Work Text:
"What's that?"
Doc unintentionally let out a shriek when he heard a voice behind him. The shriek caused the mysterious person to also let out their own yelp of surprise before a soft thud followed. Turning around, Doc forced his racing heart to calm down when he saw Ren with a pained expression on his face, rubbing his butt from the hard impact. "Geez, Doc, you scared me!"
"Me? Scaring you? It's your fault for jumping on me in the first place..." Doc grumbled, turning back to look at the hermits dancing merrily on the dance floor.
New Hermitville has been adjusted to have a celebration, so besides the dance floor that was just wooden planks in elaborate patterns, there was also a table nearby with a bunch of snacks. Lanterns of different colors were hung between roofs of houses, and swing music was playing in the jukebox speaker.
Bdubs and Keralis were definitely drunk at this point, laughing and tripping wherever they step as they leaned onto each other for balance. Joe and Cleo were dancing together, albeit awkwardly and even with bright red faces (or face, since it's hard to tell with Cleo's skin). Unlike the two, Iskall and Stress were having a blast, twisting and dancing in sync as both their dresses moved through the air. The concept of Iskall wearing a dress (a bright, green puffy one at that) still baffled Doc, but he seemed to enjoy it so he doesn't care.
Grian and Mumbo were dancing, too, obviously having no idea what they were doing except for jumping around and looking like idiots. Though that would be the fault of the younger one wearing that bright blue-colored dress.
Zedaph was dancing by himself unless you count Jellie who sat by him for some reason. The other hermits were standing around the dance floor, having a good time as they talked and share drinks together.
"You didn't answer my question," Ren said with a smile, sitting beside him on the roof of one of the houses Doc escaped to earlier. Doc rolled his eyes, but decided to humor him, anyway, He pulled out a photo from the pocket of his blazer and passed it to Ren wordlessly. His friend looked up at him in surprise, before looking down at the picture given to him. Doc avoided the questioning look he received from Ren, knowing that he would want to ask about the contents of the picture.
It was a pretty old picture, with a very faint color due to its age likely. Still, there were little creases from the years it stayed intact.
In the photo were two beings. A human man with emerald green eyes that showed care and even a tiny bit of mischief. There were bags under his eyes, but whether it was due to his age or lack of sleep, it was unsure. He had a beard with grey strands that were left to scruff on its own. His hair was messy, too, with dark brown mixing in grey. He had thick square-shaped glasses and wore a lab coat. The other being was a creeper, though noticeably different from the usual creepers that always blew up when it got too close. It was smaller, almost a child-size as it sat on the man's lap. There was a wide grin on the creeper's face, and a tag wrapped around one of its legs.
"... You've never told me what your childhood was like." Ren softly said, snapping Doc out from his thoughts. He shrugged, clasping his hands together in front of him.
"That's because I never had one."
Ren looked at him worriedly, but before he could ask, Doc was already speaking.
"I don't remember much of anything, really. The first-ever memory I had was waking up in a deserted underground lab. No one was around, but I somehow managed to find myself going through the halls as if I knew where I was going. I got up to the upper floors, and it wasn't any better. The further I go up, the further the floors looked destroyed. Once I reached above ground, everything was blown up. Destroyed, no evidence of survival or... or anything, really." Doc sighed, absentmindedly moving his mechanical fingers.
"I was wearing a lab coat. I looked in the pocket and found the picture. From there, the rest is history." He shrugged once more. Ren already knew that part of the history, of how he learned to survive on his own for a couple of years until Bdubs randomly found him and suggested he join Mindcrack. He didn't need to tell Ren that again.
"What about the man here? Did you know him?"
No, he didn't. If Doc hadn't had half of his face be made of metal, he would have looked exactly like the man in the picture- with a few differences, of course. But nonetheless similar. He didn't realize he hadn't answered Ren's question until he heard him sigh.
"Come on, let's go dance and be idiots." Ren was distracting him. And frankly, Doc was grateful. He nodded, agreeing with Ren, before ultimately pushing him off the roof.
"Oh COME ON-"
"December 18, 19XX, Subject #12 Status Report No. #8. Not doing as well as I thought it was doing, it seemed like under the surveillance of Doctor Dickface it received at least 10% more of its necessary dose of Formula Test 4. It's been eight hours now, showing no signs of recovery or even consciousness of its surroundings. Possible that this may be the last status report for Subject #12."
Morgan paused, the tape recorder still rolling on his hand as he inspected the creature through the glass pane that separated them. It's skin, used to be bright blue, was now in a sickly grey color. Black eyes have devoided from showing any emotion than the last time he saw it. It's small body was just sitting on the mattress provided, staring at nothing. The doctor felt sick just looking at it, knowing that it was a terrible decision to have Dexter be in control of this subject. When were they gonna fire that bastard?
There was no reason to have it suffer any longer.
"... Scratch that, this will be the last status report for Subject #12. It no longer possesses the ability to go through with any more tests. It's best if we end its suffering."
The tape recorder stopped with a click.
"Doctor Morgan, we have a new subject that came in just last night." Heather came into his office without knocking, a manila folder opened in her arms as she looked through the contents. Morgan resisted the urge to let out a loud groan from the rude gesture Heather had possessed. Can't she see he's working on something?
