#m lab

    Bravo Team was then able to successfully bring the anomaly to M Lab and have it put in a more secure containment cell for research. And, with any luck, they wouldn’t have to deal with it again.

     “Salem. Guess you didn’t die.” I-12’s voice had a hint of disappointment. Why that was wasn’t to be discussed right now.

     “Must be such a sorrow for you, eh?” The passive aggressive tone in Brit’s voice wasn’t being hidden in the slightest. “Just tell me what excess I need to file and I’ll be on my way, okay?”

     “... Fine. We can chat later.” I-12 handed Brit several papers.

     He took the papers and glanced over them. There were two more than usual, which was two too many. “And sir?”

     I-12 tilted his head.

     “Please stop doing this.” He glared down at his boss.

    The robot was quiet for a little while. “No promises.”

     Brit sighed, stepping out of I-12’s office without another word. He couldn’t stand to be around that freak any longer.

     “Hi, angelo,” Dipaulo greeted with a smile. 

     “You were waiting for me?” 

     The man nodded. “Of course!”

     “Oh. Er, thanks.”

     Some silence passed, but it wasn’t awkward at all.

     “Hey, Dip?” Brit asked as him and Dipaulo walked back to their shared dorm.

     Dipaulo looked up at him. “Yeah?”

     “How come you knew where to find me?”

     “Oh. Well, just uh… just luck.” He shrugged. It wasn’t very convincing, but the answer wasn’t super important. Probably.

     “... Right.”

     When they got to their room, Dipaulo took off his equipment and shoved it in his drawers, gave Brit a goodnight kiss on the cheek, and plopped down on his bed to fall asleep. The mission that day was much more tiring than most others, so he felt that he deserved to sleep in a little extra. Besides, it was almost eleven. 

     Brit finished up the reports, finished being that he fell asleep at the desk.

     As for the other three, Erikson got an ice pack for Vance’s head, and also a Zyrtec® for his allergies… Phillips got them all a pack of cookies from the cafeteria to share.

     Reflexively, the man yanked his hand away from the vine that had attempted to latch itself onto his glove, and sprinted for dear life.

     Oh dear. Things were not going well, not at all. The worst part was that it was all up to Vance to get them back. No offence to him, of course, but Vance wasn’t really the most… ideal person of choice. Not for a task of this much importance, and to do by himself no less. 

     Oh no, oh no—nononono… Vance quickly paced through the alleys without paying much attention to where he was walking, his hands absentmindedly playing with his left glove he took off. “This is all bad—really really bad…” He took even breaths so as to keep calm while his mind thought and thought about what his course of action should be. “Sooner the better, but I gotta put some thought into this too…” He continued to mutter under his breath, aimlessly wandering through the city. Then, Vance found a man leaning against a brick wall in a sort of dark and ominous alley. It would almost be cartoonishly scary if not for the cigarette held between his lips, golden yellow smoke being exhaled rather than the expected smoke. With his height, he was like a tree compared to Vance.

     The two exchanged glances. Both were expecting someone, but, well, other people. The stranger lifted a hand out his jacket’s pocket and took the cigarette out. “And who might you be?” The man had a distinct Russian accent.

     “Oh, hi. Vance. ” Vance waved a hello. As suspicious as the stranger looked, Vance wasn’t cautious at all about him, for some weird reason. “You happen to see a lil’ plant kid that’s, like, ye high?” He made an estimation of its size by putting one of his hands at about knee height.

     The stranger thought for a few seconds, then remembering that he actually had seen something like that. “It was bigger than that, but I think I know what you’re talking about. Thing went down that way.” He pointed with his cigarette at a slim entrance to a separate area that Vance would have totally missed if he hadn’t asked. 

     “Thanks man!” Vance shouted as he ran over to go in that direction. “‘Preciate it!”

     The stranger watched as he scurried off. Lab people are so interesting…

     Strangely, Vance felt somewhat happier from the stranger. Maybe it was because he helped him, or because he just wanted some social interaction after having not talked to anyone for a solid 15 minutes—he’s the kind of guy to hang out with someone 24/7 if given the chance after all. Whatever the reason, Vance would probably try to find him again and be friends. ‘Can’t have too many friends’ is what he basically lived by.

