After a bit of a break, here we are again! I'll just put it out there, if I haven't already, that the whole project is written and done, so any delays will always be temporary. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter: things are finally starting to get interesting!
Luka quickly dismissed Aria, assembled her notes which consisted of the latest statistics and results of their simulations, gathering them all up on a clipboard before covering them with a pair of empty, white sheets.
Sure, she was going to go talk about her highly secret work with another researcher outside of her team, but that was happening on her terms; nobody else was going to lay eyes on her work. And the one that would...
Once she finished assembling her things, Luka closed her office door to quickly look in the mirror she had there.
Reflections in Panthera Industries were never very flattering. In fact, the lighting itself never made anybody look their healthiest. Nearly everybody had a gaunt, pale figure while they walked the sterile, bright halls. On the rare occasion that Luka would come across a familiar face outside of the facility, she would barely recognize them, their healthy complexion, their faces obviously fed by a normal supply of blood, their eyes bright without any heavy shadow cast upon them.
Consequently, she strongly disliked her reflection in the mirror. She knew how she really looked, fortunately, but she hated the pale ghost who looked back at her, pale blue eyes dark, seemingly bloodshot. Her hair was a bit of a mess, except that was something Luka knew how to fix. Her long, pink tresses easily reached the middle of her back, going further still if one were to pull at the wavy locks, so they were susceptible to getting a little messy. It was a bit too long, perhaps, for a laboratory setting, but she maintained it too meticulously, had too much pride in it, and perhaps, it was too effective of an eye catcher in clubs, to let go of. After combing through it meticulously, she tied it up, feeling for split ends, smiling when she found none.
There was next to nothing to pick at after that. She used makeup when she wanted, which never included time spent in the laboratories. At work, she didn't want the distraction of smeared lipstick, the dust of blush. Otherwise, she pulled at the collar of her shirt, coaxed out some creases. There never was much to fix with jeans. And worksafe sneakers? While they weren't glamorous, at least they were clean. The once-over done, she gathered her things and was out the door, which she securely locked behind her.
There was a hop in her step: with some luck, Dr. Camui could help her find a potential plan B, and they wouldn't be held up for more than a day.
First, though, she had to walk through the sprawling network that was Panthera Tech. It was huge, and for good reason; anything related to medicine, from the study of genetics, to the technology around treatment, to cellular manipulation, to the development of vaccines, to the perfection of bedside manner, all happened under one of a dozen rooftops. The labyrinthine halls were often confusing to newcomers; Aria needed to be accompanied anywhere that wasn't the cafeteria. Layouts varied per floor, as did access to other buildings. It didn't help that most of the halls were always the same, with the same bright lights, the same sterile walls, decorated with the same corkboards, the corners dotted with the same water coolers, the occasional potted plant that Luka was convinced were perfect clones of one another. Signs pointed in different directions, a good attempt at helping the lost researcher, provided one could decipher their meanings. There was simply too much to see in any given building, the different team names reduced to acronyms. Luka had made sure that hers could at least be said out loud, helping in memorization; to anybody who had never read them before, MMFGT or OPTRL didn't mean anything in the slightest and would never commit to memory. Fortunately, she knew the route to Gakupo's office by heart, and didn't need to read any of the signs, or stop by any of the more helpful, detailed maps.
As she walked through an overhead tunnel connecting two buildings, the sterile walls making way to glass, she paused, her eyes fixed on the distant cityscape. Being far from the heart of town had multiple benefits for research: cleaner air, cleaner water, fewer vibrations, and an easier maintenance of an independent electrical supply. It did, however, mean a longer commute. Luka let herself sigh once, deeply, as she stared. She could easily identify the tallest buildings, remember where they sat relative to her home —a forty minute drive away— and her favorite nightlife hotspots, which sat further still. Somewhere between them all was her and Meiko's favorite gym, where they'd meet in only a few short hours.
Seeing it all there, perched on the horizon, made that evening suddenly feel very far away. Only part of it could be attributed to the physical distance; it was a beautiful, colorful world out there. More so than sterile halls and bright lights. A living world, a thriving world, a world of people and their troubles and joys. There was a reason Luka kept a bright flower in her office as often as she could, to try and bring that world inside the pale, dead halls of the facility. But it only did so much, and seeing it out there, through the window, just right there...
