Chapter 2: There's Something I Can't Ignore

There's something I can't ignore

As I meet your fearful gaze

The way the world held within

Mirrors our own so vividly

And yet, I also see a world so muted

So diluted, so cold

What would it take

To find warmth, to find color

To see a soul so full of life

That it overflows with streams of joy?

What would I give

To help you?

The first week brought a sort of deafening silence into the lab, making everyone present feel like they were walking on eggshells as they tried to think about the ethics of the whole situation.

The second week brought more chatter, more interest. Less concern about the potential long-term damage that they may cause in their scientific process. Less tiptoeing around the issue of what kind of data they could respectfully pull from the situation.

Even though he was located on an entirely different floor that was beyond separate from their new subject of interest, Andvari found his attention being solely drawn to the young child that currently resided down in the catacombs. His mind couldn't erase the sight of the young boy from his thoughts no matter how hard he tried, making him feel rather ill as he reminded himself of what he saw.

There shouldn't have been a drop of blood on his body apart from some caused by a scrape or two. No child should ever be drenched in so much blood. No child should ever be so drenched from their own blood, if what the reports mentioned was, in fact, accurate.

He wasn't alone in his thoughts, as it turned out. Whenever conversation arose within the office space, the topic immediately went toward discussing the boy.

How did he get to the state he was in now? Who's to blame for this incident? Where are his parents? Who is he?

They'd done their best to try and properly identify the boy, but they found themselves with no luck whatsoever. It was determined however that the boy was, in fact, not Crystalian. If he was, they'd be able to match him to certain, specific records within mere minutes. Briefly, there was a spark of hope within the laboratory that they'd confirmed his identity, having matched some blood test records with a young resident of the city, but news came shortly afterward that said resident was currently within the hold of their legal guardians, alive and well, so hope quickly fell once again as the investigation continued. In addition, even though the young subject was well-awake at this point, he had yet to make a sound or say anything that would further help with identifying him and where he'd come from. He refused to speak, though whether that was because of his current ability or willingness to do so was up for debate.

After the chaos surrounding the boy's origins began to die down due to no success in coming to a certain conclusion, the conversation soon shifted from discussing who he was to what he was.

He had died, that was certain. Medical examiners confirmed the lack of pulse at the scene of discovery and had made notes about the chilled feeling of the other's skin. In fact, it was determined that he'd actually died three days prior to them actually locating his body. He'd come back to life abruptly, so that was the issue now. At first, they were willing to label him as being a zombie, but his heart had suddenly started to beat once again, and there were no traces of infection within his body whatsoever. His skin was warm; he was alive. He'd taken so much internal and external damage, but he was alive.

Despite the cause of his injuries, he was strong enough to survive them, and that was what captivated most of the researchers at the lab.

Though Andvari wished to participate in active discussions to try and reach his own conclusions on the matter, out of fear for his own sanity and his uneasiness with the situation at large, he forced himself to stay out of things for as long as he possibly could. He worked on his tasks, clocked his hours, and placed as much focus as he could on his other work in order to keep himself away from the conversation.

He wanted to distance himself from the lab's current obsession. He wanted to distance himself from the boy, though his brain was working its best to oppose him.

When he went home, he hung up his coat and tried his best to take his mind off of things as he basked in the presence of his loving partner, a fellow lover of science named Martha. While he usually was out participating in underground labwork, she worked hard as a local child psychologist. Both usually came home to talk about their respective work sessions (as much as they could appropriately disclose), but lately, he found himself speaking less about general topics and more about his inner conflict when it came to the boy locked within the lab. While he refused to talk about the issue with his fellow colleagues, all his worries and fears came spilling out in front of Martha without much resistance.

At first, he spoke to her in typical scientific terms, trying to place emotional distance in between the child and him by referring to the younger individual as "test subject" and "case study." Only a day had passed when his efforts to remain distant fell away as the "test subject" suddenly became the "boy," and not too long after, "little one."

Martha found out that he existed; that he'd died and yet cheated death all the same. She knew that he'd been covered in blood the last time Andvari saw him, emotionless and unmoving, yet very much awake. His worry became hers as she tried to console him, watching as his emotions shifted from pity to guilt as each night passed and the boy remained in the lab's care. He didn't know what they were doing to him exactly, but he knew, based on what he and others typically did to living creatures, that it had to have involved constant examinations and endless encounters with vials and tubes and surgical knives. Those treatments in particular were reserved for creatures with the capacity for language comprehension, which typically meant most mobs.

