Super Science
Ch 66: A New Friend?
"It's nice to finally meet you, Dr. Shield. I have to say I'm quite excited to have such an esteemed scientific creator in my office. I hope your trip wasn't too bad getting here.", Egon greeted the man sitting in his office, trying to hide the excitement on his face.
David, in much the same way, also tried to hide his excitement. He said, "I'm honestly excited to meet you, Professor Crystallo. You and your ward have made quite a splash in the scientific community. And the plane ride was fine; getting into this facility was the hard part."
Egon rubs the back of his head and apologizes, "Sorry about that. Needed measures and all."
David put on a worried expression and said back, "I heard about the attack. I'm sorry to hear everything and see it in person. The reporters really don't do it justice."
Egon waved off his apology and assured him, "It's fine, we lived, we won. The only thing to do next is to get better and rebuild."
David smiled and praised him, "That's a nice outlook on it."
Egon then looked at a pile of papers on his desk and asked the man, "So your daughter, Melissa, wants to intern here?"
"Exactly.", David confirmed.
"Is this what she wants?", Egon asked with skepticism.
"Of course…why would you ask that?", David inquired back with equal confusion.
"No offense, David, but I've seen high-brow parents like you try to force your kids into the same path they took. You know what happened to their kids?", Egon asks him bluntly as David shakes his head.
Egon then lists off and states in a straightforward manner, "The few that didn't come out as exact copies of their parents ended up dead, broke, homeless, on drugs, or cut ties. I want to break the cycle before the already declining population declines any further."
David sweat drops, understanding his concerns and assuring him, "I can assure you my daughter is true to her intentions and interests. I tried to get her to like or try other things, but she always insists on being in the lab."
Egon sighs in relief and replies, "Well, that's good to hear. I'm sure you know we have dorms being built in our new building, and it won't be ready for a while. So I hope she has a place to stay."
"Already taken care of.", David tells him.
Egon smiles with a sparkle as he says, "Super. With all the paperwork you have in order, I see no other reason to stall other than knowing if she'll get along with the others."
"Melissa is a sweet girl. She'll get along with anyone.", David says, waving off his concerns.
"I hope. My staff is a bit…quirky.", Egon states as he looks off to the side, reminding himself of their behavior.
"Before that, can I ask you for a favor?", David inquired with an air of uncertainty.
"No.", Egon bluntly says.
"You didn't even hear what I wanted.", David argued.
"The way you said it makes me know it'll be something I'll end up saying no to in the end.", Egon argues back.
"At least give me a chance.", David begged him.
Egon gave a long sigh and then twirled his wrist as he told him, "Fine, let me hear it."
"I would like your permission to take a small research squad to Pacifica to study its flora and fauna.", David asked him excitedly.
"No.", Egon once again bluntly told him, not missing a second after he was asked.
"You didn't even think about it.", David points out.
Egon slaps his face and then explains to the man, "I don't have to, and the answer is no. Pacifica is dangerous with a capital BIG! If the flora doesn't poison, strangle, or chew you up, then the fauna will kill you for just looking at them funny without a moment of hesitation! And that's just the herbivorous. Plus, the dragon we sent there originally just gave birth to several hundred smaller dragons all across the island. And the copious amount of life sentence and death row inmate villains from Japan and the rest of the dang world on the island."
"Wait, I thought it was just criminals from Japan?", David inquired in confusion and concern.
Egon rolls his eyes while explaining further, "Other countries caught wind and decided to subvert their prison problems by taking a page out of Japan's book. I'm sorry, but until we set up a basecamp and fix several issues, the answer is no. I won't have you throw away the lives of scientists who can't even defend themselves!"
"Don't you think you're being a bit pessimistic?", David argued while putting a small space between his index finger and thumb.
Egon gives him a deadpan expression as he states, "Shield…I'm a wimp; you're a wimp. Literally, everyone in our field is a wimp. And you want to send them to what is essentially Death Island?"
"Okay, good point.", David finally relented.
"Plus, they'd never even find solace in the caves due to the giant spiders and the new cave trolls we placed there.", Egon added casually.
