A.N.- And here's chapter 2! :D We hope you continue to enjoy :)
Chapter 2: Disastrous Experiment
Bob looks around the base amused as he follows Grace. He sees Grace glancing at her mobile phone and is reminded at how she probably has a tight schedule and how he has just burst into her office. "We could do the tour later, if that fits you better, madame." He says.
"Nah, it's fine." Grace says shaking her head. "This way, Bob." She says with a small motion with her right flipper. She waddles down the office hallway. "To your left there is Commander Marian Scott's office." She says with a small nod towards it. "She isn't to be bothered with anything unless it's really extremely important."
Bob nods. "Of course." He says. "And that is in which cases, madame?" He asks a bit curiously though politely. He looks around the hallway and sees some other penguins waddling through too. They give both him and Grace weird looks and Bob hears them starting to whisper as soon as they pass them. He wonders what is so weird of the new guy being showed around by his boss, but quickly shrugs it off and follows Grace.
Grace thinks for a moment, completely oblivious to the guards giving them weird looks. "Well...If the base is on fire...You're being held hostage by an escaped prisoner...Or unless I tell you otherwise." She says thoughtfully. She continues to waddle forwards. "And that ahead is the physical training room." She motions towards it.
Bob nods. "How does that work? Going to the commander if you're being held hostage?" Bob asks with a small laugh, before turning his attention back to the floor. He had just realized he had made an inappropriate comment. He then looks at the training room. "Does it have a shooting room? For like practicing with the fusil*?" He asks. His favorite way of fighting was fighting with a gun, pistol, riffle or anything else that is able to shoot bullets with a great speed to a target. Bob is a good shooter, better than that he is at fighting. Often he was told to not use his gun, but fight them flipper-to-flipper, but he never really listened.
He remembers quite well that his old boss had told him to aid on a mission with a couple of rookies. The boss had sent him along to keep an eye on them and to be there if one of them were to get injured, which actually was more likely to happen than that any of the rookies thought. Bob gives a silent giggle. The boss had forbidden him to use any of his guns and pistols, because he had to train on his combat skills. But the rookies brought so many problems with them that Bob had to 'accidentally' use his gun. It was either the heads of the rookies, or bullets through the heads of those attacking piranhas.
Bob snaps after a couple of minutes back to the reality and gives a silent laugh. He then softly touches his favorite gun which he is hiding under his feathers and sighs relieved when he finds him there. He continues to follow Grace.
"Yes, Bob, there is indeed a shooting room." Grace says with a smile. "Here we require all agents, guards, et cetera, to be able to at least know how to use a gun." She says and glances back at him. Grace sees Bob touch his side and guesses that he must carry a gun with him already. "So...For how long have you been shooting?" She asks as she turns down another hallway.
Bob looks at Grace. "Does that mean I have to shoot today too?" He asks a bit happily and then thinks for a moment. "As long as I can remember, madame. My mother taught me when I was little. I think I was 6 when I shoot for the first time." He says with a smile as he thinks back at those times.
Grace thinks for a moment and then nods. "Later, yes, I'll have to evaluate both your physical and gun training..." She says. She listens to Bob with a hidden impressed smile. "So, you're most likely going to be a very accurate shot, correct?" She asks.
Bob nods. "Physical too?" He asks a bit disappointed. He then shrugs. "That really depends on your definition of 'very accurate'..." He says.
"Well, how many bullseyes out of fifty do you think you could hit?" Grace asks as she turns down another hall. "And here's the shooting room." She says as she stops waddling and motions towards it.
Bob shrugs a little again. "I don't know..." He lies. "Depends on how hard the range is." He says. He really doesn't want to brag in front of his boss. He thinks she might think of him as someone who thinks he can do anything and besides that, he doesn't know the average of hit bullseyes in this base. But he knows perfectly well that with a little of luck he can range between the 48 and 50 straight bullseyes.
Grace nods. "I see..." She says. She then thinks for a moment about where else she should show him. Grace glances at the time on her phone; it makes the tour decision for her. "Okay, now we're going to the labs." She says and waddles a bit quicker in the direction of some elevators. If they do not hurry, she'll be late for the meeting and demonstration and Marian would not be happy with her.
Bob nods. "Alright, madame." He says and follows her to the elevators. He wonders why she waddles so quickly, but keeps his beak shut about it.
