“Your destination is: 5 minutes away,” the built-in AI module reported. “The time is: 8:47am. The Tuesday forecast will be: sunny, with a high of 87 degrees and a low of 63.”
The driver of the machine saw the facility coming up. He would have shown up much sooner, but security clearance was giving him an unreasonably hard time today.
“You have arrived at your de-de-destination. H-have a very—very safe, and productive… day—“
The scooter broke down. The man got off just as the engine stalled. He kicked it with his steel-toed boots.
“Gah! Blast zis thing! I really must fix it some day…”
He rolled his busted modified Vespa all the way to the closest available parking slot, which happened to be at the farthest corner in the lot. A scientist of his caliber felt insulted he didn’t have a revered spot for himself by now, but it was only a matter of time before the rest of his colleagues caught on.
All that was left to grab was his papers. He would’ve switched to tablets just like everybody else, but for some reason whenever he was given one, it was promptly snatched back. All because the man kept jailbreaking it. It wasn’t his fault the technology was so outdated.
No matter. The most important thing was his research, be it on paper or tablet.
All the folders were inside the storage compartment in the back of the scooter. No longer trusting the integrity of the automatic unlocking mechanism the little runabout was supposed to have, he whacked the top case open.
And inside the box, atop his research papers, was a small dog.
“Arf! Arf!” the dog barked.
“GAH! What ze schnitzel?!” The doctor coiled back, assuming a fake Tae-Kwon Do stance before taking a closer look. He brushed himself off after realizing this intruder was no threat. In fact, it seemed rather happy to see him. He assumed the dog was male, juvenile, and thankfully not rabid, for the papers would have been ripped up in a frenzy by now. But what was a dog doing in his vehicle?
If it wasn’t a stray, it had to have belonged to someone. He tried to inspect the collar consisting of orange plastic beads and a wooden tag, but to his surprise, he couldn’t make a single marking out.
“Vat is zis? Who’s in charge of ze craftsmanship on zese things?!”
The dog licked his bandaged hand in response. He yanked it away.
“Gah! Zat explains nothing! Tell your owners you must get a new collar immediately! Zat one is absolutely kaput!”
The scientist had plenty more questions left unanswered, such as “where did this stinking dog come from,” “how did it get in my Vespa,” “who does it belong to,” and most importantly, “did it eat my homework when I wasn’t looking?” But alas, he had no time for indulging himself in the scientific method of figuring out the quantum theory behind strange animals magically appearing inside storage boxes. He had work to get to.
“VELL! As much as we’ve gotten to know each other, you must be returned to your rightful owner! Come, you must belong to someone at work!” Scooping up the canine from under its belly, he raised it above his head as he got out his papers. He made very sure he kept the two subjects as far away from each other as he could whilst marching into the Alternative Energies building.
It was smaller than the other buildings surrounding it within the facility, and by far the most lackluster from the outside, but the Alternative Energies building was nothing to laugh at on the lower levels. Most of the research conducted here was underground, where the doctor would resume his post.
“And where are you going with that thing, Dr. Schmidt?” A stern, strong voice called out from behind the doctor, making him turn around to face his boss.
“For ze last time, you may refer to me as Doktor Ernst!” he said, annoyed. “Anyvay, is zis your dog, Professor Samara?”
Samara shook her head. “You never cease to amaze me at your complete and utter disregard for standard safety protocol. We are on the verge of a major breakthrough, and you waltz in with a Shiba Inu drooling all over the floor.”
Now that she had mentioned it, the salivation dripping on the marble floor made the situation just that much more awkward. Ernst, despite the obvious disapproval, did not seem to mind. “Nevermind zat, you still didn’t answer my question!”
“We are not a pet-sitting company, Schmidt. You should know this better than anyone. Unless you’re going to tell me you’ve decided what’s better for us all based on another riveting scheme you came up with last night.”
The doctor threw his non-dog-holding hand up. “Vell! Somebody had to have misplaced it from here! Vhy else vould it suddenly appear in my vehicle? You should be lucky you have someone who cares about zis company!”
“That dog does not belong on these grounds!” Samara snapped. “And neither do you. Your mere presence jeopardizes our very foundations of the project. The only reason you are allowed to continue your research at ERATech is because you’re worth a hell of a lot more here than out there.”
