Clay's eyes blinked open, the sound of someone knocking on his door had awoken him.
“Master Clay, master Clay it's time to get up.” The cheery voice of his Clapt-Trap echoed through the door. Clay groaned, rolling out of his bed and slipping into his slippers.
“Clap-Trap, what have I told you about waking me up?” He hissed as he flung his bedroom door open. He stepped into his lab, pausing as he saw his boss standing in the middle of his lab.
“Why didn't you tell me someone was in here?” Clay grumbled down at his robot.
“I didn't think about it. But Mason told me to wake you up so I did. I might be your Clap-Trap, but he's your boss, so technically he's my boss too.” Clap-Trap rattled on.
“Just...shutup.” Clay pinched his brow. The morning had just begun and already he was annoyed.
“Claaaay.” His boss, Mason, began to stride towards him.
“No...not now, it's to early for this.” Clay barked, washing his face in the lab sink.
“Clay, it's noon. I'm honestly surprised you are just waking up, you are usually such an early bird.” Mason tapped his chin thoughtfully.
“Master Clay was up late last night working on his amazing project!” Clap-Trap exclaimed, rolling over to the blue-print covered desk.
“Glad to see you are taking something serious for once.” Mason muttered.
“Is there a reason why you are here?” Clay snapped back.
“As a matter of fact, yes. Your team arrived a few hours ago, we have them gathered in your new lab, awaiting your instructions.” Clay whirled around, face paling.
“W-what...new lab?” He stammered.
“Yeah, come on, you need to get them working.” Mason grabbed Clay's shoulder and began to drag him out of the lab.
“B-but i'm still in my pajamas!” Clay exclaimed, managing to grab his lab coat as he was hurried out. His Clap-Trap followed after them, practically bubbling with joy.
“Master Clay this is so exciting. What are you going to say to them? You'll get them to work right away wont you? Do they even know what you are working on? Will they know where to begin...do YOU know where to begin?” Clap-Trap refused to quiet down. Clay gulped.
“N-not exactly.” He admitted.
“Well that's okay Clay. We didn't expect you to have all the answers right away. The brainstorming part of the team will help you with that.” Mason explained before pushing them into an elevator. Clay felt like an eternity passed before the doors dinged open and they were let out on another level of the facility.
Immediately he found himself in strange territory, he had never been on this floor before, was it new? Mason guided him to a hall where a massive sign hung on the wall, it read,
“Special project: 0”
“W-what's that mean?” Clay managed before they passed it.
“That's what Hyperion is calling this project. They are making this their most important project currently.” Mason seemed proud. Clay suddenly felt it incredibly hard to breath as they neared a set of double doors. He hardly had time to process what was going on as he was shoved into a massive section of the facility. All around him were Hyperion workers he didn't recognize. There were large work areas marked off for each group of specialists. There were giant containment areas for lord knew what, and huge computer screens covering practically every wall. In the middle of the room was an elevated office room with absolutely no walls. Whoever was in there could see literally everything going on.
All at once Clay realized that the room had fallen quiet, all the buzzing of voices had stopped and all eyes were on him, Mason, and his purple Clap-Trap.
“Wow-e!” Clap-Trap exclaimed, there was a collective sigh from everyone in the room. Mason smiled widely and began to pull Clay towards the stairs leading to the office above everyone.
“Is this...is this my team?” Clay whispered nervously to his boss.
“Yep.” Mason nodded.
“T-there are hundreds of them.” Clay whined, wiping sweat away from his brow.
“That's ok, a lot of them are assistants and will mainly do paperwork.” Mason tried to be comforting. He shoved Clay into the office chair and then took a step back, gesturing to a microphone resting on Clay's new desk.
“What am I supposed to say!?” Clay gasped, urgency in his voice.
“Hell if I know, just say something!” Mason shrugged, slowly growing irritated. Clay gulped, this was too much to deal with having just woken up not even ten minutes ago. His hand shook as he reached for the microphone. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before turning the mic on. There was a sudden squeak as the mic connected to the speakers all around the labs. All the workers turned, looking up to his office.
“Uhm....h-hello everyone.” Clay began, blinking hard. “I'm Clay and I am the brains behind this project. I'm grateful you have all been chosen to work under me as we attempt to change Hyperion.” He paused, glancing to Mason who gave him a thumbs up.
“Uhm, I don't exactly have a speech prepared or anything, but I want you all to know that I'll be sending out a briefing for you all to read over. Now uh...if you could all just go to your designated work areas, then i'll come around and talk with each of your groups.” Clay quickly turned off the mic and slammed it back on his desk, glad his voice wasn't echoing through the room anymore.
“Well Clay, that wasn't great...but it was better than I expected from you.” Mason admitted, patting Clay on the head.
“Don't you have something else to do? Maybe some toilets to clean?” Clay grunted bitterly.
“Might as well be, this whole place is a crap hole anyways.” Mason laughed, but his face showed he was dead serious.
“Well some of us are actually grateful that Hyperion blessed us with a job. Funny how the ones who don't care get all the power.” Clay muttered under his breath, Mason's hand still on his head.
