File #004 video

[unfringed]

[Walter turns on the video for the journal, sets it up and then moves back, sitting down on a chair in front of it. He's wear a lab coat over his usual checkered shirt and sweater cardigan combo and looks quite gleeful, gesturing toward the camera with a welcoming motion.]

Fellow denizens of Luceti! My name is Walter Bishop and I come to you with a unique request.

I would like to take a tissue and wing sample from every person in the compound - a simple test, really, very quick, not at all painful [Says the man who can tolerate electroshock therapy with a smile] - in order to help the scientists of our great community better understand the makeup of this universe.

Should you and several of your companions be from the same world, it would be most helpful if one or all could donate, although one should suffice if anyone is a tad squeamish.

I will be taking the samples this afternoon in the plaza.

Oh! And hot cocoa will be provided for compensation of course. I'm no madman.

This afternoon, starting at 1pm. Any and all volunteers are welcome! Those who don't wish to volunteer, don't worry - I'm sure I can find you somehow, yes?

[Action: Plaza, 1PM]
[As promised, Walter is bundled up in warmer clothes at the plaza with a little table of lab equipment and a rather large cooler that holds several Thermoses of hot cocoa. There are even little marshmallows for people who want them.]

Comments

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[Oh my God, child, you are perfect. He hugs her tightly again and then lets go.]

Yes! Yes, it is! If only everyone was as understanding as you, Ikki. It won't take long, I promise!

[He gets up and hurries over to the table, pulling out a seat for her and taking his own.]

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[breezing]

[ ...Did no one else say yes? Somehow, that's the picture she's getting.

Either way, Ikki goes on over to take the offered seat, kicking her legs idly after she does so. ]

S'okay, I don't have anything else planned for today except playing with Soren anyway. We've already got next month's art club meeting pretty much planned out and all.

[ Her day-to-day life is fairly ordinary. ]

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I'll make sure it won't affect any of your other plans then. What are you doing for the art club, hm?

[He's talking as he works, taking out a cotton swab with a pair of sterilized tweezers with one hand while the other motions for Ikki to roll up her sleeve.]

It isn't just for art, I've heard. You do a good many things in your club, yes?

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[breezing]

I think we're going to make and decorate chocolates!! Or cookies, if I can't find someone who knows about making chocolates.

[ The art club projects tend to be "whatever Ikki thinks sounds the most fun". Raven's co-head now as well, of course, but so far she's let Ikki sort of do whatever.

Ikki pushes up her sleeve, holding out her arm to Walter after, since she assumes that comes next. ]

Yep! We do lots of fun stuff. We're also making a sign for the flower shop next meeting...Sifu Raine asked us to.

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I make a very good custard pudding. Chocolates, I can research, if you would like?

[It can't be hard so long as they had the right materials. Food was, after all, just the science of heat and chemical reactions.

When Ikki holds her arm out, he swabs the inside of her elbow with the soaked cotton and then throws it away in a contained wastebasket. Next, he takes a small metal tool and holds her arm gently, scraping at the upper layer of her skin with its sharp edge to pull up some skin cells.]

Flower shop...oh? Do they have other plants besides flowers there?

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[breezing]

Oh! That'd be really helpful! I'm not at all sure about how to do it. I mean, I can make cookies and stuff, but I've never made chocolates...

[ Well, the scraping doesn't seem so bad. She's still not at all sure what Walter was on about with the music, but surely this will help!

She nods a little. ]

I think a few, but I'm not too sure. I don't go there a lot, but I know Katara got seeds from there. If not, I know there're other places to get other plants. Luke runs a farm, and lots of people have gardens.

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It's all about heating and cooling... [He's distracted as he puts the skin cells onto a plastic microscope slide and covers it, pressing the sheet down over the sample. He takes out a pen and labels it as well with his own code so no one else could know who the thing belonged to.]

Heat the chocolate to the right temperature, lower it again to just before it returns to a solid, then reheat. Pour into the shapes you desire...

[He takes another cotton swab and washes it over her skin, throwing it away like he did the other. He ties a piece of rubber tubing around her upper arm, then takes out a small needle and a plastic tube with a rubber cap.]

Remove air bubbles by tapping and cool until hard.

Can you make a fist around your thumb, dear?

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[breezing]

So you have to mess with the temperature while you do it?

[ THINGS SHE WOULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT TO DO...actually, her only idea was "melt chocolate bars and pour them into stuff and hope it works".

It's a good thing she didn't go with that plan. ]

'Kay.

[ She's never gotten her blood taken in this way before, or...really had to deal with needles. Waterbenders as healers are a different thing entirely. Ikki makes a fist, though, watching the entire process with open curiosity. ]

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Yes, exact degrees - I'll look them up and let you know.

[With her fist made, Walter rubs the sterilizing alcohol over her skin again and throws it away. He can see her veins now and he takes the needle, pressing it against her skin.]

You'll feel a small pinch on the count of three. One, two-- [He presses the needle into her skin very carefully and then sets up the plastic tube to receive the blood.] Three.

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[breezing]

All right! Thanks, Walter.

[ She can't use an oven without supervision according to house rules, but her grandfather can help her after they get directions.

Ikki makes a face at the pinch, but doesn't flinch - mainly because she doesn't want to ruin what he's doing, although she watches the blood being drawn with uneasy fascination.