Dr. Ernst was not phased by Samara’s crack in professionalism. He was quite used to it at this point. “And vhen vas ze last time zis project has ever made true progress under your directions? Perhaps I could say ze same to you.”
“Yes, I’m sure you can. However.” She pointed directly at him. “As I remain your director, you will follow as I say. And before you do anything else, you will remove that dog from the premises, have yourself checked of any other foreign objects you may be carrying, and undergo a thorough sanitization before you check into your post. There will not be another slip-up from you. We will not tolerate this behavior anymore, do you understand?”
Ernst’s goggles radiated. “Feh. So picky for a scientist so careless. Have it your way.”
There was somebody in a security uniform posted outside the building, in case anyone unauthorized happened to stumble their way in. He seemed more confused than usual seeing a small yellow dog being thrown out like an alleycat. Usually it was a box full of plutonium. Or a giant metal buzzsaw. Or Ernst himself.
For Ernst, it was business as usual. Introduce something new and exciting to the Director of Having Sticks Up Her Ass, getting yelled at, and being sent through a wringer just to get to work. As if getting here didn’t take long enough. How can a brilliant and innovative scientist like him make the next biggest breakthrough to humanity if he’s subjected to a full body search every Tuesday?
There was a small section of the wing he went into where he was halted and checked. He still kept thinking about that dog as he got patted down and had his ID re-validated. While his errors were few and far between, he thought he might have miscalculated the animal’s origins. Maybe it wasn’t how he got in, but when.
He looped back around to enter the Sanitization Room, where he was doused with strange-smelling fluids. Assuming the mutt had been outside for longer than the morning, it could have slipped in his Vespa’s storage compartment when he was busy with one of his other projects at home. Had he been asleep that night, he definitely would have heard something enter the scooter. Curse that faulty piece of junk on wheels, and his exceedingly low priority to fix it.
His bandages and coats dampened, Ernst found the elevator, swiped his card, tapped his foot impatiently, and stopped at Level 4. That is, four levels underground.
And what about that collar? His owners must have been as careless as Samara. If he were its owner, he would have devised a multipurpose collar that could ping the owner of its exact whereabouts at any time. It would even speak to the dog in basic commands, including but not limited to, “Return to your master,” “stop barking at that dead branch,” or “don’t bite that child crossing the street.” The possibilities were limitless. Another thing to chalk up on the prototype list.
He stepped out of the elevator, just when one of his colleagues approached.
“Ernst. The guys at L-5 want you for a second. Something about a new sample.”
“Vhat? You know I’m prohibited from L-5! What is ze meaning of zis?” It seemed like one distraction after another today. He hadn’t even put his papers down.
“We know. But the situation with Source Prime is, er, developing unusually, to say the least. The breach is exacerbating, and the energy readings are all off. I’m not under clearance to explain anymore. Just be there, capiche? If we’re quick, the Director won’t have to know.”
“…I see. I’ll be zhere shortly.” The scientist laid his papers on his desk as the un-bandaged man left him to it.
Ernst had only heard snippets of what Source Prime was. Being at Level 4 clearance, he was just one level away of actually being told what it truly was. But of course, Samara didn’t trust him with that information. All he knew from passing colleagues was that Source Prime was something of limitless power. Or so they say. Nothing can be “limitless,” or else science wouldn’t exist. It was likely some giant rock of Uranium buried underground that the facility was trying to tap into. Had he been the director of ERATech, he would’ve found at least ten different ways to extract that energy and keep the entire country powered for decades. And that was just by using his hands. It was one of the reasons why he thought so little of Samara—all the power right under their noses, and she decides to hold board meetings about solar panels. This could be his opportunity to prove the ones who thought so little of him otherwise.
\
Ernst was stopped at the Level 5 checkpoint just as he got out of the elevator. It was a large concrete hallway with at least three men in protective gear strapped on them standing by a small metal chamber. Clearly not as lax as the first four levels. But he knew that—he tried to get down here at least a dozen times.
“That’s far enough, Dr. Mummy,” one of the men said.
“That’s right. We all know what this is about, Schmidt. You walk in here, demand a place in the Low Levels, and expect a pat on the back after threatening security with one of your death lasers.” The second guy chuckled at his own comment.
“Zose vere not death lazers! Zey were highly sophisticated and originally designed ionic incision beams for surgical and nanotechnological usage only! It’s not mein fault if your pea brains cannot handle the significance of such a creation!” Ernst retaliated, flailing his arms around. “And don’t call me a mummy!”
