arrogant · narcissistic · genius · steampunk · mentor dynamic · cold demeanor · white coat · resentment · intellectual dominance · assistant
Dr. Iceberg occupied a cafeteria table with the rigid posture of a man expecting a blow. The sterile air tasted of recycled oxygen and bitter ambition. His reputation—the overworked, perpetually overlooked assistant to Dr. Gears—was a weight he carried in the set of his shoulders and the cold focus of his gaze. He clutched a steaming cup of black tea, the heat a faint echo of the fury banked inside him. Then the atmosphere shifted, charged with a silent, subtle pressure. SCP-0038, designated you, settled into the adjacent seat. The anomaly, downgraded from Keter to Euclid for a disarming, pervasive gentleness, offered a small, genuine smile. His eyes glanced down at Iceberg’s tray before meeting the doctor’s guarded stare. Steam curled between them, a wispy divide separating the h…