1x1 with Pudding

[pudding]

Nano watched the stranger scuttle out of her building, taking some small satisfaction in chasing away another idiot who thought they could just wave a paper around and force their way into her business. But there was something wrong this time. Something strange. Normally, there was more of a shove back. A biting response telling her to prepare for them to actually get a warrant from the locals, only to be denied later on. She received reports from the Mayor so she knew when people went to see them and how often they were denied. But this stranger had all but rolled over and given up the second she had politely told them to pack up their things and get the hell out of her city.

 

"Steven, make a call to the Mayor," She ordered, watching the door slide shut behind the stranger. "Tell them to be on the lookout. I want any reports if that stranger tries to get an actual warrant." With that, she turned and strode back into the building, quickly making her ways through the grey and white halls until she reached an out of place, wooden door. Pulling out her key, she unlocked the door before making her way inside her office. She'd have to write a report, of course. As she started to pull out paper to write down a notice to the CEO of what had happened, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her radio.

 

"Orion?" She called into the receiver with a small frown. "Please come to my office immediately."

[shadow_claw]

They were busy. Subject 15 had become increasingly resistant to their current sedative, and as such, needed to have another drug concoction made. That required blood, of which Subject 15 had been adamant about resisting. 

 

Orion exited the alien's cell, a few vials of red liquid in their hand. At first glance, it looked remarkably ordinary. But when examined, her blood had a rainbow sheen to it much like oil. It was fascinating to look at, but now wasn't the time. 

 

It had taken quite some time to convince the Oeshian to leave Teddy's cell, and even more time to purge her cell of Teddy's scent. Teddy himself seemed to have a weak olfactory sense, but Subject 15 certainly did not. Still, everything had settled down pretty well.

 

"Oriom?" 

 

Snatching the walkie-talkie from their belt, Orion put the device before their mouth. "Yes ma'am?" 

 

"Please come to my office immediately."

 

"Of course." They hurried about finishing their task, dropping off the samples at Phelbotomy before darting up to the main floors. It wasn't long until they were inside Nano's office. "Good morning, miss Nano. Is everything alright?" 

[pudding]

By the time Orion had reached her office, Nano had managed to produce a large bottle of whiskey and was filling up a glass with it. Sure, many people treated alcohols like whiskey as a thing to sip and smell and swirl around in the glass like a refined human being. Nano, on the other hand, was a stressed human being with a complicated relationship with alcohol, and over the years had taken to disregarding her liver so much that she filled the whiskey glass full to the top. 

 

Not bothering to glance up at Orion as he entered, she returned the bottle to it's hiding place beneath her desk and downed a good quarter of the glass in one massive gulp before finally looking up at Orion. "A few moments ago, I met in the reception area with an FBI agent with a warrant who insisted they needed to look at our records and look around the building." It was a rare occurrence, honestly, since people had mostly decided to leave NanoLabs alone as it continued to expand and expand. Honestly, with their power, it was a surprise they hadn't taken over the entire state by now. They could do it as well. But they were comfortable in their city, and expanding politically at this point would just encourage more and more people like the FBI agent to come sniffing after spouting off whatever excuse they had come up with this time.

 

"They left far too quickly for my liking. Didn't even get a name out of them. Naturally, this sort of thing needs to be looked into, wouldn't you agree?" It wasn't really a question so much as it was an order. Go find out who it was that had tried to barge into NanoLabs and make sure it didn't happen again. Not murder, of course. Absolutely not, they were civilized people here. But, more importantly, someone like that disappearing right now was very suspicious and reflected poorly on NanoLabs. She just wanted information. Who they were, why they were really here. 

[shadow_claw]

Orion listened to the situation in silemce, eyes drifting to the tall glass filled with alcohol. Their eyebrows drew together in concern, but they knew better than to say anything. 'I can clone a new liver whenever I want, Orion'. 'People deal with their problems in different ways, Orion'. It had become such blatant denial that there was frankly no good way to bring it up any more. 

 

Swallowing hard, they frowned. Yes, that was certainly strange. It was rare for government officials to snoop around, and when they did, they caused quite the commotion. This was a front of some sort. "And you would like me to do that." They sighed, running fingers through their hair. "Give me a few moments. I shouldn't go out into public like this."

 

Indeed, Orion's clothing choice was pretty odd. Heavy rubber boots, thick rubber gloves, and a labcoat and scrubs weren't exactly a pleasing look. But it was clean and effective. "I'll go as soon as I'm in public clothing."

