The day after the incident at Alienated Rocks, it was early in the morning:
Silvana stood in front of the mirror, preparing to go out, for today, they were to go to the Miracle Observatory, a laboratory owned by one of the influential scientists - Magnus Zephyr.
Last of all, Silvana always styled her hair in a way that emphasized her austerity and coldness, her hair was an important part of her look.
But...
"Oh... I can't..." Silvana mumbled confusedly, touching her hair, then she smiled slightly, carefully fixed her hair, and walked out.
Adam was waiting for her downstairs, as was the car, standing quietly and discreetly on the curb, waiting for its passengers.
Adam turned around and glanced at Silvana.
"You're faster than I expected." Adam smiled.
Silvana nodded as she turned slightly to the side.
"Yeah, it's just that I had to skip a stage this time. Because of someone, I'm going to have to do that for another month." Silvana's corners of her mouth lifted.
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"You mind?"
Silvana smiled kindly, she seemed to be literally glowing, completely relieved of all the weight that would have been on her shoulders the past few weeks.
"Of course I haven't. Have you forgotten? I can't be against it."
"Hah, well said." Adam uttered before getting into the car. Silvana followed him with a hurried stride.
Once they were in the car, Silvana's face changed completely, becoming cold and hard.
Throwing a glance at the driver, she sternly said, "Let's go, we have an important meeting and not much time."
The driver nodded silently before pushing in the gas.
Adam smiled slyly, clearly pleased with the way things had turned out. It might have seemed like he'd been unnecessarily harsh and rude yesterday, but it had worked out, and it wasn't easy for him to treat Silvana that way.
He had to do everything right without making any mistakes, so he felt relieved at the way things had ended.
The ride was quiet and fast, such drivers in such black cars were reserved for those who were connected to the Dead Lands, so the drivers were real masters, knew every turn in the whole Citadel, and had access to most of the areas closed to ordinary people.
"Well..." Adam sighed heavily, "Everyone has their quirks, right? Meet a scientist is a new experience, and it's something strange every time."
Step. Step. Step.
As they approached the main, building they caught a gaze of a tall girl. If she had worn heels she would have been taller than Adam.
She had shoulder-length scarlet hair, black eyes, and pale skin with sharp features. In some ways, she looked like Silvana, both in appearance and clothing, it was a formal suit with a short black skirt.
"Hello. My name is Nessa, I am Mr. Magnus's assistant. I hope you won't waste our time." Nessa replied coldly.
Silvana frowned heavily while Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Tsk." Nessa snorted and gestured for them to follow her.
Scientists did all sorts of things, usually some kind of research, be it monsters, technology, weapons, or something simpler like new methods of resource management.
Entering the main building and walking down a few corridors, it was instantly clear that Magnus Zephyr was focusing on monsters, their physiology, parts, various poisons, and so on.
On the walls were displayed different stands with claws, jaws, or tails of monsters, as well as vials of poisons, toxins, or valuable liquids. However, all of this was just decoration, something truly precious was below, in protected and secret rooms.
'Damn, it feels like we're in a museum, but there's obviously something wrong here.' Adam frowned, looking around.
Everything seemed perfect and peaceful as if he were in the house of a hunter-earl rather than a strange scientist.
Moreover, as soon as they followed Nessa, Adam felt a strange tension, as if some creepy things were going on in this place.
He could be wrong, but his instincts behaved the same way they had when he saw the pictures of Aiden Henk conducting his experiments. It was very similar.
"You lost your arm during the fight with Thunder Demon." Nessa uttered.
"Yeah, that was a great battle." Adam replied.
"That wasn't a question. There's no point in answering it." Nessa coldly replied, "You acted foolishly leaving your hand in the monster's jaw. However, it will be a useful experience for Mr. Magnus, so you did well."
Adam once again got a puzzled look on his face.
'Shit, what kind of scientist is what kind of assistant, right? They're both weird.'
Coming around the corner, Nessa stopped and pointed to an opened door from which the red light could be seen.
"We're almost there. Get ready, Mr. Magnus doesn't like his time wasted." Nessa said with bitterness in her voice, she seemed to have felt the consequences of this on more than one occasion.