I was very reluctant to step any closer to this large building than I absolutely had to. Owned by the Shinra family, and the place where the most grotesque of the rumored Shinra experiments was rumored to have taken place, it wasn't exactly a friendly looking place. I was nervous, and the way I saw it, I had every right to be. The Shinra family had offered to pay my way through school, though only if I came to work for them as a scientist. At first, I had been nothing but eager. After all, I loved science, and becoming a scientist had always been my dream.
But standing here, faced with this strange new place, I was scared.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to be scared. I took a deep breath, stealing myself and I slowly stepped forward. Automatic doors slid open with a whoosh, and without second thought, I walked into the building. Inside, it looked comfortable, to say the least. There were large couches, a quiet looking receptionist sitting behind an old looking wooden desk, and a few doors that led off to other parts of the lab, I imagined. It was very much at odds with the uniform that I wore, from the large, white overcoat that I wore over the fanciest of my clothes (which were still not very impressive when compared to the receptionist's clothing), to the plain white name tag that was pinned to my pocket. The nametag was emblazoned with my name, Luyu Karth Merrell, and also had a picture of me on it, just in case anyone doubted my identity.
At 18, I was probably one of the younger scientists here. However, I wasn't exactly a real scientist. Not yet. I would be starting my internship here today, under the care of one of the other scientists that worked here for the Shinras. Eventually, I would become a fully fledged scientist and perhaps receive enough money to get the rest of my family out of the slums. Until then, however, even the salary that I would get as an intern was more than I had seen in my life.
It was only then that a soft voice interrupted my thoughts. A young woman had walked into the room from one of the doors just in front of me, with her brown hair pulled into a rather pretty pony tail. Silently, I was rather jealous of her. My own blonde hair was ratty and stringy, nothing like the luxurious locks of this woman. "Luyu Merrell?" I gave a little start at my name, and nodded my head slightly, "My name is Dr. Lucrecia Crescent," The woman introduced herself with a gentle smile, "And I'll be your mentor for the time being." I nodded my head again, trying my best to look like I wasn't freaking out.
She seemed pleased by my reaction and smiled once more in my direction before continuing. "First things first, I think that a tour of the lab is in order, don't you? That way you can learn more about the experiments –which are top secret, so don't tell a soul," Dr. Crescent winked in my direction, "And you can also learn about the responsibilities that you will have as my intern."
Maybe she could tell how nervous I was, and maybe not, but either way, this Dr. Crescent didn't seem half bad. She seemed pretty nice, in fact, so as she turned and began to walk away, I followed after her without second thought. I watched as she waved her ID card before a little scanner, and the door unlocked with a blink of green light. "The only ID cards that will work on these doors are those of fully fledged scientists, so I'm afraid that we'll only be able to use mine for the time being. Of course, before you know it, it'll be you that's waving that nametag around and leading your intern around on her first day." A friendly energy seemed to run through her voice, though there was an almost . . . brittle edge lurking beneath her words. Like Dr. Crescent had secrets that wanted to break through to the surface and spill out. Then again, I was probably reading far too much into this.
"Where will we be going first?" I swallowed, forcing myself to speak and let some of the burning curiosity out. I wanted to learn everything about this place, and I wanted to do so swiftly. If I was to be working here for the rest of my life, I didn't see the point in secrets. And honestly, I had always been drawn to science. So maybe this would be fun. Maybe I would get to perform experiments and make humans better… Or something. Actually, that was a kind of scary thought. I didn't want to mess with humans yet! Maybe just some animals. Except animals were worse.
In my nervousness, the thoughts were spinning through my head at a million miles an hour. I was lucky that I had managed to say anything coherently.
It took Dr. Crescent a moment to answer, as if she were mulling her answer over. "I think we will take a tour of the experimental areas." She said with a note of finality to her voice, and then she began to walk. Her strides were surprisingly fast for someone tottering around in heels like she was, and I found myself hurrying to keep up with her speedy walk.
