Nucleic † Dennor

Shady Scientists

The next day at work, Lukas searched every floor for the chief until he finally found him on the upper floors training some new assistants and some interns from the local high school. The chief was an old, bald-headed man who Lukas admired dearly. Lukas wanted the man's job when he retired, so he was always starting conversations with him so that he'd have a better chance at becoming chief. It had worked so far. Lukas probably never would've gotten his new position so quickly if it wasn't for his conversations with the chief.

Though usually carefree when talking to his boss, this time he was rather concerned as to how the man might respond to his question about the screaming coming from the floors below floor fifteen. Was Lukas in the right place to ask the question? He surely didn't want to jeopardize his new promotion. But he also had a strong moral compass, and anything that was screaming that loudly and savagely was surely not being given ethical treatment.

Approaching the bald man, Lukas took a deep breath. "Hello... chief. Can I talk to you about something for a moment in private?" Lukas asked, deciding that he didn't want to ask the bizarre question in front of all the new workers.

"Good morning Lukas! Excuse me for a minute kids, I have to talk to my favorite microbiologist. Don't tell Gary!" the chief joked, leaving uncomfortable smiles on the interns' faces. The balding man was known for his infamous awkward dad jokes.

Lukas made sure to find an empty conference room before pulling the chief into it to ask him the question that had been on his mind all night. "What's wrong Lukas? You look concerned" the man asked, placing a handing on Lukas's shoulder. Lukas flinched, pulling his shoulder back from his boss's touch. He absolutely despised being touched. 

"I-uh- sorry" Lukas immediately stammered, his face burning slightly as he realized how uncomfortable he just made the chief feel. The man simply laughed, and Lukas found himself furrowing his brow in frustration. He must've seemed like such a freak. 

"Anyway, is there something you need to ask me? Because I need to get back to the highschoolers. I don't want them getting into any trouble, especially around the new equipment" he asked, his voice sounding slightly rushed as he motioning towards the window where the highschoolers could be seen pressing buttons they definitely weren't supposed to. 

"Well, last night I was on the fifteenth floor and I heard really really really loud screaming. It sounded like something was being tortured. Do you know if someone accidentally hurt something or is practicing an unwarranted experiment? Because you wouldn't want the police finding out about it. The facility could get shut down. I just want to make sure no one is doing anything unethical without your permission-"

"Lukas. You were there very late last night. You were probably just exhausted and hearing things. I'd reccommend getting more sleep. Thank you for the concern, but I'm sure your brain is just playing tricks on you. Now, excuse me while I reprimand these teenagers" the chief quickly interrupted before shooting Lukas a polite smile and walking out of the room. 

Something was definitely not right. Lukas could tell from the tone of his voice that the man was hiding something. He had never seen the chief rushing so quickly to get out of a conversation. Debating what to do in his head, Lukas finally decided he would go down to the floor himself. He obviously couldn't do it with his own security pass, so made a plan to steal the chiefs. That way, he could safely get to the floors under the fifteenth. If he had a security pass that had clearance to every floor, there was no way he could get caught. All he had to do was make sure he didn't leave any fingerprints.  

-

At the end of the work day, Lukas decided to put his plan into action. He had just finished a meeting with the chief and the heads of each department in the facility. He only had one chance to swipe the chief's security card, and if he messed it up, he would be screwed and possibly fired. 

The scientists were leaving the conference room when Lukas pretended to trip and fall directly in the path of the chief. The chief gasped before holding out his hand for Lukas to grab. As Lukas grabbed the mans hand and hoisted himself up, he used his other hand to unclip the chief's security pass from his belt and slip it into his lab coat. 

"Lukas, you should really be more careful!" the man exclaimed, chuckling as Lukas wiped the dust off of his lab coat. 

"I know! I'm so clumsy sometimes I wonder how I'm still alive!" Lukas joked, receiving a smile from his boss. Lukas could not have come up with a worse lie. 

"Well, see you tomorrow Lukas! Try not to fall on your way back home" the chief shot back as they parted ways, shooting Lukas one more eye-blinding smile before heading out the lobby doors. 

"Not making any promises!" Lukas called out after him, using possibly the fakest voice he had ever heard escape his own mouth. When everyone had finally left the building, Lukas cringed at himself and the bubbly personality he had just adopted to steal his boss's security card. He had never smiled so much in his life. 

Deciding not to dwell on it any longer, Lukas decided to head into the elevator. Placing the cheif's pass up to the scanner, Lukas smiled at the huge "ACCESS GRANTED" on the screen. It was finally time to see what was on the sixteenth floor.