Accidental Demon Slayers: Experiments in Darkness pt. 5

Yamada Labs was exactly as I expected.  I had passed the building several times, but until today I had never been inside.  The lobby was very sterile, and very white.  The surfaces were all smooth and polished, and even the couch Ashtyn and I had been led to was a hard, plastic like surface.  When I sat down I had to catch myself from sliding off it.

“Non-porous surfaces ensure that contamination is limited and contained.” The young woman who had guided us in from the security gate smiled as she spoke.  Her smile was as plastic as the furniture, and about as comforting.  “Dr. Duguard will be with you shortly.”

Quickly the young woman walked away from us, vanishing into one of the sliding glass doors that seemed to line the entire lobby.

Ashtyn was taking everything in, her eyes wide.  “This place looks like something out of a movie.  I mean it’s all so... cliche.”

I nodded my head.  “We better work on this one fast.  All this... sterility might drive me crazy.  This whole place just seems to lack life.”

The more I looked around, the more I realized I was right.  There were no plants anywhere.  There were hardly any people, even.  The few I did see just rushed from one sliding glass door to the next.  If two people crossed paths they never stopped to talk.  They acted like complete robots.  

The glass doors directly across from us slid open, and a woman stepped out.  To her right was Elizabeth Malone, looking as shy as ever, and to her left I was shocked to see Kurt.  As the woman got closer I could see that her name tag read “Dr. Nomi Duguard”.

“That’s her?”  Ashytn leaned in close, and did her best to whisper in my ear.  In a room with all hard surfaces everything seemed to echo, though.

I couldn’t believe it either.  Dr. Duguard looked more like a pin up then a scientist.  While she had on the requisite white coat, her clothing underneath was tight, fighting her curves perfectly.  Her top was low cut, exposing her ample cleavage, and her skirt was short enough to show off a great deal of her long legs.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Nomi Duguard.”  She stopped in front of us, and held out her hand.  “I’m so glad you could come and see us today.”

I stood, taking her hand in mine and giving it a firm shake.  “It’s my pleasure.  It’s not every day we have someone from the world of science take an interest in our field.”
“Yes, well... these aren’t every day situations.”  Dr. Duguard glanced back towards Elizabeth.  “I assume that the girl who brought you in showed you your contracts?”

“She did.”  I had read it over quickly, but everything in there was exactly what I had expected.  Which really meant that it was loaded with so much small print I could barely read the majority of it.

“No issues, I hope.”  She had the same forced smile that seemed to be part of the company uniform.

“None at all.”  I handed her my signed contract.  Ashtyn did the same.

“Wonderful, then follow me.”  Without another word Dr. Duguard turned, heading towards a set of doors on the other side of the room.

I trailed behind, and Kurt fell in next to me.

“What are you doing here?  I thought they would never okay you working with us.” I leaned in close, hoping that the others couldn’t hear us.

“Apparently, because of our relationship I’m the perfect company representative for your team.”  Kurt just shrugged.

“What does that mean exactly?”  I didn’t like those words.  ‘Company representative’ just sounded off to me.

“It means I report back to them.”  Kurt gave me a sly smile.  “I’m a double agent, sweetie.  Sorry.”

I glanced around the lobby.  No one was watching us.  I gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and mouthed the words “I love you” to him.

He mouthed them back.  

As we walked through the sliding glass doors I could feel my stomach begin to knot.  Part of me felt like a plaque reading “abandon all hope, ye who enter here” should have been hung above the door.  Instinctively I reached out, taking Kurt’s hand in my own.

For a brief moment I saw Elizabeth look back at us.  When she saw our clasped hands I could swear I saw her scowl.

That girl was hiding something.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what it was.