"Like all great minds, Professor Richard Sylven is an eccentric person. If you have to deal with him, try to remain patient and never, I repeat, NEVER tell him to hurry. He's stubborn as a mule, and in spite of his age he throws some really good punches."

— Character studies, written by Bezel

"Hmm, yes, yes. It seems to be authentic."

Professor Sylven brought Mira's letter closer to his eyes, squinting as he read its contents. He ran his fingers through his grey beard distractedly, not realizing that the end of it was dipping into his teacup. Bezel stood by his desk, wrecking his brain whether he should warn the Professor or not. Interrupting him while he read would be impolite, and he might take his well-intentioned warning badly. Yes, it was probably better to stay silent; at the moment, Bezel needed every goodwill he could get.

"Pfah!" Professor Sylven shook his head disapprovingly, his beard slipping out of the cup with a wet splat. "How vague, how vague!"

The Professor's eyes were still on the letter, so Bezel remained silent. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, the pair of shoes on his feet too tight for his comfort. They were necessary, though; the officer's uniform he wore—paired with Mira's letter—had considerably shortened the time needed for getting into Professor Sylven's office. Now, if only the shoes were a size or two larger...

"This is rather suspicious," Professor Sylven stated, looking up at Bezel above the rim of his glasses.

"Suspicious, Professor?" Bezel asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes, yes, suspicious. Whatever do you need a test subject for, hmm?"

"Uhm," Bezel cleared his throat awkwardly. "Apologies, Professor, but you raising a small army of Krinils up here is suspicious too, don't you think? We'd like to be aware what they are capable of."

"Therefore, you want me to lend you a test subject with an appropriate incubator," the Professor said, his doubt clear from his voice.

"Yes," Bezel confirmed. "We want to raise a single Krinil on our own, away from the laboratory."

"Suspicious, suspicious," Professor Sylven said, taking a sip of tea and immediately spitting it back out. "Ugh, this awful tea blend again."

"We believe it's a fair deal," Bezel said, coughing a bit to hide his smile. "We don't ask for much, and you will have a Krinil who grows up in a different environment. I may not be a scientist, but such things can be beneficial as an experiment, can they not?"

"Hmm, hmm."

"We also plan to return her eventually," Bezel added. "She wouldn't stay with us forever."

Professor Sylven looked at Bezel in surprise. "She?"

"Oh yes," Bezel said, "We've already chosen the Krinil we want. Her name is Lynn."

"Hmm, hmm," was all Professor Sylven said before standing up from his desk. He hobbled to the door and grabbed his cane, then exited the office without so much as glancing back. After a brief moment of hesitation, Bezel hurried after him.

The Research Facility was probably the cleanest place Bezel had ever been in. The walls were white and utterly without decoration, and the floor was made of some kind of smooth, semi-reflective material. The servants within the Facility were constantly at work, keeping the corridors and the numerous laboratories spotless clean. Bezel didn't know exactly what kind of experiments the scientists were working on here—apart from giving Krinils small, blue bodies and making the tracking mechanism for slave cuffs more sophisticated—but it was widely known that the Facility's location was ideal for all kinds of Krinil-related research.

"Lynn is one of the most intelligent specimen I have," Professor Sylven said as Bezel caught up to him. "She's made incredible progress lately. I firmly believe that after a few more sessions in the incubator, I'll be able to communicate with her properly. But you didn't happen to know about that, hmm?"

"Erm, no, I didn't."

"She managed to escape her pen recently, you know," the Professor said, tilting his head to look up at Bezel. "I heard that a tall, musclebound man brought her back. Lynn cried when she had to let him go—a truly a curious development, in my view."

"Musclebound, huh?" Bezel mused. "I wonder who that man was. Sounds like a nice guy."

The two of them arrived to the room the Krinils were usually kept in. It was a spacious chamber filled with toys and curious wooden structures, providing the small blue aliens plenty of opportunity to exercise their bodies. Two walls of the room were made of reinforced glass from ceiling to floor, providing clear view on the immaculate room and its occupants—who for some reason were all gathering at the wall closest to Bezel, their little faces plastered to the glass as they peered at him.

"Curious, truly curious," Professor Sylven said, rubbing his chin in thought.

Bezel shuffled his feet awkwardly, then raised a hand to wave at the Krinils—a motion that sent a couple of them scrambling away, hiding behind various objects. Most of them remained however, regarding Bezel with differing degrees of interest. Lynn was among the crowd too, pressing her tiny palm against the glass as if she wanted to push it out of the way.

"If you're a Krinfused of Rank C or less, I advise you to stay back for now," Professor Sylven said as he hobbled towards the entrance of the room. "These little creatures are tougher than they look."

