Cass and Dr. Gautron stared at Milo in disbelief. Cass finally set down the broken flask on the countertop next to her. She took slow steps towards Milo, who was still holding the piece of paper in his pa- er, toungue. She crouched down so she was eye level with him.
"Milo..."
Milo looked over at Cass with large, pupiless eyes. It was quite-no, very unsettling when Milo's eyes were blank. He looked like he was a zombie cat that came out of a horror movie with those glazed over eyes and emotionless, dead looking face.
"How... How can you help us?" Cass questioned.
Milo's face turned to the paper. The tongue set down the paper, then flipped it over on the other, blank side. A hot, heavy breathing sound came from the mouth of the collar. The marker that it held was all slobbery and shined in the fluorescent lights of Dr. Gautron's office. It moved the marker around abrubtly, drawing sharp corners and smooth lines on the page, the marker squeeling with every move. Then, it set the marker down and held the piece of paper up once again. Milo's face eerily turned back to Cass'.
"I'll... lead.. the way." Cass spoke, deciphering the messy writing.
"Intruiging." Dr. Gautron whispered.
Cass stood back up to her normal height. She looked back at Dr. Gautron, whom she was still extremely distrustful of. He was off staring into space, probably trying to think of an effective plan to get them out of there. He looked at the clock - 1:16 PM. He had missed lunch, but it didn't matter to him anymore. He wasn't hungry anymore after the heated argument. A sort of frustrated sadness set in by now, instead of rage and hatred. - Dr. Gautron didn't mope about with his emotions for very long. He was always back up on his feet and ready to work cooperatively after something like this.
"Okay... Cass, I understand you're still infuriated with me. I truly understand. But if we want to escape and help Milo with his, er... motives, then we have to work together." Dr. Gautron reasoned.
Cass glared at the scientist with unforgiving eyes. He had a good point, sure, but this man was, for the most part, responsible for her father's death. Things like these were a lot for Cass to think about, but she hadn't had much time to do that.
"I guess." she mumbled.
The two stared at each other from across the lab. Milo's tongue slipped back into its collar, making a slobbery sound as it went in and clasped shut. His slitted pupils returned and the ruby on his collar shone in the light.
"I know that this is probably a lot for you, since you have lost one of the closest people in your life. But we need to plan for whatever Milo's got in store for us, and I'm bound to get fired today. I suggest that we pack up what we need here, then go home and pack some other things as well. We never know, Milo may beam us up to another planet and just leave us there to fend for our lives." Dr. Gautron chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but it failed.
Cass remained silent. She looked down at the tiled ground and started to pick at the fraying threads from her jacket.
"Well... just tell me what to do then, I guess." she said, still not making eye contact.
"Right, then. I suppose we should start in my main office. Come now, follow me." Dr. Gautron addressed.
Right then, Dr. Gautron slipped out of the room for just a moment to place a "DO NOT DISTURB" doorhanger on the doorknob.
The rest of the afternoon was spent doing inventory of Dr. Gautron's main office and his lab. Cass' sadness haunted her for the rest of the day, but she didn't let it resurface and cause problems, much to Dr. Gautron's request. The three ended up clearing out most of the office and some of the lab, but there was much work to be done. Dr. Gautron just hoped that the authorities would let him back in to clear out the rest of his things and say "adios" to coworkers, as he would be leaving from the troubles that faced him in a matter of days. The three went home that day and sat down at a silent dinner that evening, and went to bed with a lingering anger between the two.
