Righteous Indignation - RF! Welcome Home

Chapter 1 - Experiment 253

You hurry down the hall, your shoes clacking against the stark white tile as you hurry to your boss's office. He told you to be back with his 8 AM coffee in no later than thirty minutes, and you really didn't feel like crossing him that day. Not when you have to run an experiment in the following hour.

You knock on the door thrice in rapid succession.

"Yes? Who's there?" Wally asks through the door, his voice cutting and cold.

"It's just me, sir." You responded in a professional manner, anxious to set down the hot coffee that was burning your hand.

"Come in."

You do so, and he seems neck deep in paperwork, the bags under his eyes heavier than usual, and the whites of his eyes seemed to be tinged pink. He sighs, taking the coffee from you, the light overhead reflecting off of his prosthetic.

"Sit down, I need to talk to you."

You obey.

"What's wrong, Mr. Darling? You seem off."

He raises up a hand to silence you, not out of empathy for your sudden nervousness, but because it seemed to vex him that you were not silent.

"I'm sure you recall the... procedure I'm having you do today. This is quite a large stride forward in your duties as my assistant, and if you don't fuck it up..."

He glares at you for a moment, the eye contact he's giving you cruel, inciting almost a feeling of pain. Your entire soul aches to look away, you hate looking him in the eye, but you stand your ground.

"I will be pleasantly surprised, and consider your chance at genuine competence. So don't fuck up, follow the protocol, and you'll be right on your way. I hope you know, Neighbor,"

He takes a sip of his coffee before setting it down and leaning forward, his hands clasped together and over his mouth, his elbows resting on his desk.

"I expect nothing else other than perfection out of my right-hand worker."

His voice was low and threatening, and it terrified you to the marrow of your bones. What would happen if you failed? If you weren't perfect? Would he fire you? Oh, God, what if he threw you in the grinder?

"Yes, sir. You will have nothing else but such."

You forced your voice to be steady, because honestly, he was terrifying sometimes. Other times, playful insult humor and jokes were acceptable, whether or not he found them funny was another thing, but you knew deep down in your very soul now was not the time.

"Good. I will be holding you to that. I want you down there and giving the sanitization division something to do before 9:15. Go get 'em, tiger."

His detached and scientifically reserved nature seemed to repossess him, the atmosphere feeling much less stressful. You gave one last 'Have a good day,' before speeding down to Production to do some quality check on the Spectra before you go down to the lab.