Dr. Crescent made her way through the maze of hallways with ease. She always seemed to know where we were headed, and where to wave her ID card. For me, it was all that I could do to just follow Dr. Crescent. It was easy to get distracted in here. Scientists bustled this way and that, some of them looking as lost as I felt. In the distance, I could hear roars and cries, and those made me scurry forward to walk behind Dr. Crescent. Still, despite the anxiety, I couldn't stop myself from looking around, trying in vain to take it all in.
I almost ran into Dr. Crescent when she stopped. "Sorry, Dr. Crescent!" I yelped out an apology, glancing nervously at the scientist, hoping desperately that she wouldn't be angry. When the woman didn't look too irritated, I relaxed slightly, steeling myself for punishment all the same. I wouldn't have been too happy if someone had smacked right into me, so I doubted Dr. Crescent would be either.
Still, the woman surprised me by only smiling, "It's quite all right, Luyu. Now," She moved on swiftly, gesturing to draw my attention towards what we stood before – a room. There was a large glass window, offering whatever occupant that made this room home little privacy. It didn't take me long to spot who (or what) lived inside. A young man, perhaps barely older than my age, dozed lightly on a bed that h is legs dangled off of. He had coppery-brown hair, though by now it was ratty and nasty looking, and a muscular body that wasn't covered at all. I tried to keep my mind scientific as I observed him, ignoring the fact that I was half-drooling at the sight of him. His skin was marked heavily by scars, I noted, though his face had little to no markings, as if he had protected that above all else.
When Dr. Crescent began talking again, I shook my head slightly to clear it of the fog in an attempt to listen eagerly to her words. "Since you're only an intern, I think that this experiment will be your main priority." She said absently, tapping her chin slightly as she thought, "His tests through the next month or so are already scheduled, so you don't have to worry about that yet. You'll mostly be in charge of processing results. Be warned, that's not particularly glamorous." Dr. Crescent chuckled softly, "But it pays off, in the end. Especially if you learn new things about your subject." The doctor nodded her head absently, tossing another friendly smile in my direction.
But I was already distracted again. The boy's eyes were open now, watching me unwaveringly, and I found my gaze drawn towards his. His eyes were hazel, I noted clinically, some part of my mind remaining scientific beneath the haunted quality of his eyes. He looked like a wild animal, caged and panicked. The image seared itself in my mind, and even as I glanced away, his eyes flashed in my mind.
Dr. Crescent seemed to be unaware of my plight as she began to walk away, still talking. "This experiment was a predecessor of the rather infamous Sohan experiment – the first shapeshifting experiment." Doctor Crescent added swiftly, perhaps realizing that while the name was familiar, I had no clue what that experiment entailed. "He was the subject of one of the first chimera experiments. The Chimeras were attempts to create hybrids of animals and humans. For example, that test subject can shapeshift and take the form of a humanoid leopard, with all of the natural weapons of a true leopard. We had hopes that the Chimera experiments would create the perfect assassin, but that didn't quite work out. This particular specimen has been with us since he was, ah, fifteen or so. That would make him . . . nineteen now, I believe." The doctor nodded absently, glancing over her shoulder at me. "But you don't have to remember all of that just yet, Luyu. All of this information is in his permanent record. I only know it because I just looked over it prior to bringing you here." She seemed to be able to tell how uncomfortable how I was. Then again, I wasn't exactly being subtle about it.
I scurried after Dr. Crescent, since she certainly wasn't waiting for me, doing my best to drive thoughts of that boy from my mind. There was no reason that he should affect me in the least, not if I was going to be a scientist. But my family had always called me soft, and I was seeing more truth in their words than I ever had before as I followed behind Dr. Crescent. "So… I'll mostly be processing results from his tests, right? Will I get any help the first few times?" I was reluctant to mess anything up. This was a chance that I could not afford to lose, after all.
The woman took a moment to answer me, "I can help you as much as you need. After all, that's what I'm here for you. I'm mentoring you." The doctor nodded, grinning at me. She seemed to smile a lot, which was a good thing, I decided. She seemed happy, at least on the surface, and that I approved of. Happy people were the best people to spend time with, since they were the least likely to flip out on you, no matter what you did wrong. And I tended to make a lot of mistakes, to say the least.