She used her knowledge to offer him solutions that he could bring forward in order to comfort the boy, but he had adamantly refused to come in direct contact with him once again. He couldn't stomach the thought, but at the same time, he couldn't ignore the other completely. He wanted to reach out, but he also wished to stay out of the situation. He wanted to help, but he didn't want to potentially cause any harm.

No matter how much confusion surrounded his thoughts, he, again, knew that he at least had to do one thing to keep his last shred of sanity.

He had to keep away. No matter what, he couldn't step in.

Unfortunately for him, being a currently well-performing employee earned him some favor with the higher-ups in the lab once again.

Due to the strangeness of the case, the lab's superiors decided that only select individuals would be placed on the research team that was to be in charge of the situation and lead the examination effort. Only those who were meticulous, dedicated, and highly respected were going to be allowed to interact with the boy, all for the expected results of determining what he was, and what he was capable of, finally classifying him within their records.

Throughout his time spent with the lab, Andvari had built up a reputation of being all three of the needed requirements. Once he was assigned a job, he performed it with careful attention to detail and extreme success rates. He was intelligent, driven, and overall very respected by his fellow research peers. He was also a specialist in dealing with mobs, and that didn't exactly hurt his image either. He was a perfect candidate, so of course, he was one of those selected to deal with the mysterious boy. His previous stunt of impending on his own progress didn't matter; he'd long since made up for it with his current diligence.

Tasked with being one of four leading specialists, he found his desk space being temporarily relocated into a small command center within the Catacombs, giving him some privacy and a quiet atmosphere. The room he was placed in was hidden behind tinted glass; no one could see in, but he could see everything that stood outside. He was given a set of master keys to help him with navigating the laboratory and getting what he needed. He was given a schedule; one that was merciful enough to have him only being in charge of the boy for a single day compared to the rest of his fellow research peers, who were each given two.

His first task as a new leading researcher on the case was to examine the boy's sleeping habits. Sure, it wasn't much, but it was still a task nonetheless. One that was already giving him quite a bit of conflict.

With a new job position came new working hours, which almost upset him to the point of tears the longer he thought about it. He didn't know when the boy usually went to sleep, but after finding out whatever time he did, all he had to do was log the information, then clock out and go home. The thought of having to leave his wife in their house alone at night made him very upset, as he didn't want to stay at work overnight without giving her a heads-up beforehand.

Hopefully, there would be no issues. He didn't want to be the one to have to deal with any emergencies, and he didn't want to stay behind any longer than he needed to. The lab would be empty as he worked, void of all except for him, so he wouldn't have any assistance or backup. He'd have to lock up, and that would already be a long process as is. All he could do was pray that the child had a natural sleep schedule, and that was that.

When it came for him to start his shift, he found himself rather uneasy with the idea of seeing the child again. Exiting his new office, Andvari walked around the examination chamber and made his way into the appropriate Section, opening the door with a bit of hesitation and a deep breath. As he stepped in, the strange scent of metal came to his nose almost immediately, drawing utter confusion as he closed the door behind him before he finally turned around to examine the child inside of the room.

What he saw made him want to yell at somebody. Punch somebody. Yell and punch somebody.

It'd been, what, two weeks at this point, and the boy was still in his ruined clothes, still drenched in his own blood. He looked just the same as when he initially came to see him two weeks ago, much to Andvari's horror. The sight only got even worse when he realized that the other's clothes weren't entirely dry with old blood. New splotches of a deeper shade of red were present as well.

This was unacceptable. What the hell were his peers even doing to justify such a horrible act of cruelty and neglect? The kid, though currently emotionless, must've been rather uncomfortable with sitting in his own blood, wasn't he?

Andvari looked around him for a brief moment before taking out his set of keys that hung at his belt once again, searching through them before finding what he was looking for.

The master key. The key that was able to even unlock the inner cells within the Catacomb Sections. Only a few select individuals were given a copy, and he'd been a perfect enough candidate to be considered for such an honor. Though he wasn't supposed to enter the cell directly, he didn't care. Placing the key into the lock and jumbling the door for a moment or two, Andvari eventually got the cell unlocked properly. In an effort to not alarm the child within, he slowly opened the door, entered the space, and closed it behind him.

Looking down at the child, he found him focusing his gaze solely upon the floor. His eyes were wide open and blank still, eerily enough.

