I paced the floor on Monday night, my stomach full of butterflies and my head full of fears. What [custodian] had said had grown in me, making me more and more stressed out as time went on. Would I be hurt? Taken away? Would they force me to be registered before I was ready? I'd learned a few more letters and I was slowly learning more words, but I couldn't have a conversation yet, if they took me in, I might fail the communication test, and [progenitor] wouldn't be there to explain my disability...
"The posters are already up, Pendra..." [custodian] said "It's too late to do anything but hope for the best. If I know your mom, she's going to do whatever she can to keep you safe. Just stay close to her, and stay aware of your surroundings at all times."
I pulled my fluffy [upper shell] off and flopped into my [nest], he was right, but my head was full of thoughts of scary people trying to bust up the protest, taking me away, stomping on me, hurting me... I was all torn up inside, I wanted to help, I needed to help, even but I was so small, and I couldn't even talk, I'd just agreed to it without thinking because of course I'd help! It's [progenitor]! I curled up and tried to sleep, the thoughts of fear and trepidation threatening to keep me awake all night. [custodian] switched off the lights and got into his own [nest], and I soon heard him snoring slightly. I hugged my [leaves] tighter, I wish I'd had [food] before [nest] to help me sleep...
As I lie there in the darkness, I heard a sound like metal on metal, a scraping noise from across the room. I poked my head up, what was that? [custodian] was still sleeping, but there was movement in the tunnels now, and... voices? The elevator hadn't gone off, so how did anyone?... A light erupted from the tunnel entrance and I held back a scream, someone was in here with us, in our home! My heart was pounding, and I saw a strange metal woman with a clockwork arm and weird legs that looked like construction equipment floating towards the lab, followed by-
My heart froze, I felt dizzy. It was a chosen, one of the ones who'd opened up the cafe down the street the day all this started. I felt my heart start up again, faster than before. Why were they here? They seemed to be looking for something, glancing over at the lab, looking like they were hunting for- Oh, they were here for me. They'd seen me on the poster, and they wanted to catch me, to hurt me or do something horrible to me so the protest would fail, how did they find where I lived? Was it one of their powers? I couldn't let them do this, the one with metal on her was too tough, but I knew [custodian] could hold his own if I could take the red haired one in the dress... I'd have to do it quick if I wanted to actually hurt her..
I tore my sheets off and charged, hissing as loud as I could to scare her and hopefully wake [custodian] at the same time. I zipped forward as she turned, and she screamed back, her shrill voice cutting through the air. [custodian] was absolutely awake now, I just had to... I lunged for her ankle, my [fangs] dripping venom, but she floated up, slightly leaving the ground and she kicked me, hard. I flew through the air, tumbling into the tunnel with a shriek.
I looked around, my thorax was killing me, one of my legs was broken, and I was having trouble breathing. There was no way I could fight her off like this. I could stop her from catching me though. I ran into the tunnel, turning and weaving, I couldn't hear them behind me, but I could imagine they'd be flying, silently catching up. I smelled a spicy [food] smell, and I followed, coming to the door at the end of the tunnels, swung wide open this time. I looked back, I didn't know what was through here, but it was my only option at this point. I ran, my legs clacking on the [rock] floor as I put distance between me and my would-be kidnappers. I exited into a large room, full of the [food] smell, but the only [food] I could see was a pillar of eyes and mouths that was being sucked into the floor. I ran around it, the eyes tracing me as I went, and found a second tunnel to escape through.
I ran as hard as I could, finally finding myself in a large empty room with a hole in the roof. I looked around for something- anything to defend myself with, but there was nothing. There was a rope hanging from the ceiling, through the hole, and I went for it. I'd get to the surface, I'd wait until everything settled down, and I'd go back, no problem. I climbed hand over hand, my legs boosting me, the broken one throbbing as it twitched. I looked around and saw another chosen, dressed like the first, but this one was in a black dress. She was eating a pastry of some kind, and kicked her legs to get away when she saw me. She screamed around her snack, and I hissed at her loudly, and made like a bullet for a hole in the wall of the building I'd found myself in, stealing away into the night.
I ran about a block before ducking into a side road, sliding under a dumpster. I panted, trying to keep my breath steady, were they still after me? Had I lost them? I bit my lip, and grimaced, spitting out the venom that had pooled in my mouth, and put my fangs away. If they were still out there, me going out now could just start the chase all over again. It was better to hide for now...