I was certainly nervous about this, worried that it would end with me back in the slums with my family with no paycheck on the way, but I tended to worry about a lot of things. Still, knowing that Dr. Crescent would be available if I needed help made things just a little bit less worrying, "Thanks, Dr. Crescent." I said with a genuine smile, feeling a little bit more relaxed in the older woman's company for the first time so far. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad.
With that, however, we wandered off. Dr. Crescent made her way along, still so sure of where she was going. It was all that I could do to keep up. I wasn't sure that I'd ever figure out how to get from place to place in this large, sprawling facility. It must have taken Dr. Crescent a lot of time to figure out how to get from place to place. My esteem for her ratcheted up a few notches as I padded along behind her. "Where are we going now?" I questioned, glancing at her curiously.
"To the Dining Hall," Dr. Crescent answered in a friendly tone, "I'm hungry, and I figured you would be too. Of course, if you aren't, you don't have to eat." The doctor didn't seem to realize that I was ravenous, in fact. The truth was, I hadn't eaten since dinner the previous night. Still, I didn't want to mention that, per say. She didn't seem like she'd have known what it was like to be as poor as my family was. This woman in her cute little kitten heels surely didn't hail from the slums as I did. So I would really prefer not to mention that – if Mr. Shinra hadn't told her about my background, I didn't want her to know about it. It wasn't that I was ashamed of being poor. I just didn't want her to judge me.
When the smell of food reached my nose, I could feel my nostrils flaring and my stomach rumbling. The food, whatever it was, smelled delicious. "Are we almost there?" I asked curiously, glancing towards Dr. Crescent. It sure smelled like we were, and I wasn't sure I could last much longer. The delicious scents were making me even hungrier than before. Even as I thought that, my stomach rumbled loudly, and I blushed slightly, hoping that Dr. Crescent wouldn't have noticed.
She didn't seem to notice the loud grumble, but she didn't answer me either. Instead, Dr. Crescent waved her ID card in front of the nearest door and then walked straight through it. "Here we are, Luyu!" She pronounced loudly, a happy smile on her face.
I glanced around, and felt my jaw drop. This place was pretty nice, to say the least. The smell of food was wafting from near where most of the people were grouped, and there were booths that would sit six people with ease around the edges of the around. In the middle, there was a large salad bar, and the rest of the food was arranged around the salad bar in a buffet style. I licked my lips and glanced at Dr. Crescent, but she had already set off in search of food.
With a squeak, I chased after her, grabbing a plate and piling it high with food. That ought to be enough to last me through the day, I figured, and though Dr. Crescent shook her head slightly at the amount of food that I had heaped upon my plate, she didn't comment, so I figured it was okay. Salad took up most of my plate, and I was proud of myself for being so healthy. I had also grabbed some sort of desert tart or something and balanced it precariously on the edge, along with the rest of the food. And it all looked delicious. Already, this job was shaping up to be quite awesome.
Dr. Crescent led the way to a secluded booth and sat down, patting the seat next to her for me to sit down. "C'mon, Luyu." She said with a smile. Reluctantly, I sat down beside her, picking cautiously at my food. Of course, Dr. Crescent didn't have any such reservations; she tore straight into her food. After a moment, I followed the lead of both her and my stomach, inhaling the plate that I had heaped with food.
I had a large mouthful of salad in my mouth, and I was crunching contentedly, when a man popped up, seemingly out of nowhere. He was crisp and pristinely dressed, in a nice suit, with shaggy black hair and demonic looking crimson eyes. I yelped and slouched down, trying to present a smaller target.
However, the man barely even looked at me. "Lucrecia." He said softly, his voice cool. I tried to listen more carefully when he spoke again, to see if I could pick up on any emotions. I found them in his next words, though it was hard to tell. This man was cold, but he couldn't hide his emotions perfectly. "I missed you this morning," He sounded like a man in love. But he also sounded like a man who was afraid to admit that he was in love. I grinned to myself and straightened back up in my seat, feeling slightly more comfortable in his presence now that I knew why he was there.
