"This is an unknown carbon compound of uranium, possessing an aperiodic structure. Furthermore, we have recorded..."
One of the lab assistants was delivering his report with an utterly solemn expression, holding a hefty stack of papers. His voice was so detached and dry, it felt as though he intended to read the entire folder aloud. The others stood in a faint state of numbness. At least the technicians did ā a circular saw blade had missed one of their heads by a miracle, and now protruded ominously from the wall. Hanging upon it, swinging with an unbearable, invisible weight, was their last hope of extracting the crystals. Such a circular saw could cut through diamonds, yet these spikes defied everything ā every method of extraction, cutting, or destruction. It was physically impossible for small, quasi-organic compounds to possess such an indestructible structure.
The more data that surfaced, the deeper the despair that washed over the careless researchers. They were a motley crew of technicians, biologists, and physicists ā a mixed bag of everyone. Whether it was a Godzilla-human hybrid with mysterious spikes or a leviathan, this was their job, and it was a job they wanted to be rid of as quickly as possible. No matter how insane the work was, it was still work. Since they were already here, they had become more than used to it, frozen forever in this endless routine.
The nerd snapped and exploded, snatching away the crystallographic research results. His eyes rapidly scanned the diagrams and charts. Of course, they had run X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the crystals' composition. He shook his head, walking away from them while carelessly flipping through the pages. Naive, however, to assume that carbon wouldn't drown everything else out. It was a wonder how they had even managed to pull it off technically. His gaze flicked briefly toward the dissection table and the equipment nearby. Then again, it didn't really matter ā Goji had to be saved as quickly as possible. Yet, right there, they had also utilized micro-XRF; that was spectacular. Beautiful, but entirely useless.
"You have absolutely nothing that proves the structure and physical properties of these crystals. This is all completely useless."
He tore the entire massive stack of papers in half ā the ones he hadn't already crumpled into balls that now went flying in all directions. It utterly bewildered his "colleagues," jolting them awake and freezing them in place, forced to witness this "circus."
The bolder, louder, and more senseless it was, the better, opening up more opportunities for his subtle sleight of hand. He couldn't care less about their research; he knew better than anyone that Goji possessed the most extraordinary crystals in the universe.
"So you shoved the very tip of the tail into the analysis chamber and suddenly youāre the leading experts on these crystals? Give me a break. Youāve been staring at them for days and still haven't managed to pull one out."
There was no slowing down this shitshow. Just a little further. His hands seemed to move erratically, searching for anything useful: temperature readings, radiation levels, heartbeat, statistics, and controls for the robotic armsābroken ones. Finally: the restraints. There were so many of them, and each one was individually controlled. What a brilliant piece of stupidityāto build such massive shackles and leave them completely unprotected against hacking or accidental release.
"We are considering severing the tail to perform an autopsy..." one of them began hesitantly, taking a few small steps forward.
The nerd spun around, now standing flush against Goji. He cast a dismissive glare at the pale lab assistant, whose name he didnāt give a damn about, let alone his tedious speech. The man shook his head, waving off their long, fascinating plans, and turned back to the console.
"You have a one-of-a-kind specimen, and youāre planning to butcher it like a washed-up whale carcass?"
Bingo. A siren shattered the mounting tension, right on cue. Finally, his trick had workedājust in time to disengage the locks, one by one.
