The atmosphere was a thick stress storm of irritated scientists. Their sweat dripped down over the desks they slaved over, shards of Eridium scattered all over the cramped lab. The petite lab overseer was a loud grumpy monster, ever demanding for results. Yet, no matter how loud she screamed and how hard the scientists worked, no results were ever made. The Eridium refused to be purified despite what was done to it, and everyone was at their whits end, all except Clay.
With every failure he found determination. When the overseer shrieked and insulted him, he was filled with the enslaving need to prove her wrong. A small smile would creep over his lips whenever a fellow worker failed for the millionth time, he would be the first, he had to be, this was his life now. Clay was completely swallowed with the obsession of completing his task. All thoughts of escape were long forgotten. He used his new work to distract him of all the sorrow filled memories that lingered in his mind. His past ambitions, his seething hate for Braden, his love for A and...Tabitha...he pushed all those feelings within. What good were they to him now? Eridium, that's what mattered, purify the Eridium.
Purify the Eridium.
Purify the Eridium....
“Purify the Eridium.” Clay muttered under his breath. He tightened the last screw on a makeshift device he had thrown together. It was a simple conductor spawned from a half baked idea he had after watching the microwave explode from cooking too much Eridium.
He gave a small cackle as the conductor began to hum, it was music to his ears. Across the room the overseer turned her head, the strange purring from the device catching her attention. She raised a brow, watching as Clay placed a single shard of the purple stone in between two points. He flipped a switch and immediately a loud buzz shot through the room. The workers jumped in fear, shrinking behind their desks. Bursts and sparks of electricity shot from the small device. Clay's eyes sparkled with anticipation as the bolts grew larger and began to fly in every direction.
“PUT YOUR MASKS ON!” The overseer demanded. Everyone obeyed at once, all except Clay who was completely entranced by his own creation. His hair stood on end as a violet watt zipped past his face. Purple smoke began to waft from the Eridium shard, surrounding the scientist like a cloud. He could hardly see the stone through the smog, but he knew he had it. Finally, after weeks of experiments and failures, he was doing it.
The neon purple fumes blurred his vision and clung to his skin. A cough escaped him as he struggled to keep his eyes open. A tingle began to shiver through his nervous and he couldn't tell if he felt incredibly ill, or overpoweringly revived. Suddenly there was a tug on his lab coat and a mask was forced over his face.
“Put this on you idiot!” The voice of his overseer rang in his ears. She strapped the tight bands around his head before taking a step back from the smoking table. She grabbed his hand and yanked Clay backwards roughly. The suffocating waves of violet clouds filled the cramped lab room before it finally settled down. Purple stains littered the floor, walls and lab coats, a reminder of the previous puff explosion. On the table the conductor had stopped sparking, and the Eridium shard was replaced with a puddle of shiny purple slime. He had done it! Well...kind of.
“I overdid it.” Clay muttered into his mask, all eyes on his failed experiment. His overseer was quiet, staring at the mess lying on his lab table. Finally she pushed her mask up, casting sharp glares to the other scientists who were still standing around confused.
“Get back to work you hopeless idiots.” She snarled, her hand moving to the metal pole strapped to her belt. The workers scurried back to their stations, none willing to be bludgeoned to death. Once the lab fell back into routine, she turned up to Clay, grabbing his wrist.
“Come with me.” She ordered. Clay gulped, this was it, he had failed for the last time. He wanted to refuse, but the small woman had a grip like a vice and practically dragged him out of the labs. As they walked, she pulled out her ECHO device.
“I've got another scientist for the projects.” She blurted through the device.
“Bring them down, we lost a good one today and have a gap open.” A strange voice replied back.
“Already on my way.” His overseer crammed her ECHO back inside her pocket before yanking Clay towards an elevator.
“Where are we going?” Clay managed through his mask. She had rushed him out of the lab so fast, he hadn't had time to remove it from his face. The overseer grunted, swiping her work card over a computer in the elevator, granting her access to special floors.
“I am taking you to your new job here. Back in the lab you successfully extracted Slag from the Eridium shard.” She huffed.
“Slag...I thought we were supposed to be purifying the Eridium.” Clay stammered.
