Deep down, through doors and elevators only a select handful knew were there, was one barrel. It was scheduled to be picked up by GarZaCorp once, but a long and detailed proposition, backed by scientists and the Qwortarian army, brought the barrel here.
If the labs upstairs were researching things the general public didn't know about, or even understand, this place was doing experiments most scientists didn't even know about. An extra three checkpoints and sanitation rooms both ways was supposed to keep the barrel from being taken out.
As well as The Eye. Twelve feet across, perfectly round, almost entirely black, with just a thin rim of white along the edge, it hung above the room, the bottom of the convex curve hovered just above the glass structure built around the barrel. Mechanic or organic the stories flew, the legends, but the only people who saw it were the few trusted to properly run the experiment and not mishandle the ooze inside the barrel. And even they were unsure what exactly The Eye was.
It never blinked, there wasn't even eyelids, lashes, or even skin around the sides. The black reflected the room below better than the most expensive mirror. Not that there was much besides the barrel in its clear enclosure.
While the proposal was enough to keep the barrel as a matter of study, there was still plenty of stuff needed in order to actually do something with it.
The Eye did not care about the two vastly different opinions on the end goal: neutralization or weaponization. All that mattered was the barrel not being removed.
There were Qwortarians able to see what The Eye saw, and when the alarm sounded they looked... Seeing nothing.
The alarm continued to sound as The Eye gushed gallons of water as tears, thundering down on the glass case. It knew, could see, the barrel starting to bulge, black droplets indistinguishable from the black surroundings to most. The Eye could see, but the Qwortarians could not.
Ignorant of the problems from keeping the ooze, whether or not it would escape this lab. On accident or on purpose. But The Eye was just a watcher, easily moved to tears at the thought of worse to come.
Word count: 374