As Andvari drew nearer to the other, a sudden influx of nausea came to him as the smell of old and new blood grew stronger. With a small, nervous cough, the man folded his hands behind his back as he tried to fight against showing any emotion whatsoever.

This was a potential new mob, right? He had to look superior, didn't he?

He glanced down at the child.

"...Good evening." He said in an almost robotic fashion, waiting for the boy's response.

None came. The boy remained completely still. Completely quiet.

…

How was he going to approach the situation?

Andvari found himself in a bit of a bind the longer he remained in silence, staring at the boy before him with several questions running around in his head.

Why hadn't he acknowledged him? Sure, shock was one hell of a drug, but it'd been two weeks since his initial arrival, he should've been at least somewhat aware of his surroundings, correct? If he'd actually been dead, was that the source of their current issues regarding his apparent inability to communicate with them? Was his brain not ready to catch up with the rest of him, or was there some serious damage there that they hadn't discovered and diagnosed yet? Was the kid mute? Did he not speak the local language? Where'd he come from?

Their issues had circled back around to discussing his origins, amusingly enough.

Not exactly expecting any sudden change in behavior given the precedent, he decided to go for a different approach. Slowly crouching down, Andvari placed himself right in front of the boy, just a couple of feet away from him as he tried to examine him a bit closer.

…

He'd have to think intelligently to get any responses here.

With a bit of hesitance, Andvari reached into his pocket, digging around for a moment or so before pulling out a small, bright green object, allowing the plastic around it to crinkle in his hand as he tried to gain the boy's attention. During the training period from his initial, formal introduction to the case, he'd been instructed to try and get the boy's attention using some generic-flavored candy. It was an action that was supposed to condition the subject to follow orders for a potential reward. It'd worked with other mobs, and he was expected to be no different.

With hesitance, he held the candy out further in his palm, extending it outward more toward the boy right in front of him.

Slowly but surely, the child began to look up.

Something briefly sparked in the boy's eyes as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings once again. A strikingly silver gaze met his eyes before being focused on the piece of candy that had rolled to sit in-between his fingers carefully. The longer Andvari examined his eyes, the less human the other began to seem, however. There was something off about the color; something wrong about the shade of silver he found there.

At least the other was back in the present, though.

Andvari smirked, pushing the candy out more to the other.

"...'s green apple. You want it?"

At the sound of his mischievous question, the spark in the boy's eyes completely faded away. Slowly, the boy's gaze had returned to the ground in front of him, and his shoulders slouched just barely. Andvari's heart slightly sank at the sight, his arm briefly falling as he examined the other's expression.

Had his colleagues already been bribing this boy with candy to the point of excess? Did they already screw things over for him?

Andvari held the candy out a bit closer to the boy, gaining his attention once again.

"I'm not asking for you to do anything for it. I'm just asking if you want it."

The boy locked gazes with him, staring at him intently without blinking.

Andvari's gaze wavered as he kept his focus.

"...I'm serious. Take it if you want it."

Even though he wasn't supposed to just give the candy to the other, he didn't particularly care. In fact, this candy was actually a reward for being so well-behaved.

…

At least, that was his justification for his actions, at the moment.

The boy continued staring at him for a minute or two, leaving Andvari to only guess what he was thinking about. There was no emotion in the other's expression; no sign of any kind of thought process or inner debate.

…

More silence passed. More seconds passed.

…

Finally, the other reacted to the offer.

Hesitantly, with shaky hands, the boy reached out and grabbed both ends of the wrapper, staring at it within his hands for a few seconds before looking back up at Andvari, his expression still rather blank. The boy pulled the candy slowly toward his body, almost as if he was expecting for the researcher to immediately take it away from him if he made any sudden movements.

Andvari held his gaze for what seemed like a minute or so before lowering his head, letting out a small sigh as he did so.

The blood on the other's face was bothering him immensely. His entire appearance was bothering him. The smell, the sight, it was all disturbing him to his very core.

Andvari looked back up at the boy, giving him a somewhat saddened look before moving to stand up once again.

He couldn't just leave the other like this. If he did, he'd only be part of the problem, wouldn't he? What was he going to do about it, though?

Any sort of experiment, test, or relocation was to be done after the boy was put under sedation, mostly out of concern for personal safety. Even though they hadn't determined what he was even capable of yet, he was to be forced into unconsciousness if they were to do anything to or with him. If he wanted to get the boy clean, he'd have to knock him out first, which wasn't something he wished to do. The only place their test subjects were allowed to even be moved to was the experimentation room, and, as far as he knew, there weren't any bathrooms or showers in there.

