“Threats as colorful as always,” Brom said dryly, the Fate’s voice full of arrogance.
“I can’t recall threatening you before, but if I did, it seems I didn’t do it thoroughly enough. Oh, and it’s not a threat, it’s me having a vision of your future, if you ever pull this shit again. My family is NOT at your beck and fucking call.”
“Yet, you work for us.”
“I work for the Bureau, you arrogant waste of fucking space. But if you want to be down three directors at this branch, andmiss out on a brilliant mind who will ultimately make not only our lives easier but help ensure Cryptids are treated with dignity, criminal or not, then be my fucking guest. Keep pushing,” he ground out, before hanging up and re-blocking the Fate’s number when the man tried to call back.
Seri took a deep breath and sent the two men standing guard outside a hesitant and likely awkward smile, before pushing into the private backroom within Hidden Places.
The small room was round, and held a single medium-sized circular table with booth seating. The walls above the booth, that looked to have sprouted up from the floor, gave the illusion of a forest at night, with branches coming up and dividing randomly. The floating lantern over the table was bright enough to see and eat, but dim enough that it didn’t ruin the atmosphere.
Seri found Emmet was already inside, the human flinching the second he walked in. He couldn’t help but notice that Emmet had scooted far enough into the booth that he was directly facing the door.
Dr. Emmet Finley was short and on the thin side, and his pale skin seemed even more so with the contrast of the maroon-colored turtleneck he had on. The professor’s short brown hair was as curly as it had always been, if not possibly streaked with a few more strands of white than before. He also looked tired and…nervous.
Emmet’s gaze was just a little too wide and fearful. The bags under his dark-green eyes stood out starkly against his skin, the large black frames of his glasses not hiding them in the least.
The man was wringing his hands together on the table, clasping them just a hair too tightly. And he could tell Emmet’s jaw was clenched, even as he sent him a smile that likely was as awkward as the one Seri sent back.
Aside from the tiredness and stress, Emmet didn’t look much different than the last time he’d seen him, even though it had been years now. Oddly, Seri would even say the human possibly looked younger. He would swear the lines around the man’s mouth, and at the corner of his eyes, seemed lighter than before. Which didn’t make sense, as Emmet was in his late forties now.
Of course, he could just be mis-remembering. It wasn’t as if the man had too many wrinkles to begin with. Emmet had never looked his age, which definitely spoke more on the human’s genetics than anything.
Clearing his throat, Seri slid into the left side of the booth. “Hello. It’s been…”
“A while?” Emmet finished for him with a hesitant laugh.
“Yeah.” He licked his lips, hesitating for a second before asking, “What’s going on, Emmet?”
It still felt weird to use the man’s first name. Back when he’d been studying under him, he’d always used Dr. Finley. But that was what the human had insisted he call him when they’d reconnected. Seri sort of assumed that the usually quiet man, aside from when his temper flared, had been looking for a friend.
Emmet grimaced, his gaze flicking around, as if he was either looking for small listening devices, or waiting for people to pop out of the shadows, which…been there, done that—still did it on occasion…
“I…” The man swallowed. “I mentioned that private study I joined…didn’t I?”
“You did…vaguely?”
Emmet wrung his hands together. “It was…fine, at first. Things seemed normal. Multiple tests and experiments, with differentiating variables, taking place at once, endless reports and so on… But then the others I work with started acting odd.”
“In what way?”
The human sighed. “I was supposed to be the lead, but once there, I quickly found I had no authority over the experiments, or the other scientists in any way. In fact, I have never even been privy to what exactly they were doing. Only that it seemed, based on the vague and mostly doctored reports I managed to get my hands on, that they were expanding on my own results. But I don’t really know, I still don’t know.
“I suppose it’s not totally abnormal. I’ve come across many coworkers who have been extremely protective over their work. The odd part is the way they started acting. Like they were hiding something, not from everyone, just from…me.
“As time went by, I realized not only was I not the lead, but I was someone they were purposely keeping out of the loop. And I’m beginning to think this wasn’t a recent development. That I’ve in fact been excluded from the very first day.”
Seri pursed his lips, eyeing the human. He couldn’t help but note there was this almost hesitant fear shining in the man’s eyes. “There’s more, isn’t there? You seem afraid of something. I'm sure you no doubt have confidentiality clauses in your contract, but what exactly were you hired to do? Because I can’t help but think that is the reason you are here.”
Emmet took a drink of water, before taking a deep breath and divulging, “I won’t say who, but I was hired to research and find a solution, likely a DNA-altering one, to the fertility issues of a particular Cryptid species. And I’m pretty sure I had uhh—” The human pushed his glasses higher on his nose, his hand trembling slightly. “—a breakthrough on that…but…”
“But…?”
“I think I was mistaken, or—” The man licked his lips. “—rather lied to about who exactly they plan to use this drug on. And I think I asked…one too many questions. Or maybe it had nothing to do with that, and more just the whole reason I was hired in the first place…”
His brow rose. “And who exactly do you think they mean to use it on?”
“Humans…” Emmet whispered. “I don't think they plan to fix the problem, I think they plan to create a separate—” The human wrinkled his nose. “—breeding pool…”