It's gross, but also kind of cool. ]

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[After taking off the rubber tube tied around her upper arm, he fills the vial up and then presses a piece of clean cotton down over the needle before pulling it and the vial away.]

Hold this here for a moment.

[He writes the same number he'd put on her slide on the vial, dumped the needle into a wastebasket marked "hazardous" and then slid the vial into a waiting box. Then he turned back and took a piece of medical tape to put over the cotton.]

You can remove this in two to three hours.

And yes, the degrees... I do believe it was... Ah! Yes, it's called tempering. Using a double broiler, you heat the chocolate - depending on type, of course - to 115 degrees Fahrenheit or 46 degrees Celcius. Remove it from heat, melt extra chocolate into the mixture until the temperature drops to... [He thinks, wagging one finger by his head along to a tune only he can hear. When he speaks again, it's in a singsong voice as he recalls the receipe.] 84 or 29, heat again to 89, never go above 91 and soon enough you'll be done! Ha! That's it!

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[breezing]

[ WHAT A BORING BANDAID, WALTER. As soon as she goes away, Ikki's going to find stickers to liven it up. Wow. Maybe some butterflies or flowers or something? That shimmer. That would make it properly pretty and beautiful. ]

What's a broiler? ...Um...can you maybe write that down in the journals for me, maybe?

[ JUST...In case. She will have to research this, uh, wow. ]

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[WHAT, he doesn't have the glow in the dark ones. They were out at the store. :(

He turns and reaches to one of the coolers, taking out a thermos of hot chocolate, two cups and a bag of mini-marshmallows.]

Oh yes, I'll write it down later. A broiler - or more precisely a double broiler - is a smaller pot within a larger one. You put water in the larger pot and use heat transference to melt the substances in the small pot.

Care for some cocoa and marshmallows?

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[breezing]

[ As long as he realizes the glow in the dark ones are superior.

Also, yes. This is what she'd come for! ...you know, in addition to just plain helping out. ]

Oooh! Can I have extra marshmallows???

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[Glow in the dark with dinosaurs is best, he knows this well, don't worry.

He smiles wide when her eyes light up and he pulls out a mug cup, pouring the cup full of cocoa before offering the bag of mini marshmallows to her.]

For being such an excellent patient, my dear Ikki, you can have as many as you like.

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[breezing]

[ Chocolate in any form will always get a smile from Ikki.

She's easy that way. ]

Then I'll take a handful!

[ Or...two.

The marshmallow to chocolate ratio is uneven, here... ]

Thanks, Walter. How many people've come by so far, anyway?

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[Two is good. Even if the ratio is uneven, he can let it go for a child - especially a child who is helping him understand this place.]

How many?

[He looks at his box of slides and tubes and frowns.]

Not nearly as many as I had hoped, although Harlem has promised to send me her Brigade.

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[breezing]

Who's Harlem? Does Haruhi know she has competition?

[ ...Is Harlem Haruhi... ]

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Haruhi....?

Oh, yes, that's what I meant.

[Yeeeeeep.]

So yes, Harlem said she'd be bringing her friends by and that they'd all volunteer.

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[breezing]

[ Walter, you just...got it wrong again...

...

Oh well. ]</small. Oh! Well, that should be a lot of people. The Brigade's pretty big, last I checked. I think, anyway. They're the ones who did the Tanabata festival the year I got here.

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[What, no he didn't. What are you talking about? Shhhhh.....]

Oh, is it? Wonderful! I do need samples from as many people as I can. It's important to have a variety, even from the same world. Variances in a person's DNA could cause incomplete data.


....

What is Tanabata?

action; pretend my html was perfect there

[breezing]

It's a Japanese holiday, I guess. You make wishes by writing them on paper and tying them to a tree! And there are fireworks, too.

[ ...She...she's not really sure about anything about the holiday beyond that, to be honest... ]

action; ...omfg i didn't even see that...

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Oh, well! That's fascinating. Did you make a wish then? And tie it to the tree?

And fireworks! I've always loved fireworks.

action; ...I COULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT...

[breezing]

Yep! I wished...um, it was almost two years ago, but..."I want to live happily with everyone in our house as long as I can". And I think I also wished for Chien's practice to go well. He was Soren's trainer before me, back then. He went home a few months after Tanabata.

[ Back then...who had been in the house? It was in July...Aang and Katara and Bolin had all still been there, like they were now. Asami had been there, but she didn't remember that time any longer, since she'd returned home and come back since then. Korra. Toph. Zuko. Roku. All four of them, now gone. Uncle Sokka, gone. Jinora...two years ago, when Tanabata had come around, Jinora had still been there. Her father had appeared a few days after Tanabata, and had been in Luceti for a brief flash, before disappearing again.

Now it was Aang, Katara. Bolin and Asami. Iroh.

The empty rooms in their house that had belonged to other people once upon a time were sad things, sometimes. ]

I like fireworks, too, though! I hope we get to see 'em again sometime.

action; NOT ANYMORE

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That's a wonderful wish. [Even if it sounded sad. He would have wished that, too. Walter held out the cannister to refill her cup.] I would have wished the same - maybe I had, a long time ago, just not on a tree.

And perhaps we shall. When is this festival? Maybe they'll do it again for us.