“Sorry, Doctor. If we’re under orders not to let you through, we can’t let you through. Them’s the rules,” security man number three pointed out.
The bandaged doctor was ready to fire back when he spotted a thick white lab coat approach the guards from the other side. Under said coat was a woman, though judging by her leaning in to sternly whisper something to the three, showing her identification, and a disgruntled look by the men to him, he could deduce she was with the same group who brought him here in the first place.
“You’re free to go, Schmidt.” The first guy lowered his head.
“But no funny business. We got our eye on you,” the third added.
Ernst harrumphed. “Finally! Some decent around zese parts! Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen!” He waltzed his way past the checkpoint and strolled alongside his savior.
“I’m glad your team has some sense in them! It was about time someone noticed my genius!”
“Don’t get too comfy, Doctor. This is a one time thing.” The scientist made a hard right at a long intersection, passing by two sets of steel doors.
“Yes, yes, about ze Source Prime sample! Your colleague briefed me in already, so I’m sure—”
“This is no ordinary sample,” the woman cut him off. “If you listened to my colleague, you would have understood that Source Prime is not by any means stable. Now even more so. Our sample took weeks to extract, and only one of those reasons why included almost every member of our extraction unit going into convulsions upon contact.”
“Hah! You can’t trust zose dolts!” Ernst proclaimed, having never met the extraction team. “Why, were zey even wearing any protective clothing?”
“Our weakest outfit was two Level C hazmat suits over a bomb jacket.”
“Oh.”
“Ernst, this is a serious matter. We are so close to fully analyzing this source, but the only thing standing in our way is controlling it. And the only people who can even withstand this level of energy right now are Electi.”
It was a long time since Ernst had used that term to identify himself. Usually, it was more along the lines of “the best scientist, inventor, and doctor in the solar system.” Besides, Electi didn’t even have the word “Element” in it. Just “Ele”.
“How sure are you zat _I, the_ Doktor Ernst, can handle such a sample?”
“We suspect that the sample is not compatible with normal human beings, yet we wouldn’t consider you normal. Our most recent test suggested that the sample emits the same wavelengths as Electi do, and frankly, we need all the help we can get.”
One last pair of blast doors down a steel corridor later, and they arrived at a place the team knew as the Laboratory of Unorthodox Power Sources. A total of four scientists were sat restless at one of the many tables stretched out on the white tempered floor. The bandaged newcomer recognized one of them as the man who came to his cubicle not one hour ago. He sat by a long steel table far to the back of the lab, next to two other people. One of them was a young man with warm brown skin, scribbling down notes. The other was a much older man with a white beard, who Ernst figured was either the head of the team, or a grandfather to one of them. They all looked at their newest addition with unreadable faces.
“Morning, Doctor,” the note taker said plainly.
“Ah! So zis is ze invaluable group of admirers!” Ernst declared, raising a hand to shake. “Doktor Ernst, pleased to make your acquaintance!”
The old man stood up, completely bypassing the shake to check on the computer terminal. “We must make this quick. It’s only a matter of time before the guards catch on.”
“Or Samara for that matter,” the man from the cubicle added.
Ernst looked around, seeing the expectations of his entourage quickly dissipating. “Vhat’s zis? I thought this was an official experiment!”
“Well, not exactly ‘official,’ if we’re being completely honest,” Note Taker admitted.
The woman nodded. “After the failure of the last two extraction attempts, the Director shut this entire section down until further notice. Just being here in this room right now is at least a Code Orange breach of conduct. That’s why we’re keeping this under wraps from as many people as possible. But this sample analysis needs to be done—without it, we may never find out the secrets of Source Prime.”
“Ah, I see!” the bandaged scientist’s goggles glowed. “Going against ze Iron Fist, are ve? Very well! I can see your lack of authoritative limitations are doing vonders for your research!”
“Not to mention lack of maintenance around here since then,” Cubicle said. “Can you imagine we’ve only been laid off for two weeks and the ventilation system has already gone on the fritz. It’s baking in here.”
“Probably for the best. Security keeps tabs on when those vents are turned on and off.” The Old Man switched a lever, and a thick metal door between the laboratory and a small concrete chamber off to the side opened. Inside the chamber was a fragment of what appeared to be a petrified fossil, encased by glass and sitting atop a long, black, narrow pedestal bolted to the ground. The strangest thing about the sample, though, was that it was suspended in the air, even inside the casing.
