Chapter Text
Dr. Molly Hooper, tall, brunette, with blue eyes and a bored expression, jumped a bit in her seat as she felt a tug on her pant leg. She looked down to find the resident Immurement Subject there, looking up at her.
"Yes co-worker?"
"I love Coffee in my coffee hole!" It responded in a chipper tone.
"Right now? We just gave you waffles an hour ago... or are you actually asking for Coffee?"
"You know what they say! Buy low, sell high!"
Dr. Hooper sighed. She'd grown used to the subject’s random office jargon, learning somewhat how to communicate with the "coworker" as he was dubbed. Personally? She called him Jeff.
"Alright. I'll get you some coffee." She chuffed, standing and stretching her legs. She closed the program she had been running on her clunky old computer and grabbed a Coffee mug off the table. It was white, and labeled with the company logo: "G.A.T.E."
One of her four office mates looked up, the only one in at the moment. Dr. Rahleigh Boone. A skinny, lanky guy with a similar blonde do to the "coworker", though just a tad shorter. "He prefers the cafeteria coffee."
"Rahleigh you can't be serious-"
"So I was pumpin' iron the other day-" The coworker rambled
"Really? You're going to make me walk up there?"
Jeff stared blankly ahead.
"... okay. Fine. But if it’s too cold when I come back, don't blame me." She snorted. Jeff sat in the dim corner of the office, making no further remarks as Dr. Hooper headed into the hallway.
She glanced down the corridor, Janet and Abe were arguing again at the water cooler. As not to attract their attention and to stay out of it, Molly put on her best 'don't talk to me' face and strode past.
Abe went to raise a finger and call her over, but Janet interrupted. "Don't bring someone else into your crazy ideas-"
Dr. Hooper sighed in relief, heading around the corner and up a set of stairs set next to a roadway for forklifts, following it up through a blast door into the main lobby. A chill hit her as she reached the top of the ramp, the cold escaping the server room as usual. Nothing foreboding. Passing Warren doing... who knows what in his booth- she entered the cafeteria.
"And I’m telling you Bearnice, you're not a researcher. You are just a doctor!" A stern, old, and crabby voice harrumphed... Dr. Crabtree funny enough, an older man with balding salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, and patchy scruff that never grew into a proper beard. He was speaking to Dr. Bearnice Galloway. A medical doctor-
"Who specializes in patching your moronic team up after three failed experiments in a row, done without the proper safety precautions!" Dr. Galloway snarled back at Crabtree.
Crabtree snarled "You don't know what you're talking about!"
Galloway scoffed "Do I need to remind you, your last escapade with IS-0091? Three with severe lacerations and one with a missing eye. You only made it out without a scratch because you ran. What would Dr. Manse think of all that?"
Crabtree froze. Had he left that out of his report? The rest of the staff stared. Dr. Hooper nearly dropped the coffee mug for Jeff.
"... have a wonderful day Dr. Galloway. You are a valued team member." Crabtree gulped, nodding and walking away. The rest of the staff slowly went back to what they were doing. Dr. Hooper shook her head and went to the coffee machine, Dr. Galloway ending up beside her.
"I didn't think you drank coffee." Galloway said tiredly.
"I don't, but apparently Jeff prefers the cafeteria coffee."
"... Jeff?"
"Y'know... the coworker?" Hooper sighed.
"Oh... him... and how exactly can you tell?"
"When you hang around him long enough you learn what's a positive and a negative response." Dr. Hooper noted.
Dr. Galloway shrugged. "It still creeps me out."
"Don't expect that to change." Molly sighed. Bearnice went over to the cafeteria window to get something to eat, leaving Molly to doctor Jeff's coffee up the way he liked... four sugars, no cream. The lights flickered.
"Huh. I wonder what those idiots in Hydroplant are doing to cause-" The ground started to shake VIOLENTLY, lights flashing on and off, and a few bulbs popping. A few scientists scrambled out of the cafeteria, Bearnice and Molly? Ducked under the metal tables
And then... it was dark