The sound of steps made Kamika wince pre-emptively as she paused in dragging the heavy metal table from the nearby lab. She knew that walk. She imagined she could feel the wrath in the sound of each step, but nah, it was just steps. It just so happened that these were Steps that she could unerringly identify despite the fact that the sound itself was not particularly distinctive.
Oh well. At least it would be interesting.
Turning, Kamika shot a wide, gleaming and toothy smile behind her, “Hello Admin Syzygy!! I hope you don’t mind if I don’t stop!” and she dragged the table a few more steps, and then dumped it on its side with a loud clash. Then she turned to find another table. They were gonna need a lot of tables.
Syzygy kept mercifully quiet as she took in the mess of chairs and work surfaces piled across the hallway. Probably trying to not tear her hair out. Ooooh maybe she’d explode into swearing, that would be funny! Not that it mattered, what was important was that she wasn’t stopping Kamika.
“Ecesis. Ecesis, is there a reason why you are making a barricade out of my lab tables?” Oooh she liked her, she really did. She was smart and levelheaded enough, this admin. You had to hand it to her, she managed to not go completely mad. Humming, Kamika stopped dragging the fourth lab table long enough to adjust her grip, and grin at the other tealblood. “So, do you remember how the current project I’m in is focusing on recycling scrap metal through enzymes refining it into ores?” she asked, moving her lovely, lovely piece of protective metal into place.
“Yes, I had to file the paperwork. You even managed to turn it in on time, for once.”
“Well, the good news is that the project is entirely successful! We have found the enzymes needed, figured out how to produce them, and we do get purified ores ready for smelting!”
“That doesn’t explain the barricade.”
“Yes well,” and here Kamika stopped to listen at the corridor, and once satisfied that nothing was coming just yet, continued positioning the obstruction, “the problem is... that we have a very hungry caterpillar or two. Or five. Or more really!”
Silence. Kamika peered to look at Syzygy hopefully, and watched the spreading realization dawn on the face. She choked down a giggle – she couldn’t help finding her funny – and turned to put a chair to stabilize her construction. “You don’t mean”, and the words climbed into a shriek, “that we have metal eating caterpillars in my sector!”
“Yes. Very hungry caterpillars. And they poop out the metal.”