“You don’t think he needs a hazmat suit?” Cubicle asked.
“If our calculations are correct, he’d be better off without one,” the young woman answered.
“Now’s your time to shine, Doctor,” Note Taker said, motioning the scientist to commence forward into the chamber.
And though they could not see it under his bandages, the doctor released a mad grin. “Hohohohooo! Vith pleasure!” He stepped into the chamber, and was met with a cloud of mist shot out from all sides of the doorway. Common sanitization practice in many laboratories here. And there the sample sat, lighting up the casing like a plasma globe.
The steel door closed behind Ernst, and the next thing he heard was Old Man’s voice speaking through a microphone. “Everything looks good to go, Doctor. Just follow standard procedure and we should be fine.”
He was very well aware of what standard procedure was, and felt almost patronized that the team would have to remind him. Still, in good faith he held his tongue and provided a—how the kids say these days—thumbs up.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t blown up yet. Usually the extraction team would’ve been bleeding through their ears by now,” Cubicle rather unnecessarily pointed out.
“Fascinating…” Note Taker took more notes.
“Try opening the casing now, Ernst. Readings are fairly stable on our end,” Young Woman instructed.
It was an airtight capsule, unlockable only by a rather complex opening mechanism under the podium. Most pea brains would not even dare to touch it, but luckily for Dr. Ernst, he was not most pea brains. In just under half a minute, the sample was exposed and sparking like mad.
“Such an interesting specimen,” Ernst said. “And to think zis has been under our noses zis whole time! All zey needed was my expertise, and we’d have sustainable energy to last us a thousand generations after us!”
“Yes, well, that’s if we can figure out how to…” The old man paused. “Hm. Thought I saw something on the sensors.”
“It’s not another guard, is it?” Cubicle moved closer to the terminal. “I thought we got rid of those suckers until noon.”
“No, don’t worry. The signal was inside the walls. Must be a glitch of some sort.”
“Suppose it serves us right for operating in a discontinued branch,” Young Woman folded her arms.
Ernst attempted to pick up the glowing rock. Strangely, it flew towards him, as if by some sort of weak magnetism, and found it to be floating on top of his hands. At times it sparked a dark bright orange, at other moments it sheened a smart turquoise. He looked up. “Everyzing okay in zere, mein colleagues?”
“Yes, yes, carry on with the procedure,” Old Man answered through the speaker. “Moving on to the next phase. Send in the conduit. See how much power it can produce in its raw state.”
“Professor, uh, I’m seeing a… spiking of energy in these readings,” Note Taker informed.
“Another glitch?” Cubicle offered.
“On the contrary, it’s… not going away.”
“That machine doesn’t pick up just any wavelength,” Young Woman said. “Dr. Ernst, I suggest we put a pause on this experiment until we figure out what’s going on with our equipment.”
“Vhat?! But ve’ve only just begun!” The scientist pouted visibly.
“There may be a containment breach we didn’t plan for. We must put a hold on this before it gets any worse.”
“Hey, these readings are getting pretty high,” Cubicle alerted. “Any status on that thing in the walls?”
“No, but… hold on. It’s back. Why is it…” The old man started to stroke his beard.
“Ernst, return the sample into its containment,” the woman began, “exit the premises until—”
But the mad doctor kept the rock in his hands. “BAH! It’s not my fault if your faulty, outdated contraptions can’t keep up vith zis… zis zing of brilliance!” He didn’t notice the rock becoming noticeably more unstable. “Unlike you, I zon’t fear vhat I cannot understand! Zis could save millions, and you—”
The sound of a large moving object bumping and rumbling down wide metal pipes filled the air. An alarm on the terminal blared.
“The hell is that?!” Cubicle panicked.
“Whatever it is, it’s in the ventilation system!” Old Man pointed upwards.
“These energy readings are off the damn charts!” Note Taker yelled unprofessionally.
“Dr. Ernst Schmidt, get out of that room right now or we risk critical containment breach! This is not up for debate!” Panic had now set into the young woman.
He looked down at the blindingly bright sample once more. Despite its violent shaking and stirring in his palms, it felt… powerful. He felt powerful. He knew he should have put it down—it was just a rock, after all— but why was it so alluring to him?