The only other place he could possibly take the other was to one of the laboratory's cleansing stations, which were basically glorified indoor bathhouses kept within the lab for emergency decontamination procedures. They weren't meant for test subjects, so he'd have to be careful if he were to bring the boy there. He could be reprimanded heavily if he was caught; even though there was no one around to actually find him breaking protocol, it was still a valid fear.

…

The choice was clear.

"...Do you want a shower?" He asked the boy gently.

He was met with no response, prompting him to let out a sigh. Nodding his head over to the cell door, Andvari turned to walk away.

"...I can wash your clothes for you, if you want. We don't get many...uh, particularly small subjects all that often, so…it might be a while before we give you something to wear that actually fits."

No response. The boy continued to stare at him.

Andvari struggled to find his words.

"I...no one else is here at the moment. All the others are off on their own activities, and I'm the only one working with you today. It'll be just us."

Though silence followed his words, just as he was about to admit defeat and simply walk off, the boy slowly rose to his feet, stumbling as he tried to gain his proper footing. As the boy stood, his body began to shake as he obviously struggled to remain upright.

Blank eyes stared expectantly at him.

With a soft smile, Andvari gestured for the boy to follow him.

"C'mon, it's not too far away from here. We'll be back before anyone knows it."

He outstretched his hand for the other to grab, but the boy simply gave it a good stare before his gaze turned upward to the scientist blankly.

With a small, awkward chuckle, Andvari let his hand fall.

"I...understand. I am still a stranger, yes?"

Eyes continued to stare at him without emotion.

"...My name is Andvari. I will be in charge of you on Wednesdays. I hope that we can be great acquaintances."

As he waited for the other to respond, he found the boy's gaze falling back down to the ground. To avoid letting him stay still for long, Andvari decided to slowly begin leading the boy outside of the cell, waiting for him to catch up before moving to walk slightly in front of him.

Andvari chuckled warmly.

"...I hope that I can earn the honor of learning your name, at least."

More silence came as they continued to walk.

…

This would certainly be interesting to navigate for him.

It was more difficult than what he'd like to admit scrubbing out the dried blood from the boy's clothes, but as he finally managed to remove all the stains that he could deal with, he found himself staring blankly at the soaked white clothes in his hands, running his hands along the fabric rather gently as he went to examine them.

They were soft; softer than anything he'd ever come into contact with before. It was clear by the design that they were, no doubt, rather expensive as well. Small jewels were embedded into the fabric in different places, mainly around the collar and sleeve ends of the dress shirt, as well as the ends of the pair of shorts that matched with it. The small, white vest that had hidden said dress shirt from full view was white as well, though it was made of a slightly denser material that had soaked up more of the kid's blood than the other articles of clothing had. A short, white cape with a bright red underside was attached to the shoulders of the dress shirt with two, golden pins, the entire thing being somewhat drowned in blood as well.

He wanted the entire outfit to be preserved and left alone given that they may be somewhat key to finding out where the kid had come from, but it might very well end up being the case that they'd have to discard the vest entirely due to it being soiled. The blood washed off of everything else rather easily, shockingly enough.

After hanging up the clothes to dry, placing them in a small chamber that did the work for him (courtesy of the lab), Andvari moved to lean against the wall just across from said drying chamber, placing himself just right outside the entrance to the showers. Crossing his arms over his chest, he let out a sigh as he found himself again waiting for the other to finish, closing his eyes as he focused on the muffled sound of running water in the other room.

Though he was certain that he was the only working person present in the lab space, there was the anxious feeling still present within him that somebody, somehow, would suddenly pop up out of nowhere, bringing him trouble. He tried to focus his hearing on any sort of sound apart from the running water, but he found himself rather unsuccessful.

Eventually, the water stopped, and it wasn't until the slow approach of footsteps came to his ears when Andvari pushed himself off of the wall, moving to the drying chamber in order to grab the child's clothes. Folding each piece of the ornate outfit carefully, Andvari took a moment to make sure that they wouldn't fall away out of his hands before opening the door to the shower room, looking around slowly for the sight of their test subject walking out from one of the individual chambers there.

He ended up jumping at the sight of the boy appearing just right in front of the door, looking up at him with curious, yet fearful eyes.

He'd gifted the other with an unused lab coat for his exit from the shower, but it was too big for his small, frail form. The sleeves went way beyond the tips of his fingers, and the rest of the coat fell onto the floor and dragged behind him.