“Watch it.” Mason warned, clenching a fist of the scientists hair. After a second, Mason grumbled, leaving without another word.
Clay's head fell into his hands and he rubbed his aching skull.
“Cpat-Trap, gather all my notes from my office.” He muttered. There was no response. Clay clenched his fists, he was at his nervous end.
“CLAP-TRAP!” He angrily barked, whirling around in his chair, but the small purple robot wasn't there.
“Master! Down here master!” Clay stood from his chair, eyeing the robot at the bottom of the steep stair case.
“Oh just great.” He muttered, sighing before hurrying down to the patient robot.
“I need you to go back to the lab. Gather up as much notes and blue prints as you can and set them here.” He patted the bottom stair, remembering that the robot was incapable of climbing any staircase.
“Ok, not to worry, I got this. All your notes and Blueprints aye aye.” Clap-Trap saluted before skidding out of the new massive work center. Clay grumbled, hoping the robot could handle this simple task. However, now he had his own task to do. He tried not to just pass out as he eyed the massive room filled with complete strangers, still, he had to begin somewhere. He adjusted his pajama collar and straightened his lab coat before heading towards the first work area.
In the far corner of the room was a set of walls that separated the work area. It was labeled as Boardroom, which Clay figured was where the brainstormers would be. He stepped inside, finding a large table surrounded by Hyperion workers. Some people were seated while others leaned against the wall. They were all looking at him as he stepped in, and he all at once wished he hadn't been made project manager.
“H-hi.” he stammered. A collective “hi” was muttered back.
“Uhm, I'm Clay as you know. And I'm assuming you all specialize in....project ideas and theories?” He scratched his head, hoping he had guessed right.
“Yes.” A particularly bold character spoke up. He was an older gentleman with a scruffy beard.
“I am the head of this department. We have some of the most creative thinkers in this room.” he pointed to a group huddled near a corner, “they helped with the new model ideas for the floating base. This bloke over here designed most of the Hyperion uniforms.” he jabbed a thumb towards the man seated beside him. “And most everyone else has helped with robot and gun designs, nothing but brain stormers here.” He smiled a toothy grin. Clay nodded, proud that the higher ups had sent such important people to work under him.
“Well that's great. I won't know for sure what exactly I'll want you all to work on first. But I would like you all to keep in mind that we are trying to birth an assassin here. We're going to need new weapon ideas and new uniforms. I trust you all to do your research and find what will and wont work, but a great assassin needs great tools.” Clay rolled thoughts off the top of his head.
“You heard the boss man, get to your stations and do what you guys do best.” The older man spat at the workers who scurried off to their desks. Clay couldn't help but blush, hearing himself referred to as boss man, it was almost too much to handle.
He was pleasantly surprised with how well most of his meetings went. The scientists, engineers, doctors and mechanics were all eager to start work and all hurried off almost immediately after he spoke with them.
“Just one last group.” Clay smiled, eyeing the heavily secured Zoology section across the room. The whole sector was made of thick metal, as if it housed some dangerous beast inside. However, Clay didn't give it much thought and eagerly stepped inside. Before he could even take in his surroundings, he found himself face to face with the largest man he had ever seen.
“What are you doing in here pipsqueak? This is no place for a tiny man like yourself.” The man bellowed, turning Clay around and pushing him towards the door.
“W-wait, who are you!?” Clay stammered, unsure of what exactly was going on.
“Simeon!” A voice barked from behind, causing the tall man to pause. “Didn't you pay any attention during the briefing? That tiny man is our project overseer.” Clay and Simeon turned around to face the voice. A beefed up woman stood behind them with her arms resting on her hips. Clay immediately noticed something in her eyes that he recognized in Tabitha, was it determination? Courage? Whatever it was sent chills down his spine and made his knees weak. The woman herself was covered in scratch and bite scars, but only on her arms, unlike Tabitha who had an assortment of scars all over her. Clay took a moment to look up to Simeon who also had his fair share of scratch marks.
“Aw shucks Leanne, you know I was in the bathroom for most of it.” Simeon rubbed the back of his head. He looked down to Clay and patted his head remorsefully.
“Sorry boss man, I didn't mean to disrespect you like that.” He apologized.
“It's ok Simeon, we all make mistakes.” Clay chuckled, he liked these two already.
“So, where is the rest of your team?” Clay looked about expectantly, but saw no one else. There were cages and aquariums everywhere, but other than that the room was practically empty.
“You're looking at the team.” Leanne leaned against a metal cage.
“There's only two of you.” Clay looked between them confused. Simeon and Leanne laughed heartily.
“When Hyperion approached their Zoologists with the project, not many of them were eager to work with them invisible assholes.” Simeon chuckled.
“These wild Pandorian creatures aren't exactly puppy dogs and kitty cats.” Leanne gestured to the scars on her arms.
“See this here,” She pointed to a divot in her arm. “One of our teams had hatched a batch of Spider-Ants, but little did they know, one of the buggers had gotten out before it had been counted for. When I reached to grab a dropped pen out from under a desk, it leapt out and dug those front legs right into my arm.” She grinned widely.
