Faith is both the prison and the open hand [open]

[medicalmind]

Scarlet didn't leave the contagion lab often. She didn't have much of a reason to, beyond for sleep and meals (unlike Luis, she was still responsible enough about her health to go to sleep in her bunk) and she was content enough in that. Tonight was no real exception, and anyone who might actually be looking for her would find her tucked away in

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[notlewis]

It wasn't much of a surprise that Luis was still hard at work in his own little corner. He showed up at Scarlet's desk with a pile of papers in one hand and a small datapad on top of all the papers. Between the slight rasp in his voice and the red eyes behind his glasses, it was obvious he had clearly just gotten out of a long, long session of work.

"All the latest culture data for you, along with the records from quarantine last week, amiga," he announced. "The numbers are starting to blur together when I look at them, so I am probably done for the evening." Probably.

[medicalmind]

She'd actually been so lost in thought she hadn't actually heard Luis approach her desk and jerked a little when he talked, although she tried to downplay the motion by acting like she was stretching, dropping the photo on her desk and looking up at him. She raised her eyebrows at the overall tired look of her boss, managing to crack a slight smile when he announced he was probably done for the evening.

"Does that mean you're going to go upstairs and get some sleep or that you're going to go back to your desk, work for another two hours, and then pass out in the middle of your paperwork?"

[notlewis]

"I don't--" Luis started, but then paused. Wow... come to think of it, when was the last time he went up to his own room to go to sleep? It was always in the plans, but he could probably keep track of how many nights he slept in a bed on one hand. "Well, I don't always pass out on my paperwork," he said with a shrug. "I am just a person with a lot of inertia. I work best in long sittings, you know?"

Then he looked back towards his desk. "I did want to check one thing before I go, though."

[medicalmind]

Scarlet rolled her eyes at him, picking up the data pad from the top of the pile he'd just brought her and wagging it at him.

"If you're so tired you can't see straight whatever it is can wait until tomorrow." She knew he probably wasn't going to listen to her, but it was worth a shot. She glanced down at the data pad, before pointing with her other hand towards the door of the labs.

"Go to bed."

[just_like_daddy]

Russel wasn't really sure if this was going to work. But there was only one way to find out. So, in the name of science, alchemy, and physics, he set out to break ground in both of the fields. And in order to break ground, usually other things must be broken as well. Hopefully, not one's face, hands, or anything else vital. However, occasionally one's eyebrows must be sacrificed for the sake of science.

This was one of those times.

It had been perfectly quiet in the lab right up until the small explosion. Some equipment crashed to the floor, and Russel with it. There was the scent of melted plastic, sulfur, and the faintest bit off burned hair in the air. By the time anyone would have been able to reach him, he was halfway to his feet, going to inspect the damage. He was fine, old wounds notwithstanding. Getting up from his back with one arm took him a moment.

[just_like_nii]

Fletcher was sitting nearby, but not close enough to interfere with Russel's work. He had a different project; he was currently examining the chemical makeup of the ichor secreted by his plantsuit when he'd cut open one of the veins.

When he heard the explosion, he flinched and turned in Russel's direction. He immediately jumped to his feet and hurried toward his brother. "Wh-what happened?"

[medicalmind]

Explosions were infrequent enough in the lab that for a brief moment she was thrown off, reaching for the gun always on her desk, before she realized where she was and what had happened. After a second she stood and hurried over to where the noise had come from, surveying the scene as she arrived. So much for that equipment.

"What happened here?"

[just_like_daddy]

"An aggressive reaction," Russel answered the both of them at once. He inspected the damages. The transmutation circle was now marred by a dark black char, and there was a lot of broken glass lying around. "Don't touch anything," he said to both of them, but it was mostly directed to Fletcher.

He picked up a pen that was undamaged, and poked through the glass with it, as though he were uncovering something he expected to remain under it. He set it down, and reached into the small crater he'd made. From it, he lifted a small, clear, shimmering, rough crystal, barely discernible from the glass around it. He grinned. "Agressive, but successful."