Dr. Crescent's smile when she saw him was even more genuine than the smiles that I had gotten all day. "Vincent…" Her voice was soft as she looked up at him, her chocolatey brown eyes focusing on his freaky crimson ones. "Sorry, I thought I told you that I'd have to be here early. I have a new intern, you know. Vince, this is Luyu, my intern. Luyu, this is Vincent Valentine, my . . . well, that's Vincent." She didn't seem to be sure what to call him, I noted as Vincent sat down across from Lucrecia. He didn't have any food, but he seemed content to just sit there in her presence.
The conversation faded into silence within moments. Vincent wasn't very talkative, and Lucrecia was engaged in eating and basking in his company. And I was too awkward to carry a conversation by myself. So I finished eating in silence, eating as quickly as I could. This was awkward. I felt as if I were intruding on a private moment. So as soon as I was done eating, I was on my feet and scooting off to get rid of my plate. The atmosphere at the table had been almost suffocatingly sappy. They weren't obvious about it, but they were both happy together. Yech.
It was only as I was putting my plate with the rest of the dirty dishes that someone tapped my shoulder gently. I jumped, and the dish fell to the ground with a clatter. I could feel my face turning crimson as I stooped to pick it up, trying to hide the blush with my hair.
However, a guy was bending over to pick the plate up before I managed to grab it. "Sorry 'bout that," He said as he glanced at me, warm hazel eyes friendly. "Didn't mean to scare ya that badly." The guy had a slight accent, but I wasn't sure where it was from. Still, it was pleasant enough, and he seemed like a friendly guy.
"It's – it's all right." I forced myself to talk, feeling my heart racing in my chest. Anxiety and embarrassment threatened to overwhelm me as I blushed even more fiercely, glancing at the ground as the guy put the plate down on the counter and glanced at me again.
"The name's Bryan." He said with a smile, "Bryan Joey Davidson. But you can call me BJ. Or just Bryan." The guy shrugged slightly, "And I was the newest intern until you showed up. I actually only got here about a month ago." Bryan, huh? That was a nice name, I decided. And he seemed like a nice guy, for all that he had scared me only moments ago. "What's your name?"
He was finally letting me get a word in edgewise, it seemed. "My name's Luyu Karth Merrell." I mumbled softly, glancing down again.
"Hmm. Mind if I call you Lu?" He asked, smiling at me.
There wasn't much that I could say other than, "Um, no?" Only my family called me Lu, but I didn't want to be rude. So Lu would have to do. It did make this place seem slightly more comfortable, though. The familiar nickname made me relax slightly as the guy turned and started to walk away. I remained where I was, frozen and confused looking.
It didn't take him long to glance over his shoulder curiously, "You coming, Lu?" Bryan asked stopping and waiting. I was pretty sure that he was waiting for me, so with a sigh, I turned and walked silently after him, following in Bryan's footsteps as I did my best to avoid stepping on the cracks on the ground beneath my feet. It was my best attempt to deal with the nervousness that twanged in my body as Bryan led the way towards the back of the Dining Hall.
It took me a while to figure out where we were going – towards a table in the back with a bunch of interns seating. They looked happy, conversing contentedly with each other. There were no adult scientists in sight. Nervously, I glanced back over my shoulder, but Lucrecia hadn't moved. Vincent had relocated to sit next to her, and they were deeply engaged in conversation, so I shrugged and scooted just a little bit closer to Bryan as he led the way to the table.
"Hey everyone, I found the new intern!" Bryan shouted at the table. The din at the table fell into silence almost immediately and in unison, the interns turned to look at me. I endured the stares for about a second before fleeing behind Bryan, cowering behind the significantly larger guy, taking full advantage of his bulk. I could feel his frame shaking with laughter as he started walking towards the table, "She's just a little bit shy." Bryan said, glancing over his shoulder at me. I remained frozen where he'd left me for about a second before hurrying over to the table and sliding into the seat next to Bryan, eyes wide with fear.
This place was scary!
"Everyone, this is Luyu." Bryan said with a smile. "Lu, this is my girlfriend Adriana. Adriana, this is Luyu." He gestured to the bulky, rather intimidating looking girl next to him, who tossed a friendly smile in my direction. She was pretty, with lovely brown hair and brilliant green eyes. I could see why Bryan liked her.
