Binary Love (18+)

Charly & Algernon

"You think you know him?" Lucy asked the three of them, completely distracted from her task. Her gaze had seemed to sharpen to a laser focus, darting between the three old friends. Even Itsuki, who had been engrossed in his interview, shifted his stance towards the others.

"If it is him, then yes, we know him. He's a disgusting man. His experiments, along with Dr. Mengele's, were part of the reason we fled Earth Tech." Rosalind's voice was barely above a raspy whisper, but in the silence it carried across the room, louder in the absence of sound.

Despite still being in mild shock, Nova could feel Mark's soft fur brush against the skin of her throat. In an attempt to sooth her, he was nuzzling and scenting her neck, while stroking her back to comfort her. She could hear a gentle purr from his chest, that relaxed her muscles and slowly drew her back into the room. After taking a deep breath to ground herself, she shared what she knew.

"He's a chemist, first and foremost, although he does have some basic knowledge of the other scientific fields. If he's using his usual methods to experiment with Blue, he likely hasn't got very far in truly understanding what it is and how to tailor it to their agenda." Nova shared. "I suspect at this stage, he's interested in whether it could be used as a chemical weapon."

Nova had her doubts that Haber would be able to utilise Blue in such a way, but it did little to alleviate her anxiety. From the tense looks that Harou and Rosalind gave her, it seemed that they also weren't too pleased by the idea.

"Whoever experimented on me knows where Blue comes from." Amaruq stated, "Or at least, he had a direct supply in the lab with him. He used to draw it straight from a - I don't know, like a cryochamber? He used to take a sample from whatever was in that machine before injecting it into one of us."

Lucy abruptly gripped the bed frame, fully turning to face Amaruq, her face a picture of disbelief.

"He was taking blood samples from a cryochamber?" Her rhetorical question was breathy, to the point that Nova barely heard her from across the room. She watched as the young doctor features slowly changed from horror to determination. With an eerie slowness, Lucy carefully unfurled each of her fingers, letting go of the bed frame, before pulling herself upright. She squared her shoulders and pulled in a sharp breath, as she gradually turned to face Nova and Rosalind straight on. "I know that your time at Earth Tech was ... traumatic, but I think you all need to share what exactly that company is up too. If we're all here to work together, we need to know what their drives and goals are if we have any hope of preemptively stopping what they're up too."

"I agree. I know that none of you like to talk about it, but we now have pretty solid evidence that Earth Tech are involved. We can help - it's our job to help - you don't have to do this alone." Itsuki said. Nova could feel his calm and dependable voice washing over her; as if his soft croaks provided stability from the tension clearly building in the room. It was such a strange concept for Nova to trust others outside of just Harou and Rosalind. When she thought back to what she was like, even as recently as a few months ago, she was surprised in the change of herself.

She liked the new Nova. This person who trusted others, who was finally passionate again.

"Alright, but we'll discuss this privately - I think Amaruq has already been dragged into this enough." Nova responded. 

The whole group nodded in response, even Amaruq, who was beginning to look exhausted.

"We'll leave you to rest and recuperate -" Istuki began, before getting interrupted by Harou.

"Do you know where you were kept?" Harou asked, as he walked closer to the Beta's bed, holding the frame with a grip Nova was sure would show white knuckles, if not for his fur covering his hands.