"Heather, dear, what the fuck did I say about coming in without knocking? Can't you go to someone else to look at the new subject? I'm already overseeing the reports of eight different-"
"I know, but the Director wanted you to be in charge of this subject."
The mention of the Director surprised Morgan, making him pause as he turned his swivel chair to look at his co-worker properly. "The Director wanted- how important is this subject?"
"Not important in the way you would think. This subject is... different. More different than the others we have seen. It's that unique that none of us feel confident to actually take up the job. The Director believed that with your record of breaking the rules without a care in the world, he thought maybe you would be interested."
The doctor let out a 'tsk' kind of sound. It's not as if he wanted to break the rules, he just think it's stupid that they are still testing on subjects even though they show clear signs of being unable to handle them. Their bodies have weakened over time, mental strength dwindling until they were left hollow. There's no reason to test on them if they can't properly react to it- no reason to make it go through any more pain than need to be. It's still a surprise that he still has his job after all these years- heh, maybe he's the Director's favorite.
Still, he was intrigued to know why the Director wanted him to change focus, so he beckoned Heather to give him the manila file.
"Would you like to meet your new subject?" Heather asked. Morgan shrugged, but made the motion with his hand to 'lead the way'.
It didn't take long to reach the room he was now assigned to. It's unfortunate it was one of the lowest floors, but he wasn't complaining just yet. Heather showed him the door, and Morgan entered without another word.
The door closed behind him, leaving Morgan alone. He was in a decent-sized rectangle room, enough to hold a shelf, a table and a desk full of computers. The wall by the desk was a large window that took up most of the wall except for where the door is (and where another door, that actually lead to the other room, is). Through the glass, Morgan could see another room that was free of any color except for grey- though both he and his co-workers knew that under that grey color was actually obsidian. It was the same size as the office he technically owned now.
Inside the obsidian cell was a creeper.
Not just any creeper, though. It was... small, less than half the size of a normal creeper. It still had the usual creeper features, such as the different tones of green in its thin skin, as well as its abnormally-shaped mouth that when it opened to snarl at him, he saw two small razor teeth poking out. Besides that, there was nothing else worth interesting to note.
Morgan opened the manila file he was given, and started reading.
"Subject #77, contained on 20 January 19XX. Oh, so you're a newbie, eh?" He gave the small creeper a glance. It didn't understand him, but it backed away with a glare. That was... interesting. Mobs never show signs of emotions since they are considered dead or unhuman. He quickly note that down on a notepad before continuing.
"Standing at 3FT at most, it's 2/5 the size of a normal creeper. Weight is almost non-existent. Unable to explode."
The last line caught his eye, causing him to pause to inspect the mob once more. It was walking around, looking everywhere as if trying to find out an escape route, which once again interested him. Perhaps this mob has some form of consciousness? That wouldn't make sense, mobs aren't players... Then again NPC tends to also have a conscious, just not of how the real world works.
The description of the creeper was pretty empty except of what he just readout. It's technically his job now to fill the rest, though he noticed a sticky note clipped at one of the papers. He took the bright yellow paper out from its clip to read the neat handwriting that belonged to the Director.
Doctor Morgan,
I know this may seem out of a blue, but this creeper right here is the first of its kind to show a stark difference. We may never have a chance like this again, so what I'm asking you now is to not hurt this creeper. Learn more about its behavior or anything you can get out of. Find out why this creeper is so different from what we know. I am putting you in charge of this subject- no one is allowed to take over.
-Director
"So, basically I'm stuck on babysitting duty, huh?" Morgan asked the creeper, expecting no reply. The creeper hissed at him and made the motion as if it was about to explode. However, it only tripped on itself before its body puffed slightly, smoke coming out of its mouth. Morgan wrote that down.
"Look, bud, between you and me I don't understand why I'm in charge of you, either," Morgan said, tapping on the glass. The creeper reacted by backing away from him, keeping its space. "Apparently I can't go through the usual testing or else you'll be dead the next morning. Heck, pretty sure Samuel's new formula is gonna kill you immediately. Pity to the other subjects unfortunate enough to be tested that." He flipped the notepad to open a new page, and started noting down ideas of what he could do to test this new subject.
Definitely NO formulas or compounds of any kind. That would kill it and he does not want to lose his job just yet. Perhaps he could do an IQ test? Dietary test? Perhaps he could try to figure out how many hit-points this creeper can do... Fuck it, write that all down.
For the next five minutes, Morgan continued to jot down random notes or ideas as he kept an eye on the subject just in case it does anything interesting. It only stayed in one corner, staring at the doctor with such a piercing gaze that a mob had never shown before. Maybe the reason why the Director wanted him to be in charge of this Subject was that he wanted him to understand why this subject came to be.
In his thirty years of service, Morgan is pretty proud to say that he had seen some fucked up shit. His world is plagued with monsters and creatures that are so weird, they needed testing. But this? This is a creeper, a common mob within every world in the universe. This is the first time a creeper was like this.
Was it mutated? If so they fucked up. He had seen mutant versions of zombies and skeletons before, and they are humongous.
There's literally no reason why a tiny little creeper was made.
