#autoclave cleaning

[sylvialabtronuk]

Horizontal Laboratory Autoclave

Labtron Horizontal Laboratory autoclave is a 600 L capacited pulse vacuum single door autoclave. With a maximum working temperature of 134 °C it effectively sterilizes media, liquids and waste to be discarded. it has Self-inflating leak proof chamber with Digital LCD display to monitor working status and parameters for more information visit our website https://www.labtron.uk/

[rainwaterapothecary]

luis' tiny autoclave save me

save me luis' tiny autoclave

[leatherbookmark]

I love Seonghwa's thing with hitting/eating/committing unspeakable acts of violence upon the camera, whether he's doing a live or in front of the atz log camera. It's so goofy and cute but also it possibly hints at him enjoying some good ol' violence time, perhaps having that slumbering urge to just go ham at something. I think we should let him loose with a cardboard tube.

[lodhamachines]

Lodha Machines is the largest manufacturer and exporter of pharmaceutical machinery in Gujarat, India. Offers the best solutions for medicine filling and packaging machines in the pharmaceutical industry. We take pride in providing the highest quality pharma machines, ensuring efficiency, reliability, and compliance with industry standards. We are committed to providing the best quality pharmaceutical machinery, which is designed with precision and meets strong quality control demands. We are also manufacturers of various types of pharmaceutical machinery like Washing & Air jet Cleaning Machines, Autoclaves and Sterilizers, Ampoule Filler Sealer, Liquid Filling Machine, Powder Filling Machine. If you require visit our site: https://www.lodhamachines.com/ or Contact us: +919687731331

[corona-journal]

Further to my previous post on autoclaves and other lab equipment with quirks to harm the unwary...

The fact that hatch lacks safety features adds a layer of Darwinian filters to the lab equipment usage.

The autoclave is designed to kill schmucks I think

[creekfiend]

a wild thing about mcas is I have to troubleshoot every part of my life like for example my electrolyte drinks gave my anaphylaxis so I had to switch to pure distilled water but also all my reusable water bottles had caps that were hard to clean (plastic with a lot of little crevices, bamboo with rubber rings that stuff could get under, etc) and might harbor mold so I had to switch to drinking solely out of glass cups with single piece molded silicone lids that can be fully sanitized in the domesticated autoclave (dishwasher)

this is it from here on out, babey

[yamujiburo]

Jessie vs the Restaurant Health Inspection got me thinking, like

I can totally see Jessie and James's first plan being something like 'kidnap the restaurant inspector', a plan which involves Jessie in a suit and obviously fake moustache doing the restaurant inspection even though they could have just forged the results form because that's how Team Rocket's collective logic works

The second plan is help clean the restaurant. Honestly helpful, except Delia wakes up, goes to open the restaurant and, well

There's suds blocking the windows, ominous mechanical and sploshing noises coming from within, a van that has "MOBILE PIKACHU RESTAURANT WASH" written on it parked nearby, and for some reason Meowth is out front wearing a set of ear plugs and putting every single bit of cutlery through an autoclave?????

The inspection has to be rescheduled because whilst the restaurant is more hygienic than most operating theatres at this point, it smells so strongly of cleaning products that it isn't fit for eating in

(Delia forgives Jessie when she realises it's basically anxiety, like when Growlithe eats your shoes because they miss you)

Ohhhhh my god

[nardo-headcanons]

Writing Scientist Characters

this post is mainly an excuse to post a certain list of lab supplies I've made for a friend and infodump about lab work. but feel free to use this as a little resource when writing characters who are scientists and/or lab nerds. who knows, maybe it'll be of use.

General thoughts

Many people think it's a stereotype that scientist or nerd characters talk using complex technical jargon. While that is true to an extent, there actually is some kind of lab jargon. It varies across different labs and fields, but one thing they have in common is that it seeks to simplify, not the other way around.

gelelectrophoresis becomes elpho

microbiology becomes mibi

deioninized water becomes aqua dist

biochemistry becomes BC

sodium hydroxide becomes NaOH

They will probably not call a glass of water "silicon dioxide and h2o".

