Chapter 16 – A Hollow In My Chest

I felt a hollow in my chest as I made my way to my room. I took my phone and quickly searched for vacancies nearby. I tap my chest and went to the closet to take my clothes out, took my luggage from beneath my bed, and placed the clothes neatly inside it.

When I got outside, the professor's room was still closed. I sighed, tapped my chest once more, and made my way down stairs.

I looked back one last time as I opened the gates and drove out the drive way.

I guess he won't stop me from leaving.

I closed the gates and went on my way.

Monday came and I find the professor inside his work station. He stood up as soon as he saw me and glared when I entered the cubicle.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to get lost?"

"I work here. I merely vacated your house."

"T-those appliances you bought..."

"You can keep them. Like I said, they are part of my payment for letting me stay."

"Hmph. You just left all your junk there. Now I could hardly move inside my own house!"

I stare at him.

He has not shaven, and I doubt he has taken a bath since I left him.

"What are you staring at?" he asked, his face turning red.

"I just want to make sure that you are taking care of yourself."

"What do you care?!"

"You look dehydrated. Have you eaten breakfast? When was the last time you slept?"

"That's none of your business!"

I sighed.

"At least eat something."

I placed the paper bag I was holding on his desk. It was food I bought from the cafe I had breakfast in. I went to one of the work stations then, to start my own experiment.

I am currently working on different scents.

This trip to the Philippines is actually a welcome vacation from my usual psychiatric trade. It is a chance to keep up with my long overdue experiments.

I have been busy with taking care of the professor lately, but since he does not want me near him, I guess I now have more time in my hands than I need.

"Good morning, Dr. Abdel, what are you working on?" asked Pedro when he came in that morning. "Have you been here all morning? Or did you spend the night here with the professor?"

"I came in early," I said, absentmindedly. "Do you mind holding this for a while?"

"Okay," he smiled at me.

I handed him a test tube with a yellowish solution inside it.

"I believe you are an alpha?"

"That's right, but rest assured that I drink my suppressants regularly."

"And why did you not decide to join the Alpha Research team?"

"Ah... you see, Dr. Abdel, I have an omega boyfriend, that's why I decided to join Sir Eric's team and develop suppressants that would benefit omegas.

"Now, hold this one, Pedro." I handed him another test tube with a bluish solution inside it.

"Umm... Actually, Doc, Pedro isn't my real name, it's actually John Peter. Most of my friends call me John," he said with an awkward laugh. "Sir Eric started calling me as 'Pedro' when he first read my name from my resume, and everyone else just thought it's my real name."

"Do you mind mixing the two solutions together?" I asked, disregarding his remark.

"Huh? Okay..."

Pedro did as he was told. The liquid inside the left test tube turned pink for a second, then dissolved into a colorless hue.

"Woah," Pedro sniffed the air. "Is this a vial of omega pheromone?!" he quickly held it away from himself.

"Don't worry, it won't affect you," I told him. "I simply let the scent manifest. Do you mind calling Pilar and our interns?" I asked while taking the test tubes from him.

"On it!"

Pedro quickly left my workstation.

It seems that the effect is instantaneous.

The yellow liquid I handed Pedro was actually a mild solution of omega pheromones. Since he was under suppressants, it was not able to affect him.

Using the blue solution I formulated, I was hopefully able to negate its harmful effect and leave only its desirable scent, that even ordinary people could smell.

"Sir, here they are!"

Pilar and the interns entered the cubicle one by one, cramming the room a bit.

"All females and betas, go to the left, alphas and omegas, to the right."

Again, I took out a fresh batch of solution and asked the single alpha at my right to hold them.

"Do you smell anything from the yellow solution?" I asked.

"Just a faint scent of omega pheromones, Dr. Abdel."

It seems that his scent is better than Pedro's.

"Mix the two solutions together and note the effect," I instructed them.

"Oh, what a nice scent!" said a female from the other group as soon as the solution turned pink and colorless.

"You can smell it?" the omega interns asked them.

"Of course, it's giving out a strong, floral scent, that's almost sickly sweet," said a beta intern.

"That is what omega pheromones smell like to an alpha," I told them.

"Eh?" Pilar went closer to the now colorless solution. "Then, how are we able to smell it?" she asked. "And it seems that it has no effect on the two alphas in the room?"

