[Written through IM, hence the format!]
It had been a trying day at the Varro Center. However, Jules Fairchild has had enough of his share of troubles not to run around like a chicken with his head cut off when something does not go exactly right. His rational thought kicked in. The scientist never allowed himself to be brought down by the sudden flash of panic that he had seen commonly flicker across the faces of those he worked with. It did not mean he did not feel it. Of course he did.
Earlier, a Teinar team brought in their latest jewel - to the few scientists who could muster enough gall to go near the creature. It had been sedated by a couple of well placed darts in the back of its neck. The fact that it was a monster was not a deterrent. Those of Teinar knew well what the word meant, he came to know. But it had been humanoid. Black inky skin stretched over its body in a way that seemed too tightly, it’s torso was a muddle of limbs - arms and legs often sprouting from the same elbow joint, or from the middle of the creature’s chest. Yet its face, entirely safe from terrible mutation, remained human.
It had been shot dead on the spot after breaking from its binds and brutally attacking one of its examiners. Jules had been on the right side of it, it lunged for the left. Of course he felt panic… He would glance constantly at his own arm even far before the incident. A few hours past since then, he stayed to lend a hand in gathering what they could from the body for study. And now exhaustion appeared plainly on his face as he quietly walked down a hallway in the Varro Center - his mind far away from the present.
It had actually been the team he belonged to that had brought the creature in. Not something he was used to. They were a group usually just for hunting but a special request had been placed. Most gathering teams were already out but there was word that a humanoid mutant had been spotted. Someone needed to go catch it.
It was a stupid idea. Cian had said that. They were just getting their hopes up. There was no point in trying to catch the damn thing. Just like most of the others it would be far to gone to reason with or get words out of and therefore should've just been shot on sight. But with his ranks his opinions didn't matter much at all. He'd do what he was told or lose it and that wasn't something he was willing to do.
Finding the thing hadn't been hard. Sedating it had been the hard part. They had quickly found out the thing was far from being able to be reasoned with and had lashed out at the closest person. There were a few injuries caused before someone had finally managed to get the sedatives in it. One shot wasn't even enough for it either. After the creature was out it was taken back where it would no doubt wake up and lash out again.
Whatever. As soon as the thing was handed over it wasn't his problem any more. He didn't care to hear anything about it after that either.
No..his problem now was finding the exit. Again he wasn't used to doing drop offs so he didn't know his way around the center like most probably did. It was irritating. He was irritated. Everything so far was just ridiculous and irritating. Cian huffed and glanced around as he walked, attempting to locate an exit sign or something. Of course he found nothing.
Not paying attention was a recipe for disaster. As he soon found out.
Cian ended up bumping into someone else coming the opposite way down the hall. The only nice thing about it was that he only stumbled back a couple steps and caught his balance again. It didn't even cross his mind to say sorry or anything. Instead first option was to just look at whoever the person was with what would seem, to anyone who didn't hang around him much, to be a glare.
It was a shame that the creature had to die in such a manner. One of the Teinar military types had stayed with them during the examination - the one who had eventually drawn their gun to shoot. Jules thought it rash. However, that was the TRIM scientist in him seeping through. Never waste anything, even if their was a price. New scientists could be found and trained. Unique specimens were much harder to come by. He wanted to learn from it. The fact that it had been humanoid was astonishing. Jules had seen such monstrosities before in his own line of work. Albeit those were from his own hands. This was evolutionary. Its base was a probable human or a close relative. It had survived the wastes where many had died from the toxicity or from other creatures lurking aggressively about. Were there more of them? He wondered. Though he had no power to send out another team on a wild goose chase despite what aid it could have been to him alive…
Jules’ shoulder brushed up against another’s. He hadn’t even noticed. Not the footsteps, nor the image of the person walking down the same hallway as he was. His own first instinct was to say nothing, do nothing and continue on his way like they never existed and like they never disrupted him from his thoughts. Until that is, he caught sight of the person’s face by accident and recognised him. The scientist part of Jules brightened considerably.
“Wait,” He said and unconsciously kept his left arm from view. It was a developing habit. He tended to give fairly bad impressions if it was the first thing people see or knew about him. “You’re one of soldiers…” Jules grabbed a hold of the Hunter’s arm, hopefully halting their progress that would only draw them away from him. “…Who brought in the humanoid, correct?”
Cian shook his head and was going to leave. He just wanted to leave. To be out of the center. Too much like a hospital or something. Smelled enough like it with all of the disinfectants and what not. Ick. He never wanted to get hurt enough to the point he'd have to spend a few days or so in one. Surely he'd go mad. Just being stuck in the center for minutes was bad enough. And exit really was needed.
Just as he was about to walk off though the voice of the person bumped along with their hand grabbing his arm, stopped him in the process. Great. No doubt someone who worked there. He never really got a good look at them. He was not the sciency type. He would not provide a good conversation if that's what the person was looking for.
Cian stared at the other for a second before nodding. "Yes." Quick one word answer. Like normal. "Do you need something?" Not that he'd get the person what they needed if they asked. He didn't know where anything in the center was at. Though perhaps they were looking for some other Hunter in which then he'd have to relay a message. A game of telephone...how fun..he'd rather hit his head against the wall right now.