...and more. feel free to get creative. If you're writing in any other language than English, you can throw in one or two anglicisms as well. Also, most scientists will never gatekeep their work, and in an opposite fashion, will not shut up about it unless you make them. And no, most chemists do not know the entire periodic table by heart, only the most relevant elements. (main groups and a few commonly used metals of the subgroups) When it comes to characters doing the lab work, keep in mind that there are a lot more people involved than the scientist themself. Most scientists are more occupied with paperwork and data analysis, it is the laboratory technicians and assistants that do most of the practical work. They often have more lab experience than the scientists themselves.

Things you can have your lab nerd character do instead of making random chemicals explode

writing a lab report (and losing their mind over excel)

degreasing the glass bevel stoppers

removing the permanent marker from beakers (labeling is important)

complaining about the lack of funding of [their field] research

cleaning glassware

preparing specimen for examination

googling the most basic equations for their report

checking if the glassware and utensil collections are complete

steal single use plastic pipettes from their lab

pirating expensive textbooks

A list of laboratory supplies and utensils you can have them work with

Laboratory general (chem + bio)

Erlenmayer flasks, beakers, precision scales (3 digits), glass rods, metal spoons/spatulas, screw on glass flasks (autoclave compatible) test tubes, stopcock grease, dispensers with sanitizer and hand cream, gas burners, heating plates, eppendorf pipettes, pipette tips, Peleus pipetting aids, squirting bottles, liquid and powder funnels, incubator/drying chamber, round watch glasses, magnet stirring plates.

Microbiology Autoclave, petri dishes, agar plates, innoculation loops (reusable and metal), clean bench, microscope slides, microscope, drigalski-spatula, test tubes with clamping lids

Histology

Paraffin bath, water bath, scalpels, scissors, razor blades, microtomes (rotating microtome, slide microtome and freezing microtome), histocinette, tweezers (various kinds), ocular

Biochemistry

Sequencing robots, eppendorf tubes, gelelectrophoresis chambers, centrifuge

Analytical Chemistry

Photometer, kuvettes, burettes, mass spectro meters, UV bank (for chromatogrophies), pyknometers, melting point meter, porcelain mortars, pH paper, analytical scales (4 or more digits)

Prep Chemistry

Tripod/standing material, miniature lifting platforms, spiral condenser, colon condenser, round bottom flask (three necked and y- necked), filtration material, Separating funnel

Electrical engineering

Electric generators, Soldering iron, Clamp connectors, plugin connectors, ohm’s resistors, plug in lamps, condensers, transistors, PCBs, amperemeters, voltmeters, multimeters

Mechanics

Tripod/standing material, metal hooks, metal rods, mechanical stop watches, marbles, metal springs, Newton meters, laser motion detectors

Optics

Prisma (various kinds), various glass lenses (concave, convex, biconcave, biconvex), laser pointers, optical bench, mechanical iris diaphragm, looking glasses, monochrome lamps, lamp filters

Most used chemicals

Deionized water, ethanol, NaOH, HCl, H3PO4, NaCl (+ physiological NaCl solution 0.9)

Useful websites for writing science stuff

DNA sequence generator (simple): http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~mmaduro/random.htm

DNA, RNA and protein sequence generator: https://molbiotools.com/randomsequencegenerator.php Annealing temperature calculator: https://tmcalculator.neb.com/#!/main

Medicine name generator: https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/medicine-names.php Anything chemistry related: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=chemistry

Commonly used software:

MS Excel

Yenka

CASSY Lab

LabView

SpectraLab

LIMS

LaTex

Slack

Scientist friends, feel free to add onto this.

Have fun writing!

[yourbelgianthings]

aforementioned giant list of mountain goats songs for taz

sadly some characters i couldn’t find a song i thought fit for (i.e. angus) that doesn’t mean i don’t like them!!

