01. Plans

"Miss Mirania, have you found any of the names mentioned in these books...?"

Asthar always had a thing for talking to people formally in the lab. Outside the lab, things were different with him-he was more jolly and casual, but in the lab he was nearly as formal as Therius could be. Perhaps this was how Therius kept getting so serious, knowing to keep his personal life and work life so separate from Asthar. Asthar was, after all, Therius' adoptive father after Therius' parents died in an accident.

Mirania shook her head, putting down the twentieth book. "No, I haven't. What about you, Asthar?" She asked, adjusting her thin glasses.

Asthar shook his head, before he flipped to the next page. "I believe I've found something. Here." He showed the book to her, and Mirania read.

"Zangurak...King of the Gurak. Zesha and Zepha were his two right hand men." She finally managed, looking up at Asthar. "The three Gurak specimens we brought into the lab were those three."

Asthar winced. "We should tell Dr. Arganan as soon as possible-"

That was when the communosphere (a little sphere that people could communicate with others with) floated into existence, opening up and projecting a hologram of Therius.

"Dr. Asthar? Miss Mirania? Are you there?" Therius spoke up, his eyes full of urgency.

Mirania nodded. "Yes, Therius, we're here. What is it?"

Therius seemed to hesitate, before speaking. "The specimens we brought into the lab only yesterday woke up fifteen minutes ago and attacked us. We're in the dorm area of the lab right now, in Calista's room, but we have no idea where they are right now."

Asthar stared. "They broke out?" He repeated.

"Yes. They did. And we've assumed that Dr. Arganan and Dagran have been captured by them."

Asthar gritted his teeth. "That isn't good. Therius, Mirania and I will find a way to get to you. Just stay where you are for now if you can."

"Got it." Therius' hologram disappeared, and Asthar shut the sphere, putting it into his pocket as Mirania looked to him.

"Zangurak, Zesha and Zepha are all awake?" She repeated. "That can't be good."

"I know." He tried to think. "The library is closer to the lab than the dorms...if I recall, there is a hidden door in this room, but-"

The two went silent at once, trying to listen for movement outside. Mirania instinctively took out a gun, but Asthar shook his head.

"Someone's coming this way." He spoke, his voice full of warning to not shoot at whoever entered, but to hide.

The two of them dashed behind a nearby bookshelf, peeking through the cracks as they heard the door open. There wasn't exactly a clear view of who it was, but judging by what they could see (the jagged silver metal plates, flowing robes, even chain-metal draping over said robes) it definitely wasn't one of their fellow scientists. Mirania then remembered that the specimens had worn such armor. These must be the awakened Gurak specimens Therius spoke of moments ago.

"A library?" The voice was raspy, but obviously masculine. "Fascinating..." Footsteps followed.

"I unfortunately do not see the value in it, brother." Another raspy, masculine voice responded. "Go ahead and enlighten me of it."

A sigh escaped the other before speaking. "Brother, there could be useful information about how to run this laboratory. And to tell us of how the humans have developed since hundreds of years ago. Lord Zangurak may have let that human-what was his name?"

"Dagran, Zepha. His name is Dagran." The other responded.

"Yes, Zesha, that human. Lord Zangurak may have let him assist in showing Lord Zangurak how to run this laboratory, but we should still keep an eye on him. He and the older one seem too close for my liking."

"Agreed."

Asthar looked to Mirania, mouthing his words so that the Gurak would not catch wind of them by accident.

They have Arganan and Dagran.

Mirania nodded, mouthing her words in return.

I know. What do we do?

Asthar looked through the shelves to the two Gurak, then to Mirania.

We have to get out of here. I have the doubt that they're leaving any time soon-

"Brother?" Zesha spoke up.

"Yes?" Zepha responded.

"Do you sense...humans?"

Asthar and Mirania both went stiff at that statement.

Zepha could be heard chuckling. "Yes, brother. I do sense them. Do you?"

Zesha let out a soft hum. "Yes."

Mirania and Asthar looked to each other silently, both of them hesitant to mouth anymore phrases to each other in case the Gurak could hear them breathing. They weren't even sure if breathing was safe. Footsteps headed towards the bookshelves where the two were standing behind, and Asthar mouthed something quickly to Mirania.

Shoot them and run on the count of three. One, two...

One of the Gurak, with a red aura emmanating from his form, turned around the corner.

THREE!

Both Asthar and Mirania fired at the Gurak, who ducked out of the way barely in time. "What the-"

"RUN!" Asthar screamed, grabbing Mirania by the wrist and dragging her deeper into the library. Mirania could hear Zesha screaming in pain, Zepha screaming in anger, could hear the two brothers rushing after them. She still couldn't believe this was happening-she and Asthar being chased by the very same specimens they brought into the lab only yesterday-it just seemed so...unreal.

Mirania looked around, before pointing. "Over there!" The two rushed to a nearby bookcase, and Mirania touched the wall, trying to feel for a button.

"Hurry!" Asthar exclaimed, looking behind him. Mirania nodded, her hands groping for some kind of button on the wall. The bookcase in front of them was supposed to act as a secret door, just in case...