Without much ceremony, the Professor pushed a combination of buttons on the wall and the metallic door slid open. At the same time a deep-purple, lazily swirling powerfield—a powerfield made out of boredom, of all things—sprang to life around the Professor. He leaned his cane against the wall and straightened his posture, a pair of phantom limbs forming at his side. None too soon, in fact; the Krinil boy closest to the door immediately tried to scuttle outside. The Professor grabbed the pair of horns curling back from the boy's forehead and tossed him back into the room, while his phantom limbs blocked the path of yet another Krinil.

"Stay!" the Professor croaked, raising his voice. "Abyss take you, stupid brats, I'll put you back in the incubator if you don't calm down this instant!"

Further shouting was cut off as the door slid close, and Bezel watched in silence as the Professor attempted to put the Krinils back in their place. The Krinils were slow to settle down and practically impossible to tame; seeing the Professor excited them, even if all he did was cuss and toss them around. In fact, Bezel suspected that the Krinils actually enjoyed being flung around, regarding it as a game. The appearance of three caretakers saved the Professor eventually, making it possible for him to grab Lynn and make a hasty retreat.

"Madness, madness," the Professor grumbled as the door closed behind him and Lynn. "This is why we need new houses."

"Hoozez?" Lynn stared up at the Professor with her big, amber-colored eyes.

"Yes, yes, houses. Divide you up nicely, so that you wicked imps don't bother me all at once. And you—" Professor Sylven shot a look at Bezel, "Before you take Lynn with you, I'm going to—"

"Bezze!" Lynn exclaimed, running towards Bezel—and tripping in her own feet almost immediately. Bezel winced as she planted her face into the ground, but when he knelt down to help her to her feet, he found Lynn completely unhurt—in fact, she was smiling broadly.

"I told you they're tougher than they look," Professor Sylven said with a touch of pride in his voice. "They are stronger than humans, too. Heal faster, resistant to diseases, can eat almost anything—this is the pinnacle of what our bodies could be, if we could ingest Krinil power perfectly."

"I see," Bezel said. He ruffled Lynn's silvery-white hair, making her squeal in joy. It felt strange to see her—someone with a six-year-old girl's body—behave like a toddler, but Bezel couldn't deny that it was very effective. He was already fond of the little girl. Lynn grabbed onto his wrist with both hands, clinging into it with her feet dangling in the air, swinging back and forth as she laughed.

"You better be careful," Professor Sylven commented. "Without a strong powerfield, you'll have serious trouble prying her off."

"I'll be fine, Professor. I'm not lacking in strength department."

"Yes, yes, I can see that," the Professor said. "Bah! Just don't say that I didn't warn you. Now, before you take Lynn away with you, I'm going to have to ask you to participate in a thorough examination."

Bezel looked up warily. "Examination?"

"Yes, yes, examination. Or you think I haven't noticed, hmm? The Krinils like you, officer. There's something unusual going on here, and I'm going to find out what it is. That's the only reason I'm leaving Lynn in your care."

"By Lady Dawngrove's orders—"

"I don't care one bit what Lady Dawngrove wrote in her letter," the Professor snapped. "I want to know what kind of connection Lynn has with you. It cannot be purely emotional, as none of the Krinils bonded the same way with their caretakers. No, no, it'll be something about your biology, or the Krinil gem inside you. A thorough checkup is in order."

"Lady Dawngrove put me on a tight schedule, Professor," Bezel hedged. "I don't think I have time for an examination now, but—perhaps next week?"

Professor Sylven narrowed his eyes behind his thick-framed glasses. "You aren't going to run away, hmm?"

Bezel couldn't help but smile at that. "I wish I could, Professor. I wish I could. As it stands currently, I'll be here at the Dawngrove estate for a long time."

"Looon taime!" Lynn babbled, letting go of Bezel's wrist and tumbling to the ground.

Professor Sylven watched silently as Bezel helped her up again, brushing back the hair that had fallen over her face. He then readjusted the simple shirt she wore, while Lynn made some clumsy attempts to grab onto his fingers.

"Alright, alright," the Professor conceded. "Next week, then. I'll ask my assistant to draw up a paper about it. I know that you officers like your fancy papers."

Things went more or less smoothly after that, to Bezel's pleasant surprise.

The people at the Research Facility wasn't keen on wasting time on useless formalities either, which he and Lynn appreciated very much. An hour later everything was already arranged and Bezel was trudging on the cobblestone road leading away from the research facility. Lynn sat on his shoulders, playing with his hair as she blabbered something happily, apparently not too disconcerted about leaving the rest of her kin behind.

