Chapter Text
“Hello Subject 129, ready for today's testing?” Dr. Hofnarr asked you.
“As I'll ever be.” Not like you have a choice anyways. When you joined the Nexus Core you didn't think that you would end up in this position. But as bad as it could be, this was giving you a valuable chance.
Dr. Hofnarr strapped your limbs down. “...Sorry about this 129, this is gonna hurt. A lot.” He warned. Yeah, no kidding. What you wouldn't give for anything that can numb the pain... But it wouldn't be Nevada if there wasn't something to make your day worse.
“So what are the chances of the prototype working?” You couldn't help but to ask him. He faltered for a moment. “We've made exceptional progress on understanding Dissonant Energy and how to harness it. And if anyone can handle Dissonance without being shredded or going insane, it'd be you.” He explained.
Your complex human body, for some reason, takes minimal backlash and, in some experiments, can almost channel the chaotic energy.
“...Doctor.” That's not the answer you asked for. Dr. Hofnarr sighed at that. “Honestly, I'd rather do more testing before risking you.” A grunt's body was less complex than yours, making it difficult to clone you like the others. It was kind of in your favour, if they couldn't clone you then they risk losing their best chance at handling Dissonance organically.
Dr. Hofnarr resumed what he was saying. “The chances of this is... not what I'm comfortable with. But the Director won't listen and I have to push this forward.” Phobos kept the pressure on the science department, forcing them to take drastic measures to not be thrown out of society. And it's basic knowledge that it's a death sentence to be outside of Nexus City.
“What are you hoping the prototype will accomplish?” The biggest reason why you don't fight back much is because the power it'll give you. Power in Nevada is game changing.
“If this works then you should be able output Dissonance in a controlled manner, like the proto Engine. There may be other things that you'll be able to do, we've seen some effects that we haven't had the equipment to record, so this is going to be a learning experience for the both of us.” Lovely. No one's going to know how to do damage control if shit goes to hell.
Your last question for now. “...It's gonna be embedded in my body, right? Where the hell is the rest of your team?”
“This project's too sensitive to trust with others.” Was his reply.
You looked at him reproachfully. “...What?” He asked.
“Dr. Hofnarr, if you do this on your own, I'm gonna have extra arms and no head.” He made an offended sound. “Insulting! What makes you say that?”
“You're the most clumsy being I've ever met in my life.” Came your blunt reply.
“Name one time!”
“The time that you spilled coffee on the containment unit. Which, mind you, released a bunch of insane... things that ate the other scientists!” You still don't know what they were to this day.
“Most surviv-” You had to cut him off. “How 'bout the time you rushed to make it to work and caused a three hour traffic jam?”
“...That guy deserved it.” Goddamn it!
“And what about the time you tripped, startling the guards into having a shoot out with the other corporation that was here to make an alliance?” They had money, money that would've made it to everyone's paycheck at the time.
He protested with, “If they died that quick then it's a good thing that we didn't ally with them.” Not the point! They had money!
You were ready to break out of the bindings just to shake some sense into him. “The time that you-”
“Okay, okay! I'll get some of the surgeons!” Dr. Hofnarr finally relented. You eased up a bit.
“...Why do you still make those kind of arguments? You're an experiment, not a manager. You're not being payed to dress down employees anymore.” You couldn't help but frown at that. When the Nexus found out that your DNA didn't match up with theirs you were quickly beaten down, both in ranks and physically.
Your only saving grace at the time was your body's compatibility with Dissonance.
“Nothing else to do. And you gotta admit, you gave me a bitch of a time back then.” You answered.
He shuffled guiltily before chuckling. “Yeah, I really did. It's a surprise that you didn't pushed the higher ups to fire me back then.”
“And what? Lose a genius over a bunch of pencil pushers?” His knowledge and creativity really was one of a kind, despite the trouble he gave you. His posture straighten, proud of the compliment you gave.
It's a good thing that you and Dr. Hofnarr were friends before this, you don't want to even think about how horrible it would be without him.