Rather quickly, Andvari noticed the state of the other's hair.

There was still blood. There were still clumps of unbrushed, messy brown hair kept together by blood. The hair was damp, he'd give him that at least, but it was clear that no effort had been made to comb through the strands and untangle the mess that was currently on top of his head.

He stared at the kid in front of him for a solid moment before letting out a sigh. To his added concern, the kid responded with a flinch at the sudden noise.

"...You can't keep the blood in your hair, little one. You'll end up damaging it later trying to rip it all out." Andvari said with a shake of his head.

Stepping forward, Andvari reached out to touch the child's hair in an attempt to correct the tangled mess before him.

The child immediately backed away, bringing his arms up to his face in what appeared to be defense as he did so.

No. No.

Andvari stared at the boy in total shock, his hand still outreached somewhat as his gaze became filled with sadness, then a bit of pure anger as a realization came over him.

This kid had been abused at one point or another. Whether it had been in the lab or not, he didn't know, but whatever the case was, it made him somewhat furious that someone, some monster, caused that response.

Retracting his hand, Andvari slowly moved to squat in front of the other as to not alarm him, meeting his gaze gently.

"The blood in your hair can't stay. I won't touch you if you don't want me to, but you need to go back in the shower and take care of your hair. Do you understand me?" Andvari asked, pointing to his own hair and motioning around with his hands in order to demonstrate what he meant.

The boy looked at him for a solid minute or so, staring directly into his eyes before bringing a hand hidden by an oversized sleeve up to his mouth and lowering his head. He, slowly, began to turn around and return to the showers in silence. Once the other was fully gone, Andvari let out a sigh as his expression fell.

He knew that he shouldn't have gotten emotionally involved. If he'd stayed out of things, he wouldn't have suddenly decided on somehow making the other's life livable. He wouldn't have cultivated the idea that he, somehow, could fix things and make the boy's life better.

After he double-checked the boy's hair for blood clumps (from a safe, comfortable distance), he led the other back to the cell that he'd been assigned to, giving him a gentle farewell and an even kinder "sweet dreams" before leaving, going back to his desk as he began to wait for the child to fall asleep in the space so that he could log the information and promptly go home.

He ended up spending the entire night in the laboratory. Every time he went to check to see if the other was asleep, he found that he wasn't. It wasn't until the nearby clock struck five o'clock in the morning when the boy even began to nod off.

That was how the lab found out that he was, essentially, nocturnal.

They found that throughout the hours of the day, the boy would sleep. He'd sleep peacefully without waking up at any point whatsoever, up until the sun finally set completely, even though there was no way for him to actually see the sky where he was. No one could stir him awake from his slumber; no noise disturbed him, and no sensation alarmed him.

Though Andvari had initially been upset at the fact that the boy refused to go to sleep until daylight, he found himself forgiving the other rather quickly as it became apparent that those hours of quiet, unassuming bliss were spent away from the reality of his surroundings, away from the harm that came upon him when he eventually awoke to the sight of laboratory lights and the feeling of prodding and pushing and pulling and tearing. These hours spent in sleep were respected, at least, only being broken once someone, some absolute demon, pointed out that the child's roughly ten hours of sleep slowly increased with every passing day, mostly due to him realizing that he couldn't be bothered while resting. Whether he actually had realized that was up to debate, however.

The child was only apparently capable of waking, falling asleep, walking (barely), sitting, and laying down on the ground. It wasn't until Andvari even suggested the option when his fellow researchers decided to test whether or not the other was capable of eating full meals, much to his general disgust. Needless to say, he wasn't able to. Something prevented the other from consuming too much, if anything at all. Though this was worrisome to Andvari, it wasn't all too concerning to the others, only interesting.

With him apparently being the only one who had any real concern for the other's wellbeing, his role within the research team slowly expanded, though not even he was entirely aware of that fact. Andvari's hours of simply working down in the Catacombs and focusing on his own tasks that didn't have to do with the boy slowly turned into hours spent overlooking his colleagues as they interacted with him, keeping a watchful eye over their actions as he tried to get a better idea of what exactly their individual tasks were apart from his own.

Violetta, the colleague that he'd initially questioned about the situation, had been assigned to take care of examining blood samples and test results. Her specialty was mob anatomy, so it made sense that she'd be in charge regarding that aspect of the situation.

Henriette was a researcher who dealt with examining certain mobs that originated from abnormal locations and were known to thrive in unique circumstances, such as those that came from the deep depths of the ocean, or those that managed to escape the hold of the Nether. Given that the boy was nothing short of abnormal, her expertise would be highly beneficial to their data collection attempts as well.