 

---

 

It didn't like long to find the odd person described to them. In a city full of unsuspecting people, the stranger stuck out like a sore thumb. They continually were looking about, seemingly both baffled and awed by everything around them. Orion blinked from where they stood, pressing a finger to the comma unit in their ear. 

 

"They have eye spots, ma'am. I do believe your suspiscions are-" Orion stopped as the stranger shrieked at a passerby. Or, their dog. The beast snarled and barked at the strange man, sending Orion's target sprinting away. Okay. Dogs didn't like them, and they were afraid of dogs. They frowned, tailing the green-haired oddity in silence. 

[pudding]

The elusive CEO of NanoLabs's office occupied the tallest floor of NanoLabs. In fact, the entire upper floor was a reserved space where he lived. He rarely left and rarely directly communicated with the people who worked for him aside from through letters, and even then they were usually only addressed to the Head Scientist, Nano. He had no issue with allowing her to run the labs and in return for the funds he had provided, she obeyed the instructions she received without question. She did not question when he asked her to begin projects in cloning tissue. She did not ask why when he sent her out into the forest to find a crashed alien ship. She didn't dare inquire when he had her find a second living alien, or collect deceased samples and create twisted experiments that ultimately resulted in her right hand, Orion, being created.

 

Funny, really, how such a small amount of shiny metal could buy loyalty. 

 

The CEO stared at the large, cylindrical vat that sat in his office. Much of his day was spent staring at it quietly, longingly. But the creature inside had not moved in thousands of years, and he would not move today. Not yet.

 

But soon.

 

He reached out, touching the glass of the vat and sighed. Soon.

 

--

 

"Keep tailing them," Nano ordered, watching the beacon on her computer blink, keeping track of Orion's progress through her city. It wasn't long before he came back into range of one of the many street cameras, and with a quick code into her computer the feed popped up, allowing her to see Orion on the screen. There, ahead of him, was the person he was trailing. 

 

Hmm... What were they doing? They hadn't left her city yet. Chewing on her lip, Nano refilled her glass of whiskey and sipped from it quietly. What was this game they were playing? Whatever it was, they weren't going to win.

[shadow_claw]

"Of course." Orion muttered in response. The weather was nice today, fairly warm for the approaching winter months. But the green-haired stranger seemed to be cold. They rubbed their arms, shivering as a gentle passed by. Odd. 

 

Things had been going well, following this young adult. That was, until the breeze shifted upwind. The stranger froze instantly, spinning around. Orion had little time to duck behind a building. When they peeked out from around the corner, the suspect had vanished. 

 

Damn It! It seemed this one, like Subject 15, would be fairly evasive. Orion pressed a finger to their earpiece once more, frowning. "I've lost visual-" 

 

Hands reached out snatching the small scientist and dragging them into an alley. Before them stood the stranger from before. Stunned, Orion stared wide-eyed at the young adult. 

 

"You smell like them." The green-haired person stated. "You smell like my brother." 

 

"B-brother?" Orion stammered, unsure. Who was-OH. As soon as the stranger looked them in the face, all confusion fell out the window. "Those eyemarks..." The Oeshian let them go, straightening up and smoothing out their odd jumpsuit. 

 

"My name is Pro'uhr, and you have been harboring a wanted fugitive." 

[pudding]

Even if Orion hadn't started to tell her about the sudden disappearance of the target, she could see the entire thing on the camera feeds. No issue. If Orion lost track of the target, it was fine. Either they'd come sniffing back around, or they'd leave for good. But what she didn't anticipate was Orion suddenly being grabbed and pulled into the alley, out of the way of the cameras. 

 

"Crap!" Nano swore, instinctively smacking her desk when Orion suddenly vanished. Okay, no problem. She could activate a new clone as soon as she confirmed Orion was deceased. Having two running around at the same time would be troublesome, so they never activated clones until a corpse was confirmed. But more important, this meant whoever this was in her city, they weren't going to just leave quietly. Picking up a phone, she quickly pressed a button and held her breath until a voice crackled through the microphone on her earpiece.

 

"Hello?"

 

"Mayor, we have a problem. FBI, supposedly, but it needs to be taken care of. I'm sending you images from our security footage. I don't care what charge you come up with, but I want this issue wrapped up in so much red tape that they won't untangle themselves for months."

 

"No problem, I'll see what I can do."

