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The next morning, McBrid checked on Cal, making sure the young Servant was comfortable in his cage. “If you want anything, just let me know.”
The Servant stretched out on a cot in the Aranea staging lab. He wouldn’t be housed in the same room as Fersia until he slipped into the cocoon phase. He didn’t need to see an Aranea until he became one.
“Sir, you sent for me.” Charlie, one of the two young Guards assigned to him, entered the room, keeping his gaze averted from the Servant.
Neither of them liked what they had to do. Fersia had changed how both of them saw the hosts and the creatures they became.
“I’m going to keep Cal company for a while. I need you to open the divider between the empty Brush-Men cage and the full one, but only a little. I want the smaller ones to enter the replanted enclosure first. It’ll give them a chance to find a place to hide from the larger ones.” The Brush-Men, or Phasmatodeas, had no qualms about eating their own.
“Do I need to feed them?” Charlie’s eyes darted to Cal. “Live food?”
They both hated that part, especially now. Tossing helpless Servants into cages to be devoured by monsters used to be just part of the job, but that also changed since Fersia.
“Yes, but there’s meat in the refrigerator.” He’d been forced to do a live feeding of the Slug-Mugs the other day. Parson was out sick and Conguise had accompanied him to the Gastropoda laboratory. It’d been horrible and Charlie was still upset.
“Great.” Charlie hurried to the refrigerator and pulled out several roasts.
“Cut them up and toss them in before opening the divider. Make sure the doors are locked and sealed before you press that button. They may be small but they’re deadly and if the bigger ones manage to squeeze through...” He didn’t need to say more. Charlie understood better than anyone how dangerous working on Level Five was.
“Yes, sir.” Charlie started for the door.
“Get your brother to help you.” He trusted Charlie, but Louis was big and steadfast whereas Charlie was still naive. He had to figure out how to get the kid away from Level Five before Charlie’s kind heart ended his life.