E U R E K A
Ash 9, 121 Age of Steel
Nerves were not precisely unknown or new to Anton, the man's very existence being a crime against the State. Still, it was a novel form of anxiety that he faced as he stood before the board of examiners that determined whether or not he would be accepted into the College of the Sciences. The foremost institution of scientific learning outside of the Imperium, it had standards above and beyond any mere school, holding itself to the prestige and glory of the Greater Institute of Zaichaer. They did not accept amateurs. He had tried hard, so very hard, to make himself worthy of their number. Over a year of constant study, with Stefan and on his own, culminating in a reproduction of one of the classical experiments. And he did not know if it would be enough. If he would be enough. There was a sense of genuine fear, fear that he had rarely felt in his safe and coddled life. What if he failed?
The reassuring mantra that had been drilled into his head by was that he could simply try again. Devise a new experiment, improve upon his method, refine his measurements. That was easy enough to tell himself. It was much harder to actually take as solace. Neither wealth nor pedigree nor might could secure him entry now, for the Hall of Inventors had no lack of funding nor need for borrowed prestige nor fear of any force within the city. His mind and deeds alone would win him entry, a notion that filled him with no small amount of pride - should he succeed. After all, it would be his first accomplishment that he could truly claim was solely his. But the failure, too, would be all his own.
Such concerns could not help but filter through his head as he and the board watched the workmen prepare the experiment and its assembly. The brazier from his first attempt in the estate was replaced by a far more modern burner, a controlled flame by means of a gas nozzle, on loan from the Institute itself, naturally. His glasswork was at least deemed suitably safe and secure for the work to come, Anton reminding himself to thank the servant who had done the actual work of finding such an array of beakers and tubes on short notice regardless of whether or not he left this room a student of the Institute.
The explanation that he had given the motley band of servants in the dour stone halls of the estate was effectively practice for this, the burgeoning scientist now faced with the challenge of cogently explaining the chemical processes at play to a panel of men and who actually knew what was happening. "The basics of this experiment are very simple. It is known that iron, when exposed to sulfuric acid, creates a heat producing reaction. This reaction in turn transforms the initial reagents into two products - gaseous hydrogen and aqueous ferrous sulfate. This process has been well established for decades, and is well known to even novice students of the chemical sciences. However, advances in glasswear now permit us to augment this original experiment to further prove a more novel law."
Immediately, Anton felt like a fraud, standing behind the maze of glass that he knew separated him from the examiners. He worked for the moment without Semblance, attempting to limit any reliance upon magic as much as possible. "As you no doubt noted, both the assembly and the reagents are annotated with their mass, the total sum provided for you in the packet provided. As is now known, mass is neither created nor destroyed, simply transferred from one state to another - solid, liquid, and gas. The weighing and containment of gasses has proven difficult, but far from impossible, and this assembly will indeed prove its worth in that regard."
There was no more time to be gained by speeches or similar delay. He had to begin the demonstration for the panel now, and hope that it worked out for the best. In truth, the odds of the experiment failing were effectively zero, the reaction both incredibly simple and incredibly obvious. Instead, his anxiety was focused upon his own visual shortcomings, wondering if perhaps he did something wrong or in some fashion that no one who learned the science by watching others perform it would ever do. Setting such fears aside, he drew in a breath as he lifted the vial of acid in his hand, the iron already waiting within the beaker, and opened up his Cardinal Rune to the flow of magic. This was the only moment where he needed the magic, but he already knew that he would keep it active throughout the show, for it was captivating to him in ways that he could not explain to those who merely saw.
"I will now introduce the sulfuric acid to the iron. This particular vial has been adulterated by inclusion of simple water in order to reduce the danger of any errors as well as to slow the resultant reaction." Pure acid was far too dangerous, and difficult to get, to use for such a simple demonstration, the risk and cost typically reserving it only for those that needed such potency. For Anton, the watered down version was more than sufficient, presented with only benefits. It was cheaper, would not eat through his skin before he could react if he accidentally spilled any on himself, and resulted in a slow enough reaction between the acid and the iron to not turn the glass beaker into a glass bomb. "Observe that the acid is superficially almost identical to common water, and indeed presents with a similar composition despite their very different properties."
