Subject to Study (Naga!Brothers x Reader)

Chapter 14

I shifted through the crinkle paper, my hand hitting something metallic before I searched for the edge of the object, pulling out a laptop from the box. I couldn't help but stare at the technology, opening up the laptop and turning it on.

It booted up immediately, loading the main screen without going to an account login. Digging back through the box, I found the charging cord for the laptop and moved into my bedroom, sitting on the bed while I messed around with it. There was an open wifi connection available and, with a few button clicks, I was connected to the internet.

The plans from before came back in force as I launched the web browser, immediately finding the San Diego Zoo's website and noticing a headline that advertised a new exhibit. The link brought me to a basic looking webpage with a single picture acting as a banner on the screen, the creature in the picture catching my eye. It was a picture that someone had taken when the nagas had just been put into the enclosures, and the coloration of the lounging naga was the same as Todo's scales.

Underneath the banner was a short blurb about what a naga was, and how they had been recently discovered. The small paragraph didn't mention anything about where the nagas came from, or who had discovered them.

Opening a new tab, I typed the keywords 'naga san diego zoo' into the search bar and pages of newspaper articles flooded the screen. Some articles were calling it a complex hoax while others simply reported the story, with some tabloids sneaking into the results with their claims of 'a new breed of humanity being found'. Each article I clicked on had the same picture of the exhibit announcement with three men standing proudly in front of the new enclosures. I recognized Calmine in the middle, no doubt being labelled as the 'discoverer' and being given all the credit.

There were a few blog pages dispersed with the news articles, most of them from local people that had been to the exhibit since its opening. They praised the costumes and special effects makeup, saying that the presentation was realistic enough to almost make them believe that nagas actually existed. Some other blogs claimed that it was fake news to bring more attention to the 'failing zoo' and to try to get money from their donors.

A reddit page was near the bottom of the first page of the search results, piquing my interest a little as I clicked onto the site. There was some user going by the name of '_nagawhisperer_' that was creating an AMA page, claiming that they were one of the caretakers of the nagas at the San Diego Zoo, that they had pictures of behind-the-scenes stuff with the nagas. I lowered my eyes into a hooded glare, partially tempted to create an account to make them shut up, but I'd probably get in trouble for it if I was found out. As widespread as the internet was, people would find out the truth about this 'naga whisperer' account and either buy their story or think it was fake. I clicked through some of the pictures that they had as 'evidence' for working with the nagas, and nearly laughed out loud when one of the pictures was of me feeding Kara. The only difference was they had photoshopped themselves where I was standing. Most of the people on the page called them out, saying that they were there at the actual feeding and they never saw that person.

I clicked off the reddit page, partially amused that someone thought they could get away with it. Taking in a breath to calm down from the laughter, I delved into the local newspaper articles to find out what Calmine was doing with the public about the nagas.

The same picture of him with two other men kept popping up, along with him showing off the front of the exhibits. I studied the pictures carefully, looking at the plaques that were set up to educate people. Most of them devolved to telling about the snakes that the nagas looked like, stating that nearly nothing is known about the nagas themselves.

"You'd know if you just asked them..." I muttered to myself before finding a picture of me talking to Jyushi during one of my visits in his enclosure. The blog that had the picture attached belonged to PETA. I closed my eyes and groaned before opening the blog, knowing that they went to extreme lengths to paint whatever humanity did to animals in a negative light.