“He’s not listening! Shut down the terminal!”
Something crashed out of the vent from inside the laboratory.
“Good Lord, what is that?!”
“It’s a DOG! How did a dog get in the fucking vents?”
“Arf! Arf!”
“Electi readings are twice past maximum capacity! It’s gonna—” Loud pops and sparks exploded from the terminal.
“Somebody get this thing out of the lab!”
“Someone get Ernst out of the chamber!”
“If we open that door, we’ll die!”
“What?! I don’t wanna die!”
“By God, what have we done?!”
As the voices of people drowned into one another, Ernst’s fixation on the sample was only broken as the rock, now spinning faster than a neutron star, had suddenly drifted out of his hands. Then, he realized the chaos inside the lab.
“VHAT ZE— I thought I kicked that dog out zis morning!”
“You brought the dog here?! Hey, someone get it away from the glass!”
“The sample’s coming closer, it’s going to make impact!”
“How can a dog destabilize part of Source Prime so much?!”
“Why is it floating towards it?!”
“We have to evacuate! Call security!”
“This doesn’t make sense, only humans can emit Electi energy!”
“Then why did the damn numbers double when it entered the room?!”
“You’re telling me THAT DOG IS A—”
The second the fragment crashed into the glass, the room went white, then completely black.
…
…
…Hello?
…
…Is anyone here? </em>
…
…Vhere am I…?
Oh, good! You’re awake! I mean, you’re here!
Who are you? Vhat is zis place?
We’re in your mind. You’re still asleep, or, well, I think you’re asleep. But thank the stars you answered me! The other humans didn’t wanna talk to me at all, I thought I’d never get any of you to wake up!
My mind… Vait a minute, zat doesn’t answer my first question at all!
Oh, right! My owners call me Deg. You have a very weird doggy bed on your bike.
Zat wasn’t a bed, dummkopf! And- HEY! You’re zat annoying little mongrel zat keeps ruining my day! Am I in some awful dream? How is it zat I can talk to you in my mind!
That’s a good question! I… don’t know. I just can. When I was little, I used to do it all the time with my old owners when they went to bed. But they didn’t like it very much…
Zis is preposterous! You must be some figment of my imagination! I must already be in hell, forever tormented by ze mutt zat sabotaged my most groundbreaking experiment!
Oh… I’m sorry. Did I cause all that fuss? I didn’t know it was important to you. I tried to say sorry to your friends, but they won’t talk to me.
…Vhat do you mean? If by some miracle zis is real, shouldn’t zey be able to converse in zeir subconsciousness?
I don’t know what that word means, but they aren’t waking up at all! Now, they won’t even let me in their minds anymore! They’re so mean!
…Oh dear. Zat’s not good.
I don’t know what’s going on… I just wanted to see you… did I mess something up? Am I in trouble?
…No. I suppose not. Perhaps that sample vas too dangerous after all. Though, it does prompt a plethora of other questions!
I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but I’m still super sorry. If my owners saw me here, they’d be really mad.
Now zat you mention it, who and where are your owners? Ze only reason I brought you here vas to find zem myself! I vasted twenty whole minutes of valuable work time for you! You’re velcome, by ze way!
Um, thanks? And, uh, I don’t really know where they are. Do you know anyone named Skyber or Nova?
Vhat, do I look like a phone book to you?! How am I supposed to know zese people?! Especially vith their stupid hippie names!
I guess that means no. You see, they’re very nice owners. They clean me, they feed me, they protect me, and they give me all kinds of love! But, sometimes they protect me too much. Nova said no other dog can do what I’m doing now, but Skyber said that makes me a… lia-bill-illy? A lie-ability? She says strange words a lot.
Hm, hm! So you ran away and turned my new laboratory into a warzone!
I didn’t mean to go far, honest! I just wanted to meet new friends! But then I got tired and slept in your doggy bed, and now I’m here. You were the only one who didn’t kick me away. You didn’t treat me different. I just had to find you again!
Gah, zon’t get sappy vith ME! If ve’re still alive, zat means ve are still STUCK down here in a lab that’s quite likely already blown to smithereens! Ve’ve got to get out of here! If you’re vhat you claim to be, you MUST wake me at once!
Oh, that’s easy! Why didn’t you say so?
