Completed A Suitable Place for Secret Science (Valerius)

[Amolina]

“I have decided to assoicate my name with yours”…Valerius sounded like he was granting her a great honor indeed …and it might, no doubt, be a big step up on the social ladder for Amolina to be openly be associated with the Nitrozian family this way. Eventually. If she managed to make the best of this rare opportunity. Research Assistant Amolina Moletta at Nitrozian-Moletta Sanitary Station. This sounded just so very much more respectable than “unemployed actress”. Not that she knew yet if she would be allowed to take on that title. Valerius might find it a bit too much. Hmmm. Assistant, merely? Or perhaps Nurse? She was going to bring this up at some point, but not right now. Perhaps when they were at the location. But being from Ravok she knew that it was a double edged honor to become openly associated with the Nitrozians, just like Valerius said. “The higher they rise the deeper they fall”, was a saying that said everything about how it was for those that did something that reflected badly on the rich family’s reputation. The name Nitrozian obliged. She couldn’t afford doing mistakes ! From now on, if she would need to do things that all people might not agree with, it had to be done very carefully and with utter finesse and discretion, in order to not damage the name Nitrozian. Then again, perhaps she wouldn’t need to be involved in dubious things with dubious people anymore, now when she had been so lucky? Perhaps this was the start of a new life for her – clean, neat, proper and perfect ? “Thanks, Mr Nitrozian” she said. “The Nitrozian-Moletta Sanitary Station. It’s a splendid name you have settled for.” She put her now empty glass down on the table. “Yes, please let’s have a look at the location.”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„Follow me then, Miss Moletta“, Valerius said and left the room. „We will take a ravosala to the location as I’m not in the mood to walk like a common citizen.“ He ordered a slave to get one of the boats ready, and then he led Amolina to the canal in front of the Nitrozian Estate. The slave had worked quickly. Within a few chimes he had gotten the ravosala ready and was now standing in the boat, waiting for his master and his companion. „Ladies first“, Valerius said – this time he remembered his good manners – and gestured for Amolina to enter the boat. The slave extended a hand to help her in and prevent her from accidentially falling into the water. Valerius declined the slave’s offer of help though. He had no interest in touching somebody that he owned. Once Amolina and Valerius had sat down, the ravosala started moving towards their destination. It wasn’t a particularly long trip. As Valerius had told her before, the building was located on the edge of the district. Before too long they were there. The slave helped Amolina out of the boat, then Valerius climbed out and ordered the slave to wait for them before he led Amolina to what might very well be their future laboratory. It was located a few metres from the canal, a small, comparatively plain building, but in good condition. „It is a used building“, Valerius apologized. „Empty laboratories are hard to come by. I would have had a new one built, but I couldn’t find room for one in the area I had set my eyes on. A few small repairs will be necessary. On the bright side the price will be much lower because of that. Shall we go in? I have procured a key.“

[Amolina]

The servant had taken her hand and helped her step down into the ravonsala like she was a delicate lady who couldn’t be expected to just hop in. And Valerius was being quite the gentleman now, and his manners were so impeccably polite. Despite her memories of how he could be far less polite on occasion, she was charmed by his current demeanor. It felt so luxurious. She could get used to this! Valerius seemed to find the building lacking. Amolina saw no faults in it. The house was situated in the noble district, for a start, the outskirts of the noble distric of course, but still an elegant address to start the new project in. This appealed to her. Yes. This wasn’t some cheap and suspect location in the back routes of The Docks, like that warehouse where she had done the audition in summer…which she had still not received an answer to…The new lab was a good location, albeit Valerius sounded like he didn’t really find it good enough, but would make do with it in lack of better options. She wanted to say it was a wonderful place he had found, but the way he spoke made her feel unsure… “Your reasoning is very sound” she said instead, trying to conceal her intense and eager exitement and seem more blasé, like her companion, but not succeeding too well. It was only an omission, not a total lie. She had liked his businesslike and sensible words about saving money. Coming from poor circumstances, she didn’t like wastrels. She was pleased that she was teamed up with a person who had respect for money. “Yes, please, lets have a look at the inside and assess what needs to be done to make it ready for us to use.” She waited while Valerius opened the heavy, ornately carved door or medium dark wood that was looking not exactly valuable, but not cheap either. Once again he elegantly and politely made her enter first, once again she had that luxurious feeling of...style. She looked around: they had entered a room that had the looks of a reception room…and there were two doors on the opposite wall that indicated the additional two rooms Valerius had spoken about. “I can see what you mean…” The room wasn’t outright shabby, but it was somewhat plain. “This could be the reception room where the subjects wait for the…doctor, I suppose. A few improvements could be needed in order to create the right atmosphere. Which colors do you believe would be the best Mr Nitrozian?” Silently she started thinking of suitable working clothes for secret researchers in a sanitary station…a nurse uniform?