I lay still for a few minutes, letting my heart rate go down. I hoped [custodian] was ok, I was worried about him, he was a good fighter, but not against two people, especially a chosen, and a... cyborg? I heard yelling, and some popping sounds from the building I'd just left, it sounded like a very quiet gun going off and I tensed up, were they shooting him? I heard a hum, and I looked out of my hiding spot to see the metal lady fly past using tubes on her back as jets, a blue electric ball chasing her. There was a crash a second later, and everything went still. Was that [custodian]'s doing? Had he used one of his science things on her? I started to crawl out to see, but a large person in a suit walked past the street I was in, and I ducked back away again. He returned a moment later holding the cyborg lady over his shoulder. That wasn't right, he didn't look like he worked for us or> the chosen, but that suit looked familiar, it looked like the ones...
Oh, oh... I knew what had happened now.
~~~
I lay under the dumpster all night and all day. I stayed still, watching people walk past here and there, sometimes they were chosen, dressed like the ones I'd seen last night, sometimes they were regular people, but I never saw [progenitor] once. At some point, the pain from my broken leg was too much to bear, and I used my teeth to tear the broken part off, leaving a stump behind. I'd passed out then, going limp and waking up with the sun having moved in the sky. It still throbbed, but it didn't hurt from dragging and bumping on things anymore. Hopefully it'd grow back whenever I molted, I think it was [supposed] to, but I didn't quite remember. Still, if I was going to survive, I wanted to be ready to move quickly, and dragging a broken leg along would only slow me down.
Once the sun got low enough to provide shadows for me to hide in, I started planning. I'd need to avoid the chosen at all costs, and most likely regular people, too. I needed somewhere to go, though, somewhere safe, but Brandy's apartment was over thirty sections away, it'd take days to get there like this... My house was out too, it'd be staked out, they'd be there waiting, and the lab was obviously not an option either. I had one hope, one option, that annoying girl with the big hat. She'd mentioned being a friend to an abomination, and she'd tried to give me [food], so she couldn't be too bad. It wasn't much, and it was a risk- she was a self proclaimed hero after all- but it was better than nothing.
I slipped out from under the dumpster and hugged the walls as I moved, she'd said the building she was in was colorful, right? She was further away from our lab than the bus stop if I remembered right, and to the east of the diner, so... I headed the opposite direction of the setting sun, moving north as I did so. Eventually, I made it to a side street with a few lights lit up at one end, and I saw it, a patterned, colorful, out of place warehouse with lights on the front and a big roll up door. I dashed across the street and slinked closer and closer to the building, if I could just get to the door, I could peek in through the glass on the personnel door and check if the big hat lady was there. I lurked just outside the pool of light cast by the overhead lamps on the building, I breathed deeply, and steeled myself to run into the lights, I could-
"Well hello there..." a metallic voice said from behind me. "You've caused a lot of worry today."
I lurched, and spun, looking up at the person behind me. She was... beautiful, so, so beautiful... She was covered in chitin like, me, with a big dark brown shell on her back all smooth and glossy, her eyes were deep, with too many pupils all connected by swirling green irises, and her limbs were thin and elegant, with little barbs on them like a rose's thorns. Her light brown front was underlined in green highlights shining out from under her chitin where her joins were with a slight glow, her dark hair was shiny and loose, hanging around her almost-human face... She had shiny bracelets all over her arms- four of them, like me!- and she was wearing a fashionable necklace around her neck. She didn't have a top on, her smooth chest unadorned aside from the necklace, but her skirt was a distressed denim, and looked very punk, especially with the colorful sash reading "Valley City Abomination Coalition" that had dozens of pins and badges on it tied around her waist.
She adjusted a metal half circle clamped around her mouth, and crouched down, her legs bending two directions as she got close to me.
"Are you lost, little one?" she asked, her robotic voice much quieter now
I nodded quickly and help up my arms "Hep! Peez hep!" I said, using my new letters. I recognized her as the lady who'd been attacked by the chosen the day I went home, so she must be safe, if she fought chosen.