Magnus- Against Pollution, Spent Gladiator 2, Training Montage, Billy the Kid’s Dream of Magic Shoes

Merle- Hebrews 11:40, Harlem Roulette, January 31 438, Noche Del Guajalote

Taako- Up the Wolves, Get Lonely, Get Famous

Barry- Blues in Dallas, Love Love Love

Johann- Your Belgian Things, Harlem Roulette

Lucretia- Old College Try, Heel Turn 2, Game Shows Touch Our Lives

Davenport- Idylls of the King, Maybe Sprout Wings

Hurley- Magpie, Love Love Love

Sloane- Dilaudid

Lucas- In Memory of Satan

Lup- Going Invisible 2

Taakitz- The Age of Kings, The Coroner’s Gambit

Blupjeans- Bluejays and Cardinals

Carey and Killian- Animal Mask, 1 Corinthians 13: 8-10

IPRE- High Hawk Season, Corsican Mastiff Stride, When A Powerful Animal Comes

Aubrey- There Will Be No Divorce, Dinu Lipatti’s Bones, Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1, Shadow Song, Song For An Old Friend

Duck- Midland, New Monster Avenue, In the Hidden Places, As Many Candles As Possible

Ned- Cotton, Wild Sage, Estate Sale Sign, Prowl Great Cain, The Mess Inside, Bleed Out, Going to Hungary

The Pine Guard- Fire Editorial

Pigeon- Jeff Davis County Blues

Mama- Midland, Bones Don’t Rust

Barclay- Color in Your Cheeks, If You See Light, Harbor Me

Minerva- The Young Thousands, Luna, Mobile, Clean Slate

Dani- Blueberry Frost

Keith- Alpha Rats Nest

Hollis- Alpha Rats Nest, Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1, Guys on Every Corner

Boyd- The House that Dripped Blood

Indrid- Alabama Nova

Thacker- Elijah, How to Embrace A Swamp Creature

Amber- The Recognition Scene, International Small Arms Traffic Blues, Oceanographer’s Choice, 1 John 4:16, Bones Don’t Rust, The Young Thousands, Family Happiness, Game Shows Touch Our Lives, Genesis 3:23

Devo- Cotton, Up the Wolves, Get Lonely, New Zion, Outer Scorpion Squadron, Hopeful Assassins of Zeno, Never Quite Free, Cry for Judas, Mark on You, Autoclave, Genesis 3:23

Zoox- Song for Lonely Giants, Incandescent Ruins, Autoclave

Oksana/Kodira- The Recognition Scene, Oceanographer’s Choice, Luna, Genesis 3:23

Orlean- Trick Mirror, New Zion, In Memory of Satan

The Curator- Deuteronomy 2:10

The Shoreside Community- Letter from Belgium, Going to Lebanon 2

The Coriolis Crew- Steal Smoked Fish

[sylvialabtronuk]

Horizontal Laboratory autoclave

Labtron Horizontal Laboratory autoclave is a microprocessor controlled automatic autoclave with a capacity of 150 L. Safe door lock system ensuring safety / protection during sterilization it has Automatic power cut off with alarm with low water levels indication the Door cannot be opened till the pressure inside the chamber doesn’t fall to 0.027 MPa for more information visit our website https://www.labtron.uk/

[mistydeyes]

Would you please write a story about Ghost x Reader with Ghost being a guard for y/n and y/n being hired help of some kind be that investigator, scientist or otherwise?

this was also sent with the request: I am so sorry for sending multiple asks in like two seconds, but the initial request is meant to be Ghost x male reader (sub if you choose to write some smut which would also be greatly appreciated.) Use of tactical kinks and primal kinks would also be greatly appreciated. thank you so much for requesting @areallyhappyperson ! as a stem girlie my mind when crazy for simon having some action with a scientist ;)

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

summary: When you were first contacted by the government to find the source of a new biological weapon, a security guard wasn't in the job description. However as Ghost has you pinned in a supply closet, you can't deny you enjoy the assignment.

pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley x male!reader

please do not read if you are under 18! some very sexual descriptions are ahead!!

warnings: SMUT AHEAD u have been warned! sexual depictions, swearing, use of kinks (tactical/bondage, degradation/power struggle, sub/dom kinks)

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

You walked around your lab quickly, holding various spot plates in your hand. The plastic Petri dishes clattered together as you set aside the opaque and red-colored agar discs. You pulled out the microscope to examine the bacterial colonies growing within the isolated space when you felt his eyes on you. "Can you not stare?" you muttered sarcastically, before pulling a chair over with your foot. You heard shuffling behind you as the large and brooding Ghost took a moment to settle back into position. "What do you even do anyways?" he asked curtly, "don't get why I have to babysit someone in a lab all day." You turned to him with your arms crossed and an annoyed look on your face. "It's not every day your government asks for you to analyze soldiers' blood to find the latest biological weapon," you replied. It had been three months since you were sent to the UK's interpretation of Area 51 and you were constantly left to remind your unwilling security guard of your importance. Despite his negative attitude, you took a liking to him and wondered what he looked like under all the layers of gear and weaponry.

He huffed before walking over to your bench. You tried to return to your work, but you could feel his presence over your tired shoulders. "Do you need something?" you asked again, "I'm a little busy here counting colonies." He moved over a box of strong autoclavable bags to your annoyance. He took the opportunity to lean on the clean counter and look at you as you continued to write your messy notes. "I needed those," you mumbled but he continued to watch. Sensing your lack of acknowledgment, he took an inoculating loop off the bench and heated it over a now-turned-on Bunsen burner. You quickly snatched it out of his hands. "God, would you please stop messing with my lab materials?" you scolded him as you put it away but he laughed dryly in return. "Just trying to make my job interesting," he joked and you had enough of his shit.

You pushed aside your materials and positioned yourself in front of him. Despite your stature and standing far above your colleagues, Ghost was still broader and taller than you. However, you took this opportunity to pull a random item from his tac vest. "What does this do?" you asked as you held onto the small packaged object. He looked at you curiously as you twirled it in your fingers and read the label for pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl. "Put one of those in your mouth and suck, the pain goes away instantly," he replied and you could've sworn his choice of words was a flirtatious maneuver. "Sounds like heaven to me," you replied, before grabbing onto his vest and putting it back. Next, you eyed the gun on his belt but before you could grab it, you saw him instinctively place a veined hand on it. "Those are dangerous," he commanded, with a tone of seductiveness, "don't want the attractive scientist getting hurt before he can finish his research."

In that moment, you could feel the tension palpable. The normally cold room had increased a few degrees and you tried to rationalize the rapid beating in your chest and the tightening in your pants. As a final act of insolence, you set your gaze on a pair of handcuffs strapped onto his belt. With a swift movement, you grabbed them and you felt him hold your risk into place. You looked at him intensely before watching as he let your wrist fall. You examined the metal bracelets in your hand as you slipped one onto your wrist. "Never been handcuffed before," you mumbled, looking up at him and noting his fists curled tightly, "mind showing me how it's done?" Before you could react, Ghost had your hands pinned behind you and clicked the cuffs into place. "This what you wanted?" he asked, even closer than before. You could smell the bitter coffee and cigarette smoke on his breath as you took a moment to reply. "Not exactly," you whispered, parting his legs and taking a step forward to meet his face, "I want you, Lieutenant."

It took Ghost a moment before he held on to the back of your head and lifted his mask to give you a needy, possessive kiss. You moaned as he held you in place and left you breathless and panting for more. "You sure you want this?" he asked as he looked back down at your lustful eyes. "I want you to tell me what to do," you said, confidently, before biting your lip and moving in even closer. His gaze darkened and you swore you could feel his heartbeat race in the moment. As he wondered about the implications of this scenario, you began to walk over to the storage room in the back of the lab. "You gonna follow, Lieutenant?" you questioned before you could hear his heavy footsteps follow you in a trance. When you entered the room, you could hear Ghost close the door behind you. You turned around, smirking before he placed another hot kiss on your parted lips.