Matt was a strange case. He found joy in examining mobs upfront, the fear of death being something he lacked since birth, apparently. He was one of the only individuals that would, without flinching, administer several tests to various different monsters without any concern for being attacked. There was even a rumour floating around that he'd even do such a thing without putting said mobs to sleep, first. Why someone so reckless would be assigned to such a sensitive case was beyond him, but Andvari wanted to keep a close eye on him despite the fact that they were supposed to be working together. Matt was in charge of actually performing most of the more invasive tests; those that had to do with surgical procedures and scanning.

Andvari himself typically went over reports to take in and organize data, but that was only what he did apart from dealing with mobs. His usual set of tasks had to do with performing tests as well, but apart from his successes there, he was also prized for how he ended certain cases.

Whenever people got too careless, he was brought on board to fix the issue. Whenever a mob was unable to continue on with being used for tests, he was asked to neutralize them and prepare their bodies for post-mortem examination. Whenever Matt, in particular, got too careless, Andvari was called in to put mobs out of their misery, mostly without the other researcher's prior notice. He knew that Matt, above the others, would prove to be the most difficult and concerning person to deal with when it came to examining the boy. One wrong move with him, and their test subject wouldn't ever be able to be studied again.

Matt's scheduled two days were right before his single day, so Andvari found himself suddenly becoming interested in staying behind within the lab a few hours before his actual shift. He, personally, took on the responsibility of monitoring the other researcher's actions for the safety of the boy he was working on. Through his supervision, he ended up seeing for himself just what exactly the man did whenever it was his turn to study the child in the examination chamber.

What he saw one night confirmed his worst fears.

To his absolute horror, he found that his colleague didn't even bother with the sedation. The boy was restrained firmly on the table, unable to move or escape. Without hesitance, the man carefully began to cut into the other, tearing flesh and making future scars without so much as blinking. Expecting a shrill scream of pure agony in response, Andvari had physically braced himself, closing his eyes as he waited for it to happen. A few seconds passed, and he still found himself in silence, causing him to peek out of his closed eyes curiously at the room, specifically at the boy within it.

He wasn't displaying any emotion.

The boy didn't scream. Didn't even make a sound. Lying wide awake upon the table, he remained in pure silence as Matt continued with his experiment, prodding and asking questions that were left firmly unanswered. Though frustration formed on his face and his knife soon went deeper, the boy didn't relent.

The last shred of his dignity was being firmly kept by his silence. With his lack of reaction, he was denying the satisfaction of the man standing above him.

This was the first time Andvari found himself in the audience of such a horrific event, leaving him utterly stunned as he watched his colleague continue, only growing more aggressive as he went on. With every single bone in his body, he hoped, prayed even, that it would be the last time he saw it.

The examination session lasted for thirty minutes. Once Matt was finished with his torment, he placed his tools off to the side of the table before moving to free the boy from his position.

Once the torment was over, Andvari watched as he slowly moved the other back into his cell. As he disappeared, Andvari found his legs moving without his input toward his desk. He quickly packed up his things before his brain could fully process everything he'd seen, and left the office space.

He'd be back in the morning for his shift, that was what he was entirely sure of.

The trek back to his home was long, filled with him silently going over the week's events like a broken record as he slowly began to drive himself rather mad.

It was nothing short of horrible having to watch his colleagues shamelessly excite themselves over getting to dissect and analyze a child, having all personal morals and beliefs thrown out the window in the name of scientific discovery. Though the boy looked human enough to draw some serious pause in their actions, his lack of reaction spurred them on to continue. He simply refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing him in pain, but at the same time, he indulged their curiosity to a point where they didn't care that he had a human form as they carelessly destroyed it.

Andvari felt sick. He needed to get back to his bed and lie down for a bit. At the very least, he needed to relax on the couch before his disgust could overwhelm him.

Climbing up a small stone stairway to reach the level of the district where his house was situated, Andvari briskly approached the front door of the familiar quartz stone building and unlocked it as quickly as he could.

Entering the house, he was met with the smell of a promising dinner, the sight of a full table of food, and the kind, yet concerned smile of his dear wife. Her medium-length orange hair had been tied off into a ponytail with a teal-colored band of leather. A pair of glasses were placed in front of her vibrant amber eyes, which were filled with genuine warmth and love. She was already in a comfortable set of grey pajamas, making him somewhat jealous of the fact that she'd come home before he even had the chance to.