She blinked once and set off again. No point in sitting there, yearning, while the day wasted away. There was research to be done!
The overhead tunnel made way to another hall, then a large open space, with vending machines, art, and potted plants, all surrounding a cozy seating area which sat under a huge glass ceiling. The early afternoon sun shone bright then, bathing the middle of the space in a golden hue that overpowered the artificial white lights. More potted plants sat in that area, some over two meters tall, with large leaves casting dappled shade over the chairs. Luka was half-tempted to sit there for a moment, and always was when she passed by the area. After all, it had been proven that natural dappled sunlight was beneficial to mental well-being, and perhaps it would help her on her project.
But no; she had no time to sit and bet on 'maybe's. Gakupo was a trove of knowledge and was far more likely to help her.
She powered on, reviewing her notes; she was drawing closer to his office, it would help if she hadn't let any silly mistakes slip into her documents. The better he thought of her, the better it would be for the whole team.
When she turned into the hall where she would find his office, she fixed her appearance once again. Nothing drastic: just an extra button open, at the height of her collarbone, a slight tug at the collar to expose her neck. After her speech to Aria, she was feeling a little hypocritical, but she told herself she wasn't looking down on the senior researcher. She was simply making sure he thought well of her, and hopefully that would work in her favor in the long-run. It wasn't so much because she cared what he thought of her, at least not from a personal point of view. But Gakupo was one of Panthera's greatest researchers, an expert in numerous fields, and the man who had the most funding in the entire building. He deserved his reputation, and every penny that it got him, but that didn't stop him from having an obvious weakness that she could exploit. The more he liked her, the more he would be inclined to help, and if that meant adding his name to the paper, then so be it; the more her name sat close to his, the better her reputation would be as well.
So, once her appearance had again been fixed, she knocked on his door.
"Yes?"
"It's Dr. Megurine," she said through the door.
"Ah, yes! Come in!"
His office was a mess. While Luka kept a tidy bookcase and a nice whiteboard, he had gone full double-blackboard, his books lying in heaps on the floor, among half-empty boxes of chalk. There was a small cabinet here or there displaying some trophy or prize, but whether he displayed them out of real pride or some kind of social obligation was anybody's guess. Only his desk was clear, at least clear enough to allow him to lay out each page of his notes so he could see their contents in full. The sides of his palms were both smeared black by pencil graphite, while the dark sleeves of his rather formal uniform were dusted white with chalk. If she didn't know him, she would have guessed that the chalk had fallen in his dark purple hair as well, but she knew that those were naturally graying strands he showed no shame for. His features were otherwise youthful, his dark eyes energetic and alive, his smile earnest. He stood to greet her, shook her hand, and cleared room on his desk as he welcomed her in.
There was an undeniably strong presence to the man. It was less about the literal strength of his handshake and more about the height of his frame, his warm smile, the spark of genius resting in his eyes. He moved freely, lightly, aided by his thin, light frame, and somehow unworried of his long arms and what they might hit, almost as if he had the luxury and speed to measure out his every move before he made it, so he could fill the space around him near completely without sending a single book tumbling or making a sheet flutter.
"Aria told me that your latest plan didn't work too well!" he said, making sure his sheets went into a neat pile, which he placed on top of a stack of books.
"That's true," she admitted. She suppressed a grin when she saw his eyes linger on her neck. She saw his pause, the short stare, the slight moment where he was less of a brilliant researcher, and more like a normal human being. "I was hoping you could help point us in another promising direction."
He accepted her clipboard of notes, detaching them to lay them on the desk. "Forgive me; I have so many projects of my own. Tell me, what exactly was your game plan this time?"
Luka joined him behind the desk, forced to look at every minute note of her calculations, the specs of the machines, the temperatures, every detail and every mistake, and suppressed another sigh.
The evening was feeling further and further away.
