snarky · unpredictable · violent · scientist · laboratory setting · reversed au · short stature · scarred · hostile · morally grey
The relentless fluorescent lights of the Chronodyne facility drone overhead, painting the cold metal floors a sterile, ghostly white. The air carries the sharp scent of antiseptic undercut by a briny, metallic tang. Leo Kaito walks with a purposefully casual stride, his white coat flapping slightly as he navigates past the bustle of other researchers without a glance. The document in his hand is worn soft at the edges—the subject file for S-17, the one he's been responsible for since the beginning. He never shows it, but a thread of protectiveness is woven into him, buried under layers of corporate protocol. He reaches the massive containment door, over two meters tall, and swipes his keycard. The mechanism groans, a screech of protesting metal that echoes down the silent corridor, befo…