“Yes, that was the assignment. However, extracting Slag from Eridium is much harder than Purifying it. Once the Eridium is purified, then the scientists can move on to phase two. However, your little conductor packed so much electricity in it, it was able to Slag the Eridium almost instantly. Pretty impressive for an ex-miner.” She looked him once over before turning her head back to the elevator door, waiting patiently for it to open.
“Well I was a scientist before I was a miner.” Clay corrected.
“Yeah, that's what all those chumps say. Always complaining about the amazing work they used to do and how they can't believe they've been demoted down so far. Well, none of them are as special as they think they are, otherwise they wouldn't be in there trying to microwave Eridium like popcorn kernels.” She rolled her eyes, clearly exasperated just thinking about the lab she oversaw.
Once the elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid open, Clay was shoved out into a poorly lit hallway. The first thing he registered was a shrill shriek echoing down the corridor, making the hair on his neck stand on end. The petite overseer didn't seem as if she had even heard it, and walked down the halls like it wasn't the darkest corner of Hyperion that ever existed. Clay shivered as he stepped around red and purple smears across the hall floors. They passed a single door covered in claw marks, the sound of yelping creatures seeped from the room. Clay quickened his pace to keep up with the fearless woman, this was not a place he wanted to get lost in.
They came across a single employee, well, Clay assumed he was an employee. His face was covered with a mask similar to his own, but his hair was singed and burn, still smoking at the tips. His clothes had so many purple stains, that Clay wasn't sure what color the fabric had originally been. The man himself seemed dazed, or perhaps tipsy. He swayed down the hallways as if he was on a tossing ship at sea, muttering slurs under his breath. The man payed no attention to Clay and the overseer as they passed, and instead slipped into another door along the hall.
After what felt an eternity, Clay was ushered into another room similar to the bedroom he had been given on his arrival. That was when he realized that he had been damned to lived down in the dimly lit, blood stained hell hole. Another scream of pure agony rattled through the walls and Clay knew there was no way he could reside down here. He would surely go insane. Immediately he turned to plead with his overseer, beg her to let him keep his old bedroom, but she was gone, and he was alone.
Fearing the wondering man would sneak into his room, he slammed the door and twisted the lock. He didn't feel safe, not even in the slightest. He had fallen asleep in one of his mining tunnels before, but this....this was way worse. It was like being in a haunted house, he doubted he would get any rest at all.
As Clay sat on his new bed and fretted over the dangers of this secret floor he had been moved to, his ECHO device began to speak from his pocket.
“Doctor Clay,” It began as he fumbled to take it out. “I trust you have every thing you need in your new room.” Clay recognized the voice to be the same that had talked to him back on his first day.
“Uh...yes sir. Although I do wonder how safe I am down here.” He commented, perhaps this person can be reasoned with.
“Yes it's best to keep your wits about you down there on floor X. I'm sure your previous overseer filled you in.” The man on the other end commented.
“No! Is there something important I need to know? What is my new job? Where is it? Who is down here screaming!? It's driving me crazy and I've only been here for five minutes!” Clay lost his cool. He must have been a sight, completely flustered and with his mask still on his head.
“Uhm...what do I sound like, a guidance counselor? Pull yourself together Dr. Clay, I took you to be a man of high intelligence, but here you are whining like a pr-teen going through puberty.” The man snorted. “On your bed is your new ID card, it grants you access to this floor and a few others, depending on what you need. You are to leave your room in thirty minutes and proceed down the hall to your right. There you will find a room protected by two guards. Flash your ID and step inside. In here you will find the project overseer. She will train you on everything you need to know.” And with that, his ECHO clicked and the voice was gone.
Clay could feel his heart drop, he hated this strange way of management. He had no clue who his new boss was or what his new job even was. He was being moved around the facility all willy nilly and it made him long for the simpleness of the mines.
“Mason didn't do this crap to me.” He scoffed, recalling his old boss. Sure Mason was the worst and Clay dreaded every moment of interaction with him, but at least the man had been forward and direct with what he expected from Clay. There was no beating around the bush or pointless project re-assignments. He was never moved from his lab until his promotion and even then he kept his old lab as well. Mason wasn't elusive, hiding behind his ECHO instead of speaking with Clay in person.
“At least I knew Mason's name!” Clay blurted from frustration, flopping down onto the bed. It was hard to picture who the voice across the ECHO belonged to. He had no clue if his boss was short, tall, thin, wide or perhaps he was deformed. But Clay would never know because the man refused to show himself. However, Clay didn't blame him.
