At the sound of voices, Deteca glanced up. The door connecting this lab to the alleyway outside was half-open to let in fresh air - as fresh as air could be in these particular Alleys, which she usually found to be either not very or too much in a way that felt unreal - and from just beyond it she caught a glimpse of a couple forms. They looked humanoid, which wasn't a guarantee in here, and sounded feminine.
They also sounded almost rushed, as though running from something. And...was that the Head of -
Storms, her experiment was melting. She'd been working on this one for the last, well, she didn't always bother keeping track of time when in the Alleys and working on something, which was most of the time these days. For a while, anyway, and damn if she was going to start this particular portion over again when it was days away from completion.
Deteca went back to her work.
*
Some time later - a day? two? ...a week (surely not a week)? she was on to the next project: devising Alleycant pens that could be charged by an Elantrian and then later used by someone else to draw Aons. She was sure it was a good idea; there had to be potential in ettmetal's ability to replicate Investiture beyond what Southern Scadrial had figured out. But trying to figure it out herself was admittedly taking a lot of time.
Deteca was alright with that, though. It might take a while, but she had nowhere else to be in the world.