... Which is why he's in charge to understand. But theories can come later, for now, he's gotta find a way to calm this little shit down.
o0o
"Subject #77 Status Report No. 1, 24 January 19XX. It has been three days since I've been put in charge of Subject #77 and there seems to be no change in behavior. Shows signs of being hostile- obviously, but only because it looked like it wants to protect itself, never to harm me just for the sake of harming me. I have yet to do any tests just yet, only merely observing its behavior to find out the best course of action to take. The Director doesn't want me to harm it, so anything violent is out of the question. Geez... I think I'm handling a child. End report."
Morgan clicked the tape recorder and placed it down on the desk, looking at the subject. While consuming an absurd amount of coffee and scribbling at least four pages worth of notes and ideas, the subject continued to... do whatever the hell it was doing. In fact, Morgan felt amused when the subject slammed its head against the wall as if it would do something. It only made the creeper puff again, imitating an explosion only to fail. It really can't explode, huh.
"Well, we better start on something or the Director is gonna have my head," Morgan mumbled, looking through his notes. "... Dietary test? Mobs don't even eat..."
Even so, perhaps he could use food items as a way to gain the subject's trust, no matter how absolutely bonkers it is. He opened up a chest stored at the corner of the room, searching through the not-so-organized contents before taking out a stack of carrots, seeing as it was the only food item he has that he was sure was not poisoned. Morgan went to his computer, typing some commands into the keyboard.
He tapped on 'Enter', and heard a redstone contraption wiring to life on the wall by the desk. A panel on the wall opened up and a small little platform extended out. He placed one carrot on the platform and pressed a key, causing the platform to retract with the item, covering the hole with the wall panel. A moment later, the carrot was dispensed into the other room.
The subject jumped at the sight of the carrot being dispensed through the wall, most likely not understanding the redstone mechanics of it. It looked warily at the carrot, before turning its head to glare at the scientist through the glass, hissing. Morgan rolled his eyes at it.
"I mean, I doubt you'll starve." He said as if it was a reply to the subject's hissing. Nonetheless, the carrot remained on the floor and the subject continued whatever it was doing before. Seeing as he'll be here for a while, Morgan pulled out a Rubix cube and started fiddling it for a bit.
About an hour later, as he twisted the top layer to the right, he heard the sound of shuffling. Morgan looked at the side and through the window, widening his eyes when he saw the subject peering down at the carrot, almost as if it was cautious but also curious. It knocked the carrot away using its legs, staring at the food item as it lay there, unmoving and unresponsive.
Almost comically, the subject leaned over so its head was directly in front of the carrot, staring at it straight. Morgan quickly sketched out the hilarious image.
Within the blink of an eye, the subject lunged forward, grabbed the carrot with its mouth, and consumed it.
... Or tried to. It's obvious that the carrot was too hardy and big for the subject to swallow straight away, so it ended up spitting it out, holding up a face of disgust and disappointment.
"Okay, so no to carrots, then," Morgan mumbled to himself, quickly writing that information down before typing on the keyboard. He pressed on the Enter key, and watched as the block below the... saliva-covered carrot was dropped onto the hopper below that would be sent straight to the nearby trash department.
"Hmm... Maybe there's something else you'd like." Morgan got up from his chair and left the room, leaving the subject to tilt its head confusingly. In ten minutes Morgan came back, this time with a few more stacks of different food items with him, as well as a few pieces of equipment.
He placed a small cutting board on the empty space on his desk and a pathetically small knife. He got an apple out from his inventory and used his hands to break the apple in half. With one half, he cut it into small pieces before dumping all of that into the small platform.
It retracted back into the wall, and in the obsidian cell, it was dispensed out, landing in front of the subject.
The subject looked at Morgan through the window- not out of hate or anything of the sorts, it was just looking at him, almost as if it was studying him. Morgan remained quiet, though he fiddled with the quill that was between his fingers.
Two minutes passed with nothing happening until finally the subject repeated what he did before and leaned down to inspect the apple cubes closer. Hesitantly, the subject picked up one cub with its teeth and consumed it.
Morgan resisted the urge to laugh when he saw the subject visibly perk up at the taste of apples, and continued to lick the floor clean of such fruit.
o0o
"Subject #77 Status Report no. 2, 30 January 19XX. It has been nearly a week since my first status report, and I am delighted to inform that I actually got somewhere. Since the first report, I managed to gain some level of trust with the subject during the week- mainly through apple and watermelon cubes. It's interesting to note that this particular creeper seems to have some kind of digestive system... somehow. It doesn't shit but I do notice it lets out a puff of smoke, so I'm assuming it means they incinerate the food into ashes. Not sure how that would work but I'll find out eventually. Moving on, the subject barely showed signs of hostility since that day, but it is still keeping its distance, not that I'm surprised. I'm gonna try something- it would take a while, but it would likely speed up the chances of trust if the subject knows I'm not a threat. We'll see how it goes... End Report."
Since last week, Morgan had kept a stash of apples and watermelon in a chest. Every five hours, Morgan would feed it apples or watermelon. Throughout the week, the subject somehow managed to learn the timings of these feedings, because it would always stand near where the dispensers are hidden by the wall. Morgan doubted the creeper knew about the dispenser- only where the food comes out.
Today, it would be different.
The creeper knew it was feeding time since Morgan was slicing up the apples. However, instead of placing it onto the platform where it would take it to the dispensers, Morgan scooped up the apple cubes into one hand, before walking over to the door.