“If I was boss man, I wouldn't come down to this creepy hole of a floor to meet...anyone.” He decided.
After nearly thirty minutes of grumbling to himself, he followed the instructions his boss had given him and set off to find his new overseer. For some odd reason he still had his mask plastered over his face. He would have taken it off, but he feared as soon as he did, something terrible might happen. He didn't want to end up like the mysterious man he had seen wandering the halls. It was the only thing shielding his face, and it would remain that way until he felt remotely safe.
He soon found that the shrieks and groans of pain never ceased to haunt the shadowy halls. He compared it to a dank dungeon with hidden torture chambers. His mind raced trying to figure out what his new job could possibly be. Executioner, janitor, creator of torture devices? These all seemed like logical possibilities down on floor X. However, his stressed guessing was put to an end when he stepped passed the guards and into the room he had been directed to. Inside was another lab and immediately all his worries melted away. He could feel a heavy weight lift from his shoulders and he subconsciously moved the mask off his face, he was comfortable here. The lab was mostly void of people, save for two scientists who were studying what appeared to be Slag under a microscope. They payed him no mind and continued with their work, stopping occasionally to jot something down.
If this was his new work space, he was more than pleased to be there. It was a far nicer contrast to the blood stained horror halls of hair raising howls.
“Dr. Clay?” A voice called from behind making poor Clay practically jump out of his skin. He zipped his head around to meet a tall tanned man with what appeared to be a robotic arm. It hung by his side idly and Clay could only assume he lost the real thing in some horrible accident here on floor X.
“We are so glad to have a new scientist with us.” The man beamed. Clay looked about wondering what he meant by “we”, but no one else accompanied him and the other two scientists were still pretending he wasn't there.
“T-thank you? I'm slightly confused as to what exactly I'm supposed to be doing.” He confessed.
“Oh don't worry about that.” The man's smile widened. He stepped beside Clay and plopped his robotic limb onto Clay's shoulder. “You will have all kinds of different jobs down here. My name is Nygard, I am your new overseer.”
Clay wanted to move across to the far side of the room, but Nygard's arm was far too heavy and had him pinned to his side.
“N-nice to...meat you.” Clay stammered, his shoulders were beginning to ache. Nygard began to guide Clay through the lab and out into a smaller office. Bright computers lined the desk and stacks upon stacks of paper filled the room. Charts, spread sheets, diagrams, and even a few blue-prints were pinned to the walls.
“This will be your first task down here. Our secret project is all about researching the effects of Slag on organic life. Our...boss has assigned us with creating this all powerful laser eye of sorts. Most of the blue-prints for it have been drawn up already. He plans to use the Eye of the Destroyer as a super weapon. We have everything figured out...except for how to keep the darn thing alive. We've looked at your previous work and you have vast experiences dealing with genetics, DNA, and mutation. No one else here is able to crack this...but we believe that you can.” He shoved Clay towards the single chair in the room, gesturing for him to take a seat.
“We think that Slag can somehow be used to aid in this project, but it is up to you to figure out how. Everything you need is in here. The information about the destroyer is in those files, and all the research on Slag is in these.” Clay gulped, taking it all in. Nygard turned to leave but Clay quickly stopped him.
“Wait! W-what did the CEO's say? I thought they didn't want me working as a scientist anymore. Are they giving me a second chance?” he asked. Nygard blinked in confusion as he stood in the door way. Suddenly he burst into laughter, he walked out of the small office cackling to himself gleefully. With no one holding it open, his office door slowly creaked shut until he was left alone, the only light offered by the glow of his five computers.
Clay's shoulders drooped and his head hung with defeat. All this mystery was starting to get to him, and he had to remind himself why he took this job over death in the first place.
“A better chance to escape.” He thought, letting a sense of false hope rise within. His thoughts were stopped by the static of his ECHO as it clicked back on. It whirred quietly for several seconds before his mysterious boss finally spoke.
“File number, 49951. Dr. Clay. Status, demoted after several displays of violence and rebellion. Ruling....execution by injection.”
Clay felt his palms sweat, and his mouth go dry...was that his file? His boss was quiet for a moment longer before adding,
“The CEO's didn't give you a second chance.”
