Warrior of the Void Book 1, Chapter 21

“Here we are,” Behind the door had been the rest of the guild. Which the lalafel told her expanded both above and below the entrance’s floor, to encompass five different floors. Her guide hadn’t shown her any of them, instead taking her to the back of the current floor and down a corridor, “While some alchemists within the Guild possess personal labs - me being one of them - the majority of the work is being done in work areas such as these.” Opening a second door identical to many others they’d passed by, he invited her to enter.

The room itself was an almost featureless stone square, far smaller than what the distance between two doors had implied, “The walls are reinforced and much thicker than you’ll see in other building as to limit the damage an unwanted explosion may cause,” As he explained this, Cocobusi motioned to a cabinet that had been built into the wall itself, “And to avoid obstructions storage closets, drawers and other such things are built directly into it as well,” Waddling over, he opened one of the drawers and pulled a bulky respirator from it, “A few generic protections are kept within, such as this respirator, but alchemists are expected to quickly acquire their own.”

Putting it back down, he pointed at the second most noticeable thing in the room, “This is a miasma hood. While we’ve long disproved the existence of the substance, the name had remained,” Protruding slightly from the wall was some sort of fantasy fume hood, it’s base made from the same stone as the rest of the room and the hood itself forged from some sort of coppery metal, “There are a few magitech fans hidden in the top, here to draw noxious fumes out of the room. Lastly, as you may have noticed as it is hardly discreet, we have this.”

Walking to the center of the room, he patted a circular, flat-topped pedestal of stone that barely reached below Muur’s chest, “As I’m sure you’re wondering what this is, I shall explain, you recall the alembic you were tasked with using for the water distillation?”

“Yes.” The lizard wizard said with a light frown, trying and failing to see what the connection was. Unless someone was really good at seamless panels, this wasn’t a stationary version of the alembic.

“They are rather recent developments,” He quickly said upon seeing her confusion, “I’d hazard you’ve seen the airships coming and going in the city’s skies? They’re the work of Cid Garlond, a garlean defector who came to Eorzea some years hence. His company, Garlond Ironwork has been quite the boon for most tradescrafts. Before he arrived, alembics were room sized affairs, some of which you may have seen in the guild’s entrance. But as a sign of good faith, he worked with the Guilds to create miniaturised versions of their workstations - all magitech powered, of course. These workstations are the reason why so many adventurers are willing to embrace a trade, and ever since the Calamity, they’ve begun to become the standard of all tradesmen throughout the realm. Much easier to produce and maintain than a room sized apparatus after all,” Nodding to the plinth, he patted the top of it, “This specific lab, and most of those on this floor, was rebuilt in order to accommodate this new type of tool.”

“Dare I ask how painful an undertaking that was? The end result may be simple, but removing the old machinery…” Muur grimaced at the idea. That’d take multiple work-crews, very well trained ones with how delicate and expensive some of that stuff would inevitably be.

“Shockling simple, the Guild was not unscathed in the wake of the wyrm’s flight,” A shiver of fear and revulsion passed through the alchemist, “By the grace of The Twins, the city was mostly spared. But one of the Primal’s spells impacted the Guild, ruining it in part.”

“Right, onwards to another topic. Gunk disposal.” The lizard woman said with all the grace of a sledgehammer to the teeth.

“Ah-! Right… yes, that. Erm–” Running back to the cabinet, he pulled on the lowest drawer, revealing it to be on a swivel. A large metal garbage can came with the door, while a smaller drawer containing some sort of yellow powder and a scoop slid open above it, “This would be it. This is a neutralizing powder, either mix it with the byproducts, or dump a generous amount on top of whatever is placed in the bin,” Opening another drawer, he grabbed a lid, “Once that is done, you need only affix this lid to seal the container, and either call on the janitorial staff to take it to the guild’s waste processing, or bring it there yourself– and…”

The Coco stopped partway through his explanation and remained quiet for a few seconds. Groaning, he put back the lid and sighed, “And I am sorry.”