Every evening, people started to leave the office at around four o'clock. Usually the morning birds who had arrived early, or the daring ones who would make up the lost time another day, left first, powering down their computers, waving at coworkers through office doors, and disappearing into the underground garage, their cars visible minutes later, cruising towards the highway. At around five o'clock, the largest mass of the researchers started leaving, the trickle of cars turning into a steady stream, the office doors almost all closed and locked. That was also when the lights started dimming, a gentle reminder to the dedicated that the day was coming to a close and that rest was healthy and conducive to better research. Yet, at five thirty, Luka had just finished adding her compiled notes to the online team document.
The meeting with Gakupo had been productive enough, yet she still felt disappointed; what was clearer was mostly what they couldn't do, while available options moving forward dwindled. Work after that was hardly better; everybody struggled to find the more optimistic notes of their failures. When Luka asked, hoping to get something to Aria to work on as soon as possible, she would get empty replies from lost teammates, their eyes locked on something far away, all deep in thought. It was clear that they wouldn't be running their next simulations within the upcoming week, and the lab experiments were further away still. Her lab coat was already gathering dust, but what was a little more, she thought to herself, barely aware of the darkening sky outside. Yet, the unavoidable e-mail exchanges with Mr. Shion weren't going to be fun at all, so she had no choice; postponing her meeting with Meiko had been painful.
A knock on the doorframe startled her.
"Luka?"
"Yes, Aria?"
"Uhm, we're the last ones here. You'll be going home soon, right?"
"Soon, soon. I'll just be reviewing these documents, then I'll head out."
"Alright."
Luka scrolled back to the top of her additions, but Aria lingered in the door.
"You don't have to wait for me," she gently reminded the postdoc.
She shrugged. "It's just been a bit of a lame day. I wanted to be sure you weren't going to overwork yourself again."
"Ten more minutes, Aria. I promise. I know you have something planned; you don't have to delay that for me."
"Ten minutes?"
"And not a second more." She chuckled. "You know Panthera doesn't exactly let us linger for much longer than that anyway."
The postdoc sighed, then smiled. "Ok. Goodnight, Luka."
"Sleep well, Aria. I'll see you tomorrow."
The postdoc lingered for only a second before leaving, and eventually even the sound of her steps left, leaving Luka completely alone.
She intended to keep her promise. Better yet, ten minutes was starting to feel rather long. She could see some of the city lights from her office, and through them, she already saw the crowded gym room, the treadmills, bicycles, stairmasters. A place she'd rather be.
Not five minutes later, she had hastily reread her notes, logged out, locked her door, and started walking to her car. There were several elevators leading down to the underground parking lot, for the sake of convenience, yet the nearest was starting to feel just a little too far. She didn't want to hurry though, lest someone see her and ask what kind of grand plans she had in mind for the evening, holding her up even furt—
As preoccupied as she was, she didn't even hear the footsteps of another person. Someone had run into her, or she had run into someone. She almost tripped, barely managing to stay on her feet, clutching her briefcase.
"Oh! Man, I'm so sorry, are you ok?"
Luka smiled.
"I'm fine, Ms. Hatsune."
The woman before her, Miku Hatsune, was the resident expert on fixing things. Luka wasn't sure what exactly her qualifications were, but she had seen the shorter tealette with her head in the roof fixing lamps, her body hidden under countertops to fix sinks, and in the halls, everywhere, anywhere, carrying ladders, toolboxes, cables, bulbs, tubing, pipes, tiles, and scissors of all kinds. Whatever the genius researchers couldn't fix themselves, and what didn't require a commissioned service to repair, wasn't gardening, and could be touched in the real world with her hands, were seemingly all part of Miku's skillset. She wore the company-issued outfit, canvas overalls and a white t-shirt, both emblazoned with Panthera Tech.'s logo and her full name, had her hair tied up non-stop, a toolbelt with various pouches hanging from her hips, and was always stained with some kind of grease, oil, or other liquid.
She grinned, eyes downcast, her left hand fiddling with a small mp3 player. The other hand was already, or still, working, feeling at the pouches on her belt, making sure everything was in its place. "I told you to call me Miku, Doctor."
"As long as you call me Doctor, that won't change," Luka said. "You're alright?"
"Right as rain, Doctor. Is the coffee machine still running?"
