Chapter Text
Current Date: March 12, 2010
The world slowly crawled toward rebirth as the winter months fell behind and spring lazily moved in. A cool, gentle breeze rolled softly across the still snow-covered ground, and in the distance, if one listened, they could hear over the traffic the sounds of pedestrians enjoying the warmer days. Not everyone had the time to be out and enjoying the weather, unfortunately. Even as the day grew short, some were stuck indoors working their boring jobs. Some others, however, had meetings to attend.
Dr. Steele opened her work laptop to find something to do while she waited for the meeting to begin only to be greeted by an old photograph that she used as her desktop background. Her two... colleagues, she would have to call them, stood at either side of her, laughing and smiling. So much had changed in the three years that had passed since that photograph. Looking at it brought pain, but she couldn't bear to change it either. Instead, she distracted herself with a game of solitaire despite not caring much for it.
She sat patiently in that conference room for a while. Her schedule found itself clear a little earlier than was originally intended, but there was still one item on it she couldn't do anything for but wait. The setting sun cast beams of vibrantly hued light through the large panes of glass at her side. The days were getting longer, but of course, seeing as it was only just March, the sun was not nearly so patient as to linger for the sake of anyone living below it. Even so, Dr. Steele would let it set completely before she thought about getting up to turn the lights on herself; that was the kind of patience she held. Not quite that long had passed, however, when a knock struck against the office door and in came an expected visitor.
"Dr. Steele?" the visitor called as she entered the room, flipping on the lights quite unceremoniously. Her shirt, reminiscent of a bowling alley or perhaps an arcade, stood out far above her simple jeans or the plain white lab coat she wore. Even her sneakers, worn out from years of what one might call love, failed to make an impression over it. "Are you still here?"
"Ah, Dr. Collins! You almost kept me waiting," Steele joked, barely looking up from her game. "I believe you had a concern you wanted to discuss? An unexpected development regarding Project Lambda—young Atticus, yes?"
"Right, yeah," Steven answered mindlessly as she pulled out a chair, only stopping to think about what Steele had asked once she was seated. "Actually, no, not quite. He's doing fine, this isn't about Atticus."
Intrigued, Steele propped her elbows against the table and leaned in. "Oh? Then why are we here, Dr. Collins?"
With a sigh, Steven presented two plain-looking folders containing printed documentation about two separate projects. The thicker of these two folders belonged to Lambda, the project that Steven had personally worked on—the project that, despite not achieving its target, produced Atticus. The second folder contained little more than a single piece of paper. Dr. Steele raised a brow, but without pausing, Steven opened Lambda's folder to Dr. Steele's report she had filed about the project's progress. Steven skimmed along to the section she had highlighted earlier when printing it off.
"Right here," Steven pushed the paper across the table to show what she was pointing out, "you mention another lettered project by name—Delta—and compare it to the results of Lambda."
Dr. Steele pushed herself back up before speaking in a more formal tone. "I suppose that is what that says," she confirmed shortly.
Steven, stubbornly refusing to read the room, opened the other folder and pulled out the one scrap of paper it held inside. "I couldn't get much information on it, but—"
"Dr. Collins," Steele interrupted. Her tone had not changed, but something in her voice made the room grow cold. A volatile mixture of emotions hid behind the smile she always wore, yet her composure was without rival as she climbed onto the table. "You'll find that the files for Project Delta are above your clearance. I believe that speaks for itself, no?"
Steven clenched her jaw and stared back down at the project files she brought with her. Lambda, Delta... they were similar. Similar enough, at least, for Dr. Steele to find it worth reporting on. Her greatest failure, hopefully ever but at the very least so far, and this mysterious Project Delta... "But the information I did have access to... it says Project Delta was a catastrophic failure and wrapped up barely a year before Lambda was approved. Can you blame me for being curious?"
Despite wincing at the words "catastrophic failure," the Mawile couldn't help but relent. "I suppose I can't begrudge you for that," she admitted, knowing the feeling all too well. "Curiosity is what drives us as scientists, after all. But, Dr. Collins, do you know what they say about curiosity?"
"What's that?" Steven asked sarcastically as she slumped a little lower in her chair, presuming she knew the answer.
Steele gazed wistfully out through the window for a moment. Her face remained as placid as ever, but the jaws on the back of her head held a frown as bitter as the memories coursing through her steel trap of a mind. "It can lead us to make mistakes we might never recover from. Though, it's only fair to say that's mostly the fault of hubris in tandem with curiosity. What a dastardly duo those two make, wouldn't you agree?"
Steven sighed gently as she fussed with a pen she had in her pocket. She shook her head as she began to speak, "Well, that's... an insightful way to talk about my work on Lambda, at least."
Steele gave a slight chuckle as she turned to face Steven again. "Oh, no, no. I'm speaking from experience," she explained, aware again that perhaps there were others who carried some similar weight. "Project Delta was a bit like my own personal Lambda, in a way. I didn't mean to bury it, but... well, there's only so much reason to let everyone know about the gravest mistakes you've made. It may be a consolation prize, but I think you should feel lucky that your failure with Lambda only cost you your dignity."
"Wait, you worked on Project Delta directly?" Steven bolted upright in her seat.
"Oh yes, though that shouldn't be a surprise to you. Considering how little information you have on it, it shouldn't have been easy to miss the section on the front page that lists everyone directly involved, hmm?"
"Er..."
"In any case," Steele continued with a wave of her hand, "the project file doesn't do it justice. There were four of us, and... a visitor, I suppose you could call her. It's a long story, Dr. Collins. I may tell it now, but I will not be telling it again, so if you'd like to listen to this Mawile ramble..."
Steven gave a slight nod and leaned in to listen. "Please, tell me everything."