112 Take This Ring and Run

Noticing they have finished, I store the tub of peroxide within the ring. The researchers are so distracted by the heap of junk and bodies that they haven't even noticed the fruits of their labor have vanished. I grip the storage ring and remove it from my finger with a bit of difficulty. After wearing the ring for so long now, my finger feels somehow naked without the small inconspicuous ring upon it.

"Akemi, take this ring." I hold out the storage ring a bit wistfully. "You need to deliver this to someone for me."

Her gaze moves from the pile toward the little ring. Hesitantly she takes it and begins to study it carefully. "Deliver it to whom?"

"To a woman with long black hair and tan skin. She's dressed as a security guard."

"...But isn't all of the security behind that wall of guns?"

I smirk and nod solemnly. "That it is Akemi. That it is."

...

…

…

Standing near Eden, I watch as Akemi runs down the hallway shouting at the exo-soldiers and begging them not to shoot. Luckily, they do not turn her into swiss cheese, but they seem to be much rougher with Akemi, literally flinging her to the ground. She barely manages to keep her head from smacking the floor.

For the first time since we initially met, I see Dr. Wright, who walks out of one of the nearby rooms. His eyes are tired, and a large bandage is stuck to his forehead. He motions for the exo-soldiers to drag her into the place he just left, which they proceed to do quite easily.

'They seem much more irritated with this whole situation. Not that I can blame them, I did basically turn them into pin cushions earlier, but I do feel a little bad for Akemi. I just hope she understands who is more of a threat between Dr. Wright and myself.'

From behind Eden, ask me a question, "Eira, why are you so interested in talking to Dr. Wright again?"

Hearing Eden, the bear cubs, and I simultaneously turn our heads toward her.

"Because I'm interested in whoever planted him here and that he seems to also want to kill the doppelgänger. Not to mention, the person in charge is always privy to more information than the runts beneath them."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense."

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"Are you wondering why I don't just kill him?"

She stares at me, hesitantly answering, "...No."

I simply shake my head. 'This girl kills one person and then has the gall to question why I'm not killing someone.'

'Aponi, I'm sure you heard, but your courier has arrived, but you might have to find an excuse to get the ring from her.'

'Yeah, they aren't going to let her walk around freely. They recently detained one of the assistants you sent me earlier. We're running out of time.'

'You say that as if that is a bad thing. I'm personally ready to get on with things, and if we're running out of time, all the more reason you need to find a way to get the ring sooner.'

'I know you are ready to get on with things, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make. The only way I'm going to be able to get this ring quickly is by causing a scene… Speaking of which, you never really mentioned what the ring is.'

'You'll understand it when you have it.'

'Hmm, okay, and if I don't, I might have some words for you later…'

'Well, I'd also have some for you in that case.'

I disconnect from Aponi and place my mirror onto my scythe. Moving it to peek past the wall, I can see Aponi leaving a room in the far back of the hall. She hesitates for a moment, glancing back into the office, where I assume Sam is standing. She says something to whoever it is and then takes a deep breath before walking toward Dr. Wright's office.

Casually, she walks by Dr. Wright's office and freezes.

She gasps. "You! Thief!"

"Who? Me?" I hear Akemi ask.

"Hey! What're you doing!? Get out of here, troglodyte!" Dr. Wright shouts.

'Troglodyte. That's a good one.'

However, Aponi seems to ignore them both and storms into Dr. Wright's office. A moment later, Aponi and Akemi come tumbling out of.

"Thief!" Aponi pins Akemi to the ground. "How dare you show your face here after stealing my grandmother's ring!"

I can almost see the gears in Akemi's brain grinding against one another. She glances at Aponi's hair and then her face. "Y-yeah! You can have it back! I'm sorry!"

She holds out the ring, and Aponi snatches it from her. "You!" Aponi raises her hand as if to slap her, but Sam abruptly comes charging out.

"W-w-wait!" He pulls Aponi away from Akemi. "She's not worth it! Y-you got your ring back!" Sam says clumsily.

