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Johanna entered the chambers with the same boisterous, good natured attitude that always accompanied her. Pyras, in turn, welcomed the woman with his traditionally sarcastic and passively-aggressive irritation. This would be their third - and likely final - encounter as researcher and assistant.
This would be the encounter in which Pyras would extract the last ounce of value he needed from Johanna: her blood. Pyras knew she would guard it as fiercely as she should, and so devised a plan to steal it from Johanna with her being none the wiser:
Pyras would convince Johanna that the evening entailed one more experiment, which would involve testing her senses. Step one, conveniently, would be to have the woman blindfolded; this would ensure she could not see what would otherwise be obvious. Step two, Pyras would inform Johanna that she would wear the blindfold for two days. Before the two days began, Pyras would test the woman's sensitivity in terms of her sense of touch, and at the end of the two days, the Red Wizard would do so again to observe a discrepancy. This was a lie.
As Pyras tested his assistant's sense of touch, he tapped a blunt surface against the bend in her arm. Thereafter, he pricked her skin shallowly a few times in varying places, and after that he would rub a cold, wet surface against the length of her arm. Afterwards would come a momentary sharp sensation, followed by something soft - fluffy - to the touch.
That is, Pyras would tap her arm to increase blood flow and pronounce the veins; he would prick the skin to get the skin used to a sharp sensation, reducing the alarm of the eventual needle. Pyras would then dab the skin with cold rubbing alcohol, and then he would insert the needle. Finally, as the needle was withdrawn - blood and all - the soft touch of cotton would be pressed down to absorb the trace amount of blood from the wound, mitigating any sign of the procedure. All Johanna would feel, however, was blunt tapping, faint pricking, cold rubbing, shallow piercing, and soft touching.
Thereafter, Johanna was released and instructed to return within two days. However, within the hour, she was informed by magical missive that there was a flaw in the experimental design and her services were no longer required. Pyras had her blood, and she was none the wiser.
This would be the encounter in which Pyras would extract the last ounce of value he needed from Johanna: her blood. Pyras knew she would guard it as fiercely as she should, and so devised a plan to steal it from Johanna with her being none the wiser:
Pyras would convince Johanna that the evening entailed one more experiment, which would involve testing her senses. Step one, conveniently, would be to have the woman blindfolded; this would ensure she could not see what would otherwise be obvious. Step two, Pyras would inform Johanna that she would wear the blindfold for two days. Before the two days began, Pyras would test the woman's sensitivity in terms of her sense of touch, and at the end of the two days, the Red Wizard would do so again to observe a discrepancy. This was a lie.
As Pyras tested his assistant's sense of touch, he tapped a blunt surface against the bend in her arm. Thereafter, he pricked her skin shallowly a few times in varying places, and after that he would rub a cold, wet surface against the length of her arm. Afterwards would come a momentary sharp sensation, followed by something soft - fluffy - to the touch.
That is, Pyras would tap her arm to increase blood flow and pronounce the veins; he would prick the skin to get the skin used to a sharp sensation, reducing the alarm of the eventual needle. Pyras would then dab the skin with cold rubbing alcohol, and then he would insert the needle. Finally, as the needle was withdrawn - blood and all - the soft touch of cotton would be pressed down to absorb the trace amount of blood from the wound, mitigating any sign of the procedure. All Johanna would feel, however, was blunt tapping, faint pricking, cold rubbing, shallow piercing, and soft touching.
Thereafter, Johanna was released and instructed to return within two days. However, within the hour, she was informed by magical missive that there was a flaw in the experimental design and her services were no longer required. Pyras had her blood, and she was none the wiser.