<div class="floatleft">(http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b492/Pumpkinreed/Cool_Scientist_105589_900x700theAnimeGallerycom_zps59b496d4.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Sidney West<br/><strong>Team:</strong>Avalanche Faculty<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Chemistry Lab<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Teams Clay Dewclaw, Wild Marmet, Ghast<br/><hr/><br/>The translucent images on Dr. West’s scroll had fully commanded his attention as the rest of the students began to trickle in. He silently chewed his bottom lip as messages and updates from the scientific organizations he followed were marked as important, or discarded as useless. One message in particular came to occupy his screen longer than the rest, causing a small, but exasperated grunt of disapproval to voice itself from the back of his throat. His mouth began to swing open as if he were to initiate a dialogue with the device, before the sound of Mori colliding with the floor ripped the thought from his mind.<br/><br/>His head snapped up, but remained still as his eyes swiveled in their sockets to take a silent inventory of the room. Mori’s apology went unanswered until he was satisfied that nothing catastrophic would result from the first potential incident to occur in his lab. “Please try exercise caution, Mr.─” he stopped to reference his scroll. “─Koji. We’d hardly want you to damage the equipment before you’ve had a chance to utilize any of it. I suppose the same could be said for damaging yourself, as well.” A small smile wrapped his words in an eccentric blend of encouragement and sternness before quickly fading.<br/><br/>The sound of the bell’s toll signaled that it was time to begin the first chemistry lecture of the year. “Alright,” he said, in a clear and deliberate tone. “Before anyone accuses me rigging your assigned lab partners: the order has been randomly generated, as will be the case for every exercise for the remainder of the term.” Dr. West raised his scroll as he spoke and gave it a small shake. “My reasoning for this will be made clear in today’s first lesson. Now then, let’s see: Mr. Wildfang and Ms. Albion at station one, Mr. Graham and Ms. Mauve at station two, and Mr. Walker and Ms. Faylinn at station three: which we already have.” He moved out from behind his desk and made his way towards the back of the class as he continued, “Mr. Hojimoto and Ms. Geniva,” He frowned at that pairing. “Not quite as random as I’d like,” he looked at Ruby over his shoulder as he stopped to close the door. “And, not as close to the front as you’d prefer. But, probability has spoken: you two will be at station four.”<br/><br/>The Chemist made his way back to his desk, “I’ve been informed that we will be short one student for today’s lesson. Mr. Grimsby, you will be on a team with Ms. Ming and Mr. Koji at station five.” He looked up from his scroll before taking a moment to study Mori and Eric in turn. It was fortunate that the slightly older student with an air of competence was paired with the young man who had managed to trip on what appeared to be his own two feet. He became suddenly aware of a small knot of tension behind each of his ears as it faded away.<br/><br/>Dr. West gave the students enough time to get situated behind their respective workstations. “As I’m sure you all have managed to figure out,” he gestured to the dry erase board behind him as he spoke. “My name is Dr. Sindey West. You may refer to me as Dr. West, or Professor West. And since you seem to be a particularly astute group of young men and women, I am sure you have all noticed that I will only be referring to each of you by your last names. This is a place of professional conduct, and as such I will address each of you as I would one of my own colleagues.” His scroll was snapped shut and placed on his desk before he moved to stand behind his own workstation. “With that being said, this is<em>not</em>the latest episode of Loveline ─ or whatever popular reality show is on the air these days ─ I’ve entered a parameter of equal gender dispersion for the sake of consistency.”<br/><br/>“The reason I’ve decided to randomly generate the lab’s group assignments is to be mimicked in the experiment that we about to undergo. You must be willing to be flexible and adapt to your surroundings and your allies in any challenge that you must address. The purpose of this lesson is to give you young ‘Hunters and Huntresses in training’ the necessary tools to keep you alive.” He paused a moment to let that line of reasoning sink in.<br/><br/>“‘<em>But, Dr. West, isn’t that what combat class is for?