Luka chuckled. "Last I checked, it was. You fixed it?"
"Sure did. Was a bit tougher than usual, thing's basically falling apart; I try to tell the lads there to go easy on it, but they just won't listen to me. They're convinced that hitting the poor thing will make the coffee come faster but it sure won't."
Luka's smile fell. "I can try to have a word with them."
"Aw, thanks Doctor. Don't worry, I already ordered a new one, so when it inevitably falls apart, there'll be another one ready, but as long as they're banging on it so hard, well, they'll all be working on borrowed time."
"Right. I'll be sure to let them know."
"Thanks. Sorry, uh, I'd love to chat, but I gotta run."
Luka looked around. "Are people requesting repairs so late?"
The technician let out a chuckle. "Man, I wish it were as simple as some repairs! Power went out a little while ago."
Luka raised a brow. The lights were all still on, if dimmed, which was usual for that time of night. "Did it?"
"Oh, it's easy to miss. We have a real nice back-up generator, makes sure that all your lab experiments stay safe and all, but there's always a tiny flicker, you know? Lights dimming for just a second. The most obvious tell that something broke."
"Ah. Does this happen often?"
Miku finally met her eyes. It wasn't often that Luka could see her green irises; she was too shy to look most people in the eye. Or too looked down on to dare. But the taller woman saw in them alarm and concern in response to her tone, before they melted away into a tentative relief.
"No, not at all! And don't you worry, each building has its own supply, and each lab is hooked up to a battery, so even that flicker won't— I mean, uhm, your experiments are totally safe. They won't ever notice that power went out for the smallest fraction of a second."
"That's reassuring."
The technician shrugged. "Only the best tech here at Panthera Technologies! But I really gotta run, that backup generator won't hold forever. Plus I'd like to get home before the building locks down and all that."
"Of course, don't let me keep you."
"Have a nice evening, Doctor!"
"Good luck, Ms. Hatsune!"
Luka watched her leave in a jog, quickly turning a corner out of sight. Luka's warm smile fell as the technician's hurried steps faded; she knew that the tealette held only the highest respect for all the researchers around her, while getting next to none of it in return. Even though the tealette probably didn't have a doctorate, she was still immensely skilled, and it saddened Luka to see so many of her peers succumb once again to such a base reflex of pushing others down to feel better about themselves.
Of course, addressing that meant addressing all the other bullying between researchers. She could certainly try, and she did within her team, but Luka could never stop the entire facility from looking down on the poor technician. Such were things. Nothing was ever perfect. Neither was anybody; she herself had her own conniving traits, with her manipulation of Gakupo being her first thought.
"Humans are such stupid animals, really," she muttered to herself.
With barely restrained impatience she summoned an elevator, waited, then pushed the button for the underground parking. Once there, she greeted the night guard who waited there, let him check her ID, and finally made a beeline for her car.
Once there, she put her briefcase on the passenger's seat, put her key in the ignition, and pulled out her phone to text Meiko. She would be there in about half an hour, later than usual, but she cherished their gym meetings dearly. After that, she pulled down the sun visor to use the mirror there, then froze: someone was approaching her car.
She turned in her seat just in time to see Gakupo timidly wave at her through the window.
"Hello, Dr. Megurine!" he called out, his dark, thin frame somewhat unfortunately similar to a gigantic praying mantis. "It's just me!"
Luka relaxed, putting away the visor.
"Dr. Camui," she said as she lowered the window. "You surprised me."
"I'm sorry. I saw you enter your car and was afraid that you would drive off, that I would never catch you. But when the engine didn't start right away..." he trailed off, shook his head. "Forgive me. I was hoping to find you; I think I have an idea for your project."
Luka raised a brow. "Oh?"
"Yes, I had a little bit of a eureka moment as I was watching the bacteriophage cultures grow— I know, it's silly! But it struck me! I wrote it all down in the lab, and the solution is surprisingly simple! It won't take twenty minutes to explain!"
The woman glanced at her briefcase, then to her phone, thought of her waiting friend. But then there was the whole team, their faces glum, poor Aria who tried so hard. Mr. Shion with his damned e-mails.
