Chapter 4: The Strange One
Grand Cluster - Main Gate
The rain picked up on their way back to the city. By the time they reached the gates, it was pouring.
Jerrod did not prepare for this. "Agh, this is the worst." He folded his laptop into his hoodie while making a reach for his already damp backpack.
Ephraim sniffed lightly, "I don't mind it so much. It's refreshing! Plus--" Ephraim flipped up his hood, "--the robe keeps me nice and dry. You should try them sometime."
Jerrod continued fumbling with his things.
Ephraim turned to Blizz. "Come on, let's get out of the rain. Bet you can't beat me to the busport!"
"You're on!"
Before Jerrod realized it, they were running off ahead.
???
A single drip of water landed on a slick, metallic surface. A misshapen, hump-backed thing moves about a hovel buried deep under piles of refuse.
It flips a switch. The aperture of a pair of second-hand robotic eyes slides open. Attached to it is a dark round storage device, which after a moment flickers on. A makeshift video recorder, salvaged from the parts of the dead.
"Anat-t-tomical study #108. Subject: orphan. Status: deceased, postmortem dissection. Attempted to drain and incise coolant supply. Failed to keep the subject sterile due to pre-existing interior oil leak hidden somewhere deep behind the lower auxiliary bay cavity. After 8 trials, there's still no simple way to identify the source of a leak from within the chassis."
The robot sighs.
After a moment, it turns around and hits another switch. A horrible screeching noise echos the disheveled laboratory as the operating table the monster was standing at flips up, disposing of the dismantled remains of his last subject.
The thing reasons to itself. "He assures me it is only necessary, for sake of the greater good. I...can't argue with that. The knowledge we've gained from our f-forray into live experiments...well it's incredible."
The hump-back flips a third switch. This time, a makeshift projector flickers to life. On the other end, another pair of second-hand eyes, recording what they see. On the projector is an image of Ephraim and Blizz entering Grand Cluster, with Jerrod lagging far behind.
"Perhaps, learning from an experiment of this nature is not something that can be learned p-p-p-post mortem."
Grand Cluster - Main Gate
Jerrod picked up the pace, but the two were already well past the gate and out of sight. "Hey! Wait up! Blizz, get back here!" He dropped back to a walk as he passed under the main gate. Great, he thought. Now they're both missing.
Jerrod spent the rest of that afternoon combing the city for them, but they were nowhere to be found. Eventually, he gave up and returned to the village. Maybe they got bored and came home? I should ask around.
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