Chapter 10
Last night was probably one of the most awkward nights of my life. Somehow, Yang didn't seem the least bit surprised when I told her how things went, but was still proud that I at least went through with it all. The next morning, the news is talking about something quite bizarre.
Lisa: “Various reports came in overnight stating the appearance of a strange creature roaming the streets and even local authorities have reported hearing loud and strange sounding roars throughout the night. And whether it’s related or not is still undetermined, reports also came in about someone's home having a massive hole torn through the back wall and in the floor, exposing the basement. Further investigation has revealed the home to belong to a one Dr. Grey Merlot. A veteran scientist in genetics at the Schnee Dust Company, whom was confirmed by branch CEO Amoncio Glass to have not come in this morning, despite further confirmation from Mr. Glass himself and Dr. Merlot’s co-workers regarding his known track record of always showing up to work on time. These circumstances have all lead to a search party for the good doctor, starting with an investigation at his house.” That’s when I realize how quickly Uncle Qrow is going through his breakfast.
Qrow: “An investigation that I was suddenly told to join just mere moments ago. Captain Tomo really doesn’t want to take any chances on any SDC employees after that crisis with Cinder.”
Ruby: “Yeah. That was a nightmare.”
Yang: “You guys think the weird creature is real? Or if Merlot is somehow related?”
Qrow: “The weird creature is still up for debate. But the public’s anxieties about it have been made clear. Even some of our patrol men seem frazzled about it, from what Tomo has told me. As much as I might think how much of a waste of time it’ll be, we may still have to look into it in order to calm down the public.” As he finished up his coffee. “And with that in mind, I’d better get going, and you two better be careful getting to school.”
Yang: “Don’t worry, we got it.” Our day went as by as usual until we talked with Weiss and Blake at lunch.
Blake: “So, you guys saw the reports too?”
Yang: “Yeah. A strange creature is supposedly on the loose, and Dr. Merlot is seemingly missing. What the hell happened to his house?”
Ruby: “Weiss, do you have any thoughts on this?”
Weiss: “I did talk to Father this morning after hearing the news, and he seemed furious. Something about how this all happened not even a full day after the plans he made for Dr. Merlot and Dr. Watts.”
Yang: “Dr. Watts? You mean that rude scientist we met tinkering with power sources?”
Weiss: “Yes. A quick look through the servers thanks to PENNY’s hacking told me that Father was planning on making one of those two the new head scientist now that Cinder is behind bars. They were both to make a presentation regarding their respective research by Friday to help Father make his final decision. Merlot tried to back out of it but Father said it was non-negotiable, since they’re both the company's best minds at the moment and Father wants the best of them all to run the show. As for the strange creature, I can’t say I have anything to share. The witness reports only mention large shadows and roars of unknown origin. Though, admittedly, I do believe the roars to actually be from some kind of actually animal based on Blake has told me when we talked about it in class.”
Blake: “It has to come from one on account that while some Faunus can do some animal sounds depending on what animal their traits come from, a Faunus roar isn’t as loud as the real thing, and these roars were reported to have come from miles away. Even if we assume part of it was likely some kind of echo from an alley or somewhere like that, a Faunus roar is only loud enough to be heard from an immediate area. Really only loud enough to invoke close quarters intimidation.”
Yang: “Okay. So we know it’s not a Faunus. Could it just be an escaped animal from the zoo?”
Weiss: “There would have been reports about that already if that was the case. Yet there's been nothing about that on the news or in the papers.” If that's all true, and when considering that confirmed state of Merlot’s house, there’s only one other possibility I can think of.
Ruby: “Well, I think I might have a theory. But it’s a little far-fetched.”
Weiss: “After what happened last time, we really have to think of possibility. So by all means.”
Ruby: “Well, I think the creature may have to do with Dr. Merlot’s research.”
Blake: “Why do you say that?”
Ruby: “It’s just a theory for now, but when you think about a few things, it makes sense. First, Dr. Merlot was geneticist. He was experimenting with reptilian DNA to try and find a way to regenerate lost limbs. And then I remember how Dr. Watts tried to warn him away from this back at the field trip. Claiming how dangerous it was to fused animal DNA with humans. And with the state we heard about with Merlot’s house, I think it gives us a pretty good idea on what happened.”
Yang: “Wait. Are you trying to say the Dr. Merlot IS the creature?”