"Hello, Luyu." Adriana said in a musical voice, continuing to smile at me. I relaxed very slightly when she didn't smack me for talking to her boyfriend or anything and turned my attention towards the rest of table. They were all still looking at me, and I could feel my face warming uncomfortably as they stared at me.
"Hey, I'm Frino!" An almost feminine looking blonde boy with emerald eyes grinned at me. "Nice to meet you!"
There was a possessive hiss from the girl next to him, who placed her hand on Frino's. "And I'm Catori. But you can call me Tor," She was blonde as well, but her eyes were a sapphire blue. Both of their eyes looked like gems, I decided with a smile. The girl – Tor – shot me a nasty look, but others were already talking again.
The introductions started to blur together after that. Fuh-in, Mila and Mira (who were twins). I doubted I'd ever learn all of their names, and I desperately hoped that I wouldn't offend anyone if I forgot their names.
"Don't worry," One of the two blonde twins interrupted my thoughts, "No one's going to expect you to remember all of our names at once. Especially not me." She grinned, glancing in her twin's direction to make what she meant clear, "I'm Mila. A good way to remember the differences between my twin and I would be that she'll bite your head off as soon as talk to you. Especially if you bring up the experiment she's in charge of. Siegfried. He's a shapeshifter."
I blinked at the information overload, sorting through what she'd said and settling on one question. "Wait… Is Siegfried his name? Or is it the name of his experiment? How did she know it was his name?" I was confused. I didn't even know that there had been a shapeshifter experiment. Was it the Chimera experiment? I remembered that my experiment wasn't capable of fully shifting, but the Meogam experiment had been the one that was supposed to create a shapeshifter. And it had failed.
Mila's light voice interrupted my thoughts, "Oh, she asked him. It's a good idea to do that, by the way. Try to build a relationship of trust between you and your experiment. You'll be in charge of him for the rest of your career if all goes well. Of course, if things don't go well, you won't be in charge of your experiment for too long. They try and find someone that you'll click with." She nodded, a friendly smile on her face as she leaned back in her chair.
I watched Mila worriedly, hoping that she wouldn't fall as I hesitantly began to speak. "Well. My experiment is a Chimera." I blinked, "He's kinda scary." His eyes flashed in my mind again. They were nearly impossible to forget, and they had a haunted, animal-like quality to them.
Mila laughed at me then, but it wasn't a mean laugh. It was friendly, a nice one. "You think everything's scary, huh?" She asked me, but again, her words weren't cruel. I relaxed slightly at the kind tone to her voice. Maybe she wasn't trying to make fun of me. With that in mind, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and play along.
"Not everything, just a lot of stuff." I countered with a slight, cautious smile on my face. I was still nervous, surrounded by strangers as I was, but at least most of them seemed friendly. That one chick, the blonde one with sapphire eyes, didn't seem too impressed by the fact that the one guy had been one of the first people to introduce himself to me, but other than that, they had been nothing but welcoming.
I was pleased by the reaction that I got. Mila laughed again, a friendly laugh that echoed in the air. I blushed a little at the amusement that she showed and looked down at my lap as Bryan glanced from his conversation with Adriana to look at us. "Y'all okay?" He questioned with a friendly smile, and when I nodded, still blushing, he seemed to accept that and backed off.
It would have been perfect if I hadn't heard a familiar voice in that moment, "Luyu, I'd like to get going. I want you to get to read over some of the files on the Chimera Experiment that you'll be in charge of." It was Dr. Crescent, and when I looked at her, I noticed that she still had Vincent Valentine in tow. Oh boy, more awkwardness. I thought to myself, and immediately felt bad. I wasn't going to begrudge her her happiness, and my thoughts had certainly been needlessly cruel. It was good that Dr. Crescent was no mindreader.
With an exhalation, I got to my feet, "Bye guys!" I waved happily, speaking particularly to Bryan, Adriana and Mila. They had been the nicest to me, and while none of the others had been rude, they hadn't really paid much attention to me once I'd settled down.
