Hundreds of noisy clacks and clicks flew through a brightly lit room, filled with firbolgs dressed in uniforms who were furiously typing down on old computers or typewriters. Unlike other sectors and spaces in the city, this laboratory followed a strict set of rules, half of it for the safety of the people there; while the other, was set in stone through traditions and long-forgotten guidelines.
Besides the mandated garb, the staff also had another thing in common: all of them had a piece of their body bonded with a metallic part, either as an extension of their flesh or a replacement. Most of them ended up that way after they started working there, many talking about it during their water breaks about how they were “inspired by sir Blitz; He is such a genius asshole, I hope I don’t have to talk with him, just the chance to work with him.”
Most of them worked, studied, and analyzed in a large, open room, with walls plated at one point with platinum tiles; now though, they are scratched, burned, or filled with weird substances that no one managed to clean down. Only a few were given special privileges, mostly in the form of a space of their own. Amongst them numbered Blitz, one of the Union members who helped Lian and Ogda escape the desert layer. His room was darker than the rest, with just a few lamps highlighting some papers on his work desk, and the tint blue coming from the cocoon they brought from the same layer emanating a large shining halo on walls.
-” Yap, yap, yap...” muttered the firbolg while reading some lines on an old, cathode monitor; Blitz’s focus was stitched on deciphering the cocoon as fast as possible. He was familiar with these kinds of entities from previous hunts and knew that he would have to work fast and meticulously to get as much information about it as possible. And there was also another issue that he had to resolve quickly; fortunately for him, help was already on the way. A sudden, small, drop in the surrounding temperature announced the arrival of his aid.
Blitz -” Welcome Feth…and his underlings?” asked the researcher, intrigued when he saw that his colleague brought other people with him.
Assistant -” Underlings? UNDERLINGS”, screeched a small, blush firbolg, with symmetrical coral-like protrusions expanding from her head. “I’ll let you know that I’m Mister Feth's assistant!”, she violently spurted out, waving her hands around and accidentally hitting the corner of a table.
Teen -” Oh no, oh no, oh no!”, cried out the third newcomer, a human teen who was on his knees, with a backpack on the ground, violently opening it to search for a med kit. “We can’t let a cut ruin the next photoshoot. Let me take care of it quickly.” Before he could rip a bandage, the wound was already closing, and the girl shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Assistant -“Nothing to worry about, I’m always taking care to keep myself healthy and perfect as possible. Like a polished jewel”, she thought while making sweet eyes at Feth, as she waited for him to praise her for how she healed herself.
Feth just gave a faint smile, ignoring them, and addressed the problem they were there for. “This subject is like the others?”, he asked, hovering his misty palms over the case. Blitz continued checking the results he was receiving from a computer behind him and silently nodded his head up and down.
Feth -” I see. If that’s the case it’s quite impressive that it survived that desert layer, seeing as the flood there happened more than a decade ago. Does it still contain…”
Blitz raised his head from the monitor with a frustrated mug, tapping the desk with his fingers in a wave-like rhythm to calm himself down. “I don’t have conclusive data but…agh!”, he let out an annoyed belch. “After what I experienced during the hunt, my intuition tells me that it probably is infected with the liquid from the flood.”
Feth's emerald eyes turn to the case, inspecting the cocoon even deeper with his gaze. His featureless face rarely portrayed any emotion, but for a few moments, the fog briefly formed a smile on the firbolg.
Feth -” Infected you say…Hmm, right. The usual method to freeze this substance works fine for a few days, but since I must repeat it, I considered trying a more…definitive method. Today I brought my lovely assistant to help me test out something I thought about.” Feth then approached the coral firbolg and surrounded her with his mist- “Little red pearl, trust me when I say that your ability is extraordinary. Have the same faith in it that I have in you, ok? Remember, your success here guarantees you an immortal name for centuries…Everyone will know who you are- now and forevermore- “
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