He had to use his keycard that was hanging around his neck to unlock the door. Closing that door behind him, he finds himself in a very small room that contained a hazmat suit on one side. He ignored it and tapped the number panel at the side of the door. Pressing enter, the panel turned green, and the door slid to the left.
The subject immediately backed away, hissing with glaring eyes as Morgan entered the room. He noted that the room felt a bit hot, unlike the cooling air-conditioner on the other side. He ignored the heat for now and kept his eyes on the retreating creeper until his back hits the glass.
"I'm not gonna do anything," Morgan said. The subject only hissed.
He slowly slid down until he was sitting cross-legged, his free hand towards the creeper as a sign that he wasn't gonna do anything. Once he was comfortable with his seating position, he stared at the subject. The subject stared back.
After a minute of just staring, Morgan sighed before standing up to walk to the center of the room. The subject began to vibrate as it tried to push itself against the wall- away from him. Morgan slowed his steps, his hand steadily in front of him as if telling it to calm down. He reached his hand as far as he can go to the subject and gently dropped the apple cubes in front of it. Moving back with slow, light steps, Morgan sat back down with his back against the glass.
It took about twenty-eight minutes (yes, he was counting) until the subject took a step forward, still keeping its hostile gaze on the scientist. As quickly as the other times, the subject scooped the apple cubes in record time.
Morgan nodded to himself and found that there's no reason for him to stay in any longer. So without a word, he left the cell and went back to his side of the room. He didn't see the confused tilt that came from the subject.
He did the exact same thing for the next two weeks, with the same reaction.
Morgan nearly wanted to end it there after no sign of changing, but his stubbornness got to him. At the beginning of the third week, Morgan actually had a shitty run-in with a couple of his co-workers. They were obviously sneering at him due to the fact that he had been assigned by the Director to work on some 'stupid creeper' for almost a month. It made Morgan upset for some odd reason- not because of the implication that Morgan was just wasting his entire time, but because they think the subject was stupid.
He didn't like to admit it, but he's growing some kind of fondness for the strange mob. It was so common yet so different from what he had seen. Even with all the difficulties of trying to gain its trust, Morgan doesn't want to leave this subject into the hands of another- knowing they'll fuck it up somehow.
Morgan placed the apple cubes on the same spot as before, this time with more cubes to spite the others. He sat on his spot by the glass window, arms crossed in front of him. He knew the subject wouldn't eat it until about half an hour later, so Morgan decided that maybe he should rest his tired eyes for a while. The subject isn't gonna hurt him- he doesn't seem to have the ability to. So with a heavy sigh, he let his eyelids fall.
Five minutes later, he heard shifting.
He snapped his head up in surprise when he saw the subject leaning down to eat the cubes normally. It didn't have its eyes trained on Morgan like usual, just simply scooping up the cubes into its mouth. Once done, the subject looked at him without caution. It was just... looking. Then it slowly stepped forward until it was right in front of Morgan.
The scientist held eye-contact with the strange mob, and slowly put his hand forward. Immediately, the subject hissed before running away to one corner.
He doesn't care. Morgan was making progress, and he wanted to cry.
o0o
"Subject #77 Status Report no. 3, March 6 19XX. A bit of a jump from the last report but I think I'm making very, very good progress. I have resorted to feeding the subject by hand now. I think the subject decided ultimately that I was not a threat anymore. In fact, it's worth noting that the subject had been reacting more during feeding. There were... instances where the subject would leave a single apple cube before kicking it towards me. I think it was trying to get me to eat with it since it had never seen me eat before. I think it was worried... so I ate it. Ever since then the subject had been kicking me cubes for me to eat, which I find interesting and actually warming. Additionally, the subject had also resorted to standing near me whenever it can, simply just looking at me in wonder. I saw it tilt its head to the side a few times, which I would admit was cute. Although, whenever I tried to reach out to it, the subject would hiss and back away, before coming back. I should try to let the subject come to me instead... End report."
Morgan brought his notepad with him during feeding times, now. He had told himself that it was for work-purposes but in reality, he was just bored, so he decided to sketch randomly to fight his boredom. They were terrible sketches, but hey it helps with the creative mind.
"Look, buddy, it's you," Morgan said, tearing out the paper from the pad to show to the subject. It was walking in circles for some reason but looked over when Morgan started speaking. It walked closer to study the paper, before snatching it away with its mouth and running off to one corner.
Morgan doesn't understand why the subject was doing that- it wasn't eating the paper, that's for sure, only dropping it to one corner before staring at it like a brooding teenager. Leaving the subject to its devices, Morgan continued sketching.
Although, as he completely scribbled all over the page, he started reflecting on his life.
He knew there were other worlds out there- just as crazy and dangerous like this world. However, he was born and raised here, growing love for finding out different kinds of creatures and mobs that lived in his world, terrorizing everything and everyone. That love developed his love for science as it forced him to think out of the box- it was unnecessary since instructions were already given, but Morgan wanted to test his abilities.
Needless to say, he may or may not have grown a love for exploding things.
Morgan loved his job as a scientist, he really does, but it dawned on him to realize how... lonely he was. He had been spending most of his time (unless it was break or sleep) to watch over the subject for the past two months. No one came to check on him, and no one bothered to say hi when he comes to the cafeteria to get his daily dose of coffee.
