Disaster.
That seemed to be the term that was being thrown around after the Catalysts raid. In less than an hour, the Catalyst and S.P.E.A.R entered the Rings of Hell, escaping with Dr. Ivy and injuring Dr. Chapman. When the Boss learned that the Catalyst was momentarily their prisoner and not been informed, he lost it. Hinata couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she heard gunshots and screams echoing from the Boss’s quarters.
For the kitsune though, that was a problem she would deal with later. After hearing about the incident in Ivy's lab she felt the need to check on Dr. Eastly and Chapman, afterall she did care about the pair. Entering the medical lab, Hinata noticed the diminutive scientist sitting by an unconscious Dr. Chapman. Hinata couldn't be sure but it looked as if Eastly had been crying. "Dr. Eastly?"
Eastly raised her head, quickly wiping her eyes as she gazed at the kitsune assassin. "Hinata," she replied weakly. "What are you doing here?" Hinata said nothing, slowly approaching Chapman's bedside as she stared down at him. The injuries to Dr. Chapman were severe yet he would survive. Still, the man was now covered in bandages as he lay unconscious. "How is Dr. Chapman," she asked softly. Eastly sighed, the Lolita scientists shoulders slumping. "He still hasn't regained consciousness," she said. "He received first and second degree burns to his torso, arm, and face. They're keeping him sedated for now."
"I'm sorry," Hinata replied sadly. "If I had been there, maybe Dr. Chapman would be okay. Maybe....maybe Dr. Ivy would still be here." Eastly said nothing, offering Hinata a small smile before glancing down at her colleague. An awkwardness now lingered between the pair, Hinata unsure what else to say. As she turned to leave, she heard Eastly’s small voice now speak.
"You know Neil and I went to medical school together," she said. Hinata paused, a curious look etching itself on her face. She had no idea Dr. Eastly knew Chapman that long. "We were both brilliant, young, competing to be the best. You would have thought we would have been rivals but, that wasn't the case. We became close....very close." Hinata now gawked, we're Dr. Eastly and Dr. Chapman an item?
"Nothing ever happened though," Eastly said quickly. "We were friends, best friends in fact. Everyone thought we were an item but that wasn't the case. We wanted to change the world, be on the cutting edge of genetics. Our true love was science, everything else was a distant second."
"I had no idea."
Eastly simply smiled, Hinata surprised by the girls eyes. Despite being reduced to a child, her eyes seemed to show a wisdom and maturity that belied her age. Hinata could see a world weariness in her usually innocent eyes. "When the Normal approached us about working for them, we jumped at the opportunity. They had funding, top of the line equipment, and would leave us to our own devices. We would finally be able to pursue our own work, our own desires. That's when it happened."
"Your condition," Hinata asked, to which Eastly nodded. "It didn't happen all at once," she said. "I was careless with an experiment. Ineffected myself and quarantined the room. Neil, well he tried to get me out but I wouldn't let him. I couldn't let him. He said he would find a cure, he stayed with me the entire time. Watching as each day I grew younger. That was the worst part, slowly but surely regressing into.....this. Neil, though, never left. Eventually I stabilized my condition, leaving me a 10 year old girl with lilac hair."
"I'm sorry Dr. Eastly."
"Katherine," she smiled. "You can call me Katherine." Katherine Eastly now paused, gazing at the kitsune with a look of warmth. "After the accident, no one wanted to be around me. What if I was contagious? What if it affected my mental status. I was ostracized by my former colleagues. All of them except Neil. He never gave up on me, always stuck by my side, it helped give me a sense of normalcy. Like nothing had changed. I think it was around that time that I began to think of Neil as more than a friend."
"You love him."
Eastly shrugged, a sad sigh escaping her lips. "It wouldn't work," she said. "Not like this. It's funny but time was never on our side. We care for eachother as closely as two people can but a relationship? It will never happen. Our work just never gave us the time." Hinata nodded, a feeling of sadness washing over her. Katherine Eastly’s regression had made her virtually immortal yet that immortality left her cut off from the one person she cared for. For Hinata, the fact someone who had shown her kindness was in so much pain was unacceptable. "Dr. Eastly," she said firmly. "I promise you, I will avenge Dr. Chapman. Starting with the fae and the kitsune. The Catalyst will understand that no one hurts my friends."
Eastly was speechless, shocked that the kitsune considered her a friend. True she had given the kitsune a gift at Christmas but that was out of gratitude for protecting Dr. Chapman. Offering a nod, Eastly watched as the kitsune marched out of the medical bay towards the Boss’s office.
As Hinata entered the Boss’s office, she could already see that he had taken out his anger on some of his subordinates. Headmaster Dawnson and Mrs. Walters were present, or at least what was left of them. In his rage, the Boss had exploded their bodies, viscera and gore staining the walls and floor of his office. The only distinguishing features left of the two were their heads on the Boss’s desk.
Thos two were not the only victims as Hinata noticed the charred corpses of several security guards littering the office floor. "Ivy, Villar, the Soul Drive, and the mother fucking Catalyst are gone," he bellowed. "And all we got to show for it is Ivy's research? Let someone else say something fucking stupid! I dare you, I double dare you mother fucker!!" The Boss now paused in his tirade, noticing Hinata enter the room. "Finally someone who actually knows what the fuck they're doing!"
"I'm sorry sir," Hinata stated. "I was visiting Dr. Chapman and Dr. Eastly." The Boss nodded, Hinata noticing his shoulders slumping beneath his robes. Despite the Boss wearing his hood, the kitsune could tell he was tired. "It's fine, " he grunted. "Was just reviewing the clusterfuck that was the security breach. Remy will be taking over Ivy's duties."
"Excuse me sir," Dr. Umba'aku stated. "May I speak?"
The Boss pun around, his eyes burning red under his hood as he prepared a blast of raw magic. "This better be good," he growled. Despite the threat of death, the vitiago wizard stood tall as her dark eyes unblinking in this standoff. "Sir," she continued. "When I examined the Soul Drives actual soul, I found something intriguing."
"Go on," the Boss said.
"That Soul Drive has traversed the supernatural realms," she said. "Particularly the kitsune and fae realms. With the information I was able to acquire, I believe it's possible to open a gate to those worlds." Hearing this, the Boss’s entire demeanor seemed to change. "Are you telling me we can attack the kitsune and the fae where they live?"
"With time sir I have no doubt."
The Boss now began to laugh maniacally, breaking the tension within the room. "Umba'aku you're a genius," he laughed. "Get to work on that. We're going to show the fae and the kitsune that their little buddy the Catalyst fucked with the wrong guy."