Synthesizing PVC for their record player

“Alright ladies! That’s a wrap for the day!” Belsach said as everyone groaned, stumbling to their feet as they waded through the slime. They were cleaner than they had ever been in their lives, but somehow felt dirtier after all that had transpired. The slime girls giggled, waving them goodbye as they slowly emerged from the pool.

“That was weird. Fun, but weird.” Hannah said, rubbing her belly and thinking back to the slime cores stuffed into her.

“Yeah, Verdi’s real creative when it comes to kinky sex.” Fenri said while stretching her arms out, visibly refreshed by the entire endeavor. Citrinas suddenly noticed that whatever aches or pains she felt were also absent, Verdi’s slime on par with a high class healing potion.

“If any of you speak about this to anyone, I'm firing you. Into the sun.” Isoldi mumbled, her pussy still gaped and dripping with slime as the slime girls hid their smug grins.

“Of course boss.” One of them said, committing the entire scene to memory.

“You girls talk like you’ve never been with a slime before.” Belsach said as Hannah shrugged.

“Eh, down in the trenches the only thing we had were other humans and the random biofer-GYAAAH!” Hannah said as her left hand suddenly slapped herself across the face. She **** a smile, ignoring the red imprint on her face as she clutched her wrist, her hand tightly grabbing her bracelet as though she were trying to break it. She threw her hand a nasty look. “I honestly haven’t fucked much outside of other humans and the random orc here and there.” She reiterated as everyone stared at the neurotic hero wrestling with her own arm.

“O-okay. Glad to hear you had fun.” The slime girl said nervously as Citrinas groaned, rubbing at her stomach and feeling something pulse inside of her.

“I think there’s still a core in me.” She complained as she felt something squirm inside of her, Verdi quietly confirming her beliefs as he teased her. He could leave whenever he wished, but it seemed he was having too much fun bothering her to leave.

“Here, let me get that for you.” A slime girl said, diving to Citrinas and pressing one arm against her pussy and another against her ass.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT DON’T JUST SHOVE YOUR ARM DOWN TH-HNNNNNG!” Citrinas shouted, feeling herself stretch around the slime arms. She flailed about, feeling the slime girl’s arms reach into her womb and feel around for the core.

“Hm. Not here. Guess it’s in the other hole.” The slime girl said as she extended her other hand, reaching deep into Citrinas’ ass. She could feel the slime going deeper and deeper into her ass, probing around looking for cores. She felt a familiar churning in her stomach as the slime’s arm made its way to her throat. She tried to voice a protest, only to have slime emerge from her mouth, a sour taste filling her mouth as the slime girl clicked her tongue.

“Whoops too far.” She said, retracting her arm as Citrinas felt the pulsing in her ass disappear. She felt her ass stretch around an orb, a pop being heard as the final core emerged.

“There we go! There’s the last core!” The slime girl said cheerily, waving around Verdi’s monster core triumphantly before tossing him into the pool of slime with the rest of his cores. Somehow, despite lacking any body parts, she could tell Verdi was annoyed at being removed before he finished having his fun with her.

“I can tell Verdi’s been fucking you the most. You have the stretchiest holes out of everyone.” The slime girl complimented as Citrinas groaned, feeling the bath house’s warm air blow against her gaped holes. Before she could protest, the door slammed open as Verdi’s human form entered, still wearing the same robes as earlier.

“Alright guys! Wonderful job! I could hear the screams from outside!” He said as Hannah gave him a thumbs up.

“It was the best bath I’ve had in my life.” Hannah said as Verdi reached over and began fingering her stretched pussy, her moans like a soft chorus as he gently toyed with her clit.

“Wait till you see the catgirl tongue bath.” He said as she returned the favor, stroking his cock through his robes.

“So, this the part where you make me your little bitch?” She asked lustfully, Verdi’s cocks now pouring a veritable pool of precum. One slime girl reached forward, drinking from his cocks like a fountain as another slime girl began licking his balls.

