章節 7: "The Viper's Cinnamon Rolls"

The next day, as early as four in the morning, Lia prepared her brothers' breakfast. It would be her first time to be away from them in such a long time, and she felt like crying as she fries the eggs sunny side up. After cooking fried rice with bacon toppings, she placed the eggs on a separate plate.

Lorus was still asleep, tired from reading e-books about the history of the Blue Blood War. Their younger brother was the one who woke up to see his sister off. "You're going now?" Lemmon said, then yawned.

"Yes," Lia replied, messing her brother's hair. "I will work almost daily in a basement with no signals and might contact you around 10 at night after I return to our sleeping areas. I'll be back on Thursday, probably by eleven or twelve midnight. "

"We'll miss you, sis," Lemmon said as he hugged his big sister.

Lia stopped herself from crying as she returned the hug. They parted, and Lia put on her black boots. She wore comfortable, fitted blue jeans, and a plain black polo shirt. She let her hair loose as it was still damp.

"From now on, this will be my life." she thought.

She waved goodbye to Lemmon, and after seeing him close the door, she started walking towards the e-bus station, pulling her red wheeled luggage bag. Since it was an early ride, the e-buses didn't arrive immediately. Looking at her wristwatch, she saw that she was already 30 minutes in the shed.

Lia was worried about the travel time. It was her first day, and she didn't want to disappoint Sanya.

BEEP! BEEP! A small blue car stopped in front of Lia.

The driver rolled down the window and looked at her.

"Hop on, Lia."

It was Sanno Angeldame. Lia was surprised to see him there. "You live here?" she asked.

"Yes, now hop on or we'll be late!" Sanno said, laughing.

Lia opened the door of the cute, blue car. It was a vintage car, which was originally run by gasoline, but it was now converted into an e-car. She placed the luggage bag in the back seat. She went inside and closed the door. It was automatically locked.

The smell of cinnamon lingered around the car. Lia placed her seatbelt, then asked, "Do you have cinnamon bread here?"

Sanno laughed. He was thinking of how to answer this question if he would tell Lia the truth or say some jokes to her. "It's my perfume."

"Seriously?" Lia replied, amazed by this. It was the first time she heard of a cinnamon-scented perfume.

Sanno laughed, again. That was when Lia realized that Sanno has been playing jokes on her. Then he said, "I made them. Have some, they're in the back seat."

Lia gave Sanno a jokingly annoyed look as she took the cinnamon rolls. She took one piece and bit it. "Hmm! It's delicious!" she exclaimed. The flavor of the cinnamon roll can be tasted from the outside up until its very core. "How did you make this?"

Lia was so curious about Sanno's baking skills that even though he kept changing the topic, she still wanted to talk about his cinnamon rolls.

It was a long, two and a half hours, but thanks to their conversation and Sanno's fun personality, it wasn't boring. They talked about food, technology, and music. They then approached the digital sign WELCOME TO EULIM CITY, displayed in an arc.

"By the way, you said that you're broke, but you have a car," Lia said, looking at Sanno suspiciously. "And I've heard that vintage cars like yours have a high cost of maintenance..."

"You're a very curious one, Lia," Sanno said, smiling. "My mother gave this to me as a graduation gift. It was her old car. She had the engine upgraded from gasoline to electricity type"

"Ohh, that must be expensive," Lia said. Sanno turned to the right upon seeing the Newton Avenue sign.

"Are you lost? Isn't the facility straight ahead?" Lia worriedly asked.

"I'm going to live with my mother while I'm here, and I'll leave my car at her condo," Sanno replied.

"Your mom is a scientist?"

"No, but she's in the medical field. She's working at Eulim General Hospital."

They entered an underground parking lot of a condominium named Newton Grand Tower. Sanno greeted one of the guards. It seemed like he was always visiting his mother there.

"This is a nice place," Lia said, admiring how spacious and bright the parking lot was. "I wonder how it's like on the inside."

"Don't worry, I'll let you visit someday. For now, we have to hurry to the research facility." Sanno said, parking his blue car perfectly. He turned off the engine and removed the keys. "Let's go?"

Sanno took the bag of cinnamon rolls. He helped Lia with her luggage as he was only bringing a backpack.

After making sure that the doors were locked, the two of them walked towards the exit. They went to the e-bus station across the street.

It was only after a short while they had arrived at the e-train station for the D.M. Cadre Research Facility. It was Lia's favorite ride, so she excitedly ran inside after her I.S. code was scanned.

"We have a different train for luggage," The officer said, stopping Sanno who was bringing Lia's luggage bag. "It will be scanned for safety purposes."

Lia looked back and saw Sanno being stopped by the officer. She turned back to see what was going on.

"I'm sorry, it's mine," Lia told the officer.

"You're done with scanning your I.S. Code, right? Can you do a palmprint here?" the officer took out a device box where Lia pressed her hand on. The device printed a long sticker paper at its back. It was placed at the handle of the luggage bag. Another officer took it.

"How about my cinnamon rolls, sir?" Sanno asked.

The officer laughed. "It's okay," he said. "You've scanned your code too, right? Go now."

Lia and Sanno thanked the officer. Last time they only brought small bags that were allowed inside, so they didn't know.

They had a 7-minute ride. When they arrived at the platform, it was nearly eight o'clock and the other two girls had already arrived. Sanya was with them, reading some documents on a tablet.

"Hey! Good morning!" Sanno greeted them with a warm smile. He then turned to Sanya, saying, "My morning is best when you're here."

Sanya looked at Sanno, blushing, as she was not ready for this kind of greeting.

The three other girls were laughing at the two.

"Alright, since you're complete, I'm going to give a briefing on your first day," Sanya said, fixing her round eyeglasses. She read the document on the tablet. "First, wear proper attire. Do not wear shorts or skirts, and do not wear revealing clothes. Jeans are fine, as long as your legs are covered. You can wear any shoes, since inside the Mutants' room they will be taken off, be put on the shelves, and you'll be wearing indoor shoes. But I suggest you bring socks in case you feel cold."

The four of them were taking notes through typing in their phones. Sanya continued explaining. "No videos and photos allowed, especially those that can see the Mutants' extraordinary qualities. Also, do not bring any deadly or pointed objects inside the enclosures. " She gestured to three other Assistant Scientists to join her.

"We will part ways here. If you have other questions, ask your guide. Ms. Sayaka, you will come with Jen. Ms. Wenn, Faye will be your guide. Mr. Angeldame, you will go with Roy. As for you, Ms. Brentvale, I will guide you." Sanya said.

"Lia, switch with me," Sanno said with a visible smirk on his face.