Prelude: The New Curator

Assistant Curator: Good morning, everyone! On behalf of the Laplace Museum, I’d like to welcome you to the "Snowy Mountain Ecology" exhibition!
Assistant Curator: Make sure to head over to the main entrance hall in ten minutes for our opening ceremony.
Assistant Curator: As part of the ceremony, our new museum director, Mr. Ezra, will have a speech.
The crowd shuffled toward the entrance of the exhibition hall.
X: Funny running into you here.
Quite the unexpected meeting.
Medicine Pocket: Oh, you're... that guy with the initial for a name—what was it again?
Mesmer Jr.: This is X. You ought to get to know your colleagues, Medicine Pocket.
Medicine Pocket: It's not my job to socialize; X is an unknown, something to be unraveled, not remembered—
X: ......
X: Let's just focus on the exhibition. It's our new colleague's first project.
X: He climbed a mountain solo, gathered all the exhibit items, and provided his own annotations, all without help from the Laplace Field Team.
X: That's no easy feat... He must have put in serious effort.
Mesmer Jr.: I recommended he bring more people.
Mesmer Jr.: But... still he went alone.
Mesmer Jr.: Aside from our tools and equipment, he had no other resources.
X: So, Ezra reached out to you—I suppose you wouldn't have shown up at such an "arcanist" gathering otherwise.
Medicine Pocket: Well, well, seems our little mushroom got some help; he wasn't "alone" after all.
Medicine Pocket: What did he ask you for?
X: He needed a weapon, something subtle, flexible, and with a bit of humor.
X: And I happened to have such a weapon.
Medicine Pocket: Get to the point.
X: I gave him a "gun" ... of sorts.
Medicine Pocket: Ha! I suppose it's some kind of wacky gun with a twisted barrel!
The conversation was cut off by a sudden commotion, and the young researchers turned to the podium.
Assistant Curator: Did you say... Director Ezra, he ...
The assistant who announced the director's speech grew pale and whispered into the intercom.
Then, maintaining composure, she turned to the audience.
Assistant Curator: I apologize for the inconvenience; Director Ezra's speech has unfortunately been postponed until three hours from now.
Assistant Curator: However, the exhibition opening will continue as planned. Feel free to explore.
This was supposed to be his moment.
Mesmer Jr.: He is late?
Mesmer Jr. frowned as the assistant rushed off backstage.
X: This isn't good. First impressions matter in social interactions. And from what I know of Ezra, he cares about these things.
Medicine Pocket: Well, I think it could all turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Medicine Pocket: Who remembers a speech delivered on time? A late director will be much more memorable than a punctual one.
X: He doesn't need any gimmicks.
X: His exhibits are all excellent, enough to make everyone remember the new director of the Laplace Museum. Look over there!
X pointed to the other end of the display case, where two staff members in gray-white uniforms stood in front of the glass showcase.
One of them was pressed against the glass, nose almost touching it.
Laplace Staff I: I've never seen a Rutile nugget this big.
Laplace Staff I: Mr. Ryan usually exhibits specimens from the botanical garden—but this... this is the real deal!
Laplace Staff II: This new director seems to have some fresh ideas. Have you met him?
Laplace Staff I: No, nearly as soon as he came from the Australia branch, he set off to the snowy mountains. Not many people have seen him.
Laplace Staff I: But everyone's curious why he chose this theme. His previous research was on endemic fungi in Australia, this seems completely unrelated ...
Laplace Staff II: Well, now he's starting to impress me.
Laplace Staff II: An amateur researcher in search of minerals, on a solo mission to a snow-capped mountain—sounds like the beginning of a pulp adventure.
Shifting their gaze, the young researcher nodded in satisfaction.
X: See? Everyone's enthralled by him!
Mesmer Jr.: ......
X: What's wrong, Mesmer?
Mesmer Jr.: Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking—he really did it.
Mesmer Jr.: I never thought he would succeed.