The Legend of the Myth Touched

[Morphimus]

Panic

[Fish]

How long does it take to get to campus anyways? Is it even possible?

[wanderingstoryteller]

Your stomach sinks as your process what Billy said.

It's a little under three miles to get there, so if traffic is good you might have ten minutes to prepare.

You look at Billie with pitiful desperation.

"Sorry, not gonna happen."

"Come onnnnn, Billie! I can't afford to get on Dr. Vargunza's bad side! Not now." 

"Look, I'm not being a jerk. I already told you last week, I took the car into the shop last Friday, it's out of commission until Wednesday."

"Why don't you just order on Uber?"

"I barely have enough money for meals this week."

You slump against the counter, even with an Uber, you won't have any time to prep.

After a moment, you stand up, and jog upstairs to change and get your bag.

Billie follows you upstairs.

"Just get ready, I've got you covered."

She heads down the hallway, and you are curious what she has in mind.

After getting ready you head back into the hallway.

Billie is waiting near the stairs and she hands you a circular device and a helmet.

"I'll still be late by bike."

"Oh bitch, bitch, bitch. You owe me. This isn't a bike."

It dawns on you what she's done.

"Oh no..."

"Look, it's safe, just make sure you keep away from traffic and keep your eye on the road, You'll be on campus with time to spare and you won't have to worry about parking."

"Billie...please...I'll die."

"Please, it's perfectly safe, and Zeke's only been had one accident on it.

"He almost died"

"But only almost."

You sigh, and strap on the helmet after putting on your backpack.

As you head to the garage keep taking glances backwards, Billie isn't grinning, which is worrying enough.

You open the door and hit the button for the garage door.

As light floods the garage, it falls on your chariot in the corner.

Zeke's Neon Purple, High Performance, Offroad Segway with chrome rims.

[Morphimus]

Alright, you can do this. It's all about weight distribution! And not getting hit by cars...

SPOILER: Click to show

[wanderingstoryteller]

Pray for me...

Just go along with the traffic and stay off the sidewalks, you'll be fine.

And if you have to bail, just remember to tuck and roll.

You put the key fob in, grip the handles tightly, and lean forward.

Suggested Listening

With a deafening screech the Segway jet's forward.

You bank towards the street and quickly accelerate to breakneck speeds.

You dart through the streets of Kingsport, keeping to the edge of the street. The souped up Segway keeping pace with the city traffic.

You might actually save some time though a few uneven bumps take their toll on your legs.

Crossing the narrow Rourke Bridge is particularly perilous.

However, you are able to make it to the northern campus with just a few moments to spare.

You pull a bike chain from your backpack and leash the beast to a bike stand.

Without any moment to let the adrenaline wear off you dash into the hall

A few students are already waiting near the lab.

You unlock the door and let them in.

As the students begin to trickle in, you pass out the lab directions and choke out what guidance you can muster.

You collapse into a chair as the undergrads get to work and pray that everything goes smoothly.

[Eversor]

The madman, he did it.


>Things go smoothly but you STILL have students that come in late, hungover. Jeez, why do you even bother!

[Fish]

You did it. You made it happen. Daylight savings hasn't gotten you down yet!

Now that you've made it in time, though, what are your thoughts on these students? Is there any hope for them or do you have a bunch of folks here doing their gen ed requirements with not passion or care?

[wanderingstoryteller]

Even as nerve-wracked as you are, at the very least the lab promises not to be too stressful.
You're mainly there to answer questions and make sure that the undergrads don't burn the lab down.
Most of the students here are deep into their major, this is an organic chemistry lab, so you don't find may undergrads here shotgunning Gen Eds.

Still, with so many students across all of the classes I work with, it's hard to keep track of names and faces.
Today's lab does have three notable students that I've seen through the years.

There's Krystal. She's a first generation Hattian with deep Creole roots.
She's two years deep into an Organic Chem major after three years of Criminal Justice.
After a particularly nasty protest in downtown Kingsport, she fell square into the ACAB crowd and found that advanced chemistry spoke to her more than the Bar.

Sam is a mad scientist through and through.
They are a non-binary townie, born and raised in Kingsport.
The more exotic the science, the more attractive it is to them.
Currently, the are already taking graduate courses as a Sophomore, and are the reason why I keep the chemical closet locked and the fire extinguisher handy.

Then there's Barns...

Suddenly a tall, olive skinned young man in his early twenties opens the door.
His hair is cut in a sloppy Caesar, and he has more bags under his eyes than a Louis Vuitton store.
He heads over to a work station and thows his backpack down on it. He takes out a Monster to wash down a quartet of Tylenol.
You wince while he crushes the Monster while lighting a Bunsen burner.

Barns is an odd one...he seems torn apart from all angles.
Running Back with the Kingsport Fisher Cats and Polymer Engineering Major
Frat boy party maniac and head of the college poetry club.
His swings are known around the campus, and I worry about him a lot.
I really would like him to go see a counselor, but I don't want to overstep...

You keep a close eye on Sam and Barns throughout the lab.
You end up having to help some students here and there, but overall the lab goes smoothly.
The goal was to synthesize what basically is Glow Stick fluid and then add salts to color it.
Most do well, but a few glow no brighter than a Game Boy Advance.

You debate asking Barns for some Tylenol as the student's start to pack and you get ready the paperwork for Dr. Vargunza

[fuzzysocks]

Who is Dr. Vargunza?