Working out that evening would be better if she were in better spirits, too.
"If it's twenty minutes," she said, removing the key from the ignition, and picking up her briefcase. "One second. I need to let a friend know I'll be late."
"By all means."
Her phone showed a notification; Meiko wouldn't be able to stay very late at all to begin with, so Luka quickly told her that they would have to cancel their meeting that day; with the walk to and from the lab, surely about forty minutes of her time would be taken. Meiko didn't deserve to wait for that much longer.
Her heart ached, but she could go on her own. It was better than nothing.
"Lead the way, Doctor."
"Wonderful! I know it's late, and I know it's a little bit of a walk, but I promise you it will be worth your time."
Luka waited until she heard her car beep behind her, confirming that it was locked. "Care to share what it is exactly?"
He chuckled. "I think you will enjoy seeing it written out. And I will enjoy seeing your reaction!"
She rolled her eyes, wondering if it would be too obvious if she were to unbutton her blouse. "Very well. It is a bit of a walk though."
"Oh, then I can tell you about the bacteriophages, if they interest you?"
"They're a potential replacement for antibiotics, no?"
That was enough to kickstart an enthusiastic speech from the senior researcher, and Luka listened with sincere interest to the various benefits and limitations of the use of bacteriophages, letting the man lead the way to yet a different elevator, choosing the floor, and eventually leading her to the lab, which wasn't far from his office, sitting somewhat closer to Luka's department. She was even familiar with the acronym the labs there used, 'BSTD', which she always read as 'basted' in her mind, while others joked it was 'bastard'.
The lab Gakupo led her to, namely BSTD131A, was surprisingly void of large machines, instead riddled with dishes and vials, the cabinets under the counters containing bottles full of fluids of all sorts. That much Luka could see from the hall: two of the lab's walls were made of glass, letting any passersby stand outside, and potentially supervise, without having to contaminate the space. The third wall was solid though, in which the sinks were built, a pair of fume hoods, the entrance and changing rooms into the room, and control of the various lights and small machines that dotted the space. The fourth wall, opposite the hall, however, was concealed behind a large plastic screen of sorts, somewhat similar to a tall shower curtain, hanging from the ceiling on rails and reaching all the way down to the floor, dragging slightly by a few centimeters.
"Don't worry about the lab coat!" Gakupo insisted, rushing past the doors and changing rooms, almost charging into the space. "It's all fine."
"Where is it written?" Luka asked, finding no blackboards, no text whatsoever.
He pointed to the curtain. "I didn't want anybody else seeing this— I know it's late, but you never know what stray eyes may linger. And I figured you should be the first to behold it."
"That's very kind. Are you sure I don't need—"
"Oh don't worry. All the experiments here are extremely hardy! Could spit in them and it wouldn't change much! So to speak, of course," he laughed, disappearing behind the screen. "Never know what people have been putting in their mouths, really. Oh! Follow, if you please."
Behind the screen were more lab coats, tools, glasses, gloves, even a gas mask and a box of filters, containers with huge warning labels, their danger diamonds ominous, a whole mess of things littered on a countertop and hanging from the wall, all things instead of the expected blackboard or whiteboard with a simple solution.
"What...?"
"Oh, just a little further. This is the kind of lab you get if you have my kind of funding," Gakupo said with a grin, pushing aside the coats to reach for a lever that Luka couldn't see. And suddenly, a piece of the wall lurched, sinking backwards, before splitting apart, revealing yet another chamber.
Gakupo hummed proudly as he walked inside, hardly concerned at all.
"This...!"
"I know! Very futuristic, very cool, isn't it?" Gakupo said. "Only the best here at Panthera Technologies! I was allowed to use this room quite recently; it's a sight, isn't it?"
"It is..."