David just stared at him like he had just grown another head and asked in a low tone, "The what?"
Izuku was sitting at his desk, nose-deep in writing something out at a breakneck pace. He was so focused that he didn't hear his door open or when a person walked right up to his desk. They stood there for a solid minute, but Izuku still didn't notice them.
Finally, Izuku broke out of his mojo when the person said, "Hi there."
Izuku shifted only his eyes to be surprised by the sight of a pretty blonde girl he had never seen before. He quickly realized who it was as he stammered out, "Ah! Girl! There, Girl, HI!" "I-I mean, you must be Izuku-No! I mean you green, and I'm Shield and-! NO!", he froze up as the girl's unchanging expression continued to stare at him until he flopped face first on his desk and moaned, "I-I-I-I….please kill me."
"You're funny", the girl giggles as Izuku turns red. So you already know me?" the girl inquires, earning a nod from Izuku. So I don't have to tell you I'm Melissa Shield?" she asks further, getting a head shake. And you are?" she finally asks him.
Izuku tried to open his mouth on the desk, but no words came out, no matter what he tried. Until a certain robotic-sounding female voice clucked, "His name is Dr. Izuku Midoryia, and he's never met another woman besides his mom."
Izuku shot up his head and yelled, "Dr. Orpington!"
The chicken doctor, standing in the open doorway on her mobile cart, drank from her coffee mug and nonchalantly stated, "You're gonna frighten her off or lose your only chance at a normal, healthy friendship. It's better just to get it out in the open. You'll thank me later."
"Thank you?!", Izuku yelled.
"You're welcome.", Cluck chirped as she left, leaving an embarrassed and flustered Izuku behind.
After an awkward moment of silence, Melissa broke the ice and said, "So…talking chicken?"
"Getting her to shut up is the issue.", Izuku gripes, his face still red.
"I heard your employees are quirky.", she observes.
"That's a nice way of putting it.", Izuku agrees while looking off to the side.
"But don't worry. I don't have much experience with boys apart from my dad.", Melissa assured him with a chuckle, making the teen blush again. She then walked to the door, standing at the doorway while looking back. She asked, "So, will you show me around? Even if it is smaller, I get lost easily."
"Su-Sure.", Izuku agreed, feeling a ping of new feel well up in his chest.
Izuku and Melissa then went around the remainder of the facility, where the green teen showed her to every room and division, explaining each one with minor details so that she would only stay in one place for a short time. He even introduced her to all of the staff, allowing them to get acquainted. Then they made their way to the animal division, where Izuku would get embarrassed for the second time today.
"And this room-.", Izuku began as he showed her the new room.
"Is where Doctor Midoriya comes to cry.", Otto, who was sitting in the room, said with a smug tone.
Even though Izuka was red in the face, he didn't react like he normally does. Instead, he very calmly corrected in a threatening tone, "Actually, it's where we prepare the Octopus fritters, Professor Cheplode." Otto just shrugged as he dipped his coffee, and Melissa chuckled. "Cluck put you up to this, didn't she?" Izuku deadpans.
Otto pulls out a bag of jumbo exotic shrimp and says, " I can't say no to good shrimp."
Izuku sighed and then walked away from the room with Melissa in tow. You then brought the girl to the outside of the facility. Where the only outdoor seating area remained, they both sat down to look at the view of the city that surrounds them, trying their best to ignore the many security guards littered all about the property.
As they say in silence, Izuku decides to do something new for the first time in his life and talk to a girl, asking her, "So, uh, Melissa. Why did you want to intern here? You live on I-Island, your father is one of the head researchers, you have it all."
"Dad wanted me to try and build up myself through my achievements and not nepotism. And I want that, too. I want to challenge myself, and Dad really thinks this is the right place to get my feet wet.", She explained.
"Your dad must really love you.", Izuku observed.
"He does.", she agreed while placing a hand under her chin.
As they continued to enjoy the silence between them, Melissa's eyes veered off, and she asked, "Hey, what's that?"
Izuku looked at what she was pointing to and saw Genus taking out Staro for his daily sunning. So he explained, "That's Staro. Between you and me, he's an alien and a little finicky around new people."