Because of his ambitions, he pushed his social life away. Not to mention having a splendid record of being an ass and breaking the rules of 'Perishing subjects without the permission of the Director'.
Morgan jumped when he heard a small hiss from his side. Turning, he noticed the subject looking at him. It was then he realized just how near the subject was to his body.
"Uh, hello?"
The subject hissed, though not out of aggression. It leaned down towards Morgan's hand, and he hesitantly lifted it up from the ground. He was speechless when the subject lifted its head until the top part touched the palm of his hand.
It felt... like nothing he expected.
Despite the semi-smooth look of the skin, it actually felt rough under his palm and fingers. It was also dry and a bit flaky without the flaky bits going everywhere. It reminded him of dried leaves.
The subject sat down beside Morgan and closed its eyes under the hand of the scientist.
"... You're just as lonely as I am, huh?" The scientist softly said, moving his hand back and forth.
o0o
"Subject #77 Status Report no. 4, June 2 19XX. I am making so much progress it's baffling me. I gained the trust of the subject to the point they are not afraid of going towards me. In fact, if given the opportunity, they will go to me. Anyway, feeding time still remains the same though now I spend my time inside the cell. Screw it, I might as well move my entire equipment in the cell. Ever since I gained their trust, I have been moving on to more tests. What I found interesting is that while the subject remained oblivious to the English language, they seemed to recognize my voice and connect conclusions to what I ask of them to do, provided that I give them gestures as well. I did a color test a few times during the week to see if they can figure out colors. Apparently... they can't see colors. Though it is worth noting that it is possible they only see one shade of color, which I think is green. For now, I'm moving on to other tests. End report."
Morgan had adjusted the cell to have a cooler temperature, and to his surprise the subject was enjoying it immensely, somehow rolling around the cool floor at random times of the day.
"You are so weird... Hm, maybe I should give you a name. Not like anyone is gonna say anything about it." Morgan murmured to himself, sitting down at the center of the room and just watching them roll around.
"... Seven, because you're Subject #77. Yea, I know, veeery creative but I'm not a writer, I'm a scientist."
Seven didn't reply, though they have stood up by themselves to walk over to the scientist, rubbing their heads against Morgan's side as if they were asking for attention. Morgan laughed and gave in, giving Seven a head rub. "Okay, okay, enough of that. We got some testing to do. We're gonna do something a bit different this time- hey, come on, sit down."
After a bit of coaxing, Seven sat down in front of Morgan, wiggling their head left and right as if they can't keep still. Morgan shook his head, shuffling the cards he had in front of him. Seven really is such a child.
"Okay, I know you can't understand me but I have a deck of cards here. These cards will have different mobs and animals on them, and theoretically, you would react upon seeing these mobs. I would put them in stacks on whether you see them as a 'friendly' or a 'hostile'. It's only for the universal mobs, though, so no crazy creatures found in our world. Are you ready? Let's begin."
He pulled out the first card- an orange cat. Immediately, Seven started hissing aggressively. Morgan grinned to himself before placing it into one side. He expected that, and still, the reaction he got was worth it.
Next, Morgan pulled out a card with a zombie on it. Seven stopped hissing, only looking at it. He put that down on the space between the other card.
Morgan repeated the process for every card he pulled out, separating them into two stacks. He reached the last two cards, the last two that was making him hesitant.
He pulled one out, and Seven started hissing. He placed it down on the 'hostile' stack.
He then showed the last card, causing Seven to stop. He placed it in the 'friendly' stack.
Morgan pulled out a small container from his pocket. Seven started jumping when they saw the treats- knowing that they have done the test properly and was being rewarded. The scientist turned over the container beside him, the apple cubes falling out.
As Seven started munching on his treats beside him, Morgan looked through the cards.
The 'friendly' stack was pretty normal, but he couldn't say the same for the other stack.
Normally, a creeper wouldn't be hostile to other mobs unless provoked. Seven... was another story.
Almost all the mobs (and cat) were seen as hostile to Seven, except for the Ender Dragon and the mobs found in the nether. Though it was likely because Seven had never seen these mobs before.
But the last two cards made him... feel things.
One card was in the shape of a human, the other was a picture of himself. The latter ended up on the 'friendly' side.
Seven considered humans as 'hostile', but not Morgan.
Morgan's chest fluttered.
Busy with his thoughts, Seven squeezed himself through the space between his arm and body. Succeeding in laying their head on his lap, the creeper closed their eyes, their body moving in and out as if mimicking breathing. Morgan stroked their skin with his fingers. He had grown to find the rough texture comforting since he was allowed to touch them. The touch seemed to have calmed them down as well, seeing as Seven curled in on themselves more.
It... made him think of what would happen in the future. They can't keep testing forever- eventually, they would run out of things to test (there is NO way he was gonna go through normal protocol testing if it comes to that, fuck that shit). They have been together for nearly six months now- nearly half a year that Morgan ended up developing a bond with this mob. What if the director wants to pull him out? What if they want to kill of Seven, if they find that there is no need for him to test them? He doesn't want to do that.
Morgan doesn't want to let Seven go, not yet. He could try getting Seven out, but the security is pretty high-tech. He's even lucky there are no surveillance cameras in this room. What can he do to protect Seven?
The scientist suddenly froze, realizing how he worded his thoughts. Did he... find Seven worth protecting? A mob that he happened to just be... in charge of? The thought scared him because he had never felt such emotions before. Not even with other creatures who were already non-hostile from the very beginning.
