When Emily reached the door leading to the observation area for the anomalies under experimentation, she took a deep breath, strengthening her resolve. At that moment, she wasnât there as one of the grateful people who had been saved by an anomaly before; her presence was purely focused on research.
(Though she is adorable... extremely adorable, ultimately, anomalies need to be studied and cataloged. I canât lose sight of my work just because Iâm a bit attached to something that merely resembles a human)
Despite all the mental preparations Emily had made, she knew that the human heart didnât work that way. There was no way to manipulate it to behave conveniently when she wanted. In the end, Emily focused on not revealing any expression that aligned with her true feelings while the experiments were conducted.
With a firm resolution, Emily stepped into the space. The sounds of keyboards and conversations flooded her ears, and staff members were visible everywhere. However, she ignored them and walked toward the large glass panel in front of her, which completely covered the front of the space.
The glass reminded her of past events when some anomalies, using methods previously unknown, managed to break through or even shatter it. Emily shuddered at the memories of the massacres that had occurred back then. Since then, the facilities had implemented several changes to the glass to contain all types of anomalies.
âChief! Weâre here!â
As she approached the glass covering the front of the area, Emily heard Lauraâs cheerful voice. When she got closer, she saw Laura bouncing on her toes, waving her hand at her, while Graham kept his eyes fixed on a specific point on the other side of the glass.
As soon as Emily got close enough to the glass, her gaze naturally shifted to the other side. Inside, a small being was curiously observing its surroundings, one delicate finger resting near its mouth. The being's gaze was vague, perhaps even curious, but Emily still couldnât quite define how to describe that expression.
âYouâre late, Chief Researcher Emily. I almost thought you werenât going to participate in the experimentsâ
Though his words sounded like a simple courtesy to anyone who heard them, Emily knew he was trying to say, âIf you took so long, you didnât even need to come. Try to be more punctual next time.â Naturally, Emily decided to ignore the comment, as this type of exchange was common between them.
âI apologize for my delay, Director Graham. I had to deal with some important setbacks before arrivingâ
In summary, the message Emily intended to convey with her words was something like: âDo you think you can leave me out, you old man? Donât forget that Iâm the one who really holds authority at this facilityâ However, Emily didnât share any of these thoughts with Graham.
âThe reports indicate she has some type of simple regeneration, but thereâs no information on how far this regeneration extends or how resilient her body isâ
Emily nodded, corroborating Grahamâs words. It was true that the tests to assess her bodyâs resilience and the extent of her regeneration had yet to be conducted. In fact, just before Emily could carry them out,
suddenly decided to escape from her containment cell, causing chaos in the facility. Although, at this point, Emily no longer believed that
had escaped on her own; that was a matter for another occasion.
âThen letâs start by assessing her resistance to extreme temperatures. Weâll begin the experiments now. Raise the room temperature to 250 degrees; we need to evaluate how she reacts to heatâ
Voices of understanding echoed through the environment, and Emily noticed Lauraâs anxious gaze. However, she knew her only option was to observe. Although she didnât want to be so rigid, Emily didnât have a convincing enough justification to interrupt the experimentsâ progress.
âUghhh... even knowing that the anomaly is powerful, I canât help but worry; she looks so fragileâ
Emily rolled her eyes upon hearing Lauraâs words. What she really wanted was just a mental health check-up, and everyone in the facility knew these evaluations werenât always pleasant. Emily wondered if Laura had forgotten that she had killed
.
an anomaly everyone once considered impossible to eliminate, besides having faced several other anomalies from the forest with her own hands. However, Emily began to consider that it might be wise for her to undergo a mental check-up herself to ensure there was no trace of alteration in her psyche.
I considered myself a patient person. Although I couldnât recall any moment from my exciting life that required this qualityâmy memories begin from the moment I woke up in the forest and extend to nowâI was sure I had a naturally calm disposition.
However, waiting about thirty minutes in a closed space with nothing to do could even irritate a Buddha. Of course, I had never met a Buddha personally, but I imagined it would be like that. So, all I could do was look around, trying to find something in the white room to distract me, but, in fact, there was nothing to do.
Well, at least the wait didnât last long. While I thought of ways to annoy Laura during our next encounter, something finally happened: suddenly, a part of the wall above where I was sitting became transparent. Or would it be more appropriate to say it became visible? Considering that the glass was probably there from the beginning, perhaps the word âvisibleâ is the most fitting.
But, anyway, on the other side of the glass were Laura, who was looking at me with a worried expression for some reason; Emily, whose face reflected curiosity mixed with a certain fear; and lastly, the old man who had sent an armed man into my room, who ended up hitting me with a shot.
No matter how I analyzed the situation, it seemed like a gathering of intelligent people observing a test subject about to undergo some kind of experiment. Honestly, I really wished my thoughts were wrong.