Working at laboratories is a handwaved process, but as stated in the FAQ earlier, they won't be given full access to any labs even if they are "working" at first. They will be given use of the labs under NPC supervision, and this goes for working at the labs as well. Characters won't be trusted with anything vital or important until much later.
Full research assignments will be reserved for much later, once the characters have earned the NPCs' trust. However, in working at the labs, characters might find tasks such as these available to them under NPC supervision: organizing low-priority soil or flora samples, labeling slides, prepping basic materials for scientists, laboratory equipment inventory, sorting sample materials into categories (flora, fauna, soil, bacterial, etc.), basic lab clean-up and set-up, taking notes for scientists and transcribing low-priority notes.
There are several highly classified experiments currently being run at the labs, so it would take the same amount of time it would take in the real world to gain someone's trust. As stated in the FAQ earlier, it would take a minimum of a few months to move out of the student labs into a gofer/student assistant or researcher role. This limit doesn't require mod-approval, but the more advanced labs, experiments, and research areas will not be available to characters for some time yet.
Re: Gardens/Zoo
The code is not anymore similar to the code from Pneuma's world except that they're all hydrogen based lifeforms.
While the researchers likely wouldn't be able to utilize the code from Pneuma's world, they would be interested in obtaining and studying it for curiosity's sake if offered.
Re: Barrier
There are no points within the city that act as generators for the barrier. If asked why, the natives say the barrier is a gift from the gods and will not go into further detail.
If someone touches the barrier, it feels solid like a wall except in the weakened areas where the energy buzzes like static electricity and feels porous and warm. It doesn't emit energy in the way a normal force field barrier does, however.
She would not be able to analyze the energy except to understand that the source is divine. Remember that going to the barrier requires scaling the 30 foot wall around the city and usually results in arrest and jail-time, so be careful when going to study it! However, if one were to analyze the barrier and then somehow get hold of a replicator crystal by destroying a replicator, the lifeless crystal holds trace elements of the same sort of power as the barrier - both being divine in origin.
It is not possible to gather samples from what leaks through at the weakening points because it dissipates too quickly to be gathered.
Re: Archives
NPCs do not respond to questioning about the gods struck from the records, but they will say that they only adhere to the four gods present within Havenwell and not "the lost ones." Unfortunately, the natives do not know anymore about them that the characters do at this point - or at least, they're not willing to talk about it right now.
no subject
Re: Labs
Re: Gardens/Zoo
Re: Barrier
Re: Archives