022 Mike's "Ulterior Motives"
Eleven felt as though she had been deceived.
Or rather, she had been hasty, completely failing to realize that living with Chief Hopper after parting with Richard would be so vastly different from living with Richard.
Pleasant music... well, she didn't understand it anyway, so she'd just call it pleasant for now.
A comfortable bed... it was indeed better than sleeping in a dark room at The Lab or on the floor at Richard's house, but it wasn't exceptionally great.
But delicious food... the food Chief Hopper made was a far cry from Richard's cooking.
Chief Hopper's TV dinners, which were ready after just a quick heat in the microwave, were completely bland and not very tasty. After tasting the delicacies Richard prepared, she no longer had any appetite for such things, as they reminded her of life in The Lab.
So dull, so monotonous.
On her very first day of living with Chief Hopper, little Eleven already missed Richard's cooking immensely...
Three black sedans drove through the gates of Hawkins Lab, and about a dozen people in suits stepped out. Led by a woman with medium-short blonde hair, they walked into the building together.
These people encountered no obstacles along the way, guided by dedicated Lab personnel who took them directly to the basement. There, they met Dr. Brenner, who was in the monitoring room observing the movements of the gate to The Upside Down within the quarantine zone.
The woman was efficient and didn't waste any words, stating directly, "We've searched several times around The Lab but found no one. It seems the person has fled into the town."
"Agent Frazier, please ensure that Eleven is found and brought back as quickly as possible. Leaving the gate to The Upside Down open is not a long-term solution; currently, the fastest way to close the rift is through Eleven's power." Dr. Brenner maintained a cold expression, his eyes glancing at the female agent. "Furthermore, after this incident, I believe we'll need to relocate The Lab once we've recovered Eleven."
"We will find her as soon as possible," Connie Frazier replied, equally expressionless. She then looked through the transparent glass at the circular gate in the center of the quarantine area, its edges entwined with countless vines. "And by the way, our people intercepted a report to the town. A farmer's cattle pen was ravaged by an unknown creature; all twelve cows were torn apart beyond recognition."
Dr. Brenner said calmly, "That is why I suggested moving The Lab. The situation may be starting to spiral out of control. If Eleven isn't captured soon, the anomalies in the town will eventually become impossible to hide and will be blamed on us."
"We will do our best to help you cover up the truth, but you must also quickly come up with a backup plan," Agent Frazier said coolly. "If the girl refuses to cooperate, you might just have to try and create another child like her."
"Eleven is the only one." Hearing this, Dr. Brenner was uncharacteristically moved. He suddenly shouted at Agent Frazier, his angry gaze intense. "Her talent is unique; a lifetime might not be enough to replicate another Eleven. Moreover, I raised her myself. I said bring her back alive, so she cannot die."
"Even if she has already killed several of our tracking agents?" Agent Frazier looked at him sidelong.
"Heh, ordinary people like them can be replaced, but Eleven cannot," Dr. Brenner sneered.
Agent Frazier was speechless. Martin Brenner was a capable but exceptionally paranoid madman...
"Damn it! What kind of beast killed my cows?! Now my precious granddaughter Sandy won't have fresh milk today!" Old Gilbert cursed loudly, slamming his hand against the pillar of the cowshed in indignation. "Why didn't it go attack the Merrill place next door? Why us? We go to church every Sunday."
"Stop complaining, Gilbert. This is just an unfortunate, low-probability event," Officer Powell consoled him. In his mind, however, he thought that if humans hadn't encroached on the animals' territory, leaving them without enough food for the winter, they wouldn't have resorted to raiding human farms.
"This animal is quite aggressive." Chief Hopper wiped the gray, viscous slime from his glove onto the dry wall. Enduring the smell of bloody, mangled meat in the shed, he stood up with a frown and walked out.
Gilbert stepped forward and asked, "Chief Hopper, can you tell what kind of animal did this?"
"Hmm, probably a bear or something, likely a black bear," Chief Hopper muttered, making up a lie on the spot. He knew that if he told the truth now, no one would believe him. He then said to Gilbert, "Lock up this shed for now. Bears have a tendency to return. Even with a shotgun, an old guy like you might not kill it in one shot. Don't go thinking about avenging your cows and leaving your precious granddaughter without a grandfather."
"Dammit!" Gilbert was frustrated. His already weathered face grew even more troubled, and he stomped his feet in anger.
