Aetherspace

hydrolysis

"...Chamu?" Tanaka says as he opens the door slowly.

"....Go......away....." A soft voice pipes up.

"Are you all right?" Tanaka says, not going in any further.

Chamu looks up at him, face blushing.

"......no....." He says, looking away sheepishly.

"Chamu.. Come here." Tanaka says soothingly.

"...B-but...."

"Chamu, it's okay, just come here. Let's get some tea. Green tea. You like green tea, right?" Tanaka says, egging Chamu along.

"...........yeah........" Chamu says, getting up.

Tanaka wonders the following to himself. "....I find it amazing that within a day of their creation they each sought to repair as many human features on their body as possible, while not discarding the lupine ones. Maybe it feels natural to them? They didn't add genitals so far, perhaps because they haven't seen any? It's best that we try to stop them from seeing that for now. They seem quite childlike so far, and their maturities are hard to gauge. They did add legs, feet with paws, arms, hands with paws, and a tail. The head seemed to already be mostly intact, but they cleaned that up too, and at around the same time as well.  This might sound impossible, but it can't be just a coincidence. Are they communicating somehow? Maybe they aren't aware of it?"

"......Is it ready yet....?" Chamu squeaks, snapping Tanaka out of his thoughts.

While Tanaka is a steady 5'8", Chamu is slightly shorter, standing at 5'7". Therefore, he gently pulls on Tanaka's lab coat using a green paw. Unlike Chai, who had a generally dark color scheme, Chamu sports a green and white one, with blue spots here and there. His eyes are different colors, one being dull blue, and the other being dull yellow. They both emit a soft glow.

"No.." Tanaka says as he turns the heat up for the pot.

"......." Chamu sees a chair, and sits in it.

"........" Chamu looks down, then down and to the right, flushing harder and harder.

"Chamu, are you alright?" Tanaka says worriedly.

"Wh-what's wrong with me?! Why does my h-h-h-head hurt whenever I try to remember things?! I keep getting these images and w-w-words but I don't know why I'm remembering them a-a-a-and-!" Chamu cuts himself off, face taking on a dull red in embarrassment.

"S-s-something happened to me, but I d-d-don't know what it is..." Chamu continues with an air of finality.

Tanaka stares at Chamu, mouth agape.

"What the hell?! How can he speak so fluidly?" Tanaka thinks in shock.

"Uh.... How long have you been able to speak like that?"

".................A while......."

"...." Now it's Tanaka's turn to be silent.

"Stay here, and get the tea ready for yourself.... Okay? I'm going to be right back.." Tanaka says, a little pale.

"Ugisaki, it's my turn to piss you off and bug you, where are you?" Tanaka says in the phone as he walks into the hallway.

"I'm in my office. Why?"

"It's about the two of them. How much of the original sample did you use for Chaisuke and Chamuai? Are you sure you used all of it? " Tanaka asks.

"I used a nice amount. 20% for both of them. We still have 60% of the original sample left over, but we have to use it soon, it's dying. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other volunteers. The government blocked me from getting more."

"You didn't... OK, here is what we will do. I have some leftover skin from a hospital that closed down a while ago. They spread the samples far and wide, but the records are encrypted, so I just don't know who the sample belongs to."

"Hmm..." Tanaka thought further.

"There is also some blood that I got a hold of... But that was for something else.."

"Tanaka, are you saying we should make more?" Ugisaki exclaims.

"No, not us. It's too risky. But we need to use the remainder of the sample. These next two will be way different then them, that's for sure. But we have to know what would happen. Let's create the third one ourselves, and then the last one will be made by... Aiko." Tanaka decides.

"You think she will do it?" Ugisaki says.

"Yes. But I also know that she has to be kept under close watch. Unlike Usua, she is new and we don't know how well we can trust her." Tanaka says, looking down slightly in distrust.

"Tanaka, I know how you feel towards women after Leika, but this isn't fair towards Aiko. I need you to talk to me about when you have these moments, it's what your therapist recommended, right?" Ugisaki says reassuringly.

"I know... I just.. I can't look at strangers the same. You know why.. It's just so hard. First Jin, then Leika... I don't know how many more times I can take it." Tanaka says, rubbing his head softly.

"Who is Jin?" They both turn to see Chamu, holding his tea in both hands.

"How did you...?"

".....................sip.............................. The door was open......" He replies, taking his time.

"Damnit Tanaka."

"Well, he doesn't seem to have wandered too far... Uh. Where is Chai?"

"...........sip.......... Who is that?"

"TANAKA."

"What?"

"WHY ARE YOU REVEALING... God fucking damnit, just... Chamu come with me."

Chamu sips his tea, feeling a little nervous but calmed by the drink. He wondered with a shiver what would happen if it didn't exist... Guh! Never again.

They walk down the hall, not stopping until they arrive at Chai's room, marked with the katakana チャイスケ.

Chamu feels a pull going into the room, and he has a feeling that whoever is in there is related to him somehow. He needs to talk with whatever is in there.

"Are you ready?" Tanaka says hopefully.

"................................................." Chamu looks at the cup disdainfully.

The cup is empty.

"............................Yes. Let's go." Chamu takes a deep breath.

"Let's do it then." Ugisaki says, opening the door tentatively.