Morgan lifted Seven from the ground easily, cradling them on his arms as if they were a baby. Seven remained asleep.
The scientist have already broken the most important rule- the only rule he actually followed for the past thirty years.
Never, ever, form an emotional bond with your subject.
o0o
"Subject #77 aka "Seven" because fuck the system, Status report No. 5, December 24 19XX. It was... God, I don't even want to talk. Today has been so, so tiring. Most, if not all have gone back home to celebrate Christmas tomorrow. Seeing as I have no family, I was required to stay longer. And because everyone thought I wasn't doing shit with Seven, they dumped all the paperwork on me to do. I've been doing it since this morning... barely halfway done and in a few hours, it would be Christmas. I didn't have time to do any tests with Seven, almost missed feeding time way more than I can count today. However, I made excellent progress with Seven, I'm really proud of them. They're smarter than they looked, and almost every test I gave them, they passed. Oh yea, I also... hng, I also brought some blankets and toys for Seven to use. He loves the blankets and loves the toys. They like the squeak toy... Shit, lost my train of thought. Y'know what? Fuck this. End report."
The stack of papers that sat on his desk taunted him, reminded him of every reason why no one in the lab likes him. He thought he was cool with Heather, but even she decided to dump the paperwork on him as if it was nothing. It was about an hour until midnight and Morgan was so, so tired and so sick of this. Writing for hours have resorted him to a sore hand, and no matter how stubborn he was, his hand shook and twitched until he was practically unable to write anymore. He was also doing it in the dark with only a shitty torch to help him see since someone in the lab thought it was a good idea to shut off the fucking lights.
Morgan just wanted to stop. His chest was tight, and with a gasp, he finally let out the tears of stress and overwork took over his body. He had to take his glasses when the tears became too much. Morgan sobbed uncontrollably, though it was unheard by anyone. He leaned forward, his hands supporting him as well as trying to stop the tears from flowing but it was just too much.
Why now? After thirty years of being loyal to his work, why did his colleagues think they have the right to suddenly turn his back on him? He was already anti-social, and while an ass, was respectful of the others' work unless it was necessary to talk shit about them. Was thirty years enough evidence for the universe to bite him in the ass? Or was it because he found spending time with Seven was worth more than being around his colleagues.
Fuck them. They're all fake ass dickheads who only think about themselves. Who cares if your subject happens to be a common mob? It's still work, and you have to put your 100% into it. Maybe it's not a giant dragon or a mutant turtle that can form lasers with its eyes. Their work is already hurting the lives of hundreds of creatures who are simply trying to survive- and for what? See what Formula A does to a three-headed dog? Fuck it! Fuck everything! Not like he was close to them, anyway.
They all don't care about the lives or what they're doing. 'It's for science!', they would say. Yea, it's also killing hundreds of creatures. They don't even feel a sense of guilt for killing those creatures. They think just because these creatures are hostile it means they don't feel.
Seven proved him wrong, in more ways than one. Not only did Morgan finally find out that mobs can have emotions- Seven had shown these emotions. Seven would jump around and be hyper if they were excited, Seven would squeak a toy and smile whenever they're happy, Seven would scrunch up their face and stuck their thin tongue out if they were disgusted, Seven would curl on their blanket if they were sad.
Seven showed more emotions than all the other people he had known all his life. But most of all... Seven actually likes being around Morgan.
They would always try to get a head rub from the scientists, and often times Seven would try to start a game of tag ever since Morgan introduced it to him. There were even rare times when Morgan and Seven actually snuggled together in the small blanket nest and took a nap (which is why he added a pillow the next day- which was just as well-received as the blanket).
Seven was the only being in his entire life that he actually cared for deeply. Morgan sobbed harder.
There was a soft thud that came from the cell, he thought it was coming from his imagination. But it happened again and again.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Through teary eyes, Morgan saw a small figure thumping their head against the glass. He sniffled, wiping his eyes away as he collected his glasses. Wearing them back on his face, he saw Seven looking at him with a worried look. The only light source they have in the room was Morgan's torch and a lantern he put by Seven's blanket bed for the days when he went back home and the lights were shut off. It was placed beside them this time, meaning Seven had brought the lantern with them. Smart kid.
The light from the lantern surrounded the creeper into an orange glow, giving Morgan a sense of comfort just by simply looking at them.
He slowly stood up, wincing as his legs felt like jelly from long hours of sitting. He entered the cell, and sat down by the glass window, a block away from Seven. A moment passed before Seven walked up to their scientist and wordlessly, Morgan brought the mob to his lap and hugged them close.
Seven pressed their face against his chest, and with their small size, it allowed Morgan to rest their chin on top of their head. He didn't cry, no longer had to, but he still felt sad.
He tightened his grip on Seven and widened his eyes when he could feel Seven vibrating against him. Were they... purring? He couldn't tell, but there was a slight sound coming from the vibrations, almost similar to a cat but not really. Still, it felt comforting to feel the vibrations, and soon, Morgan was already resting his head against the glass, almost dozing off.
Seven squirmed in his grip.
Morgan let go of the mob and watched through the dark as Seven quickly grabbed as many blankets as they could, using their mouth while doing so. He chuckled when Seven tripped over their feet when they tried to run back to Morgan. Still, they were determined to do what they wanted to do and dragged the blankets over to where Morgan was sitting.
