Risen from Ashes

Act one, Part Three: TCRI

The next day, morning

Outside the TCRI lab, a high school bus arrived and parked by the entrance. When the bus door opened, a teacher came out, and the students got off the bus one by one. Each student is paired up with a partner; among them is Arianina, who is paired up with an African American teenage girl. Her hair is wavy and short, with half her hair shaved off on the left side; she has brown eyes and wearing a red crop top with a black leather jacket, shorts ripped on the edge, fishnet leggings, and black studded boots. She even has fingerless leather gloves. She glared at Arianina, who ignored her and had her hood up.

And the last to come off the bus is April, holding a camera in her hand. As soon she was sure no one was looking, she turned around and gave out a whistle. The turtles came out of the ally, dressed in their disguise, and caught up with April as she followed the class.

Leo looks up and down, scanning the building. "Well, this doesn't look so bad." He stated.

" The building looks significantly ahead, like one for a sci-fi movie with the fancy robots," Mikey added. He turns to Donnie. "Are you sure TCRI is making a new spice for food? Like pizza?"

" Positive, it's totally out of this world." Donnie nodded. "I promise you that it will be worth it."

Leo has his arms crossed as he looks at the building still. "I don't know; I still have doubts about this place." He doubted. "I keep hearing these crazy rumors of this place like they are doing human experiments."

" Leo, it's just a silly rumor." April scoffed at this. "They aren't like that, Stockboy." She walks away from them. "Now come on, we're getting behind with the kids."

The turtles rushed up and caught up with April and the students just in time when the door opened for them.

Inside the building, they are in the reception room with a secretary typing on her desk. The reception is cozy with ten sets of chairs, a table with a science magazine, a small stand with a DNA statue, and in the corner is a milkvetch in a pot. Behind the secretary on the wall is the company log closing in light blue. And lastly are two sets of doors.

Rockwell is coming out on the right door; he almost tripped and regained himself. Pinned to his lab coat is a DNA badge pinned on his right side. He clears his throat. "Hello. Welcome to the Techno Cosmic Research Institute, or TCRI for short. I am Tyler Rockwell; I will be your guide for this amazing trip." He grinned at the students. "Now, I will need to remind you. No flash photography; our scientists are busy now and need to focus." He turned around. "Follow me, please." He opened the door, came out, and let the students and the turtles in.

They stopped near a rail that had two stairs on the left and right. Donnie gripped the railing and gasped softly at sight he was memorizing.

On the bottom floor, every scientist in a different station is working on their task. Some are mixing chemicals, some are doing mathematics while writing them down, and some are typing on computers and creating programs. Computer scanners beat in bright lights and print their results. At the end of the stairs are directions to which department of the building. And each scientist has a badge of the department they are skilled with on their lab coat. It is everything Donnie has ever dreamed of.

The group follows Rockwell down the left stairs, carefully watching their steps. Along the way, April takes a picture of the scientist working.

" Wow. I never knew TCRI was so advanced on the inside." Donnie beamed. "It's amazing."

Leo groaned. "And here we go. Donnie is going to be talking all nerdy along the way." He rubs his face. "Why did I get talked into this?"

"Here in TCRI, our researchers study the astronautical and mental task of the human mind." Rockwell guided them as they walked to the side to not get in his co-worker's way. "We all believe that changing the human brain will make a great impact on putting mental crime to end."