Tales of Yibixus: Elm (Patreon)

Elm (Aka: The Doctor)

 

Lina leans against the wall, waiting. Fully armored, she looks ready for battle, but her expression tells Otto otherwise. She’s smiling at him as he approaches her from the other end of the corridor.

“Morning, sleepy,” Lina greets warmly, adjusting how her sword sits on her belt. “I trust everything was to you’re liking?”

Otto’s night was pleasant. He’s never stayed in such comfortable surroundings before. Elm’s facility is like a paradise compared to his family home. Not once did the power go out—very unusual in these times of peril. He also had access to all the sweet treats he could think of. Even Javi cake, his favourite.

“Uhuh,” Otto replies as she stands a little nervously just in front of the warrior who saved him the night before.

Lina wipes her nose and wrinkles her face for a moment. “So erm…,” she says reluctantly. “You might see some things today that are…” Lina looks around the room and rolls her head. “Things that are a little strange.”

Lina refocuses her gaze on the young Grimalkin in front of her. “You’re going to have questions, I’m sure,” she continues with a smile. “But if I can ask you to keep them to yourself—you’ll soon get what you want from us.”

Lina reaches out and softly puts a paw on his shoulder. Otto looks at her and feels she’s being honest and caring for him. Something his family has never shown him. Being born male wasn’t what they wanted, and they treated him as such.

“Sure,” Otto agrees, nodding his head. “I’m ready to help. I’ve been practicing my portals in my room like you asked.”

Lina’s smile grows wider. “How many can you make per second?”

“Three sets of twins,” he replies, raising a single paw to his chest. “Look.”

Allowing his claws to be exposed, Otto draws a portal in the blink of an eye. Before them both, a small but vibrant portal hangs in the space between them. Lina quickly takes her paw from his shoulder and gasps.

Honestly surprised at just how easily he was able to produce one, Lina’s mouth falls open. She struggled as a kitten herself with portals, and everything she’s ever been told about male Grimalkins is now in question. How was he able to do that with such precision and ease?

“Very good,” she says, raising a paw to the small coin-sized portal. “Where’s its twin?”

Pleased as punch and very excited, Otto bounces on his hind legs. “It’s above you,” he answers with a wide grin.

Slowly looking up, Lina is greeted by the sight of Otto looking down at her from above. It’s the mirror of the portal directly in front of them.

“So small,” Lina says, reaching up to the portal above her. “How is that even possible? Without a sword, too.”

Lina quickly gives the smiling Otto a curious look. “I’ve never seen such mastery. Are you sure you aren’t like a Formador or something?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, pretty sure,” Otto replies, showing Lina his body. “I wouldn’t still be in this male body if I was.”

Lina raises an eyebrow. She’s not sure that’s how it works. “I didn’t think Formadors could use their gifts for their own gain?”

Otto furrows his brow and looks like he’s thinking. As he lowers his paw the portal snaps from existence. “No idea,” he chuckles. “I’m not one, remember…”

Lina rustles her whiskers and looks in thought herself. “Good point.”

Bringing herself back to the job at hand, Lina looks down the corridor behind her at the large and very solid-looking metal doors. They are so large it looks like it would take legions to move them. It’s almost like whatever is behind them—Elm doesn’t want it to escape.

“See those heavy metal doors,” Lina says. “Behind it is where the doctor keeps the Remnant. It’s the selee extraction chamber.”

Otto looks around her, and for some reason, he gets goosebumps all over. Almost like he’s remembering a deep, dark nightmare that he’s tried desperately to forget.

“The Remnant?” he asks, almost nervous to ask about it.

“An alien artifact,” Lina answers, her tone very serious and businesslike. “It’s the basis of all our current technologies. Selee energy is a direct result. The doctor hopes he can harness its power and put an end to our energy needs. Right now, it fights us. We’re working on making it compliant to our needs.”

Otto shivers as the chill goes down his spine. Something is telling him to leave and never come back.

“Don’t look so worried, my little kitten,” Lina laughs, nudging him playfully in the side. “With you’re help we are going to tame it for the betterment of all Grimalkin kind. All of our wishes will come true!”

“We are?”

“Yes!”

“Me?” Otto asks, feeling extremely out of his depth.

Lina just looks at him. She can tell he’s nervous, and she doesn’t want to scare him away. Their ability to get close and experiment on the Remnant rests on Otto’s ability to neutralize its defenses. However, Lina thinks that maybe Otto needs the correct motivation.

“Come,” Lina says softly, ushering Otto to a room just off from the heavy metal door at the end of the corridor. I want to meet someone.”

