What a Wonderball World

[Pepper Krasniqi]

DATE: 7/20/23
LOCATION: L-14
ASSETS: ACF-7823-A, “Peppers”; Venus Votticelli-Smith; ACF-1337, “The Black Ball”
EQUIPMENT: What is needed
PURPOSE:First time experimentation

“Staring at the blank page before you, open up a dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find…” Pepper sang softly as she walked around the lab and ensured that everything was in place. She was just waiting on Venus and their newest anomaly to show up. The day had started with a direct request that Pepper handle the examination of the newest anomaly, simply dubbed “The Black Ball”, due to its potentially extradimensional appearance. In other words, the thing had appeared from fucking nowhere right into the containment cell of One Zero Ze- Ira. Her name was Ira, and Pepper was due to meet her for the first time soon. It would do her well to remember the girl’s name and start thinking of her as such early.

But back to the Black Ball. They had decided it was seemingly sentient, and Pepper was ready to test just how sentient it really was. It was also her job to determine the best way to keep the thing contained. It had appeared unhostile, which was a great start for their process. That said, they were meant to have an agent present at all times. She believed said agent was going to be Ashley Newman, whom Pepper had interacted with on a few occasions. The woman was nice, if very intimidating in appearance, with her shaved head and tattoos that traced up the back of her head. She had two kids and her husband was a firefighter. Ashley would be a great agent to have in the lab.

Pepper looked around the room. She had set up an obstacle course of sorts, as well as several stations for different kinds of containment attempts. There were different kinds of boxes scattered around, all of different materials. The thing was supposedly small, so it wouldn’t need a big CU when they were done, and it meant Pepper could try many more containment methods than usual. She mentally counted all of the stations and came to the right number in her head. Everything was in place.

 

[Katpride]

Safety goggles? Check. Gloves? Check. Lab coat? Check. Outfit meets regulations. Hair back and out of the face. All good to go.

Venus practically glows with excitement as she double- and triple-checks everything in the prep room mirror. Her first proper experiment! She can’t help bouncing a little as she makes her way to the lab - no, the testing chamber! That sounds so much more official.

She taps her keycard against the scanner. It beeps green. The handle catches a little and then turns. She takes a deep breath and pushes the door open, her very own clipboard tucked tightly against her chest in her opposite hand.

“Hello Dr. Pepper!” She calls, gently shutting the door behind her and practically floating over. But not actually floating, because she can’t do that. She drifts to a stop by her advisor, looking over the equipment that’s been set out. “I’m here to help!”

Her smile is radiant, one stray curl bobbing out of place but kept corralled behind her headband.

 

[Dark Lord Kyzer]

A pair of human males escorted the creature in what they'd called a "Containment/Transport Unit", a cylindrical glass box of sorts that sat atop a self-propelled cart. The security team was armed with rifle-like weapons that were supposed to incapacitate just about any living creature, but they didn't have to use it on the captured anomalous orb-monster. They (along with a few other men) had simply picked it up and placed it inside the containment unit while a team of others did what they could to restrain ACF-1003.

The pair entered the research lab with the little containment cart, one smiling politely to the two women inside while the other began prepping the cart to offload its cargo.

"Apologies for the short notice, but the security team wasn't really sure what to even do with this thing," the smiling security agent said as he handed over a datasheet. It contained an updated report on the situation with ACF-1003 as well as the security form that would effectively make this little black creature not his problem.

The Ball watched all of this without much acknowledgement. For the briefest of moments (a time literally so small as to require a computer and a degree in physics to mathematically prove), the Ball thought of the small female child it had left behind before focusing on the cylindrical glass cage it had been occupying. Heavily reinforced plastics combined with trace amounts of metals. To be absolutely frank, the creature didn't understand why it was even in the glass tube, but it had also decided that it didn't particularly mind. The sealed container reduced the ever-present sound of sloshing, slipping, sucking, blowing, and grinding all ofthe organic life around it made at all times. Once again it wondered how they could tolerate such constant cacophony, but the answer was simple: they didn't hear it. They'd grown deaf to their own biological ambient noise.

The Ball decided that it was probably necessary in order for the biologics to not incinerate themselves at birth. After all, this was the most reasonable course of action to its logical sensibilities.

The creature heard the biologics having a conversation in their primitive language, but quickly ruled that it did not particularly care. The delicate atomic structure of the glass was more interesting.

And thus...the Ball wiggled.

 

[Pepper Krasniqi]

Before Pepper could do much other than acknowledge that Venus had shown up– A brisk nod in her direction– the security team arrived. Pepper frowned as she noted the absence of Ashley. That only lasted for a moment as the woman walked in shortly after the rest of the team, all smiles. “Dr. Pepper, good to see you again. Who’s your intern?”

Pepper smiled back and gestured toward Venus. “This is Venus. She’s going to assist me today.”

The young woman reached out and accepted the paperwork, quickly scanning it to make sure it had the proper signatures and relevant boxes filled out before she filled out her acceptance of the anomaly. She handed the top sheet back to the security team, who accepted it and turned tail and left. Maybe just a little too fast, but Pepper paid it no mind.

The imposing figure of Ashley moved forward and offered a hand to Venus, her palm tattooed with a winding snake, whose mouth wrapped around the fleshy bit of her thumb, visible and upturned. “Agent Newman. Good to meet you, Venus.”

Pepper paid them very little attention as she walked over to the black ball in the container, her eyes shining bright with curiosity and excitement. Now this, this was interesting. She tapped the glass gently, as if worried she’d scare it like a fish. She gave it a little wave and grinned. “Well hello there, little guy. What are you?”

 

[Katpride]

Venus stays where she is as a lot of people in security uniforms enter the lab. Many of them are toting guns, and while they don’t look like the traditional kind her eyes still go a little wide. There’s something unreadable in her expression, a kind of too-stillness that lingers past the door swinging closed behind the officers.

For a moment words are only so much buzzing in her ears, and then there’s someone standing in front of her. Venus blinks the fuzz out of her vision, shaking her head slightly. Then, realizing she’s been staring blankly at the chest of a stranger without seeing it, she very quickly directs her gaze further upwards.

“Um. Sorry. Hi, I’m Venus.” She takes the offered hand and shakes it, not lingering any longer than is polite. Her smile feels just a little wooden, and she very smoothly sidesteps Agent Newman in order to patter over to the containment… container.

“Do you need me to do anything, Dr Pepper?” A task would be great. Just the thing to get the lingering anxiety off her mind.