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius unlocked the door and gestured for Amolina to step inside before he entered the laboratory himself. He immediately went over to a window and opened it to let some fresh air in. As Amolina had noticed the wooden furniture wasn’t exactly valuable, but not cheap either. Everything was covered with a thin layer of dust that was especially noticeable since the furniture was so dark. Nobody had come to clean the laboratory since its previous owner had passed away so suddenly. The first room that Amolina had called the „reception room“ contained a few benches and chairs, a carpet and simple tapestries. Those would have to go, Valerius decided. He would borrow a few tapestries from the Nitrozian Estate, something tasteful and halfway expensive. „Ah, the doctor“, Valerius repeated. „Who of us shall play the part of the doctor? You, the actress or I – the scientist who possesses at least a small amount of medical knowledge? As for the colors, personally I prefer black and silver, but those colors might give our test subjects the wrong impression – or is it the right one?“ „Most common citizens are more comfortable in a room that is painted in light colors and filled with furniture that isn’t all black. We could even put a plant in a corner and a carpet on the floor. We want to appear as if we are running a respectable, trustworthy business. Do you agree, Miss Moletta?“

[Amolina]

Amolina agreed. “Light colors on the walls…I think a nice, soft, rose would be perfect for the walls. And yes, a beautiful plant in the corner, some tapestries as you said, and a carpet, perhaps with some accents of dark red or rose in the patterns, to match the walls. Some of the existing furniture would go pretty well with it despite being a bit dark. And we would need a few lanterns to add to the atmosphere if it’s evening time. That could even make a few extra bypassers come in for tests, because it looks nice and cosy.” She made a short pause and when Valerius didn’t answer at once she added: “Rose and red would also be a wonderful background if you want to dress in black and silver. You look great in black and silver, but if the room have the same colors it won’t be so good…but the contrast of black against a pale rose and red background would be perfect.” Amolina was thinking the theatre way, like the room was a stage. She also thought about the very elegant black and white interior she had seen in The House of Immortal Pleasures when she did that odd spy job. That wasn’t far from black and silver…but perhaps Valerius wasn’t aware of this. Anyway. They couldn’t have the sanitary station look like the brothel, for Rhysol’s sake. “I imagine that when the clients arrive here they will find me at my desk, ready to take their information and register them. I could have the title nurse, or lab assistant. I prepare them a bit and make them feel at home. While I’m working at this you can come out from the lab or from the test room and say you are ready … you are the one with medical knowledge so I suppose you would be the doctor, or something similar. You could also take the title sanitary inspector, or something like that. There’s something trustworthy with titles like doctor and nurse. But it could be safer to just say we are sanitary inspector Nitrozian and lab assistant Moletta.” Nurse? She had no medical experience whatsoever. But she could act. Lab Assistant ? She didn’t have any knowledge about lab work either. But seriously. How hard could that be? It was likely quite easy, not harder than making tea really, she assumed. One of the inner rooms was the laboratory where the scientists might want to work without being disturbed by clients. The laboratory room smelled of flowers, herbs and spices. It was a quite big room with several work tables. There was a big cabinet of dark wood in one corner and there were lots of shelves full of glassware, metal boxes, pottery, small wooden boxes, stacks of parchment, a number of books and many other things that reminded her of lab part of KRI. The previous owner of this house had obviously been serious enough about his work. Perhaps some of the things would eventually turn out to be useful for something. She wondered briefly who he had been, what had happened to the previous owner and why. The third room seemed to have been used by the previous owner for sleeping over at work as there was a simple bed in it, made of dark wood and looking neither expensive nor cheap, just like the rest of the furniture. Amolina would suggest that this could be the room where tests were carried out, and it could just have the same rose and red colors as the reception room. But the lab could very well be heavy on silver, various other metal colors, and actually some black accents. That would look scientific and front end, sort of. Oh by the voice, she would need to go shopping to get some new clothes to go with the interior here once they were ready to open ! In her mind she went trough the list of things to do. Decide on the name for the place – done. Decide the basics for how to go about it, not involving authorities but have everything in their own hands – done. Investigate the location – done. Now they just needed Valerius final decision on the color sheme, furniture and decorations – and the job titles.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„A very light rose“, Valerius specified. „We don’t want our laboratory to look pink. That would be just as wrong as making everything black. No, it might be even worse. For the tapestries I would go with some that are depicting typical scenes of Ravok, something that reminds our … visitors of the beautiful city they live in. As for the lanterns …“ He paused for a moment and looked in the direction of the door, as if he already expected a few test subjects to arrive. „We can add lanterns as well, anything to attract more visitors.“ The color scheme that Amolina wanted to use was a bit too soft and feminine for his taste. He was about to tell her that when she told him how good he would look dressed in black and silver against such a background. He liked looking good, and thus he nodded and even gave her the hint of a smile. „Pale rose and red it is then, Miss Moletta. I have to tell you, you have good taste.“ Since Valerius had never visited the brothel, he was fortunately unaware how closely the sanitary station would have resembled it if she had agreed to his first suggestion. „I don’t want to be an inspector though“, he informed her. „I will be the doctor. People know what a doctor does – or at least they think they know. If I call myself sanitary inspector, they will ask us every time what exactly a sanitary inspector is, trust me, Miss Moletta. Let’s go with simple job titles. I’ll be the doctor, you’ll be the nurse. Do you think you can act the part and not betray your lack of medical knowledge right away?“ He entered the laboratory behind her. It smelled surprisingly pleasant. He had expected it to smell of acid, of blood and alcohol like some of the rooms where his colleagues at the KRI had conducted their experiments. It made him wonder if the previous owner had been a herbalist as well. He entered the next room. „Do you think we will need a bedroom, Miss Moletta?“ he asked her. „Will we keep some of the subjects here for the night? Either way, I think we can keep some of the furniture. It seems to be in an alright condition. Besides, I quite like the contrast between pale rose walls and dark wood.“

