Chapter 3 : The Lab
The people waking up from the scream were walking outside of their safe haven only to be greeted by the shadow of a tall figure rushing towards the source of the scream, wind was brushing pass their faces as the trail left behind by the shadow followed up to it's speed. The shadow was non-other than Saber, the Regulator of Demons rushing at full speed.
After being awakened by that scream he immediately jumped into action and ran as fast as his system would allow before it overheats towards the source. Rushing past the half-asleep citizens who were walking out to the streets towards the source of the commotion like mindless zombies, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the scene before his eyes.
A female with beautiful crimson hair was pinned to the wall by a black silhouette which appeared to be a few inches shorter. The female was being pinned to the wall by what seemed like long strands of metallic ropes that was gleaming in the moonlight. Despite being the taller one, the girl had a pale look on her face and looked as limp as a corpse while breathing heavily as if she had just awoken from a nightmare which was the only thing signalling she was still alive. The short black silhouette was just standing there, not attacking nor moving as if it was just a statue, but from the looks of it, it was observing her.
Snapping out of his trance, he sheathed his blades and dashed towards and the silhouette in full force, but the silhouette had disappeared leaving behind a figure that has glass surrounding a circular-shaped tech chip, along with purple coloured metal supports making it the shape of a semi-oval with a bigger ring surrounding the bottom and 3 octopus like metal tentacles connected to the bottom. It also has some kind of staff that supports the figure at the bottom while at the same time emits what seems to be black coloured gas the shape of a curvy radioactive sign. Saber stared at it for a few seconds and was about to reach his hands to take it when it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving no evidence of incident behind expect for the trembling girl still looking horrified at the ground.
"Oh right, the girl!" he thought, turning his eyes to the direction of the girl, he slowly walked towards her as not to scare her in her current state. "N-no.....don't k-kill her....please take m-me instead" she murmured under her breath. Saber ignored the words and kneeled down so that the girl and him were at the same height while putting the swords back in their sheaths. "Hey, miss wake up" he said while vigorously shaking her shoulder, even through his gloves he could feel the shivers coming from the girl. "Miss it's alright, he's gone, no one is going to hurt you" Saber said in a reassuring voice. The girl looked around the area where people were starting to gather at the opening of the narrow alley was, trying to take a good look at what just happened. Colour was finally returning back to her flawless face and the shivering stopped in no time, her eyes which was once lifeless exploded with the colour of the blue sky after dawn.
The girl then looked at Saber and immediately her face became as red as a tomato. "Thank-Thank you for saving me" she said while shaking her head vigorously as if she had just thought of something that embarrassed her. "My name is Layla, and would you mind telling me what's going on?" she said pointing to the crowd of people at the opening of the alley. "Would you want me to explain in a better setting of your choice or here?"he asked. She looked at the sky and made a face that showed that she realised something. "Darn it Lolita" she murmured under her breath. "Alright explain right after we get to a more secretive place, any ideas on how we get rid of the crowd?" she said while gesturing them to go away. Some went and some were still awaiting news of the incident. "It's okay, I got this" he said and then turned his head to the crowd that consists mainly of females. "Everything is resolved, the demon attacking her is gone, he'll presumably be caught and killed by demon hunters in the morning, you may all go back to rest" he said reassuringly to the crowd who were now going back to their homes, returning to their tired state, yawning as they walk inside their houses.
After there was only just the two of them, she breathe a sigh of relief and gestured for him to follow her. "Be as quiet as you can, I don't really trust people with this but since you saved me, I'll let you in on my little secret". Saber was confused but the only thing he could do was follow without a word. Layla led Saber to the a tall skyscraper close to the border of the City of Scholars and walked through the sliding door as soundless as possible which wasn't hard for Layla as she was extremely slim but Saber had a hard time as he was wearing metal boots. Going down one more level through stairs they made their way into a very small and cramp room with a very old piece of paper that was turning yellow with 'Computer Room' written on it with a black marker pen. "Stay close to the door but don't push it to hard till it opens" she said softly. Saber walked to the door careful not to push it as it would make a "creeeek" sound when opened while Layla moved a few cardboard boxes revealing a small door that was same color as the walls, grey metal. She pushed it open, revealing a small passage that was intended for people to crawl inside instead of walk. She gestured for Saber to go inside the small passage which was a perfect fit for him. She then closed the door behind them while putting the boxes in front of the door, once again hiding the passage to anyone that walks in the room.
They emerged in a room that looks a century old with colorful stains here and there. The stench hit Saber hard and he almost fainted as it reeked of stinky socks and other chemicals that even he have never smelled before. He fell face first from the passage ending which was about 20 inches from the floor and felt a cool rock solid surface on his cheek. He tried to stand up from his current position but a small but heavy figure landed on his back which made a crack sound. The figure got up and stretched out a hand, "Sorry about that, are you alright?". Saber took the small hand and got up. "That was a rough landing and for someone so petite, you are as heavy as a rock", that sentence made Layla's face glow as red as a tomato, as she put her arms to her face as if trying to hide it. "Don't you know that you shouldn't say that to a girl!" she said while pouting her lips. "Sorry, I'm not really fond of female company" just as he said that, a figure smaller and more petite than Layla jump out of one of the boxes laying on the stained floor in between him and Layla while holding holding what seems to be a gigantic hammer larger than its size.