Larry didn't think of himself as an odd one out. He fit. He fit in the crowd. He fit in the system. So why did this random guy suddenly cause his whole reality to tremble.
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Cross-posted on Ao3
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Down the deep end of the tundra woods, too far for anyone to wander off by accident layed a six story block building. Due to its particularly geometrical shape and bright whites and grays covering its surface it was awfully sticking out in the nature-carved environment. It was shoved awkwardly between the giant, century old trees that still managed to tower over it, making it look weak and ashamed of itself. It looked nothing close to menacing or intimidating - a terrible fluke in its design and one that only an extreme egoist would make whom self-belief tried fighting with the power of the greatest creator that is nature. They've failed miserably.
One could use nature's abilities to shape and enrich their work. One could not exceed its creation in a selfish assumption that they are capable of making something more powerful and beautiful. They could not.
So the building was left to shamefully stand in the lake of trees - alone and exposed.
Ironically it was home to one of the most egotistical people the dirt has ever seen stomping on its grains. Ones that believed they could control life and death. Those exactly that believed they could fight nature's creations.
But among them were also those that knew more than well that those beliefs if led to anything, that would be destruction and tragedy. But they felt they held no power against the selfish ones. They were quiet but persistent while those others were loud and vain. The first ones survived longer but the second ones wielded the power of making decisions.
The rooms that were welcoming tens of different people daily were the darkest pits of human selfishness one could imagine. There laid the 'pride' of the nature fighters - their hold of its creation.
xxx
Larry strolled lazily down the mossy path. The air around him was cold and dry. Each inhale brought its sharp, piercing waves through his nose, making his face stuck in a constant frown. The scenery was monotone with the same looking trees passing by him and making him sleepy despite having already walked more than two miles. He didn't like it.
The forest made him feel small and useless. The trees held this weird aura to them - one that absolutely despised everyone that was striding between them in the direction of the lab. He never felt it whenever he wanted to look for mushrooms or to just walk around the woods to unwind. The trees then would be cozy and welcoming, encouraging him to tell them his secrets and lend some of his worries onto them. But now he felt heavy and absent-minded. His steps were dragging out in his mind even though he kept a pretty up-beat pace as his feet crushed the dry leaves and sticks at each contact with the ground.
He wanted to get to his work and get it over with as fast as he possibly could. It was a pitiful and rather foolish thinking since each time he actually began working the list of things to do seemed to be never-ending. However each time he still clung to hope that maybe, just maybe, this time his life would be blessed and he'd be sent home early... He never was though...