Practically spitting the blanket to Morgan's lap, they went back to the corner and collected the pillow. Then grabbed their favorite toy before running back. Morgan had taken off his lab coat at that point, using it as a sleeping mat for the floor. He put the pillow behind him and lifted the covered to allow Seven to roll into his size.
Under the blanket, Morgan wrapped an arm around Seven, holding the creeper child close in a comforting hold. Seven pushed themself closer to Morgan.
"... Oh yea, Merry Christmas, bud." Morgan softly said. The mob hissed in reply, just as soft as Morgan. He's not sure if it was actually Christmas but he doesn't care.
Having Seven with him is the best Christmas present he could ever ask for.
o0o
"Subject "Seven" because fuck the system as always, status report no. 6, January 21 19XX. A lot of things have happened, and today would be the first anniversary since I was in charge of Seven. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I would never ask for anything more than to spend more time with them. Anyway, since the last report Seven's IQ had increased and had begun to try to communicate with me... verbally. Due to the nature of their body, they can't physically form any words. However, they have control over hissing, so I had taught them morse code. In a month, Seven is able to communicate with me through simple phrases or words via morse code. Even better, throughout our training, Seven also developed a simple understanding of the English language, meaning that they can understand everything that I can say. It's... god, I'm really proud of how far Seven has come. Oh! I forgot to mention- Seven grew two inches last week! Yea, kind of weird but- oh dear, looks like Seven got tangled in the blankets again. Hehe... Until next time."
Morgan wore his coat that was laid over his chair. He walked into the cell, and laughed as he saw Seven trying to wiggle themself out of the blue blanket. They squirmed and rolled, only to fail and make the situation more worse for them, and more amusing for the scientist to watch. When Seven noticed Morgan standing there with a fond look on his face, Seven began squirming more and started hissing.
S.O.S
They were asking Morgan for help. "I dunno, kid, you look pretty comfy as you are right now." Morgan snickered, and laughed harder when Seven gave him an annoyed look and started hissing for him to help. Eventually, the scientist finally helped Seven untangle from the blankets.
The creeper walked over to one corner and stuck their chin up. Morgan really struggled to contain his laughter.
"Oh, come on! You can't be mad at me forever." Morgan teased the mob. Seven only replied with an annoyed hiss.
Smirking to himself, Morgan pulled out a container of apple and watermelon cubes. He shook the contents, the cubes hitting against the material that made it easy for Seven to hear. He could see Seven trying to stop themself from jumping from excitement, but it didn't take long until Seven had left his corner and began to reach for the container with their head. Morgan finally laughed as he easily lifted the container above his head- even though he didn't have to. Even with Seven standing on his tucked knees, they still didn't reach Morgan's forehead in height.
"Behave, Seven."
Seven stepped down from Morgan's lap and stared at him with wide, black eyes. Morgan chuckled and finally opened the container to pour the cubes to the floor. Seven hissed in happiness before snatching up their treats.
Morgan smiled, watching the small creeper be happy over a bunch of cube-shaped fruits. It was still baffling to think that just one year ago, Morgan considered Seven as if they were just another subject. Now, they were friends, maybe even more so than that.
With Seven busy, he pulled out another box from his pocket. The box was rectangle and small in size, thin too. It was in a dark shade of green with a white ribbon holding it together. He waited for Seven to finish eating until he called to them.
"Hey, I got a present for you."
Seven recognized the word 'present' and jumped over to Morgan in excitement. Chuckling, Morgan gave the creeper a head rub before showing them the box.
"It's been a year since we first met. I was gonna say happy birthday but I don't actually know when were you spawned... still, I think today is worth celebrating, so I got a gift."
He pulled on the ribbon and pulled off the top lid. Inside was a small tan-colored tag with a red strap. On the tag had the words 'Seven' in neat writing.
Seven jumped up and down, hissing and purring when Morgan took the tag off the box to show them properly. "Yep! You're very own tag. You like it?"
The creeper nodded furiously, and stuck one of its legs out, almost telling Morgan to put it on him.
"Considering that your leg is technically your feet and hands... it seemed like you have a friendship bracelet. Maybe I should have my own friendship bracelet." As Morgan adjusted the strap to fit their leg, Seven obediently stood still, though Morgan could feel very faint vibrations of excitement coursing through their body. It made Morgan laugh once more, finishing the strap by locking the clasp together. After that, Seven started running around in top-speed, Morgan was worried they might accidentally run to a wall.
Morgan remembered something and briefly went out of the obsidian room and to his office. He picked up a camera he left on the desk and went back inside.
"Seven! C'mere!"
Seven stopped running, nearly slamming themself into a wall while doing so. They hopped over Morgan as he sat down cross-legged.
"I wanna take a picture to remember today," Morgan explained, patting on his lap to encourage Seven. The creeper followed and settled easily onto Morgan's lap, looking up at the strange device in curiosity.
"This is a camera, I taught you that word. Anyway, smile!" He brought the camera into a higher angle and smiled widely. He snapped a photo and went to check on the picture. It was a pretty decent photo, and he was happy to see that with the angle, he could see Seven's huge grin as well as the bracelet. He is so gonna print the photo out and keep it in his wallet forever.
