"Regulus, what are you doing?"
Inside the suitcase's lobby, Sotheby, who had just recently come back, heard music sounding from the lobby.
When she entered, she saw the pirate radio broadcaster playing a vinyl record while sorting out her other records. As she did so, she danced to the beat of the current song playing.
"Just sorting out my stuff." Regulus, wiping a record, responded with a hum. "A lot of my stuff got dirty from all the running around I did lately, so I never got to clean them. I figured that now's the best time to do it."
At this point, Mr. APPLe, who was also present and was reading a book with his golden spectacles donning on his fruity visage, chimed in to their conversation.
"This apple thinks that the captain should purchase a proper place to store her collections, or else if another sudden calamity were to befall us once more, then her records would be doomed."
"Whoa! What's with the sudden pessimistic attitude?" Turning to the scholarly apple that was reading a book, Regulus was flabbergasted. "Relax — it's not like that every day an event like the Storm would come. Plus, we're in the Foundation — the last place a calamitous event like that were to ever happen."
Though she said that, she couldn't help but agree with Mr. APPLe's suggestion. After all, not too long ago, she had just seen her ship sink in the 1960s, dragging along with it were her records that she wasn't able to save.
To this day, it still stings her heart having to not been able to save them, truth be told. But alas, that era has already been swallowed up by the Storm, along with her records that were now at the bottom — if they were even there — of the sea.
At this point, the sounds of descending footsteps reached their ears, prompting them to look at the entrance of the suitcase.
"That may be true, but what if it's another problem?" Emerging from the shadows of the entrance, Isaac's visage appeared. "For example... What if a great fire suddenly appears in the suitcase? Or the suitcase itself falling into a deep body of water? Either way, the world inside the suitcase is compromised and you'd endanger your precious records once more."
Seeing him walk in, Sotheby was the first to greet him, her smile beaming with purity and innocence. "Good day, Mr. Isaac."
He nodded slightly at her. "Good day to you too, Ms. Sotheby. Have you gotten in contact with your manor?"
"Not yet." She shook her head. "I've just sent my letter yesterday to our manor in England, but the people in white masks said that it might take a while."
Indeed, Sotheby still has a family member alive in the present. Before Mr. Karson disappeared, he told her to make contact with the master of their manor in England.
But since the Foundation was currently sending out a lot of operatives on missions, it might take a while for her letter to reach their manor.
She then pulled out a vial from the array of items she was carrying on her person. "In the meantime, I've been concocting potions with the ingredients provided by the Foundation!"
She then showed him a murky white substance. "Look, Mr. Isaac! This is my newest creation! It can stimulate the senses to see and hear things that aren't there — but can be interacted with!"
"Do you want to try it?" She beamed.
'...No thanks.' Isaac wanted to say that immediately, maybe even throw in a nervous laugh and a slow step back for good measure, but one glance at her bright, expectant eyes stopped him cold. Her expression radiated a pure, unfiltered pride, like a student showing off a glitter-covered disaster of a science project to their favorite teacher.
'This sounds suspiciously close to a very illegal hallucinogen.' He thought grimly. 'She may have just accidentally reinvented a street drug… with interactable hallucinations.'
Honestly, he didn't know whether he should be acknowledging that achievement.
He took the vial with the kind of caution one usually reserved for handling things like active explosives and nodded politely. "Thank you. I don't know when or how I'll use it, but... I'll keep it just in case."
Then, with a gentle smile, he continued. "In the meantime, could you maybe refrain from making more of this particular potion for a while?"
"Eh? Why not?" She asked, tilting her head with genuine confusion. Her wide eyes blinked up at him, like a puppy being told it couldn't eat crayons.
Isaac sighed deeply. "Let's just say… this kind of potion might cause problems if the wrong people get their hands on it — or if anyone gets their hands on it. Ever."
"But it works!" The young lady insisted, puffing up. "I tested it on one of those people from the Foundation with white masks! I heard them have a lovely conversation with what seemed like a flying eel made out of music notes. They talked like they were the best of friends!"