Grace nods and pushes the elevator button. She a bit impatiently taps her foot a little as she waits for it to come. "Come on, come on..." She mutters silently as she wills the elevator to hurry up. As soon as the elevator opens, Grace grabs Bob's flipper and drags him quickly into the elevator before pushing a hidden button for the labs.
"Woah!" Bob exclaims a bit silently and surprised as Grace drags him into the elevator. 'Is she even allowed to do that?' He wonders silently as he waits in the elevator. He didn't really mind it though... Not at all, actually.
Grace impatiently taps her flipper lightly against the wall of the elevator as she waits in it. She glances at the time on her phone again. "Darn..." She mutters silently. "We're just barely going to make it on time." She sighs a little and gets a bit mad at the slower than slow elevator. She taps her flipper a bit faster in her impatience on the wall. When it opens again she grabs Bob's flipper once again and drags him briskly down the hall towards the lab.
Bob follows Grace quickly through the base. "On time for what?" He asks curiously. 'Well, at least I don't have to put much energy in waddling this way...' He thinks with a silent laugh.
"A meeting I have with a scientist about her newest thingamajig." Grace says as she drags Bob briskly down the hall. She sees the lab room door and opens it quickly before pulling Bob in behind her.
"What's a thingamajig?" Bob asks a bit confused. He tries to shake his flipper a little to get rid of the numb feeling in it. 'I wonder why she didn't just slide to this place...' He thinks silently as he tries to relax the now somewhat aching muscles in his flipper.
Grace shrugs as she waddles more into the room. "It's an invention of some sort...Occasionally life-threatening...And sometimes even useful!...Though those useful ones are a whole lot rarer than the life-threatening ones..." She murmurs the last part as she sees a scientist. Grace stops and gives the feline scientist a nod. "Dr. Osvalda Ocelot." She says.
"GLC Gray." Osvalda says with a nod back. "Who's the hombre*? " She asks curiously as she adjusts her safety-glasses some.
"This is LG Bob. I was just giving him his newbie tour." Grace says. "Anyway, you said you have something you wanted to show me?" She says a bit curiously.
Osvalda nods. "Indeed I do, miss." She says and walks over to a table with something on it hidden by a sheet. Osvalda grabs the white cloth with her paw and yanks it off.
Bob gives the scientist a nod too. 'Life-threatening? What do I have to think of that?' He thinks silently. He watches Dr. Osvalda curiously and glances at Grace too. He then sees another female penguin standing at the other side of the room, behind glass. "Is that that Commander Marian you told me about earlier?" Bob asks silently with a nod to the penguin.
Grace looks at Bob and then over at the glass before nodding. "Yup, that's her..." She says and then returns her attention to Osvalda and her invention. "So...Uhm...What's that?" She asks.
"Graceāer...GLC Gray, this is a new grade of laser-cannon weaponry." Dr. Osvalda says as she lovingly runs her paw along the side of it.
Bob looks at the cat and the weapon. "And that blue wire there... Is supposed to be unattached?" Bob asks a bit curiously as he looks it over.
"Blue wire? What blue wire?" Osvalda asks and gives Bob a funny look before looking over the invention. "Oh...This blue wire..." She mutters and then attaches the wire to something in the cannon.
Bob faceflippers a little and then looks at Grace. He wonders how such a scientist could have gotten a job in a place like this. Forgetting wires that should be attached seems like a pretty serious problem for Bob, even though he doesn't have that much knowledge of science. He glances nervously at Grace. 'Is this what she meant by 'life-threatening'?' He wonders silently.
Grace looks at the ocelot. "Is it ready now?" She asks.
"It should be, miss." Osvalda says with a small nod and flips a switch on the laser-cannon's side. Nothing happens. Dr. Osvalda frowns and tries switching the switch again.
Bob looks at the invention. "And the green one, madame?" He suggest politely as he sees another lose wire. "Scientists..." He mutters under his breath.
"Tell me about it..." Grace says silently to Bob with a silent laugh.
Osvalda looks curiously at the green wire. "I could have sworn I had this already attached..." She mumbles and attaches it to the blue wire that had also been loose before.
Bob laughs a bit silently with Grace and then looks over the invention. He thinks that it doesn't look really stable, but what does he know about it?
Grace looks at Osvalda again. "Everything attached now?" She asks.
"Yes, I believe so..." Dr. Osvalda says with a slightly unsure undertone. She flips the switch again. The machine starts rattling and shaking around on the table-top.
Bob looks at the invention. "That doesn't look bon*..." He silently says.
Grace looks at the cannon and then at Osvalda. "Is it supposed to do that?" She asks.