“Tempting, but that’s it for today. Hate to shoot scenes with you all tired. I want you all rested and ready when I split you in half.” Verdi said as Isoldi nodded, her face returning to a cold, flat expression devoid of emotion.

“It’s been a pleasure, Verdi.” She said, snapping her fingers to active Inventory to dress herself before walking away. Hannah followed, skipping along before waving goodbye, remaining naked save for the bracelet on her wrist. Isoldi sighed, summoning a fresh set of clothing for her as the rest of the prostitutes left, allowing Belsach and Verdi to have a modicum of privacy.

“Bye Verdi!” Hannah said, blowing him a kiss before waving happily as she followed Isoldi out while humming to herself as she continued wrestling with her own arm. As she left, Belsach elbowed Verdi and whispered quietly to him.

“Champ. I know crazy pussy is great, but it always ends in disaster. If you ever need to disappear for a few years when she inevitably tries to kill you, call me. We can paint you green, ship you south, and tell the goblins down there you’re my long lost son.” He offered as Verdi shrugged.

“Eh. She’s nuts, but as long as I don’t get a handjob from her crazy hand, I’ll be fine.” He said, still disturbed by her odd actions. Verdi said smugly as he glanced over at the camera in Belsach’s hands. “So, you think we can finish the movie?”

“I think we bit off more than we can chew. We’re already at 6 hours of footage.” Belsach said as Verdi raised an eyebrow.

“We have more film right?” He asked as Belsach shook his head.

“Champ, this was the hottest show I've ever seen, but even I couldn’t jerk off for six hours straight. It’s just too much in one sitting.” Belsach said as Verdi tilted his head.

“We can cut the foota-oh. I see the problem.” He said, as if realizing something.

“Champ. If you cut a single second from this footage, I will never see you in the same light ever again. This was the hottest orgy I’ve ever seen, and the last orgy I planned caused a population boom.” Belsach said, his words resonating with Verdi as the pair stopped to think of what to do next.

“Here’s the plan. We change the story to end on a cliff hanger, have a week-long orgy, then shoot scenes next year.” Verdi said as Belsach scoffed at him.

“Watch out Champ. If you wait too long I might shoot some videos myself.” He said, his warty tongue tracing his teeth as a bulge formed in his pants. “There’s a reason there’s so many goblins in the world.” He reminded as Verdi smirked.

“Yeah, cause your women are god’s green fleshlights.” Verdi said while extending his hand forward. “Anyways, hand me the film. I want to process it tonight.” He said as Belsach removed the film cartridge from the camera. He cradled the steel casing like it was gold, cautiously handing it to Verdi as the two shared a look of mutual respect.

“Don’t trust us to process it?” He asked as Verdi shook his head.

“I trust you. I just want to be the one to bring it into the world. We’re holding history, Belsach. Glorious, sticky, sweaty history. I want to see it through from start to finish.” Verdi said as Belsach handed him the film cartridge with a repulsive smile. Citrinas rolled her eyes, the two exchanging a heartfelt conversation that transcended language itself with but a look into each other’s eyes.

“Here you go Champ. Don’t feel bad if you tear up a little. I know I would.” He said as Verdi cradled the film in his arms like a baby.

“And the recorded sound?” He asked as Belsach cocked his head. One of the paintings fell away, exposing a goblin hidden behind it with a small audio recorder. It was a simple machine, being a horn that amplified sound and vibrated a needle to carve into a thin metal disk.

“Right here! I’ll be sending it out to get a clay version built and get my smiths to pour molten steel over it so you have a perfect copy.” Belsach said as Verdi nodded..

“Perfect. I’ll let you do that.” Verdi said.

“Wasting a lot of perfectly good steel making those stupid discs instead of knives.” Fenri mumbled, far from encouraging about their perverse goals. Considering how hard it was to mine metal in this day and age with all the dungeons spawning, it was a fair complaint.

