Baxter's Basement Laboratory

"That sounds perfect," he returned. He'd never used the vents to hide things himself, but that was largely because people were never typically interested in stealing his things. He was thinking of perhaps installing a high quality lock on the door after this.

As for her second question, he considered it for a moment. Simply bringing them in might allow him to figure out if they were the thief or not, but he was more concerned with the fungus itself than the thief. "Knock them out first," he returned. That way he could get the procedure started and they might just wake up half way through instead of fighting him the entire time. Answers could come after.

She’s up the wall before the word even finishes leaving her mouth, fingers and feet skittering fast-fast-fast, a manic giggle echoing behind her. “Hehe—knock ‘em out, got it!! Don’t do anything fun without me!!”

With a quick, feral wiggle, she pries open the vent cover and squeezes inside, legs kicking once before vanishing completely.

“Oooohhh it’s filthy in here already, jackpot!!”

“Invisible… skin-burrowing… moldy little glow bugs…” she whispers, delighted. “Hehehe… that’s disgusting. I love it!!”

She snatches the UV light and immediately clicks it on, then without hesitation flashes it right into her own eye.

“AH—!!” she squeaks, recoiling for half a second before breaking into giggles. “Hehehe!! Yep, that works!!”

She leans in again, buzzing with energy. “Blue caps, mold smell, maybe squirming under the skin… got it got it got it!!”

Her head snaps toward the ceiling.

“VENTS,” she says instantly, eyes lighting up. “Ohhh it’s gotta be the vents!! Everyone hides stuff in the vents!! Needles, drugs, weird sticky things I don’t even ask about, hehe!!”

She bounces in place, practically vibrating. “If I were a sneaky little thief with gross little glow jars, I’d stash ‘em up there with all the other nasties!!”

She spins back to him, grinning sharp. “If it’s in someone, do I knock ‘em out first or bring ‘em in wriggling?” She’s already crouched low, muscles coiled, glancing back up at the vents like a cat about to pounce, barely holding herself in place.

"That sounds perfect," he returned. He'd never used the vents to hide things himself, but that was largely because people were never typically interested in stealing his things. He was thinking of perhaps installing a high quality lock on the door after this.

As for her second question, he considered it for a moment. Simply bringing them in might allow him to figure out if they were the thief or not, but he was more concerned with the fungus itself than the thief. "Knock them out first," he returned. That way he could get the procedure started and they might just wake up half way through instead of fighting him the entire time. Answers could come after.

“Missing?! Stolen?? Glowy fungus thief?!” she squeals, eyes lighting up. “Ooohhh that’s so bad, hehe, so so bad!!”

She leans in close, rocking on her heels. “New people are suspicious… they track dirt everywhere. Everywhere!!”

Her grin sharpens. “Okay okay, what does it smell like? Or feel like? Does it tingle?”

"The fungus itself is largely invisible. It's designed to grow on top of living organisms, burrowing into their skin without visible growth on top. With any luck, the thief stole the vials without opening them." He doubted the intelligence of nearly everyone in this building, but surely people wouldn't see any point in opening a vial that looks empty to the untrained eye. "I can't say for certain what it feels like, I wear gloves while working. I was in the process of removing its odor, but it does have a weak scent. Something akin to mold."

Baxter reached into his coat pocket and handed her a small UV light. "This should help you find them. When you direct this beam of light at the fungus, it will glow." It was going to be designed to only respond to a specific pulse later on, but for now, this was useful. "Also, point it at a person's eyes if they're being uncooperative. It's quite painful." He giggled to himself, thinking of it, before clearing his throat and refocusing. "Now. The fungi should be found within small glass vials closed with a blue cap. But if you find an organism with the fungi infested into their skin, take it to my lab. I can remove it myself. Mostly." Enough to grow more of it.