as Valeruis Nitrozian. The head researcher’s nephew. This made her feel both interested and wary. It was of course interesting to meet a member of the elite. It was of course also potentially dangerous, if he would for some reason dislike her. The man spoke to her in an utterly polite and well-behaved way though. His behaviour was a polished as his shiny boots. With her skilled actress eyes she could see something pass over his face, but it was an expression she couldn’t read, albeit it didn’t look unfriendly. But this was Ravok and Amolina Moletta was not naïve. It was best to be cautious, be at her best, quietly observe the man and wait with her opinion about him … When he crossed his arms over his chest and asked about her reasons for volunteering, nearly like he was interrogating her, Amolina felt a wee bit intimidated. This was mostly because Valerius was a Nitrozian – and Nitrozian was a powerful family name. “You are right” she said. “I am here in order to pay for my medical treatment.” It was embarrassing and humiliating to admit that she lacked the money to pay the bill and had to work it off. And to someone this rich too. She felt ashamed. It didn’t help that he had commented on her hands like he thought they were dirty and she was likely to spread some grisly disease to the kelvics Despite realizing it was her own lies about “disease” that made Valerius be cautious, she felt the heat of an annoying blush on her face. Hopefully her makeup concealed it - a pity she had gone for a modest and understated style today, a more dramatic makeup would definately have felt good right now. In the hope to end the topic, she bent down and nearly, but only nearly, took two of the buckets he had pointed at. They were full of … some kind of repulsive … animal food. She wondered suddenly what kind of creatures he meant and exactly how hungry they were. Suddenly she felt worried about being bitten or even losing her hands. She looked at Valerius again. “Where can I wash my hands?” she managed. ”And where are the creatures you want me to feed ?”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius made a face as Amolina told him that she didn’t know much about her symptoms. He would have to bother Gaius then, and he wasn’t sure if the doctor would like it. Besides that, he couldn’t help but shudder a little as he heard what she had gone through. „I’m glad that you feel better“, he remarked, more for his sake than for hers. He wouldn’t have wanted to catch her disease. „You mentioned that you were screaming. Was it because of the pain or did you suffer from hallucinations? Did you have any nightmares?“ Valerius was afraid of diseases, but even more so he was afraid of insanity, of losing his (in his opinion) brilliant mind. Amolina didn’t look insane, but it was better to be completely certain. „You will be working here for a while then, I assume?“ he asked as she informed him that she was here to pay for her treatment. From what little she had told him he had the impression that curing her hadn’t been easy. The Nitrozians were rich and could have afforded to treat her for free, but it would have made a bad impression and likely end with more poor people that suffered from unknown diseases demanding free medical care. „Over there. There is a bucket with fresh water. We’ll have to pour the rest away afterwards of course“, he replied and pointed at a corner where a wooden bucket stood. „The creatures are in another section of the KRI. This food here is mostly for the pigs and cows. The rest of the creatures will be fed a bit later. Just wash your hands, take two buckets and then follow me.“

[Amolina]

The man was utterly cautious. Amolina could appreciate this in general, no matter he was right now directing the cautiousness towards herself. It was of course unpleasant to be treated as an unsavoury sanitary risk, despite the utter politeness it was done with. But she found it intelligent of him to be cautious and watch out for dangers. It was an essential thing in Ravok. She washed her hands thoroughly, while Valerius supervised her. When she was done she followed his orders and poured the rest of the fresh water away. She acted like she was very busy with doing a serious and perfect job of these practical things, a convenient excuse for not answering at once. Taking an intelligencer view on the situation, just for the sake of training, she noticed that he asked very many questions. That was easy to observe. And the analysis she could make … it was far too early for a full analysis, and she didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but she had started to form a first hypothesis: Valerian Nitrozian seemed to be the inquisitive kind of person that liked to interrogate people, even if the only one to pester with questions was a “volunteer” assistant helping him with creature feeding. Normally if someone tried to corner her with an onslaught of questions, she would just laugh a light-hearted and elusive laugh, play seductive, say something entertaining to misdirect him, then pretend something else had caught her attention all of a sudden and rush away like she had forgotten him and their chat already. But this wasn’t possible now. Just like he had pointed out she was stuck working extra at KRI until she had paid her debt. This is insufferable, she thought. He is treating me like dirt. And he is a Nitrozian : I’m helpless. I must find a way to earn more money. Soon. Quickly. I must pay the debt and get out of this place. And I must get Gaius Alzelin’s notebook and destroy it, to cover the tracks completely. And meanwhile … Meanwhile she would need to accept the way she was treated, smile and oblige. But some of Valerius questions were really close and personal, like asking her to share information about her maybe dreams and nightmares. Seriously. What did he think ? Nightmares as well as good dreams were something she would only share with someone she knew well and trusted. Which was at the moment : no one. She gave Valerius one more faint smile, dodged his question about dreams, and told him she remembered pain, a terrible pain starting in her chest, perhaps the heart, and eventually spreading inside her body in a way that couldn’t be described, and there had been screams – but then she didn’t know more until she woke of from what Alzelin called coma. She elaborated a great deal on this story she was telling him, and used her experience as an actress to add subtle voice effects to enhance the impression of living it all through again, nearly feeling the pain for real. While she told him this tale, it seemed to her like Valerius Nitrozian was a quite fascinated audience … “Yes I will help you here for a while Mr Nitrozian” she said. “I will try my best to do a good job. I’m ready to feed the cows and the pigs !” She picked up the buckets he had pointed at and followed him. She didn’t know where they were going, but eventually she felt a nauseating stench in the air …

