Noctura

fifty three

I walk up to the small booth right outside the entrance through the tall gate.

"Hello," I say to the guard sitting in the booth. "I was wondering if I could speak to a researcher at this facility?"

The guard eyes me suspiciously. "And what would this be for?"

I pull out my AAN badge and show the guard. "I want to check up on the researchers and see what they're doing. I might have some more ideas to help them."

The guard lets out a sigh as he's nodding. "Alright. I'll need to scan your badge."

I hand him the badge and he scans it. He looks through the information on the screen, verifying that I am who I say I am, that the badge is legit, and that I'm part of authorized personnel.

He hands my badge back to me and opens the gate. I flash him a smile before walking through, heading toward the front of the building.

A man walking out of the building holds the door open for me and I thank him as I slip inside. I walk up to the front desk where a man and a woman sit.

"Hello," I say as I walk up to the front desk.

"How can I help you?" The woman asks.

I give her a small smile. "I was just at work, but I came over to see if I could speak with one of the researchers here. Preferably a lead researcher. I want to see what they're doing and maybe give them some ideas."

The woman types something up on her computer. "And who are you?"

"Lee Seunghoon," I answer. "Rank one soldier of the AAN, fourth division." I show her my badge.

The woman gives me a smile. "You can head on down to our labs, on the basement level. The others should be able to point you in the direction of Dr. Amaechi." She hands me a temporary badge to use in the elevators and that will unlock the doors.

"Thank you," I tell her.

I move down the hallway toward the elevators and press the button down. I step into an elevator and hit the button for the basement, scanning my badge when the elevator prompts me to.

Once the elevator doors open, I step out into a hallway. To my left, there are individual rooms. To my right, the hallway goes down into a larger room with metal tables and counters and equipment set up all over.

I move to the right and walk over to a researcher, who's writing some things down on a clipboard.

"Excuse me," I say with a smile. "Could you possibly point me to Dr. Amaechi?"

The girl smiles. "Yes, she should be down that way, in the office." She points behind me. "That's the designated lead researcher office. I think she's available, too."

"Thank you so much!" I call as I turn around and move through the large research room.

At the back of the research room, there's an open door that leads into a small lab area, complete with a counter wrapping around the room, a metal table in the middle, and a chair next to the counter on the left. Sitting in the chair is a dark-skinned woman wearing small glasses, looking down at a vial of blood on the counter, her hands covered with white gloves.

I give a small knock on the doorway of the room. "Hello,"

The woman turns around, taking her glasses off and setting them on the counter. She gives me a nice smile. "Hello."

"I'm Seunghoon," I greet her. "Rank one soldier of the AAN, fourth division. I was told to come meet you when I said I would like to talk to someone about the research happening in this facility."