Two months had passed since Axel had gotten his impromptu promotion and apart from access to more rudimentary information and the occasional glance from other Researchers, nothing had changed.
Being a Yellow rank Researcher put everyone around him in an uncomfortable position.
It wasn't that he was abusing his new authority over them.
In fact, he had even kept to himself more but they still shifted around him.
'The only benefit of the promotion would be the lighter workload. The few tasks I'm given are more important than what the others are handling.'
Axel thought as he paced around his room. He occasionally glanced at his Micro Research Lab.
Letting out a sigh, he approached it and tapped on its surface.
Micro Research Lab Initializing…]
[Online]
[Welcome Axel Romero]
[Current Rank: Yellow]
He had seen this repeatedly, so he decided to read on.
[Yellow Rank: Tasks can be assigned to those of a lower rank(Green). You have superiority over them]
The information was old news.
He searched through the interface and saw something that grabbed his attention.
[World Map]
Axel tapped on it.
[Access Granted]
A rough digital map of the world appeared on the screen.
[Danger Zones(Red): 40%]
[Death Zones(Black): 5%]
[Safe Zones(Green): 55%]
The map has half of North America and Europe covered in red. Several red spots cover Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.
A section of Asia was completely black, and the rest was green, while South America had a third of its territory between black and red.
'This is a layout of where is 'safe' and where is instant death.' Axel squinted his eyes.
'Then again, the green areas could mean relative safety when compared to the rest of the world.' His eyes locked on the black spots.
'But this map could potentially serve to mislead everyone. Either way, the map accessible to the higher ranks should have more clarity.'
Exiting the map, Axel remembered one other privilege he had. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device.
It was the communication chip that Mr. Stone had given him.
Axel hid the chip and left the room, heading to the lab.
When he was about to open the door, Miss Cayenne walked out and stared him down.
"Axel…" Her voice was even and unbothered.
"Follow me." Then she started to walk away.
Axel followed behind while maintaining a bit of distance between them.
Soon, they approached another lab, one he hadn't been to.
"Lab 0C-beta. This place has cutting-edge technology suited for their tasks." Miss Cayenne remarked as she opened the door and entered.
Axel followed while taking in his surroundings. The lab was exactly like Lab 8B-2 with a few differences.
There were next to no cameras, staff, and lots of chains lying around.
Miss Cayenne waved her hand to grab his attention.
She pointed at the only man inside. He appeared to be mumbling to himself as he mixed various chemicals.
"Simon." She called out.
The man paused and turned around slowly.
"Caye. How many times must I say not to interrupt me?" He glared at her.
In response, she pointed at Axel.
He finally noticed Axel and looked at him.
A wide smile spread on his face. "Oh, I see. It has been years since I've seen you but to think you have had a child in that time."
Axel choked on air while Miss Cayenne's eye twitched slightly.
Simon still smiled brightly, "Here, come greet Uncle Simon."
He then looked at Miss Cayenne. "No offense but your son seems to be quite dim."
Miss Cayenne inhaled sharply before speaking, "No, Simon. This isn't my son and the last time we met was three months ago, not years."
It had taken everything within her not to curse.
Simon's countenance changed and he became cold, "In that case, he has no business being here. Take him with you."
Axel tilted his head slightly.
"He's here to be your lab assistant." Miss Cayenne tapped on Axel's shoulder and immediately walked out.
As she was about to leave, she turned around. "Orders from above." She added them left.
Simon cursed his luck using a variety of colorful words, most of which Axel hadn't even heard.
He took in a deep breath and let out a still breath, then turned to Axel.
"Listen, child, I don't have toys. So you will have to play by yourself." Simon went back to what he was doing.
Axel didn't reply and instead observed in silence what Simon was attempting to do. The former brought out his phone to take notes.
Hours passed with no success on Simon's part.
Simon groaned and pulled on his hair while Axel kept silent and watched.
"What?" Simon finally looked at him.
Axel appeared confused by the question.
Letting out a wry smile, Simon spoke, "Your eyes are saying, 'I have an idea, but I won't say it.' So tell me."
Axel placed his phone down and took a longer look at the setup. "Have you tried dissolving it in benzene before adding it to the other chemical?"
Simon wanted to retort immediately but kept silent. He hadn't tried it.
Following Axel's advice, he soon successfully achieved what he had been aiming for.
His eyes scanned the teenager, "Not bad."
"So what's your name?"
"Axel."
"Alex, right?"
"No, Axel."
"Abraham, that's what I said." Simon scoffed and proceeded with the next phase of what he was doing.
'What exactly do they do here?' Axel kept on looking at the chains lying around.
Simon brought out a thick lead briefcase and opened it using a special code.
Axel stared in disbelief at the content.
It was a small, rough hexahedral crystal with a small, golden sphere of light within.
Simon dropped it into the compound that Axel had helped him prepare.
The crystal dissolved rapidly until all that was left was a thick silver liquid.
Simon looked at Axel, "Congratulations. This is your first time seeing how beast infusion serums are made."