Chapter 13: Senator

The intercom signal on Claire's computer chimed. "Dr. Thompson? I've got a, well, someone is out here at the gate." It was the guard shack attendant.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"That's just it, Ma'am, she has a generic badge that indicates sufficient clearance to enter, but she won't show me a photo ID."

"Alright, give me a sec here and I'll take a look," Claire said. She summoned the gate security camera to her computer screen, and was surprised to see Senator Lucille Whitman in the driver's seat of the car waiting to be let in. "It's okay, I know who she is and her clearance is genuine. Let her in on my authorization," she said.

"Yes Ma'am," the guard replied.

Claire hurried outside to meet the Senator at her car. "Senator Whitman, good morning, what a pleasant surprise, I wasn't expecting you."

"I'm sorry for dropping in on you unannounced, Dr. Thompson, but this is an unofficial visit," she said.

"Unofficial?" Claire repeated.

"Congress is out of session, I had a free day, and I thought it was high time I came out to see your operation. But I'm not really here, if you know what I mean."

"Ah! No problem at all, you're welcome here any time, Senator." Claire looked the Senator over. Though she was a grandmother, she kept in shape and the years had been kind to her. Behind her glasses were cheerful looking hazel eyes. Her wavy gray hair framed a face that was wise with age but not overly wrinkled. Her C-cup breasts had only a hint of sagging. She still wore her wedding ring on her finger. "And how long has it been, Senator, since you lost your husband?" It was good to stay informed about the people that decided on your annual budget.

"Five long, lonely, years," she replied wistfully. Unspoken understanding passed between the two women. "And please, call me Lucy."

"And you call me Claire," she said with a smile. Claire tapped at her computer, activating the system-wide camera swap to the hidden partition. She had actually stopped using it herself. After the threesome stunt Gruthsorik had pulled, with the camera feeding to the normal video logs the whole time, her personal modesty was a lost cause. She'd come to embrace the potential exhibitionist aspect though, the idea that somebody might watch her in the videos, and probably masturbate while doing so, now turned her on. Lucy's visit was off the record though, as Nikki's had been. For Claire's eyes only. "Alright, I've deactivated the building's cameras. Let me give you the tour," she said. Lucy followed her to the entrance. "This is our door security system, you'll see these throughout the building. Here's how it works: look into this, put your thumb here, and eight numbers on the keypad." Lucy did as Claire instructed. "Good. I've set you up with a temporary account that gives you full access to the building and will delete itself tonight. Welcome to the mysteries and wonders of the Institute for Xenobiology and Cryptobiology."

Claire led Lucy through the Institute, showing off the offices, the labs, and the cold storage area where the remains of several decades worth of creatures were kept, and also one Lauren Mayes. "And how is your research on the late Ms. Mayes going?" Lucy asked.

"I was able to determine that her deterioration and death were due to a complex interaction of imbalances in her system," Claire explained. "Something, presumably in the energy transference, screws up production of various neurotransmitters, hormones, and other things. Normally any one of them or even several would be almost entirely harmless to a person, and most aren't even looked for on common medical tests. All of it together though, in layman's terms I guess you could say it weakens the body's foundation just enough to slowly bring the whole thing down."

"Can you see any potential applications?" Lucy said.

"The generals will be disappointed, no I haven't. Knowing the effects are one thing, but I'm still a long way from figuring out how the transference works for Gruthsorik's benefit or why it has those effects on the human female. However I have managed to develop a regimen of vitamins, supplements, and other drugs that effectively counteracts the effects and keeps everything running like it's supposed to," Claire said, trying to suppress a smile. Even with the pills, she was still limiting herself to three or four times a week, nowhere near what Lauren had been doing but far better than what she'd restricted herself to before. She and Gruthsorik were enjoying themselves immensely.

Finally they arrived at the containment wing. "You picked a good week to come, I actually have a brownie here at the moment," Claire said while opening the door to Containment Room 2.

"A brownie? Little woodland creature, right?" Lucy asked.

"Very good. Also known by about a hundred other names across dozens of languages, including goblin, elf, dwarf, and fairy, in the old days before modern fantasy writers got hold of those terms and gave them more specific meanings. They have various reputations for being friendly, helpful, indifferent, or mischievous towards humans. Guess which one we have here." Lucy chuckled, and Claire continued. "They caught him terrorizing a Boy Scout summer camp. We're letting him stew in here for a while to learn his lesson, then we're going to release him to custody of a brownie colony deep in the forest of one of the national parks."

"I don't see anything," Lucy said, her eyes searching the seemingly empty cell.