She then felt the cold button, pressed it, and the bookshelf moved immediately to the left, revealing a passageway. Asthar and Mirania ran through, the bookshelf moving back to where it was just as the Gurak brothers appeared from around the corner. Asthar and Mirania could hear the brothers start shooting at the bookcase, growling with frustration, full of malice to hunt them down.

"Do you know where this passage leads to?" Asthar asked as they kept running.

Mirania shook her head. "I don't know. I mean, it's supposed to be a secret passageway for a reason."

"Er, true..."

The two made it through another door, and the warmth of the room felt overwhelming at first. Lush plant life lay all over the place, and they immediately realized that they were in the Greenhouse area. Their pursuers were growing closer with every second. Mirania looked around, before noticing a very large bin. Actually 'tank' would be more like it, as it resembled a dumpster, but Mirania knew that it was not a dumpster.

This was the bin where all the mulch was kept for the greenhouse. Without a word, she grabbed Asthar by the wrist and dragged him to the mulch bin, opening the door (yes, there was a door to this compartment). She quickly shoved him inside the bin without a word, before she crawled in as well, closing the door behind her.

"Do you think they won't find us in here?" Asthar asked, his breath hitching his voice into a hoarse whisper. Mirania merely nodded, putting a finger to his lips to tell him to be quiet.

They heard a loud crash, the cracking of flowerpots hitting the ground, footsteps resounding the greenhouse.

"Dammit." One of the Gurak pursuers muttered. "We lost them."

"We should report to Lord Zangurak," the other Gurak responded. "Tell him that there are more humans that are in need of capturing."

"Sounds like a good idea, brother. Let's go."

Footsteps faded away, after a few moments. Mirania let out a slow breath, opening the door of the mulch bin and looking around. Nope. No Gurak in sight.

"It's safe now." The two got out of the mulch bin, Asthar shaking mulch off himself.

"That was too close," The older man managed, looking around just in case they were alone. Yes, they were alone, alone and safe. For now.

Mirania nodded. "I agree with that. We should go try to look for Calista and the others."

The two walked to the other end of the greenhouse quietly, silently, cautiously. "Sounds like a good idea, Miss Mirania."


Arganan sat miserably behind the laser barrier blocking him from the Gurak skulking about. He'd woken up in here and was practically made their prisoner. Zangurak hadn't done any more torturing to Arganan, after the one time with the electricity. Arganan was grateful for that, at least.

It did not help, however, that he was positively famished. His stomach rumbled slightly, quietly, and he let out a soft groan of complaint. As if it was going to help, anyway.

That was when Dagran walked into the cell, the barrier reappearing behind him after he entered. He dug around in his pockets before handing Arganan a bar of chocolate.

"Here. It's not the greatest, I know, but it was all I could sneak from the pantry for now without the Gurak getting suspicious about my brief absence."

Arganan nodded, taking the bar and unwrapping it, biting into it and savouring the bittersweet taste. "Thank you." He whispered softly between bites.

Dagran nodded, sitting beside him. "You holding up well?"

The older man nodded after taking another bite of chocolate and swallowing. "Reluctantly, yes. I just wonder how the Gurak woke up like that earlier. They were clearly in a state close to comatose. Waking up that quickly should not be possible."

Dagran looked around, nodding. "Yeah, I know. I'm thinking that the Gurak bodily functions are different than humans, despite the similarities. I wish I made some brain scans of the Gurak yesterday. They could have been useful."

"True."

The two sat there silently, and Arganan finished eating. Dagran then took the opportunity ti break the silence.

"Do you remember when I first walked into the lab? When we first had an actual conversation with each other other than research related material?"

Arganan looked to him, biting his lower lip. "What are you getting at?"

Dagran just kept talking, ignoring the question. "I remember when we even had sex the one time? Or was it three times? We slept like rocks after the first time and were nearly late for breakfast."

The older man shuddered at the memory, the kisses and touches.

"No more, Dagran." He hissed sharply, looking to him, his face hardening into a glare and a desperate look. "That fling is over. We should have stopped even before the second time. If Lowell had told others about it, we'd never hear the end of it. It would have ruined both of us."

Dagran gently put a hand to his shoulder, a calm look on his face.

"Doctor." Dagran's voice was quiet. "I just wanted to let you know that I didn't see it as a fling."

The older man didn't know whether to feel relieved, surprised, or a mixture of both. "Y-you didn't?" His breath hitched slightly at that.

Dagran merely nodded, gazing straight into the Doctor's one good eye. "Yeah. I didn't see what we had like that. Saw it as something better than that."

Arganan leaned his head against the younger man's shoulder. "Thank you, Dagran." he managed quietly. "..I appreciate it."

Dagran grinned slightly, before looking to him. "I have a plan. To stop the Gurak. But first I need an idea of what their plans are, and we'll need to bide our time with them. Once I see something of a weakness that I can exploit, I'm going to expose that and we're going to get out of here. Trust me."

Arganan nodded. "I trust you." The words came out quicker than he meant, but Dagran seemed to understand. He paused, looking around to make sure no one was watching before he pressed a light kiss to Arganan's forehead, standing up and turning to leave the cell.

"Just hang in there. I'll get you out one way or another."

Arganan said nothing, watching as Dagran stepped out of the cell, the laser barrier closing behind him, separating them.

But not for too long. At least, that was what Arganan hoped.