[Eversor]

>I mean first off, never try to endure a headache, its a fools gambit. Go ask for some Tylenol.

But we need some exposition on this Dr. Vargunza for sure.

[Fish]

The Tylenol question hinges a lot on how much we can trust Barns in regards to medication. Is this a risk worth taking?

[thedudeguy]

Dr. Vargunza is one of the top arguments you can make against professor tenure.

He is a 5 foot goblin, who has the filter of a Call of Duty streamer.

Sometimes I wonder if he's just drug addled from all of the work he's done over the years, or if he's always been that terrible.

Yet everyone can't deny, he's probably the smartest man in the university.

His library of textbooks, case studies, and analyses could easily fit several shelves in the stacks.

But after he hit tenure, many of his contemporaries here have said he has gotten a bit odd.

He still teaches Nanotechnology and Polymer Engineering...but he spends his free time espousing parapsychology, cryptid biology, and other wild goose chases.

And I have to deal with him day in and day out, because he is head of the review board for my doctoral dissertation.

I've been turned down twice, first time I'll admit, I cut corners. I really needed to rein in the power surges that the micro solar generators suffered.

But the second time, he kept hounding me on minutiae and practicality. It felt more like being on Shark Tank...or Mad Men.

Just thinking about all of this makes the headache worse...

The students start assembling their final notes and cleaning up the the lab equipment.

You look towards Barnes and head to his station.

He is still in the last few steps, but his end result seems to be vigorous enough that you might be able to read in the dark with it.

"Mind if I ask what the PK du jour is today?"

"Rough night?" he mumbles

"I could ask the same of you."

He lays down his burette

"Just tryin' to balance Rush week with some upcoming tests."

"You look like you haven't slept in a week"

"Aleve"

"Come on Barns, if you keep this up you'll burn out."

He shakes out two pills and slams them on the table.

"I'll deal with it..."

You slowly take the pills and withdraw.

He has bounced back from worse weeks...but you can't help but worry.

You down the pills with some water and watch as the students head out.

Barnes is the last one out as you're halfway done with your write-up.

[Fish]

I'm curious. Does Dr. Vargunza seem serious about his stranger interests or does it seem more like he's just goofing off with them?

[Eversor]

What do we do when the students head out?

I mean I guess we finish our write-up, don't delay what you can do now!

[thedudeguy]

You finish your notes, no absences, no explosions...you decide to cut Barns some slack and mark him as showing up on time.  

With everything noted and assembled you steel yourself for the walk across the street...to Dr. Vargunza's office. 

Kunzendorf Hall, a Gothic Revival styled building that is among one of the plethora of historical structures in Kingsport. It is tall, intimidating, and cold, it doesn't amazing you that it shares at least two things in common with the goblin that calls it home. 

It's mostly used for Deans Offices and receptions, but Vargunza apparently greased a few palms to get his office moved there, something about being in tune with the campus's latent somethingorrather radiation. Yet more psuedoscience... 

You hike up two flights of stairs and see his door slightly ajar. 

Suggested Listening 

"Morning Doctor..."

You see is bald head at his desk, the sounds of pages rustling and a pen feverishly scribbling. 

Around the room you see a map of Kingsport with several purple tacks punctuating the city. Notes seems to be following the tacks with various readings and measures...Thaumars? Oh yeah, that's Vargunza's supernatural radiation measure...he seems to be really off his rocker right now. 

"The Organic Chem lab went well. Sam was well behaved and didn't make any nitrogen compounds."

Vargunza only gives a dismissive wave of the hand. 

You lay the lab report next to him. As you turn away you hear the snap of paper being snatched. By the time you just cross the doorway there is the sharp staccato of a cleared throat. 

"That's good to hear...anything else you wish to tell me?" 

Oh lord...he knows something. What corpse floated out of the bay? 

"Anything at all?" 

"Uh...well, Derek and McKenzie seemed a bit distracted I was thinking of breaking them up before they started snogging over the bunsen burners."

"I could care less about their hormones Ms. Darwin." 

"The rubber hoses on station 3 might need some replacement? I was smelling some..."

"What about Mr. Demetriou?" 

"Barns? Well he was a bit groggy"

"HE WAS LATE!" 

You wince at his outburst 

"H-how..."

"MS. DARWIN! OF ALL THE FRUSTRATIONS YOU HAVE CAUSED ME I WOULD HAVE PRAYED THAT YOU WOULD AT LEAST HAVE THE COMMON DECENCY NOT TO LIE TO ME!" 

"W-Wha..."

He stands and darts towards you. 

"I've been suspecting that you've been cutting corners, playing favorites. So I had cameras put into MY labs." 

"I will take care of Mr. Demetriou's grade, but if you wish to have any hope of seeing your doctorate, you should do well to remember that your scientific integrity should have a higher priority than your biological imperative. 

You are overwhelmed...you don't know if you should feel angry or violated...you feel both so strongly that you are numb. 

"Speechless...of course you are. Why are you even here? You are fauning over your students and stumbling into labs. The stress and rigors of true science are too much for the fairer sex. It's why you all struggle to even have children, the stress is too much for reproduction." 

And like that...he's on the floor. Your hand above your head, open palmed. A red welt on his right temple the size and shape of your hand. 

In horror you back away and run out of Kunzendorf Hall. 

Behind you, you're not sure if you hear Vargunza screaming...or laughing... 

Just like that...you're ruined.