Heide's closets

In Pichi's findings downstairs, the following things were discovered:

A room in which several tanks of glass and metal hold identical early middle-aged women suspended in some sort of thick, transluscent green liquid. and appear as https://imgur.com/a/zCRQmoh. They by all rights seem alive, though how they breathe is unknown. They're all naked, though there is a rack of johnny gowns near the tank. There's a small alchemical lab in here - not enough to produce large quantities of anything, but probably related tot he nearby facilities somehow. There are labels on the tanks, noting the following:

"Replications of Professor Olivia Jacklyn Heide. These clones are intended for research purposes. Please do not disturb."

Each also has a label indicating their creation time and designation. They're all sonething like "JKL-03" and "HYD-01". There's a research log as well. Pichi messes with it long enough to copy down some interesting looking parts after skimming, then puts it back precisely how it was left.

"My human cloning experiments have been approved by the college, on the basis that the subject I take tissue samples from is willing, and ethical considerations are taken towards the resultant clones. The latter bit they left intentionally vague, as they know I'm going to be using these bodies to test medication, potions, surgeries and more. They're probably just covering themselves in case complaints are filed. In any case, with a lack of willing subjects I have taken to begin attempting to grow clones of myself."

"Early batches have proven promising. The information I learned from studying Hunter Mimics has paid off, and it is not a difficult matter to accelerate the development of a replicant of my body with nothing more than a few key tissue samples and nutrients. Lots of nutrients. I've spoken with a few colleagues about the essential compounds for the human body, and so far things are going smoothly. I will note, however, that these clones, while alive, do not wake. They do not do anything but sleep and undergo natural bodily processes. To lack even a rudimentary animal intelligence and consciousness suggests that the bodies of sapient creatures are different to animals and many forms of monsters. Possibly the lack of a soul is involved, but I wouldn't know where to start with research like that. Hunter mimics, similarly, do not appear to take on anything besides the appearance of their victims if enough tissue is fed to them to induce a transformation, and they retain an animal instinct. Are memories linked to the soul as well?  Can't really look more into it under current circumstances."

"Research is halting somewhat. A number of potions I've tried have not successfully shown results compared to the control group, but these are known and tested healing formulas. What I thought was a basic experiment has turned up unusual difficulty. We know that alchemistry in the body works off of hyperstimulating natural chemical processes with ambient magic stored within the body, but if magic is linked to the soul, then alchemistry may not have an effect on these clones after all. Unfortunate. Still, conventional chemistry and medicine work, as does externally applied magic, such as that of a temple healer. I wonder if it's possible to seed a soul in these clones the same way one can seed the body from flesh... But that probably runs into the ethical concerns the college was worried about. On that note, what differentiates a clone body from a new life formed of sperm and ovum? I won't make debasing theories about the male vital essence, but the subject is something to consider. In any case, it seems I won't be able to research mutagens as planned. Perhaps there are other factors... I wonder if my lab students would be up for making their own clones? I'll bring up the question in class."

These entries are dated nearly two years ago. The entries up to recent days appear to be just routine tests and checks on Professor Heide's clones. There's also a ladder in the room, leading up to parts unknown. But guessing from the building layout, her office is likely above this room.

The second room was the source of the scaping and shuffling noises Pichi heard. Down here are... well, mimics. They're locked up in aquariums and in their natural forms resemble something between a crab and an ooze. They move around their pens and scrape at the glass walls, but can't seem to damage them. Clear warning labels are present: "Hunter and Object Mimics - DANGEROUS RESEARCH SPECIMENS DO NOT LOOSE. THEY ARE FED DAILY" There's also a frame on the wall showing a signed document that the Professor has been approved to keep these creatures for research purposes. Some of the hunter mimics resemble Professor Heide herself, possibly fed clone meat, but they still have a somewhat goopy texture to them and shuffle in their tanks in unnatural ways. They don't appear to be in pain at least. There's a number of containers marked "MIMIC FOOD", some labeled "TEST GROUP FODDER" and some black containers labeled "UNIVERSAL SOLVENT, DO NOT DROP"

The third room, the source of the humming noise, seems to be filled with round objects. Pichi describes them as 'kind of like hearts, if they were crystallized over'. On one wall is an internal anatomical diagram of a dragon, and another poster with a cross section of a heart-like organ labeled 'saryx', that on the larger diagram, is attached to the lungs. Pichi eventually finds a group of saryxes that aren't crystallized, nearby a tank similar to the ones the clones were floating in, but much smaller. Inside THESE tanks are saryxes half submerged in a liquid solution and growing crystalline tumors on the outside of their flesh. No handy research documents explain wtf she was doing in here.

In any case, it appears that hidden away down here was her personal research, but not her actual illegal lab.