Simeon stepped forward, holding his right hand out for Clay to see. He wiggled his fingers, allowing Clay to see where his pointer finger had been torn clean off.
“I mistook a sleeping Scag for a dead one. When I stuck my finger in the cage to poke him, he jumped up and had a snack out of my finger.” Simeon snorted.
“Now that was your own fault.” Leanne chortled, smacking Simeon on the back roughly.
“Point is boss man, it takes a lot of gut and strength to work with dangerous creatures. So i'm sorry to say but it's just me and my brother here yo help you.” Leanne explained.
“Well. I'm sure you are both perfectly capable.” He smiled kindly to them. “Although, I am wondering where the animals are??” He eyed the cages but they were all empty.
“We rounded up a few of them Stalkers yesterday, but they are still in the old containment bay, we'll transport them over right away.” Simeon saluted before leading his sister out of the room. Clay took a moment to himself, allowing himself a second to relax. Things were finally falling together and without a hitch too. He was bursting over with joy, he just had to vent to someone.
Without giving it a second thought, Clay raced from the Zoology sector and off through the project area. He headed right for the elevator and took it all the way back up to his old floor. However, he wasn't headed for his lab. He took a sharp turn down one of the halls where the air was thick and smelled like gasoline. He found himself in that familiar corridor of garage doors, but there was only one open.
“Tabitha.” Clay skidded to a stop as he ducked into her work area. She looked up from where she sat, straddling over top of a busted up Bot Loader. She had a wrench poised in her gloved hands but set it aside when she saw Clay.
“Clay Jar!” She beamed, pushing herself off the totaled robot. “I heard you started work with your new team today. How is that working out?” She kicked a stool over to him. “I would have come to see you...but you know, I'm here, doing the same thing I do everyday.” Her smile faded and her shoulders drooped for a second. His words from the day before had left a scar on her, but she was already covered in them. Clay's happy smile soured and he looked at his shoes.
“Tabitha...I'm sorry, you know I...I didn't mean it.” He felt childish.
Tabitha forced a smile and turned to her wall of tools, pretending to carefully select one.
“No, you were right, I should have taken your offer.” She grabbed a screw driver and walked back to the robot. Clay lit up, leaping off the stool.
“Tabitha!” He grabbed her shoulders, whirling her around. She flenched, a blush filling her cheeks as she remembered how he had randomly kissed her the day before. He fell to one knee, holding her hand in his own. She raised a brow at him.
“Tabitha please come help me, I desperately need you to build me an elevator.” He pleaded with her.
“Oh for crying out loud Clay, you are so dramatic.” She laughed, light heartedly. “Why do you need an elevator?” She questioned.
“If you're not busy... I can show you.” He stood, nodding towards the hall. Tabitha eyed the busted up robot,
“Well he's not going anywhere.” She let the screw driver fall to the ground an droll under her desk. Clay eagerly led her back to the elevator, excited to show her his new work area, surely she would be proud of him. He was practically bursting at the seems with anticipation, he was a boss man now, he had a title.
When the elevator doors opened back up, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her down the hall and into the new massive lab.
“This is my new work space!” He exclaimed, his voice getting lost in the ginormous room. Tabitha gasped, there was so much to see.
“Clay...it's huge. I fell like i'm not even on the same base anymore.” She turned around, her eyes darting everywhere.
“It's great isn't it, but I have one tiny problem.” He lead her to the staircase to his new office. There was a huge stack of papers sitting on the first stair. His Clapt-Trap suddenly rolled up, dropping another set of blueprints on the overflowing pile of notes.
“Still more notes master, this isn't even half of them.” the little robot explained before whirling off again.
“Why is he leaving all those papers there?” Tabitha questioned, watching as the purple robot left the room.
“See, that's what I need you to help me with. My office is up there now.” He pointed up to the room above them. “And my Clap-Trap, as much as I enjoy distance from him, can't get up there to help me. Would you possibly be able to build him a small elevator so I don't have to run down all these stairs every time I need him?” Clay asked.
Tabitha walked around the stairs, looking up at the office and taking a mental note of everything.
“Should be easy enough to do. I can have it done in five days.” She finally decided.
“Does this mean you'll work with me on my new project?” Clay batted his eyes at her expectantly.
“I don't see how building this elevator will help with your project, but if you want to call it that...then yes.” She chuckled, ruffling his hair.
“Thank you Tabby Cat.” He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Tabby Cat?” She raised a brow at him. “Really, you're resorting to nicknames now?”
“What? If you can't take it, then don't dish it.” He reminded her and the two broke into a gentle laugh. As much as he loved being the boss man for a change, he enjoyed the simple moments that came with being a lowly scientist. He cast her a loving glance unnoticed. As much as he was embarrassed to admit it, he needed her through this project.
Authors Note:
I didn't get much of a chance to edit this chapter, so please excuse any mistakes. I will go back over it later.
So Clay has a massive work space now that I hardly know how to describe (can you tell??) And yet again i fail to mention any real characters yet...they are coming I promise.
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