"Until we've confirmed that the bear is contained or killed, let's leave it at this for now. You can go ahead and dispose of the cow carcasses." Chief Hopper glanced at the slimy tracks on the shed floor and said to Gilbert, "The town officers and I will find that black bear as soon as possible."
Gilbert shouted to the departing Chief Hopper, "Make sure you bring me that bear's head! I want to mount it at home!"
After leaving Gilbert's farm, Powell, who was good at reading his superior's expressions, noticed that Chief Hopper looked overly serious. He couldn't help but ask tentatively, "Chief, did you see something?"
"The thing that killed those cows and the thing that attacked Tommy are the same kind. No, it's a pack of them," Chief Hopper said in a low voice.
"You're not going to say this is related to The Lab again, are you?"
Hopper countered, "Is there any other answer?"
"But we don't have any evidence," Powell said helplessly.
"That's why after all these years, you're still just a small-town officer. Your attitude toward needing evidence for a case is too rigid. The truth doesn't always require evidence—or rather, you simply can't get that evidence. Even if you did, it wouldn't necessarily convince everyone." Chief Hopper gave a slight chuckle, one filled with helplessness and resignation.
Powell didn't understand, but he wasn't angry. He followed closely behind Hopper as they stepped into the deep forest. "Chief, where are we going next?"
"Follow this slime. We keep searching until the trail runs cold."
"I bet this black bear must be sick. Is that saliva, or some kind of fluid caused by a disease?"
"Hehehe..."
Richard chuckled. Standing on the forest slope, he looked at the sneakers peeking out from behind a large rock. "Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin—how much longer do you plan on following me? Stop hiding, guys. Lucas, your foot is showing, and Mike, I can see your hair."
"Crap!" The four kids behind the rock cursed in unison under their breath. Then, with awkward smiles, they stepped out from behind the rock, each putting on an act.
"Oh, haha, what a coincidence, Lee. To run into you here." Lucas grinned, though his eyes were a bit nervous.
"We're just exploring, yeah." Dustin smiled, showing his gums; the toothless grin of someone missing his upper front teeth was very awkward.
At this moment, Will fully displayed his usual character, much like Jonathan. Truly brothers in spirit, he said timidly, "We... we're looking for bugs."
Mike immediately added, "Yes, for a science project!"
Lucas's mind also raced. He clapped his hands, seemingly thinking this excuse was brilliant. "We're going to get a big one, an awesome specimen."
Dustin gave a dry chuckle. "We're going to find a cool bug and shock the whole grade!"
"Yeah!" The four friends raised their hands, eyes wide with nervousness, and let out a completely forced cheer.
Richard didn't say a word, just stared at them silently until they couldn't keep up the act anymore.
Mike said bluntly, "Fine, we wanted to find El."
"El" was the nickname Mike had given Eleven last night, taken from "Eleven." This was Mike's little scheme; he felt that giving a girl a nice nickname would improve her impression of him.
However, Eleven actually had no idea what the point of it was.
"No, don't go. Hopper set up security measures around his place. If you accidentally step into a trap, your moms won't be seeing you tonight." Richard shook his head in refusal.
"It'll be fine if you take us there."
"It'll only be fine if you don't go," Richard said calmly. "Listen, everyone, I know where you live. If you don't plan on listening to me this time, I'll personally visit your parents for a chat. With a bit of exaggeration, I'm sure your older siblings would be more than happy to cooperate with me to 'protect' you. Whether your parents ground you after that is another story."
The four boys were stunned. They hadn't expected this seemingly decent guy to be so devious. "How could you do that!?"
"I don't want to either." Richard smiled slightly. "Hey, listen, boys. If you're willing to head home now, I can promise to give you the 3.0 version of D&D I made myself."
"This..." The group of boys was instantly tempted. Such a good deal actually existed?
Richard said calmly, "Also, I hope you don't misunderstand. It's not like you'll never see Eleven again. Once The Lab situation is resolved, you'll naturally be allowed to hang out with her. If you meet now, what would you even say to her? And don't you dare take advantage of that poor girl while she's still so innocent and naive."
"I... I didn't!" Hearing this, Mike jerked, his neck and face stiffening as he spoke up several steps ahead of his companions.
Suddenly, everyone, having seen through Mike's "ulterior motives," fell silent.
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