Chapter 3: Meeting

Seeing that Twenty-four had calmed down a little, Morella decided to change the subject to something less heavy. As she thought of what to say, she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I finally finished another one!" Morella said suddenly as she got up from the bed and walked over to the desk.

Taking out a piece of paper and handing it to Twenty-four as she sat back down on the bed. What she handed to Twenty-four was a hand drawn picture of her, Yuki, and Ella. It was a simple but detailed drawing that showed the three of them next to a large lake, with large dark trees from a forest surrounding them on all sides.

"Oh? This is quite nice. How long did it take to make this Ella?" Twenty-four asked, since Morella improved since last time.

"Hmm, let's see. I believe a couple of weeks, give or take. I started after I saved up enough art supplies and finished 2 days ago."

"I see, you've improved a lot. Is that lake actually out in the world, or did you use your imagination to create this?"

"Mm, this is a picture of a lake in a large forest that lies between the Human and Demon Territories."

Still looking at the drawing, Twenty-four thought that it's a shame that this Water Nymph was separated from places like this. Someone like her was the happiest when connected to nature.

"Let's visit this place sometime when we finally get out of here."

____________________________________________

Dr. Vancer was currently having a meeting in his office. The large polished oak desk the Doctor was sitting at was towards the left of the room; lined up with the middle of the wall. With bookshelves on either side. In the middle of the room, closer to the right side, was a small sitting area with two couches on either side of a coffee table.

The wall was made from some type of dark wood paneling. Picture frames were hanging around the room. Bookcases lined the walls around the room completely full of books and research documents. On the wall, where the door is located on the bottom right of the room; there stands a display cabinet with rewards and photos to the left of the door.

Looking down at the documents on his desk, Doctor Verric Vancer, Head Researcher of Project Crimson, sighed in frustration. On his desk were files filled with information of Subject 24-C and Subject 22-C. Looking away from the document, the Doctor looks at the three other people on the other side of his desk. A Dwarf, an Elf, and a Human with an androgynous appearance.

"How much time do we have until he gets here?" He asked.

Sitting on the left side of the Doctor was the dwarf. His name is Gadak Hardaxe, the Head of Security, and the same Dwarf escort from before. And like all Dwarfs, he was short, standing at 155 cm. His beard of dark curly hair and crooked nose did nothing to cover the scowl of annoyance on his face. He felt a little miffed being used as an escort earlier for Twenty-four and her friends.

The Elf, Alman Cradan, the Second Head Researcher, and second in command to Dr. Vancer and who was currently sitting across from him. With dark golden hair, light blue eyes, long pointed ears, and a jade like complexion. Towering over everyone in the room at a height of 188 cm.

The last person sitting on the Doctor's right was the androgynous human. Covered from head to toe, with black boots, pants, a jacket, and a cloak. They had an unknown earthy scent, with a hint of death coming from their body. This was Sable Hook.

Their face was covered by a black mask shaped like a raven with red eyes, with the hood of the cloak covering the rest of their head. The pants and jacket were covered in pockets, the contents of which couldn't be seen.

"How much time do we have until he gets here?" Dr. Vancer asked again when no one answered.

"We don't know how much time we have. He started his journey sooner than expected, and we lost track of it. We don't know where he is. Could be here tomorrow or next week at the latest, kinda depends on how he decided to travel." Gadak said in response to Dr. Vancer, Shrugging.

"What about the evacuation? How is that progressing?"

"We got our research, gear, and other instruments that we could move at the new location. The only thing that wasn't transferred is the heavy equipment, some of which are built into the walls. The tools and instruments needed for the procedure tomorrow are also still here per your request." Dr. Cradan answered, with a nod of appreciation from Dr. Vancer.

"Okay, good." Sighing, Dr. Vancer looks at the documents in front of him again, then turns his attention to Sable. "Are you sure you don't have time to check 24-C's Mana-links? I want to get an updated read on her."

Sable looked at Dr. Vancer for a few seconds before answering in a muffled voice. "If you want readings by tomorrow, then no. You know, just as well as I do that taking an accurate reading of someone's Mana-Links without damage takes multiple hours."

"I guess we'll continue without it then." Leaning back into his chair, looking up at the ceiling, the doctor once again let out a sigh. Dr. Vancer looked tired and haggard. The way he looks now is completely different than when Twenty-four had seen him earlier.

"Doctor, I once again recommend that you not do this. You risk losing one or both of them. I don't think It's worth it." Sable said.

Looking a bit annoyed, Dr. Vancer looks at Sable again. "I appreciate your advice, but I'm doing this no matter what. There are many opportunities I didn't take because I listened to you. Now I am at a point where if I don't do this now, there is a chance I won't be able to do it again. If I knew this was going to happen, I would've ignored your advice and taken more risk."

It was hard to tell through the mask, but it looked like Sable wanted to say more but fell silent. No one could tell what they were thinking, but from the subtle body language alone, it was clear that they didn't agree.

"Actually, I kind of agree with Sable." Alman said after a few seconds of tense silence. "These two are probably our most valuable specimens we have. If it weren't for Sable's advice, we probably would've lost them long ago. Also, we are working on an unknown timetable, things could go wro-"

Cutting Alman off by raising his hand, Dr. Vancer looks at Alman with a disappointed glare.

Seemingly emboldened by the Elf, Sable started talking again. "Verric, listen, what will you do if he comes tomorrow? What, then? You'll lose the two of your most valuable resources. Plus, we can learn so much more without doing your silly little exp-"

"That's enough!" Exploding in anger, Dr. Vancer stands up and points towards the door. "If you don't want to help me, you can leave!"

Sable stared at the doctor, not understanding what he was trying to do. The experiment the doctor is trying to do requires a certain instrument that's expensive to acquire but not impossible. So, even if he has to put a lot of things on hold for a few years, he'll still be able to do it. His impatience was vexing.

"Fine, I'll still help." They said after a long pause. "But I'm only there to make sure nothing goes wrong." Getting up, they started making their way towards the door.

"That's fine. Also, I've decided that It's about time I put a slave mark on them. I only held out because of your suggestion of foreign mana messing with experiment results. But in light of this current predicament, I think it's time to get a 'firmer' hold over them."

"Obviously, we'll do this after the procedure to keep any foreign mana messing with it."

Hearing what, Dr. Vancer said, Sable turned around to glare at him. The eyes of the mask make it more unsettling. After a few seconds, they turned around silently to walk out the door. No one noticed the balled-up fist at Sables side.

"What's with Sable? They seem to be more invested in this than normal." Gadak said when Sable left, scratching his nose in confusion.

"Doesn't matter. Keep an eye on them anyway. But with the Church sending the 'Hero', we don't have time to worry about Sable."

"Do you think Sable is working for the Church?"

Shaking his head in denial, Dr. Vancer didn't think that was the case. "If Sable was working for the Church, they wouldn't be concerned whether 24-C survived or not. They would actually try and get her killed instead if that was the case."