RE - Chapter 372: So Scary, So Scary (Patreon)

Early that morning, Sherry’s alarm went off. She rolled over and smacked it with her palm.

“...Ow.” Sherry frowned. But with the alarm silenced, her eyes slowly drifted shut again.

She buried her face in the pillow and drifted blissfully back to sleep...

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. Sherry wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, stretched an arm toward the vibrating phone on her nightstand, and answered without even wanting to roll over.

“Hello…”

“Sherry, have you forgotten about this morning’s meeting?” Simmons sounded angry, but he did his best to speak gently to the chief researcher’s daughter.

Even then, the strain beneath his polite tone was hard to miss.

“……!”

Sherry immediately opened her eyes, her expression filled with panic. “I’m sorry! The spare key’s in the second drawer of my desk!”

“Hmph... Don’t let it happen again.” Simmons lowered his phone and waved to Carla beside him. “Go get it from the second drawer of Sherry’s desk.”

Carla gave Simmons a brief smile and headed toward the offices. Once she was out of his sight, the smile vanished.

Meanwhile, Sherry sat miserably on her bed, realizing the call had ended. She had even slept with one of her shoulder straps twisted out of place.

She straightened the strap with a look of despair. “Ah... Why am I doing office work after graduating from a military academy?! Oh, right... I chose this.”

Sherry fell back onto the pillow, pulled the blanket over her head, and howled, “Then why is it even more exhausting and annoying than training?!”

That’s right. After landing a permanent job, Sherry had become an overworked office drone!

Congratulations! Welcome to the daily grind~

Sherry tore away the imaginary on-screen captions and sat up with a resentful look. “...Hmph. Time for work!”

After washing up and getting dressed, Sherry returned to her familiar expression of utter hopelessness.

She held a freshly toasted slice of bread between her teeth, grabbed a carton of milk from the fridge, and headed out.

The last time she had drunk cold milk like this was when her mother was still a researcher. Hungry at home, she had once sneaked some from the kitchen fridge.

Now she had to drink it every morning. It often upset her stomach, but she could manage. After all, she had eaten wild animals during military training. Even so, cold milk on an empty stomach first thing in the morning was hardly ideal.

And she was still a young woman who had to deal with her period every month.

Sherry slumped behind the wheel, looking utterly defeated. She started the car and headed for Simmons’s base, listlessly chewing on her toast.

...

Annette swirled a reagent vial until the liquid turned cloudy, then returned it to the rack.

She resumed preparing the culture medium, glancing toward Carla on the other side of the clean bench.

“Hmm. Bad mood? What’s the reason this time?” Annette asked as she labeled a culture dish.

Before Carla could answer, Annette did it for her. “Oh, Simmons. Why am I not surprised?”

“…Ugh,” Carla finally couldn’t keep a straight face and broke into an embarrassed grimace.

“He doesn’t even bother pretending anymore. He treats me like a dog... Damn him!” Carla glared at the black specks in a culture dish and stabbed at them with her probe.

“Take that! And that!”

“Ahem... The culture medium hasn’t done anything to you. You’re ruining the experiment.” Annette gave a helpless smile, unable to hide her concern for the young researcher.

So much time had passed, yet Carla still hadn’t recovered, despite Annette and Sherry regularly taking her out to cheer her up.

At least Annette had noticed Carla’s desire for revenge and slowly managed to calm it.

Still, it couldn’t go on like this forever...

Annette finished preparing the culture dishes and placed them in an incubator at a controlled temperature.

“We’re verifying the latest experimental data today. If the results match, we can move on to the next stage.”

“Mm…”

“Actually, you can write the report. Stay out of today’s experiment and get some rest.”

“Oh…”

“Carla?”

“Oh… Huh?”

Carla saw the helpless look in Annette’s eyes and realized she had lost her composure again.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t get past it.” She sighed and removed her lab coat. “Maybe you’re right. I’m not in the right frame of mind to do research anymore.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Carla. Anyone who went through what we did would feel wronged. We’ve been fighting back all along, haven’t we?” Annette considered it for a moment, then decided. “In that case, you can deliver the intelligence this time. The details of Simmons’s second phase of experiments.”

“…Wouldn’t Sherry be more qualified for this?”

“Actually, given your current standing with Simmons, you’re better suited to it.”

“…Sniff… Even you think I’m useless, Annette!”

“No, no. I mean Simmons thinks you’re useless.”

“...Sniff... Why does that make it worse?”

Annette almost laughed, then sighed. Poor girl. Without much parental affection growing up, and after years under someone as manipulative as Simmons, Carla was more sensitive than most.

Who knew what she might have done if Annette hadn’t given her someone to talk to?

“All right, Carla.” Annette blinked. “Go see Alan and Leon. They’re probably figuring out how to deal with Simmons. Being around them might make you feel better.”

Carla closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, and decided that sounded like a good idea. “How do I get in touch with them? I remember Sherry saying that Simmons has been trying to find out where they are, right?”

“That’s right. You won’t be able to find them on your own... Sherry has their contact details. See her before you leave.” Annette checked her watch. “She should be at work by now. Ask Simmons for some time off. If he refuses, tell him I suggested it.”

“…You’ve really earned Simmons’ full trust, haven’t you?”

“Competence is everything... Uh, forget I said that.” Annette saw the hurt look on Carla’s face and hurried to reassure her. “You’re capable too. You just don’t have as much experience as I do.”

“You don’t need to comfort me...” Carla clenched her fists. “I’ll prove what I can do. That’s the only way I’ll get over this anger!”

“Good, good.” Annette folded her arms and watched Carla leave the laboratory, then tilted her head helplessly. “I hope she remembers to keep up appearances in front of Simmons...”

“But Simmons probably doesn’t care anymore, does he?”

And somehow, Carla was the only one who ended up worse off.