“...”
“I did.”
“You did what now?” Jack raised a brow as he talked with Everett for the hundredth time that day. Tabitha wasn't sure why Jack hung around their construction zone so much. It was obvious to her that he simply put up with Everett, and he clearly wasn't there to socialize with any of the workers. Yet, day after day he would eventually show up and ask for a progress report, then he would loiter around and mutter to himself while staring at that big gaping hole in the wall. If Tabitha remembered correctly that had been where he claimed he would put his “Destroyer”. Whatever this “destroyer” was, she did NOT like the sound of it.
“I said I had them polish the wall like you asked.” Everett smiled widely.
“Oh...yeah yeah. That's nice. Hey, good news, I just received the last of the blue-prints for this room. Now you guys can FINALLY finish this place!” Jack almost sounded exasperated even though he pumped his fist into the air triumphantly. Tabitha rolled her eyes as she finished installing the last floor panel.
Jack handed Everett the massive file he had been carrying around for the most of their conversation before leaving for hopefully the last time that day.
“All right gang, rap it up here and meet in the break room. We got new blue-prints to go over!” Everett shouted to the mechanics scattered across the room. Tabitha quickly gathered up her tools, dusted off her rubbery yellow overalls, and joined her team as they flocked after their overseer.
“I think I'm more excited than Jack is for us to finally be done with this room.” One of the mechanics commented. Tabitha couldn't help but chuckle in agreement, she was ready to move on to something a bit more exciting.
Everett waved the group over to a table where he had the new blue-prints spread out.
“Isn't this all so amazing!” He pointed to a large diagram of what looked like a massive eye resting in the room they were currently working on. Tabitha refrained from sticking her tongue out in disgust.
“This is the super weapon Jack has been bragging about for months now. Look at all these notes.” He began to read off a list sketched down by whoever made the blue-prints. She guessed it was Jack.
“The “Eye of Hellios” will be able to shoot a beam of alien electricity that can corrode its way to the heart of a planet.” Everett was grinning from ear to ear. “Jack said he would use it to put Hyperion on top. He is going to wipe out bandit villages and cleanse all nearby planets. We should all be honored to work on this project.” Everett sighed, flipping through all the pages of the blue-prints.
Tabitha however, was feeling anything but honored. The “Eye of Hellios” sounded dangerous and downright irresponsible. What would happen if the base was taken over? The super weapon could easily fall into the hands of someone with ill intent. She had a suspicious feeling that Jack wasn't necessarily the best person to have such power either. And shooting a laser at a planet? That would kill all kinds of wildlife and plants. What purpose would they have with “corroding away the heart of a planet”?
“Downright diabolical.” She thought to herself. Perhaps it was time she asked to be re-stationed back at home. She could claim to be ill, or maybe she could “accidentally” get her arm stuck in the sliding doors.
“These plans are so thorough, a pure genius must have drawn them out.” One of her fellow mechanics noted as he looked at one of the pages up close.
“Hah!” Tabitha thought, “If they were so smart, they wouldn't have drawn up something so evil.” She grabbed the last page of the blue-print, curious as to who exactly she should blame for this terrible creation.
As her eyes scanned downward to the bottom right corner of the page, she felt her heart drop. A storm of emotions flared inside of her. Rage, horror, disgust and disappointment.
“Dr. CLAY” was written in white chalk on the bottom, smudged a bit by a purple stain.
“How could he!” She hissed through her teeth. How could he contribute to something so terrible? She had tried to fight the feeling of regret and loneliness that visited her at night when she was left to her thoughts. She had tried not to be sad about the decisions she had made to move on. She had tried not to grab up her ECHO and call the old lab just to ask Clay how he was doing. She had tried not to think of A's little smile and the beat up purple Clap-Trap that visited her garage.
She had tried to move on, but how could she now? Clearly Clay wasn't aware of what horrible weapon he had drawn up, she had to call him.
“Tonight.” She decided, she would call him tonight.
PART ONE END
Authors Note: Well, here is where I end the first part of Perfect 0. It was made clear to me that this was getting extremely long, and perhaps would do better as a three parter. Don't worry, A, Tabitha, Clap-Trap, and Clay will all return in the next part, along with some actual real Borderlands characters!! (probably not Jack though, he sucks)
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