     As he got closer to where he was told the anomaly was by, it smelled like… cut grass? Vance sneezed. Oh dear; it seemed like there was also an abundance of pollen. There’s probably a good chance it really was still around there then, and hopefully, it hadn’t sucked the life out of his missing team members. He didn’t know what he’d do without them; just an abrupt and forced goodbye. Best to not think about it, however, as he felt positively certain he was on the right track.

     Then he heard them, just faintly enough that it could have been bypassed without a second thought, but he recognised them instantly. It was hard to make out any words though, so he needed to get closer. Vance sprinted to where the echoing of their voices seemed to be originating from, focusing more than he ever had before on a task to try pinpointing where they were.

     “Erikson! Phillips?!” he called out.

     “Vance!” It sounded, and seemed, like Phillips was close by.

     If anything, Phillips sounded like she was… above him. He looked up, and above him was an amalgamation of brambles, leaves, fungi, and basically every other plant Vance couldn’t think of off the top of his head. The anomaly wasn’t even in a specific shape, just some sort of mass that fumbled around with the use of vines to pull itself. In this case, it was using the vines to stick to the two buildings making the narrow alley. It was encroaching on him, and fast.

     The man blinked a couple times to see how true this was until it was only a metre or two away. He jumped as he realised the freak really was there, running out onto a sidewalk. The anomaly chased after him like a feral animal, leaving trails of moss and fungi spores in its wake. Vance walked backwards and onto the road while loading his tranquillizer, glancing up at the anomaly every other second to see how fast it was gaining on him.

     “C’mon c’mon, just load already!” he growled. His gun just happened to be jamming at the absolute worst possible time. Finally, after enough hits, the tranquillizer decided to properly work for once, and so Vance raised it up and fired two darts.

     One flew just above the anomaly, the other lodging itself right into the core of the target. It shrieked, flailing its plant appendages in rage, but despite the fact the poison was designed for anomalies, the rain seemed to be reinvigorating the entity and washing out the effects. All his attempt at defence did was make it furious. The anomaly lunged at Vance, only to be rammed by Bravo Team’s van.

     Vance stared dumbfoundedly as the anomaly flew across the road, the van skidding to a halt.

     One of the front windows rolled down. “Get in, loser.” Oh. It was Dipaulo sitting in the passenger side. Did… did he have a flower crown on?

     “Yeah, yeah,” Vance grumbled, climbing into the back seat. It looked like Brit was driving. “Where’d ya’ find Brit?”

     “The plant freak had a nest, or… something like that—on top of a building. He was just chilling in there.” Dipaulo whispered something about running over the anomaly to Brit, to which he shook his head. 

     “And what’s with the flower thing? On your head?” 

     Dipaulo shrugged. “Brit was bored when he was stuck with the anomaly.”

     While those two continued chatting, Brit left the van and cautiously made his way over to the anomaly. It looked like it was, unsurprisingly, knocked out. Thing is, it was far too big to stuff in the back of the van though, so they’d just deal with that later and hope it didn’t wake up by the time they got back from getting the rest of Bravo. Brit went to the van, driving down the road to the building with the entity’s nest. If it behaved the same, then Phillips and Erikson were expected to be there.

     Brit parked in front of the building and turned to Dipaulo and Vance. “Alright, so, you lads are going to stay here and watch for the anomaly. I’m going to check if Erikson and Phillips are in the nest, and if they are, I’ll bring them out. Got that? And please, no funny business. This mission is already spelling out way too much paperwork that I don’t have the time or energy for.”

     Vance and Dip both looked at each other before nodding.

     “Good.” With that said, Brit promptly left.

     “So…” Vance got comfortable, and since he had the backseats all to himself, laid down with his hands placed on his stomach. “How long were ya’ looking for Brit ‘til you found him?” He asked curiously. “Like, considering we didn’t stay long at the lab at all, and y’ already left, you must’ve been searchin’ like a dang hound.”

     “I was… worried.” Dipaulo looked out the window at the building.