'Someone got high...'
Isaac blinked, his smile freezing. "...Right. And that's exactly why we're not making more."
"Okay… I guess I'll put it on a shelf for now." She pouted, but eventually nodded in reluctant agreement. "But only because you asked nicely, Mr. Isaac."
He gave her a wry smile. "Much appreciated, Ms. Sotheby. Oh, and please don't test on the Foundation staff again."
"Got it!" She nodded before running back to her room in the suitcase, already concocting another idea for a new potion.
Seeing the young lady walk away while mumbling to herself of what he speculated to be a new formula she was formulating, he sighed.
Then, he heard a snicker not far from him.
Turning around, he met Regulus' eyes, who was looking back at him with an amused smirk.
Looking at him, she nodded approvingly. "Good job handling that mess, mate. If Sotheby continued with that potion, she might have just turned a lot of people here into skagheads."
"As for that one person who tested her potion, poor them..." She sighed, her voice trailing off.
"It's fine if they don't continue to pursue its consumption." He clarified to her. "After a few days, some side effects would occur, but after that, they'll be fine again. Probably."
After saying that, he walked over to one of the couches near where Regulus was cleaning her records and slouched down, his shoulders drooping as he did so, and his leg laying on top of the other.
- Sigh...
He wanted to take this moment to rest and clear his mind, especially with what's been happening lately.
Waiting for Madam Z's order to finally use him was driving him crazy, as such, he decided to go rogue for a while and had been going around the Foundation observing what was happening.
Needless to say, it was tiring.
He closed his eyes and listened to the song Regulus was playing, bobbing his foot to the rhythm.
Noticing this behavior, Regulus pointed it out. "Are you into rock-and-roll music too?"
"I like it, but I'm not a fan." He responded with his eyes closed. "I lean in more to jazz music."
"Jazz?" She raised her head and looked at him, thought for a moment, before silently nodding. "Well, I can see that. You don't seem to be the type that would sing out loud and enjoy energy."
"You're right. I prefer the slow ones." He admitted in a self-deprecating manner. A moment later, he asked another question. "By the way... Do you have any in there? I really want to listen to one right now... Can I?"
"Of course! This is the Pirate Radio, my dear Isaac, where freedom of choice is valued. Your wish is our command!" She nodded while showing off her collection. "What album do you know? Or an artist? Just say it and we'll play it!"
He paused for a moment before answering. "You got any Sinatra in there?"
"Ah, Sinatra — my beloved. You've got good taste, my friend!" She snapped her fingers and immediately began flipping through her collection. "Do you have any tracks you want to play first? How about Fly Me to the Moon?"
Isaac hummed lightly, eyes still closed.
"That was my first thought, actually. But... I don't know... doesn't feel right right now."
Regulus paused. "No? A bit too much for your current existential slump?"
He gave a quiet scoff. "Something like that."
She stopped flipping through her collection and turned to him. "Then what does feel right?"
He stayed silent for a second longer, then opened one eye lazily. "...My Way, maybe."
"My Way? What's that?" She tilted her head a bit, not knowing what he just mentioned.
"Oh, right..." He smiled, remembering that the song came much later. "Sorry, I got it mixed up. I meant Strangers in the Night."
Upon hearing this, she immediately grasped what he wanted. "Oh! Romantic and mysterious. Good choice. That's a nighttime cigarette-and-regret kind of vibe right there."
"Exactly the kind of vibe I'm marinating in." He said, stretching his legs out across the rug like a tired dog. "Although it's still the daytime... But let's ignore that for now."
She nodded and carefully pulled out the vinyl and placed it on the player, her movements gentle — like handling something sacred. The soft crackle of the turntable filled the lobby, and soon enough, the lush opening of the song drifted into the air like silk curtains swaying on a breeze.
Isaac let out a sigh again, this time softer, as though the tension in his chest was finally loosening.
"Thank you, Regulus..." He whispered before drifting off to a nap.
It was good to rest once in a while.