It took only seconds for the first drops of acid to spill from the vial upon the iron, the by now familiar reaction coursing through the metal as it was eaten away by the liquid. Anton let it flow in a steady stream, attempting to avoid dumping the entirety in at once while still giving him time to move quickly. The assembly would need to be sealed as soon as the acid was emptied in order to preserve as much of the hydrogen as possible for the future weighing. "As we speak, the hydrogen trapped within the acid is being freed by the reaction, permitting it to travel freely within the container." On cue, he sealed the entire labyrinth of glass, letting the released gas flow upwards and through the attached filter, further liberating it of any minuscule contaminants being wafted up by the chemically induced wind.
"In exchange, the remainder of the acid - pay special note to the sulfur - binds with the iron, transforming both into a new material altogether. Where iron is hard and retains its self even when heated, iron sulfate crystals are brittle and decompose when exposed to high heat. Additionally note the ingenuity of the body, for pharmacists have prescribed these very crystals in order to resolve iron deficiencies, the human form capable of consuming this product of a metal and an acid and converting it into something usable for its own processes. Though we leave the sulfate for now, its role in the process done, this change in utility and value is at the core of the chemical process." As he spoke, the released hydrogen expanded to fill its container, rushing forwards in every direction before reaching the neck of the beaker. Aimlessly taking the first turn, it passed effortlessly through the simple mesh filter that followed, rendering the gas as pure as Anton could manage without first establishing a vacuum.
"Simpler, less informed, experiments may have decreed from here that the process was finished, and upon examination and noticing the missing mass declare that it was burnt as fuel for the metaphorical fire. This, however, will serve also to prove the conservation of mass. Consider the second beaker, currently being warmed by a gas lit flame. This pushes the released gas into the upper chamber, permitting us finally isolate and measure the material." As he spoke, he could not help but turn his attention upon that second beaker where the milling mass of hydrogen cluttered up against one another in an ever growing tide. It was as if ten thousand performers lined up side by side, and played only the same note with varying degrees of energy and excitement. Sealing off the chamber that they remained in and shutting off the flame, he could not help but notice that the song that they gave off in turn reduced itself as the colorless gas was permitted to evenly distribute itself among the open space.
Meticulously, Anton went about weighing every component and ingredient of the experiment he had just conducted, writing out the sums as he went to the dispassionate panel. "As is now I hope obvious, the mass of which can be seen is far from the total mass captured within this apparatus. This teaches us the fundamental precepts of our field, ones that are difficult to intuit but necessary to master. The transformation of unlike substances into a third, even less similar, substance creates both a cosmetic and functional effect, with many compounds toxic in isolation becoming useful in combination. This concludes the demonstration, I hope that I have met and surpassed your standards."
Turning his attention at last to the men and women who would decide his fate, Anton was immediately distracted. Before them sat carafes of water, a meaningless fact in most circumstances. However, as he switched from looking at the trapped gas and the assembled containers, a realization struck him. Hydrogen upon its own sang with a single voice, modified only in speed and volume. The song of water was layered and complex by comparison, until he realized with a start that the notes of the trapped gas were almost identical to the undercurrent within the aura of the water, the same occurring anywhere, from any source of where he looked. Everywhere he looked he could not help but notice traces of its song now that he knew what to listen for, finding it almost everywhere. Comprehension soon dawned upon him, tempered only by the disappointment of knowing he could share this particular discovery with no one.
"I thank you for your time," Anton finished awkwardly, having become aware that he had been standing in silence for some time. Dutifully, the same workers who had prepared the experiment for him removed it when he left, leaving the examiners to determine his fate.