Gesturing to the table in front of her, Martha nodded over to the empty seat just beside her.

"...You look ill, love." She said with a slightly worried tone in her voice, drawing an agreeing sigh from Andvari almost immediately.

"You have no idea." He said as he quickly got rid of his lab coat and went to join Martha at the table.

Pulling out his chair and almost slumping down in it, Andvari leaned back once he was comfortable enough in the seat, directing his gaze upward to the ceiling.

He could still smell blood. Even though it had been washed away, the second he started thinking about the boy, it all came rushing back to him.

"...You're still thinking about that poor child, aren't you?" Martha's gentle voice came to his ears.

With another, deep sigh, Andvari hung his head low, leaning back forward in the chair slowly.

"...I don't know what to do."

Andvari buried his head in his hands, finding his gaze slightly wavering as he found his thoughts being swarmed with the images of what he saw.

There was nothing short of absolute horror when it came to what seeing the boy's treatment caused him to feel. Even if the other wasn't human, even if he was a mob of some sort, the fact that he even looked like a human child was enough to kill him inside. Even if he didn't act human, he was still a matter of deep concern for the researcher.

A gentle hand found its way onto his shoulder. Slowly, his focus shifted from the table to his wife, who looked at him with immense worry in her eyes.

"...Can't you do something about it? Your time with him is shorter, but…can't you do something for him then?" She asked quietly, waiting for his response patiently.

"...I don't know, love. I really, really don't know. I..." Andvari paused, allowing his gaze to fall back upon the table before him. "...I want to get him out of there."

"...Is there a way to do that? Safely?"

Andvari thought to himself for a moment, shaking his head with a sigh as he let his arms fall upon the table slowly.

"...There has to be." He said in a somewhat determined manner. "I...he can't live like that for long. If the fall that he took couldn't kill him, the scheduled experiments will."

Curiosity overcame his companion's expression.

"What...what are the others planning?" Martha asked.

Andvari narrowed his gaze at the table.

"...Matt actively chooses to…'experiment' on him without sedating him first, and I say 'experiment' lightly. I managed to catch him...well. You can guess. He was hurting him on purpose because he didn't get any reaction. The others just turn a blind eye to the methods and take the data that comes from it all to analyze."

"...Nobody else wants to help?"

Andvari shook his head.

"Of course not. He's too much of a point of interest to let go."

Slowly releasing his head and straightening his posture slightly, Andvari sighed as he kept his focus on the table before him.

"I can't...I can't do much. But…ugh, it's all too difficult."

Silence formed in between them for a moment as Martha carefully rubbed circles into his back, giving him comfort as his brain refused to do the same.

A hum escaped Martha's lips, breaking the quiet atmosphere that had enveloped them.

"Is it more difficult to help him, or to let it all continue?"

Andvari turned to her, expression somewhat troubled by her words.

"I…you know what's worse-"

"-And are you going to do something about it?

"I…I want to, trust me, but I…I can't just-"

His words were firmly stopped by Martha's hand leaving his back, returning to her as she folded her arms in front of her chest.

Martha looked at him with a firm gaze.

"...Andi, if you don't do anything, who will?"

He found himself staring into her intense gaze, unable to think of a proper way to answer her question.

He knew the answer, that was certain. The implications of what would come after answering the question were what was holding his tongue.

If he didn't do anything, no one would.

No one.

Therefore, he had to do something.

As if seeing his conviction in his eyes, Martha's expression soon softened once again as she went to pat his back gently.

"...You look like you need a warm meal. I had a feeling that you'd be home pretty soon." She said, nodding her head over to the decorated table before them.

With a quiet nod, Andvari slowly got his bearings together, moving to serve himself a plate.

That night, he found his sleep rather restless.

His conversation with Martha had left an unsettling feeling in his stomach as he sat at his desk.

She'd been right, of course. If he wasn't going to do anything about the situation, who would? Nobody else seemed willing to see the boy as being anything other than a brainless mob, so who'd take any action apart from him? There was a great risk that came with doing anything in regard to actually helping the child out and transferring him out of the lab, but was he willing to actually take it?

...

What was he even thinking? Of course, he was.

Andvari stood up with a sigh, glancing over to the set of levers on the wall not too far away from him. There were three in particular that were interesting to him; ones that were in charge of controlling the containment of several different mobs on several different floors. He quietly made his way over to them, staring at the one placed in the middle intently as he slowly came to a conclusion with himself.