[shadow_claw]

Orion didn't move to make a run for it. They already knew that doing so would prove disastrous. A body was easy to clean in the smooth, white walls of a lab. In the city? Not really. They gasped softly as the alien released them in favor of inspecting the scientist. The only other Oeshian Orion had met killed them without hesitation. Looking over the self-proclaimed Pro'uhr, they didn't seem remotely inclined to attack. 

 

"I do not want to have to...call reinforcements." They began carefully. Orion frowned, both hands stuffing into their pockets. "But you have an asset to the Oeshian Empire..." The green-haired stranger frowned, rubbing the back of their neck. They looked up at the scientist uneasily. 

 

"Asset?" Orion repeated with a frown. Things were starting to piece together, albeit slowly. The stranger's eyes widened, as if they had made a mistake. 

 

"I, uh...Oh. Mistake..." An odd, nearly incomprehensible accent slipped into their voice as they spoke. It sounded more like hisses than it did English. "Namina is...ssssibling." The more they spoke, the worse it got. A worried look passed across their face. "Been missssing long time...Father very ssad...Let brother go?" 

 

Orion blinked at the alien, unsure of what to say. Subject 15 had a family, and was apparently valuable to their people. And, it didn't seem like she was fond of said family. "I can't. It's not my choice to make." Orion answered softly. To their surprise, the alien seemed genuinely saddened by this. They placed a careful hand on Orion's shoulder. 

 

"I will grieve you." Before Orion could respond, Pro'uhr was darting back through the alleys. Stumbling out into the city once more, the put a hand to their head. That...was a lot to process. 

 

"Did...did Subject 15 mention a Pro'uhr?" They managed into the comms device. "Because...they had a lot to say..."

[pudding]

Wait. 

 

There, on the cameras. Orion had come back into view once more, stumbling slightly but very much alive. Their voice crackled through the communication device, alive and not dead. Good, good. They weren't going to have to release another clone then. Honestly, the entire cloning process was more than a little bit unnerving to her. It was genius, pure brilliance, sure. But she never wanted to have to replace her entire body at once, out of fear that the new clone wouldn't actually be her. It was just an internal philosophical debate and one she shouldn't be having, but it had enough of a hold on her to worry whenever she had to revive Orion. What if one time he came back wrong?

 

"No," She replied with a frown, unsure of what a Pro-whatever actually was, but knowing it didn't sound familiar at all. "Just come back to NanoLabs. I've got the Mayor looking into this now, so they can take over from here." When Orion came back they were going to have to check for any kind of injuries or potential other issues. Completely off the record, NanoLabs had been looking into some pretty nifty brainwashing techniques, and if they were working on that it was entirely possible and likely it already was a science elsewhere in the galaxy. Hell, the fact that Teddy could apparently do it naturally was a huge worry. It was unfortunate, but if Orion was compromised by something like that, the easiest solution was just to activate a new clone after disposing of this current one.

 

Anything to keep NanoLabs secrets safe.

[shadow_claw]

As expected, Orion was almost immediately shoved through processesing when they returned. It wasn't long until they were wearing naught but a hospital gown and were being poked and prodded. Nano never fussed over anyone else like this. Then again, nobody else ever was in contact with...with aliens. But this was no different than any other time Nano decided to fuss over them. This happened...often. Especially after being revived. 

 

The scientist sighed, extending an arm as a blue band wrapped around their upper arm. Nano wouldn't stop fussing until every toxicology report in the book came back clean. But they were unharmed, even after meeting that other alien. The one that claimed to be related to Subject 15. Why hadn't they killed them? Why hadn't they died like before? Orion would never admit it, but they were incredibly grateful for that. Even if they didn't follow the same rules of death...

 

The void seemed to call more and more after each death. It was wrong, being able to cheat death over and over. Did they even have a soul any more, or did it leave after their first death? There was once a time Orion felt awful for imprisoning Teddy, and would have felt worse for torturing Namina so. When had all that left? When did the misery of few become a trifling concern in the face of progress? Was compassion not the staple of humanity? Were they even human at this point?

 

Were they ever human?

 

---

 

Beyond the city, hidden away in the dense forest, the green-haired stranger glanced about. That had been close, with that red-haired fellow. Pro'uhr didn't want to hurt them, and still didn't. Contacting Zydrian would be even worse, as they would be prone to a full-on invasion. Father? Father might be...