It was a warm, sunny day—the last one of the week—and Bezel enjoyed the simplicity of walking back home along the winding road. The forest was beautiful, as always. All those years spent here hadn't been enough to dim the beauty of the mountain and its surroundings. It wasn't to say that Bezel wouldn't have minded some variety, but he had no complaints either. He loved this side of nature—but, most importantly, ever since he got his powers the area which he could explore had expanded greatly. One could reach far and wide if they had powerful legs.

Bezel's good mood wasn't only because of the weather, though. Things were changing up in his life—and they were changing up fast. Exciting, wonderfully exciting. He had gotten used to solitude in the past few years, and suddenly now he'd be sharing his chamber with not one, but two people! It would be a tight fit for such a small chamber, but they'd manage.

"You're going to get your own corner," Bezel told Lynn, patting her knee. "They are going to give us your incubator tomorrow."

"Naaa!" Lynn said, pulling on Bezel's hair. "Naa, incu!"

"I know you don't like it, but you gotta grow. Your brain needs to catch up to your body!"

"Bodie?"

Bezel sighed. "I hope the tank will fit into the room. Mira plans to bring in some of her belongings, and Heaven knows how much space a Lady like her would actually need. The entire chamber wouldn't be enough for her probably, not even if she was its sole occupant. But don't worry! I won't allow her to go overboard. You'll have your own place."

"Plaiz!"

"I guess we could throw out some of my gadgets," Bezel continued after, turning off the road. They were nearing the valley where the entrance to the chamber was located. "The flamethrower is nice, but the fuel packs take up too much space. Besides, it's not even that effective in the rain. Hmm, what else? I guess some of the bookcases could go as well. I've already read everything that interested me, and those few books that I want to keep could be placed on top of the altar. Come to think of it, we could place a couple of cabinets on top of the altar, and—"

Bezel paused for a moment as he felt something wet on his scalp.

"Lynn!" he exclaimed, "Stop— Stop chewing on my head! Hey!"

"Blegh!"

"Of course it's blegh, it's not edible. Not tasty!"

"Tastie?"

"No! People are no food, understand? Ugh, I wish they could have lent us a caretaker for a day or two. I know they are too busy with the other Krinils, but . . . well, just look at me."

"Bezze!" Lynn said, patting Bezel’s head.

"Yeah, well, it seems like you’re stuck with me. At least this way, we don’t have to share the chamber with your caretaker. The fewer people know about that place, the less—what the hell is going on here?"

The valley below them was abuzz with activity, men in servant’s clothes carrying various furniture to and fro. They had already built a wooden structure to make accessing the entrance easier, and was currently busy trying to fit an enormous mattress through the opening.

"Lynn, hold on," Bezel said, then took two running steps before launching himself to the air, jumping down to the valley.

"Wee!" Lynn squealed as they soared through the air, Bezel holding on to her feet to keep her in place. He landed right next to the servants, making them whirl around in surprise.

"What the—"

"What do you think you’re doing?" Bezel boomed, glaring at the men. The effect was slightly undermined by Lynn’s joyful laughter, though.

"Aggin, aggin!"

"L-Lady Dawngrove’s orders, sir," one of the servants stammered, averting his eyes from Lynn to take note of Bezel’s uniform.

"I don’t care one bit what Lady Dawngrove ordered," Bezel thundered. "You there, in the back! Put down my aquarium! And you, do you know how much that device is worth?! If I see it got damaged I’m going to scalp you!"

"Sir, we can’t—"

"Just wait here, understood? I’m going to settle this with Lady Dawngrove."

The men hurried to clear the way as Bezel advanced, yanking the mattress back from the entrance. He lifted Lynn off his shoulders—the ceiling was just barely high enough not to hit his own head—and marched down the corridor, hugging the little girl to his chest.

Lynn found the trip extremely amusing as evidenced by her flailing hands and the laughter, but Bezel barely paid her any attention. He wasn’t angry, not exactly, just . . . disappointed. What was Mira thinking? Showing the Static Chamber to so many servants was just asking for trouble, even if none of them knew about the time loop.

Bezel marched through the open door, finding Mira overseeing two servants as they were busy setting up a—not too surprisingly—double-sized bedframe. The rest of the room was such a mess that it almost gave Bezel a heart-attack. Most of his stuff was piled around his bed, so much so that the bed itself wasn’t even visible. Clothes, food crates, books, weapons, all thrown together in one big heap. Bezel felt his mood darkening even further.

"Slave! Finally, you’re back," Mira said, turning towards him with her arms crossed. "Help these two dimwits assemble my bed. They’ve been at it for so long now that I am considering flogging them."

Bezel put Lynn down gingerly, then took her little hands and lifted them up to her face.

"Lynn, cover your eyes please," he said, then straightened back up and cracked his knuckles. "Things are going to get violent."