"I want you to kneel," he commanded and you complied. You got on your knees, disregarding the dust that was populating your pristine white coat. You struggled a bit against the restraints but you were determined to follow his every word. "What a good boy," he mumbled, "getting on your knees for me." You nodded as you looked at him from your new position. The dim overhead light illuminated his partially obscured face perfectly and you could see his curved lips glisten with your saliva. "You're gonna suck me off, is that clear?" he demanded and you nodded in response. He shook his head before asking again, "Use your words to a commanding officer." You could feel your body temperature rise from this new, dominating personality. "Yes, Lieutenant," you continued before you inched forward, your mouth meeting perfectly against his growing bulge. He grunted before unzipping his tactical cargo trousers and letting you see the outline of his cock soaking his boxer briefs. "This an issued weapon?" you joked before he moved his hand to release it in front of you. Taking the opportunity, you opened your mouth and leaned forward to slowly suck his length. You gagged slightly as you felt him graze the back of your mouth. He moaned quietly as you began to swirl your tongue around his veiny member. You could feel saliva drip down your mouth and soak your collared shirt as he gripped the back of your head.

"Don't tease me now," he grunted and you felt yourself being used to pleasure him. You breathed through your nose as you began to build a steady pace. His moans filled the room as you looked up at his closed eyes and continued to deep-throat him. You tried to foolishly break out of the handcuffs to just be able to touch him but the metal remained strong and confiding. "So fucking good," he let out in pleasure and you slightly smiled at the compliment. As he continued to relentlessly use you, you could feel your mouth and his cock grow more wet with the combined saliva and pre-cum. A part of you wondered what your employers would say if they saw you with your mouth wrapped around your guard's dick. You didn't care as his grip grew tighter on your hair and he began to breathe quicker. "Fuck," he moaned as you continued to allow him to hit the back of your mouth and tried to use your tongue to outline his veins. The grip he had on you was bordering on pain and pleasure as he released into your mouth. You tried to swallow it and he took a hand to your jaw and shut it. "Take it all," he commanded, breathing heavily and shallowly as he watched you swallow all of him. You sat back on your heels as he zippered up his pants. Before either one of you had the opportunity to continue further, you could hear the doors of your lab open.

"Shit," you swore before allowing Ghost to open the door slightly for you. Out of sight, he gripped onto your cuffed hands tightly and you could feel him work a hand up to your waist. "Someone there?" you questioned and saw Station Chief Laswell looking around the lab. "Do you have a minute? Shepherd wants some updates," she asked politely, not knowing what you were doing moments prior. As you could feel Ghost press himself against you, you stifled a moan. "Yes, just give me a moment!" you answered, a little too quickly, "I just need to get some pipettes." With that, you closed the door slightly and turned back to a smirking Ghost. "Round two later?"

[aokozaki]

Putting the cat in the autoclave so she can be nice and clean!

Oh, yay! Okay! (The hell is an autoclave?)

[white-collar-cannibal]

Generation Loss // The Mountain Goats (Alpha Rats Nest / Cry for Judas / Clean Slate / Autoclave / Game Shows Touch Our Lives / Extraction Point / Woke Up New / Bleed Out)

[witchofthesouls]

Did Tarn ever get mad at the nurse or vice versa during the carriage/marriage?

(It's absolutely Tarn’s fault. He tried doing oral, but you shrieked at what's under his mask. For very good reasons, even if you did knee his face and got Nickel involved.)

Your servos are absolutely professional, face and field schooled in medical neutrality.

You inwardly seethe and rage at the mech's complete stupidity.

The exposed mechanisms of Tarn’s face shutter and click as you dig out the infection with a scalpel and scrap out the dead mesh and wiring and smooth out the flayed edges. Not even the pre-round treatment could fully wash away all the corrosion and slime of dead nanites.

