Gabriel had entered Lucienās lab at 4:30 p.m., even though their appointment was at five. His father valued punctualityānot earlinessābut that day Gabriel was determined to secure at least some progress in his research, so he had decided to begin the preparations before the ghoul's arrival. Although the warlock was fully aware that his father was an excellent scientist whose methods had been validated by centuries of experience, Gabriel had his own idiosyncrasies to tend toāsmall details he wasn't sure his father paid attention to, but that would have driven him insane if neglected. First among them: absolute sterility of the equipment. If his father was obsessed with order and the overstimulation caused by surrounding colorsāGabriel had taken care to avoid aggravating Lucienās sensibilities, wearing a white lab coat and shirt over black trousers, shoes, and tieāthen he, Gabriel, was fixated on eliminating any trace of germs or contaminants from the surfaces he worked on. There could be no unknown variables when practicing sorcery at Gabrielās level; combining that art with science made absolute cleanliness even more crucial. Tiny blue flames wandered over the surfaces of every beaker, scalpel, and test tubeāwhich the warlock had arranged at regular intervals and organized by function and sizeāeliminating impurities under the guidance of the incantations he whispered with concentration and precision.
The moment the calendar reminder chimed on his phone, Gabriel heard the lab door openāLucienās ability to arrive on the dot was always impressiveāand immediately, the younger Gaudet snapped his fingers, dispelling what his father would likely refer to as 'magical nonsense'. āThank you for meeting with me, Doctor.ā he said, neutral and clinical, shifting his gaze toward his father as he retrieved an elegant black notebook from his bag, filled to the brim with notes neatly stacked in his refined handwriting. āI took the liberty of analyzing and processing the data from our splicing experiment last week. You were right, some unexpected but interesting correlations emerged. Would you like to review this now, or should I archive it for future reference?ā He offered the notebook with a small smile. He was well aware the situation would likely become tense within minutes considering who his partner was, but Gabriel was trying to start off on the right foot.
āDo you already have something in mind for todayās work?ā he asked, trying to conceal a nearly childlike excitement at the idea of working with his father. The warlock had an almost endless list of experiments and ideas to propose, but he knew better than to overwhelm Lucien with too many words. āJust one small thing before we begin. I submitted a formal request to the relevant department of the Gaudet Group for a biological sample of a fallen angel for my comparative demonology analysis. Itās been five daysāstill no confirmation or rejection. I understand your subordinates must be very busy, butā¦ letās just say things ran far more smoothly when I was the head of the European R&D branch. But I suppose I was operating under facilitated conditions in my simulation, right?ā he concluded with a courteous, gentle tone and a sardonic smile, hiding behind a mellow faƧade all the venom he was capable of. He was fairly certain that his remark was going to make a few heads roll, but it didnāt matter: Gabriel was a Gaudet, and he valued punctuality and professionalism above all else.
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