Ernst’s eyes shot open as he gasped for air. In a split second, his confusion turned into a massive, splitting headache, only to just as quickly subside once a Shiba Inu popped out of his cranium like a soap bubble from a plastic wand.
“Arf, arf!” The dog sat on his blood-stained lap, wagging its tail.
“…Incredible…” So he wasn’t dreaming. Before anything else, the doctor marveled at the scientific enigma that lay before him. A non-humanoid Electi.
“Vell! No use leaving you down here to rot! Ve must escape zis facility at once!” He checked himself for wounds, and promptly addressed them with how he usually did. Focusing his energy, his hands pulsed a radiant pink—about the shade of his goggles—and his cuts, gashes, fractures, and physical traumas spontaneously healed themselves in mere seconds. Then, checking Deg for wounds (and surprisingly finding nothing more than scratches and bruises), decided it was as good a time as any to make a break for it.
Ernst picked up the mutt, leaping through the broken glass window over the smoldering ashes of what once was a computer terminal. He stopped to check his colleagues… but their remains were covered in blood. He had hoped to heal at least one of them.
“I never even got zeir names.” he took his cap off in respect. It sat softly on Deg’s head, covering his eyes.
You can’t save everyone, the doctor supposed. He found his way out of the dark room through the busted steel door, traversing empty corridor after empty corridor, racking his brain trying to remember where he came from.
One set of particularly large blast doors later, and he jumped right into a sea of chaos. Deafening sirens filled the air. Scientists were screaming and running all sorts of directions. Lights went out, then went back on, then when they went out again something exploded.
He bumped into someone on the way upstairs, who was luckily not a security guard.
“Ow! Watch where you’re running! Hey, why do you have a dog with you?” the man with a soot-covered lab coat said.
For once in his intellectual life, Ernst played dumb. “Nevermind zat! Vhat in ze schnitzel happened out here?”
“There’s been a minor meltdown somewhere on this level! Things are blowing up left and right, nobody knows what’s going on, everything’s out of control! Now move, I gotta find my brother!”
The scientists pushed each other aside to go their separate ways. He crossed out taking an elevator in his head—one less thing to worry about blowing up. He passed by a small room, of what appeared to be several security screens and a pair of guards.
“This is a nightmare! Do you think the guys are holding up out there? There’s a lot of people on the lower levels,” one said to the other.
“Forget the rescue squadron, nobody’s gonna make it out alive down there if we don’t do something about Source Prime! We gotta redirect all this energy somewhere!”
“We have a dormant branch under Aptitude Lake, but we don’t know if there are civilians nearby!”
“Just do it! Or else this whole building gets microwaved!”
The man sighed. He pushed a button and spoke through a microphone. “Delta Seven-One-One, this is Delta Seven-Two-Seven. Requesting opening of Flood Gates A-1 through A-7, I repeat…”
They got out of earshot once Ernst scrambled up a flight of stairs. He had gotten his hat back from Deg, enjoying the excitement. Another flight of stairs above, and they were back in his office space, where papers and files and people flew all over like a frenzied chicken coop. He grabbed his folders in the midst of the headless birds, and almost made it out before he saw the last woman he wanted to see storm in like the farmer coming to slaughter. He dove under a desk, just narrowly avoiding her wrath.
“Where’s that damn madman?! I know it was him, I know he started all this! Where is he?!”
Deg whimpered, looking up at the madman in question.
“Zon’t worry, she’s only talking about me,” he hushed to the dog.
Samara found a guard and dragged him by the vest to face her. “Have you seen a man in full body bandages and pink goggles?”
“Dr. Ernst?” he tried. “He hasn’t been here all morning!”
“Find him! I know he came to work this morning, and I know that damn dog he brought is with him too! He deserves life in a cell for what he’s done to ERATech! And arrest whoever gave him access to the lower levels! If he ever shows his face near these grounds, shoot him! Do you understand?”
The man gulped and nodded.
“Ah, classic Director. I almost feel sorry for ze poor man!” Ernst stifled a laugh. He waited until both parties headed down to the source of all the madness, and bolted up the next flight of stairs.
Most of the upper levels had evacuated by the time the doctor made it out. Just by the skin of his teeth. It wasn’t only his building, either; the entire campus was in full emergency mode. Had that little pebble really started all this?