He had been working here for thirty-one years now, and for the first time in forever, he was happy.
o0o
"Subject "Seven" Status Report no. 7, July 4 19XX. Progress has been steady with Seven, nothing much has changed actually except that I got them a new toy. Anyway... Some weird-ass shit is happening for some reason. Since February, there were fewer workers and even more creatures. Director made no announcement or whatever, but I think something weird is going on. I can't really explain it, but I have a hunch that something terrible is going to happen... Shit, I might have to actually find a way to get Seven out of here but I don't know how without risking security. I'll just have to keep a lookout for- hold on... huh, just got a message from the director. Looks like I'm gonna be in a meeting for the first time in a while- seems like they missed my graceful presence, heh. Anyway, this is probably like a first draft to the status report so I'm gonna leave it at that. Talk to you soon, end report."
The walls shook from the impact of the missiles above, dust and dirt coming down from the ceiling. The sudden vibration caused Morgan to nearly trip on himself but managed to catch his fall before continuing his sprint down the hall.
Shit shit shit- this can't be happening!
Morgan was aware that there were people who were against with what they were doing in the labs- but bringing the military into this was too far! Morgan's heart sunk when he realized that since Seven was in the lowest floor, it's unlikely they'll be able to escape without dying.
He pushed that thought aside, only focused on getting to Seven quickly.
Morgan slammed the door open and gasped out a sigh of relief as he saw Seven hopping around nervously. The room shook, making Morgan wince as he entered through the door and kneeled by Seven's side.
Immediately, Seven jumped into their scientist's arms, hissing. It was as if they were crying out in fear, making Morgan frown as he held them closer to his chest. He cooed softly, rubbing their head even though the random shock of the earth moving scared him. Of course, the missiles coming won't actually damage much of anything underground- he's more scared of the military soldiers that would enter from floor to floor, clearing them from every creature or scientist.
They're gonna die here. They're gonna die and there's nothing Morgan can do except apologize to both Seven and the universe.
"It's gonna be okay, Seven. I'm here with you, okay? You don't have to be scared, I'm here." Morgan softly said, rocking the creeper back and forth. "Bad people are gonna come but I won't let them hurt you."
Seven hissed, spelling out words using the morse code he taught all those months ago.
US. DIE.
"No, I won't let you get killed. I won't allow it." It was wishful thinking at this rate, but Morgan didn't care. Screw the percentages of survival or the science of how the human brain works- he doesn't want Seven's last thoughts to be something negative, even if he had to lie.
U. NO. DIE.
"... I won't die, either." It was a lie, and they both know it.
Morgan cried and hugged them tighter.
TGETER. NO. WNT. LOSE. U.
"I know, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying by your side, alright? I promise."
The whole room shook, and Morgan clenched his eyes shut. He knew the inevitable was coming, but he prayed that somehow, they could survive this. He doesn't care how, as long as his bond for Seven existed through the planes of reality, he will take it.
He doesn't want to forget the bond he had with Seven.
He doesn't want to lose the bond he had with Steven,
Somewhere deep inside his core, Morgan felt... something. He didn't know what it was, only knew that it tingled as he pressed himself closer to Seven.
Morgan didn't care anymore. All he cared about was protecting Seven.
Doc slipped through the space between the wall and the malfunctioned sliding door, entering the small grey room separated from the office by a glass window.
Some of the grey walls was torn, revealing the obsidian behind it. There were blankets of various colors in one corner, with one stray pillow at the side. There was also a bunch of toys scattered across the room.
He kneeled down to pick up a toy. It was in the shape of a cactus, and when he pressed on it, it squeaked. It was faint, but it still squeaked.
“Do you remember this place?”
Doc shook his head, gently placing the toy on the blankets. In fact, he decided to clean up the place a little, make it seem less devastating. Ren stayed by the door, just watching Doc pick up all the toys and placing them neatly on the blankets.
“Whatever happened in this world... it is not my concern.” Doc explained. He pulled out a tag and an ID card from the pockets of his lab coat, placing them by the toys. He made sure they were placed together.
“Even though you were born here?”
Doc hummed, eyeing the two mementos that became the reason for his existence.
“I spawned because the love of the scientist felt for the creeper was strong. He wanted to protect them. The universe... I guess they felt pity for the guy. I’m now their living legacy- the evidence that their father-son bond had existed- and would never go away any time soon.”
Doc could feel Ren going to his side, reaching over to place a hand on his upper arm. The touch made Doc look at Ren. He chuckled when he saw the worried look.
“Don’t worry, just because I existed from the bond of two beings doesn’t mean I’m not my own person. I’m still me, the doctor is still the weird scientist that kept on referring to himself as a doctor, and Seven is still Seven. Nothing will ever change that, not even the universe can change that.”
Ren laughed. “You and Xisuma are so weird.”
“Hey, don’t forget the kid, too.”
They smiled, and Doc shifted his attention back onto the belongings. There was one more thing he has to do...
He pulled out a picture of the doctor and the creeper, smiling together. There’s no reason for him to keep the picture anymore, he already found what he was looking for. A family, where he doesn’t have to be alone. Like how the doctor no longer feels alone with Seven.
He tucked the picture between the two mementos and stood up, dusting off the dirt that had gotten on his lab coat.
“Come on, let’s go home.”