Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 10:15 AM Norfolk, VA

  I woke up with continuing reflections on this one particular spell, Constant Heat, and how the initial spell brought forth the elemental forces at the rock’s birth, and how this could be modified with enough effort and refocusing on other birth conditions for the rocks. There were other forces that were in existence around other stones that could be teased forth, depending on the rock. I’m not quite there, but I am close. I got up, meditated, and checked on the dwindling salt supplies and made an estimate. I had enough to have the Mini-Avengers finish the visors, but not to have me make anything else myself, or even enough to have an Unseen Servant do more than just a few more enhancements of gear, definitely not any weapons.

  I decided that I might need to do some slightly different things to try to get the materials that I needed. It was still before sunrise, so I figured that I could go out and maybe grab a bite, and see if I can fulfill my promise to Rex. The only place that was open that had fresh fish at this time was Harris Teeter. I decided to walk there, and changed my Power Suit to look like an actual business suit, so it was looking fairly high end. The rest of my clothing ended up changing to match.

  While I was walking, with my hair pulled back into a low ponytail, to keep it out of the way, in case I needed to actually do anything. As I walked, I noticed that I kept getting stares, some so bad that I could actually sense the eyes burning into the back of my head. I heard a couple of whispers as I walked into the Harris Teeter, and to the Seafood counter. Unfortunately, there weren’t any larger fish, so I had to make due with a dozen mixed fish, between snapper and trout. I got a refrigerated bag and some ice to go with it, and continued shopping.

  I found a tea that they said could be brewed at one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit, the highest I can heat something without an extra spell. I picked some of that up, even though it was expensive, and a couple bottles of sodas that I remembered the taste of from back at the “Bolting Barghest”. Maybe it might be good to taste the real thing after having the facsimile back there so many times. I picked up a couple of other items that seemed like there would be good to try, and stocked myself back up on personal items. I made my way to the register, and the cashier was gawking at me.

  As I set everything down in front of the cashier, I was slightly annoyed when they didn’t start ringing everything up. The cashier finally spoke up and said, “Oh my gosh, you’re him. You’re that guy. I loved you in "Hot Tub Time Machine”. I know this isn’t professional,” looking around, ”but can I have your autograph?” I told the cashier that I was not in fact, the Winter Soldier, but that I had gotten that a few times. The cashier looked confused, shook their head, and said, “No, you’re Sebastian Stan, the actor.” I shook my head in mirth, and removed the tinted glasses I was wearing, and the Cashier apologized, saying that without the glasses, I look nothing like him.

  I told him it was okay, and then told them that maybe I’d check the movie out when I got some time. I paid for my goods with the S.H.I.E.L.D. account linked to the account that they had set up for me and started my way back. I took a side trek through an alley that was abandoned, for the moment at least, and quickly altered the Power Suit to look more like a regular set of clothing. I made the rest of the way back, with much fewer instances of people staring at me. When I got back to the Storage Unit, I saw four pallets of salt, and two agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. that I had met before.

  Agent Smith came forward and said that he had passed this all the way up and said that Director Mack himself had authorized the acquisition of the salt, which he had taken care of, and that he had also had Agent May to take care of something else. I looked at Agent May and she produced two small black velvet bags. I nodded and rolled up the door and as I stepped into the door, excused myself for just a minute, and I quickly cast Unseen Servant twice, and ordered them both to work together to carry the bags of salt from pallets to just inside the storage unit. Going back outside, I welcomed both Agent Smith and Agent May into the tent. Agent Smith was well accustomed to the interior, but it was a new thing for Agent May.

  Agent Smith immediately sat down in one of the camp chairs and glibly asked if I was going to replace the chairs with something similar to the table. Agent May followed him, carefully looking at the amassed… weirdness that was present in this extra-dimensional tent. I offered up my Field Provision Box and the possible contents to both of them, and Jonathan, being old hat at this, asked for a very complicated item, and pulled it out of the Red lacquered box. I asked May what in the world she would like to eat, and she told me some complicated request, which consisted of a specific cut of steak, and a highly specific drink, which the box proceeded to create. She ate the meal and seemed fairly surprised.

