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"Ugh… what happened…?"
When Cassiopeia finally opened her eyes hours later, she found herself at home. Her head still hurt, but at least the whispers inside her brain were silent now. And she could move again by herself.
"Ah, you are finally awake. I’m improving your PCs security, even a toddler would be able to go through that password and the game doesn’t even let them to use PCs"
Erwin was there. She could barely remember hearing his voice last thing before she passed out.
"You found me at the lab…?"
Erwin left the table and sat beside Cassiopeia on the edge of the bed, but with a good distance between them. The girl senses told her he was feeling awkward.
"Yeah… I… couldn’t stay, knowing you went there alone. It was scary, but the thought that something might happen to you was even more scary. I was late anyways"
"No… thank you Erwin, you saved me. And you were right. I shouldn’t have opened that lab door alone. There is something down there… something that is desperate for help, something that wants to go home no matter what… and I think I let part of it out. I… made it worse"
"Hey, listen, we both messed up, but it’s alright" Erwin moved closer and took Cassiopeia’s hands in his own, looking at her as if he were asking her if it was alright to do that. The weight the girl had in her chest - all the guilt and the anxiety she felt - got a little lighter when he did it "We both messed up, so we both fix it. Together, ok?"
Cassiopeia nodded with a little smile and leaned against the boy, who put an arm around her shoulders to keep her close. Definitely physical reassurance was the best.
They would fix it, and they would do it together.
We’ll be alright.
After what happened in the lab Cassiopeia started to feel she needed something to protect herself in this weird town, just in case, and she decided to recreate one of the weapons they had back at Sixam: The SimRay.
The week of hard work earned her a couple of promotions and she reached the level 3 of her career: Junior Tinkerer!
During lunch break Circe approached Cassiopeia while she was making herself a salad - at least trying to, because she wasn’t still too good at that thing humans called cooking.
"Polaris, can you come with me? We need to have a talk"
"Of course, Ms. Team Leader, I was about to fulfill my hunger need, but I’ll do it later"
Circe Beaker barely talked to Cassiopeia since she welcomed her to the lab a few weeks ago, so she was curious what this talk was all about. The woman guided her out and around the building to the back then, once they were out of the sight of the rest of the workers, Circe faced Cassiopeia, throwing her a glare.
"I need to ask you something, and don’t even try to lie"
"What is your inquiry, Ms. Team Leader?"
"What in the Wacther’s name were you doing in the crater’s lab a few days ago?"
Cassiopeia wondered for a second how Circe knew she was at the crater’s lab, but guessed it wasn’t smart to ask, so she just gave the woman an honest answer.
"Nobody is willing to help here, someone has to do something"
"You… you…" Circe was clearly trying to control herself as she leaned in and hissed, way too close to Cassiopeia’s face "Just don’t go back there. Do you understand?"
"What? No! I don’t understand! Our company started whatever is happening in town! Why aren’t we doing anything about it!?"
That made Circe lose her cool completely.
"You dumb girl!! Do you want to get killed…!? Or even worse, fired!? Mind. Your. Own. Business" She warned, but then as fast as she lost control she recovered "And now go back to work"
And then she turned around and left without a single word more.
Later that day Cassiopeia and Erwin paid Jess’ house a visit.
Circe’s threat only made Cassiopeia double her efforts to solve this mystery. If they weren’t willing to help their town and whatever was down there, she would do it herself.
"So, what was so important that you couldn’t tell me on the phone?" Jess asked straight away right after she walked them inside and offered them a seat.
"Don’t be dumb, we can’t take that risk. Our phones are probably wiretapped"
The woman stared at her friend with a worried, yet annoyed look on her face. It was the kind of face a mother gave her kid when she knew they were planning to do something mischevious.
"What do you mean, Erwin? Again with your crazy conspiracies?"
"No, he is right this time" Cassiopeia shook her head "You see… I might have gone inside the crater’s lab to investigate a couple of times…"
"What?" Jess eyes widened in shock.
"...And I need your help because I’m planning to do it again"
"…WHAT?"