“I know metal’s expensive. That’s why we're synthesizing PVC to replace it!” Verdi said casually, the word PVC completely foreign to all known languages of Ruyanei. Citrinas’ ears perked up as she ran to him, stars in her eyes as she clung to his arm.

“Belsach, we need paper! And ink!” She shouted, her breasts pressing into Verdi’s arm and staining it white with milk while she felt her loins moisten.

“Done and done sugar tits! Goblins! Get to work!” Belsach said, snapping his fingers twice as several goblins appeared, each carrying papers and ink quills. Snatching them, she held the paper against the wall while gesturing Verdi to hurry up with her other hand.

“So what do we need?” Citrinas asked excitedly while holding an ink quill. Verdi cleared his throat before speaking, listing out a number of mundane components for her to record. She quickly wrote them while committing them to memory, trying to understand just how these items would create a wholly new material. At the same time, Belsach’s goblins were hard at work, gathering the reagents as Verdi spoke. Before long, he was finished as Citrinas quickly spoke to him, theorizing what he had planned.

“So, I assume we’re making sulfuric acid and the **** is a solvent?” She asked, throwing a blind guess in the dark as Verdi shook his head.

“You’d assume half right. We need sulfuric acid, but the **** is a base component, not a solvent.” He said as the door slammed open, the goblins returning with everything he needed within minutes. “That was fast.”

“Half this stuff we keep in stock just for cleaning and maintenance. The rest was from the local alchemy guild.” He explained as Citrinas began focusing, preparing to open her domain and let Verdi get to work. Before long, the portal was open as she gestured to Verdi and Fenri, her heart racing at the prospect of what was to come.

“Come on guys! Let’s go!” She said as Fenri looked away, visibly afraid of the portal as if it were a gate to hell itself.

“I’m gonna pass on the lab. Love you guys but, uh, your stuff is-” Fenri began.

“Boring as shit?” Verdi finished for her as Fenri pointed at her clit-dick, the throbbing girl-cock still hard as a rock as milk dribbled from the tip.

“Look, there’s a city full of whores, I think you filled me with enough aphrodisiac to put a dragon in a rut, and I’ve got new toys to play with.” She said, stroking her breast with one hand and her clit-dick with the other. Her tongue lapped at the air while she fingered her nipple, eager to use her modified body to its fullest.

“We’re creating Ancient materials! How are you not excited?” Citrinas asked, her own clit-dick stiffening from excitement as Verdi took a step away from her.

“Okay, Citrinas. I know you're excited but turn it down. You'll poke someone's eye out with that.” Verdi said, taking care to avoid standing in front of her or bending down to pick anything up near either girl.

“Then turn me back to normal!” Citrinas demanded angrily, pointing down at her obscene genitalia and at her enlarged breasts.

“No.” Verdi answered. “Anyways, Fenri, want some recommendations on some events?”

“I’m just going out fox hunting for now, but if you have any recommendations for two person events I’m all ears.” Fenri said, looking up at the ceiling where Tristiana was maintaining the lighting. The lights flickered the second Fenri spoke, her large fuzzy ears easily picking up the threat.

“You know Tris can hear you right?” Citrinas asked.

“Was expecting her to.” Fenri said cheerily, cupping her hands and shouting. “Foxy~ You get a 5 minute head start! Time starts now!” She said playfully, her voice echoing through the room.

“Eeeep!” Tristiana’s voice rang out as Citrinas heard footsteps, her sister shifting the light around her as she left the room in a panic. Despite being completely invisible, Verdi and Fenri seemed to be following her with ease, Verdi’s sense of touch and Fenri’s sense of smell allowing them to track her without relying on sight.

“Never seen her make a noise like that before.” Citrinas said.

“Or get that wet. Surprised she didn’t slip on the way out.” Verdi added as Citrinas frowned.