He couldn't handle another week of this mess. He could barely even handle another minute. Risk be damned, he had to act.

His hand ultimately slipped. On accident, of course. The lever was lowered, and slowly but surely, the sound of opening inner cells began to echo throughout the lab. Standing up slowly, Andvari placed his hands behind his back as he went around the table, exiting the command room as he went to approach the entrance to Section #256.

Staring at the door, he smiled weakly.

"You know, it's the perfect time to escape. I hope you take the opportunity, little one." He quietly spoke to the other, though he knew the boy couldn't actually hear him.

Quietly, he gently pushed the heavy door open a bit, not enough to allow the other to see him through the open crack, but enough to realize that the door had been opened. As carefully as he could, he backed away from the door with his hands somewhat held up, hoping that it wouldn't close on him before he fully left. Seeing it not move, he briskly moved away, escaping back to the command center room and carefully closing that door as well.

With a sigh of relief once he was safely inside, Andvari went to lean against the door as he found himself suddenly mentally exhausted. The sounds of distant escaping mobs came to his ears, but honestly, he could care less.

He just wanted the boy to get out of there safely. Hopefully, he'd be able to navigate himself out of the building. It wasn't hard to leave the Catacombs from this point, and the building was pretty linear, all things considered.

Walking around to the one-way window, Andvari glanced outside to look at the door to the Section where the boy was being held, hopeful that the child was taking the opportunity wisely.

…

Thankfully enough, he caught him as he slowly pushed the door open, glancing around cautiously before pushing it open even further. Briefly, the boy looked to the window, appearing to lock gazes with him firmly for a moment or two before he turned back around in order to begin moving toward what he assumed was the exit.

Before he fully left the Catacombs, the boy looked back at the window again, seemingly connecting gazes a second time before turning away.

Sighing once again, Andvari turned around, beginning to slowly make his way back to his chair as he went to slump down into it, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the top of the chair.

Repercussions would be dealt with later. All he knew was that this whole debacle was an unfortunate accident. The system unfortunately failed, and he was unable to repair things in time on his own.

…

That was his excuse. That had to be his excuse.

Going home, he felt a bit lighter, emotionally.

Glancing upward to the stars above, Andvari quietly made his way through the empty streets of Crystalia, admiring the starry night sky with a smile on his face that he couldn't hold back.

The child was free. He'd searched through the lab after the breakout to make sure of it, and he was unable to locate him. A few mobs had actually managed to leave as well, but that was par for the course. Hopefully, he'd stumble upon someone else who could give him the life he deserved as he went about his days, preferably someone not from the lab or Crystalia if he was to be specific.

As the man let out a small sigh at the thought, his eyes soon found themselves drawn to a figure in the distance; one that was laid next to the road he was walking on.

Though the streets were dimly illuminated by the streetlights above and the glowstone hidden by tinted blue glass below, he couldn't make out the figure correctly from where he currently was. With his hands in his pockets, he approached the limp figure laying in front of a tree by the side of the road, curiously leaning forward as he tried to examine them from a closer distance.

The familiar sight of blood-stained white clothes sent a shockwave throughout his body.

The boy. The boy was right there on the streets of Crystalia.

His feet moved before he was able to realize it, but he quickly made his way over to the other, dropping to the ground at his side as he examined his injured form.

He was badly hurt. From the looks of it, a previous wound (likely earned from the examination table) had opened abruptly, causing blood to ooze out in a creeping manner. With the amount of blood lost, the other had grown too weak to continue on, having no other option but to collapse on the road beside the entrance to the Woodcutter district.

Andvari found himself utterly distressed.

He had to do something about this. What exactly, he wasn't sure just yet, but he had to do something, anything to help the boy before death came to claim him, or worse, his colleagues.

…

Carefully, his arms made their way under the boy's knees and behind his back, pulling him in to cradle his unconscious form. Andvari slowly stood up once the other was settled, briefly pausing to check if he would wake up before looking out toward the distant entrance to the Quartz district.

…

Martha would be understanding. His wife would know why he'd do what he was about to do.

After all, if he didn't do it, who would?

Yeahhhh I didn't want to spend too long on Herobrine's time in the lab. Well, at first I did, but like, I didn't want to exactly go over more than one chapter talking about that lol.

So…Andvari has him now! For someone that didn't want to get involved, he got too invested to ignore the issue completely lmao. That's on him tho!

Chapter's done, so see y'all again soon!