(POV - Laura Cavendish)
Since the experiments conducted last week at the facility, things had been a bit hectic for Laura, one of the researchers responsible for the new anomaly discovered in the forest a few weeks ago. For some reason, Director Graham had shown interest in the small anomaly, which made Laura uncomfortable.
Since meeting the director in the past, Laura had always been wary of him. To her, it didn’t matter how you looked at it: the man seemed completely suspicious. Besides, Laura didn’t exactly know why, but every time she spoke with him, she felt like he never said what he truly thought. However, she dismissed that idea as something from her imagination.
Furthermore, the small anomaly had also been assigned a risk classification. However, Laura couldn’t bring herself to feel satisfied with that news, as it was classified as Obscurium. While this wasn’t necessarily a bad category, Laura just couldn’t accept this decision.
She still considered this classification to be an overreaction for the small anomaly, which had never harmed any humans since it was discovered. On the contrary, it seemed to protect them whenever something happened. Of course, Laura imagined these could just be coincidences, but the fact that the anomaly had never hurt anyone was still significant.
So, when she was called by her boss, Emily, Laura decided to protest, expressing all her frustration on behalf of the small anomaly since it couldn’t defend itself. With a determined look, Laura walked to the door, took a deep breath to gather her courage, and entered the room with a clear objective in mind.
"Boss! I... what happened to you?"
When Laura asked the question with a surprised expression, Emily, who was focused on the papers on her desk, briefly looked up at her before returning her attention to the documents. In that moment, Laura could see the exhaustion and emptiness in Emily''s eyes.
Instead of a person, Emily seemed more like a zombie — and Laura knew exactly what she was talking about since an anomaly resembling a zombie virus really did exist and had once infected an entire village. Of course, as with most anomalies, it was now properly cataloged and contained.
"Oh, Laura, you finally made it! I called you fifteen minutes ago. Why did it take you so long to get from your office to mine? We''re literally in the same hallway"
Laura didn’t know how to respond to Emily’s question. In fact, she wondered if Emily was really okay. As mentioned, she looked like a zombie, but as strange as it was, Laura didn’t have the impression that Emily wanted to devour her or anything like that. Realizing she was straying from the subject, Laura shook her head to refocus.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Umm... Sorry for the delay, boss. Do you need something from me?"
Emily nodded, then took an envelope from the drawer of her desk, tossing it onto the surface in front of Laura. With a confused expression, Laura glanced quickly at Emily before picking up the envelope and opening it, revealing its contents. As she started reading, her expression shifted, growing more and more sour with each word.
"Boss... is what’s written here true? Are we transferring the small anomaly to Base 17?!!!"
Emily quickly covered her ears upon hearing Laura’s outburst. Though she had already anticipated that Laura would react this way, she had to admit the response was much more hysterical than she expected.
"Boss, we can''t do this. You know that place is dangerous. We built it specifically to contain a single anomaly. What if we never see the small anomaly again after sending it there?"
Emily couldn’t counter Laura’s words; she knew better than anyone what kind of place Base 17 was. Even sharing the same opinion, she knew there wasn’t much she could do about it. The orders came from above, and despite her considerable influence within the organization, she didn’t have enough power to challenge the higher-ups.
"Sorry, Laura. This is a direct order from above, and unfortunately, I don’t have the authority to contest it. It’ll have to go to Base 17"
Emily’s words made Laura finally resign herself. She knew complaining wouldn’t help in this situation; deep down, she was just throwing a tantrum. Still, Laura didn’t give up: puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms, she looked visibly displeased with the news. Seeing her expression, Emily raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Humpf! Just making my dissatisfaction clear!"
Emily watched her for a few seconds before lightly shaking her head. That scene was almost routine between them — whenever Laura considered something unjust, she’d make exactly that face. However, Emily knew she couldn’t help her this time, as it was a superior’s order. Sighing, she spoke calmly.
"Listen before you start complaining. It''s true that we''ll have to send it to Base 17, but I made sure that we’ll both go too, as its supervisors. Anyway, they had no reason to refuse, since we''ve been overseeing it from the beginning"
Emily noticed Laura’s expression soften quickly at the news, but that only made the situation even stranger. Normally, Laura would be the first to want to avoid Base 17. In fact, it was rare for a scientist to go to that place willingly, and most who did didn’t come back. There were instructions on how to behave at Base 17, of course, but they weren’t always effective.
"Hm? Boss, why did you press the button to call security? And... isn’t that the button for mental contamination cases?"
Noticing Laura’s puzzled look, Emily just smiled, while Laura, confused, tilted her head to the side. At that moment, the door opened, and two security guards entered, each grabbing one of Laura’s arms.
"Hey! Why are you holding me? I didn’t do anything!"
As she watched the guards take Laura away, Emily returned her gaze to the papers on the desk. However, a shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the mental contamination tests conducted by the organization.
"... Well, Laura will probably be fine... I hope"