Weird Science

[Sophia]

April 1st | Closed to Belle, Bob, Sophia and Varian.


"Why are we here again? I've got things to do, Quasimodo needs to be tested on his herbs."

"I know, but they said it's important and that we had to come."

"Bob, unless it's--you know what, forget it. Hopefully whatever it is, it'll be quick."

Sophia sighed deeply, pawing the ground with impatience as she stood next to her brother. Bob's eyes rested on the doors, made of thick oak, and reinforced with steel. Right behind those doors was a "lab" of sorts, open to the Rogues' resident tinkerers and alchemists to mess around with their science experiments, including King Clopin himself.

It is far better that they have a place to mess around safely than out in the open, Clopin had said.

After a few too many explosions, Clopin had commissioned the lab to be built, and it was every scientist's dream lab. Bob's tail swished back and forth as he and his sister waited for Belle and Varian, curious to see what they had to do with such scientific things.

"Do you think they'll dissect us?" Bob whispered, lowering his head to Sophia's level. The smaller unicorn frowned, rolling her eyes at her brother.

"Of course not Bob. Let's just wait for them and see what it is that they wanted us to participate in, okay?"

[Varian]

Varian wasn't the kind of person to involve himself in battles on the front line. He'd known this after seeing the way some of his friends returned home battered and broken, and he'd seen how some hadn't come home at all. Sure, he wasn't close to very many of them, but he was in this whole mess now and as much as he sometimes regretted it, he'd also found things here that he'd never really thought he would find before. He was glad that he hadn't been forced out onto the battlefield yet, his services were better utilized here anyway, where he could use his mind to make up for what his body lacked.

When the king had commissioned the lab, Varian very nearly wept with how perfect it was. He'd fancied his own lab back home impressive, but this one made his look like child's play. There was something special about having other people who encouraged him, joined in when he went on a tangent. He was used to people tuning him out, eyes glazed over as he tried to explain things. People listened to him here, they valued and appreciated him. It felt like family, more so than any other ever had.

After some audible rustling and clattering, and a loudly muttered "whoops", Varian finally pulled open the heavy door to grin at the pair of unicorns, "they're here!" He called back to his companion in the room, stepping back so they could come in.

It was a funny thing, having unicorns around. He'd only ever known of them through fables and myth, and certainly hadn't ever put any stock into those tales. Sure, any alchemist or scientist would froth at the chance to see just how many properties held truth, and what sorts of things they could be used for. But to have the chance to actually test those theories? Unheard of. Yet here they were, and needless to say, he was excited.

[Belle]

"Ah, excellent!" Over Varian's shoulder appeared his co-working companion. A leather frock had been pulled over maintained coat and dress, and a pair of goggles swung like a choker about Belle's neck. She greeted the unicorn pair with a grin. Oh what a chance this was to be! Since her childhood Belle had never truly doubted the existence of magic and fantasy; she'd simply doubted that such elements would ever become a part of her own life.

Then had come the day when she'd stumbled into a castle filled to the brim with magic of the cursed variety. That had become her own personal fairy tale, a final resounding yes to the silent question as to whether such things truly existed. Now she stood called to work in a lab where science and magic could go hand in hand for the betterment of curiosity.

Or hand in hoof, as it were.

"Bob, Sophia, come in please! We'd like to welcome you to the workshop!" Belle stepped back to allow more room for the unicorns to enter, striding farther back into the room towards her own workstation. Organized chaos reigned; books opened to pages detailing the inner workings of steam engines sat beside old tomes written in runes. Science and magic indeed.

[Sophia]

The two siblings trotted into the workshop, their heads turning left and right in awe of the lab. This was the first time that either of them had been inside, and Clopin had been right; it was an absolute sight to behold.

"Well, this is certainly something!" Sophia exclaimed, looking to Belle with a smile. She lifted one of the tomes with her magic, bringing it closer to her face as she allowed the tome to float before her, turning the pages to look at the ancient writings of languages long lost to humans, but not to her.

"This tome...where did you get it from? The writing is in old Babylonian, around the time of the separation of tongues." Sophia said, as she levitated the book towards Belle.