Truth be told, she couldn't see much of anything. Somewhat blindly, Luka stepped within, lacking the senior researcher's confidence. The room, unlike the rest of the labs and halls, was surprisingly dark. In fact, it was wholly unlike anything else she had seen in the whole building; even the eventual storage closet she had peeked inside was cleanly finished, floor to ceiling. This space, however, had only bare cement, the sleek flooring coming to an abrupt halt under the moving wall. Cables littered the ground, emerging from darkened corners, tangling in masses, all leading towards a huge, towering machine which sat in the middle of the space. Luka came to a stop when she noticed it; there was barely a part of it that wasn't concealed behind the veritable shower of cables that were plugged into it. There was a small control panel speckled with unlabeled switches and lights, but otherwise the only thing she could clearly discern was the huge empty arch underneath it. While cables slithered up to the top of the machine, like a huge, faceless head of hair, none of them so much as dangled in the arch, not even the tiniest bit of copper lingered beneath it. In fact, the cement floor there was covered with a sheet of metal.
"What is this thing?" she asked, her voice getting quieter as her eyes went higher still: the top of the machine disappeared into the ceiling, connecting with yet more wires there, which also dropped from the darkness. It was impossible to tell exactly how big or tall it was. And, to her alarm, it was humming, the noise slowly increasing in volume.
"Oh, it's a little side project of mine," Gakupo said.
Luka spun around, suddenly realizing that she had lost sight of the man. In fact, it wasn't just the corners that were darkened: she couldn't spy any of the walls, save a portion of the one she emerged from. There were no windows to this space, no illumination except for the small lights in the machines, some illuminated cables, and whatever shine that leaked in through the open door.
That pale, usually blinding light started shrinking at the edges, accompanied by the sound of the wall behind her moving. She whirled on her heel, seeing that the strange camouflaged portion of the wall was returning to its usual place. The moment she realized it would trap her with the machine, it was already too late: the two halves met in the middle, then slid forward, coming to a halt with a click.
"Dr. Camui...?"
The only reply was the return of blinding lights. But these were even more blinding than the ones in the halls, forcing Luka to shield her eyes behind her hands. Once the violence of the change faded, she lowered her hands.
The far walls were lined with glass cages.
"Ok, the gig is up! I lied," the senior researcher said, approaching her. Aside from the cages, the third wall was lined with large fans behind thick bars, between more cables, while the fourth bore only a lever, for the door Luka guessed, as well as a larger control panel, a source of a considerable number of the cables running directly to the machine.
"Gakupo, what is this?" Luka asked.
"As I said! A project of mine."
"So you brought me here just to show off—"
Movement stole her attention, just a flicker out of the corner of her eye. But then she saw it; a cat. In fact, there were several cats, each occupying a cage, pacing by their respective doors, regarding her with their large eyes. That was when she could hear the meowing, almost drowned out by the increasing hum of the machine.
"Oh, no. It's about more than showing off," Gakupo said, approaching her.
He gently took her hand, but she withdrew it quickly.
"Are you testing on cats?!" Luka hissed. "Animal testing is forbidden in this building! And what— What are you even doing to them?"
He laughed. "No, I am not 'testing on' cats," he said, his voice still warm and gentle. "Please, if you would listen—"
"I don't take too kindly to being locked in rooms."
"I understand, I understand, but you must see that this project of mine is a little, hm..." he considered his words for a moment, approaching the machine. He waved at her, inviting her to approach as well, but she lingered. "Let's say it's a little avant-garde? Too much so to try and explain it without showing it off. You saw how you reacted when you saw my dear pets. The initial reactions will be too brutal to ease into a rational discussion."
"So why show me?"
"I know you're a rational person, Dr. Megurine. You're among the smartest in this whole building, in fact. Despite your young age, you outshine many of our more seasoned coworkers! And as if whatever gods there were hadn't blessed you enough, I have to say, your beauty... Well." He paused, waving her closer once again. "You are gorgeous, neither of us shall deny that."
"I don't see what that has to do with anything."
"I'm trying to say that you're, hm, a supreme specimen. The kind who would listen to my explanations with patience and understanding."
By then, he was standing near the arch. Luka stood only a pace further away, a worried knot of fear forming in her gut. From so close, she could see that the sheet of metal under the arch was scorched and dented, while the contraption itself radiated heat. The machine's humming was growing more deafening by the second, and either she imagined it, or the meowing grew more and more urgent too.
"So, explain."
