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 wasn't 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 can't lose sight of my work just because I'm a bit attached to something that merely resembles a human)
Despite all the mental preparations Emily had made, she knew that the human heart didn't 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.
"Chief! We're here!"
As she approached the glass covering the front of the area, Emily heard Laura's 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 couldn't quite define how to describe that expression.
"You're late, Chief Researcher Emily. I almost thought you weren't going to participate in the experiments"
Though his words sounded like a simple courtesy to anyone who heard them, Emily knew he was trying to say, "If you took so long, you didn't even need to come. Try to be more punctual next time." Naturally, Emily decided to ignore the comment, as this type of exchange was common between them.
"I apologize for my delay, Director Graham. I had to deal with some important setbacks before arriving"
In summary, the message Emily intended to convey with her words was something like: "Do you think you can leave me out, you old man? Don't forget that I'm the one who really holds authority at this facility" However, Emily didn't share any of these thoughts with Graham.
"The reports indicate she has some type of simple regeneration, but there's no information on how far this regeneration extends or how resilient her body is"
Emily nodded, corroborating Graham's words. It was true that the tests to assess her body's resilience and the extent of her regeneration had yet to be conducted. In fact, just before Emily could carry them out, [Shadow] suddenly decided to escape from her containment cell, causing chaos in the facility. Although, at this point, Emily no longer believed that [Shadow] had escaped on her own; that was a matter for another occasion.
"Then let's start by assessing her resistance to extreme temperatures. We'll begin the experiments now. Raise the room temperature to 250 degrees; we need to evaluate how she reacts to heat"
Voices of understanding echoed through the environment, and Emily noticed Laura's anxious gaze. However, she knew her only option was to observe. Although she didn't want to be so rigid, Emily didn't have a convincing enough justification to interrupt the experiments' progress.
"Ughhh... even knowing that the anomaly is powerful, I can't help but worry; she looks so fragile"
Emily rolled her eyes upon hearing Laura's words. What she really wanted was just a mental health check-up, and everyone in the facility knew these evaluations weren't always pleasant. Emily wondered if Laura had forgotten that she had killed [Shadow].
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.
***
(POV – Protagonist)
I considered myself a patient person. Although I couldn't recall any moment from my exciting life that required this quality—my memories begin from the moment I woke up in the forest and extend to now—I 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 didn't 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 "visible" 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.