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 Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 9:36 pm
"...hello...? Anyone around?" No, really, why would they be? At two in the morning, who WOULD be around? The facility was a dark place; the only lights she could make out coming down the road were those faint, dismal ones glowing morosely out of the lobby. Beyond that...the upper levels were dark, the rest of that floor was dark from the front...needless to say, Corine Teylon was a bit put-off by the lack of other people. Or even her superior, for that matter; shouldn't the big boss be around?
...obviously they needed sleep.
Stiffling a quiet yawn, Corine realized that she really should be catching a few moments of shut-eye, herself...but she was late. Very late, actually; her flight should have gotten in sixhours ago, but there had been storm delays. Massive ones. What had they said, some sort of growing storm system, tornado threats...something.
Either way, it had been a long night. Suddenly Corine was glad she was so used to all-nighters.
"I'll be back in a minute or two." The cab driver nodded, bobbing his head to the music drifting lazily from the radio.
"Hey, no problem; take all the time you need. It's on your tab, after all." His throaty laugh twisted a wry smile across the woman's face as she twitched the heavy ponytail over her shoulder. At least he had his priorities straight...right?
Sandals slapping across the sidewalk, Corine approached the faintly lit doorway, suddenly shy. What if she was wrong? What if there WERE people there, waiting to pounce on her and berate her for being so painfully late? Her narrow hand lit lightly on the bar, trembling faintly as she gave it a light, experimental push.
...nothing. The doors were locked.
Cursing faintly under her breath, Corine's hands flew over her coat, searching for that little plastic card that had been included with the letter accepting her application as a member of the technical crew at Alpha's Lab. She could see the card key reader blinking beside the door...now, if only she could find the slip of plastic it needed...
"Aha!" With a triumphant flourish that sent her wrist cracking painfully, Corine withdrew the necessary card from her pocket and slid it sharply through the magnet stripe reader. The whirr and click at her side was the only indication that anything at all had happened. Before it could lock again, the woman bolted past the glass doors and into the starkly empty lobby. White walls, a few nondescript paintings, some ancient magazines...
"...it looks like a hospital." Slapping her way across the blank tiles, she slipped the card key through another reader mounted on the wall beside a door marked 'Employees Only.' If someone was around, they were bound to be in this room...and, despite how remarkable it still seemed to her, the door unlocked.
"Hello...?" The room was pitch black; the only light came from a single computer monitor. This was her first stop, bumping into a few desks and chairs on her way, squinting into the harsh luminescence blinding her eyes.
There was a message on the screen.
"Omega," she mumbled, shading her gaze. "You're late." No, really? "I have a job for you. The information is in the briefcase." Glancing to the side of the desk, she caught the soft gleam of metal in the light of the computer screen. "The kid should be there...somewhere. Alpha."
"...kid?"
And then there was a flare of light brighter than the electronics.
With a muffled yelp, Corine whirled, stumbling over her sandals and careening into the desk at her back. Eyes wide, breathing hard, she stared at the hesitant flames shooting up from the chair, sizzling faintly as a small boy shifted underneath them.
Despite the little part of her screaming to PUT THE FIRE OUT THE KID'S GOING TO BURN TO DEATH, Corine crept hesitantly forward, crouching down by the spinning chair.
A boy peered back at her with sleepy brown eyes, yawning widely, flames burning brighter behind him. "Cyndrqwl..."
...okay, that was unexpected.
"Cyndaquil?" she breathed.
"...no." She stared at the boy as he pushed himself up on his elbows, shifting his legs under him.
"...what are you, then?" One tan hand reached up, brushing the sleep from a single bleary eye.
"...Cyndrqwl..." And, without another word, the boy yawned and toppled forward against her shoulder, snoring faintly as the flames on his back sputtered and went out.
...that? That right there was strange.
...but Omega was not one to ask questions.
"Okay, then..." she murmured, scooping the boy out of the chair. "So...you're a Cyndaquil and not one. I can handle that." Reaching behind her, slender fingers sought the cold metal handle of the briefcase, waving frantically until they finally met the icy kiss of long untouched steel.
Easing to her feet, Corine carried both child and workload carefully across the darkened room, out the door marked 'Employees Only,' across the palely lit lobby, and out into the cool night. The boy stirred faintly, whimpering in the chill as she eased the cab door open, tossed the case in, and followed its course, closing the door quietly behind her.
"Hey, who's the kid?" Corine blinked up at the cab driver scrutinizing her in the rear view mirror, dark eyes bright with curiosity as she shifted the boy into her lap. He breathed a soft sigh, red patches glowing for the merest instant before fading into crimson.
"...his name's...Kaen," she replied calmly, fastening the safety belt around both herself and her new charge. "And...I suppose...he's mine."