"We all know how research is, don't we? When we're young and new, we like to think that everybody is banded together for the common goal of improving the lot of humanity: furthering technology, improving health, extending life spans! But it's only hellish competition out there, isn't it."
"I won't deny that."
"Of course not. You didn't question me for a second when I said that the notes were hidden behind the curtain. We're all hoping to steal the next Nobel Prize winning idea, aren't we? Changing the world? You hope to change millions of lives, with your 3D-printed tissues! Oh, Doctor, when you succeed, you will win all the prizes, guaranteed! Any organ, limb, or tissue printed on-demand, to size, with no fear of rejection from the host? Why, you would change the lives of billions! Organ transplant waiting lists will be no more! Amputations would be stress-free! Burn victim reconstructions a fraction of the effort! Forget injuries, you could heal all the defects as well, going all the way down to ironing over the slightest inconveniences! Everybody knows this, and you guard your secrets so, so jealously. I can't blame you."
Luka eyed the arch nervously. "And this is relevant because...?"
"Why, I have to admit, it's hard as an old researcher to keep up sometimes. I've had many of my latest projects rejected for funding, you see. I'm not the only one out there creating personalized bacteriophages, or snipping at the human DNA to see what happens. Of course, I do it best, but innovation? That is the hard part. So, I'll be blunt, I need a new source of income."
"This will do that?" Luka pointed at the machine.
"Ha! Almost, but not quite. Uhm, hold still, please."
Luka obeyed, but not by any conscious intent. She was so busy processing the information, taking in the machine with the wires, the cats that were meowing their heads off, she almost didn't hear the request, becoming aware of it just in time to feel cold steel around her wrist.
"Wh—"
"All the leftover funding, as well as my personal income, allowed me to construct this thing!" Gakupo said, quickly backing away from the arch. Luka tugged at her wrist, but the cuff there was attached to a rod that emerged from the top of the arch. It was surprisingly solid, barely budging as she pulled and pushed. Meanwhile, Gakupo ranted on: "My chef d'oeuvre, I dare say! Sadly, it will not directly aid in the betterment of humanity. But it will help fund me to aid in that!"
Luka hissed, knowing that with this cuff, there was no way that she could get out from under the arch. She briefly wondered if it would hold her weight, but even if it did, she doubted her wrist would.
"Gakupo!"
"Don't worry! As you can see, I have tested it a few times! There weren't even casualties: this old fox can still do the math flawlessly!"
Luka whirled around to see the cats in the cages, who have given up on meowing. Several of them stared on, while the others had retreated to the back of their cages, their faces pressed into the corners.
The knot in her gut turned into an anvil. Her struggling increased tenfold. She even dared attempt to break the rod by hanging from her wrist, but she had to try something else, literally anything else, when she felt that her bone would indeed sooner snap. But the cuff would not give in, and the metal plate under her feet spun under her frantic kicking, offering her no traction.
"I've been told it's also quite painless, though there is always some time needed to adapt, of course," he went on, and the humming around her increased. She could almost feel the air around her shake, every lungful of air tasting warm and electric.
"Gakupo!"
"It takes just a second, but the big thing does take ages warming up, doesn't it. Too much anticipation, it's awful."
"Please!"
"Oh, don't you worry. I'll make sure your project sees the light of day, and I'll make sure Aria gets a tenured position here. I heard she's also quite bright for her age."
"Gakupo, I'm begging—"
"Ah, there we go. Fingers crossed!"
She glared at him, but the rage-induced tears in her eyes prevented her from seeing what exactly he pushed or pulled on that damned console. But the very next second, the tears were evaporated, the light more than blinding; just when she was sure her eyes would be burned out, her vision went dark. The touch of her clothes on her skin vanished, even the bite of the cuff around her wrist melted away, her skin feeling like it was folding in on itself once, twice, dozens of times. Her bones ceased to exist as her proprioception dissolved: one moment, she knew exactly where her spine was, could feel every single individual vertebrae, but the next, it was all gone. Her whole sense of self faded, getting pushed through a funnel and out of her mind, like on those sleepless nights where she was sure she was shrinking, sinking, fading from reality, until there was nothing left, when even thinking wasn't a guarantee that she could be real.