The Strange Case of Dr. Hedyll

Part One

N̸̤̱͘A̴͇̫͒M̸̥̹̾̃É̴̯̜̂ ̷̢̢̓Ŕ̵͙̭Ë̴̠̲́D̴̻͆A̴̠̒́C̶͈̲͒T̸̞̈́̎E̶̗͠ͅD̶̪̜͛ was surrounded. Those she had called her friends stood all around her. She sat on the ground, holding herself and softly crying as they closed in on her. She looked up, searching for any loyalty in their eyes. She found none.

She woke up with a start. Wordlessly, she got out of bed, got dressed, and equipped her lab coat before leaving her room and walking into the research facility where she and her coworkers lived. "A good day of work will help me forget that dream..." she whispered to herself, lost in thought.

"What dream are you talking about?"

N̸̤̱͘A̴͇̫͒M̸̥̹̾̃É̴̯̜̂ ̷̢̢̓Ŕ̵͙̭Ë̴̠̲́D̴̻͆A̴̠̒́C̶͈̲͒T̸̞̈́̎E̶̗͠ͅD̶̪̜͛ yelped and quickly stepped away from the coworker who had snuck up on her.

"Barry! Don't sneak up on me like that!" The pink hare pouted.

The grey mobian dog laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. It's just that it's not like you to be late, I got worried."

She glanced at the clock. It's true, she was about 20 minutes late. "Sorry, I've just been under a lot of pressure lately, I guess."

"How many times do I need to keep telling you that even you need to take a break?" Barry smiled but his eyes were full of concern.

N̸̤̱͘A̴͇̫͒M̸̥̹̾̃É̴̯̜̂ ̷̢̢̓Ŕ̵͙̭Ë̴̠̲́D̴̻͆A̴̠̒́C̶͈̲͒T̸̞̈́̎E̶̗͠ͅD̶̪̜͛ 's smile turned accidentally into a grimace as she remembered her dream. Barry of all people had been in front, eyes cold and unforgiving as he looked down at her.

"Hey, what's the matter? Did you have a really bad nightmare? You should really just take today off."

"I don't need a day off," N̸̤̱͘A̴͇̫͒M̸̥̹̾̃É̴̯̜̂ ̷̢̢̓Ŕ̵͙̭Ë̴̠̲́D̴̻͆A̴̠̒́C̶͈̲͒T̸̞̈́̎E̶̗͠ͅD̶̪̜͛ replied calmly. She shot an annoyed glare at Barry which then softened when she noticed the genuine concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry, darling. It's just that my research has come so far... Any day now it could finally yield results, after all this time..."

Barry stood on his toes and kissed her on the forehead. "I understand. Maybe I could at least help you out today, alright?"

"Alright." She smiled shyly.

They looked out from the indoor balcony where the bedrooms were and over the bustling research facility, morning light pouring in from the massive circular window overhead. The research facility had been built from the ruins of a massive abandoned library, and it had basically become a library once more, lined with shelves of books on magic and science and scattered tables where various researchers were working and whispering amongst themselves.

The research facility had been founded by none other than Dr. Sage, a kind old mobian badger. When she was younger, she had worked alongside Dr. Gerald Robotnik on the Space Colony ARK. She was one of its only survivors, and dedicated her own small research facility to the memory of all the friends she had lost that day. Though instead of making instruments of war for the military, she encouraged all of the researchers who had found their ways to him to create anything that they believed would bring more happiness and peace to the world.

Her goal of peace was probably one of the reasons that N̸̤̱͘A̴͇̫͒M̸̥̹̾̃É̴̯̜̂ ̷̢̢̓Ŕ̵͙̭Ë̴̠̲́D̴̻͆A̴̠̒́C̶͈̲͒T̸̞̈́̎E̶̗͠ͅD̶̪̜͛ kept having nightmares about all the other researchers turning against her. If her research was used for good, it would certainly bring about peace. But it was dangerous. And that was the reason she watered her work down when speaking to anyone except for Barry. He was skeptical of her research, but he believed in her.