Osvalda shakes her head. "N-No, ma'am, it's not." She says with wide eyes.
Grace looks at the machine again. It is now shaking violently and sounds rather angry. Some steam has started to pour from the device. "She's going to blow!" Grace exclaims and then as if on cue, the invention explodes. Grace grabs Dr. Osvalda and pulls her behind the desk as she simultaneously tackles Bob and makes him fall behind the fire-proof desk, too.
Bob slightly hits his head against the desk as Grace tackles him. "Oof." He says silently and remains on the ground for a couple of seconds before getting really quickly up and looking over the desk at the invention. It is still on fire and he quickly reaches for a fire extinguisher to put it out. "So much for that invention." He says as he looks at the smoking thing and the pieces on the ground. He puts the extinguisher on the ground again. "And that extinguisher needs a refill. It is rather empty." He says.
Osvalda runs over to her invention. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" She exclaims and picks up some scattered pieces of the failed laser-cannon.
Grace gets up and looks at Osvalda. "Feel free to try again..." She mutters and looks at the extinguisher. "It needs another refill already? I just filled it the day before yesterday!" She sighs a little.
Bob looks at Grace. "You filled it?" He asks a bit surprised. He thought that that really was a job for scientists and cleaners... Not for commando-penguins. He softly rubs the place on his head at which he had hit the table. "Great, that is going to be a small bump..." He mutters barely audible.
Grace shrugs a little. "It wasn't in my job description, true...But then half the stuff I do isn't in it either..." She says and then looks at the ocelot scientist. "I guess we had better leave her to morn her experiment..." Grace says silently to Bob and opens the door.
Bob nods and follows Grace. 'Well that clarifies things... Does she do it because she doesn't have a life besides this job or because she is just a workaholic?' Bob thinks. 'Or both...' He silently thinks. He has never really been a workaholic, he always has chosen the easy rides and he has always made sure to have enough free time for his wife and son... And friends... And hobbies... He wonders for a couple of minutes what it would be like to have not all those things. He can't really.
Grace glances at her phone. Lunchtime. She glances back at Bob and starts waddling towards the slow elevator again. She pushes the button for it and waits for it.
With a small smile, Bob looks at Grace. "When are you going to test me?" He asks a bit nervously, but at the same time a bit excited to try out this shooting range.
Grace thinks for a moment. "How about after my shift today?" She suggests with a small shrug. She impatiently pushes the up-button again on the elevator.
"And how late does that certain shift end, madam?" Bob asks politely. He then realizes he knows nothing about his new job... Not even the times of it. He looks at Grace pushing the button of the elevator. "With all due respect, madame, pushing that button is not going to make him go faster..." He says and then adds silently; "It even increases the chances of him breaking."
Grace glances at Bob with a bit of annoyance and then takes a silently deep breath to keep herself in check. "My shift ends at 1730." She says. The elevator finally arrives and Grace gets onto it and has it hold the doors open for Bob.
Bob nods. "And... Euhm... Madame, do you have any idea when mine ends?" He asks a bit silently. He really wonders how he is going to find out everything he needs to know about his new job if nobody tells it him. He gets into the elevator.
Grace thinks for a moment as she presses the button for the main floor. "If I remember correctly, your shift is over at 1800." She says. "But I may be wrong...I'll check when we're near my office again." She says thoughtfully.
"Alright." Bob says and then thinks a little with a slightly tilted head. "But if I have to go see you after your shift... Then I miss half an hour of my own, madame." He says as he waits in the elevator.
Grace nods. "True...Okay, so how about after your shift then?" She says and looks at him. She thinks there isn't anything that she will need to hurry home about anyway...Not that she ever leaves on time already as it is.
"That sounds good." Bob nods and then gets out his cellphone and texts Risette the time he expects himself to come home with a small sigh.
"Okay." Grace says with a nod. She stands there in the elevator waiting for it to open and glances over at Bob and his phone curiously. She then remembers about that lady she had seen him with earlier. "So...Um, who was that lady you were with earlier?" She asks curiously. "Little sister?" She asks with an almost invisible hopeful undertone.
Bob finishes texting and shakes his head. "No..." He says a bit silently and looks away from Grace. "She is my wife..." He says as he thinks about their 'au revoirs*' he puts his phone away as the elevator doors open.
Translations French:
*Fusil : gun
*Bon : good
* Au revoirs : goodbyes
Translation Spanish:
*Hombre : Man
