The Untold Story of Texas and Lappland (Arknights)

Meeting Doctor [Y/N]

Lappland found herself looking around far more than she was willing to admit as one of the Rhodes Island Operators —whose name escaped her but the wicked crossbow he had strapped to his back remained in her peripheral— led her down the hall and up numerous flights of stairs to Doctor's office. Everything on this floor held the faint tang of disinfectant, the metallic walls as cold as they were unwelcoming. It was right before she reached the sliding doors that she wondered just what might await her on the other side. Long had it been since the last time she had been around so many people. Was this really what she wanted? The question rattled around in her brain as the doors slid open.

"I'll let you and the Doctor get acquainted." And then the Operator left, his shimmering halo the last she saw of him before he descended the stairs. Why he didn't use the elevator was beyond her. She had wondered so quite a few times when she had seen a total of five different elevator entryways.

"Come in." A new voice, the Doctor's voice, called out to her. Lappland stared down at her swords, their cold presence comforting. She walked in with her usual swagger.

The Doctor's office turned out to be much more hospitable compared to the hallways. The walls were coated with navy blue wallpaper, windows open off to the side to let in streams of light. There were velvet curtains at the far end. They were tied back with golden rope revealing an awaiting balcony with what had to be a metal ledge. A weird choice for a medical/battle flight ship/craft/carrier (she wasn't sure what exactly this thing was called). There were thin railings keeping the area closed in with one long strip of metal stretching up like the front of a podium. If it were to be turned around, Lapland expected the chess piece symbol for Rhodes Island would be engraved on the cover.

Doctor [Y/N] was sitting behind the black wooden desk in the center of the room, surrounded by a sea of mesh carpet that reminded her of moss growing on trees. The Doctor was dressed in a dark jacket the color of the walls, hood and visor obscuring their face from view. They were wearing a lab coat underneath the jacket too, along with some long pants and shoes. How are they not burning up inside that getup? It was the heat of the summer, so it made little sense as to why the Doctor wore so much clothing.

"So you must be Doctor [Y/N]. I must say this is a cool place you got here. I bet you could shoot down plenty of your enemies from the balcony out back."

Lappland started the conversation with her usual morbid humor as she reached out to shake the Doctor's hand. Most people would not laugh at it. But there had been one. Several years had passed since then. I wonder how she's doing now . . . She couldn't tell if the Doctor was surprised by her humor or not, the visor made it impossible to tell. But since they didn't stagger back and accepted her hand, she assumed they found it funny.

"I've never thought of the balcony in such a way, but I suppose you're right. I am Doctor [Y/N]. You must be Lapland. It's a pleasure to meet you, though I must say you're one hard Lupin to find."

Lappland chuckled. "Yes, that was intentional too."

"Trying to run away from something perhaps?" The Doctor asked curiously. They were relaxed in their chair, not even the slightest bit tense. They're not afraid of me. How long had it been since she had been around someone who did not fear her? It had been so long, too long, if she was being honest with herself.

"No, I just didn't want to be followed. Too many weird people nowadays roaming around. Untrained and stabby with their weapons." Lappland had great fun killing quite a few who had gotten in her way. Ah, fond memories.

"Completely understandable. So, since you're here I assume you wish to join Rhodes Island?"

She nodded. "You assume correctly. So is there something I need to do first? I would like to get to the killing as soon as possible." Lappland had heard about the trouble Rhodes Island was going through against Reunion. The idea of killing some of those infected idiots was pretty exciting, to say the least.

"Hehe slow you're roll there. While I doubt you need any training—"

"Of course not." Lapland snorted at the mere suggestion.

"You still need to get a physical done, and you need to learn how to work with the other Rhodes Island Operators as you'll be deployed with them in teams."

"Hmm, and we all live here? In your giant battle ship?" She was sure she had not seen even half of the place yet with how enormous it felt.

Doctor laughed a little. It was a friendly sound. "Yes, we all live here on the airship, though I must confess I don't own the place. Honestly, I'm not sure who does. Probably Kal'tsit if I had to guess."

"Okay. Sounds good. So where do I start?"

Doctor cleared their throat, rummaging through the papers sat on the desk. Eventually they fished out a form of employment. "So I'll need you to sign here at the bottom line." A pen was rolled over to her. The thing was solid gray save for the red ink spewing out of the tip just a tad.

Lappland looked at paper skeptically. She did not feel like reading the whole thing. Who had time to read terms of agreement anyways. Probably a nerd. She could think of one person who would have. Lappland wanted to facepalm. She really needed to stop thinking about her. It's not like we'll see each other again. Not according to her.

"This isn't a binding contract is it? Because I don't want to be stuck here forever if I change my mind, no offense."

"None taken. Here at Rhodes Island you can leave whenever you choose, just let us know if we should be expecting you back. This is particularly useful for our operators who are employed elsewhere. Like people from Rhine Lab, BlackSteel or even Penguin Logistics. And on another note, you'll start off on a probationary period anyways so . . ."

Lappland tuned out somewhere around this part, having the answer she needed already. I can leave whenever I wish. This place really gets me. Inwardly she was smiling. Outwardly, she nodded along, pretending to be listening. When the Doctor stopped talking, she skimmed through the words on the form before signing at the bottom.

For who knew how long, Lappland would be a member of Rhodes Island.