A/N: From now on, Shades and Surprises will be updating on Fridays. Most likely around midnight/1AM Friday morning because I am impatient and I am normally awake. I don't think this one is as hilarious as the others, but taking a break from humor every now and then is a good thing. Well, as long as it doesn't spontaneously develop a plotline, I hate when that happens.
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Prompt: An experiment gets loose in the vents.
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"Tseng." Rude called, sticking his head into his boss's office. Being that Rude only spoke when it was important, Tseng stopped typing mid-sentence, hands hovering over the keyboard as he looked up from the screen. Rude adjusted his sunglasses, lips curling ever so slightly downward. "There's something oozing out of the vents in the break room."
Tseng sighed, one hand rising to pinch the bridge of his nose as the other dropped to rest on the desk. "Again?" He asked, referring to the incident with the fire and the glitter, the former of which had been traced to a disgruntled employee whom had been aiming to destroy his boss's computer and got Tseng's by accident -Reno had gleefully corrected him-. He would not put it past Reno to try again after that disaster, especially since it had been connected to another which apparently negated the fact that it had happened in the redhead's mind.
Rude shook his head. "Looks like something died up there." Again went unsaid. A couple months ago one of the account managers had had the grand idea to try and get around the building unseen by using the ventilation shafts. Unfortunately for him, the building plans he had access to were deliberately doctored in case they were leaked to an enemy and he fell directly into one of the large fans instead of wherever he was headed -they still didn't have any idea where that was-. It had taken maintenance three weeks to find him, because strange liquids and smells oozing out of the vents was not unusual, especially in this part of the building. He hadn't been the first employee lost that way and he would not be the last.
"Tell Reno to check it out." Tseng ordered. Being the most agile, he had the least chance of having an accident whilst in there, he also had memorized the real layout of the ventilation shafts and could accurately divine the source. Likely because scarcely a week passed without him being sent up to investigate some random smell, sound or leak because maintenance was too lazy to do it on command without extra incentive. Providing them with said incentive was often tiring and Reno enjoyed climbing in there for some reason, so it was just easier that way.
Rude nodded and turned to walk off, pausing mid-step to glance meaningfully over his shoulder. "I'll supervise." Tseng agreed, wishing his dignity would allow him to rest his head on his desk. Rude nodded again and walked off. Tseng saved what he was working on, switched off his computer and navigated his way to the break room, where, not surprisingly, Reno was already waiting for him. The redhead grinned at him when he approached.
"Something bleedin' in the vents, boss. Thought I would check it out." He drawled, motioning to where a greenish-red ooze was dribbling from the vent opening. For his own sanity, Tseng had ordered Reno not to go into the ventilation shafts unless it was absolutely necessary and to be in constant contact with another Turk the entire time just in case of an accident. At the time, it had seemed like a wise decision, and while he didn't regret it, he wished the job of supervising him didn't fall to him eighty-percent of the time.
"Let's just get on with it." Tseng grumbled as Reno smirked, pulling a screwdriver out of his pocket as he climbed on to the table to reach the vent, uncaring of how dangerous that was. He watched with a kind of detached fascination as Reno carefully unscrewed each screw from the vent cover, only to jump back, nearly slipping off the table's edge as it and something that would feature in Tseng's future nightmares fell out with a resounding splat as soon as he finished with the last screw.
For a moment, there was silence as they both stared at the creature. In the distant past it had probably been a rat, but now it was a fur less tangle of body and slimy tentacles. It was sluggishly bleeding from what appeared to be bite marks. Reno looked at him, Tseng stared back.
"Boss." Reno said tentatively, eying the open vent like he expected something to come flying out and attack him. "I think I hear something skittering."
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