Inception

Chapter 29: The First Test

 No matter what Lena said, Kafka looked nervous in the chair she'd set up for him. She wondered if it was the room she'd set up. It was a room set to the side in the lab for tests that required as little outside variable's as possible, so it was empty, small, and had walls built to keep out everything from sound to ultra-violet rays. The chair wasn't much better, a metal thing that could be taken apart and reconstructed into both a table and a display stand.

"So it's not going to find bitty kaiju in me?" he said, his smile strained.

Lena rolled her eyes from the otherside of the glass. "Oh my gosh, dude, really?"

"Just saying. We could all have little kaiju in our bodies or something, I just don't want to end up on a dissecting table, ha ha!"

"And like I said, even if there were little kaiju, the results would be the same. Those with zero compatibility have low levels of ions, that's why they don't mesh well with kaiju tech. Kaiju tech needs room for that unknown energy to do its thing, and the more stable your body the less it can change or work with it. It goes along with my theory as to why kaiju aren't long lasting. They're too prone to genetic mutation and instability."

"So shouldn't little kaiju show up then?"

"No, because they would have reached balance in your body, didn't I already explain it in that packet with the liability waiver?"

"Yeah, but explain it to me again, because this freaky room's making me feel claustrophobic. Or like the poor sap in all those sci-fi movies. You know, where the aliens take'em up and probe their butts and then when they come back humans do it too, because—"

"Okay, okay, calm down, Kafka. Honestly."

Her sensor had been ready in the corner of the room for a while. But she couldn't turn it on while there was soundwaves to interfere with it. She also liked Kafka and didn't want him to be afraid. It made her feel bad that he was nervous at all. She had plans to shower him with snacks once he came out.

"If a kaiju had been in your body for this long the only way it could have done so without your body reacting is if it had reached stabilization with your biology. Which meant you'd originally have to have super high ions that matched perfectly with its super high ion level to stabilize."

"So, before the kaiju, I would have had super high combatibility with the suits?"

"Theoretically. Changing the level of ions is up to this unknown energy I'm trying to find. It's kind of like finding heat levels based on how cooked a piece of toast is. Though I'm checking the color of the toast, which is decided by light technically, I'm really measuring how much heat was put onto it. It's the aftermath."

"...Okay."

"You feeling a bit better yet?"

"Yeah. Sure."

She smiled. "You're funny, Kafka. Have you always been afraid of having tiny kaiju in your body?"

"...Maybe."

"That's so funny. Can you tell me where you got such a funny idea once we're done with this? At this rate we're going to be doing this all night and we both have work tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, sorry about that."

"It's okay. I want you to be comfortable. Now, you need to not make any sound and try to hold still for five minutes, kay? Daydream about something fun. Fudge is waiting for you when you are done."

"Yeah. Fudge. Just think of the fudge."

She giggled to herself, flicked off the speakers, and went through the procedures to turn off all incoming stimuli to the room. In the corner of the screen she kept up Kafka's vitals, just in case of a panic attack or something similar. It really did make her feel bad for making him so scared.

Leno would be in there too but Lena could only clear so many people for entering the lab, and Leno had no role in the experiment. Him and Kafka had made eyes at each other as though Kafka were heading off to war as they clamped arms in farewell. Lena had snorted so hard. Boys were so funny. What could possibly happen to Kafka with getting the equivalent of a flashlight shone on him?

Five minutes later, her timer buzzed and Lena switched off her sensor.

"First test done, Kafka. You did great."

He breathed out in a rush. "Yeah. Whew. Could I have a piece of fudge for encouragement's sake?"

"Sorry, that might interfere with the results."

"Sad."

Lena watched with baited breath as the results came in. Then she gave a cheer.

"What is it?" Kafka asked.

She pushed the button a little too hard in her excitement. "You've got the lowest ions I've seen yet!" And just because her happiness was making her feel mischievous. "You might as well have little kaiju in you!"

"Heh heh, great."

"Just a few more tests to make sure, oh wow, thank you so much, Kafka! This is evidence my theory is right! You don't know how much this means to me."

"Yeah, ha, I'm here to serve."

Since he was looking a bit too pale, Lena hurried to get the remaining scans done. She had to do it multiple times to be assured that her results weren't a fluke.

Just as she wrapped up the last scan pushed the button to speak, a rumbling tremor shook the lab. Both she and Kafka jumped.