Maxwell's Log

Three days. It took three days for them to bring Enigma back. We had been fed on a sort of regular schedule, and it was certainly enough for all six of us, but Exxa and Exxon could only eat the plants, so we took turns swapping our greens, for their meat. Mirale didn't eat anything but seemed fine.

"Mirale," I said experimentally. She looked up at me, nodding for me to continue. "Why haven't you eaten anything?"

"She's chemosynthetic. The air in here has the chemicals she needs. The compound she needs has no smell and isn't poisonous to any of us. We just breathe it back out. It takes the place of some of the hydrogen that's normally in the air. She breathes it in, and it's transferred to her bloodstream as nutrients," Obsidia explained.

"Cool," Syl muttered, leaning against the wall.

"It took you three days to ask that?" Elance asked. She paced around looking like a cat with wings. A tiger-sized cat with wings. She shifted to a humanoid form, few features on her face. Being in a humanoid form, her uniform seemed to just, appear. I knew it was always there, but it was weird seeing it appear whenever she decided on a humanoid appearance. She leaned against a wall, crossing her arms.

"Lance," Obsidia said tiredly. "That's enough."

The door slid open, and all of us turned to face it. Enigma was pushed inside, looking quite irritable. The door slid shut behind her.

"Enigma, you okay?" Obsidia asked immediately.

She nodded. "My mouth hurts," she groused.

"Ouch?" I offered. "Did she do some dental work?"

Enigma shrugged. She opened her mouth, showing that it was basically the exact same as the last time I'd seen her teeth. Except they didn't have any blood on them this time.

"Weird. And your sharp set?" Obsidia asked, looking up at Enigma.

Enigma crouched down, and her sharp set of teeth slid down.

"Wait, stand back up," Obsidia commanded. Enigma did so, and Obsidia squinted at her mouth. "Huh, you have these sorta holes in the teeth, maybe she merged your genes with a poison type? They are known to be compatible with water types."

"She did mention that. She also mentioned electricity and cave types."

"So, we'll watch out for random sparks of electricity, no problem," I said, shrugging.

The door slid open again, and we turned to face it. "Earthlings," was barked out as soon as the door was fully open.

I glared at the robots as they came in, pointing at least one blaster at everyone.

Jezebeth entered the room next, pointing to me and Sylvan. "I'll be taking them. You resist, the captain gets shot."

Enigma growled slightly but didn't move.

"Sometimes, I really hate you," Obsidia muttered, frowning at the blaster that was shoved against her forehead.

"The feeling is mutual," Jezebeth informed her. "Now, earthlings, get a move on."

Syl and I reluctantly walked towards her, being able to walk on your own feet was always better than being picked up forcefully.

She led us down a hallway, and into an experimentation room. "Alright, up on those tables for me, face down or on your back, I do not care." She moved around the room, selecting different vials and things.

Syl frowned at me but laid on one of the tables face down. I was never comfortable face down and picked face up.

When she turned back around, she nodded. "Ah, good, being identical twins, one of you one way, the other the other way, will permit me to see any differences."

I shuddered. I wondered which was worse, the fact that she was almost acting like some sort of demented scientist grandmother, or that she was smiling sweetly at me. I shuddered again, an image of her handing us cookies coming to my mind.

"Shuddering already?" Jezebeth cooed, a touch of malice entering her smile. "And I haven't even started."

"If you'd stop acting like you're some sort of demented scientist grandmother, I wouldn't be shuddering about a mental image of you handing us cookies," I retorted. At this, Syl shuddered too, apparently, it was equally horrifying to him.

Jezebeth chuckled. "Well, I think it's amusing."

If I wasn't strapped down by weird metal bands that came out of nowhere, I would have been folding my arms. Either way, I did my best to look irritated and defiant.

Jezebeth's smile turned all malice, and I decided I liked it better that way. Less weird and creepy than the sweet grandmotherly smile. "Well, my experiments, we'll have to see if being twins, makes you a hive. And if that makes Obsidia the queen."

I made a face at her. "What in the stars does that even mean?"

"Oh hush, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

I gave her a deadpan stare. "We literally just got dragged into this rediculous mess two weeks ago, and you expect us to know all of the types?"

She chuckled again, and I shuddered. "Oh, I suppose not. You aren't used to my riddles, are you? Fine, Hive type is the answer you're looking for."

"Haven't heard of it," I muttered, irritated. Seriously, there are waaaaaaaaaaay to many types to remember and/or memorize in two weeks. If anyone didn't catch it, Hive type is the ones that their closest genetic relatives are insects like honey bees, or ants, insects that live in hives or colonies, and have a queen.

"Wouldn't have expected you to, it's an uncommon type," Jezebeth replied casually, a needle some how ending up in her hand. "Alright, swallow, or needle."

"Needle," Syl and I answered immediately. There was no telling how bad it would taste. As far as I know, the things taste horrid, and the only one who'd ever chose to swallow is Mirale, who literally has no tastebuds. For Elance, swallowing and injecting are the exact same thing, so she doesn't count.

Jezebeth nodded slightly. "I don't know why I ever ask that question to people who eat humanoid food. Not like you're going to accept. But, if someone has a fear of needles, and would rather swallow it, I must continue making it an option. The high levels of stress that come with a person with a needle phobia could mess up the experiment."

"Well," I muttered. "That explains the actual food."

"What, did you think I'd starve you?" Jezebeth asked incredulously. "That would throw off so many of my experiments. Many solutions require a healthy subject, as it would kill anyone else." Really, now that I think about it, why do people who are scientists at heart starve any prisoners? That could throw off experiments, should they choose to spread them around the evil scientist community. If there is an evil scientist community. There probably is one. Probably a group chat too. These are evil scientists here.