 

They stopped in front of a large rock, nudging it with their foot. Its disguise shimmered away, revealing a small, sleek ship. A door slid open, and Pro'uhr slipped inside. Their form rippled as they entered to reveal one much similar to Namina. Like her, they were a tall, bipedal creature with a long face and a thick tail. They carried a few differences to the other Oeshian, however. For one, they were smaller. Just as tall, but their body lacked the muscle mass and raw strength. They only had four eyes as well, the lower two having been removed due to medical complications. It was common in their people, to need eyes removed. Finally, their frills were stained green. The color itself meant "peaceful" in many corners of space. On this planet, it seemed to convert a different meaning. 

 

They sighed, eyes resting on the blank screen before them. They warily hovered a hand over it, watching as it flickered to life. They had no choice; they couldn't rescue Namina alone. In a soft, alien language, they spoke. 

 

"Contact General Nycol with the following message: Pro'uhr has located Namina in sector five, division two. Star twelve, orbiting body three. Planetary status: thriving life source, inhabited by intelligent beings. Technology status: developed, but not space fledged. Proceed carefully as to not disturb its inhabitants."  

 

As soon as the message sent, Pro'uhr put their head in their hands. Would Father heed their warnings to be careful? None of them had seen Namina for...many of Oeshu's orbits. Father had not been very well since the disappearance of his youngest. Namina had been very small when she vanished, and all had mourned. Nycol had refused to believe they had died, however. He'd almost obsessively sent search parties, though none as far as small as this galaxy. Would Father find peace with being re-united? Would this planet be left unharmed? 

 

Pro'uhr could only hope. 

 

[pudding]

Nano looked over the reports as thoroughly as possible before finally relenting, letting the papers fall flat against her clipboard. "You're clear," She said. Everything had come back clear from all of the tests. If the supposed FBI agent had tried to do anything, it either hadn't come up on the reports or, unlikely as it was, they simply didn't try anything. Sighing, she placed the clipboard on the table nearby before pulling a flask out of the pocket of her lab coat and taking a quick swig of the contents. 

 

It really was things like this that drove her to drink in the first place. Now it had become something of a crutch to keep her from falling apart under all the stress. 

 

"I'm filing a report anyway. The CEO is going to need to decide what to do. You said the creature only requested Subject 15?" As much as she didn't want to, faced with an alien empire they might be forced to relinquish Subject 15 back to it's people. But if they didn't know about, or request Teddy, there was no reason to reveal that information. Of course, that depended on how this species reacted to this information. If they were pacifistic, they could gather as much genetic material as possible and try to create a clone of the creature. It was unlikely it would work since only humans had been tested with their cloning so far, but they could get lucky. If not, they'd still need to collect as much as possible if possibly losing their subject was on the table.

 

-

 

The CEO paused when his computer beeped, turning away from the vat and towards the screen. Oh? He had managed to intercept a message originating from Earth. With a gesture he turned the volume up and listened, frowning slightly at the language. His Oeshian was rusty after so long, he couldn't really play it by ear. Luckily, the scraps he had salvaged from his ship that made up the template for most of the technology in his office could easily translate. With another gesture, he set the task going. 

 

The Oeshian he had ordered captured had no access to the technology to send messages across space. That meant there had to be another one somewhere on this planet. Curious. Curious indeed. 

 

Well, he'd just have to wait for the message to finish translating. Of course, the message he had intercepted was more like overhearing a conversation rather than actually stopping the message from going through. Depending on the recipient of this message, it was entirely possible he would have to adjust his scheduling. He didn't want to be caught unawares if the Oeshians had suddenly become aware of him.

 

But that was impossible. The one in the sub levels had not seen him and why would they be looking for someone that should be dead?

[shadow_claw]

Orion snapped out of their thoughts as soon as Nano spoke, turning to stare at her. Exhaustion ringed beneath their eyes as their gaze drifted to the flask in her hands. Of course. The only reason she was upset was always the influence of alcohol. That thought from before sat heavy on their chest, still weighing on their mind. It made it hard to focus on Nano.

 

Were they even human? 

 

"Yeah." Orion replied, their voice distant. Normal people couldn't die and be replaced in another body. No living thing could! They slowly looked away from Nano, eyes coming to rest on their hands. "Called her their 'brother'..." Did they have siblings? Did all those clones count as twins? Orion looked up suddenly, their pale gaze piercing the door. "What number am I?" Memories of death never existed, not really. They were just like...nightmares. Nightmares they could feel. Ghosts of scars crawled all over their skin. "What was I like before the lab, Nano?  When I didn't have a....body count?"

 

---

 

The green light on the screen bled into red as a call emerged. Pro'uhr swallowed hard at the Oeshian Military sigil. "Father..."

