Shantrice from The East: The Anthology

(#WIP) REVELATIONS: INTRUSION, Pt. 04 [Story No. 08]

In two shakes of a lamb's tail, Sinead had arrived at CorsairLabs: an intricately constructed building which seems to be inspired by the architectural designs of Zaha Hadid, or someone doing their best impression of her work.

One couldn't help but to be in awe at the sight of this enormous and beautiful structure though. To Sinead, it looked more like it should have been a fine arts museum instead of a place for scientific research and innovation.

But alas— progression can't exist without the influence of beauty, or at the very least, some form of it.

Often she has been told about the lab through conversations with Shantrice, as it is the location where she works on a majority of her gadgets, namely her Pelican mask. Yet, Sinead didn't think much of its mention and just indulged Shantrice because she loves her enthusiasm. However, it was still strange that her mother would let her spend so much time here with this grown man, regardless whether she knows him or not.

Something about the professor just gives her the willies and imprints upon her the idea that he may have been grooming Shantrice, but she couldn't understand why. There certainly wasn't much precedence for such feelings, yet she couldn't shake them. With that being said, Professor Baker isn't a dangerous man, but one wouldn't know that just by looking at him.

"Do you want anything to drink, Ms. Duruisseau?" he asks, walking past her to his desk on the other side of the room where he grabs a digital tablet and begins scrolling through it. "I gather that you're parched after everything from earlier?"

Sinead nervously answers with her hands, waving off the offer. She's very uneasy right now, carefully examining this intelligent and courteous fellow of esteemed academic and scientific repute standing before her.

*📱*

Professor Baker is an African-American male who's possibly in his late-forties. Despite how pleasant and friendly he can be once one gets to know him, he is often stone-faced, rarely smiling unless the mood calls for it. He seems to be lost in thought a lot — aloof, contemplating and calculating. Also, if his usual demeanor isn't intimidating enough, he's a mammoth of a man.

While his exact height is unknown to her, Sinead guesses he's over six feet tall, bordering on seven. He has an extremely large build, which portrays him as more of a football player than a scientist and educator. Despite such, he has clearly avoided that stereotype. In addition, he's bald and sports a thick, scruffy, salt-and-pepper beard that covers a majority of his face and neck. He has been rubbing it a lot while thinking since Sinead arrived, and it makes a weird scraping sound against his large palms that has caused her flesh to crawl.

He has large, blackened lips, but they get lost in the bramble that he calls facial hair. His thick, black brows look like elongated tufts shading his eyes, akin to awnings over windows. What has been found to be the most interesting to Sinead are the color of his irises: a deep gold littered with specks of green that's similar to jade. His eyes also bulge a bit from the eyelids that wreath them, which are almost bereft of eyelashes. His stare was like that of a hawk or eagle, which is pretty unnerving for anyone who has had to look him square in the eyes.

The professor sneezes, almost jolting Sinead out of her shoes. She'd never heard anyone sneeze so powerfully.

This brings us to the last of his facial features: a wide and flat nose which looks like it was just placed on his face. It stands out so much and has become the only thing keeping Sinead from feeling completely intimidated when he suddenly goes quiet.