You heard him whisper your name, not the number that they assigned you. “I'm picking up the rest of my team. When I come back we'll knock you out before doing the procedure.” Not that it stops you from feeling the pain in your dreams and afterwards.
He hesitated then said, “...If this works you'll be powerful.” before he walked out.
You got the hidden meaning. Maybe you'll be strong enough to escape...
You woke up in agony, every nerve in your chest burning like there was no tomorrow.
Dr. Hofnarr was sleeping in a chair outside your containment unit. You couldn't help it, you kicked the wall, making a loud bang that scared him awake. He fell off his chair and spilled the papers that was on his lap everywhere.
“Subject 129, you couldn't have waken me in a better way?” He groaned.
You chuckled through the pain. “What are you saying? That was clearly the best way.”
“Clearly.” His deadpanned tone was satisfying.
“...I have a bit of bad news for you, Subject 129.” You gestured him to continue on with a slight nod of your head.
Dr. Hofnarr sat back on his chair, leaving the papers on the floor and nervously wringing his fingers together. “Let's start of with the procedure. It went well, everything is in place and I did a mini check on how your body handled the energy while you slept. It's working even better than expected. We will have to do more thorough testing after you recover.” He started to space out, thinking of future experiments that you both will have to do.
You narrowed your eyes suspiciously. “And the bad news?” You questioned, breaking his train of thought.
“...Someone on my team noticed that the safety disable was off.” That was to be expected. You would rather have another chance of escaping than having Dr. Hofnarr operating on you on his own.
“...And Director Phobos wants to check on this experiment.” You inhaled air wrong and started coughing, intensifying the pain from your recent surgery by tenfold.
The hell?! He has never done this before! He rarely leaves his office, only a select few ever meets him and you're not one of them. So far no experiment was worth his time!
You regained your breath and pushed through the pain to stand up, then you leaned on the glass door, staring at Dr. Hofnarr seriously. “Doctor, just how powerful is Dissonant Energy?” You knew that it was powerful... but for the Director to gain a interest and come here...
Dr. Hofnarr stared back. “I don't know, and that's the problem. It may be limitless source.” That was something that you didn't want to hear.
The two stayed silent at that. A limitless source of energy would help so much people... but with Director Phobos's personality you don't see that happening. You wonder just what he has planned for this project.
“You have a week to recover before the Director comes by.” At least there was that.
“So this is Subject 129, the one that is most compatible with Dissonance.” The statues and posters doesn't do him justice. He was taller than most people but smaller than a G03LM, you would have to estimate around nine feet tall. And you can see why he was in control of the Nexus Core, Director Phobos had this overwhelming presence, like he expected your obedience.
“Yes Director, Subject 129 is the only organic experiment to have the potential to control Dissonance.” Dr. Hofnarr's posture showed just how apprehensive he was of Phobos.
The Director stood in front of you, observing what he can. “Why does Subject 129 appear so different?” He asked.
Dr. Hofnarr said, “We don't exactly know. Blood test shows that 129 may be a different creature from us, one that is too complex for us to clone by normal means.” You remember their attempts, the most that they could do was a pile of useless flesh.
You stayed still as the Director was circling around you. You kept your eyes straight, trying not to met his gaze.
“...Another creature, you say?” He sounded inquisitive. “129, look at me.” He ordered.
You did so and Phobos bent down to properly look at you. He held your chin in between his claws as he inspected your face.
“Now give me your hand.” You reluctantly held out your hand and he carefully observed your fifth finger and blunt nails. “...How unexpected, Subject 129 is a human.” You were shocked. “What?” But you never told anyone that you were a human, the scientists didn't have anything on humans and you didn't bother to inform or correct them, letting them come to their own conclusions.
He had an odd feeling around him after he said that. He straighten up and stood his full height over you.
“Interesting...”
“...129, what's a human?” Came Dr. Hofnarrs quiet question after Phobos left.
You tapped your fingers against the floor of your containment unit, thinking. “It's- well-” How do you explain this? You barely understand it yourself.