[Amolina]

For a chime or two her thoughts drifted away : she could see it now, herself, Nurse Moletta, wearing a neat nurse uniform, in beautiful crisp white but at same time very strict, and ready to assist Doctor Nitrozian, dressed in black and silver. And this would take place in a background of pale rose with red accents, dark furniture and patriotic tapestries – and in the lab in a scientific looking background of wood, iron, silver, brass...and some shining red copper, to match Valerius hair. “Thanks Mr Nitrozian. It’s settled then, I take it. A very good decision ! Yes, as you say, we want the sanitary station be a tasteful place. I’m sure I’ll be able to do the nurse job…and I will surely learn more about medicine eventually, by assisting you.” She considered the bedroom. Valerius question was valid. Would they need a bedroom and for what? Would they need a bed? Why? Could they not just take their visitors to the lab, carry out tests, then simply pay and dismiss the subjects and that was it? “And yes – I do believe we need to have a bedroom” she said after having thought for a few chimes. “We might need it for emergency cases. There’s no way of predicting how the…visitors will react to the tests and if somebody overreacts or becomes delirious or starts to scream, we can’t have him or her running out in Ravok in that state of mind." She spoke a bit about how people could say lots of bad and untrue things the way confused people do. It could reflect badly on the Nitrozian family name. So they needed to have a bedroom where they could lay difficult cases to rest and keep them under surveillance until they would listen to reason. Who knew, they might even need to strap some visitors to the bed and give them some kind of tranquilizer treatment to make sure they would calm down and stop fussing. “It would be for their own best I’m sure.” She paused a bit to listen to Valerius’s opinion before she changed topic. "What worries me a bit is the lab work. I would be really good to find a lab assistant for the dirty and sloppy parts of the work." She explained that she thought this would speed up the research greatly. Amolina could receive visitors and then assist Valerius when he examined the test subjects, prescribed treatments and carried out tests – and a lab assistant could help with analysing the outcome…she imagined this could entail a few grisly, unsavoury and disgusting things and it wouldn’t look like a good sanitary station if the doctor and nurse had stains on their clothes. "I’ll be wearing a clean, strict, white nurse uniform, by the way. ”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius nodded as Amolina told him that they couldn’t have screaming people run around Ravok. „In that case, Miss Moletta, we should also stock a few transquilizers. We shouldn’t have screaming people in our supposed sanitary station either. People that pass the house by could hear them and become suspicious. We should put problematic … visitors into the bed, give them some medicine and only release them when they have calmed down sufficiently again.“ Miss Moletta, he decided, had had some questionable ideas at first, but she was turning out to be comparatively intelligent now. Why, they even had completely the same opinion on some matters. Who would have thought? He looked at her appraisingly for a few moments before he turned to discuss the next matter – the apparent lack of a lab assistant. „We might need to find a lab assistant“, he agreed. „While I have played the part of an assistant to Doctor Alzelin and my aunt Amanda, I cannot be both the director of the sanitary station, the doctor and the assistant at the same time. And you will have more than enough to do as a nurse. Bringing a third person into this will indeed speed our research up greatly.“ He paused for a moment and looked around the laboratory before he turned back to her and asked, „Do you have anybody in mind? We will need somebody that is extremely trustworthy, that does not mind that we conduct our research on human test subjects. If you don’t know of anybody, I will start to carefully make inquiries around Ravok.“

