9. “I’ll let you go in a minute, I just have too many questions.” (Logan with Terrified borrower Roman? He see's Logan as a mad scientist sure to dissect and experiment on him as punishment for lying/refusing to answer his questions?
Borrowers Roman, Patton, and Virgil get caught in a trap laid out within a scientific facility, and when the scientist Logan returns, they question him about his intentions.
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Roman hit the bars of the cage angrily, hearing the sound ring across the currently empty lab. They had been so stupid. What sort of borrowers fell for a simple rat cage trap? Now they were caught, doomed to wait for some bean to come and discover them helpless in this contraption.
“Whelp, we’re dead.” Virgil groaned, huddled in the corner.
“Ah, come on guys, don’t give up hope!” Patton said encouragingly. “Maybe we’ll get found by a nice human.”
“A nice human?” Roman snorted. “Patton, I love you, but you’re speaking nonsense. Nice humans don’t exist.”
“Especially here.” Virgil muttered. He shuddered, remembering some of the things he had seen in their years living at this research station. Scientists weren’t exactly known for their kind treatment of smaller creatures.
“There’s got to be one nice scientist…” Patton continued, but his sentence trailed off, doubting his own words. Soon only silence surrounded them, broken only by the faint hum of the electricity traveling through the metal coils traversing the room.
A creaking door caught the attention of every cage occupant. The borrowers all covered their eyes, temporarily blinded by the overhead florescent lights switching on.
Virgil gulped, trying not to shake too terribly as a pair of dress shoes walked confidently across the tile, the steps echoing ominously. When they came closer to their enclosure the shoes seemed to pause, even going so far as to take a timid step back.
“…oh.”
Virgil shut his eyes, that voice confirming his fears. He didn’t need to look up to know that the scientist was staring right down at them. It was one thing to be caught, but it was another to actually be seen.
“Er, surprise?” Patton tried to lessen the tension, uncomfortable with how the human just kept staring. Patton’s words only seemed to shock him further, but at least he was moving now. His lab coat rustled as the scientist crouched, grabbing the container by the handle.
“Hey!” Roman protested, all three tumbling to the ground as their cage was suddenly moved. He glared up at the scientist, who seemed to still be processing their existence.
“…you aren’t rodents.” The scientist said dumbly.
“Yeah, great, fantastic.” Roman rolled his eyes. “We already knew that, gigantor.”
“So, um, now that we’ve established we’re not rats,” Patton spoke up, timidly getting to his feet, “do you think you could maybe…let us go?”
The scientist seemed to consider this for a moment. “I’ll let you go in a minute, I just have too many questions.”
Virgil snorted, not believing that for a second as their cage was transferred onto the lab table. The scientist took a seat, still staring. Constantly staring.
“What are you?” The human got right to the point. “Why are you so small? How did you get entrapped?”
“What are we- can you believe this guy?” Roman gave his fellow borrowers a look before glaring defiantly up at their captor. “We have names, you know. Borrowers are people too.”
“Roman!” Virgil hissed, reaching out his leg and kicking Roman in the back. So much for borrower secrecy.
“I apologize.” The scientist amended. “Who are you?”
“I’m Patton.” Patton waved. “These are my friends, Roman and Virgil.” Neither borrower looked very pleased to be introduced, at best giving a grunt. “What’s your name, Mr. Bean?”
The human seemed puzzled by this title. “Ah…my name is Dr. Logan.”
“It’s great to meet you, Logan, but we really do need to get going.” Patton insisted, looking a bit nervous to request something of a human.
“Where do you need to go?” Logan asked. “What were you doing? Were you the ones who have been stealing food?”
“It’s not stealing!” Patton quickly corrected, throwing out his arms with wide eyes. “We would never steal, honest. We were just borrowing.”
“Borrowing?” Logan seemed confused by the term. “What, you intended to give the food back?”
“Well, no.” Patton admitted.
“Then how is it borrowing?” Logan pressed.
“You’re asking quite a lot of us.” Roman interrupted, crossing his arms. “You’re not the only one with questions, you know.”
“What? What questions do you have for me?” Logan adjusted his glasses, although Patton was pleased he sounded receptive enough.
“What are you going to do to us?” Roman spoke up, hiding the way his voice shook by clutching his sleeves tighter. He couldn’t meet the human’s eye. “What’s going to happen if we don’t answer your questions? What’s going to happen if we do? What’s it gonna be, tests? Experiments? Dissection?”
“Roman.” Virgil hissed again, not wanting to give the human ideas.
“How are you going to punish us?” Roman continued rambling, shaking harder. “Electricity? Water? Heat? Cold? One of your freaky chemicals?”
“Stop giving him ideas, now he’s gonna try them all!” Virgil got up, punching Roman in the arm. “He’s trying to freak us out and you’re just making it easier.”
“Virgil, don’t punch him!” Patton protested, immediately punching Virgil in the arm as punishment.
“I think there’s been some major misunderstandings.” Logan said hastily, looking alarmed. “I am not trying to ‘freak you out’, I was simply curious.”
“Then what are you trying to do?” Roman insisted, giving Logan a suspicious glance.
“I’m not trying to do anything.” Logan groaned, rubbing at his face. “I apologize. I seem to have frightened you. I will not harm you, I promise. Can I please continue with my questions now?”
“I dunno, can you?” Virgil raised an eyebrow. Logan frowned, and Virgil instantly regretted his cheek.
“What happens if we refuse?” Roman pushed his luck, needing answers.
Logan considered this. “As soon as I’m finished I’ll release you. Is that enough of an answer?”
“It is not.” Roman shuddered, looking around at the lab behind Logan and wondering exactly where Logan would ‘release’ them. With their luck, probably into a vat of bubbling acid or something.
“What are you doing here, anyways?” Patton asked, trying to peek behind Logan.
“I’m studying electrical fields and solenoids as part of my physics dissertation.” Logan answered automatically. Three blank faces looked up him.
“…what’s that got to do with borrowers?” Virgil finally broke the silence.
“It doesn’t.” Logan sighed. “I truly did not expect to find you three, and just wanted to stop the culprits, at the time assumed rats, from traversing my lab further and getting caught in the after effects.”
“What kind of after effects?” Patton asked nervously.
“Hopefully nothing truly dangerous, mostly discharged static electricity.” Logan explained. “That being said, even a slight shock through a smaller individual can be fatal.” The borrowers shuddered at his statement. “My thoughts exactly. Let us get back to questions.”
“Alright, when are you gonna let us go?” Virgil pressed.
“And how does one theoretically disable your nefarious machines?” Roman pointed to the coils.
“I meant my questions.” Logan shifted the papers on his desk. “And don’t touch my experiments. Now, what is it like being a borrower?”
“I dunno.” Patton shrugged. “Hey, what’s it like being human?”
A very tired scientist groaned, laying his head on the desk. This was going to take a while.
