[This how-to guide for the interested amateur lays out what every alchemist's lab needs, and how to put it all together. This copy has lain idle long enough that the screen has frozen on the highlights page.]

Step 1.
Learn alchemy! People, I cannot stress this enough. If you cannot transmutate a simple chunk of carbinium ore into enough gold to afford the following steps, there is little I can do to help you.

Step 2.
Buy flame-retardant clothes. Also, acid-, gas-, ether-, plasma-, poison-, anti-matter-, red-matter-, dark-matter-, ectoplasm-, and mutagen-retardant clothing.

Step 3.
Buy the best Philosopher's Stone datachron program you can. Taking advice from a bargain basement Philosopher's Stone is a rookie mistake and can lead to sub-optimal results. You may want to invest in humor and card-playing modules as well. It'll help pass the long lonely hours you'll be spending in your lab.

Step 4.
Glassware: test tubes, flasks, retorts, valves, coils and beakers are the heart of the alchemical workspace. Most alchemical supply houses sell sets of glassware that fit the needs of beginner and master alike. I personally would advise not getting the "Super-Deluxe Lazarin Package." Look where it got him... and us.

Step 5.
Determine the type of mad science you intend to pierce the veil of. Specialization provides focus and reduces waste of precious raw materials. For example, you don't need a costly transmutation forge if all you intend to do is raise the dead...

[The rest of the text is corrupted, perhaps by the oily substance that appears to have seeped into the tablet.]