Things have been going smoothly as of late.
The Secondary Gender test kits are already in full production, with the professor's new formula that could give faster results.
Pilar's prospective substitute has been performing well in the laboratory, though she may be very timid and antisocial.
The professor's new suppressant is at the last stage of development and would be ready for initial release as scheduled on July.
Eric, though, has been cranky all week.
"This is simply absurd! How could people be that stupid!?" he fumed, gritting his teeth beneath the face mask he wore. "To think that some idiot would actually create a Terminus pill! Haven't they heard about the side effects that drug can give? Haven't they learned anything from the Club A accident?"
This is after we received a sample of a Terminus pill confiscated by the Gender Police from a secret pub house in the metro.
It seems the professor's nephew, Nathan, cooperated with the authorities to entrap his old high school classmate Dan and found the pills in his possession.
"At least, now, the Gender Police has a suspect in hand. Your nephew and DOME are officially off the hook, since they found imitation Terminus pills and several other illegal substances in his possession."
"Hay nako, don't get me started on that bastard Reubert! Not to mention my own bro-in-law, who didn't even tell me they were planning to use Nathan in their little entrapment!" he ranted on. "As if the kid haven't been through enough already! Why, if something happened to my nephew, I'd outta..." The professor trailed off. "Can you believe they actually did that?!"
"Yes, professor, I was there when they told us about it." I placed a cup of coffee on his table. "Besides, the operation was very sudden, and wasn't it Nathan who came up with the plan to catch Dan red handed?" Eric pouted at me.
"Hmph! Still, they never should have done that, even if Nathan did volunteer himself. He may be an asshole and an idiot, but he's still my brother's only son! I should have a 'say' in this too, since I'm practically their mom!"
Eric paused for a moment and shivered.
"Let me rephrase that," he said, rubbing his arm, "I'm their second dad! Their second dad!"
"Of course, professor," I answered absentmindedly.
"I can't help but wonder, though," he continued as he looked back at the sample beneath his microscope, "this fake Terminus pill from the gender police is too close to the original I formulated," he frowned. "I'm the only one who knew how to perfectly combine and distill the right combination of omega pheromones to make a harmonious concentrate almost as strong as a DOME's pheromone. How could they have come up with a replica? I got rid of the entire batch after we presented it as evidence!"
I stared at the professor. I remember, that was the time when we were both busy with his nephew's case. Only Eric, Pedro, Pilar and myself had access to the vials in this room, as well as the professor's locked cold storage unit.
I sigh and massage Eric's stiff shoulders as he sat in front of the microscope.
"Well, it was only a matter of time until someone could actually replicate it. May I dare say, it was partly our fault? Reubert, for using his pheromones freely, and us for making a Terminus pill."
"What do you mean 'us'?" Eric frowned at me. "This is all on me, and no one else's. You have absolutely nothing to do with this pill. Stop trying to butt in, lest you get dragged in with me when all hell breaks loose."
"Eric, I am your partner. I should be dragged in everything you do."
Eric looked at me, his brows knitted, and gave a long sigh.
"Mahal..." he touched my shoulder, "I can no longer imagine my life without you by my side, but I could never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you..."
"Do not speculate on it too much," I told him. "What matters most is that we are here together right now."
"You're right," he said with a heavy sigh, "we really should just drop everything and leave this hell hole. I swear, as soon as the FTP kits go into regular production, it'll be goodbye Universal Labs! 1Baboo Louie and kids! Let's just keep in touch through the internet!"
I couldn't help but smile as he said this.
"Wanna go back to Batangas?"
"Are you finished analyzing that pirated Terminus pill?" I took a peek at the microscope in front of him. "I need to make a report according to your findings."
"Yeah, just tell them it's the same pill. Up side is, this will help keep the existence of DOME's like you a secret. Down side, is that this is probably not the only Terminus pills in circulation. I'm just glad that it isn't as potent as a dominant omega's actual pheromones. It can only work on one person at a time since it isn't airborne, and you won't go into a coma unless you take two to three pills at once, depending on your tolerance."
"How about your new suppressants?" I asked with a smile, hoping it would cheer him up a bit.
"Ah, I finally got my all natural suppressant stabilize!" he brightened up. "And even though it has a shorter shelf life compared to the chemical ones, this one has almost no side effects, though I'm still searching for a replacement for cannabis buds."
"Well, cannabis is legal for medical use in most parts of the globe, anyway," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's still a banned substance for sporting events."
Eric gave a sigh.
"At least, that's the least of my worries. I'm planning to use a kind of moss from New Zealand, but my sample haven't arrived yet. For now, I just want to go home and relax with you..."
"I cannot wait to get home as well," I answered back. "We've been stuck in the office for two days now, since you insisted in finishing your analysis before the week is through."
"Let me make it up to you, then," his brows went up and down. "Let's go to Batangas?"
We were still talking with our eyes, when the professor's phone suddenly rang.
"Ugh, now what?" the professor reached for the phone in his pocket.
"What is it?" he grumbled.
"Say what?!" he frowned and suddenly stood up. "The hell?! Wait for us there!"
"Who was that? What happened?" I asked, alarmed.
"That was Nathan. Blondie got attacked by an alpha and almost got bitten!"
"What? How is he doing right now?" I asked the professor who hurriedly cleared his table.
"That's not the problem," he said, frowning at me, "apparently, my stupid bro-in-law felt threatened and decided to mark Blondie last night."
"Oh, so they are now bonded?"
"Yeah, the two idiots finally did it, but it seems that the bite wouldn't stop bleeding."
"It is still bleeding?"
"The idiot probably bit the kid's carotid artery!" Eric said irritably.
"I doubt Louie would do such a thing, he's experienced enough to know that he should bite his mate's nape, not his neck..."
"Mahal, that was just a joke," he sighed. "I should go there before they do anything more stupid."
"Good, is Nathan with them? I've been planning to meet with Reubert and Nathan this week for our experiment."
"What experiment?" Eric looked at me as he cleaned his equipment in the sink. "Are you even done with your paperwork?"
"I need to check Nathan for my FPS experiment. They are a rare dominant alpha and dominant omega pair, after all." I faced Eric and grinned. "According to Reubert's report, Nathan has started to open up to him more. There has also been a lot of progress lately. His skin tone has gotten more supple, he is practically glowing everyday. His muscle tone has also started to decrease, and he has shown a significant increase in appetite."
"Since when has Reubert been reporting to you about Nathan?" Eric frowned. "And it's no surprise that Nathan's losing weight. I bet Reubert keeps him up all night long, thus the increase in appetite as well," he snickered. "Well, as long as it's consensual..."
"As you say, professor," I simply reply. "Let us go on our way."
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1Baboo – a Filipino slang meaning 'goodbye'