Bob busied himself with other things, looking at the various alchemical solutions in numerous glass tubes and flasks.

"Have y'all been able to make gold yet? I thought Clopin had that weird stone or somethin' that had that ability." Bob said to Varian, as he gestured to the flasks with a hoof.

"So, just out of curiosity, why did you call us here?" Sophia piped up, as she returned to her brother's side.

[Varian]

Varian grinned to the side when Belle chimed in behind him, stepping back to let her greet the two before they came in, "this place is bonkers!" He said, with a soft giggle snort, "It's not like I totally freaked out when I saw it," he cleared his throat, then looked giddy, "but I totally freaked out when I saw it!" He laughed, then slipped around as the pair stepped in to shut the door behind them.

"Working on it," he answered Bob's question, coming to investigate the flask he was indicating, "among other things, honestly it's hard to know where to start!" He put his hands on his cheeks and giggled eagerly, "there's so much here that I never dreamed of getting my hands on!" He dropped his hands to his side, before he laughed with good nature at Sophia's question.

"Phft, isn't it obvious?" He gestured to them, "you're unicorns! I mean, might not be a huge thing where you're from but for us," he gestured between himself and Belle, "well I can certainly say I've never seen any in person!" He chuckled, coming to drape his arms over each of their backs, grinning between them, "you could help us with so much!" He giggled and wiggled in place a bit in his giddiness, "oooohoho I can't wait! What should we do first?!" He hurried over to Belle's side, waiting for her instruction on what she wanted him to do.

[Belle]

Belle watched the unicorns take in their surroundings with the smugness of a proud mother. She hadn't yet been present when the room had been constructed, but between herself and the other tinkerers amongst the Rouges they had already filled the space with a menagerie of gadgets and prototype inventions. At Sophia's prompting Belle stepped forward and, with a leather glove slipped on to protect the parchment from the oils of her finger, gently turned a page of the book Sophia had gravitated towards.

"You're able to read this?" The excitement of Belle's tone was clear. "This was found within Adam's -- my fiance's -- library collection. It was kept well-preserved as a curiosity as we couldn't find enough texts of a near enough age to even hazard at translating it." Belle gave the tome a thoughtful look, her mind whirling. If Sophia could reveal the secrets of ancient tomes... Images swirled in the eye of Belle's mind. So many books that had been set aside as too difficult to decipher, recipes and spells lost to the ages that could be regained!

Belle tapped a finger against pursed lips for a long moment, apparently lost in thought as she turned the possibilities over in her head. It took a moment for her to return to the present as Varian hurried over, a queried 'hm?' answering him. After a brief pause the proverbial lightbulb appeared. Belle clapped her hands together, clasping them before her chest. "Oh, yes! We don't have an exact plan per se, more of an... Idea. We were hoping you two might be willing to join us in a few experiments!" She offered a friendly wink. "Nothing requiring blood or anything like that, unless you're keen on testing whether blood magic performed by a unicorn is more or less effective when compared to a normal human or magically-endowed human. More so like... The properties of unicorn hair compared to silk or wire. Throwing magic and science at the wall and seeing what sticks."

[Bob]

The two siblings looked at each other and then to both Belle and Varian with varying levels of confusion on their faces.

"Well," Sophia began, "this is a first for humans wanting to experiment with us. I don't even think Taylor was this excited when she first met my brother."

The lavender-maned unicorn then turned to the tome, and placed it back where it had been with as much delicacy as she could, so as not to damage it.

"I actually studied a lot of what humans consider to be "dead" languages, so I can read what these are about. This one is an epic story, just from reading the first few lines." Sophia declared.

"Experiments?" Bob asked, his voice shaking a bit. He swallowed his fear roughly, and then looked to his sister, who was noticeably calmer than he was. He puffed out his chest in mock confidence, and seemed a little more put at ease when Belle said that blood was not a requirement.

He hated needles.

"So...what's the first experiment?" Bob asked, tilting his head to one side as he regarded the two humans with caution. Sure, they were fellow soldiers and Taylor trusted them and he trusted her, but still. He had to be wary.