Some of the volunteers walked out of the room, eager to go and fetch the next batch of chemicals or fragile objects that will no doubt, either find their way onto an awaiting desk or crash onto the floor. Himiko opened the door for the latest of them to walk through, then strode into the laboratory herself. Fingers glid across the surfaces leading to the woman of the hour, as the Kanton let out an impressed whistle. "I see Rocket spares no expense when it comes to its research centers. Now if only you had more capable interns without the hands of a Goodra." She mused, then began to inspect some of the contents of what was inside of here.

She extended an arm towards the other woman, offering her hand. "Himiko, I received orders to come up here and assist with your work here." Of course, that small bit was kind of a white lie. She was, instead, ordered to help haul up boxes with the rest of the vermin here but far be it from the Kanton woman to do that when there were far more important things to do here. "I'm a toxicologist from Kanto. Brewed my own poisons and currently trying to learn more about the Nihilego and other Ultra Space variants. Nice to meet you."

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

"As eager as a Bidoof to an ungnawed tree." Himiko agreed with Absinthe, casting her gaze to the other woman. The gas mask gave her a sort of serious look to her, and even that little case of resting bitch face was similar to her own, perhaps even more severe. But alas, the lovely woman in emerald color accepted her help with no questions asked, the kind of help that Himiko was far more used to than the alternative.

The woman moved to give the main scientist her room and took her place near the side, eyes adrift in movement. Himiko wanted to contain every little detail inside of that little mind of hers. Her theory was interesting concerning the genetic make up of Nihilego poison. She had wanted one for her own desires and samples, yet it remained out of reach for the moment. She recalled her previous discussions with some of the Underbosses about, staring at the samples before them. "Fascinating." she put simply, paying no mind to how the victim likely felt. "Indeed it does, Absinthe. I've heard numerous reports of what the toxin can do over long periods of time, although cases like this seem much more informative. Just by looking at it, I can tell a stark difference in the spread. Note the mild discolorations around the edge of blood and where the natural red color begins. A slow acting toxin, at least to begin with."

Himiko walked to the side opposite of Absinthe, leaning on the table as she peered into the awaiting vial. "So how would we go about discovering this pattern, doctor?" she teased with a wicked grin. "Every poison's got a different pattern, and I'm assuming a Nihilego would be far more complex considering its origin."

[ BINGO: EMERALD ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

It was refreshing to meet yet another brilliant mind in all of Rocket, considering that Himiko herself had never really been one to receive any kind of college level education. It was never in the books considering the vastness of her siblings and immediate family, all of which who had dedicated themselves wholly to Rocket and received hands on training with their area of interest. She had a brother, one of many, who wished to learn more about history and become an archeologist and researcher for Rocket. Needless to say, it was going to be a very informative lesson.

"I figured as much. Those Ultra Beasts barely look like average Pokemon. It would make sense for their cellular structure and everything else to be just as alien." Himiko's fingers drummed across the counter top, eyes alight with intrigue at what this sampled blood could provide. Her grin only seemed to widen. "But the hardier the fruit, the sweeter the reward."

Absinthe led her through the process to discovering how they were going to discover the crystallization pattern, dropping a sample onto a glass slide for their review, followed by producing a microscope out and setting the droplet for them to see with use of the special eye equipment. When asked if she had ever used one before, the woman shook her head from side to side.

"My grandmother taught me poison crafting from a young age. It was very traditional, being as old-fashioned as she was. She could do everything by hand, measure without a ruler, weigh reagents without a scale, all from muscle memory, a true professor of poisons. I can do the same, to an extent, but I've never used a microscope before."

[ BINGO: PROFESSOR ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

Himiko wandered ever so closer to the microscope at Absinthe's display, doing as she said while her eyes were slowly set upon the lens of the scientific tool. The vision was blurry, out of focus even, though thankfully her tutor was doing well to show her how things worked. Dainty fingers turned the knob on the side to zoom in closer to the sample and observe the crystalline patterns. "Hopefully this is correct." she said idly, then saw what Absinthe had been talking about beforehand.

Around the edge of the sample were those same crystalline structures, each containing multiple lines that made up a pattern before. It was all so fascinating for Himiko, who had been seeing this all for the first time before. She wanted to forgo the current task and go about discovering everything there was to see in a sample like this. It was only by the hand of her superior that she was able to pull her desires away for the moment and focus on something else.

"Nothing but pure brilliance. No wonder how toxins and such can be so intricate nowadays." The Kanton woman smirked at Absinthe at the mention of gaining fresh samples. She leaned on the counter while ideas rushed around in her head. "Will we be drawing some fresh blood? Or do you want us to go around poisoning people? I've not done this sort of thing before outside previous experiences."

[ BINGO: BRILLIANCE ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

Her eyes almost seem to dimmer at the mention of not needing to poison anybody. Or maybe that was just the lights inside of the room that was doing that? Either way, Himiko let out a slow nod and went to glance towards the other grunts. "A shame, I was hoping to see your methods in action." she said, then awaiting the plan by Absinthe since they had a due date.

The plan would be rather grim in practice, going to grunts on their bed, likely their final resting place, and gathering blood. "Won't the drastic rates of the grunts being poisoned affect the quality of the samples we draw? Wouldn't it be better to aim for freshly poisoned samples rather than the ones festering in their beds?" Himiko inquired. She could really care less about the world losing a couple of Rattata in the process of the greater good.

Absinthe revealed a cooler filled with blood bags and likely what other instruments that they were going to need for their outing fetching blood from and body who would need it. The woman looked so serious, a worker who enjoyed their nose hitting the grindstone, the same as her. The Kanton picked up a stray blood bag, looking towards the cooler. "Of course. I enjoy any little outing in our line of work, Absinthe. It would be my pleasure to tag along with you~"

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

"I'm glad we're in agreement. After all, if we want the best chance of finding that crystallization pattern, we'll have to find our little Rattata friends and see if they'll be able to "assist" us in this little venture of ours." Himiko wasn't one to let pesky little things such as morality get in the way of scientific advancements and such. Anything was worth the price of progress, especially for something such as this nature. To hear that Absinthe shared the shame kind of interests made a certain pride swell inside of her. "Allow me, Absinthe."

The woman helped Absinthe with her supplies, gathering what she thought they may need with a muted excitement to her steps. Working with poisons, while an incredibly dangerous art, had always been a sort of forbidden fruit. The allure of such potent chemicals had allured her from the moment her grandmother had allowed her to help water the plants she used for her own brews. Her mind went back to the muscled gorilla that she had met at Petalburg, Eduardo Hisakawa , as how her Salandit's poison had been inflicted that way. His only saving grave was that the scratches were superficial. had they been injected directly into his system, well, that man would be bedridden for months.

"We shall." Himiko followed Absinthe closely, a malicious little grin painted across her face. "I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy your guidance, oh gracious teacher~"

[ BINGO :: PRIDE ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