Chapter Text
Their hands shook as they stared down at the encrypted door lock, the second last barrier between them and a job at L Corp. The last being the one behind the door.
When they finally had the courage to input the code they’d figured out the moment they saw the lock, the man behind the desk didn’t react at all. They did as they’d been told earlier, closing the door and moving to stand in front of the desk. The man continued to work.
He looked awful. They wouldn’t be surprised if he had never slept a day in his life, and judging by the dozen different stimulants scattered across and underneath papers, he would keep it that way. His brown-ish black-ish hair was pulled into a messy ponytail curled over his shoulder, clearly done hours ago and coming undone. The writing on his arm could’ve been mathematics or some sort of lost language. Perhaps he didn’t even know.
“You’re late.”
They startled, stifling a scream at the sudden noise, “I’m sorry, sir!”
They didn’t bother telling him they were thirty minutes early.
“Don’t call me sir,” he said, not looking up from his desk, “Director or Enigma will suffice.”
“Yes, director.”
Enigma opened a drawer in his desk, simultaneously shuffling through a folder within and signing off on a paper in front of him.
“Head to the Biology department, Researcher Medicine Pocket will brief you on your first assignment. Please inform them the insect specimens have arrived.”
“That’s it??” They couldn’t stop themself from asking.
“Right, I almost forgot,” The director grabbed another sheet of paper, “Welcome to the Laplace Scientific Computation Centre.”
***
<You already told me about the fallen L Corp, but you haven’t said anything about the current L Corp. Is there a reason for that?>
Faust nodded, “Faust did not tell you because it was not necessary. The current L Corp is uninterested in golden boughs, therefore, it is unlikely for conflict to arise. However, if you would like, I can explain more about them.”
What followed was a bland summary, as was typical of Faust.
In the immediate aftermath of the fallen L Corp’s main location, well, falling, someone else swooped in and subsumed everything they could. For all intents and purposes, they simply appeared overnight, and who exactly they are and where they came from remains a mystery.
“You will never see L Corp’s researchers or interns outside of District 12. What you will see are their field agents and fodder, who are always scattered around the city procuring material.”
Where other wings have one focus, the current L Corp refuses to stick to one thing. Their products include cybernetic enhancements designed for every profession under the sun, stimulants and depressants that skirt the edge of death, even a frozen food line! They even produce enkephalin, though not in as massive quantities as Lobotomy Corporation did. Knowledge is what they’re after, the rest is just a byproduct.
With everything they put out, it stands to reason that they have a similarly expansive appetite.
***
“Golden bough? I see no reason to waste manpower on a red herring, not until the current research bears fruit. Even then, I certainly won’t allow you to lead a band of lunatics in hunting for them. You’re too important to be wasted on such a venture.”
Ulrich bristled within his tank, “Not so important as to handle actual research.”
“Please, you’ve seen the failure rates,” Enigma scoffed, “If I could, I wouldn’t let anyone work with these ‘abnormalities’.”
“While the risk is high, Laplace has handled similar research before, without nearly as much potential reward. It’s illogical to restrict research on such a premise.”
Enigma grabbed another paper, “What’s illogical is comparing our previous research to anything that’s going on here. There is no precedent, there is no data, and no matter how many times you ask me, my answer will be no.”
“You don’t know that.” Ulrich said, voice carefully even.
“Please assist Researcher X with the neural network expansion.”
Enigma set his blue pen down, exchanging it for red to make changes to a research proposal he intended to approve.
Ulrich was silent for a moment.
“Loss is inevitable, Adler.”
No response.