“Wet?” She asked, her eyes going wide as she looked at Fenri and Verdi. “Is my sister enjoying this?” She asked as Fenri shrugged.

“Guess enjoying kinky stuff runs in the family.” She said dismissively.

“IT DOES NOT!” Citrinas exclaimed as Fenri stretched her legs, her long tongue licking her lips as she prepared for the hunt of her life.

“So what events are we thinking?”

“There's the pet show. Rules are simple. Your pet is given a potent aphrodisiac and has to do their master’s commands without fucking them. Most obedient pet gets a nice leather collar with a bell on it. Very cute.” Verdi explained as Fenri grinned from ear to ear, the prospect of dominating Tristiana causing her clit-dick to swell as she eyed the collar she had Verdi wearing with lust.

“Well, it looks like someone's gonna be taking your position as number one pet.” She said playfully toying with his collar as Verdi rolled his eyes, still unwilling to accept a status as pet from her.

“Anyways, when you catch her, I’ll send a body over to guide you to the pet show.” He said, unwilling to even confront the statement as Fenri ran out the door, waving them goodbye.

“You two have fun! I know I’m gonna be!” She said, leaving the room as Verdi and Citrinas entered her Domain with the collected reagents in hand. Passing through the portal, they made their way to the main castle, taking care not to drop a single reagent on the ground.

“Alright Verdi, what’s the plan?” She asked, the pair walking to the alchemy lab while talking. Setting the reagents in her lab, the pair made their way to her closet to get dressed. As usual, Citrinas put on her alchemist’s coat while Verdi put on a simple shirt and pants, ignoring safety for comfort. Since they were working with volatile chemicals, he handed her a set of glass goggles and a respirator before entering the lab with her.

“First, we’re making sulfuric acid. Then we’re doing a dehydration reaction with the ethanol. After that, we’re going to be experimenting with different additives to make it nice and rigid!” Verdi answered as they began distilling various metal sulfates, the vapors condensing into concentrated sulfuric acid. Since this process would take some time, they were able to leisurely chat while they worked.

“You don’t have an additive in mind?” She asked as Verdi tilted his head to the rest of the supplies, each of them basic oils that could be used for anything from leather cleaning to massages.

“Eh, there’s plenty, but synthesizing them from scratch would take weeks, we’d have to either calculate a formula to use magic as a catalyst or create catalysts from scratch. Really it’s easier if we just stick with whatever we have on hand and experiment since I want to upscale this.” Verdi explained, focusing on practicality over effectiveness as Citrinas mulled over their current synthesis process. It sounded familiar. She snapped her fingers, suddenly remembering the formulation from a book she read.

“Wait, are we making aesir?” Citrinas asked, recognizing the process after a second of thought. Ether was an interesting compound being a polar solvent and a potent anesthetic, but it was nothing fascinating. Regardless, she knew that Verdi had a plan in mind.

“No, we’re making ethylene.” Verdi corrected, his vocabulary completely alien to Ruyanei’s alchemist nomenclature. She asked him to clarify, describing to him what aesir was and its traits before Verdi explained himself. In low temperatures, aesir, or ether as he called it, was the product of ethanol and sulfur that was a potent nonpolar solvent and used as an anesthetic, but in higher temperatures a double carbon bond was formed, creating ethylene, or as Ruyanei called it atilene. He was generating an intermediate fire mage’s fire spell through the use of chemistry. To say Verdi’s process would revolutionize warfare would be the understatement of an era. Being able to directly use atilene would allow mages to carry it into battle and outright skip several steps in spell casting.

“After this, we’ll need to make some chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide, so-” Verdi began before Citrinas chimed in.

“You’ll need electricity and saltwater!” Citrinas interrupted, thinking back to the previous process of constructing mirrors. Verdi smiled as they grabbed one of their batteries and mixed saltwater, preparing to begin the next step.

