Pat stands with Mr. Wright in front of the Aristan door, still slightly defaced threatening graffiti that was never quite sanded of completely
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The eyes of the guard sharing the tablet glaze over, but he makes a valiant effort for some both confused, bored, and offended by the subject matter. "5 spoons is what they have of the stuff. It's been measured and, for the present, confiscated
( ... )
Phoenix feels a fine glaze develop over his brain for a bit. [Aw God, I hate math.] It's only because he stops to yawn near the end that he catches the major element here:
"Ides September: Test - 1 dose."
He reviews it again, brow furrowed. [An extra 5 spoons was extracted 6 days before this "Ides September," and then the day of, a whole dose was used... but why?]
He looks at one of the nearby guards. "Ah, excuse me, what's this 'Ides' and 'Nones' of September? Approximately how many days ago from today are they?" He looks sheepish. "My, uh, calender works a bit differently, I think."
"The Ides is nine days after the Nones and nineteen days before the Kalends of October." Pat pipes up. "It's six days before the Kalends of October right now."
The elder guard is pressing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
Phoenix calculates this mentally. [So today is 6 days before this Kalends. So Lessee, Ides is 19 days before... wait. So a whole dose went missing 13 days before the actual incident!]
He indicates the tablet. "Can I take this with me? I have a few questions about it I'd like to go over with my client." [Even if it's WAY more unwieldly than the stuff I usually have in my court record...]
Dec gives Pat a look, somewhat along the lines of 'see that there's no screw-up.' "You may," he says. "Just be careful with it."
"But --" Olivia starts to say. "Miss, it'll be returned intact to the university eventually," he says quietly. "I promise you're not going to need it for quite some time, anyway."
He nods a bit. "Thanks." He definitely has some more questions to ask about this.
He tucks it under his arm. "Anyway, I wanted to see Erasmus's workspace, if that's okay?" He's not sure what this tablet means yet -- but he's sure it's big.
The frowning woman walks them down a corridor to a set of rooms, one large, one small leading off containing a cotlike arrangement with perfectly arranged blankets on it.
There are small windows high in the wall, letting a minimal breeze in. There are oil lamps in the corners of the worktable. The work area is clean, with empty bottles arranged by size, three scrolls in the corner in a pyramids, some metal things of an apparently scientific nature, and a few stacked tablets with root and leaf diagrams on them.
[The office space of a true arboreal nerd, so it would seem.] Phoenix looks around a bit, but no obvious envelopes or objects catch his eye. Damn.
He sighs, after a bit. "Okay, I think I've seen enough for now, thanks." Briefly, he wishes Maya or someone were here; sometimes her prying was useful in spotting something he'd missed. Then again, what were the odds they'd let Maya into a place like this?
He turns back to the guards. "Should be about time for Luc's shift to be over... Pat, we should probably head back."
"Yeah. Guards trying to be polite to Erasmus normally just makes him more irritable, from what everyone's always said."
The voices, indeed, are just the two of them. "Are you even listening?" "Unfortunately. But I don't buy it. A number you can't even write?" "I'm telling you, the square root of two is irrational." "No, you are irrational."
"Hello, Phoenix." Erasmus is sitting on his bench.
Luc is standing there and...well, looking past them to notice another guard on the way to the room. "Almost right on time," he says with a nod. "What's the tablet?"
"Ah, this? Actually, I wanted to ask Erasmus a question about something on this, if you don't mind me putting off our talk for just a couple minutes," Phoenix replies. Of course, part of him just doesn't wanna have to cart the damn thing around more than necessary. But regardless.
He brings the tablet over. "Specifically, this here," he says, indicated the time around the Ides of September. "It says here than an extra few spoonfuls of this substance was extracted about 6 days before then, and then a whole dose was used in some sort of test. If I'm right, that means a rather large amount was used for something about 13 days prior to the incident -- more than in previous tests. Would you have any idea what this is about?" he asks Erasmus.
Erasmus looks at the tablet, then like he's trying to remember.
"I certainly remember distilling it six days before. But on the Ides...I was looking at trees on the Ides. My colleague Olivia was working alone. I was looking at trees. She said her results that day weren't worth talking about; she'd had to clean up some spills and hadn't come up with anything new or anything." He frowns. "I guess I hadn't noticed she'd used so much."
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"Ides September: Test - 1 dose."
He reviews it again, brow furrowed. [An extra 5 spoons was extracted 6 days before this "Ides September," and then the day of, a whole dose was used... but why?]
He looks at one of the nearby guards. "Ah, excuse me, what's this 'Ides' and 'Nones' of September? Approximately how many days ago from today are they?" He looks sheepish. "My, uh, calender works a bit differently, I think."
Reply
The elder guard is pressing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
Olivia is standing silently in the corner.
Reply
Phoenix calculates this mentally. [So today is 6 days before this Kalends. So Lessee, Ides is 19 days before... wait. So a whole dose went missing 13 days before the actual incident!]
He indicates the tablet. "Can I take this with me? I have a few questions about it I'd like to go over with my client." [Even if it's WAY more unwieldly than the stuff I usually have in my court record...]
Reply
"But --" Olivia starts to say.
"Miss, it'll be returned intact to the university eventually," he says quietly. "I promise you're not going to need it for quite some time, anyway."
Reply
He tucks it under his arm. "Anyway, I wanted to see Erasmus's workspace, if that's okay?" He's not sure what this tablet means yet -- but he's sure it's big.
Reply
There are small windows high in the wall, letting a minimal breeze in. There are oil lamps in the corners of the worktable. The work area is clean, with empty bottles arranged by size, three scrolls in the corner in a pyramids, some metal things of an apparently scientific nature, and a few stacked tablets with root and leaf diagrams on them.
Reply
He sighs, after a bit. "Okay, I think I've seen enough for now, thanks." Briefly, he wishes Maya or someone were here; sometimes her prying was useful in spotting something he'd missed. Then again, what were the odds they'd let Maya into a place like this?
He turns back to the guards. "Should be about time for Luc's shift to be over... Pat, we should probably head back."
Reply
"I hope Luc got a chance to enjoy the good news in relative peace," Pat mutters half to herself as they head in.
There are muttered voices in Erasmus's room as they approach it.
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He stops a bit, blinking at the voices. Just Luc and Erasmus...?
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The voices, indeed, are just the two of them.
"Are you even listening?"
"Unfortunately. But I don't buy it. A number you can't even write?"
"I'm telling you, the square root of two is irrational."
"No, you are irrational."
Pat knocks. The door opens.
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Phoenix peers in, shuffling the tablet awkwardly. He'd kill for some paper to copy this stuff on. Or a camera. Or SOMETHINg.
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Luc is standing there and...well, looking past them to notice another guard on the way to the room. "Almost right on time," he says with a nod. "What's the tablet?"
Reply
He brings the tablet over. "Specifically, this here," he says, indicated the time around the Ides of September. "It says here than an extra few spoonfuls of this substance was extracted about 6 days before then, and then a whole dose was used in some sort of test. If I'm right, that means a rather large amount was used for something about 13 days prior to the incident -- more than in previous tests. Would you have any idea what this is about?" he asks Erasmus.
Reply
Erasmus looks at the tablet, then like he's trying to remember.
"I certainly remember distilling it six days before. But on the Ides...I was looking at trees on the Ides. My colleague Olivia was working alone. I was looking at trees. She said her results that day weren't worth talking about; she'd had to clean up some spills and hadn't come up with anything new or anything." He frowns. "I guess I hadn't noticed she'd used so much."
Reply
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