Her hands moved across the keyboard, click-clacking away as Cylanna tried to comb through the data they all had taken. The slimegirl continued to move slowly in its container as she tediously went through each point--all the while her mind went in circles, thinking of what she could put in at the end of this report. After all, despite the fact all this fascinating new data needed a summary of what they meant and all that, what the higher-ups wanted was something else. A use for it.
Instead of just the wonder of a sort of slime--or maybe gel-like structure was somehow able to deform and then reform itself, they wanted to know how to use it to get profit. For money. Greedy fucks.
She made a disapproving sound as she typed down the rest of the conclusion, her mind now petering at the ending. She knew she had to write it, to summarise everything she had written beforehand. It sucked to know how the higher-ups didn't care for anything before it. What they laser-focused on would be this conclusion, the end result. Nothing else. She had been in the meeting once, when she was still a bright-eyed newbie researcher excited to meet the heads within the esteemed Life Frontiers Laboratory. The
best
for biological research! Especially since they were more or less the only ones who had a hold for these monsters that suddenly just appeared on Earth.
Then those heads barely even looked at the report she had painstakingly made, having spent years of her life researching. They looked, flipped to the end and put it to the side, as if she had done nothing of note, as if those years of hard work, of not sleeping in the university lab was nothing--
She forced herself to inhale, to shake off those lines of thoughts.
Okay. Think about it calmly. How did the other researchers manage to gain profit from the specimens they were assigned to? The one with that dragongirl pretty much turned it into a sort of steam engine, using the heat it was emitting to boil water and the steam as an energy source. It just needed food, and while it needed a lot more than what its size was showing, it was a very clean energy. Barely any waste was produced, as the waste itself was what we, humans needed to turn into energy. Especially when compared to coal and other fossil fuels that energy companies were still using. Add the fact that its shedded scales were also incredibly hard and yet light, making itself into a new potential material for armors and many more possibilities. It, after all, had promising properties even from first glance.
And then the mermaid, which the researcher just recorded and sold its voice in a form of records. It was very huge on the internet, with a variety of people begging for more and more of the music with every play they did--for a moment, Cylanna wondered if perhaps, there were some sort of adverse effects. But well, the heads had approved of it so it should be fine.
Those were clear and easy ways to market the monstergirls' talents and abilities. Meanwhile what she had was... what? Just a sort of living agar? Jelly? Gel? She wasn't even sure what the being was, as everytime she checked it, the consistency seemed to change with every test she did. Urrrgh...
Gurgle...
Her stomach grumbled, demanding her to give it sustenance unless she wanted for it to constantly make its noises. She was very tempted to do so, as the hours had long since grown late, as evidenced by the numbers the clock was showing.
23:14
blinked at her, and she pushed the clock away, a little frustrated over still not having any ideas even as the time trickled on.
"What can I even do... They want to get money without spending too much. Why must they be such greedy bastards?" She groaned, cradling her head because of the headache forming in her skull. Her empty stomach still prodded at her. Everything felt like it was too much.
Just moments ago she felt like she had a handle on things, that she just needed an idea and everything would just be fine. Then she had no ideas, and she was hungry and alone and nothing was open. There weren't any vending machines for her to get some snacks from either, as the higher ups had said those things were 'distractions'. That everyone would just keep buying there and spending time when they could have been working.
"Mm, why don't I help you there, Cylanna?" A sudden voice made her jump, as she didn't expect someone to be in the room as her without her knowing about it. After all, the door was noisy, and she was sure all of her coworkers had gone home hours ago.
She looked around, blinking and trying to find who had talked. And yet she couldn't see any humans around her. Maybe Cylanna had hallucinated the whole thing? With her tiredness and hunger, she wouldn't be surprised if she saw a steaming hotpot right in front of her, perfect with meat and vegetables cooking within it.
"You are looking in the wrong place, dearie~" The voice called out again, and this time Cylanna could finally hear where it came from.
The enclosure. She lifted her head up, towards the glass in the middle of the room, where the slimegirl was residing. But it wasn't just moving around aimlessly anymore. It was looking straight at her, at Cylanna with a dangerous look. Something made her shiver, but she pushed it away. She was overthinking for sure.
"What do you mean by that?" She snarled, feeling cornered despite the fact she also felt silly for answering this slimegirl. It was probably just repeating people's words. Even if it was conveniently telling Cylanna it would
help
her. Somehow.
The slimegirl moved slightly, even if Cylanna would be troubled to really say it moved in a traditional way. More of a rippling through its gelatinous body, making certain body parts bounce and move in an eye-catching way. One that made Cylanna look away with a flush, suddenly realising how naked the slimegirl was. Especially when the body also looked a certain way.
She had never paid
that
much attention to it. Her mind was always on something else, mostly on the numbers and words she would have to put in the daily report to the higher-ups. But right now, despite the looming deadline, she couldn't think of anything anymore--and so her brain latched onto the only distraction it was given.
The talking slimegirl, who was still moving in such a way, that made Cylanna fascinated. The sheer difference between a mammal like herself, compared to this slime without any sort of bones or solids inside. Well, except for that little 'core' in the middle of its body, but that wasn't anywhere close to bones and sinews and organs that filled every corner of her body.