"I see you met the other interns," Dr. Crescent said. Her voice was cryptic, and I couldn't tell if she was pleased or upset by that, even when I glanced at her curiously. "I hope that you make friends with them, as they will eventually be your coworkers and partners." The doctor's voice was approving, I decided. Or at the very least, it wasn't disapproving, and that would have to do.
"Y-yeah, I met them. They were pretty nice, I guess. Some of them were scary." I blinked nervously, gaze flicking towards the ground. I hoped that Dr. Crescent wouldn't judge me too harshly for being so skittish. Of course, she probably already knew how easily scared I was. She had seen me when I'd first arrived, after all. So maybe she already knew or guessed just how nervous I was.
The doctor smiled at me, "Yeah, they certainly can be scary, can't they?" Her voice was as kindly as ever.
After that, the conversation lapsed into silence as Dr. Crescent led the way along through the hallways. Vincent seemed just as comfortable there as she was. I was the odd one out, the one that stuck out like a sore thumb as I tried to keep track of where we were and where we were going. But the hallways all looked exactly the same, so it was all that I could do to not lose track of Dr. Crescent and her companion.
Eventually, we reached that room again in one piece. Dr. Crescent hesitated in front of that giant glass window for a moment, looking into it quietly. I followed her actions, glancing into the room as well. I found my gaze drawn once more to the form of the Chimera experiment, who was pacing the length of his room now. He looked large in that small room, and rather uncomfortable. My heart went out to him, and I found myself stepping forward cautiously, nervously.
His gaze flashed upwards the moment that I moved, and his teeth flashed in a snarl as he launched himself forward. I flinched back, fleeing behind Vincent as the experiment hit the glass with a muted thud. "What . . . what was that?" I forced myself to squeak nervously, cautiously peering out from behind Vincent's back to look at Lucrecia, my eyes wide with fear.
The doctor shook herself, glancing at me when I spoke. "Nothing," She muttered, shaking her head absently. "His tranquilizers must have worn off. I'll send someone to administer more in a few minutes." She glanced at me after a moment, seeming to remember that I was the one that was supposed to be in charge of him. "Actually… What do you propose that we do, Luyu?" She asked me, and seemed genuinely interested in hearing what I had to say.
That was certainly a first. So I considered my answer carefully. "Well, why does he take tranquilizers? Why does he need them?" Was it because of his unstable personality? I had heard that Chimeras were very unstable. But I had also heard a lot of other things about them, so I wasn't sure how much of what I had heard about them in school was true. I would stick to believing what Dr. Crescent had to say.
She took a moment to answer me, "You see why, don't you? He becomes rather violent when his tranquilizers wear off. We haven't figured out any way to calm him down other than tranquilizers." She shook her head slightly, underscoring her words.
"Can I go in there?" The words were spilling out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. "The first time that he makes a move on me, I'll get out of there, I promise." I nodded fervently, gazing pleadingly at Dr. Crescent. I wasn't sure why I thought that going in there would help at all, but I did think it would help. Maybe I could figure out just a little of what made this experiment tick. And if not, well, I would have to try again later. Since I was going to be in charge of him for the rest of my foreseeable future and all that jazz.
Dr. Crescent exhaled, glancing at Vincent. When the man nodded, she shrugged. "Very well." She clearly thought it was a bad idea, but I didn't care. I was exhilarated as she let me into that tiny room.
The experiment snarled at me when I stepped across the threshold, and I felt my heart racing in my chest. But I forced myself not to turn tail and flee. If he was a predator, that would make him want to chase me. Standing still would be safer. "Hello, I'm Luyu. What's your name?" Please let him answer me, I thought fervently, please let us at least get off to a good start. I wanted him to like me for some reason. I wanted us to like each other.
The experiment stopped at my words, gazing at me silently. He was measuring me against some standards, I was sure, and I couldn't help but feel as if I wasn't what he was looking for, what he was expecting. But that didn't bother me too much yet. Since he hadn't attacked me, things were going fairly well. I knew that Dr. Crescent at least was worried about me, but that didn't bother me either, and I knew that Vincent Valentine honestly couldn't have cared less.
After a long moment, the experiment's soft voice answered me, in a tone rough with disuse. "I'm Kobe."