If he wants to refuse a very recommended Class-A pain patch, then fine, you're not stopping his sadomasochistic, self-inflicted tendencies.

You're already debriding his half-rusted face with an open panel in a clean towel. You can't bring yourself to care, especially when you had to dip your arms inside a Class-C medical sealant because not only your idiot of a donor allowed a very treatable infection to set deep and fester under the mask and you had to squirt a treatment up into your valve and slather it across the folds and down your legs, Nickel needs to scope your gestational chamber to check if there's contamination in the fluids.

And because you're carrying and the stupid fuck under your hands has to go under several rounds of treatment, Nickel is currently whipping up more because she's the only one that's not a potential health hazard for the nice, sterile pharmaceutical corner.

Through the entire process, the knee that touched the active infection aches because you ferociously scrubbed it clean and applied the treatment, and thick, cold sludge is slowly, ever-so-slowly dripping out of your confused valve.

There's a set schedule and your frame has gotten used to it, especially your pelvis.

(And until Tarn is fully treated and all his masks make several runs through the autoclave, your valve will keep itself warm with the Thing's company and your own hands.)

“Tilt back,” you command and he follows, and you stretch out the heavy bottom lip at the corner with a thumb, pulling it taunt to get a full view of the rusted protoform, which slowly crawls to his jawline.

Tarn's pretty. He has strong features and scars on the cleaner half of his face. There are scars that bisect his lips and several across his nose that trail into the raging cesspool.

You wonder if that's how it started: a facial injury and no care for preventative measures and his weird tendency towards self-inflicted pain.

“Breathe in,” you command, placing the scalpel at the slimy-brown portion of the infected lip. And he inhales through his nose, the exposed cabling of his check and temple twitch, nervecircuits spark and spasm at the air exposure, and in a few parts it was absolutely necessary to dig so deep you can see grey endoskeleton.

Tarn is surprisingly expressive as well. Pupil mechanisms fully dilated, corners of his optics pulling, nose flaring as he remains stiff, courtesy of the med-berth's partial frame-paralyzation.

Well, you did warn Tarn, and he isn't asking for a pain patch, even now when you're deliberately giving him a moment.

This will be the most excruciating part of the ordeal. The mouth has many specialized sensory suites and pressure sites. Plus, you need to excise the infected inner lip as well. Perhaps the gumline, too.

Tarn isn't a newbuild. His profession deals with frame functions and processes. He’s far more knowledgeable than the average lay-mech of sensory mechanics.

And he has your comm line to literally ask for the damn patch.

“Breathe out,” you command, and he exhales. You make the first scoop, and to his credit, Tarn doesn't flinch, nor did you have to command the med-berth to fully paralyze him.

[officialleehadan]

Three Brains

Hello darlings! Today's story was brought to you by Kat! Darling, thank you so much for all your support!

Prompt: Between Love and Duty

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Nick loved his job.

He worked in bioengineering, which was always a business fraught with supervillains. Mostly, the ones with an intelligence factor who were making weapons to sell to other villains. There were two in Nick’s lab, as it happened, which was probably why the villain with the Cube attacked in he first place. Rayan kept his identity well-hidden, so Nick was pretty sure they weren’t after him.

All the same, it made for an interesting situation for Nick. His coworkers were too smart to not realize he knew about them, and he wasn’t going to insult them by pretending otherwise. As a result, they had a very comfortable working dynamic in which the villains, Stevens, who also went by Doctor Unholy and Tariq, who also went by Gravity Crash, respected his space and didn’t try to recruit him.

It was for the best. Nick didn’t want to get into villainy. He was a talented scientist, and probably could do fine in the work if he wanted to, but he simply didn’t need the drama.

Of course, his fiancé was a Power himself, and his best friend was on the Hero path. His life already had plenty of drama going on.

Still, it did occasionally make for interesting afternoons when they were cleaning up for the day and the shop talk turned to shop talk.

