It would be wise to never introduce the idea of supernatural beings to a mad scientist.
Matikanefukukitaru and Taiki Shuttle huddled together around the book. It was one the latter had brought from America. It told tales of fantastical beings, the likes of different types of werewolves, chupacabras, skin-walkers, and several others. Fukukitaru gawked at the various illustrations, Taiki amused by the reaction.
They sat near the library in the lobby of Tracen Academy, the most prestigious academy for uma musume of all ages. The superstitious horse girl was making a good amount of noise, so some others nearby were staring. One of those nearby girls seemed to take interest in what was going on between the two.
This aforementioned girl was Agnes Tachyon, the forbidden mad scientist of Tracen. She approached the other two.
"Taiki, Fukukitaru," she stated, getting their attention.
"Oh, Tachyon!" Taiki turned her head and gave the girl a friendly smile. "Hey!"
Fukukitaru squealed. "It's bad luck, for sure!! Miss Tachyon's here now, too?!" Taiki chuckled at the orange-haired girl's exclamation, waving her hand dismissively. "Don't mind her, she's all worked up over nothing." She then stood up and pulled over a chair for Tachyon, patting the seat. "Come on, sit down! Take a look! If anyone can explain these, it's definitely you!"
The scientist laughed, then took her seat. "Alright then. I'll see what the commotion is~." As she spoke, Taiki flipped the page.
"V-vampire?!" Fukukitaru managed to read the page's title aloud with a shriek. It was scrawled in big letters at the top, and Tachyon's eyes hung on it for a few moments before wandering further down the page. Various anatomical-looking illustrations of the supposed 'vampire' were spread across the two large pages. The text was evidently written in English, so it wasn't anything she could read, but she could infer from the images. Large, often hidden fangs were about the only noticeable difference. It was peculiar.
"Beware the blood-sucking undead," Taiki began reading, "they're hiding amongst us living beings! You never know when one could turn around and bite'cha!" As she said the last part, she held her hands up like claws and grinned at the other two.
Fukukitaru screamed, her ears sticking straight up, clinging to Taiki for protection. "Shiraoki-sama! Save us all from these wretched creatures!!" Her actions were ironic, considering Taiki was the one who had scared her in the first place, Tachyon thought. She also realized that having Taiki here to translate would be very helpful for gathering information.
Both she and Taiki laughed. "Calm down, would'ya? They aren't real!" Taiki reassured the girl.
"B-but how would you know? Just because you've never heard about any sort of vampires before doesn't mean they don't exist..!!" Fukukitaru whimpered, ears scrunched up and curled downward. Her tail was wrapped around the back right leg of her chair, and her legs were crossed tightly.
"Logically, she's not wrong, Taiki," Tachyon mused, flicking her ears in the American girl's direction. "They could be real, and we'd have no idea! Maybe they're just that good at hiding themselves~."
"Oh, don't make it any worse now, Tachy!" Taiki huffed, then placed a hand on Fukukitaru's head, giving her a little noogie. "Relax, Fuku! You've got nothing to be afraid of."
Tachyon eyed the girls as the taller girl went on reassuring the other. She brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully.
With a creature so human-like, surely it would be possible to make it a reality? Nothing was out of the scope of possibilities for this mad scientist. Her mind often ran wild with what she could do, but this was something new. It was something she'd never even thought of before- making an uma musume into something no longer recognizable as human or horse? It was something brilliantly taboo- Perfect for the forbidden mad scientist.
All she would have to do is convince her favorite test subject to go along with it.
"Cafe~," Tachyon cooed, wrapping her arms around the ghostly girl from behind.
Manhattan Cafe was sitting in the school cafe, enjoying her coffee, when the scientist approached her. She sighed and let her ears flop forward bemusedly, placing her coffee down on the table.
"What is it, Tachy..?"
"I have something for you to try~," the brown-haired girl said, placing her hand on the spectre's. Her tail swayed from side to side happily, and she smirked. Her subject had no idea what was in store for her. Was it cruel? Maybe, but nobody was going to say that. After all, they didn't even know what she was planning!
"...Again?" Cafe pushed Tachyon off and turned around to face her. "...You said the same thing earlier. What you gave me was gross, and it didn't even work, apparently."
"Heh, trial and error, my dear subject~!" Tachyon was embarrassed, but shrugged, the oversized sleeves of her lab coat dangling over her hands. "I need someone to try this new one, and you just so happen to be the best candidate~!" She chuckled. "The results will fit you well..!"
Cafe tilted her head, ears pricking up curiously. "Results..?" She then sighed, pushed her seat back, stood up, and reached for her coffee mug. "Well, you'll at least let me mix it into my coffee. I don't want to taste any more bad things today. I was just trying to finish washing whatever that was down."
"Sure, sure... That'll work," Tachyon mumbled, grabbing Cafe's hand and started to lead her. The ghostly girl protested for a moment, but seemed to relent shortly after.