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:25 am
Log 1; Observation I've been watching the Cyndaquil boy (now dubbed "Kaen") for a few days. I picked him up at the lab, along with a briefcase full of paperwork, at two in the morning. He was sleepy at best, prone to "yes" and "no" answers and some garbled perversion on the name of the Pokemon he appears to be spliced with; in this case, Cyndaquil. Of course, I only got those three words out of him before he fell asleep. And then he was out for the rest of the night.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; I did wake him up at two in the morning, so it's logical that he would drop back off soon after. I loaded him up with me in the cab and we went off to a hotel for the night.
Already I had made a few (admittedly uncertain, it was very dark) observations about this boy. First, his waking is heralded by a flare from his back; second, he feels like a normal boy with skin as opposed to fur, which I found out when I picked him up; third, he is rather sleepy and untalkative upon waking; fourth, he sleeps like a rock. He just doesn't weigh quite as much.
The next day I started in on the paperwork and waited for him to wake up. And waited. And waited. Children shouldn't sleep so long when they look to be as old as Kaen (he appears to be somewhere around four years of age), so I tried to wake him up at noon to no avail. No matter how insistently I shook his little shoulder, there was no response from the boy.
I suppose he woke up at three in the afternoon; I only knew because there was the sudden distinct smell of smoke in the room. I turned around and saw that one of the pillows was singed. At least it didn't catch fire; he was far enough away that only a few small flames managed to hit it. I tried to question him again, but...well, there was no luck there. He managed to eat something...well, curry, actually. I wanted something quick and easy to make, so some instant curry sounded like an easy enough plan...and he bolted that down like there was no tomorrow. I don't think he was completely awake for it, certainly, but he ate it. In terms of getting him to drink something...that was a challenge. Because he wouldn't touch anything I pulled out of the little refrigerator in the room. I had to leave a box of apple juice out for half an hour before he would even consider touching it.
So obviously he dislikes cold drinks. And it seems that he likes hot foods. Makes sense.
Well, I'm new in the area, admittedly, and I need some place to stay that's more permanent than a hotel. So, since I didn't feel comfortable leaving a little firestarter in the room, I decided to take him with me on the apartment hunt.
...bad idea.
For one, he attracted a great deal of attention, mostly because of his odd appearance and the fact that his back was continually in flames. That, of course, was a function of the fact that he was constantly under scrutiny by any number of rather loud people; he never had this problem when it was quiet, and it really only started when we got on the street where all the noise was...
Obviously he likes it quiet. Probably because he wants to sleep so much.
Unfortunately for me, I had to take a subway to get to one of the possible apartments.
WORST IDEA EVER.
Kaen was already fussy before we got to the subway. That only intensified to a low-grade constant screaming by the time we got on the subway, which evolved into a shrill mid-grade shrieking when it started off. I think I'm party deaf in one ear now.
So we're never doing that again. At least, not until he's older. Will I still have him when he's older?
No cramped, crowded, roaring vehicles for him. Bad, BAD idea there.
But I've found a possible apartment now, after some searching and a lot of footwork...and Kaen remained very pissy throughout that entire trip, because the only time he could sleep is when we were in the quiet of the building getting the tour. He woke up every time we hit the street. And then he got fussy again. Remarkably, he didn't struggle and try to get away from me (though trying to calm him down wound up getting me some nasty burns from that fidgety boy); possibly he realized that getting down would just be worse as there was no relief in sight. He put up with being carried remarkably well.
...of course, it had to start raining on the way back.
The mid-grade shriek on the subway? That was nothing compared to the high-pitched WAIL when the rain started coming down on us. The first place that offered any shelter was a little ice cream stand in the park; he was a shivering snuffling bundle of misery by that point, poor kid. I should have brought an umbrella...but I didn't think that far ahead; they said the chance of rain was isolated at best.
Miserable little boy. Fire types don't respond well to water.
...kids are supposed to like ice cream, right? Well, we were stuck until the rain let up, so I decided to treat him...but I put that little cup in his hands and he dropped it in an instant. That poor vanilla scoop. Somehow I should have known better, I guess; if he hates refrigerated drinks, why would he like ice cream?
...I still liked my rocky road.
By the time the rain finally let up, it was getting late. It had been quiet in the park, at least, so after he dried off Kaen went back to sleep on my shoulder. The man working the ice cream stand said that I had the cutest little boy...obviously traffic in interesting characters is common around these parts. Maybe it's the fact that Kaen was mostly too wet to flare up had something to do with his nonchalance.
Anyway. We're back at the hotel. I'm going to work out the final arrangements on the apartment tomorrow, finish some paperwork tonight, and try to get Kaen to eat something. Possibly more curry, since he seemed to enjoy that. He's been sleeping since we returned, and though I'm not particularly inclined to allow it considering his consistent flares upon waking, he's curled up under the blankets on his bed. I somehow don't think I'll be getting him up any time soon...
Tomorrow we'll start settling into the apartment, and I'll get the furniture out of storage from my old place. I'll have to go shopping for something Kaen can use, of course, but that shouldn't be too bad...I hope...it would have to be something non-flammable.
...okay, this might be harder than I thought.
I'll have to head to the lab soon, as well; I should really try to meet Miss Alpha at some point.
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