“No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, that great big pile of flesh behind me really is the specimen you’ve all heard so much about on your ride over here. If you turn to page three in your packets, you can follow along as I describe the anatomy of the mutant as we’ve uncovered it so far.

  Facing the crowd from SCR, which was entirely composed of old and middle-aged men in suits, Odette read off a prepared script from the booklet in her hands. The entire day had been like this so far, starting from the early hours of the morning that had been occupied by a formal breakfast.

  “Is that a question I see?”

  ‘Fuuuuuuuck.’

  Odette sighed.

  “Yes. A few minutes ago I learned that the force currently stationed here is not the original one that found the corpse of this beast. Can you explain that?”

  Odette’s expression darkened tremendously.

  “I don’t know who told you such things, but please keep your questions business-related. The composition and location of the Republic’s military is not relevant to this tour.”

  Allowed by the corporate-favoring laws of the Republic, these people were here to buy off pieces of the mutant. But Odette hadn’t been forced to be here just so she could address their curiosities.

  In her eyes, they were merely vultures.

  That seemed to shut up the old man that had voiced his question, though from the look on his face she realized she had angered him.

  ‘Oh well.’

  “Any others?”

  “I see that while the size of the specimen’s body is quite impressive, as you’ve continued to mention, you haven’t spoken a word on the decay that is quite obvious to us all. Is the Republic prepared to offer a discount for parts of a body that’s already decomposing?”

  The man next to the previous inquirer had a posh accent.

  Odette’s eyes shook.

  ‘If these people had read the pamphlet this morning instead of drinking at breakfast…’

  Odette looked to her right, where the oranged-haired boy, Tom, was standing.

  She nodded at him to take the question, but he seemed inclined to stay silent for the same reason she did. Unwilling to risk sounding too frustrated at the associate’s blatant singular focus. Instead, Jason at her right swooped in.

  “Ah, that’s a good question. Instead of decay, that odor that you’re all smelling is actually the creature’s natural body processes leaking through, still active even after its death. What the IDS department has determined after taking numerous core samples is that the specimen carries a self-populating pouch of bacteria within itself. This pouch is highly pressurized, but holds a number of organic agents, some foul and some odorless. That’s the source of the smell that you’re all picking up on. It’s easily equatable with the pungency of rot formed when a mutant beast is amidst decomposition.”

  ‘He’s got a future in politics for sure.’

  “So this pouch, it stores bacteria? Like diseases?”

  The associate sounded unsure. Though many of them had experience in research, their knowledge was more geared toward determining financial risks. It was one of the reasons why much of SCR had stayed privatized.

  “That’s correct, but be assured that you are all completely safe at this distance. The protective tarp we’ve shielded the specimen with is capable of resisting even gunfire.”

  “I see…”

  The crowd began murmuring amongst themselves after that. A mutant beast storing bacteria within itself wasn’t too rare, especially for a large corporation like SCR to get its hands on, but the implication in Jason’s words was that it was to a far greater degree than normal. They hadn’t explored the full depths of the beast’s anatomy yet, either.

  Odette gave a nod of approval to Jason, but Tom’s eyes she met with recognition. He disapproved of this process just as she. A fellow compatriot, despite their departmental difference.

  “Any other questions? No? Then, if you’ll all follow me, we’ll be heading to the seismic field laboratory next, where our resident experts are currently investigating how the specimen came to be on Republic soil…”

  Odette began walking, directing them forward with a plastered smile.

  ‘Please let this end soon.’

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  …

  Ten hours later.

  Time hadn’t moved on any faster, but the hours began to slip by in Odette’s head as Jason and Tom started to take questions for her. Something good seemed to have come from training them after all. She doubted they would have felt as inclined to speak for her if she had continued to treat them with the same callousness as the first day.

  But now, thanks to the gaggle of associates getting tired, the day had come to an end. She could finally return to her project.

  After gathering some papers from her tent residence, she practically glided out of the exit and over to the supply tent.

  ‘Wait for me, my babies.’

  That was right. Odette had finished her design far faster than she had expected, making the next step actually building it. Minutes after dinner had ended, Odette raced over to the tent where she knew the surplus machinery and resources were stored.

