“Oh... Wait, you had premium-grade sushi right in front of you, and you didn’t eat it? Are you crazy?!”
Eden rolled her eyes. Who was the crazy one? After telling her about that gross worm thing... She let out a long sigh and looked around the room. As expected, there were no windows, but she suspected there would be cameras, so she moved to face the mirror and turned the tap on all the way to have the water flow as loud as possible, pretending to wash her hands and rinse her mouth when she needed to talk.
“Loir, we have a problem.”
“I know, I’m sure there was even red tuna, and yellowfish, and–”
“They have a Chimera, Loir. Seiryu isn’t an animatronic. It’s a Chimera.”
“...Chimeras are real?” asked Dante.
“Of course, they are real!” exclaimed Loir, sounding offended. “Scientists have been working on Chimeras since the twentieth century! A single organism composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype exists naturally among all types of creatures with more than one cell. Like flowers with multiple colors or cats with two colors of fur! They’re super cute, by the way!”
“Loir, focus,” sighed Eden.
“I am focusing! There are tons of natural chimerisms in nature, but once they understood that, some crazy scientists also decided it would be fun to make mixes between animals and see what pops out of the hatter’s hat!”
“Those experiments were forbidden,” muttered Eden.
“Of course they were,” sighed Loir. “For tons of reasons. Illegal testing on animals and humans, lack of protocols and total disrespect for nature, and, of course, the creation of potentially dangerous weapons for military purposes. I mean, I don’t see why they never allowed the unicorn project. Unicorns are nice!”
“You’re saying the dragon is one?”
Eden nodded.
“Yeah...”
“That’s a bummer, Kitty, I can hack many things but not a dragon... Wait... The dragon is alive? Really? With the fangs and the mustache and all? The mustache is important! Oh my God, can we keep him?! Pretty please?”
“That thing is a mankiller,” groaned Eden.
“I’m not asking you, bummer; I’m asking Sugar Daddy.”
Eden couldn’t help but roll her eyes again, especially since she could hear Dante chuckle.
“If Mommy says no, it’s no, sweetheart.”
“Can you not indulge in the craziness, please?” she groaned. “Loir, I got three minutes left in this bathroom before the guard realizes I didn’t just come here to freshen myself up. This building is like the other Zodiac buildings we have seen or studied from what I saw. The higher I go, the more security there’ll be.”
“We could provide a distraction from the outside,” said Dante.
Eden hesitated. She could use a bit of distraction so no one would have time to bother with one of the escorts missing, but she was a bit worried as to what kind of distraction the Italian would come up with... She knew the cars were located at the borders, and even if they entered the Snake’s territory, it would take a few minutes until they got there. However, she wasn’t sure she could find somewhere to plug in the device in as little as a few minutes, and she didn’t want to have the death of several of Dante’s men on her conscience.
“...No, I’ll find a way to go upstairs,” she finally retorted.
“I don’t like this,” said Dante with a cold voice. “The faster we get in, the faster you’re out and we are done.”
“You can’t do anything unless I’ve unlocked the security, Dante. Getting impatient won’t make things go any faster.”
“Well then, make things go faster before I tear down that door and come get you myself.”
Eden blushed and looked down, a bit taken by surprise at his angry tone. He really was serious about retrieving her... He definitely didn’t like having her on the enemy’s territory. She took a deep breath and splashed her face with some more cold water, trying to calm down. Having Dante’s voice in her ear was already plenty enough to drive her crazy, but now, his possessiveness and guarding attitude toward her were definitely too sexy to handle. Eden hated to be considered a damsel in distress, and she had never been one to fall for possessive men, but...
“I don’t like this,” he grumbled.
“I’ll be quick,” she muttered, her face cold and her cheeks burning.
“Excuse me...” suddenly squeaked Loir’s voice. “I can still hear you both... I don’t wanna butt in Mommy and Daddy’s conversation, but...”