“Apology accepted, to tell the truth the only ones I was upset with in that situation were your brothers, for keeping you in the dark like that.” Muur sighed, shaking her head softly, “Gods know I wouldn’t have reacted any better back there if I was in your shoes.”

“Yes… They–” Closing the drawers, he pulled a stepladder and sat on it, “I have to admit I don’t quite recall what was said. I was far too angry to care, but they contacted me through linkshell in as much a panic as they’ve ever allowed themselves to be ever since becoming Guildmasters. They did not give me any information, beyond the fact the talisman was required for someone that would not see the next Windsday. As it was Earthsday, I scrambled to complete the request– even ruining a batch of Fantasia to do so. My brothers seldom ever make requests of me, they do not want to be seen using my position as a means to influence the guild. The last thing these idiots desire is for me to be dragged into the city’s politics, so for them to ask so nakedly?” He heaved a bone deep sigh and raised a hand to massage his face, “It gave me a taste of being relied on, I suppose. To then learn that it was meant for an individual actively pursuing a profession that placed them in the danger that the medallion was expressly meant to avoid? When they, in turn, continue to do all they can to dissuade me from doing the very same? The hypocrisy of it all was too much.”

“If they haven’t explained yet, my aether was so unstable and there was so much of it that as a kid things got set on fire when I sneezed.” Muur said as she reclined herself against a wall, her tail curled like a spring to act as a cushion of sorts while keeping the tip off to the side still holding the purified water. “It was funny… right up until I started to get older and my aether grew at four times the pace of my body. Little embers started to be explosions and constant arcs of lightning and the only reason I’m standing here is that I managed to find a Thaumaturge on the road who taught me about foci and how to channel the ticking time bomb in my ribcage. ‘S apparently the only reason your brothers decided to teach me, that I was already halfway instructed.”

“They did explain that, yes. Not that it makes saying nothing any better in my opinion,” Shaking his head, he looked to her, “Leaving family drama that should not have been unearthed behind us. I am curious, why did you wish to see how the Guild disposes of byproducts? Most adventurers care little for the process after making their purified water.”

“Nostalgia, if you’d believe it. I got training in labwork on the road to Eorzea, found it amazingly soothing once it moved away from five million repetitions of shifting samples across a dozen vials for analysis.” Muur sighed through her nose as she blended truth with complete bullshit, “I had to drop it as my condition worsened, not exactly safe around glassware when even with a focus tied to your back there’s still smoke and cinders flying out of your mouth when you raise your voice, but now that I got your talisman, well. Here I am.”

“I won’t not lie,” The man said after falling silent yet again, “With yesterday’s memories still fresh in my mind, part of me bristles at the thought. Though, what weighs far more in my mind is what took place this very morning. What you purified were these,” Pulling on the satchel as his side, Cocobusi procured a small bottle of yellow-gold liquid. In the process of putting it down on the plinth, Muur could help but notice how similar the hue was to the film that had coated the goop they’d just disposed of, “Ethers, or as my brothers would call them: ‘A mage’s one true friend in the turbulent whirlwind of combat, muscular brute standing between oneself and the foes notwithstanding’. This is what the concoction is meant to resemble. What you purified is what an adventurer that had newly joined delivered as part of an order. Only one third of the ethers he delivered were of passable quality, and to hear it from the quartermaster, he attempted to hide the - I’d call them flawed, but you’ve seen what they are - by placing them at the very bottom of the delivery crate.”

“...” The only reason Muur hadn’t cut off the man somewhere in that monologue was that she was focusing on her breathing and aether to avoid turning the lab into a walk-in furnace. “I have half a mind to track that quack down and force feed him every last bottle of mud he dared call a product. This isn’t just malpractice, not with combat medicine, it is outright sabotage. Even beyond the ethics of it, does he not realize what it does to the Guild’s standing and continued existence if people can’t trust its products and members? His license should be revoked and he should be publicly blacklisted from all alchemical business, minimum, nevermind a fine for–”

She bit down on her knuckles hard enough she was surprised her skin didn’t break, if only to stop her rant before it descended into outright screeching.

“Oh Twins, another Severain,” Cocobusi for his part, gave her a mildly terrified look.