     “Mmm, yeah, fair.” The van got mostly quiet, the only sound being Vance softly humming a cheery tune to himself. 

     It wasn’t long before Brit came back with Erikson and Phillips tailing behind him. Brit got in the front, Erikson shooing Dipaulo to go in the back (which he did with a pout), and Phillips sitting in the back as well. Now they were all in their usual placement.

     “Oop, that was fast,” said Vance. “So we gon’ get that thing now?”

     Brit nodded, driving them all to where it was, and somehow, the anomaly was still there. Actually, it seemed too still… Eh, not that much of their problem. Bravo Team got out of the van, staring at it until Phillips had an idea of how to bring it to the lab.

     “What if we, uhm, we took it and like… put it… on top of the van? You know?”

     Vance grinned at the idea and put his left glove on again, briefly giving Phillips a thumbs up, and then grabbing a couple of vines. He managed to pull it towards the van a little bit, but he’d definitely need some help if they were going to get it on top anytime soon. Vance turned to the others, gritting his teeth while he still kept pulling it. “Am I gonna do this all by myself?”

     “You caught it?” 

     “Yes, sir,” said Erikson. His fingers fidgeted anxiously behind his back.

     “Well done...” I-12 half-heartedly praised, then leaning back in his chair. “Now we both know reports are usually Brit’s job. Where is he?” 

     Erikson took a deep breath. “He went missing, sir. We believe he’s been taken by an anomaly.”

     “And are you going to find him, or simply wait, Erikson?”

     “We were planning on looking for him in between missions. Is that alright?” 

     I-12 sat in thought for a few moments, running all the possibilities through his head before he came to a conclusion (though it would be one that Bravo wouldn’t be too happy about). “Better for you to cancel those plans.”

     Erikson’s breath caught in his throat. “Excuse me, sir, but we need him as part of the team. It isn’t like we would be leaving work for it. Could you please rethink i—”

     “Permission denied,” he stated, more as a matter of fact this time, making sure Erikson understood his response. “He’ll turn up.”

     “And if he doesn’t?”

     “If he doesn’t, then, well... Get used to your team having four.”

     Erikson opened his mouth to speak his mind, but I-12 spoke first. 

     “Do. You. Understand?” He kept his gaze on the employee.

     “... Crystal clear, sir.” Erikson felt his chest getting tight and his hands tensing.

     I-12 sighed, although it was unclear if it was a sigh of relief or annoyance. “Good. Dismissed.” He waved Erikson off.

     I-12 allowed himself to rest a few seconds more, groaning as he sank back into the chair.

     Then he got a notification. One he really never wanted to hear nor see; especially not now.

     “Bravo?” I-12 asked over a communication feed that sat directly in his system. 

     “Uh... sir? What is it?” Phillips responded. She’d just gotten back to her dorm on the other side of the lab and was currently lying down on her bed without a care. Well until now of course. It felt like her heart either stopped when she received the call from I-12 or accelerated to an alarming amount of beats per minute. One of them anyway.

     “The anomaly Bravo Team captured is gone. Within a matter of only twenty minutes on arrival no less.”

     “W—wait, really?”

     “Would I lie?” he said with a certain amount of snarkiness to it. I would... It’s not like that’s too out of the question... 

     “So... we—er—we hafta’ go back out to find that anomaly? ... Again?” Phillips asked as she twirled her finger around a drawstring for her uniform’s hood.

     “Correct,” I-12 confirmed. “Better get on that then, shouldn’t you?”

     “Yeah, I... I guess I should go tell everyone. Uhm... Just a quick question, sir, if you don’t mind?”

     “I do mind, actually.”

     The call promptly ended.

     “meet at the van. I 12 said we gotta get that plant anommaly,” Phillips texted in the group chat (with a couple of typos) before slipping her phone in her pocket and leaving the room, now making her way to the others. Hope we can get the anomaly and make sure it stays this time... the woman thought. And also... also find Brit... Dipaulo’ll be sad and lonely without him and I... Well, he already is all sad and... Her mind kept running while she walked on autopilot to the parking garage. When Phillips had gotten there, Erikson was already in the driver’s seat waiting, and Vance only a few paces behind her. They both got in the back seats, and only then did the two realise Dipaulo wasn’t there.