"Hey!" Dr. Wright stomps out of his office. "You two idiots, get the hell out of here, or I'll strip you both naked and throw you to those giants to use as they wish!"

'If he is implying what I think he is implying, I haven't actually seen the Brutes do anything like that. Thank the Goddess, me.'

"Sorry, Doctor! It won't happen again! I just lost control because of this immoral thief!" Aponi says, lowering her head.

"It better not! You two are just lucky you weren't sent to be ripped apart with the other worthless 'guards!'"

Aponi nods. "We understand, Doctor."

She and Sam quickly walk off, not looking at either Dr. Wright or Akemi. They disappear as Akemi gets up, wiping the dust from her backside.

'I know I said make it quick, but that was a bit bolder than I anticipated.'

Turning toward Eden, I inform her, "I'm going to gather the Brutes. This will be over soon if Aponi and Sam did their jobs well. Anyway, I'll be back."

She nods as I walk away.

The cubs crawl around on my body, but the idea of giving them to any of these researchers makes me anxious. Thus, while gathering the Brutes, I inspect the various offices, hoping that one of them might have some kind of lock I can make use of, but most of the offices are open and without locks. Eventually, I come across one that seems to oddly have multiple deadlocks.

'Oh, I might have noticed this room earlier, but I was a bit busy then… I suppose I still am, but I was then too.'

Extending my nails, I shove one of them into each lock, destroying the internal components. However, the tricky part is pulling the actual 'bolt' back into its housing. Eventually, I give up after some difficulty and back away from the door. Lifting my leg, I kick the door with a crack, and it blows open, taking some of the door and frame with it. Some of the researchers stick their heads out to see what the commotion is, but upon noticing it is me, they quickly retreat back into their rooms.

With the door now open, what is revealed is a room full of cages with various animals.

'I suppose it makes sense that they would experiment on animals as well.'

I take a look around, discovering both exotic and everyday animals: rabbits, two parrots, mice, a few cats, a few dogs, hedgehogs, a possum, various lizards, snakes, some fish, and finally what I believe is a mountain lion. Noticing a large glass window, I move to glance through it, finding a duplicate room with the same number of animals. The difference being these animals seem to have been grafted with the living weapon like the people in the medical ward.

'So I guess these are the "control" animals, and those are the actual "experiments." Perhaps, the experiments and the controls are siblings. They have quite the variety; I wonder why they felt the need to have so many different types of animals.'

A quick inspection of the room reveals all the cages are occupied; I sigh but abruptly notice a key ring nearby. There I find a key with some writing on it, "Dr. Sanders Duplicate Office Key."

'Ah, this works.'

With time short, I hastily move through the hallways, eventually coming across the office I am looking for. Opening the door, I find a room full of animal posters, books, a few pet-related commodities, and a photo of a vaguely familiar face s.

'Oh, I think I recognize her. She was eaten by the worms. Too bad, could have probably used her.'

Quickly, making sure there isn't anything unusual about the room, I drop the cubs in a pet bed nearby. They chase me, but their stubby little legs have no chance to keep up with me as I shut and lock the door despite their protests.

It doesn't take me long to find the Brutes as all I had to do is listen for the earth-shaking snores. All the Brutes lay in an office surprisingly close to Carl's, and by surprisingly close, I mean next door; in fact, it seems they tore down a wall to expand into Carl's office. Speaking of Carl, the man is so exhausted, he is asleep in his computer chair without even realizing anything has happened.

'Hmm, I wonder where the Brutes were before this? I know I didn't see them here earlier.'

Hearing someone approaching from behind, I spin around to find a familiar plump man in an undersized coat.

He freezes, seemingly not expecting me to notice him. "A-are you here to take them away?" he asks, "They've been going from office to office, tearing down walls sleeping for about an hour, and then repeating it somewhere else."

'Weird, but more importantly…'

My brows furrow. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping fire the rifle?"

