The Butterfly Project

Boys

"The fuck you want this time?" Felix slammed his hand on the table and glared at the two, his hand reaching up to rip the protective goggles off his face. Bridgette, his lab partner, bumped her hip against his with a frown on her face. "Be nice, Felix. They're about to go out in the most dangerous areas in all of France and potentially risk their lives just so that we could have some more test subjects."

"Gee, that sure makes us feel better." Alya crossed her arms and frowned as well. Nino rolled his eyes. They could really do without any of her sarcasm right now. Sighing, he stepped between her and the scientists. "We need your help."

Felix glared before putting his goggles back on. Behind him, the Asian girl perked up. "What do you need, Nino?" The blonde leaned down to look into the microscope again. "I'm not too happy to oblige to any of your shenanigans again."

He looked at Bridgette, but she shrugged in response as if to say 'Can't really help you'. He rolled his eyes again. Their best chance at convincing Felix to say 'yes' had just admitted defeat already. They haven't even been in there for five minutes!

"Okay, since Nino won't say anything, I will." His partner pushed past him and walked straight up to the scientist. She leaned forward, her hands crossing behind her as she did so. Years ago, Nino learned that this was so he could catch her in case she lost her balance and fell over. They've been doing it since they were eight. "Now I know that you both know that we-" she motioned between the only soldiers in the room "-are going out beyond the Wall, risking our lives, and getting you guys some damned Rabids and Exposes. I want you to keep that in mind when I ask you what I'm about to ask."

The scientist turned his head and cocked his brow. "I'm listening," was his response. Alya obviously took that as his approval as she shifted her head slightly towards the video camera. It was a cautionary action. "I need you to disable our IDs," she whispered.

All three jumped at the sudden crash and turned to look at Bridgette, her gloved hands over her mouth. Felix ran to the tray on the floor immediately. "Damn it, Bridgette! You could've ruined this whole thing!" He yelled, but the girl wasn't paying any attention to him. (To Nino, it was odd. She was head over heels in love with the asshole.) Her hands moved to adjust her white skirt. They, like the rest of the military, had a strict dress code they have to follow. Majority of their ensembles had to be white while the rest either red or blue. It was the symbol of the French science team, the one everyone believed to find the cure first.

"Disable your IDs?" She whispered. "But without your IDs, how will we know that you're safe? That you aren't dead? That you have been eaten alive by a Rabid then the rest of your bodies are sold off by that pair of Exposes that everyone tries to catch but they can't because they know literally every nook and cranny of Paris so they always evade anyone who tries to catch them? What were their names again? I believe it was like Ladybug or Chat Blanc or something."

"It's Chat Noir, and we have perfectly good reason why we need them gone." Alya stepped around Felix and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. Her long black hair had been put into two pigtails high on her head, making it seem like it reached only her hips, but everyone knew that it was closer to her knees.

Stepping towards Felix, Nino kneeled down and helped him finish picking up the broken glass. Luckily, nothing was in them. The entire research team would have to start all over if anything was lost. Again.

"We're trying to find our friend, Marinette. She's not in the Immune database, so she has to be outside of the Wall. All we're trying to do is make sure she's alive and not a Rabid." His voice lowered as he looked into the other's green eyes. "We're going outside the boundaries. Near the edge of the city, possibly outside of it." When Felix didn't respond, he looked up at Alya for confirmation. She nodded. He sighed and reached out for a beaker. "We'll find your brother if you like. I've heard that you've been looking for him as well."