Manhattan Cafe was a girl that stood out even amongst the odd uma musume- horse girls, with ears and tails to boot. Her unusually black hair and weary yellowish eyes marked her appearance as something out of the norm within Tracen Academy. Her personality came off as cold and blunt outwardly, which made it a challenge for her to make any friends. She also just generally struggled with expressing herself, her face almost never changing from the same vacant stare. Couple those with the anxiety she experienced, which said exterior was keeping under wraps, and she felt like she would be a loner forever.
There was one person though, one horse girl like her, that she could call a friend. Her name was Agnes Tachyon, an eccentric "mad scientist" of sorts. Tachyon was constantly experimenting and attempting to push the limits of the uma musume. Cafe was often the test subject for various enhancement solutions that the girl would create, and while tasting them was never pleasant, Cafe enjoyed Tachyon's presence outside of those moments.
Although, the more she thought about it, maybe she did enjoy it even during those times.
Tachyon was a cunning girl, always able to worm her way into and then right out of trouble. She always knew the perfect things to say or do, and had such a way with words. The way the girl spoke towards Cafe in particular was something out of this world. Time and time again, the odd girl would be convinced to try whatever Tachyon had concocted that day- and she couldn't say she hated that fact.
If whatever Cafe drank turned out to have negative side effects, Tachyon would take amazing care of her. Even if the side effects were especially unpleasant, Cafe didn't mind all that much. She'd never before been treated as well as she had by Tachyon. The girl had such a genuine, comforting look in her eyes as she cared for whatever ailment her subject ended up with in the end, and Cafe sometimes found herself craving Tachyon's gaze late at night.
Agnes Tachyon made Manhattan Cafe feel things she didn't quite understand yet. The fluttering of her heart, the knots of nerves in her chest, and the clouding of her mind simply due to the idea of Tachyon were all so new to her.
Unfortunately, the mad scientist hadn't been seen on campus all evening. At first, Cafe thought Tachyon was giving her a break from trying whatever she could throw together on a whim, but became worried when she overheard Agnes Digital, Tachyon's roommate, loudly complaining that the other Agnes hadn't been to their room since classes let out. After a bit of thought, Cafe decided to go check on her. She knew exactly where she'd be. After all, she ended up there so frequently that it was basically ingrained into her mind.
"Tachyon?"
Cafe knocked gently on the door of the lab. She knew Tachyon didn't like to be disturbed as she worked, and wasn't trying to end up as a surprise test subject for the night.
She spoke quietly, as it was quite late in the evening.
"Digital said you haven't been in your room since class ended."
She stood still for what felt like forever, loosely hoping for a response. When none came, she sighed, and clenched her fist in front of her chest.
"...I'm coming in," she meekly, yet sternly declared. She hesitated, though, before placing her hand into the door's handle.
Why, of all times, was she nervous now? This was Tachyon's lab! The brunette had taken Cafe inside countless times after she'd gotten sick from whatever she drank! It couldn't be any different going in on her own, right?
Cafe slowly slid open the laboratory door to avoid making too much noise. She peered inside curiously, finding herself squinting in an attempt to better see into the dark room. There were vibrant cyan and fuchsia lights coming from somewhere behind a wall farther in, but that was about it. The silence combined with the darkness slightly unsettled her.
She took a few tentative steps in, looking around the room. She wasn't able to make out much, but from what she could see, there were quite a few loose papers scattered around various surfaces. A few more crumpled up ones were seemingly tossed to the floor. She'd never seen the lab like this before. What on earth was Tachyon trying to do in here this time?
Cafe refocused and looked back towards where the light was coming from. She made her way to the back and poked her head around the wall to get an idea of what was past it.
Finally, she spotted Tachyon. She was slumped over in a chair, resting her head in her arms, which were in turn resting on the desk she sat at. She looked to be asleep.
Cafe felt nervousness swell in her chest once more, but she wasn't sure why. She pushed it down and quietly walked to stand near the sleeping girl.
There were so many more papers strewn about in this small, office-like room than in the main area. Now that Cafe could actually see using the glow emanating from various vials Tachyon had propped up in various places, she could see that almost all of the papers had messy writing all over them. Some looked to have been corrected by the same person that wrote them in red ink. Cafe couldn't make out any words on any of them.
Despite the concerning nature of the sheer amount of scribbles, that's not what she had come for. She turned her attention to the now-clearly passed out Tachyon.