“Think about humans as your creators or ancestors.” You started off. “From what I was told and read, humans made grunts a long time ago.” Dr. Hofnarr sat in silence, observing your stance and expression.
“Grunts were made when machines were too limited and a situation was too risky for a human to do.” You started to scratch the floor, his clinical gaze was unnerving you. “They were basically using grunts for jobs when they didn't want to endanger a human life.”
Dr. Hofnarr sighed before asking, “So where are the humans now?” You scoffed. “Because of their own mistakes, they caused a nuclear fallout, bringing us to near extinction...” You said and Dr. Hofnarr made an understanding noise at that. “I'm guessing that your bodies can't handle the radiation?” You nodded at that.
He leaned his back against the containment unit before asking, “So why didn't you tell me before?”
“'Cause it didn't matter.” You did the same, leaning on the clear wall between the two of you. The barrier preventing you from leaning back-to-back like the two of you used to do when one of you had a bad day. “Humans are not something special. Actually, to me, a grunt is so much more superior. They're stronger, more durable, heal faster and is so much more fit to survive this damn place than I ever can.” You sighed, thinking back at how many times you've gotten so close to death because you weren't strong enough.
Dr. Hofnarr chuckled. “Then you must be an exception.” You made a questioning sound at that. “You're the strongest person that I know.” He continued.
You scoffed, not believing that. “You need to clean your glasses if that's what you see.”
“And you need to learn how to listen to someone who's smarter than you.” You smacked the wall in a mimicry of smacking him yourself at his retort.
Dr. Hofnarr chuckled and continued to speak. “Those people who are 'stronger' than you are just common brutes, a dime of a dozen. What this society needs are more people like you, someone who can think straight and not let the madness of our society consume them.” You looked over your shoulder to see him waving his hands around as he talks.
“You're very good at seeing problems and fixing them. Before you became the science department manager we had so many unnecessary casualties and all of us just didn't care.” Yeah, you remember that nightmare. You worked as an janitor for a time and finally had enough and set yourself to fix the mess that no one was willing to deal with. There was no safety guidelines, no procedures of what to do in an emergency, no one knew how to apply first-aid and everyone got distracted on another project instead of finishing the one that was needed.
Hofnarr started to giggle and shake from excitement. “It was the funniest thing to see you sneak up and beat our previous manger, only to then bully the rest of us into following your rules!” You looked forward, away from Hofnarr, and let out a hearty laugh. You miss those times...
“I didn't know that you thought that.” You admitted. “You were so defiant to even the smallest rules I made.”
“Heh, it was funny looking back, but at the time I didn't like the fact that a janitor was telling the whole science department on what to do when you couldn't even recall the periodic table.” He explained. “...Why did you use such a forceful way, anyways? That's not your style.”
You thought back to that time. “I didn't think that anyone would listen if I tried to just make suggestions. I've also saw people in different departments making their way up in higher positions like that.” The grin that you made couldn't be stifled. “And it felt so good to give that bastard what he deserved.” That guy literally got payed to do nothing all day.
The both of you sat in silence after the giggles died down.
“...You don't deserve to rot here.” Dr. Hofnarr couldn't hide the rage in his voice.
You smiled bitterly. “What's done is done, we'll just have to improvise, like we always did.”
“...Let's test the Dissonance Drive as soon as we can.” He said, determination strong in his words.
You stretch and grinned, turning towards him. “Yeah, it'd be worthless to give up now.”
Having this conversation makes you want to hold on to this hope with all your being.
Dr. Hofnarr quickly stood up, energized at the plan that was starting to take shape... and then immediately tripped as he took his first step.
“Way to ruin the moment, nerd.” Was your deadpanned reply to his unending clumsiness.
Hofnarr groaned in despair, embarrassed to fall at such a bad time. “I will give you Savabe's cooking for a week if you say anything more.” God, his cooking was the absolute worst, you wonder how he hasn't been fired from the cafeteria yet.
“...”
“Yeah, I thought so.”