#fictional organisation

(not bothering with a border this time. i’m tired. i’ll add one later.)

TS-0026, confined to a glass tank filled with water and whatever else the containment team’d had the mercy of providing, surrounded by researchers in white coats and black button ups.

It was a particularly chilling sight to Helix, for whatever reason. More so than the others. Hell, they were only.. what, 15? It felt wrong, in every sense of the word. But he was tied down to this job. He had no other option.

The ginger sighed, and proceeded forward into the surrounding chamber, Layna, his assistant snd secretary, following close. “Does this thing ever sleep?” Helix remarked, more to himself than anybody else, but he wouldn’t mind an answer either.

“Apparently” A nearby researcher responded, Helix’s keen eyes darting over to the speaker. “It just finds a spot, gets comfy, and falls asleep right on the spot, straight into deep stage sleep.”

“…Huh.” Helix murmured, eyes drifting back to the tank. Straight into deep stage? How… weird. “Do we know how it does that?”

“Not a clue” Another passing researcher replied. “It’s harder to run tests on.. well, a merman, considering half our staff don’t know how to swim, and it’s generally quite hard to run exams under water.”

Ah, of course. Helix didn’t know why he hadn’t considered this earlier. He barely knew how the containment team had secured the subject in the first place. It would’ve been a feat in of itself. Actually trying to run tests on it was going to be a whole marathon.

“Well, find a way” He snapped after a moment. “I need answers, and I need them now. If it has some way to just snap into sleep like that… I want to know why, and I want to know if we can utilise it.”

The thing with Helix, Layna had come to learn, was that when he said ‘we’, he never meant himself. Sure, he did the paperwork, but it was rare to see him himself in tests anymore unless he felt he was the only one capable, or it was a test subject he was particularly interested in.

Either way, she found he’d refuse involvement with younger test subjects. Which didn’t seem to stop him when she and her siblings were younger, but alas…

“With all due respect, Doctor, we should probably consult Administration first” Layna cut in. “We really shouldn’t be running any sort of tests until we have their absolute approval.”

As much as Helix wanted to snap at her, she had a point. It would be a stupid idea to just go in and do whatever without authorisation. He’d tried that before, he wasn’t making the same mistake.

“..Right” He sighed, then turned to the younger researcher once more. “Keep an eye on that thing. If it does any shit while I’m gone, do not engage.”

“But sir-“

“There’s no buts here, damn it! Do not engage it at any point until we have greenlit testing approval, is that clear?”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Where are we going?” Zuriel asked, its hand gripping onto Vanté’s.

Vanté smiled, squeezing its hand reassuringly as they walked together. “Somewhere safer you can stay, until we can find a way to get you out of here.” He said, as they reached a very, very fancy looking building located in the heart of the first circle, white and gold and extremely ornate. “Everyone inside this building is exactly like you, in some way or another.”

Vanté pushed the doors open with his free hand, the two instantly surrounded with noise and pleasantly sweet smells.

As Zuriel took it all in, it couldn’t help but ask. “..Where are we?” It looked up at Vanté expectantly, waiting for a response.

“The precinct of the Unholy Choir” He explained as they walked, the doors sliding shut behind them. “An independently funded organisation of fallen angels, just like you.”

The precinct was buzzing with activity and chatter, all different types of ex-angels communicating and working in sync and harmony, the area decorated with white granite, gold, stained glass, intricate painting across the ceiling, everything you’d expect from such an area.

“I won’t always be here” Vanté admitted, ultimately drawing Zuriel’s gaze back to him. “However, that doesn’t mean I’ll just leave you here by yourself when I get too busy. You’ll have a caretaker, instead.”

“A caretaker?” Zuriel questioned, the phrase unfamiliar to it.

Vanté nodded. “That’s right. They’ll be here to make sure you’re not completely alone, make sure your needs are met. Even train you if needed.”

As if on cue, a fallen angel joined them, seemingly male. He was a little taller than Vanté, with radiant, fair skin, curly white hair that fell way past his shoulders, a slender but toned frame and golden eyes.

He was dressed in casual yet formal clothing, the UC’s sigil embroidered on the shoulders, a sword sheath secured around his hips, the hilt plated with gold and the handle wrapped with leather, both of which were worn from drills and fights.

“Ah, speaking of” Vanté smiled, patting the man’s back, who grinned slightly at the contact. “This is Sir Minus Maryweather. He’ll be your caretaker whilst I’m not present.”

“You must be our newest addition” Minus smiled, holding a hand out. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Zuriel blinked a couple times, hesitantly taking Minus’s hand. It didn’t really know what to even say, which made Minus chuckle.

“Shy one you have here” Minus remarked to Vanté, who just laughed.

“It’ll warm up to you” Vanté replied with a smile. “Now, as much as I hate to cut this short, I do have to go. I don’t really have the time to stand around and talk, considering…”

His voice drifted, but Minus, at least, seemed to understand what he meant. Zuriel, however, wasn’t as easily satisfied with this answer. Everything was moving so fast, too fast for it to keep up with.

“Wait- wait, where are you going?” It asked, grabbing Vanté’s arm before he could leave.

This made Vanté sigh. He really, really didn’t want to just… leave Zuriel here. But it was the only safe option. “I have to go back to the castle and attend to adult matters, okay?”

“But I-“

“Zuriel, please, just trust me. Minus is trained to keep you safe. You’ll be okay.”

“But I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be alone. If you desperately need me, you can get Minus to call me or send me a letter. Okay?”

Zuriel sniffled. It didn’t like the idea of not constantly having Vanté around, but.. “o-okay..” Zuriel mumbled.

Vanté smiled, clapping his shoulder, before he stood once more, ruffling Zuriel’s hair. “Good kid.”