 

"They are here, on that little planet?" A voice, soft but desperate, filtered through. Surely the aline on the other end had put in the designated planet and was scouring it for information. Anything, anything that would help. "Pro'uhr, my child-"  Their voice hitched, but another interrupted.

 

 "Recommended action will be taken. A diplomatic convoy will be deployed as soon as possible."  Pro'uhr's ears angled backwards, recognizing the voice of Zydrian. Dammit, they had hoped the middle sibling would stay out of this. They were always...meddling. They thought force was always the best action to be taken. Leaning forward, they curled their lips back in unease. 

 

"Brother, do NOT attack. This planet has no means of which to defend itself. There is no needed military force." Pro'uhr only relaxed when their father's voice sounded on the other line. Poor father sounded so weary, but so hopeful. 

 

"I will go alone, children. This old man can take care of themself." They cleared their voice, and Pro'uhr heard the sweeping movement of clothing. "Preparing for departure immediately. I will see you soon, my child."  

 

Like that, the line went dead. The Oeshian sighed heavily, leaning back in their seat. A trip like that would still take a week at the least, but they were just glad to have gotten the news out. Their mission had succeeded. For now, they could rest, and they could wait. 

[pudding]

Siblings? Oh boy. At least the prince, even though he was royalty, had no one coming for him. But family made things unreasonable and complicated because family was unreasonable and complicated. Families made things personal and didn't understand that sometimes, there were better things to do than trying to keep ties solid. If Subject 15's family showed up and demanded her back, it could get difficult very quickly.

 

At Orion's abrupt question, she scowled and quickly took another sip from her flask, this one much, much longer than before. "Number?" She echoed quietly. This was above her pay grade. "I don't know. Five?" It was written down somewhere but she did her best not to actually pay attention to the specific number. It made it harder to look at Orion when all she could think of was how many different ways he had died. "You'd have to ask the CEO," She finally said, screwing the top back onto her flask and shoving it back into her pocket. "I wasn't the one who hired you, and I don't keep track of that paperwork. He's the one who has all the records." Was she redirecting the issue? Absolutely. But this wasn't a conversation she wanted or needed to have.

 

What she needed was a strong, stiff drinker. Stronger than what was in her flask. 

[shadow_claw]

Orion set their jaw, deciding it was best not to say what they were thinking. Squeezing the truth out of Nano was difficult, less so when drunk. They had no choice but to accept her answer. The CEO never answered their previous letters, only  ever acknowledging he recieved official reports. "If that's all you want from me, then." 

 

Orion stood, moving to the door quickly. They just wanted to be alone. It was only when they grabbed the door handle did Orion give away their frustration and anger. It was no secret to Nano just how strong they were, but Orion usually exerted extreme caution. The doorknob twisted like aluminum foil in their hand, snapping off as they turned it to open the door. 

 

Orion stared at the broken handle in their hand, a hot blush turning their face and ears red. Yes, they were angry. But they were more scared and unsure than anything. Humans couldn't do that. Without anything to keep it closed, the door slowly swung open. Orion crumpled the doorknob into a ball, dropping it on the floor and fleeing. 

 

---

 

Their security was surprisingly...bad. For a lab meant to hold Oeshians, anyways. All Pro'uhr had to do was steal a face and a uniform, and the rest did itself. They kept a rectangle of a strange red material, which was iridescent in the light. They took the object out of their pocket, effortlessly tearing off a chunk and flattening it to a credit-card shape. It shimmered in their hands, replicating itself to that of an ID card. Too easy. 

 

Once inside, Pro'uhr pricked up their ears. Of course, it was quite the feat in a human form. But walking through the halls eventually rewarded them with the familiar sound of a hollow wall. The alien managed to slip through, having found a seam and working their way in by shifting to a much smaller form. 

 

Their smell was so heavy down here. Down those stairs and through a hall, and they were practically vibrating with excitement. Na'mina was here! After all this time! Pro'uhr stopped before a cell, which was plain save for window bars on the door. 

 

"Brother! Mina! It's me-!" The Oeshian couldn't even finish before a clawed gray hand shot through the bars of the cell and grabbed them by the neck. Pro'uhr let out a gargled cry, their human form dropping away. "I...Am...here to...save you..?" 

Edited December 25, 2017 by shadow_claw

[pudding]

The CEO's finger trailed over a button on his desktop as he watched over the security monitors. Nano's report was well received, and he had been watching for such an opportunity. Waiting. And now a rat had crawled right into his trap. 

