Tony arrives

Tony arrived at the lab the next day, excited and more than a little nervous. Today there was bound to be a lot of paperwork, at the very least. Plus, meeting coworkers and getting setup with the lab equipment.

The lab was inside a luxurious looking 5-story building on the edge of downtown, and it seemed that the entire building was dedicated to Lab Syn and Lab Syn alone. Most of the windows were silvered so as to make seeing inside impossible from the outside, but to one of the sides of the building were attached what appeared to be industrial-grade fractionating columns, inside of a clear glass conservatory. Tony hadn't expected anything much larger than a centrifuge, yet here they were. It seemed that Lab Syn did some of its own distillation on a large scale.

Tony walked up to front door and rang the doorbell. A camera pivoted from above the doorway for a moment, before the door buzzed and opened. He walked inside to find a well lit reception area, clean surfaces and modern waiting benches and chairs surrounding a wide desk. A solitary woman sat behind it. Four other doors extended from the reception area, two behind the reception desk opposite the entrance, and two on either of the side walls.

"Mr. Sparrow! We've been expecting you!" the receptionist said jovially. She stood and extended a hand as Tony approached the desk. She had wavy auburn hair and glasses, along with a tight fitting turtleneck and carefully manicured and painted nails. Tony was careful not to damage them as he shook her hand. "I'm Laura, I manage the reception and calls, mostly. I'll call Stephan to let him know you've arrived. And, can I get a picture? For company records" Tony nodded, and she grabbed her phone, taking a quick photo of his smiling face. "Great! Feel free to sit anywhere while you wait."

Tony found his way to a chair, drumming his fingers. Waiting in rooms like these was never something he liked to do, but this gave him some time to collect himself. He waited for about 10 minutes before one of the doors opened, the one to the left of Laura's desk.

"Mr. Sparrow, a pleasure to finally meet you." a well dressed man in a business suit said as he approached. "I'm Stephan Gregor, we spoke on the phone." He also offered his hand, which Tony took while standing to face the man. He was tall, also wearing glasses, and with a well trimmed goatee. His short black hair contained streaks of grey, but he looked to be in decent shape despite his signs of age. His handshake was especially strong, one of those almost designed to test the other person. Tony intentionally squeezed Mr. Gregor's hand much harder than he had Laura's in response.

"And you as well, sir," Tony said as they released the ****-grip. Tony resisted the urge to massage his hand afterwards; it was the same hand he had used to punch Mitch out a week before, it was still lightly sore.

"Let's get you through all of the paperwork first, and then I'll show you the facility," Stephan said as he turned, motioning Tony to follow. The two passed through the first set of doors and into a hallway. They stopped at what appeared to be a meeting room a few doors from the entrance, where the paperwork was already laid out.

"You'll find a standard NDA, a couple of consent forms, health and accident insurance forms, and a W-2 to get started," Stephan said. "Just ring this button when you're done, I'm just down the hall." Smiling, the older man took his leave. Tony looked at the papers spread across the table. The fun begins.