by Leona Jarnefeldt 30th July 2021, 11:35 pm
-Motor City, outside Dr. Harrison's home, four hours later-
After leaving Mr. Bank's home Leona eventually left the Neutral Grounds and traveled on foot to the outskirts of Hargeon Town before summoning Winged Lion. From there Leona flew to the outskirts of Motor City. After arriving on the outskirts of her destination she dispelled her summon before traveling through the bustling city until she reached the address provided on the note Mr. Bank had given her. Having navigated the city without incident, Leona eventually reached the front of a large and plain-looking gray two-story building on 1948 Oppenheimer Lane. There was no intercom grille like there was outside Dr. Reid's laboratory, so she would just have to knock on the thick wooden door in front of her and hope that Dr. Harrison heard her.
Once she freed up her right hand by putting the note inside her backpack Leona walked up to the wooden door, raised her right hand, and knocked on the wooden door. She had just taken her hand away from the door when it opened up and in the doorway stood a tall, angry, middle-aged man with short black hair. He was wearing black-rimmed glasses and a white long-sleeved dress shirt with brown dress pants and black dress shoes. He glared at Leona.
"I'm in the middle of something very important! What do you want?" He asked her, glaring at her with sharp green eyes that drilled into her mind.
"Are you Dr. Harrison?" Leona asked the man. He scoffed at her.
"Of course I am, you simpleton! What kind of dumb question was that? You know what? Don't answer that because you'll only say something else utterly stupid!" He verbally tore into Leona. The Wizard Saint felt intense embarrassment but offered up a reason for her question.
"I... I thought you were one of his research assistants." Leona meekly replied. That defense only made the man angrier.
"I... I thought you were one of his research assistants." He mocked Leona in a deliberately unpleasant falsetto voice. Then he leaned towards her until his face was only inches from hers.
"I DON'T HAVE ANY ASSISTANTS, YOU BLONDE IDIOT! I DO ALL MY OWN RESEARCH!" He shouted, causing Leona to leap back. Without missing a beat he resumed berating her.
"You're a special kind of stupid, you know that? You're lucky that I'm even talking to you after the sheer stupidity you just demonstrated! Now tell me why you're here before I say something really rude!" He continued to tear into Leona before leaning back once he had finished the last sentence. Leona held up the silver briefcase clutched in her left hand.
"I have something from Mr. Bank." Leona informed him. The angry doctor glared at her, then motioned for her to enter the house.
"OK. Get in here before I change my mind, you blonde bimbo!" He snapped at her. Caught off guard by the sheer anger the man was radiating, Leona meekly obeyed. She had barely cleared the doorframe when he slammed the door shut behind her.
-Inside Dr. Harrison's home-
Leona found herself inside a foyer with bare walls that opened up onto a sparsely decorated living room that had the bare minimum of furniture. There was only a black leather recliner and a wooden coffee table loaded with science magazines. Past the living room was a hallway that led into a back space that Leona could not see into, so she turned her attention to the living room wall behind the recliner.
The wall behind the recliner boasted a lot of framed degrees, diplomas, and technical certifications. The Wizard Saint looked towards one of them and learned that he was educated at Crocus Magicka University. The angry man noticed her looking at the framed documents and commented.
"Look at them all, Blondie. Take a good, long look at them. That's more degrees, diplomas, and technical certifications than you'll ever have." Dr. Harrison bade Leona to take a look at the evidence of his academic accomplishments in a snide tone. Leona looked at them for a couple of minutes, then once her curiosity was satisfied, turned to the doctor.
"I have this for you. Mr. Bank said you'd know what this is." Leona said to him and presented the silver briefcase. He looked down at it, then reached for it with both hands.
"Give me that, you simpleton!" He snapped and wrapped his fingers around it, then snatched the briefcase out of her hand. Leona was taken by surprise, but she did not protest.
"Stay right in the foyer! Don't go anywhere and don't touch anything!" He snapped at Leona and turned away, then walked briskly through the living room and towards the back space. The Wizard Saint obeyed and remained right where she was. Mr. Bank was right... Dr. Harrison was a trial to work with. He had a short temper and a large ego, which was a bad combination.
Leona waited in the foyer for around ten minutes before Dr. Harrison came back with a black leather briefcase and stopped in front of her. He held it out to her and she took the handle into her left hand.
"OK, be a good little courier and take this briefcase back to my patron. Tell him that it contains some results he might be interested in." Dr. Harrison said in a voice that was almost calm.
"OK. I'll take it to him right away." Leona replied.
"Good. Because this courier job is so simple even a dimwit like you can do it. Now run along because I've got very important work to do and you've wasted enough of my time!" Dr. Harrison said to her in a suddenly irritated voice. Leona hastened to leave the doctor's home to deliver the black briefcase to Mr. Bank and to get away from the irascible Dr. Harrison. To say that he was a rude man was an understatement. He was also awfully bold to act like he did towards a current Wizard Saint who was armed with both powerful magic and a laser rifle.
[Post Word Count: 1,018]
[Total Word Count: 1,828/10,000]