Think of a lab where glass or plastic containers are nonexistent; what would be used to contain the liquids? Basically, more is said later. First, where is this place, and who uses techniques without glass or plastic? The person being discussed is an apothecary in a world that doesn’t exist, called Thutakia; it’s also called the land of treehouses. Kavaca is the largest city in Thutakia. It’s spacious in certain areas where the trees are spread apart in case of fire; if one tree burns, the other shouldn’t. Treehouses are closer together in the less affluent neighborhoods at the city’s outer rim, where a circle of high mountains surrounds Kavaca. Bridges connect each treehouse, so neighbors can gossip, trade, or talk. Treehouses are located in swamps, and the fog comes in unexpectedly in wet areas. It gets trapped by the mountains, considered dangerous because of the mist and marshes below.
At the outer rim of the Kavaca lives an apothecary Latiya; he’s aging. His nickname is the springy one, the reason that in his youth, he seemed to jump around the bridges and hop from branches like a monkey to bring medicines for his neighbors. Currently, he’s unable to do that, but the nickname has stuck with him. Latiya’s legs are still strong, yet taking chances of falling down in the swamps is dangerous. The cultivation of swamp vegetables is considered a delicacy. People could be caught sinking deep into its muddy bottom. Latiya’s lab is filled with chemical vapors that hover in the air, contained in shapes and colors without physical containers. These misty chemicals conform to spherical, cone, torus, cube, and cylinder forms as they revolve in the air. Using his hands with skill, he finger gestures conforming to sign language symbols. He transforms things with his mind. Gestures represent an almost infinite number of chemicals. The wonder and difficulty of memorization are unthinkable. The treehouse contains knowledge of all the ingredients needed by Latiya to concoct his remedies. Symbolic words he had never heard from any living person. The foliage of the trees protected and kept secret his observations and knowledge. Because his lab is up in the trees, no one knows where it is. The interior of his lab was clean and minimal. Paraphernalia floated around Latiya’s lab, where devices were alive. It was sterile, sealed from the tree’s leaves, bark, and bugs. When Latiya was concocting the chemicals, he twirled his finger in a circular motion spinning them as if in a centrifuge. His pointed index finger brings two chemicals that are floating in the air together as one.
At Latiya’s command, spiders weave glass webs of unique designs that hold chemicals and herbs. These chemicals and herbs cause the trees to grow large and robust. Thousands of veins of tubes connecting to the trunks and branches inject the life-giving liquid. Numerous glowing buds develop from the branches of his tree it’s for protection and advertising. Especially at night, observers can see for miles. Eventually, Latiya grew his own glass receptacles as his inventory of chemicals became too to handle and catalog. Red molten glass pops out of the furnace like gelatinous ooze rising and tearing itself from the central molten glass to form itself without the intervention of glass craftsmen. The soft drink keeps popping out alive, determining its destination as a flask, test tube, or beaker. Latiya continues to develop chemicals, and people come to his shop.