  Agent May put the two bags on the table and asked just what I was building that had Director Mack so impressed. I shrugged, and handed her one of the eight pairs of Deathwatch Safety Goggles. Jonathan told her that they were safe, that he tried them yesterday, and he was fine. Melinda cautiously put them on and looked around. She asked if I could give her a rundown on what they did, and Jonathan spoke up before me, saying that they allowed you to see the health state of the people within thirty feet, and giving her an almost textbook description of what the base form of the Deathwatch Eyes do.

  Agent May asked if she could walk around and try these out. I told her that she could, and that she can mentally change the tint on them, even make them mirrored, so she isn’t limited with the current red hue. May took the information in and set the safety glasses on her face instantly taken back by the visual information provided. She walked out of the tent and said that she would be back to drop these back off. With Agent May gone, Jonathan said that he had a question or two to ask me about where my powers came from.

  I told him to ask away, and that I should probably update my abilities for S.H.I.E.L.D. records anyway. Jonathan smirked and said that the motorcycle trick wasn’t in any of the documentation that he had for me. I gave him the list, and he was very interested in reading it carefully. He thanked me and told me that he needed to get back to the office, but that Agent May would drop back by when she was done. I thanked him again for his quick reaction to the need. He asked me how much total salt I might end up needing, assuming that the synthetic gems didn’t work, to get all of the items made for the warehouse deal, so I can clear books and start working on things for S.H.I.E.L.D. and other projects.

  I thought for a minute, and told him that it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve tons, maybe a little more, but this was before the four pallets that they provided today, so maybe another seven or so, over the span of five more days. Jonathan noted that this was a LOT less than the four pallets a day thing. I mentioned that I was stuck making lesser items at a rate of one a day per Dedicated Wright, so it was vastly cheaper than maximized production rates. Jonathan listened and said that he could appreciate the difference in the rate. I told him that I was basically just trying to get this deal with the city done as quickly as possible, so if I am lucky, I will try to shift it down to six days.

  Jonathan stood up as he thanked me for the updates and said that he would get back in touch with the city to see about expediting the process. I thanked him and asked him if he needed to wait for Agent May to get back. Jonathan declined and said that Agent May was more than skilled enough to find her own way back to the Quinjet, and likely would want to anyway. I acknowledged his answer and wished him a good day for the rest of his day. He thanked me and, as he left, told me that he didn’t know how long it would take for Agent May to get back.

  After Jonathan left, I directed the Unseen Servant that was working with the Q.I.C. to continue, and checked into the Dedicated Wrights. They were just finishing up the visors, and I figured that I should bust one of them out too, getting their assistance as well. It only took an hour to get the one that I was leading on done with all of the Mini-Avenger assistance, and after that, I worked to instruct them to make all of the sets of goggles, up to almost the entire point of finishing, leaving only an hour of work for each. This gives me a finished total of eight goggles and nine visors, of the twenty goggles, ten visors, and twenty pairs of gloves. A good start and if things continue at this rate, I should definitely make the self imposed deadline.

  After I finished getting the Mini-Avengers ready for their last project of the day, I looked around and saw that Agent May was back. She was just standing there watching me from where I was instructing the crew. I apologized for not recognizing that she was here, and she shut me up, saying that at least she understood enough from where she watched me make Coulson’s necklace that she can understand the process that these helpers are performing right now. I nodded, saying that since she watched me, she should have a fairly good idea about what they are doing. She added that she had a question for me, that she had needed to wait until after Agent Smith had left to ask.

