Hard Light (NaNoWriMo15)

Chapter 3 - Heroes

Emrys laughed--a rich, deep sound that sent tingles down Leah's spine as he placed her palm to his. At least she'd remembered that much about Radiant culture. "On the contrary, I've been impatiently waiting your arrival. Asriel was the one who looked over your notebook, but I must say I glimpsed it and I was rather impressed. You have quite the eye for detail, something that will fit in well around here."

Pride swelled in Leah's chest. "Thank you, Emrys."

"You are very welcome, sun sister," said Emrys. He glanced to Asriel. "I'll be happy to give her the tour of the lab if you have work to attend to?" Asriel bid them goodbye before hurrying off, leaving Leah slightly stunned in front of Emrys. "Shall we begin?"

He swept her along with him, leading her through the benches with the skill of someone that didn't need their eyes to know where they were going. Leah caught glimpses of a Radiant's work--a female a little older than she was with pale orange hair--though she couldn't figure out what she was doing for the life of her.

"What has Asriel told you about our work so far?"

"Not a lot," said Leah, dragging her eyes away from the orange-haired Radiant. "In truth, I'm worried there might be gaps in my knowledge that could affect my usefulness."

"Then I shall explain everything."

Emrys stopped before another Radiant who had several vials of blood with various colours of crystalite around them. Certain colours made the blood gleam, others made it darken, and each result was recorded in the log book never far from their hand.

"In essence, we're attempting to isolate this parasite," said Emrys. "As you might know, we believe the parasite to be significantly inhibited by sunlight, thus why shadows are minimised within the lab, to reduce the risk. You'll be introduced to the techniques later and trained in a niche area that takes your fancy, whether it be samples, the crystal-tech the humans have designed for the purpose of our study or one of the other many roles we have to offer."

Leah's eyes were back on the blood on the table. "Are those infected samples? Where do you get them from?"

"This way," said Emrys, leading her towards the back of the room where another, foyer-like room sat.

This room wasn't like the first. For starters, it was several times larger and divided into small, closed cubes with narrow corridors linking them together.

Leah's breath caught as she saw what was in them: Radiants.

Emrys was beside her, his face grim.

"The containment section is a necessary reality of what we do," he said. "I understand this might be hard to see at first, most of our new recruits often raise their concerns about it, but I assure you that what we are doing isn't inhumane. Though they still appear to be Radiant, they are no longer."

"They're Lightless?" whispered Leah.

"Yes," said Emrys. "Radiants who have succumbed to the parasite. They have lost their Light and often their minds to the parasite, and we now sustain them for research purposes." He paused, placing a hand on her shoulder as her hands pressed against the glass. "They are no longer people, and you must understand that if you're to be of any help towards the cure. Whenever you need motivation, look to them, and see what you are trying to prevent."

Leah swallowed down her pity. What had she expected them to be doing? It was like Emrys said, it was necessary, but seeing the reality was a hard contrast to her imagination. These had all been Radiants, and the parasite had taken that from them.

"All the stories I've heard show the Lightless as monsters," said Leah. "But these just look like people. They aren't as... active as I imagined them."