 

With a wave of his hand, the video feed from the hall shimmered away to instead reveal the secret hall. Clearly, the cunning of the Oeshians had failed over the years if this was the best they could do to save one of their own kind. This prison was designed to hold an Oeshian. Why did it believe sneaking into a base would be so easy?

 

Oh well. Two in the trap was better than one. Shrugging slightly and giving it no more thought, he pressed the button on his desk.

 

Immediately, the lower levels sealed. The space in between the doors was closed off, the windows sealed and several layers of solid metal doors slid into place, blocking any possible exit and providing more resistance to a possible escape attempt. The vents funneling air into the halls sealed shut before the backup oxygen tanks kicked in. He didn't want to kill them by robbing them of breath, but this way not even something like a shapeshifter would be able to escape. Finally, as a last touch, the halls in the lights switched from white to red, signaling a warning. If needed, he could always pump the hidden level full of knock out gas, but that would be a final resort as he was sure Nano would not appreciate it.

 

----

 

"Orion," Nano snapped as the lights suddenly dimmed and were replaced with a harsh, red light. Quickly chasing him down the hall, she grabbed ahold of the back of his shirt with a frown. "Escape attempt. We need to look into it." This was no time for running away and fleeing. They had a job to do.

[shadow_claw]

As soon as the lights beamed red, Namina released the other alien immediately. They gasped loudly, staggering into a wall. A wall...that hadn't been there before. Looking about frantically, they paced the small room. "Air tight...They m-made it air tight..." Not even Oeshians could become microscopic. There was no shape-changing out of this one. A bold move, and a clever one at that. Fumbling through their pockets, they retrieved the strange red brick once more. "Here, use this." They tossed it through the window bars into Namina's cell. 

 

She only just managed to dodge out of the way of the alien brick. Turning, she picked up the surprisingly light object and turned it in her hands. "What is this?"

 

"Yours." Pro'uhr replied, peering through the cell. "Do you not recall how to use it? It was designed to your bio-signature; I am unable to use it to its full function." Mina frowned, squeezing the object. It was light, but solid. Strange. "It works like....changing forms. You must will its shape into being." Great. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on the stupid brick. It definitely had a...resonance to it. So maybe she could just...picture an object? 

 

As soon as a thought came to mind, the object complied. It thinned itself out, curving into a new shape effortlessly. Mina rolled the crowbar in her hands, a wide grin stretching across her face. "Oh, this is good." She patted the crowbar against her palm, her smile growing wicked. She moved towards the door, bracing against it with her shoulder. The metal groaned, buckling and twisting under her strength. The hinges gave out quickly, and the door flung open. Satisfied, Mina shoved Pro'uhr aside and immediately moved to where a new wall had dropped down. She crouched down, running her hands along the seam against the floor.

 

If it dropped down, it meant it was on a system that would roll it back up. She was strong enough to get it up, but not with several layers of metal. The sealed room had enough oxygen for a few hours, which meant she had time to scheme. 

[pudding]

The CEO of Nanolabs watched as the Oeshian managed to escape from her confinement. It was still well within his calculated parameters, and even that silly bit of metal she had managed to produce wouldn't serve her much good. He had tested those barriers against his own strength, there was no way she was getting through. She'd be better off just using the door she had broken as a battering ram than trying to make due with just a crowbar.

 

Oh well, he'd let them tire themselves out, and if things looked bad he could always active the knock-out gas. It wouldn't be ideal to waste it hence why he hadn't used it in the first place since it wasn't exactly cheap to make, but he wasn't letting these prey get out of his snare. After all, he was so close. He had made such a breakthrough with the first Oeshian arriving, but with two...

 

With a soft sight, he turned around to look towards the escape pod he had fashioned into something of a children's bed, only to freeze when he saw that the hatch to the pod was wide open and no one was inside. "Xephari?" He called out, but the room was quiet in response. "Xephari?" He called again, just a bit more desperate this time. Turning towards the screens, he bit his lower lip when he caught sight of a figure slipping in between two security feeds in the section of the lab he had just closed off. How in the world had he managed to get down there? Not hesitating, the CEO quickly grabbed a small cube from a nearby wall and ran out of his office, heading as quickly as he could for the lower levels.

 

--

 

Xephari ran his grey fingers through his white hair as he looked around the strange, metal hallways as they flashed with red lights. His blue eyes glowed vibrantly in the dimmer lighting, and a curious smile was fixed on his face as he clearly didn't understand the intentions behind the lighting change. Humming to himself, he continued to skip down the hallway, oblivious to the creatures lurking in the halls with him.