Electra"For once I'm not working with volatile chemicals! Well... that's a lie, I am, but I promise you it's in a controlled environment."
Ariana was always hesitant to disturb Electra in her lab, mainly due to the several near-catastrophic incidents she'd caused in the past just by knocking on the door to the place. As she approached the research facility in which her friend worked, she began to wonder if this situation really was reason to risk yet another explosion, chemical spill, or rapid combustion of flammable fumes in an enclosed space. She knocked gingerly, keeping her body as far away from the door as possible. To her surprise, the hallway remained silent, save for a voice from within. "Come in!" came the chipper reply to her knock. Ariana was rather bemused at this - Electra, in all her years of working in the Starfall research laboratories, had never once responded so happily. So Ariana pushed open the door, still with her senses on high alert, ready to flee or summon a water-magic user at any moment. "Are you not busy, Electra?" Ariana asked cautiously. "If it's a bad time..." "No, come in, it's okay," Electra responded. "For once I'm not working with volatile chemicals. Well... that's a lie, I am, but I promise you it's in a controlled environment." "Should I be wearing a pair of these..." Ariana reached for the safety glasses perched on a rack on the wall - in actuality she was making a move for the fire blanket - but Electra stopped her. "Don't be silly, Ari, there's no danger here. Come over and look, it's really cool." Reluctantly, she approached the chemist. "So... what is this completely non-dangerous experiment with volatile materials, then?" Ariana was careful to maintain a good ten-foot distance between herself and Electra's laboratory equipment. "Flame emission spectroscopy," Electra said, excitement apparent in her voice. "Give me your hand, Ari, I'll tell you what elements are on it!" Before she could protest, Ariana's hand was grabbed by the chemist, who proceeded to wet it with several drops of a clear liquid. Ariana flinched. "Electra, I don't think this is a good - " "I promise I know what I'm doing! It's harmless," she explained as she brought a small capillary tube up to the liquid. It was quickly sucked into the tube and through the machine to the flame, which burst into a bright orange colour - a sharp contrast to its original blue. Ariana flinched again, though Electra seemed not to notice. "See? Orange to yellow flame indicates the presence of sodium on your skin. Which makes sense, because sweat is salty, and salt is otherwise known as sodium chloride." Ariana blinked, still in shock over the fact that she was still in once piece. "So, anyway, I'm sorry... did you want to talk to me about something?" Electra placed the capillary tube back into its flask. "Actually..." Ariana was still holding her palm out in front of her, still not knowing exactly what liquid Electra had put on her skin earlier. "It's quite a coincidence that you should be mentioning fire. Selwyn has just informed me of an opportunity that, if you're not too busy, you would probably be very interested in." Electra's eyes lit up, and she flicked a switch on the wall which doused the flames in the machine. "Can you tell me about it on the way? It's about time I got out of this lab for some fresh air anyway." Ariana breathed a sigh of relief - though she hadn't even explained the situation, she was glad to get Electra out of her volatile laboratory under any circumstances possibly. "Be glad to."
Starfall Dragonry is owned by Molly (a.k.a. Starburst). |