  I perked up and asked her if she had wanted to know about Coulson, and how he was doing. Agent May gave me a terse nod, and said that the last time that I had seen him, he was leading a rag-tag band of heroes. Agent May caught the word “seen” in my statement and asked me if I had a way to see Couldson. I told her that I could easily scry on him, if she had an hour to wait, and wanted to see him herself. Agent May seemed to be weighing the decision, before I told her that it wouldn’t cost me much to do so, mainly just the time and a little renewable energy. That must have helped her, because she said yes, and I made my way over to the desk, and started the hour-long casting for the Scrying spell.

  ********

  Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 8:15 PM Norfolk, VA

  After the Scrying spell was cast, Agent May took up the seat next to me. Agent Coulson was decked out in shining armor, that I recognized as Elven Plate, and had an obviously magical sword in his right hand, and his rifle in the left hand. Around him were four other people, two of them casting spells, and another one with a heavy shield and a mace with eldritch energy about it. They were fighting a group of humanoids (hobgoblins) that were bearing down on them. We watched for fourteen minutes of fighting and recovery after, with a subtle hint from Phil at the end, where he looked up at where the Scrying sensor was, and gave us a wink.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  As the mirror clouded over and returned to the normal reflection, Agent May could almost be seen to smile, even just the barest hint. I told her, without obviously looking at her, that I couldn’t open up the Scrying window for another hour, if she wanted to wait again. Agent May cleared her throat and said that she had to head back to S.H.I.E.L.D. command, and let Director Mack know that I was going to try the gemstones and that I would let Jonathan know if they worked. I added that if they did not, I’d be sending them back to S.H.I.E.L.D. through Agent Smith. Agent May said that this was acceptable, and headed out.

  With the rest of my day available, I decided that the best course of action would be to go check in with the Emergency Medical Technicians that were attached to Sentara, the crew that I had been working with all this time, and see how they were doing. I slipped a pair of the goggles into the extra-dimensional pocket of my Power Suit, just to have them available in case whichever one of the Williams were there. I left Rex with a Snapper and a Trout, from the group of fish that I had procured this morning, chuckling to myself about the mistaken identity. I gave Rex a passdown of what to do when I was gone, and what he could expect. Rex listened, and I promised him more of the Trout and Snapper, assuming that he used his ability to keep the block that was inside the bag, cool while I was gone. With that, I changed the Power Suit into a set of clothing that would not be out of place walking around Norfolk, just a decent looking jacket and cargo pants combo, with my Dimensional Stride Tabi Boots changed to look like, “sneakers” of some generic brand.

  I walked to Norfolk Sentara hospital, being mindful of watching the people around and not trying to stick out or look like I didn’t belong. There wasn’t as much whispering or attention paid to me now, so I assume that the difference in clothing was appropriate. As I walked the distance, I noticed that there were a few more people who were looking like they were “on the streets” and I guess that this part of the effects of the “Snap” as it had been termed by the Avengers and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I think I am going to have to get some more answers about what exactly caused the disappearance of everyone, maybe then I can figure out if it is “undo-able”.

  When I got to the hospital, I saw that the Ambulance was out on a run. I walked up to the entrance of the Emergency Room that the Ambulance would unload people at and checked with the people inside. Apparently, the Ambulance was out on a call to get a pregnant woman who had gone into labor. I nodded and said that if it was alright, I’d just wait in the ER waiting area until they got back. I walked in and decided to slip on the safety goggles and just see what I could see among the people who were there.

  A lot of the people who were in the ER were coming back as “healthy” or “wounded”, but not “fragile” or worse. I walked around and noticed how just about everyone who was in seemed to be dealing with their own issues, and although the Emergency Room staff looked overworked, they were keeping up with what they needed. Maybe there was a way to enchant the room to be more reinvigorating to them or something. I could look into that in the future. Just as I was stuck in my head, I got woken out of it by a pair of the guards rushing past as I heard a call coming from their radios, frantically saying that they needed security to deal with a Code White in Room 8, as they were adminstering a rapid-acting sedative, but that it isn’t taking hold.