“Someone’s been listening.” Verdi said, visibly happy at her response as they inserted the wires into the water, only to curse as they found themselves with a dead battery. The duo began constructing a fresh lead acid battery, talking while they worked.

“Mark my words Citrinas, we are building a hydroelectric dam later. Fucking ridiculous we have to make a new battery each time we want electricity.” Verdi complained as Citrinas perked up.

“A hydroelectric dam?” She asked, guessing the function of the dam just from the name alone.

“It would give us a cheap source of endless power that’ll let us recharge batteries.” He said as Citrinas clung to the thought of a hydroelectric dam. Was he converting water to hydrogen then electricity somehow? No, he’d need a source of power to create the hydrogen. There was so much for her to ask about!

“How are we generating electricity from water?” She asked as Verdi shook his head.

“We can talk after we build the PVC.” He said as they began setting up the batteries, watching the wires generate chlorine on one wire while the other generated pure hydrogen.

“So how does mixing ethylene and chlorine create this PVC?” She asked as Verdi cleared his throat, giving her a concise explanation on polymers and how to synthesize them. She listened intently as he went over chemical bonding, how the chlorine gave it fire retardant properties, and even went into how polyethylene without chlorine had its own uses in flexible polymer applications. It was nothing short of incredible even as he went over the drawbacks of polymers and why he wanted to avoid using them too much, the drawbacks only gaining Citrinas’ attention. A material that could last for centuries and resist corrosion without the use of magic? It was truly a wonder material worthy of the Ancients.

As the chlorine generator ran, Verdi used ice magic to capture the chlorine and compress it while the two of them chatted over the additives and the mechanics behind them for polymers. Citrinas eagerly wrote notes as Verdi spoke, treating their conversation like a class as she absorbed his knowledge like a sponge. Suddenly, Verdi stood up mid conversation, using a lighter to light up several candles as Citrinas realized just how dark it had become. They had come into the lab in the afternoon. When did the moon come out?

“Let’s stop for dinner, it's getting late.” Verdi said, crystallizing a monster core in his right hand before cutting it off. Leaving his hand with the ice canister filled with compressed chlorine gas to maintain the spell, he let Citrinas open the portal out of the Domain so they could eat. They continued talking about the PVC, its applications, and so forth even as they ate, barely giving Belsach any thought as they passed by him and made their way to a nearby restaurant. Seating themselves, they ordered dinner, ignoring the moaning and grunting around them as a scantily clad dark elf handed them their food. Just when they began eating, the doors slammed open as a blur sprinted towards their table.

“CITRINAS HELP, THAT CRAZY BITCH IS TRYING TO BREED ME!” Tristiana shouted, slamming her hands on the table as Verdi and Citrinas continued their meal, still engrossed in their conversation.

“So azilene can be synthesized from just charcoal and limestone?” Citrinas asked, the pair sharing a bowl of duck soup as Verdi paused, trying to remember the term for azilene in his native tongue. She bit down on a piece of duck meat, tearing the meat away with her teeth before handing Verdi the bone.

“Yup! All we need is the right temperature. About 2,200 Celsius to create acetylene-er azilene.” Verdi answered, popping the bone into his mouth and chewing on it like a dog before swallowing, absorbing the bone to regrow his missing hand.

“Wait, azilene doesn’t have calcium in it.” Tristiana said as Verdi nodded.

“We’re making calcium carbide. From there, we add water to it, then it generates lime and acetylene-sorry azilene gas.” Verdi clarified as Tristiana screamed, a second brown blur bursting into the restaurant and tackling Tristiana to the ground. Fenri licked her lips, tying up Tristiana with a length of rope while chuckling to herself under the table. They looked down to see a gag stuffed into Tristiana’s mouth, her screaming turning into muffled grunts as she was stripped naked, leaving her clad in only rope.

