You’re not sure how long you slept but by the time you opened your eyes the sun was starting to shine through the window once more. Somehow it seemed like it was much warmer and more welcoming than ever before. You must have slept much more soundly than you had anticipated as it takes a while before things slowly start to filter into your perception. The first being a pair of legs swinging happily from your left shoulder as Xin Lan sits atop it while using the top of your head to lean against. You find Ming still cradled in your arms and it’s then when you finally register that they’re happily chatting away. “Whatever they were using it was pretty potent. I’m just not sure what they were using to make it hang in the air like that.” You hear Xin Lan say.

“Smoke would be my first guess. It has a nasty habit of infusing with whatever you’re cooking or boiling. Remember when Ren was trying to cook with it? If they managed to take whatever poison and somehow boil it in a way that lets the steam mix with smoke and then manage to collect the smoke in a bomb…the smoke itself would carry the poison. It’s dangerous work though. Modern alchemists always work in ventilated workshops…well mostly ventilated. It’s hard to maintain proper temperatures if the whole room is open.” You hear Ming explain. “Even so, to coat an entire city block like that. It’s horrible.”

“Well we certainly put a lot of them away, that’s for sure. I just get the feeling that they weren’t all there. We never did find anyone who we could pin as a leader.” Xin Lan continues. “Guess they didn’t want to put all their hopes in one place.”

“Hopefully they stay gone. I wish I was there. If I could just get some of that poison to distill then I could have figured out a way to counteract it.” Ming replies.

“Hey, I was there. I know my poisons too, you know.” Xin Lan says. “But yeah…we wish you were there too.”

“But we’re all here now. Aren’t we sleepy head?” Ming asks as she pokes your cheek.