Ennis is going to make mascara. It's very easy - the mascara isn't even going to be magical, though it does require the Bunsen burner - but it's an encouraging sign about how in-affinity this class will be. While she's in the cupboards she rummages for other things she's going to want - pigments and oils and salts and sugars and waxes and - oooh zinc oxide.

LAB LAB LAB LAB LAB!!!!! 

Shannon is bursting with excitement! She got to do lots of alchemy all weekend, and in fact has a rather large quantity of fresh mouthwash to sell at lunch and has already traded away her doses of healing potion, but that was all in her room with the burner Raleigh helped her set up. This is the REAL LAB.

It's incredible! Also Tristan from Sacramento personally walked her to class and checked her bench and the supply cupboard for mals! 

Her assignment is making....something called sterile Lactated Ringer's Solution? 

Reagents
7.2 g sodium chloride - NaCl
0.37 g potassium chloride - KCl
0.17 g calcium chloride - CaCl2

Procedure
In a beaker add 500 ml of distilled water
Dissolve the reagents into the beaker with distilled water.
Add water to bring the final volume to 1 L.
Adjust the pH to 7.3-7.4 using sodium bicarbonate - NaHCO3
Filter the solution through a 0.22-μm filter.
Autoclave Ringer's solution prior to use.

This is a weird assignment– oh wait, right, that's what the nurse was begging the void for yesterday. (Thinking of yesterday makes her tear up, again, and she has to blink a few times before she can concentrate.) 

Well. She will make sterile IV fluids, then! 

Lissa waves at El and Shannon before picking up her own assignment. Holden's morning announcement was kind of worrying, so she's not quite as cheerful as she looks at the recipe, which is apparently for some kind of iridescent paint that changes color under different light. She heads to the cupboard, knife in hand just in case.

"Did you all get different assignments?" she asks as she picks out her ingredients, noticing that everyone seems to be grabbing different kinds of stuff.

"I guess so! I got a medical-y one." 

"Peroxide."

"Oh, I got paint," she adds. "Doesn't seem like that has any medical use."

"Paint's good, you can spruce up your room."

"Yeah, and I guess some people might trade for it? Oh, maybe Julia will like it!"

"Yeah, probably. Don't let her rip you off, though, get something good."

Peroxide girl is - kind of creepy? And Shannon has been warned under no uncertain terms to be really really careful about interacting with potential maleficers! But...she doesn't think that just trading supplies is enough to get maleficed? Probably? 

"I'd trade you the peroxide for the same total volume of my next batch of mouthwash," she offers. "It keeps your teeth in perfect condition without brushing them." 

"When's that going to be? And do you mean diluted or pure, for the peroxide."

"Uh, what does the lab have you making? I usually use 5%, so that's the standard I'm used to thinking in, but obviously I can take more concentrated and adjust the volume I owe you accordingly." 

"It wants it undiluted, I was going to dilute it afterwards for mouthwash and getting blood out of stuff but I don't need it all."

"Cool! ...My mouthwash is a lot better than just using the peroxide straight." Is that too much bragging? "I can brew it - basically whenever, if I find the rest of the supplies here? It's very mana-efficient." 

"What do... you want peroxide for, then?"

"It's an ingredient! And alcohol turns out to be really hard to get here so I've been making the version of the recipe with more peroxide in it." 

"Okay, sure, I'll keep some in a separate jar and swap you when you have a batch."

"Cool, that works." 

And Shannon will go back to her own work rather than interacting with the possible-maleficer any more than she has to. 

El manages to follow her recipe without getting her extra credit. Hooray.

This is a really easy assignment to the point of tedium and Shannon finishes and submits it well before the end of the period, but at least it's early in the week, so maybe she can get some cabinet-searching out of it? 

Since Shannon was civil enough El will see if she'll tolerate company for that; El needs jars and there's always the chance to find something else good too.

....Sure, it would be kind of stupid to refuse safety help, though Shannon will not be especially warm or friendly. 

That's fine. Ooh, baking soda.

Lissa is still working on her paint, but she's reached the "let it sit for a moment" part, so she walks over slowly to see if they'll be okay with her looking through the cabinets beside them?

El points out the baking soda to her. "You can use that as toothpaste and for cleaning stuff," she says, in case Lissa doesn't know.