A.I.: Orphans of Terra (HTTYD)

13

Chapter 13

Hiccup left the Mess hall and followed Astrid's instructions on how to get to area B. Since this part mostly consisted of laboratories and testing rooms not many Berkians had ventured in here. The area seemed a lot better maintained than the other parts of the facility and Hiccup supposed that was the scientists' doing. After all they wouldn't want to conduct their experiments in a subpar environment. Theoretically, Gobber's area should also be part of the B area but it was in the lower levels and connected to other sections via service corridors. The hallways there weren't as well lit as here.

"Proceed left at the next junction and then three doors down to the Nanotech labs." Astrid relayed the instructions as Hiccup looked around curiously. When he got to the junction Hiccup saw a sign near one of the doors that looked like a DNA helix. "Astrid what is that?"

"That is the Genetics laboratory," Astrid explained. "It is where research is being conducted to clone animals for the Biodome."

"Cloning animals? Is that even possible?" Hiccup asked. He wasn't too familiar with the process and was now wondering about the parrots he had seen flying overhead when they had first arrived.

"It is boy! The habitat wouldn't function without them." A voice startled Hiccup and he turned to look to his right. Dr. Bludvist had just come out of one of the adjoining rooms and was staring him down. The gaze was scrutinizing and the burly man crossed his arms before asking "What are you doing here?"

"Astrid.... Uhm...... was giving me a tour!" Hiccup uttered quickly and it made some sense. "Yeah, she was giving me a tour." He stated. He didn't know what it was but this man made him a bit nervous.

Drago huffed before muttering "Well get in there. I will tolerate you looking in my lab for a bit." as he pointed towards the Genetics lab.

"Excuse me, what?" Hiccup's brows shot up.

"If you're on a tour then you were going to go into the labs right?"

"Eh....... yeah......" Hiccup said while his internal dialog went something along the lines of "Crap crap crap." as he was just two doors away from his destination. Reluctantly, though he did not show it, Hiccup proceeded into the lab. While the corridors were white, the inside of this lab had darker paneling. Metallic grey walls and several workstations were present. There was even a closed-off section with an observation window. Hiccup peered through it to see rows of tubes containing some type of green fluid.

"That's the nursery," Drago said, startling Hiccup once again. He hadn't expected the man to actually talk more to him. Hiccup turned around to see him don a white lab coat and grab a tablet.

"Nursery?" Hiccup asked as his curiosity got peeked. "You mean that's where you grow clones in?"

"Yes, the fluid acts as a substitute for a womb." Drago hummed not looking up from his work.

"What type of animals are you cloning?"

"For now, mainly insects, birds and small mammals and several fish species." Drago mumbled. "The fluid speeds up the creation process from months to a few weeks and now that you've seen the lab out you go."

"Doesn't cloning entire animal populations each time become tiring?" Hiccup cocked his head to the side. Drago scoffed and gave Hiccup a look.

"It's not needed. The animal populations are unaffected by the Midas drug," Drago then muttered as he looked at Hiccup and then the automatic door. Hiccup was positive the man wasn't about to answer more questions and looked ready to throw him out. He himself hurried to the door but stopped when a thought hit him.