     “Where’s Dipaulo? He, uh... He should be here by now...” Phillips looked around.

     “He went to look for Brit, surprise surprise,” said Erikson sarcastically. The van had already been started, so the moment Vance and Phillips had buckled their seatbelts, Erikson backed out of the space and sped down from the parking garage. It was a good thing there were never any verifiable police officers in the lab otherwise Erikson would’ve lost his licence way more than just once and the other two in the vehicle would lose any sliver of hope they’d have left for getting their own licences.

     “That’s just fantastic,” Vance commented with the same amount of sarcasm. “I know he cares about Brit, but we still got a job to do.”

     “If we find Brit—” said Phillips, only to be cut off by Erikson.

     “When we find Brit,” he corrected.

     “Oh, of course… Okay then; when we find Brit, d’ya we should get him to talk to Dipaulo about staying on-track about this job?” she asked.

     “That would probably be best,” said Erikson. The car took a sharp turn that bumped the side of Vance’s head into the window, but no one said anything. He probably shouldn’t have been speeding this fast considering the rain both made the road wet and was restricting his sight... “It’s not like this is the first time Dipaulo’s gone off on his own for his own reasons either. It damages how much our group can do with even just one of us gone. We’re down our leader, and now because of him, a scout as well.” He sounded disappointed at how irresponsible Dipaulo had been acting.

     The van grew silent after that. There wasn’t much to say at the moment. Actually, maybe a ‘You okay?’ or something like that to Vance who was currently holding his bruised head, but sadly, he’d find that no one would say anything.

     The van arrived at the same location that it had not that long ago, even sitting in the same parking space. They all got out of the van without further ado, going through the same process they always had, only without Brit and Dipaulo this time.

     “Right, so, we’re going to head to the same place Brit and Dipaulo were at and search around there. The anomaly is our priority, but… let’s find the two if we can, yeah?” Erikson took a deep breath and motioned for the rest to follow him, and so they did.

     The trio tentatively searched the alleyways and streets for the anomaly and teammates, although they didn’t find anything. The sky faded darker and the sun began to hide behind the horizon line, but still, they kept searching. The rain continued to storm throughout the city, but still, they kept searching. Their mission wasn’t done yet after all, and they still had plenty of energy left to keep looking for at least a couple more hours.

     Phillips’ eyes were drawn to the night sky for a few brief moments, though nothing of interest happened, so she turned back down and kept making her way through alley after alley and street after street. Not a single star could be seen through the dark clouds. Just a passing thought, I guess… Phillips sighed. With the click of a button, she turned on her radio and started speaking. “Vance?”

     “Yeah?”

     “Are we, uhm… we’re sure that Brit and Dipull—Dipaulo… that they, uh…” Phillips tried to speak, but for some reason, the words found trouble leaving her mouth. She took a deep breath. Once. Twice. The smell of rain made itself very clear, its abundance almost overwhelming. Despite that, it still managed to be calming. Phillips looked up once more, and could have sworn there was something up there, watching and waiting—if only momentarily. It felt quiet. It felt still. 

     “... Phillips?…” Vance sounded worried from her abrupt pause.

     Phillips looked around the alley where only she stood alone. Brick and concrete walls made a narrow path, water pouring down the gutters to tend to the foliage that climbed up the walls and that lay below her feet. One bunch of weeds in particular decided to coil around one of Phillips’ legs—not of its own volition though. Phillips was in trouble.

     “Phillips, are you there?” He was starting to sound more urgent.

     Phillips felt herself get pulled to the ground by the plant. By the time she’d realised the severity of what was happening, it was too late to help herself. The anomaly had found her.

     Vance heard the thud of her body hitting the concrete on the other end of the radio before her mic clicked to an off. "Cheri!"  Hurriedly, Vance opened up a channel with Erikson. If things kept going this way, there wouldn’t be a Bravo Team anymore. “Erikson—Phillips got taken by the anomaly!” he nearly screamed into his radio.

     An uncomfortable silence followed.

     “Erikson?” 

     No response.