“Word is that there’s a new development in play,” Stevens said as he loaded up the autoclave. Nick himself was wiping down all their counters and Tariq was sweeping, and would mop when they were done. “I heard from the north river lab that the attack here involved a device to remove people’s Powers.”

“I’ve heard the same,” Tariq said conversationally, but without any hint that he actually knew anything. Certainly he didn’t know where the Cube was, considering it was currently taped under Nick’s bed. Even the supervillain who actually slept in the bed didn’t know it was there. “The Heroes are very excited about it, for obvious reasons.”

“I’ve heard Mephit and Libra are working together on it,” Nick added. As he knew they were villains themselves, and enhanced mental abilities to boot, he knew, and they knew, that Rayan was Mephit. They didn’t know about Carolina being Libra, however, and he meant to keep it that way. Rayan knew about the two villains as well, and was alright with Nick talking with them about his work, as long as it didn’t put Nick in danger. “But no one knows where the thing is and it has both sides anxious.”

“it has me anxious too,” Tariq admitted. “Avia as well.”

Avia was his wife and was a Power on the villain side. She specialized in hydrokenisis and tended to target big resorts on the coast, and cruise ships. Lately she had formed an alliance with three other Elemental powers, all women, and they were making the news as environmental terrorists. Nick approved of their work all things considered. Cruise ships were sailing biohazards.

“I think all of us who have someone in the game are worried,” Nick said, since it was true, and also because he was considering bringing his fellow scientists in on his secret. “Does anyone know where the thing came from? That fellow who attacked our lab had it, last anyone knew, but where did he get it?”

“That’s a good question,” Stevens said, and turned on the autoclave before he moved to pipettes next. He eyed Nick, and caught Tariq’s eye. Nick looked them both over and sighed. He had been too obvious. “So, where is it?”

“I couldn’t possibly be able to say,” Nick said, since there was no point insulting them by pretending he didn’t know what Stevens was asking. They figured out that he had the Cube. Now it was up to them, and him, to decide what to do with that information. “But I might be able to mention something about how a scientist I know examined it, and couldn’t figure out how it works.”

“Did this scientist leave you lab notes to share?” Tariq asked carefully. They all understood they were on very dangerous ground. Everyone on both sides of the Powered community would kill to get the Cube, and only the three of them knew who had it. Only Nick alone knew where it was. “Or any other information that you might be able to give, safely, to a colleague?”

“Maybe,” Nick hedged. He wasn’t sure he wanted them to see his research not he Cube, but he needed help. So far, it had defied all his efforts to figure out how it worked, but it had to affect the body somehow. Powers were a genetic mutation. Whatever else it did, the Cube must hit those genes too. That put it firmly in their realm of expertise. “It has my friend very concerned, given the implications on his loved ones.”

Stevens shared a long look with Tariq, and then, very deliberately, reached behind the autoclave for a control panel Nick pretended he didn’t know about.

All at once, the noise from outside the lab cut off, and there was a slight shimmer over the windows as forcefields powered on. The lab security of a pair of villains who didn’t want their personal lives in danger if there was another attack. A reaction, Nick knew, to the attack that brought the Cube to his door.

“Right,” Stevens said when the lab was locked down. He set the pipettes aside and washed his hands as Tariq set aside the broom. Nick joined them at the nearest table and took a seat. “We have a lot of genius in this room. Tell us what you know, and we’ll see if three brains are better than one.”

+++

Between Love and Duty

Two-sided love (Subscriber Only!)

Close to Home (Subscriber Only!) (New!)

Three Brains (New!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[tauforged]

i was about to run the autoclave then i realized there’s still a handful of perfectly good clean pipettes still in the canister and i have nowhere to put them in order to fill it and run it without immediately making them dirty. but we’re gonna need more sterile pipettes than we’ve got left for tomorrows bacteria testing, hence why i was about to autoclave the used ones. so now i’m just standing here unsure what the next step is