Following her, she leads him into a control room of sorts. The room has a large reenforced glass window alone one wall, and the rest of the room is filled to the brim with equipment. Standing in the room alone, at the large window, is Doctor Elm.

He greets both Lina and Otto with a warm smile.

However, that’s not what Otto’s gaze is drawn to. Beyond the large window in the room is a massive expanse of a room. It’s Dark, very large and spherical. Rainbow arks of lightning constantly strike the thick spherical walls. It’s a containment facility—of that Otto is sure.

“Ahh,” Elm steps away from his monitoring console. “Otto, my boy. Welcome.”

Otto is speechless as he walks further into the room, guided by Lina. He can see a small but fiercely bright object at the center of the containment room beyond the window. It’s so bright that Otto has to shield his eyes.

“Brilliant, isn’t it?” Elm suggests, reacting to Otto seeing the Remnant for the first time.

Otto doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to be rude to the doctor, but being this close to it gives him the chills. Whatever that thing is—Otto’s instincts are telling him to run. It’s clearly not natural.

There’s a silence as Otto just stares throw the window. Flashes of color light up the room, and several instruments beep and react. He gets the feeling that the machinery here is doing its best to cage that bright object.

“My boy,” Elm says, stepping closer to him. “Are you sick of all these wars? Are you sick of the constant rationing and power outages? Are you sick of our society and how…. unfair it is?”

Otto tears his gaze from the Remnant to look at Elm’s curious expression. Having struggled with being male all his life, he is indeed angry about all those things Elm just spoke about. “Yes,” Otto nods, but his expression remains dour.

Elm stands beside the young Grimalkin and turns his body to face the glass separating them from the containment room. “That thing in there,” Elm says in an almost fatherly tone. “It’s going to change everything. We are going to break it apart and make it bow to our species' natural dominance.”

“H-how?”

Elm cracks a smile. “Very, very good question!”

“Doctor,” Lina interrupts, standing just behind them both. “I think we should introduce Otto to Lea.”

“Yes,” Elm replies, pushing his heavy-looking glasses up his nose. “Good idea. Come this way.”

Having both turned to face Lina, Elm moves away from the large glass window and to the back of the room. Lina and Otto follow.

The back of the room has several large crates and supplies. It almost looks like someone has been living door here with empty food packets strewn around the place. It's not the sort of thing you’d expect to see in a science facility.

Elm stops beside what appears to be a cage. He stands beside it and rests his body against it. “This is Lea,” Elm explains, giving Otto the widest grin. “She’s a Formador, and she’s going to assist us in our endeavor.”

Otto approaches and the uneasy feeling is only getting worse. Although Elm and Lina are very welcoming, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s got himself into something he shouldn’t have.

The cage is about half the size of Elm, with large, thick bars. Otto has to bend down to look inside it. As he does, he’s shocked to see what’s cowering inside.

Otto gasps and stumbles backward as he sees the terrified eyes of a young female Grimalkin staring back at him. She looks at him, petrified. He’s stunned at just how young the girl in the cage is. She can’t be old enough to be here alone.

“Wha…,” Otto tries to speak, but his throat has gone dry.

As Otto stumbles back and away from the cage, he considers running for his life. However, he backs into Lina, who stands like a brick wall between him and the door.

“Don’t look so worried, my dear boy,” Elm laughs, pushing the glasses up his nose once again. “We aren’t hurting young Lea here. She knows that once she’s helped us with our operation, she is free to go home.”

Having bumped into Lina, Otto nervously tilts his head back to look up at her. He sees Lina looking down at him. Her face is stern and very unfriendly. Like she’s ready to strike him down if he doesn’t agree.

“Lea,” Elm continues, tapping the top of Lea’s cage. “She’s going to enhance those natural abilities of yours, Otto. Then, once you’ve used that wonderful portal gift of yours to help me break apart the Remnant—I will allow her to transform you into a female.”

Otto bends down to look at Lea in the cage. Smug, he reaches in to touch her. “You’re going to be a good girl, aren’t you?”

Lea tries her best to back away from the doctor, but she can’t. She’s like a caged animal, scared and worried for her life. Otto wants nothing but to help her, but he neither has the ability too nor the courage.

“This is Otto,” Elm says to Lea, looking back over his shoulder at Otto. “He’s a very special young man. He’s going to be vital in our little experiment here.”

Lina places her hand firmly on Otto’s shoulder as Elm speaks. It’s not like before—comforting and warm—it’s cold and firm.

“We are going to make history!” Elm laughs manically. “The Remnant will bend and bow to my genius! All of Yibixus will rejoice to the sound of my name!”