Jade sat at her desk, squinting at notes from a day that refused to end. Her head rested on one hand, elbow planted on the blotter. She yawned, stretched until her shoulders popped, then glanced up at the wall clock above the office door.
"Crap. It's way past closing time!"
She shot up so fast her chair tipped backward and smacked the floor. Jade winced, rubbed her forehead like that could undo the noise, then set the chair upright and shoved her papers into the filing cabinet. Her lab coat came off next, draped neatly over the chair like she had planned to leave on time. Purse in hand, she hurried out of her office and toward the front of the lab.
She reached for the light switches and froze. A large wooden crate sat in the corner of the main room, half-hidden in shadow like it had been trying not to be noticed. Jade stared at it, already hearing her boss's voice in her head. Another tirade about focus. Another lecture about "situational awareness" in her own lab. She should leave it. She should go home.
After a moment of hesitation, Jade sighed at herself. "Well, I'm already late."
She set her purse and coat on the table near the front door and walked over to the crate. No one had mentioned a delivery. No label, no paperwork, no warning markings. Just raw wood, metal bands, and a sealed lid. Her curiosity dug in its heels.
Jade scanned the room and spotted the crowbar by the equipment rack. She grabbed it, and started prying nails from the lid. The last nail came free with a squeal of metal. Then she heard it. A faint hiss. She paused.
For a brief, sensible moment, she considered gloves. Goggles. Literally any protection at all. Then she remembered: no warning labels. No hazard markings. She told herself the same lie every curious person tells themselves right before consequences happen.
"One peek won't hurt."
Jade slid the crowbar beneath the lid and levered it up just enough to see inside.
"Wha…? What? Oh no. Hang on!" A large glass tube sat inside the crate, filled with blue liquid. Suspended in it, was a man.
Jade's first thought was that the guys in the lab were screwing with her again. They had a talent for boredom-fueled stupidity. It always escaped her how they had the energy for it. But the tube looked real. The liquid looked real. The man looked horrifyingly, impossibly real.
She should have known better given the state of her job however, sometimes panic rises in us. Mix a long day, a bad prank, and a tired mind with a sudden, potentually life threatening incodent, and any chance of rational thought flies right out the window.
"Hey!" Jade pounded on the glass. "Can you hear me?"
No response.
Panic climbed up her spine. Jade shoved the lid off completely and climbed into the crate. She pressed her hands to the tube, eyes darting for a latch or seal or anything.
"Is this a joke? Seriously? Hey! Wake up!"
The man inside didn't move, didnt even open his eyes. Jade gritted her teeth and raised the crowbar. Convinced that the man inside would run out of air soon if she did not free him.
Once. Twice. On the third strike, the glass finally cracked. On the fourth, it shattered.
Blue liquid flooded the crate, spilling over the edges and sloshing onto the floor. Jade dropped the crowbar and grabbed the man's shoulders, shaking him hard enough that her own arms burned.
"Come on! Seriously, are you still alive? Fuck!"
There was no easy way to pull him out but she tried anyway, bracing her foot against the crate wall, yanking at him like she could drag him through glass and physics by sheer willpower. It didn't work.
"Come on, Jade. Think." She scolded herself, trying to be rational.
Her brain scrambled for CPR logic. If she couldn't get him out, she'd have to do it there. She shifted, straddling the tube, leaning in, breath poised. His eyes snapped open. Jade yelped, lost her balance, and slammed her head on the side of the crate as her body slid to the side and off the glass tube.
"Ow… ow, shit."
She blinked hard, trying to clear the stars, and stared at him. "Oh! Hey, are you okay? What the HELL do you think you're doing? Seriously, what kind of joke is this?" Jade was panting from anger and adrenaline. The man's gaze moved slowly, as if he was waking up in a world he didn't recognize. Then his eyes settled on her.
A thin smile appeared. And Jade realized, all at once, the man was completely naked. Heat rushed into her face so fast it felt like a fever. His smile widened, like he could taste her panic. He ran a hand through shaggy golden-blond hair, blue liquid streaming down his chest as he sat up.
"I… uh… I'll just… wait… I…"
Jade scrambled out of the crate so awkwardly she nearly slipped again and bolted for her office. She yanked her lab coat off the chair and practically sprinted back. The man was climbing out of the tube when she returned, dripping blue water onto the floor. Jade stopped short, forcing her eyes to stay above his waist. She struggled to find words, her mouth not wanting to close. He was slender but well-built, the kind of body that looked like it had never known stress eating. His eyes were a bright, startling royal blue, sharp and amused.