</em>’” He asked in a slightly modulated tone. “That’s an excellent question!” He replied to himself. “Combat class teaches you how to move ─ how to strike, dodge, parry, riposte ─ and how to keep your body limber while maintaining stalwart vitality. However,” his hand rose to gently tap his right temple with his index finger. “While your combat instructor will teach you how to read your opponent, it is your mind that will ultimately<em>dissect</em>and<em>utilize</em>its findings: survival against the Grimm requires more than a competent body.”<br/><br/>“If you fail to observe and adapt to your opponent: you will die.<br/><br/>If you fail to innovate while employing ingenuity: you will die.<br/><br/>In combat, the mind of your enemy is a cache of data that you can not directly access.<br/><br/>In scientific inquiry, your enemy is the unknown.<br/><br/>Lacking a proficiency in analysis, deduction, flexibility, or creativity will only result in one outcome: a slow ─ and undignified ─ physical and intellectual death.”<br/><br/>Dr. West reached up to pull his goggles down across his eyes before reaching for his small chunk of metallic looking rock with silver fissures etched across its surface. “Each station is equipped with a vial of Fire, Ice and Electric Dust, as well as plastic safety goggles and industrial strength gloves. The sample of rock provided will be referred to as compound X, for now. This compound experiences a unique reaction when exposed to Fire or Ice dust. However, neither of those two Dusts constitutes a catalyst on their own: they must be mixed with Electric Dust to initiate a reaction.”<br/><br/>He took the vial of Fire Dust in his left hand and the Electric Dust in his right. “Compound X functions as a naturally occurring capacitor. It is similar to one of the common electronics components found in everyday computing devices in that it is capable of storing and discharging energy at a controlled rate.” Each vial was slightly tilted forward and given a small series of taps until a bit of Dust from each poured onto the rock. A few hisses and pops clawed at the silence before the rock began to glow a bright white. “It is important to avoid applying too much Fire Dust: excessive amounts will cause the chemical reaction to fully consume the compounds necessary properties, rendering it useless. The compound easily achieves temperatures capable of inflicting serious injury in this state ─<em>please</em>refrain from touching it.”<br/><br/>Dr. West traded the vial of Fire Dust for a transparent plastic cube without a bottom. The cube was placed over the compound, causing its glow to fade until it was extinguished. He then removed the cube and picked up the vial of Ice Dust. “Like a capacitor ─ or a deep cycle battery, if that makes it easier to understand ─ our compound will need to be ‘recharged.’” He repeated the process with the Ice and Electric Dust, causing it to resonate with a metallic hum as its color sank into an unparalleled shade of black. Its physical properties, besides its shape and size, eventually became indiscernible. “It appears to be black because what we are witnessing is the absence of light: the compound absorbs it, instead of reflecting it. If you use too much Ice Dust, the compound will absorb too much light, and like a capacitor, it will lose its ability to retain energy.” He watched the object in silence until its color was slowly restored.<br/><br/>The Chemist flipped his goggles up and placed his materials back atop his workstation. “Too much Electric Dust will cause the effects of the other two Dusts to neutralize one another. In the right proportions, these three Dusts will work in tandem to achieve a perfectly balanced state of energy discharge and absorption. Your challenge is discover those proportions for yourself. The purpose of this exercise is to force you to act, observe, and react to the effects of a foreign object. The rock is your opponent: sustainability is the condition for your victory. Your strongest weapon is your mind, and like your body it must be flexible, and it must be able to recover and learn from its mistakes.”<br/><br/>“You’ll have the remainder of the period to experiment with your sample of the compound. I will stop the class early to assess the results and determine whose team was the most successful in achieving their goal. I’ll even give you a hint: the correct ratio is<em>not</em>an equal application of all three Dusts.” He folded his arms across his chest and gave the room a knowing smile. “Alright, lets get to work. And please,<em>try</em>to refrain from blowing yourselves up: I believe that is the last thing any of us needs on our first day.”<br/>