His eyes shift about as if he is thinking. "...Y-yeah, but that girl yelled at me and called me incompetent. She told me I might as well just leave."

"Eden said that…?" I cross my arms and stare at the man suspiciously. "Wow, you must be really incompetent if she yelled at you. What did you do?"

"I… I held the gun upside down and almost hit myself in the foot."

"What have you never played a video game or, for that matter, seen a picture of someone holding a gun?"

"No, I just panicked when the gun was actually placed in my hand."

"Ah. Well, are you stupid or brave?"

"...Huh?"

"You're talking to me like you want me to cheer you up or something, so are you stupid or brave?"

"I…"

"Because y'know Eden is the nice one, although she seems to be a bit less so lately, the fact remains I'm more likely to cut your tongue out than cheer you up. Not to mention, Eden very rarely yells anything insults or not. Did you seek me out on purpose?"

'I didn't notice it when Eden brought him around, but his guy seems a little familiar.'

"No! I wasn't looking for you."

I purse my lips, trying to remember where I've seen him. Studying the man closely, I notice something black poking from one of his pockets. I reach out toward the fidgeting man and grasp the object, pulling out what looks to be an old banana peel.

"Have you made a habit of carrying around black banana peels?" Sweat visibly flows from his forehead. "I have a question, where exactly does this facility's garbage chute lead? I believed it would be a compactor or furnace, but I suppose that's not necessarily true."

'Now, I remember him. He was in the group I sent to Aponi, though his coat fit then. He must be the one the others tossed down the chute after sabotaging their effort… Also, I'm going to pretend the peroxide he tossed down was no longer viable, and I didn't waste time filling a tub of it.'

The plump man is totally silent, until suddenly, he reaches into his pocket, removing a blue syringe. He stabs the needle at me, and to him, I'm sure it seems fast, but to me, it seems incredibly slow. Extending my nail, I swipe at him, sending three fingers tumbling to the floor. He squeals, but only for a moment as I activate his collar sending his head plunging to the floor.

['Lv.1 Human' Slain - 7 Essence Acquired]

A few researchers who witness this scream, gasp, or vomit, but I'm just glad they were here to see what happens if they try to pull such simple-minded tricks.

With the problem now removed, I race over to the sleeping Goliath and Dolt, slapping them as hard as I can across the forehead.

""Guh!"" they both shout, throwing their hands to their foreheads.

"Naht Guh!" I say, pointing at the sleeping Brutes and then the direction of the barricades, "Naht. Guh."

They raise their arms. ""Naht Guh!""

Having roused the Brutes, I quickly dash toward Eden.

'If he is here, he must have done something to Eden. If Eden just let him leave, then it's equally as important that I yell at her for troubling me!'

When I arrive, I find the unconscious Eden being held by one of the researchers with a scalpel to her neck.

"Let us leave, and we'll let her go!" one of them demands.

"I was worried." I sigh heavily in relief. "But, I can't believe Eden let this happen."

Activating the collars, three heads roll into the hallway where the exo-soldiers fire a few shots at them, likely believing them a trap or trick.

['Lv.1 Human' Slain - 7 Essence Acquired]

['Lv.1 Human' Slain - 6 Essence Acquired]

['Lv.1 Human' Slain - 6 Essence Acquired]

I run forward to catch Eden in my arms before her head hits the floor and then lift her. With her safety secured, I race back toward the Brutes; there, I plan to lock her in the same room as the cubs.

'Those dimwit researchers thinking they could intimidate me. I should have made sure they realized how quickly the collars can do their jobs. Well, they probably hoped the plump man would catch me with my guard down. But I am glad they seemed too afraid to attempt rushing the exo-soldiers.' I gaze down at Eden, who is breathing softly. Cutting my wrist, I place it over her mouth, allowing her to drink. 'That blue stuff is made to take magical beings alive, so I'm not certain how long she'll be unconscious. Still, sorry, Eden, it seems you'll miss the show, just think of it as punishment for letting yourself get caught off-guard by humans.'