  In her mind she rehearsed what she was going to say.

  “Madam Veron, greetings!”

  Odette was topped in her tracks when she heard a boyish voice somewhere from behind. Spinning around before the tents, she gazed upon Tom with a bit of surprise.

  “Tom, what are you doing over here?”

  “I’m staying over here, Madam Veron! All of us are, as that’s where our tents were placed.”

  ‘How can someone be so chipper and matter-of-fact at the same time?’

  “I see. Well, I should thank you for jumping in to answer the associates questions earlier today. They're from your sister organization, but I can still get quite fatigued by the barrage.”

  “Oh! It was no problem at all Madam, I should thank you for the opportunity.”

  Odette idly nodded, before her eyes went past the young scientist’s shoulder.

  “Say, I don’t see the requisitions officer on duty tonight, do you know where he is?”

  Tom’s eyebrows raised as he looked towards Odette’s line of sight.

  “Did you need something from there, Madam? I can get it for you, if you like?”

  Odette shook her head.

  “It’s alright, just some baubles for a personal project. I just haven’t seen the officer around lately.”

  “Well, it was my understanding that the requisition officer was repositioned when our team arrived, Madam. We’ve got the time split amongst the six of us outside of training right now. At the moment, the timeslot should be …Jason’s, now that I think about it.”

  Odette tightened a smile.

  “Is that right? Well, thank you for the information then, I’ll be going.”

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to get you the parts you need? It would be quite a bit easier that way.”

  “No, no. I’m sure. Don’t trouble yourself.”

  Odette carried on, not seeing how it would make a difference who got the parts she needed.

  Besides, she didn’t want more people than necessary knowing about her design. It was important in guaranteeing that her contribution to the camp would be noted. She was starting to understand that a plan B in case she wasn’t recommended by Caleb was prudent.

  If she could develop something to help the investigation of the beast go quicker, she was sure to be rewarded heavily. But what Tom had said was odd.

  She knew that the previous officer had definitely been there a week ago, but now with SCR coming in he was replaced?

  ‘Repositioned’ was just a fancy way of saying the officer had been shafted out of a job, fired, or demoted. Why the role, which was essentially glorified security detail, had been added to SCR’s growing involvement was beyond Odette, but it probably came down to departmental politics like everything else.

  “Wai–wait!”

  She was just about to reach the tent when her arm was grabbed from behind.

  ‘What the fuck?’

  Odette turned with a sharp look. But surprisingly it was still Tom, who had grabbed her impulsively. Upon seeing the look on her face, his own expression turned sheepish and he quickly let go.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Ah, I’m sorry, it’s just, ah. Do you want to get, uh, coffee? Or something?”

  Odette’s face calmed. So he was just being friendly.

  “Not tonight, Tom. Why don’t you ask Jason if he’s free after his shift instead?”

  Tom’s face reddened, and Odette was surprised to see a growing frustration on it.

  “No, I meant more like, do you want to go somewhere? Today was kind of a weird day, and we rarely get the time off, so I was wondering if you wanted to head back to the residences? O-or i-if that doesn’t work then we could go for a walk?”

  Odette looked at him with confusion.

  His speech was rising and falling in odd places, balanced somewhere between a frustrated embarrassment and a strange confidence.

  It wasn’t until Odette met his eyes that she understood where he was coming from.

  ‘Oh. Right. This. But why me? Well, it doesn’t really matter.’

  “Regretfully, I’m afraid I still have a few things on my list for tonight. After that I’ll be heading straight to sleep, as you can imagine. Tired from the tour as I’m sure you are as well, Researcher Thomas.”

  Odette thought of something to say as quickly as possible, wincing internally as her last line came off as sounding a bit too formal and detached. Oh well, it wasn’t like she was being rude to him.

  “O-okay…”

  “Yes? Then I must really be going, I’ll see you for training tomorrow, then.”

  Odette left him in a hurry, now that it was really getting late. The thought of almost being asked out left her mind as she honed in on the true task.

  If she couldn’t access the supply depot tonight, then she’d have to wait for a time next week, and only if nothing new was tacked on to her current responsibilities. The normal hours of training meant she was only free after it closed, so she had been lucky an irregular day came like today so soon after finishing her design.