  I followed after the security to get to the room, as I didn’t want to try to find my way. I did leave some space between us. In the room, there was a pair of two orderlies trying to hold back an absolutely massive man, ripped with muscles that I think I’ve only seen on Francis Noche and Captain America, with a frightened nurse in the corner waiting to try to adminster another shot, and the gurney absolutely toppled. The guy didn’t look like a super that I knew of, but obviously they were stronger than any normal person, or in this case, two fairly well built orderlies. The security guards took up either arm and tried to hold the person down.

  I looked at the guy and saw that while their face was a mask of the blood from the cut on their forehead, their pupils were MASSIVE, almost completely blotting out the irises entirely. This, coupled with a flushed face and the fact that his eyes were twitching, led me to ask the nurse what she had given him. She was confused for a second and said that the doctor had taken one look at him, and told her to give him a sedative, so they could start the stitches, as he was agitated. I asked her what kind, and she said Midazolam. I thought back on the various medical books and quickly cast Page-Bound Epiphany, to confirm the answer for this situation.

  For thirty seconds, the security and orderlies struggled with this massive wall of a man, until the answer came to my mind. I told her to get Flumazenil and Haloperidol. The nurse looked at me as I further explained that the patient was having a paradoxical effect from the benzo, that he was an alcoholic steroid abuser that was likely on meth or some other stimulant, and that we needed to counteract the benzos. She rushed to go get it, and I helped the orderlies and security to hold onto the man while we waited for the nurse to get back. He was still struggling, when she got back, and added the first injection into his still, thankfully, attached IV. We waited for two minutes for the Flumazenil to take effect, and then I righted the gurney and we all got the guy into it.

  We had to quadruple the restraints needed for any normal man, but we managed to get the guy immobile enough to not be causing more problems. Then the nurse administered the Haloperidol, which worked the rest of the way to get this individual sedated enough, with the last thing the bodybuilder muttered was, “He told me that, ‘security ought to be beefed up a lot more in a place like this”. The five of us, orderlies, security, and myself, waited outside the room, and the head nurse rushed over, asking us if we were all good. The orderlies and security guards talked about how they might have pulled something in their backs, and how the guy was just totally unhinged. She noted all of this down, and then her eyes landed on me, and asked me if I made the call.

  I told her, “Yes, Yes I had made the call, that the patient’s eyes were extremely dilated, that they were twitchy, his face was fully flushed underneath the blood that was covering it, with a web of veins showing on his nose, and that while he was sweating heavily, there was no salt scent, showing that he was probably cutting weight to look good for a picture spread or something, and fell out because of it.” I added that when I saw the reaction, I thought back to my medical training, and realized that he was having a paradoxical reaction to the midazolam that had been administered. I asked the Nurse to get Flumazenil and Haloperidol to try to get the guy stable and able to be treated. The head nurse nodded slightly as I told her everything, and told the five of us that the bodybuilder, Lou, is stable now, and that Nurse Dawson is stitching him up now. She added that the attending doctor has been notified, and signed off on all of the orders.

  She looked at each of us in turn and told us that we did a good job, that we saved a life, and kept everyone else safe. She told the orderlies and security guards to go file their reports and get checked out, and have a well earned break. She turned to me and said that she needed a full report tomorrow morning from me. I nodded and went back to waiting in the lobby for whomever was on shift today to get in with their call. I kept the safety goggles on, watching as people went in and out, seeing how little I could actually see with the goggles, as they didn’t tell me more than just their status.

  It only took five minutes or so for the stretcher to come through the doors with Sarah to come through the door with the pregnant woman on it. She was told the room number by the charge nurse, and she rushed to the room with the stretcher, getting a nurse to catch up with her as she went. It was another two minutes before things were stabilized, before Sarah came back out, walking back to the ambulance to be ready for the next call. I stopped her and told her good afternoon. Sarah laughed, and asked if it really was afternoon.