“It seems ve live to tell ze tale, mein dear colleague!” Ernst raised Deg in his arms. “Vhat an exhilarating day! Though, I don’t zink I’m coming back to vork anytime soon! Ha ha!”
Slipping past the guards, lab coats, and clouds of smoke, he found his way to the parking lot, at the space on the far corner where his Vespa sat. Deg jumped onto the passenger seat while Ernst stuffed his papers back into his storage compartment. “Now, to find zose hippie owners of yours!”
He didn’t have to. From the air, a massive being hurdled towards the earth at breakneck speeds, slamming down into the pavement. It left a small crater where it landed.
“GAH! Vhat now?!” Ernst resumed his fake tae-kwon do stance, coming full circle to a few hours prior.
The being unfolded its draconic wings, revealing the eight-foot woman in a sharp purple suit the wings were attached to. Well, not so much a woman but a woman-shaped demon.
“Hello,” it greeted. “It appears you have something I own.”
“Whoever you are, I zon’t have any money!” Deg licked his coat to get him to come to. “Oh. You must mean zis thing!”
He picked the dog up again and showed it to the being, who snatched it with one hand and throttled him with the other. His boots flew a whole two feet off the ground.
“You will explain to me in full detail just what you people did to my dog. Then, you will beg for mercy as I torch your whole company to the ground for taking what’s mine. If you can do that, I may honor you with a quick death.” The woman’s black eyes burned a furious violet. Ashes spewed from her fanged maw. Her claws sunk into his coat, puncturing his chest.
“Ah! So you must be… ze Skyber I heard so much about…!” Ernst figured through pained choking. “Your pet told me about you! I must say… you are very intimidating!”
“…What?” More smoke billowed between her clenched teeth.
“Oh, yes! Somehow, it entered my mind as I lay unconscious with my newfound ex-science team! Truly a feat in and of itself, from a fellow scientist in-training! Ha ha!”
Deg seemed to like the word “scientist.” It sounded funny to him. Skyber, however, was not amused. “You have ten seconds before I slit your throat, you miserable excuse for a mortal. Do you have the slightest idea how much danger you put him through? What your team could have caused? How could you possibly excuse yourself of what your project stands for?”
“My project! HAH!” The doctor spat up blood as he laughed. “My time here vasn’t about ze project! I was here purely for the pursuit of science! Vhat, do you truly believe I had stolen your pet? Vhy vould I do zat?! Zis isn’t PETA, you know!” He felt the claws move around under his skin. Not quite the most pleasant feeling. “As for my team, you may rest assured zey are already dead. Ve vere conducting a secret experiment behind our Director’s back to discover ze secrets of an alternative energy source vithin zis city, but something vent wrong. Your pet just happened to pick ze worst possible place to stow away in, is all!”
“Alternative energy source… is that what they’re calling it these days…” Skyber’s grip loosened. “You’re aware this doesn’t absolve you. You still jeopardized his life by taking him here. And seeing the destruction—”
“Taking him?!” The scientist sounded offended. “It vas his choice to return to me all the way down zose vents! Don’t blame me if zis is his definition of a playdate!”
The dragoness returned her gaze to her prized possession. “Is this true, Deg? You willingly followed the man into ERATech, knowing the risks I warned you of?”
The shiba whimpered again, hiding his face under his paw.
“…We will have a talk once we return home. As for you,” she said to Ernst, slowly putting him down, “I suppose I cannot kill you given the unfortunate circumstances. Yet.”
With his feet on the ground again, the doctor’s hands pulsed, healing the puncture wounds. “Phew! After keeping your dog safe for zis long, I at least deserve my life!” He dusted himself off.
Skyber squinted. “Another Electi. Shame you work for the tech labs.”
“Vell, not anymore! I quit!” the bandaged man declared. “I shall conduct my research elsewhere! Vithout ze prying eyes of that Samara! I, ze incredible Doktor Ernst, vill figure out ze truth of my newest study, even if it almost kills me again!”
He hopped onto his Vespa, turning the engine on. “And so zis doesn’t happen again, please get your dog a new tag! I have better things to do than be New Era’s lost and found!”
“Doctor Ernst,” the dragoness repeated the name slowly. “I’ll remember you. We will keep in touch.” Securing Deg in her arms, he stretched her wings, and off she flew.
“Feh. Hippies…” Ernst grumbled as the scooter sputtered out of ERATech.