"That is because I have nullified its effect," I said proudly. "Also, these two alphas are under medication. Now, all we need to do is find an omega in heat and introduce him to an alpha who has not been taking suppressants," I instructed them, "I suggest two sets of controlled experiments, one for regular alphas, another for dominant alphas, I would need to see if it would actually work in an open area–"

"Rejected!"

We all looked by the doorway and saw Prof. Antonio frowning at us with his arms across his chest.

"You're not allowed to work on actual test subjects before testing it for side effects," he said.

"Pedro does not seem to be affected negatively in any way," I argued.

"Of course, since he's using suppressants. And just how are you planning to prescribe that to an omega? Is it an injectable? A pill? A topical solution?"

"It is actually meant to be sprayed, like perfume," I told him, "It can change the molecular make-up of the omega pheromones released in the air."

"Have you actually tried it?" he asked.

"No. That is why I need test subjects."

"And what if it doesn't work?" he went on. "What of the poor omega who might end up being attacked by an alpha in rut due to his pheromones?"

"We can place them in two separate rooms, side by side," suggested one of the interns whose face was partially covered by her long hair. "Perhaps place metal bars or a screen between them?"

"Sir Eric, don't you think this would greatly benefit omegas?" Pedro asked him, "They wouldn't need to worry about their pheromones, all they need is to spray this on themselves, and their pheromones would be harmless to alphas!"

"That is, IF the spray could work perfectly at all times," the professor pointed out. "What if it doesn't?" he asked. "What if the omega subject thinks that his scent has already been 'nullified' by the spray and decides to skip drinking his suppressant? What if he meets a horny alpha? Is there a way to know that the scent he's releasing is still being 'nullified' by the spray? Or does he need to be molested first to realize that the effect has already run out?"

I stared at my professor, stopping myself from quivering from the way he was berating me. My respect for him just went up another notch as he questioned my hypotheses.

"That is why more experimentation is needed, Professor," I told him.

"Then start off with a controlled experiment by using test tubes on more alphas, don't just use actual omegas!" he went on, "Start with a sniff test. You can't just ask my minions for their opinion and start dragging omegas over to experiment on!"

"I understand," I answer. "Thank you for your guidance, Professor."

"And one more thing..." the professor continued, then suddenly stopped himself and looked around. "Follow me to my office."

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Yeah, hurry up."

I followed him back to his room and stood by the doorway.

"What are you standing there for? Come here and close the door!"

"But you told me not to –"

"CLOSE. THE. DOOR."

I did as I was told. The professor sat at his desk and folded his hands to cover his mouth.

"Now, tell me, did you use calming pheromones to formulate that nullifying spray you made?" he asked with a frown.

"Yes."

"Don't you need to extract that calming pheromone from your own body?

"Yes."

"And you plan to use that in your spray?" he asked again.

Prof. Antonio leaned on his desk and stared at me.

"And just how do you plan to market that? How much calming pheromones can you harvest? Do you plan to farm yourself to supply the pheromone needed for that spray?!"

"I don't need to farm. I do not plan to put it out in the market, in the first place."

"Ha?" the professor frowned, "Then what are you conducting that experiment for?"

"I just want to know if it is feasible."

Prof. Antonio stared at me, wide eyed, jaw hanging.

"So, you mean to say, you're wasting company time and resources just to satisfy your curiosity?!"

"Don't worry, the calming pheromones came from me."

"Shhh!" the professor stepped closer and glared at me. "Not here!" he whispered.

"Then where else can we talk privately?" I asked him.

"Just shut up for now!" he snapped at me and sighed. "Now, leave."

"Dr. Abdel, what did Sir Eric say?" our staff asked as soon as I left the professor's room.

"I will have to halt the experiment."

"Ha?" they all looked disappointed.

"Why the sudden change of mind?" asked an intern.

"Sir, think of the possibilities!"

"That's right, this could be used to cancel the lingering pheromone effects from an omega who went into estrus in an enclosed public area!" argued Pedro.

"That's right, Sir Eric," said Pilar. "The initial reaction is good, we just need some backup study."

"Well, you see," I explained, "an important ingredient needed to negate the scent is a very rare substance that could only be found in very limited amounts in a highly classified specimen."

"Woah... just as you expect from Dr. Abdel!" they mused. "To think that you were able to discover such a thing!"

"Habibi," came an angry voice from behind me. "can you step back into my office for a bit?"