  I told her that it was almost six pm. Sarah laughed and said that it was just another hour then for her shift. I smiled and asked her if she had a minute or two. She said that there wasn’t a call immediately, so she could, at least until the call went out. I took the glasses off of my face, and asked her to put these on, and I would explain after she did. Sarah looked at me oddly, and swore that they were tinted black when on my face as they were red when she took hold of them. She put them on and looked at me and was a little startled.

  I told her that she had just put on one of the things that the city was going to get, that the city was going to get twenty pairs to distribute as they liked, and that the glasses showed you how close to death someone was, to help treatment and triage. Sarah looked at other people and saw how most were “healthy” or “wounded”. I told her that I wanted her to have a day or so to try them, when she felt like it, so that she could get a handle on them to see if she really wanted them. Sarah nodded, and I offered up that she might want to ease into using it, but that I can ensure that she gets a set, if she wants, like I had promised before.

  Sarah thanked me and I asked her if there was any report stationary or anything that I could write up a report on. Sarah looked at me quizzically and asked why. I told her that I had helped out with a minor issue in the ER and the charger nurse had wanted me to document a full report for her for tomorrow morning. Sarah lifted an eyebrow, but pointed me to an old, dusty computer, and unlocked it for me, so I could write it out and submit it. As I documented everything, I answered questions from Sarah about what happened and what was done.

  By the time I was done, the report was more than two pages long, with annotations at the bottom to which book or medical text the information for each diagnosis method or drug interaction could be found. By the time that I was done, I felt that it was very thorough and exacting to what the Head Nurse would need. Sarah, on the other hand, asked a final question of how I managed to get all of that from just a quick look at the patient. I shrugged, saying that I managed to see the eyes, and that was what had led me to see the rest of the problems with the person. I added that I wasn’t in the thick of it, so I could take it all in from an outside view, and find the solution.

  Sarah nodded and said that this was a good thing to put into the report, and I amended it slightly to emphasize that. Once I did, I printed it out, with Sarah’s help, and she told me to hand it directly to that charge nurse, after making a copy. Sarah did something with the computer that looked like she was opening up another program, but I didn’t pay attention. I took the report to the Head Nurse, and asked her if she could make a copy of this, and that this was my report for the incident. The Head Nurse did just that and handed me back a copy of the original. She thanked me for my promptness, and I left to wish Sarah a good night and return back to my lair.

  The trip back home wasn’t any much different than the trip there, except that it was later in the day, and most of the day had been done. I made my way back and saw that Rex had done his task dutifully. I got him another Trout and Snapper, and he shared his treats with the kittens and momma cat. I pulled out that tea that was supposed to be able to be brewed at one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit, and started brewing some tea. At the end of a day like these, it was nice to be able to relax with something like this. I finished off the day, and set myself up for a good day tomorrow before going to bed.

  Thank you Gyokuro, finally found a tea that can brew at 140.

  Magic Item notes:

  Visors of the Ashen Path:

  Aura Faint Transmutation, Caster Level 5

  Slot: Eyes, Price 12,000 GP, Weight 0.5 lbs.

  Description: This visor is a regular firefighter helmet visor with a stylized logo containing the runes Kenaz and Perthro in a stylized bindrune format on the temples. The Visor of the Ashen Path allows the wearer to breath with ease in air that is contaminated with ash, spores, dust, smoke, and similar irritants. The wearer suffers no ill effects from the natural airborne irritants. In addition, the wearer can see through obscuring effects caused by natural ash, smoke, fog, and similar concealment up to a distance of up to 60’.

  The wearer can extend these benefits to one person that they are touching, but lose the benefits for themselves. The person that gains the benefits, only gains them for as long as they are touching the wearer, but the wearer loses the benefits for a full ten minutes. The wearer can do this up to five times a day. This isn’t an issue if the wearer has the rest of the firefighter gear on, but if they were relying on this, they would have to hold their breath or suffer the consequences. This doesn’t undo any previously existing damage to the touched person’s body from breathing in any contaminants.

  Construction Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Ashen Path, Cost 6,000 GP