<div class="floatleft">(http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b492/Pumpkinreed/2524b887-831b-45e6-96cb-330333f0b91c_zps60276107.jpg) (http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/Pumpkinreed/media/2524b887-831b-45e6-96cb-330333f0b91c_zps60276107.jpg.html)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Sidney West (http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b492/Pumpkinreed/Cool_Scientist_105589_900x700theAnimeGallerycom_zps59b496d4.jpg)<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Open<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Chemistry Lab<br/><hr/><br/><br/><br/>“I’m sorry sir, but the Airship responsible for transferring your flight was grounded enroute due to technical issues.” The woman behind the desk had been apologetic, if not robotic in the recital of her rehearsed line. This had been hitch number two in what was literally The Chemist’s voyage across the world. The company he had recently resigned from had arranged for his passage from the small island he had been stationed on to the mainland by way of one of their cargo ships. Coincidentally, nobody had bothered to mention that that same ship had another port call two-hundred miles away: in the opposite direction.<br/><br/>He had ended up abandoning the vessel as soon as they docked in order to book his own flight to Eis. There were two connections between him and his new job. His new<em>lab</em>. The thought caused a wayward grin to pull at the right corner of mouth. However, his grin quickly melted into a subtle frown at the sound of the receptionist’s voice. “But, it shouldn’t be much of a delay Mr. ...”<br/><br/>“West,” he finished the line for her. The woman’s plastic smile blossomed across her face as her long lashes batted in an attempt to placate him. “Well, you know what they say: it’s always a<em>miracle</em>when such a long journey doesn’t take you over a few speed bumps!”<br/><br/><strong>Day Zero</strong><br/><br/>Sidney West didn’t believe in miracles. Perhaps that was why he had taken the fact that he was going to be late in reporting to his new job as calmly as he did. Things like that happened, and there was nothing, and no one, to blame but probability or the faulty engineering of incompetent, cheap labor. Dwelling on either would prove to be equally futile.<br/><br/>The pitch of night had laid itself across the sky by the time Dr. West finally set foot on Eis’ soil. Two of the school stewards had seen to arranging his suitcases on a push cart before disappearing back inside of the massive building. Before long, The Chemist found himself standing face-to-face with the his new employer.<br/><br/>“Headmaster Vainamoinen, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I trust that you received my messages?” Dr. West was almost surprised by the other man’s sense of understanding. Electronic messages had a way of failing to convey the proper tone of their author. But, when someone envisions the harsh landscape of Eis, and then projects that image upon an individual responsible for overseeing a combat school with the reputation of Avalanche: one cannot help but produce the antithesis to the Headmaster.<br/><br/>However, Dr. West was by far too intelligent to mistake the other man’s hospitality for weakness. He politely declined the offer for a brief tour around the school. “I hope you won’t mind if I’m shown to my room. I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”<br/><br/><strong>Day One</strong><br/><br/>Dr. West had woken up before the bell tower could pry him from his sleep. There was a feel of electricity in the air. Maybe it was some invisible, synergistic force that flowed between Avalanche’s quarters. It was obvious that this was a big day for a lot of the Academy's inhabitants. Ironically, it would amount to being nothing more than the scientist’s own eagerness to see his base of operations. “Synergistic force...” he mumbled, sarcastically at himself.<br/><br/>The Headmaster’s diligence in acquainting his new professor with the campus had found the two men walking side-by-side down the academy's long halls. Dr. West nodded politely along as the other man pointed out the various rooms and their purposes. An odd student here or there offered smiles to Vainamoinen as they passed, but for the most part the halls were empty. They continued on in this fashion, until finally, they arrived at the classrooms on the 2nd floor.<br/><br/>The soft click of the door closing behind the Headmaster signaled his departure. Now it was only Sidney: Sidney and his kingdom. Wide counters, laid in ten rows of two, formed a walkway that led to the front of the classroom where a single counter and a large desk of finely crafted wood lay in wait. Each counter was equipped with the essentials: a burner, a deep sink, a series of matching beakers and vials, a microscope, tongs, rubber gloves, plastic goggles, measuring cylinders, and a pestle and mortar. The walls were lined with wide cupboards with locked glass doors so that their contents were visible. Multicolored vials of dust and some of the more dangerous equipment lined their shelves. The back wall played host to a number of pegs with hanging white lab coats.<br/><br/>Dr. West moved to place his aluminum briefcase down on the desk at the front of the classroom. He removed his solid black sport’s coat to reveal a white, long-sleeved, button up shirt, and a navy blue vest with a matching tie. He set to rolling up his sleeves as his eyes scanned the room for a clock. Class wouldn’t begin for over an hour.<br/><br/>His silver case was clicked open to produce a piece of headgear composed of leather straps and a pair of brass colored goggles. He set to adjusting it so that it sat snug on his head before flipping the goggles down across his eyes. A soft series of clicks and whirrs emanated from the tiny mechanisms inside that established the auto-focus by default.<br/><br/>“Alot can be done in an hour.”<br/>