Bido walked the silent night, returning home after a long days work. Sure banking wasn't all that exciting, (hopefully at least, He didn't ever want to encounter a robber) but it paid the bills for his small apartment.
The man stopped his slow walk to look at the building across the street. "Huh, I never noticed how close I lived to a military establishment," he observed to himself. The earlier rain that morning had made his usual path home overly muddy, so he decided to take a detour. It wouldn't hurt to see more of his neighborhood anyways.
As he stood staring at the curious building, two workers walked out, lighting their cigarettes as soon as they were our of the establishment's boundaries.
When they began talking about work cautiously, looking out for passing by civilians, Bido quickly hid in the alleyway unseen. He didn't want to be thought to planning something or some other tragic misunderstanding. (he had been gawking at the place pretty strangely)
His luck, they would accuse him of tyranny or something. Bido knew he was being paranoid, but he maintained 'Better safe than sorry' was a good motto to live by.
"Hey Jess, What do you think of our next project? asked the man, a relatively tall man with perfectly cropped hair and a long white lab coat. His partner, a lady with light brown curls and thick yet attractive glasses, gave him a glare.
"Hey, you know we're not supposed to talk it outsida' work," She warned. Her cutting glare, enlarged by her glasses, chilled Bido. What was he getting into now?
He looked back but saw a dead end. It wasn't like he could climb walls to escape, so he'd just have to listen and try not to hear anything important. Oh good luck with that... He always heard everything.
"Oh c'mon. We're at work, just taking a cig break."
"Well, you have a point. Gah, why can't we smoke inside anyways? It's so cold," She complained, dragging on her cigarette to emphasize her annoyance. The moisture in the air seemed cling and add to the low temperature.
"Probably because of Richard when he dropped his and started the secondary lab of fire," He guessed while shrugging his shoulders. The cold obviously didn't bother him as much as his companion. She was holding her jacket as close to her body as possible and shivering slightly.
"Remind me to sock him one, will ya'?" She grumbled, then paused. In a much kinder tone she asked," Hey, Robert. You okay...?"
Snapping back to reality, he forced out," U-uh yeah, of course."
"What's bothering you?"
Taking time, obviously carefully thinking over his wording, he finally came out with it. "Well, how ethical is it?"
From 'it' Bido guessed he meant 'the next project'. Then thinking over his analyzation he began to worry about how much he was catching.
"Who cares? if we pull out now they'll just replace us and include us to the test ingredients. In fact, they're probably already planning. Besides-"
"But this is human lives were talking about," He interrupted. From his face alone, Bido could tell that what ever it was, it was bad. "We'll be changing their lives with out their consent."
"Sacrifices have to be made for science."
"... Yeah, I suppose. I just didn't sign up for this," He said dismissively, flicking off the end of his cigarette. It sizzled and went out slowly in a puddle. Watching it closely, he asked," So is Doc's transmutation circle for it complete?"
"They're going to start up experiments in two days," She answered, her eyes sparkling, seeming out of place in the damp and depressing atmosphere.
"You think it will work? Before us... No one else has managed a socially adept chimera before," He asked, apparently having forgotten the morals conflict.
"Of course it will work," Jess snapped," I helped with the research and circle creation. You on the other hand, have done nothing useful."
He laughed it off with some excuse like 'I was busy working on...' Bido couldn't quite hear.
Chimera... Bido was sure he had heard the term before but he wasn't quite sure what one was. Changing human lives...? Without consent...?
Just what was he eavesdropping on? Fear even more then before was piercing through him
Abruptly, Jess' head snapped in Bido's direction and she asked," Did you hear that?"
Bido realized that in his apprehension, he had knocked off a tin cover from it's garbage can and though the clatter had been slight due to the muddy ground, it had caused a disturbance in the otherwise silent night.
"From the alleyway? Probably just a cat," Robert waved off. He dropped his cigarrette and snuffed it out with a step towards Bido's hiding spot. "We should catch it, it's not like we have enough test subjects anyways." He laughed, finding his lame joke funny.
"I'm sure your right," She said, quickly adding," about it being a cat or something." Taking out a handgun, she continued," However, it may not be. We can't afford a leak. The public finds out and we're screwed."
With brunette curls bouncing as she stepped, she marched over to the alleyway. the gun gleamed in dim lighting and seemed to radiate a dangerous aura. Robert was quick to follow, pulling out a gun of his own.
"I'm not taking the heat for having out Lab's activities discovered," She whispered, now in hearing range of Bido to be able to pick up such a quiet sound.
This was bad. This was very bad. What had he done to deserve whatever was coming to him? He was still young, he still had a life to live!
As Jess approached, her gun cocked and ready to shoot, she ordered," If your in here come out now, and we'll spare your life."
"S-sorry," Bido whimpered, standing up into sight. "I-I didn't h-hear any-"
"Take off your jacket and put your hands on your head," her cold voice cut any attempts to secure his innocence.
How fast he whipped off the jacket onto the ground alerted the two workers. A new jacket could be bought later, his life could not. His hands glued to his head as he tried again," I d-don't an-any know anything. I'll nev-ver speak of it t-to an-nyone. I p-prom-"
Robert go behind him and dropped Bido to the ground. The assaulted man cried out in terror and at his now smashed nose amongst other new wounds. The wet cobblestone was abrasive and cold puddles eagerly soaked into his clothing, matching how horribly frozen with fear he was. He was certain they'd shoot.
Bido couldn't help but whimper and cry for mercy as Robert used the jacket to tie up his arms behind his back. "Shut him up, will ya'? He'll attract attention!" Robert hissed. He couldn't be expected to do all of the work.
"Yeah, yeah. Listen bud," She whispered as she kneeled down beside him and pressed something even colder then the ground against his head. The metal barrel pressed into his temple maliciously. "Keep the racket silent, or I'll have to silence you."
"I-I'm sorr-" He cut himself off as the gun jarred his head. He could taste the mud mixing with the iron of his blood while he thought about his future. What were they planning to do with him?
Not even mental will (not that he admitted to having much) could stop moans of pain as they finally pulled him up off the ground, both holding him up by one of his arms.
They walked him over to the military building, him shivering, bleeding and losing it.
What were they planning to do with him?