Jules managed to crack a smile. He was getting somewhere! Who knew just a bump on the shoulder and he would get what part of his thoughts were trailing after. Now, he did not believe in gods, higher powers, or spirits watching out for him - if they did, where had they been all his life? - however he liked to think that he had the power of coincidence on his side.
He did not noticed that the man he had his hand grappled to did not very obviously want to be there. No, he wouldn’t. He was just the sort who was blind to that.
“I’m Dr. Fairchild,” He pressed on, letting loose his hand as soon as he was sure the man would not run off like a child screaming down the hallway. “I was one of the ones present when it came to us. Unfortunately…” He sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Terrible things happened and the poor thing has ceased to be as useful as it could be. It is out of my interest, not so much of my colleges, if you could divulge some information…”
He held up both his hands, including the one he did not want to be seen so plainly. He was talking science. Everything else was moot. “…Of course I mean if it isn’t confidential. I only wish to know…Circumstances.”
The other smiled but Cian had no where near a smile even beginning to form. He wasn't happy in the least to be stopped and he wasn't about to pretend he was.
And oh god. Here came the conversation that he didn't want. Lovely. Just lovely. He really wasn't given a chance to turn down the conversation either. Could he just hit his head against something now and be done with it?
"By that I suppose you mean it's dead now? It should've been dead before it came in." Cian stated bluntly. He shrugged his shoulders a little at the request for information. He had not been told to keep his mouth shut about it but he hadn't been told he needed to answer questions either. "Circumstances?"
“Yes, yes. It’s dead. And no, your little fancy darts had more of a probability to simply make it drowsy. Very durable creature. Very durable.” Jules said in a bored voice, already getting over the sudden death of the specimen. Not to mention the brutal way in which it was received. It was difficult for anything to make a lasting impression. The scientist was far too used to seeing fleeting things instead of constant. That being said, the constant look on the Hunter’s face was not something he cared to give much thought to. His questions wouldn’t psychically hurt him. What was the problem? “And fast.” He added, remembering the attack.
“The area you found it in.” He said, gesturing. “…I study evolutionary processes, mostly. Mostly in mutants. Mostly…” He trailed off biting his bottom lip and grasping at his left wrist.
"Right." They weren't that durable if you got a shot in them. Sure some creatures took more than one but in the end they all went down. Ah but his thoughts were traveling to just killing things again. Not that he had much problem with that. It was how things should be. Not drugging them up and dragging them into Teinar. Wasn't that what they were trying to prevent anyway?
Sure it was controlled entry since the Hunters were bringing them in but what happened if one got loose? That would just be more headache later. "Most of them are."
It was at that moment that Cian actually noticed the scientist's hand. That was certainly interesting. It wasn't like the other so it couldn't be said that that was the way it was supposed to look. "The area it was found in was dead and empty. Just like most of the other areas." Even though he was replying he couldn't tear his eyes away from what should've been a normal hand.
That wasn’t very helpful. Jules’ expression soured. He did not much care for the man’s blunt demeanour when it did not help him. For all it proved to be at that moment was a hindrance. The Hunter needed to make an adjustment to the way he handles very simple questions. From a scientist of all people. It was common sense that those in pursuit of knowledge were bound to want the most lengthy explanation possible! Well, it was what he wanted, and craved for; to be given every little tiny detail. It could hold a secret that minds not trained could look over.
Jules’ followed the other’s line of eyesight, having seemingly found something interesting to focus on. Honestly, he didn’t need to, but he found himself holding his breath in hopes that it was something else that caught the attention of the Hunter. Oh how he hated to be wrong. He made a fist with his left hand, curling up his mutated fingers with the long black nails from view, and coughed with it over his mouth.
“That’s a rather rude stare…” He said quietly, barely managing to say it at all. He didn’t like when people stared at him. It made him feel awkward. It made him realise how far away he was from ever being someone like them. A person. And possibly now, even human.
When the other coughed, Cian glanced at his face for a second. Sure he figured it had been rude but that wasn't his fault at all. The scientist shouldn't let it be seen if he didn't want people to stare at it. He even made not point to make a comment on the statement either. What was there to say anyway?
Instead he just shrugged a little. There weren't anymore questions at that point. That must've meant they were done. That or he wasn't giving the information that was wanted. Not that he cared about that much either. "Are we done?"
“I suppose we are.” Jules said, his brow furrowing. This man had no tact or manners. For pete’s sake, it didn’t even seem like he cared about the well-being of his own civilization! Perhaps that was going a tad too far with how he thought of his own studies. He would float back down to earth eventually and realise they weren’t all that important. However, that fact would only make him irritated.
He really wanted that information. It could help him draw a conclusion on why the humanoid mutated as it did. It had been bizarre and nearly random to his eye. But…There must be some reason why. Now that it was dead he could no longer look forward to watching it’s behaviour. And see if it could manage speech.
“Go on with your way, hunter, you are of no use to me.” He snapped.
