"Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland hits way different now." Emily comments, as the song plays over the radio. "It's been months. Why are we still like this?" I ask, looking over a document Director Light sent me in secret.
Half of it is blacked out or redacted, but with my dream before I came here, I have a pretty good picture of what is happening with me. It's between O5-9 and O5-3, one of them has been sabotaging me. From picking all-new recruits as my teammates, and one other who has been known to disregard rules, to sending me alone on a mission.
They want me dead or decommissioned. They don't want me on this team, they don't want me at this Site, and they're on the fence about me being a Researcher. But you know what? I do not give a singular fuck. Like, at all. If I die, I die, and I'll haunt their asses. I'm sick of playing nice for people I won't even meet.
"Get used to it, Iceberg, that's life." Kyle replies, staring absent-mindedly at a spot on the wall.
Daniel is staring at the wall next to us. "What's up?" Emily asks him, touching his shoulder.
"My request for time off was denied. How am I supposed to see my kids for Christmas now?" he asks, holding back tears. I sit next to him.
"I will get you that time off or so help me there will be casualties. I'm going to talk to Director Light. See y'all later." I say, walking away.
Director Light's office isn't far. I should be able to convince her to let Daniel take off. She's a reasonable woman and I am in good standing with her.
I knock on her door, and it opens. She's well put together, her blonde hair in a neat ponytail. I sit down at the chair opposite her desk.
"What do you need?" she asks me.
"My teammate, Daniel Brooks, he put in a request for time off to visit his family for Christmas. I'm here to recommend that he receive that time off. The team can survive a few days without him. I'll put in double the work if it means that he can go home." I say, picking at a flap of skin near my fingernail.
"I'll see what I can do. I take it that your team has gotten attached to you?" she asks.
"Of course they did. I'm rather hard to hate." I reply, winking. I know that at least two members of the O5 Council hate me very much. Fuck them.
I leave the office and grab a coffee cup. I've got no work for today. Site-19 is, believe it or not, overstaffed. They're going to transfer people to Sites 15, 111, and 001. I didn't even know there WAS a Site-001. I'm not among those people, though.
Walking down the hallway, I run into a Researcher with blue hair. "Hello!" I say, startled.
"Hi!" she replies sheepishly.
"What's your name?" I ask her.
"Dr. Juliet Wilde. Yours?" she replies.
"Just Alita, thank you. What do you work on here?" I ask.
"Pataphysics department. It's a real mind-bender sometimes, and always a pain in my ass." she replies.
"I do a bit of everything, pretty much." I say.
She follows me to the break room, the team waving hello. Kyle seems to stare at her for a bit too long. But, he's like that with every woman.
We sit down, and Emily pulls out a deck of Uno cards. The team cheers, and Dr. Wilde cracks her knuckles.
The game begins, and I have a good deck. A +4, +2, and a "Skip Turn". I put down a yellow card, and wait. Caleb tries to get me with a +2, but I put my own +2 down and force Kyle to pick up four cards. He groans in protest.
The game goes on for a few minutes, with me winning. It's a peaceful day. I've already picked out and wrapped their Christmas gifts and the gift I'm giving to Dr. Lowry from the physics department for the Secret Santa. I've heard about the legendary Site-19 parties, born from the constant stress endured by the staff here. I can't wait.
———————————————————————
A couple days after the Dr. Wilde debacle, and it's Christmas. Daniel is home with his kids, which I told him to say "Merry Christmas" to, from me.
I wish I could have a family. A house in some suburban neighborhood with a picket fence, a pool, and a partner waiting for me to get home from my job. I wouldn't be able to tell them a thing about my workday, but they'd ask anyway. I'd kiss my kids goodnight and I'd promise myself that I'd never let anyone hurt them, ever. Just like in the movies.
But my team is pretty damn close to a family. Kyle hits me on the shoulder, and I almost spill my coffee. I was offered whiskey by a security guard who brought some in. It was tempting, to put it in my coffee. But, it's too early for that. I'll drink at the party for sure.
I'm very short compared to my team. The shortest one, Caleb, is 16 centimeters taller than me at the very least. And none of them are as pale and thin as I am. Emily often says she's jealous of how thin I am. Trust me, she doesn't want to be like me, fragile and breakable. I'd like to be able to lift heavy objects without breaking every bone in my arms, thank you very much.
Plus, I'm not curvy. I'm thin in all the wrong places. Not attractive like how Emily wants to be. I'm a flat-chested, stick-thin, not-quite-woman who looks like a 13-year-old.
The day ticks by quickly. Not many people are working, some are lucky enough to have the day off. Soon enough, it's time for the party.
I walk down the hallway, to the break room door. A Researcher is standing in front of me, blocking my way in.
"Sorry, but anomalies have been banned from the holiday party." he says.
My face falls. How could they? After proving to them that I am useful, they deny me my one sliver of joy?
"Understood." I reply, turning away.
It isn't worth it to fight. The anomalies that disagree aren't treated nicely here.
"Wait!" Caleb calls from inside the room.
He and Sophia run out, Kyle, Kathy, and Emily stopping behind me.
"If she can't party, we won't party either." Caleb says, pushing past the researcher and out into the hallway.
"You don't have to do this." I say to him.
"You're right. I want to do this." Caleb replies.
The six of us make our way to another break room. It's empty, no music or people or alcohol. It's just us.
We sit down on the couch, and Emily pulls out her phone. Surprisingly enough, she goes to video chat Daniel.
"Hey!" he says, the sound of Christmas carols in the background.
There's a woman and two children in the background. She's short with blonde hair, and the kids both have brown hair. They all look happy.
"Oh, are these your coworkers?" the woman asks him.
"Yes, they are." he replies.
I wave to them.
"Hello!" I say.
They say hi back. I wish my life could be like that. Completely ignorant of what the world truly is. With a loving wife and beautiful children. Just, love in general.
The night isn't a wild, drunk one. But is is a good one nonetheless.
YOU ARE READING
The Anomalous Researcher
Fanfiction-IF YOU SEE THIS UNDER THE SAME TITLE ON AO3, DO NOT WORRY. IT'S ME REPOSTING IT THERE- Don't leave a site without authorization. That's the only rule. Well, there were once other rules as well. But those other rules went out the window when she...