Ruby: “Like I said, it was just a far-fetched hunch! I don’t actually know how true it is yet.”
Weiss: “Then it’s obvious what we need to do first.”
Blake: “What? Investigate his house? Wouldn't the place the be crawling with police?”
Yang: “Right now, they think Merlot and the creature are separate matters and are only investigating his house as a first step in searching for him. The odds of them being there all day are slim considering it’s not a criminal investigation. And even if their still there after school, we can just scope it out until they leave.”
Blake: “Wouldn’t they still have someone stationed there afterwards though?”
Ruby: “Maybe, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. We have to figure this out, or we’ll be getting nowhere.” Afterwards, we continued our day as usual until school was over, and made our way over to Merlot’s neighborhood. On our way there, we end up hearing more reports about the mysterious creature.
Lisa: “Further development into the mysterious creature rumored to have been seen recently. Workers of the docks have reported something breaking into the area a devouring its way through the fish supply, leaving nothing but bits and scraps of fish in its wake, as well as the destruction of much of the dock's equipment. Fortunately, none of the workers were harmed, and the damage did not include the fishing ships. And much like before, the creature seems to have disappeared as fast as it appeared on the scene. The most relevant development from this report is that since this incident was out in broad daylight, some of the workers have managed to physically describe them as a large reptilian-like creature with black skin and bone plating. With this recent incident, the existence of this creature is now almost certain, if only for the fact we still only have the words of witnesses and no sort of physical evidence like a photo or video. However, consideration of the creature’s existence is up there with the vast number of reports thus far.”
Blake: “Shoot. It's already getting into the food supply. Those ships can only bring back so much in so much time. We'd better figure this out before it hit’s anymore food supply spots like butchers or restaurants.”
Weiss: “The description is quite peculiar though. The reptilian part we already theorized like Ruby said about Merlot’s research, but the black skin and bone plating make me think of a certain reptilian creature in Remnant’s mythology.”
Ruby: “You mean the Creep, don’t you? It’s illustrated appearance in mythology of black skin and bone plating is quite the disturbing coincidence.”
Yang: “Regardless, I think it’s safe to start calling this creature the Creep because of this, right?”
Blake: *sight*”I guess that’s probably fair, but is now really the time for jokes?” As much as I Want to agree, we made it to Merlot’s neighborhood. I changed into my suit and staked out the house from the roof while Weiss stayed by where I changed to view everything through my lenses, and Yang and Blake wandered around the houses area, only to find at least one cop by the find door and at the back hole. The house is empty from what I can see, so all I really need to do is get past the cop in the back.
Ruby: “I need him to step a bit away from the hole to sneak in.”
Blake: “I have something to draw his attention.” She sneaks around the house into the foliage behind the house for cover and throws an empty soda can into the yard. The guard saw the can land and stepped forward to investigate. I took this opportunity to crawl down the wall and into the house onto the ceiling, thankfully the hole is not completely floor to ceiling, so I’m somewhat obscured as I observe the whole room from the ceiling. Nothing of particular interest in the rather average looking living room aside from the massive hole in the floor exposing the basement, which is clearly some kind of lab. If my theory is correct, he had to have done this from there, so that’s where I'm going to have to look. The guard is still distracted and looking towards the back where Blake threw the can from, so I take this opportunity to descend from the ceiling and into the basement with a web, drop once I’m low enough, and drag the web down to prevent discovery. I need to refrain from speaking much to prevent discovery as well. But I can still adhere to Weiss’ advice.
Weiss: “The police may have swept this place, but this lab looks quite sophisticated. There are probably hidden secrets that they missed only Merlot would have access to. Try giving the room a full scan.” My lenses were built with a scanner, so a quick scan revealed some hidden details. Namely some hidden cameras, and a hidden keypad behind a nearby shelf. After moving the shelf, another scan revealed his fingerprints on the buttons, helping us deduce the code. The inside is merely a side computer and extra files. “Close when booting the computer a giving it a quick over look, we found it to be connected to the cameras and store all the past footage. I find the file from last and find the Creep on camera breaking through the ceiling into the ground floor on mute... Looks like my theory is just being confirmed more and more. I can’t watch it in full with sound without potentially alerting the cops, so I stick a flash drive into the computer to download all the videos file from last night to look at later. After about a minute, the file successfully downloads. But once I take the drive back… I hear a roar outside, along with Blake’s scream!