Career: Research Team Member

Today was my first official day of joining the research team in Chikagakure. I remember the day I had first applied for the job which was filled with hours and hours of paperwork that needed to be filled. Week after week I waited for them to send word. I at first began to lose hope but finally I had gotten a message that said I had been accepted. The message told me what I needed to bring with me and what day I needed to show up. I grew tired of waiting as the days passed but soon the day came and I was trying hard to contain my excitement. I don’t know why, but I had always found myself with how and why things work. I liked to try and go into depth with things and to find the answers to problems. It just made me feel like someone important. I got myself ready and made my way over to where the lab was located which was somewhere in the Spire. I remembered buildings that I had pasted on my first visit and everything slowly began to come back to me. It had taken me a few minutes longer than usual because I took the longer way around because at this time in Chika, the roads were filled with people and I above all hate crowds. When I approached the entrance, I swiftly went inside. I had my hood on and the people who were inside just stared at me. I looked at them all and I slowly took my hood off to reveal my facial features. Some bits of my silver hair were tucked within my hood but I didn’t care. I saw the receptionist desk and made my way over to there. The lady there was somewhat round and had brown hair that went past her shoulders. Her face was a little pudgy and it had given her a look that made you think she had an attitude. Surely enough; though, she greeted me with a smile. Welcome, how may I help you? I returned the smile. My name is Maikeru and I am here to work my first day here. I received this message awhile back that confirmed my approval. I took the paper out from my pocket and gave it to the round lady. She looked at it for a few moments, read it, and handed it back to me. Ah, yes Maikeru. Dr. Tetury is expecting you. You will be shadowing him for the first few times and soon he will see if you are able to work on your own. She had pressed a button on her desk and said the man’s name. A few minutes later, a tall and slim man came walking into the room from a pair of double doors. Maikeru, pleased to see that you could make it. The name is Dr. Tetury and I am the one who runs the lab here, but you can just call me Tet. He put his hand out and I gave it a firm shaking. Pleased to meet you Dr. Tetury. I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time and I wasn’t sure if you were going to accept me. I tried not to sound as if I were complaining. The man gave me a broad smile. Ah, sorry to put you through all of that. The Yamakage is quite the man who likes to keep things tight around here. He then put a hand on my shoulder and gestured towards the doors that he had just come out of. I followed him through the doors and I was greeted by a large white hallway with probably thirty or more doors on either side. I gave a low whistle. Tet turned his head towards me and smiled. Oh, there’s plenty more rooms and hallways than what you see here. You see, we are gradually walking down into the very earth of the mountain. At the end of this hallway is a flight of stairs that lead to four different levels, each reaching farther and farther into the mountain. My office is located on the fourth floor where we keep the high confidential stuff. I was amazed by how large this lab actually was. What kind of things? I was curious but I expected what he would say next. Well if I told you, then it wouldn’t be confidential. He let out a small laugh and pointed at the door that was at the end. After going through all of that boring and long paperwork that you filled out, we believe that you’ve got potential. So we, including most of the other staff members, have approved you to be stationed on the second level. So if you could please follow me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I get a job and I’m already promoted to the second level, things were looking pretty good for me. We went down the stairs which took a few minutes and soon we were on the second floor. We were greeted by the same looking hallway but this had actual people going in and out of the hall. Tet led me over to a small room that had a table with equipment that I presumed was used in testing. Alright, first rule of researching is to always take notes. Secondly, don’t die. Things are always at risk in a lab so be on your toes. He gave a small laugh and we went over to the table. There were already some tubes filled with odd looking liquids. We both grabbed a seat and sat down. Mostly in level two we look into the studies of botany. We look at easy cures and also poisons by mixing certain plants with heat and water. Here we have some tubes filled with a poison. The rest of the tubes are filled with antidotes that we believe might cure it. A caravan had come across an odd looking flower and had brought it to us. We first tested it on rats they died shortly afterward. We tried it on some other animals thinking that it may be poisonous to some and not others, but it killed all of the other test subjects. He picked up the tube that was holding the poison and looked at it for some time. He put it down and from a hidden compartment, pulled out a cage that held three rats the size of my fist. After the poison was given, we took note that the poison killed the victim slowly. It travels across that veins and shuts down all of your organs, your heart and brain being the last. It takes roughly two or three minutes to kill the victim. Here, we have three rats and three test tubes that have a possible cure. We are going to find which one is the right cure. He took out an instrument that looked like something to feed the rats with. He gave one to me. Here, take this and get some of the poison in it. When ready, we will feed it to the rats. We must then wash it and fill it with the antidotes and feed it to the rats and wait to see which one will live. I looked at the instrument and filled it with some of the purple liquid. Tet had one in each hand and was already feeding two rats. I quickly put the instrument through the cage and waited for the rat to come. It put its mouth at the end and I started to squeeze the end so drops of the liquid would enter the mouth. We then washed them we filled them up with the antidotes and did the same process. I’ll keep a close eye on my two rats while you focus on your one. I nodded in agreement and watched with a keen eye. The rat seemed to be doing fine. It moved around a lot, sniffed at the others and kept moving around. I noticed that the other two weren’t doing as well. They were laying out and breathing heavily. In a matter of seconds the two soon passed away into the afterlife. I looked at mine and he was still doing well. Well it looks like its your lucky day! Well done son. He immediately began to right down things on a notepad. I gave my attention back to the rat. It was starting to breathe heavy and was sweating a lot. Soon, it was laying on its stomach breathing even louder. Dr. Tet, wait! He looked up quickly at what I was showing him and he gave a puzzled look. Hmmm, it appears I acted too hastily. That’s too bad, I was hoping that it would have worked. He had a face of disappointment and started to cross out what he was writing. If I may, I believe we have the cure right in front of us. He looked up at me slowly and tilted his head. Oh? How so? As you could clearly see, the rat that you fed died, not lived. Sure for a few moments longer but death is death. His arms were crossed and he was waiting for my response. Yes, the rat did die and it did live longer but we can improvise. We could use a higher concentration of that antidote and perhaps it will be strong enough to neutralize it. We could just simply conduct more tests by using that kind of serum. A broad smile went across his face. We would have to be cautious though. We would have to find the max amount of the serum one can take without having to cause more problems. There’s also the idea o combining two or more serums together so that it may have a better or perhaps a quicker chance of neutralizing it. He looked at me for a few moments and let out a laugh. Well done Maikeru. You might show us some promise after all. That concludes are research for the day and next time around you can handle this project on your own. Do you know the way out? I nodded at him and shook his hand and bid farewell. Well that seemed to go well. Perhaps this won’t be as hard as I had thought it would be. I made my way to the exit and began my journey back home.