"No way!", Melissa exclaimed in shock as her eyes held the sparkle of wonder.
After this, they went back inside, passing by the Creature Division to meet Gammoth. Along the way through the large creature section, Melissa came upon a strange creature that poked its head out of a paddock and inquired, "What's…that thing?"
Izuku turned his head and instantly went pale as she saw what he was referring to! That wasn't one of the things he was ready to show, at least not yet. So, as calmly as he could, he explained, "Oh, we call it the Mantelope. It was supposed to be an all-natural processor. You know, like a memory chip. But somehow we got to…this during the creation."
The Mantelope was a large quadruple creature that vaguely resembled a deer or antelope. It has no body hair apart from its head, with peach-colored skin. It had long, spindly legs with cloven hooves, a long, strong neck, and a robust body that had an unusual human-looking face on it.
"What is it, or what did it used to be?", Melissa asked, staring at the strange creature with a mixture of disgust and intrigue.
"Not…sure.", Izuku carefully lied through his teeth. "Genus makes all kinds of things from different creatures. He once turned a mammal into a fish." He brought this up to change the flow of the topic.
Melissa then looked down at its paddock's door and asked, pointing to a sign hanging above it, "Why is it named Overhaul?"
Izuku nearly freaked out and had to quickly and calmly explain to her, "Oh! That's not its name; it's the…designation. It will be Overhauled for retesting or re-evaluation. Typically, we don't like to kill the creatures we make."
"Why does it look so sad?", she inquired while looking into its large yellow eyes.
"That's just how it looks.", Izuku told her.
"It's so unnerving. It has this uncanny valley look to it—like looking at a person but…not.", Melissa said as a cold shiver ran up her back.
"And that's why it has Man in its name.", Izuku told her as he tried to maneuver them away from this pen.
But just before they could get far enough away from it, a small voice called out to him, "Izuku! I want to ride the Mantelope!"
Izuku turns and sees Eri happily running towards him and the Mantelope pen. Izuku sighs inwardly and tells her while motioning to Melissa, "Later, Eri, I'm giving a tour to our new friend."
"Ara, so I'm your friend already, Doctor?", Melissa asks with a teasing tone, making Izuku flush.
Eri looked up at the girl and instantly asked, "Are you Izuku's girlfriend?"
Izuku's face went bright red, and Melissa smiled with a soft chuckle. She knelt and patted her head, saying, "I'm just his friend who's a girl."
Eri blinked and stared at her mindlessly before turning around and running down the hallway as she yelled, "Egon! Izuku has a girlfriend!"
"Eri!", Izuku yelled at her in a scolding tone.
Suddenly, the PA system blared to life, and Egon's voice called out, "Everyone owes me money!"
"Egon!", Izuku yells at the speaker while crumpling to his knees and hiding his face.
Later on, at the end of the work day, Izuku walked Melissa out of the building and security guards. Just before she left for the day, she turned back to Izuku and told him, "I have to say, Doctor. I had a fun day today. I can't wait to work with you all and see what tomorrow brings."
Izuku smiles as he nods his head and says back, "Me too. I've gotta say, Melissa, you're probably the second friend I've made."
"Ara, who's the first?", she asks.
Before he could open his mouth to answer, Honey Lemon yelled out, "Chopper, no! Don't eat those!"
The two teens turned their heads to see the scientist cornering the intelligent animal as he tried to protect something small in his hooves.
"But they smell like a million Cotton Candy!", Chopper cried in desperation as he held tightly to the small golf ball-sized sphere.
"That's because it's highly condensed super sugar! You'll blow up like a balloon!", Honey Lemon stressed to him in concern.
But the reindeer didn't listen as he swallowed the whole thing in one go. Things seemed fine at first until they weren't. Like Honey Lemon told him, the small animal blew up like a balloon! Leaving him useless and round.
"Worth it.", Chopper said after his bodily expansion.
Honey Lemon sighs, and as she rolls him back to the lab, she moans, "Time to get the juicer."
"Yay! I love the juicer.", Chopper cheers.
"...Him.", Izuku trailed off as Melissa fell to the ground from laughing so hard.