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 Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 3:57 am
Suki herself insisted on carrying the two blossilias, one in each paw as they headed back to the portal. "Such a good hunting trip!" she exclaimed as she decided to lick the creatures like lollipops as she went, leaving them looking more than a little bit alarmed.
They hadn't gone too far from where they'd come and it was pretty straightforward to get back to base.
As soon as they were back however, Suki moved to put the minipets into the storage tank and moved into the golem storage pod with exceptional haste.
Lawrence woke up in his control pod and flung it open with a gasp, staggering out, shaking his head as he settled back into his own body. He was still pacing when everyone else got out of their pods.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 5:18 am
Rodney trudged behind, putting a now hyped-up Terry back in his crate. Terry did circles while making weird gnashing noises, and the crate rocked ominously back and forth. Rodney apologetically fastened the latch.
He wasn't as quick as Lawrence, moving slowly and with a tragic expression, which he affixed Lawrence with the moment he climbed out of his pod.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 5:28 am
Lawrence spotted the look Rodney was giving him and froze in his tracks, giving the other man a "who me?" sort of innocent look. Trying to divert the impending trouble he was potentially in he pointed in the direction of Melvin's pod.
"I knew what you were talking about!" he said. "Talking about the life labs out in Halloween was unprofessional and dangerous! Haven't you people ever acted?" he tossed his hair in a rather dramatic way.
"Somehow we managed it despite all the hassle."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 6:15 am
Melvin's pod moved soon after, after having helped put the minipets away, and he pushed the lid up. Sitting up, he rubbed the crink in his neck as he climbed out and tilted his head back and forth. Pods were uncomfortable despite what cryogenic chambers in movies always lead you to believe.
He caught Lawr's displeasure with their conversation and had to make a fake little 'ha' at that. "Like you barking off your own professional business in the most obscure and misleading way possible? There is acting and there is being way too into it."
To which he walked over to pat Lawr's stomach. "I can't believe you let me do half of that." Though his fur was very soft.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 7:50 am
As his first experience, it could have gone better. It was weird being flesh and blood again, instead of just bone, and all the sensations were different, his height, his weight, his center of balance. It should have been exciting. He had been a skeleton. But it was too tangled in unethical experimentation. And someone slobbering all over his thigh.
He pointed a wobbly finger at Lawrence.
"You, how could you! You are not going back to the laboratory!"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 8:34 am
Jordan emerged from his pod still wearing a sour expression after helping put the minipets away, and gave the other three a long look. "That was educational," he said. "Is there anything further you need from me, or can I finish the rest of my duties now?"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 8:46 am
Lawrence gave Melvin an alarmed look when his stomach was petted, but quickly returned to indignation. "I was completely professional and gave away nothing about our workplace which was the point." He didn't comment on how much it had rankled his pride or how stupid he'd felt running after sticks (he could practically still taste half of the things he'd chewed on or licked)
"But of course I let you do those things, character is important."
Rodney though got the most concerned look he'd given all day, feeling that if something was enough to make the other man point and outright state that he wasn't going back to the labs he was probably in quite a lot of trouble.
"Er.... I'm not?" he said hesitantly, too startled to dismiss poor Jordan from duty.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 8:54 am
Melvin rolled his eyes outright at Rodney, knowing there would be some morality involving the cancer that was minipets going on. Turning to Jordan, he offered an apologetic smile to him. "Yeah, you are released from this mad house. If you need help later with anyone or.....just want to chat, I'm free later today." He offered.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 8:57 am
Flustered, he answered Jordan, "And it was just, right, the...hunter things, that I meant. Sorry, um, I didn't meant to confuse anybody."
His hands curled into trembling fists.
"And no, you're not! At least...not if you're just going to...keep on doing what you've been doing!"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:03 am
Jordan nodded to Melvin. "Thanks." He paused a moment, then added, "We should catch up some time, yeah."
He gave Rodney a look that was almost apologetic, and said, "Good to meet you." Then he turned to leave, having no further inclination to be involved in what was shaping up to be an argument.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:13 am
Lawrence raised a brow even higher at Rodney, as if he'd just been roared at by a mouse. "What I was doing was research?" he said. "I am studying the resilience of fear shields and its application for human use? It is sanctioned, minipets are disposable so long as they are replaced. They aren't actually living carbon-based lifeforms. They are less than plants."
He frowned. "What else am I supposed to do? It's not like I can test things on people."
"Shame to see you go." he said and smirked at Jordan. "Good to watch you leave.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:18 am
Melvin went over and lightly punched Lawr in the arm. "No to that." He warned him before looking over at Rodney.
"There are many projects going on that use minipets for the benefit of Hunters. These are not animals, Rodney. They're more like walking tumors." He added, getting a little tired of hearing about anyone wanting to protect a minipet that wasn't someone's strange pet.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:35 am
"R-Rodney," Rodney introduced himself. "Michaels. Nice to meet you. Lawrence..."
Melvin worked in the life labs too.
"I understand...that some things are necessary. And that not everyone thinks...being able to suffer pain and having families and an understanding of what's being done to them are...are qualifiers for being treated with respect. But they're not like...human-world plants. It doesn't matter what their base is! They do suffer. And...and killing things over and over to see how quickly they die...there...there are a million other things you could learn from those creatures. You could...you could do behavioral studies. See....see how they learn, or adapt, or behave, or socialize. I know you pick your own projects. You didn't have to pick that one, and you don't have to continue it."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:49 am
"I didn't say I would!" Lawrence exclaimed, moving away from Melvin and rubbing his arm, over-dramatising how much it had hurt. "But they aren't animals and that is a ridiculous qualifier of respect. Some of the minipets I have vivisected have had no concept of pain, no family and no comprehension of who or what I was. They are not like our creatures. Some of them are full of candy!"
He shook his head. "And I am not killing them to see how quickly they die, I have a large number of variables I am investigating, the variance of hardiness, the species with highest regeneration, ones with comparable anatomy to humans, all sorts of things. If I find the ones with the quickest mending then I can theoretically apply that to hunters in some way, perhaps mimic the nature of the fear through runes. There are any number of things which can and will save lives. Actual human lives." he narrowed his brow.
"As interesting as behavioural studies might be, lounging around in Halloween observing the frolicing of our enemies in their natural habitat has no research merit for what I'm doing. Are you saying I should just give up what I'm passionate about and swap to some crazy cat lady instead? I chose this because I want to help people and its more than most people are doing."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:50 am
Jordan gave Lawrence a flat I-cannot-believe-you look and said, "I am not going to sleep with you. Just so that's understood."
"Jordan Miller," he introduced himself to Rodney, and paused at the door, listening to Rodney's defense of minipets. He could respect the guy's point of view, even if he did think that some experimentation was necessary.
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