[Amolina]

As it happened, Amolina knew one (only one) person who seemed to knowledgeable enough and according to himself he used to work day and night in his lab. And she could easily imagine that he wouldn’t have any problems with research on human test objects – the man had not struck her as particularly worried about other people's health. But. Unfortunately, this person was Nolan Parnell, that obscure and unreasonably vengeful poison maker who had sworn to kill her in some hideous way she didn’t want to think of. He didn’t meet the requirement “trustworthy”, no way, the opposite – at least in the way trustworthy used to be defined. He was perhaps trustworthy when it came to making reality of his grisly threat about killing her…but she could do without that kind of “trustworthiness” The memory of the lean, mean fiend and his arrogant, sarcastic onslaught of words passed by in her mind. She shuddered slightly. What a terrible, terrible man! She hadn’t met him after the debacle at InoVations, that evening when the mage Clyde Sullins had dragged her with him there and…no it was best to not dwell on past disasters. From now on she would forget Nolan Parnell like he had never existed and never ever even think of him again. Never! “Alas I don’t know anybody that would be suitable for the job” she said. “But I will keep my eyes and ears open I believe it’s best if you start to look around discreetly for somebody though, that’s our best bet. But I’ll remember it and if I would by any chance happen to find somebody that could fill the position I will tell you. Now - was there anything she had missed or were they done with most of the immediately urgent decisions ? She checked her mental “to do list” but everything she had on mind seemed to have been dealt with efficiently. She glanced at Valerius with true appreciation. He listened to her opinions, but the man wasn’t one of those hopeless, indecisive weathercrocks. He thought for himself and made up his mind quite resolutely. She was pretty satisfied with the decisions too, pale rose was still rose and nurse was a nice title. They could let that lab-rat who was going to be assigned to the dirty menial labour get the title “lab assistant” once they had found her or him. It did after all sound like a title for somebody a bit lower down in the sanitary stations hierarchy then nurse, didn’t it, hmmm ? “You are right Mr Nitrozian, we need to stock tranquilizers before we open. Is there anything more you think we need to discuss now, or do you think we are done here for today? ”

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„That is unfortunate“, Valerius remarked as Amolia told him that she didn’t know anybody who could assistant them. „Keep your eyes and ears open though, and I will do the same.“ Like Amolina he only knew of people that would ultimately not be suited for the job, people that were too closely associated with the Kelvic Research Institution. He didn’t want to bring any of his colleagues in, out of fear that Doctor Alzelin or his aunt would find out. „No, I think we are done for the time being“, he replied. „Shall I tell them that we are going to buy this house? I assume that you are not able to contribute to our business financially?“ He frowned as he said that. He did of course have more than enough money to afford a used lab and buy some new furniture for it – he did not need Miss Moletta’s money – but still, part of him felt as if she was taking advantage of his wealth. Would she have associated with him, would she have suggested starting a business together if he had not been Sitanos‘ Nitrozian’s grandson, but just a common citizen that was forced to earn his living by cleaning Kelvic cages?