Hey, all! Hope you all are doing well. Enjoy the new chapter! If you don't like OCs, you probably won't like this chapter, lol.
"I'm sorry, but we just weren't able to find anything. We looked high and low, but we kept coming up short."
"I understand. Thank you for your effort." The transmission was shut off. The scientists all had their faces in their hands, looking tired and ragged from the days' searches. Nothing had turned up from the outside requests. None of the other planets could place a name on that symbol that kept popping up. With more pressure coming from the council to find a culprit, everyone's nerves were on their last ends.
One of the scientists shrugged. "Have we followed up with the Arlians, yet?"
"I called them last night. Same results," said Haricot, rubbing his tired eyes. His hair was out of its usual tight ponytail, flowing freely.
"This is ridiculous," another scientist interjected. "No one knows what this means?! How are we supposed to look into this if we don't have a lead?!"
Haricot shook his head. "We'll just have to wait and see if any new leads pop up."
"New leads? You mean wait for this bastard to get another one of us?! Hell no!"
"I never said that. Give it time and something else will come into light. There's nothing more we can do, until then."
"Oh, screw this, then!" One of the scientists stood up from her chair and stormed towards the exit.
"Mizu, where are you going?" He wasn't even surprised – she had been throwing fits about the lack of progress for weeks.
"Off to do something productive. Something you haven't been doing for weeks now." She slammed her hand down on the button and began to stomp out of the door.
"If you take one step outside of that door, don't bother coming back."
The other scientists erupted into protest. They were growing restless by the lack of progress, as well. Kicking Mizu out just for being more proactive was completely unfair. They made their dissent known, voicing their confusion and befuddlement.
"Have you gone mad?!"
"She's just trying to help! Why kick her out?!"
"How is this fair, at all?!"
Haricot didn't budge, still keeping his passive expression. "Your behavior has grown increasingly disruptive, and we cannot afford to have that kind of misbehavior on our team. So, you can either sit back down or resign your position completely. Have I made myself clear?"
She nodded. "Crystal." She stormed out of the room.
He looked at what remained of his team. "I understand you are frustrated by the lack of news, but until something else comes to light, there is simply nothing more we can do. I have no problem with you suggesting something, but stomping out of the room to be, quote-unquote, productive without consulting me is not only unprofessional, but counterproductive to our work as a team, as well. I am open to any ideas you may have, but you must consult the rest of us before we can proceed. Wild goose chases will do nothing but waste our valuable time. I hope I have made this clear for the future. If I feel you are getting too ornery, I will not hesitate to terminate you from the group. Understand?"
The scientists muttered a 'yes', albeit reluctantly. Some still disliked this tough regiment that Haricot expected. It was a hindrance to their progress and freedom of research. Maybe something unorthodox was exactly what they needed to get the ball rolling. But, that wasn't what was allowed, and they had to just suck it up and deal with it.
Mizu of Parsley was the youngest scientist in the group. Her mother was one of the generals who fought and died in the second war with the Tuffles. Her father, the weaker of the two, did not want that same fate to befall her, and pushed her into studying science. She was a prodigy from a young age, and quickly rose through the ranks, joining the palace's team of scientists when she was only sixteen: a mere six years older than the prince was.
Her mentor was the disgraced scientist Okra of Bharta, though at the time she was the highest acclaimed Saiyan in the labs and the head of the science department at the palace. She taught her everything that she knew, from how to cauterize a wound to how to build a scouter. Young Mizu was enthralled by the older woman, following her every footstep and heading all of her words and her dry wit. She admired her almost as a daughter would admire her mother.
Then, two years ago, it came to a sudden halt. Okra was ousted from the team for no apparent reason. The official story was that she was 'uncooperative'. Others heard rumors about some experiments she wanted to perform. Either way, she was kicked off of the team and barred from returning under any circumstances. Mizu was heartbroken, believing that her idol had been wronged and never keeping her dissent to it a secret.
On her way out of the palace, she glanced at the empty lab. She knew exactly where the evidence was sitting, and the rest of the team wasn't fast enough to reset the passwords and combinations before she could get to them. Even after all of this time, she never forgot the last words Okra told her, before she was escorted out – "Do not let them hold you back."
And hold her back, they would not.
She slid into the room, unlocking the safes containing the little cylinders with symbols on them. She swiped one of them away. They wouldn't miss it. With the speed they were going, surely, there would be another murder and they could simply replace it with a new one. She stuck it into a capsule, and left the room, knowing exactly where she needed to go.
It had begun to rain, when she reached her destination – a rarity on planets like this. Mizu shook the water out her long hair, as she stood underneath a small tarp that hung over the doorway of the hut. She hesitantly lifted her fist up towards the door, about to knock, but pulled her hand back. She pressed her mouth into a line, and shook her head, banging her fist against the stone entryway.
The door opened, and there she was – not looking a day older than when they met. Okra had a slim physique, with short bobbed hair and sharp bangs that cut across her forehead. The only thing that hinted at her age was the small bags under her eyes.
When she recognized her ingénue apprentice, she placed a hand on her shoulder. "My, how you've grown, my little pupil." Mizu held back a gasp, almost flushing at her compliment. Okra guided her into her hut, wrapping her arm over her shoulder.
She made them both teas, made from a rare herb that grew only on this part of the planet. She had engineered a small garden sitting inside of her home, giving them all of the nutrients and light that it needed to grow.
"It has been a while," Okra said. "What brings you all the way out here?"
Mizu breathed in, her cup shaking in her hands. "I need your help."
"With what? You've always been such a brilliant woman. What could you possibly need my help for?"
"The murders. Haricot and the rest of his lackeys still haven't found anything. He thinks that it's fine to just wait around until the next Saiyan gets killed instead of actually being proactive. It's absurd! Their incompetence means more Saiyans die." She huffed. "I got kicked out for wanting to do more digging."
Okra's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh dear. Haricot was always an insufferable hypocrite. I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did. Though, if you're looking for work, I can't help you much with that, I'm afraid."
"No, it's none of that. Just because they kicked me out doesn't mean I won't try to stop these murders." She reached into her little knapsack, and pulled out a capsule, not noticing the way Okra's grip on her cup seemed to tighten at the sight of it. She threw it towards the ground, and it exploded, revealing all of the evidence and equipment she nabbed from the lab.
"Where did you get all of this," Okra asked.
Mizu laughed, awkwardly. "I might have borrowed it from the lab. I figured you might be able to get some insights into this that no one else will. We can do it together, just like old times. Maybe we can convince the others to bring you back in! What do you say?"
Okra knelt down and examined the smuggled evidence and equipment. Her eyes seemed to light up, as she looked them over. A smile formed on her face. She looked back Mizu, twiddling her thumbs waiting anxiously for some sort of response.
She nodded. "I do believe we may be able to find something, my pupil."