[Gift] Something More

Quick hands quickly buttoned up a heavy blue shirt, with pale green eyes squeezed shut above them on a pale pink face. A lightweight white lab coat, bright even in the dimness of the simple room, was slung on carelessly — and then carefully smoothed out, with a loving caress. A dark gray and red tie was knotted at the top of the button-up, and blue paper “booties” were tied over the feet. Finally, a pair of thick nitrile gloves hid the offending green lights emanating from the backs of tiny hands.

One would think it was hard to get dressed in the dark, but Kara “Doctor” Stern was no stranger to avoiding herself.

There wouldn’t be much to see in the room, anyways. A small bed, fit for a small human, filled most of the available space, and a tiny desk and dresser took up most of the rest of it. Clothes — most of them bearing the same set of colors and styles — sat inside the dresser drawers, lab coats hung from the hangers, and even the bed sheets were nice and tidy.

The only thing out of place was the small mirror, covered in papers and posters. Unusual, given the spotless and tidy decor making up the rest of the room. She couldn’t help but still look towards this mirror, at her pale pink scales and long sweeping crest—

A loud beeping filled the room. Ah, she thought. She had woken up before her alarm again. No matter, it was an easy fix to cross the small room, and gently tap the “OFF” button atop the loud machine. The sound ceased instantly, and she felt much more calm. She gently shook her head, smoothing out her coat, steeling herself for what lay beyond the door.

Time for another day. Another day of grand discoveries, of solving Lingua’s great mysteries.

It was time for science.

- - - - - - - - -

Even the meticulously applied foam couldn’t fully dampen the sound of her claws clicking on the tile, a fact that grated on Stern’s every last nerve. Foam wasn’t a cheap commodity, these days, and the stuff didn’t even work half the time. She’d have to consider switching back to something else, maybe even the strong-smelling rubber provided by her overseer…

A vastly tall — at least to her — human scientist stepped out of a doorway, nearly tripping over her, before falling into step beside her.

“Oh! Sorry about that, Doc. I didn’t see you there for a second.” The brown-haired boy had only been with this lab company for a couple years, but Stern still didn’t know his name well. They worked in different departments, if she remembered correctly.

She didn’t — couldn’t — say anything in response, but gave a curt but polite nod to the young fellow. He seemed pleased enough with that, and fell silent for the space of a couple doors down the bright hallway.

A head poked out of one of the doors up ahead; alerted, no doubt, by her awful, noisy claws. This was also a human, but a woman, and was also wearing the signature spotless white lab coat awarded to all of the researchers. She had perky blond hair, and her hands were free of those ever-restrictive white gloves. Stern noticed that the nails on each hand, poking out from the door frame, were painted a bright green.

Stern felt nauseous.

The woman beckoned for Stern to come closer, those bright green nails flashing through the air. The other scientist, the young man, kept walking, but gave a small wave as he passed.

“Oh hey, Doctor! You’ve got some visitors to see to today.” The woman smiled, baring perfectly shaped teeth.

She groaned (but only internally). Science would have to wait, it would seem.

- - - - - - - - -

“No, you’ve got the— yes, it’s backwards. Let me adjust the eyepiece for you…” Stern watched helplessly as the deep purple Paralogos before her twisted the delicate device this way and that, trying to get a glimpse of the tiny cells she was trying to get her charge to witness.

Finally, she gently caught the Para’s arm, grabbing their attention, and carefully guided them to the correct spot on the microscope to look through. Stern had seen the slide — in fact, she had carefully prepared the overlarge thing herself — and was proud to show other Paras even the basics of the work she got into on a daily basis.

Stern couldn’t help launching into a brief monologue about her work and the cells present on the slide, even though she knew Aeon was still doing their best to even see the tiny organisms on the slide. She was honestly proud of her work, and what she had accomplished, and being able to share it with others WAS rewarding no matter what she thought internally. After all, what was the point of this work if she couldn’t share her discoveries with others?

Finally, at the tail end of the speech, Aeon finally found the adjuster knobs and carefully brought the slide’s subject into focus. They let out a small gasp.

“Woah! Doctor, this is so cool! I can see it moving around and everything! It’s even smaller than a Whiffling!” Aeon laughed in delight, their cybernetic eye whirring in place, and their mechanical arm gently released the adjuster knob. They carefully held onto the base of the microscope, looking into the eyepiece with their non-mechanical eye. Their jaw hung open at the sight of the microorganism squiggling around on the slide.

Stern felt pleased, and could feel her chest puffing out in pride. It had taken her years of study and work to feel comfortable enough to prepare a human hand-sized slide by herself, even if the stage on a Paralogos-sized microscope didn’t hold them as well. It was important that her work be visible to anyone who wanted to see it, and—

“Hey, do you want to see what I do for fun after your shift?” Aeon had turned towards Stern, their face shining and hopeful. “I’ve got some weirder hobbies, but you might think they’re as interesting as I think these cells are!”

Stern paused, dread settling in her chest. No, no, everything was fine, really. She had been asked to “hang out” before, and really she didn’t have the time to. Really. She was always so, so busy…

Aeon seemed to see the distress on Stern’s face, and spoke again. “Hey, it’s alright! I understand if you’re too busy with work. That’s important too, after all.”

She nodded in thanks, her chest still feeling tight, and instructed Aeon on how to correctly remove the slide and place it on the counter next to the scope. Stern waved on Aeon’s protests of helping clean up, and insisted on cleaning the tiny microscope’s lenses up herself.

The tight feeling didn’t disappear even after Aeon had left, and the scope sat shining and spotless in the harsh laboratory light.

- - - - - -

Stern walked slowly down the hallway again, this time keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact with everyone she encountered. She would give performatory waves to acknowledge greetings, but otherwise ignored all activity around her.

She could hear other researchers closing up their workspaces, shutting down computers, locking their doors. Keys jangled all over the facility. It was timely and organized and just perfect; everything as it should be. The night shift would take over next, and the work of science would continue.

Normally, this would fill Stern with elation. She adored her work, and what it stood for, and filling every last waking moment she could with tasks. It was important, busy work, and she could trust no one else to do what she did.

So why were Aeon’s words about hobbies hitting her so deeply?

Lost in thought, she didn’t realize that she had walked past her little room door for a couple paces. Luckily no one saw her scramble awkwardly for the doorknob, her nimble dinosaurian fingers easily allowing her access into the tiny space. She grimaced.

She felt safe here, alone with the lights all off. But as she began to remove her coat and put her things away… she couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t something a little bit more.