She held out the coat like it was a shield, turning her head in embaressment, when her foot slid. Jade squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for humiliation and impact. She felt the world give out from under her and she knew the cold wet kiss of the floor would met her quickly.
But the fall never came.
A cold sensation wrapped around her, like she'd been swallowed by the sea. When she opened her eyes, she was caught in his arms. He looked down at her, smile slow and knowing.
"For me?" he asked, nodding at the coat she was clinging to.
Jade nodded so hard it was a miracle her neck stayed intact. She shoved the coat into his hands and twisted out of his grip as fast as dignity allowed.
With her back to him, she sucked in a breath. "Are you stupid… I mean… thank you for… catching me. Uh. You're okay, right?" Jade closed her eyes and tried to shake off her awkwardness. She couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to yell at this stranger for palying a deadly prank, or be thankful that he hadn't died on her watch.
She heard him laugh softly, like she was a kid he'd caught trying to lie. His light laghter helped her make up her mind. She was going to tear him a new one. Had she not noticed that crate tonight, he could have died and a death in a place like this was no exceptable. Not for Jade. She cleared her throat, fists clenched at her sides. She turned, ready to scold him properly.
He was gone. There had been no indication that he'd left but the space where he'd been only a second before, was now empty space. The shattered tube and blue liquid remained, along with wood splinters and glittering shards of glass. Jade spun in place, staring at the empty room like it might explain itself.
"What the actual…?"
She rushed to the hallway, yanking the door open. Nothing. No one. The corridor was silent and still. Even the motion sensor lights were off. It was as if the man had never existed at all.
Jade groaned, dragging a hand down her face and looking back at the disaster she'd created. "Great. Not only am I here late, but now I've got a huge mess to clean. And what do I have to show for it? Nothing. Fucking nothing."
She blew out a long breath. "I guess I'll find out what the deal is with this box in the morning."
Talking to herself had become a bad habit. The lab was built for silence, not friendship, and humans were unpredictable variables she preferred to keep at a distance. She worked alone, so she spoke aloud to sort her thoughts into something she could actually manage.
"Who the hell was he anyway?" she muttered, as she felt the sting on her arm. She examined her hands. Her arms. Cuts. Small, angry slices from the shattered glass. Jade rolled her eyes skyward. "Of course. That's what I get for not using protection." She sighed for what had to be the hundreth time that night as she headed toward the bathroom.
She pulled the med kit from the cabinet and started sterilizing and bandaging the worst of it. She was finishing the last bandage when voices drifted in from the lab. Male voices. Jade froze, breath caught in her throat. Nobody else was supposed to be here this late.
Man 1: "What the hell happened in here?"
Man 2: "Oh shit… you don't think…?"
Man 1: "I told you to stay with the damn box!"
Man 2: "And I told you not to leave it in some random-ass room!"
Man 1: "He's not going to be happy about this."
Man 2: "Fuck. It's empty. It fucking broke out!"
Man 1: "Okay, okay. Here's the plan. We were taking the crate to the vault and the thing broke out. Give me one of the tools. We need to bust up the top, make it look like it escaped."
Jade heard wood splitting and heavy breathing. Great, she thought bitterly. More mess for me to clean up.
Man 1: "There. Looks believable, right?"
Man 2: "Yeah, I'd buy it. But what if the boss wants to know why we didn't stop it?"
A loud crack. A groan of pain.
Man 2: "The fuck, bro? What's your fucking prob—"
Man 1: "Stop bitching. We need to look roughed up. Hit me back."
Jade sank against the bathroom door, listening to the dull thuds of fists and muffled curses. The realization crawled up her spine, slow and icy: Whatever she'd let out of that crate… it wasn't supposed to be free. It wasn't Human. If those men found her, they'd know she'd opened it. She let it free. Jade swallowed hard and crept to the farthest stall, crouching behind the toilet.
A moment later, the bathroom door opened. Two sets of footsteps entered.
Man 1: "Yeah. This'll do. I don't know how strong that thing is, but I think the boss will buy our story."
Man 2: "We probably shouldn't mention the fact we survived unless it comes up."
Man 1: "Right. Okay. Let's move the mess into the hall and call for backup."
Jade stayed hidden until their voices faded and their footsteps disappeared.
Only then did she let herself breathe.
Just what was that strange man… and why had he been sealed in a crate in her lab?
It was a question Jade feared she might never get an answer to.