“What a naughty pet you’ve been, running away from your maste-oh hey guys. Done with your PPC?” She asked, tearing Tristiana’s clothes away and tying her up. Her frantic squeaks of fear could be heard as the two wrestled, Fenri’s clit dick rising to prominence as the pair continued to mingle underneath the table. Meanwhile, Verdi was calling the dark elf waitress to get another bowl of roasted scorpions while Citrinas was enjoying her soup.

“PVC. Also, not even close. Today was just prep work.” Citrinas answered, correcting Fenri while she ate. “So how was the pet show?” She asked, wholly ignoring her sister’s whimpers of help.

“Foxy here got third place. Judge told her to sit, and she hopped on my bone instead of sitting on the dildo.” Fenri said with a fake sigh of annoyance, unable to hide her excitement. “So now I’m punishing her one thrust at a time. She’ll either learn to behave or she’ll give birth to a more obedient pet.” She said, stroking her own clit-dick as Citrinas sighed.

“Can’t blame her for losing it. Verdi’s aphrodisiac is so strong even he got affected by it.” She said, still thinking of their first meeting. It had taken months before Verdi had been able to gain the willpower to shift to his human form. Then again, he could have just been taking advantage of the moment.

“She’s bullshitting right?” Fenri asked as Verdi grabbed a glass of water, sticking his tongue inside and drooling aphrodisiac into the glass before handing it over to Fenri, his cocks twitching in his pants as he wiped his mouth.

“Just take a lick. You’ll be fucking like animals all night.” He warned as Fenri scoffed, downing the glass in one gulp. Verdi sighed, watching Fenri give him a smug smirk of arrogance as she relied on her poison resistance to fight his aphrodisiac.

“I don’t even feel it. See? Foxy’s just-is it just me or did everyone in the room get hotter?” Fenri asked, her pupils dilating as a surge of arousal wracked her body.

“You mean did the room get hotter?” Citrinas asked as Fenri panted like a dog, tearing her own clothes away as she stroked her clit-dick to hardness. Pressing her clit-dick on Tristiana’s belly, her eyes went wide, watching the massive shaft reach her chest as it throbbed. Rather than thrust forward, Fenri grabbed Tristiana by the ropes binding her, lifting her up as she held her in the air.

“Citrinas, move your soup before you accidentally burn your sister.” Verdi advised as Citrinas snatched her bowl of soup in her hands, watching Fenri place Tristiana on the table like fresh prey. Silverware and glass cups fell to the ground, audibly clattering as everyone in the restaurant looked at their table. Hoots and hollers filled the area as one of the dark elf waitresses sighed, watching Fenri thrust forwards, Tristiana’s stomach distorting as the obscene mass stretched her out.

“MPH!” Tristiana shouted through the gag in her mouth, feeling her womb fill with girl cock as Fenri moaned, her lust far from sated as she began thrusting relentlessly. Ripping the gag away, Tristiana tried to scream for help, only to have Fenri’s tongue plunge down her throat. As Fenri’s tongue explored her mouth, Tristiana’s eyes glazed over while her pupils dilated, lust washing over her as the residual aphrodisiac flowed down her throat. Before long she was eagerly taking Fenri’s clit-dick and returning the kiss, the two eager to breed as everyone in the restaurant cheered them on.

“Sorry for the mess.” He apologized, watching the two breed like rabbits on the table while Citrinas continued eating, unbothered by the show in front of her. Finishing her soup, she handed it over to a nearby waitress, making sure to hand over a few coins as a tip.

“It's fine. We get one of these every shift.” The waitress answered, pocketing the coins before leaving to continue serving the other tables.

“Should we do something? It feels wrong to have sex in the restaurant instead of the designated sex areas.” Citrinas said as Fenri bit Tristiana’s shoulder, her teeth gently breaking skin while marking her as the hero’s property. Rather than stop them or join in the fun, Verdi called over one of the waitresses.