[Amolina]

~ Amolina Moletta ~ OOCIn this post I made a time skip and retrospective to move the thread on a bit, hope this is okay for you. If there is something you'd like to add about the parts I skipped over feel free to post it. You can also just follow and post from the point the story is now, if you like. The creature feeding in KRI under supervision of Valerius Nitrozian had been an experience Amolina would think of now and then in the days to come. But now that part of the first time she carried out her "volunteer" work was over. She was pretty tired, but dirty and would need to wash the dress once she came home ... She had told Valerius that she was going to take a boat back to Ravok city. This was true, but on the way out she was going to sneak into Gaius Alzelins’s office and try to find his notebook about The Moletta Case. Finally. Here she was now, in the corridor outside the Alzelin’s room, watching the closed door. There was no one else in sight. Qucikly she tiptoed up to the door and put her ear against and listened. There were no sounds. This would perhaps mean the room was empty. But Amolina was cautios. Just in case someone was there after all she knocked on the door. No one answered. She knocked once more with the same result. Then she opened the door and sneaked in. The room WAS empty. She went to Alzelins desk, opened the top drawer and started to rummage through it's content.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Supervising Amolina as she fed the creatures had also been an experience that Valerius would think of every now and then. He enjoyed giving orders much more than following them. Only a few seasons ago he had been where Amolina was now. He had been forced to feed the creatures, endure their non existant table manners and even wash them and clean their cages. It felt great that the roles were – mostly – reversed now. He still fed the especially well behaved Kelvic, but he left the rest to his temporary assistant. He could get used to that, he decided. Miss Moletta had even tried to make an effort. Maybe, he he would ask Aunt Amanda to hire her when she had paid off her debt, provided that she was really disease free. Once the woman had said good bye, Valerius went into one of the buildings to freshen up a little, get rid of the terrible smell of pig food that he felt clung to every fibre of his clothing and eat something. And then he made his way to Doctor Alzelin’s office. Maybe he would be lucky, and Gaius would still be there. He really needed to ask him about Amolina Moletta’s case since Amolina herself hadn’t been able to or hadn’t wanted to give him any information. He didn’t walk particularly loudly, but neither was he quiet. He walked normally as he didn’t expect anything strange to be going on, but he didn’t knock on the door. He simply entered. He had known the doctor long enough that he didn’t deem it necessary to knock on his door and be overly polite every single time that he wanted something from him. „Gaius …“ he began, but abruptly stopped as he noticed just who was standing behind the doctor’s desk, busily rummaging through a drawer. „Miss Moletta!“ he hissed. „Just what are you doing here?“

[Amolina]

Amolina took one step back and just stood. Time seemed to be frozen while she started at Valerius with a feeling of downfall and doom. It had seemed like people had started to leave KRI after the work day, and she had assumed Gaius Alzelin had gone home. She had not been prepared for being discovered by Valerius and needing to distract him and make him believe she had a valid resaon for searching the desk. There were many things she could think about Valerius Nitrozian after her hectic day as his assistant. But “easily distracted” was not one of them. Valeruius had not missed a single chance to give her instructions and orders, and he had put effort in watching her like a hawk all the time while they were working. It had been like he thought she would slack with the pig-feeding if he didn’t inspect her constantly. He had also made her wash her hands numerous times, in between sending her to take care of an army of messy kelvics. She had never realized what a stinking animal farm KRI was before this day, but now she knew. The stench was in her hair and on her clothes, or at least she imagined it was. She felt like she would not only need to bath and wash her clothes to be clean, she would need to bath in perfume to get rid of the smell. “Oh …eh … Valerius, what are you doing here? “ She cursed silently in her mind as the surprise made her forget her manners. “ I mean, good evening Mr Nitrozian. I thought you had left for today” she said lamely. Not good, not good. Where were her acting skills now when she needed them more than ever? She needed to quickly come up with an explanation. “I’m only looking for a paper so I can write to Doctor Alzelin. A few things about reactions that can have been caused by the disease I had in spring. He asked me write it down while I was working, but I … I was so focused on your instructions and I forgot to make the notes.”