“If they aren’t out in 10 minutes, go push two more tables over, get someone to shine a spotlight on them, and bring a dozen pitchers of juice. Gotta make sure those two stay hydrated. Also, can we get our dessert to go?” Verdi asked as the dark elf waitress nodded, handing the duo ice cream cones before waving them goodbye.

“Come back anytime!” She said as Verdi and Citrinas waved them goodbye., doing as Verdi said and turning a nuisance into a marketing tool. Other girls began joining in, kissing and licking wherever they could as men hooted and hollered in approval.

“So why 10% plasticizers by weight is the target? What happens if we-eek!” Citrnas asked as they walked back to Belasch’s bar, her sentence interrupted by a demon girl bumping into them. She stumbled backwards as Verdi caught her hand, holding it tightly as the two walked together.

“Let’s hold hands, it’s a bit more hectic today, and I don't need you getting lost.” He suggested, the two continuing to eat their ice cream while they spoke. “Where were we? Oh right. Plasticizers. We want 10% since too much then it becomes too soft for our use. We want it rigid enough to be useful, but flexible enough to slightly bend so it is impact resistant.” Verdi said as Citrinas continued probing him with questions, the two inseparable as they **** they way through the crowds. Before long they returned to Belsach’s bar, still hand in hand as she opened her Domain’s portal.

“Alright, let’s get back to it! First thing is first, we need to get to welding and we also need to create a catalyst.” Verdi said as they returned back to her lab.

“So what catalyst are we thinking?” Citrinas asked, lighting up the room with light artifacts as Verdi thought to himself.

“Gold. Mercuric chloride is cheaper, but then it gives mercury vapors, and I’d rather not poison you on accident.” Verdi said after a moment of thought.

“I’ll go ask the alchemist guild for a loan.” Citrinas said as Verdi fished in his pocket, taking out a handful of gold coins. It wasn’t much, about a few ounces at most, but Verdi seemed confident that was enough to work with.

“This should do it.” He said, setting the coins on the table while grabbing an ink quill. “Also, this might take a few hours. The surface area isn’t too great even if we dice it. I have a plan to improve it but it’s for later.” He said, writing down a reminder as the duo grabbed several iron pipes. Verdi quickly formed a 3d model of their apparatus, explaining to her what his idea was before holding the pipes in place, asking her to help weld the iron together. It took all of 3 seconds before they decided to just let her weld while Verdi supervised when they burned him alive on accident.

“So, what’s next?” She asked as Verdi muttered to himself, inspecting their contraption for the slightest flaw. It was a crude thing, being a series of pipes, valves, and pumps with an outlet valve at the bottom hooked to a tank made from ice reinforced by Verdi’s magic. Though Citrinas could easily grasp that the apparatus was built to allow the ether, sulfuric acid, and chlorine to react in the presence of the gold catalyst, she was still wowed by just how quickly Verdi had built it. She was almost scared of what he could build if he had time and resources instead of scavenging.

“Well, now we just gotta start a fire, raise the pressure in the system, and wait. Let’s take it outside.” Verdi said as they carried their machinery outside and set a pile of coals underneath it. Finally, Verdi used ice magic to forcibly pump air into the system while Citrinas lit up the coals, kick starting the reaction. Letting it heat up, the two sat on the bench outside next her lake. Sitting on the bench next to the lake, Citrinas leaned on his shoulder, watching the fires crackle and burn while Verdi sat next to her.

“So how long do you think it’ll take?” She asked as Verdi mulled over her words.

“Tomorrow morning we should have enough vinyl chloride for prototypes. From there, we can start polymerizing it, experimenting with additives, and testing out the phonograph discs.” Verdi said, causing her heart to flutter at the thought. They were so close! Just a few more steps!

“For now, we should take a bath and you should go to bed. I’ll leave a monster core to keep it running.” Verdi said as she stared at the system. She was impatient and wanted to begin the next step now, but she knew better than to rush alchemy. Doing as he said, the two of them bathed and went to bed, eager to wake up tomorrow and begin synthesizing the polymer.