She folded her arms at her chest and made a sad humming noise in her throat. Was she 'aww'ing me? I felt a little embarrassed at having this angel, this supermodel coo at my request for help, but I needed someone to do something. She held out her arms, and I climbed up into them, feeling our smooth bodies against each other, and I clung to her, my upper arms wrapping around her thin, warm arm. She was like me, she'd understand! I felt good about this, she'd keep me safe for the night, it'd be ok... I smelled a familiar scent, and realized she was making pheromones for me, a [safe] smell, and I hugged tighter. She pet my thorax, hissing in empathy as her claws found the stump from my missing leg. She stood up, and walked forward into the light, opening the glass door to the building.
Was this the abomination friend hat girl had mentioned? I looked around as we walked through the welcome area into the main building; it was the remains of an old garage, and it was painted in bright colors to hide the old, dirty ick, but it was still obviously a garage, stinky, empty and echo-y. The lady holding me walked to the back, through an open doorway and into a small sitting room with a TV and some sofas in it. There were rooms with doors on them along the sides, each painted differently with fun cartoons to match the residents, and at the back of the room was a small kitchen. On the one of the couches was a lady around [progenitor]'s age, a little heavier, with brown hair and big geek glasses in her pajamas reading a large book. She glanced up as we entered.
"Hi Ryllis, how'd the protest- oh! Well hello again, Pendra!" she looked at me in surprise "Were you at the protest too?"
"She was not." Ryllis said "She was missing, the protest was about her going missing. Lorgiaia's Angels broke into her home and kidnapped her. I found her wandering the streets, she must have escaped."
"They... what? LA did that?" the nerdy girl, who I now realized was the hat lady said, surprised "That doesn't sound like them at all, almost the whole team is queer people and minorities..."
Well, they had done it... I was glad Ryllis knew the situation and was willing to be honest about it, it made me feel much better about being here in this den of heroes. Plus, if she'd been at the protest, she most likely knew how to get me in contact with [progenitor]!.. Once the heat died down at least. Contacting her tonight would just risk alerting the people who were after us.
"It was the one in red who did it. The one who screamed at me when we met." Ryllis said, and I nodded at that, confirming her statement. "Concerningly, they also seemed to think Maud had something to do with it."
"No, I know that's not right..." hat lady said "There must be a misunderstanding, she was here when I told you all about meeting Pendra and her mom, she should have known something was wrong, even if Candy tried to get her to do a hate crime... Where is she? I'll ask her."
"She has been in her charge cycle since last night." Ryllis said, pointing at a small closet to the side of the sitting area "She took battery damage on her last patrol from an EMP attack."
"Shit..." hat lady muttered, then winced "Sorry, don't said that, Pendra, it's a bad word..."
I straightened up and gave her a thumbs up. It sounded like this was a safe place to bunker down for now, except... if the metal lady, Maud, was here, I might still be in a little danger... I pointed to the closet, and then to myself, and made a "Shhh" noise, shaking my head.
The hat lady frowned, but nodded. "Ok, we'll make sure you're safe, would you like us to keep you hidden until we get all this sorted out?"
I nodded, it'd just be better that way.
"Where is Mourner?" Ryllis asked, looking around "I thought she was off right now."
"She's at the store, picking up paint." the hat lady said "I think she was going to try and add more details to the doors after her shift tomorrow."
"I see." Ryllis said "I would rather keep Pendra between the two of us, if it's ok. Mourner may insist on following the found abomination laws concerning her, and Maud may be compromised."
"Of course, yeah, do you think she's hungry?" hat lady asked
I made eating motions with my hands and teeth and nodded quickly.
"I believe that's a fair assessment, yes." Ryllis said. It was hard to hear tone and inflection in her emotionless voice, but I could still tell she was teasing. I smiled up at her, and one of her more human-ish hands rubbed the top of my head.
"Thank you Kiri." she said, looking back up "I know you believe in team communication, but I'd just like to make sure things are safe for her. I've had a lot of problems with people over my status as an abomination, and I'd hate to see little Pendra go through what I did."
"Aw, no problem!" the hat lady, Kiri, said as we walked into the kitchen "Pendra, do you prefer bacon? or steak? We have both. And raw, right?"
I shrugged, and nodded. I didn't know what those things were, but it was some kind of food, or my brain wouldn't have scrambled the words.
Kiri laughed and pulled out both packages and a [fang]. "Ok, I'll get these ready, then I have to get ready to leave for my shift, Ryllis, keep her in your room tonight, ok?"
"Ah, I forgot your shift, sorry, Kiri, I can do that." Ryllis said, moving to take the [fang] from her "You need to get dressed."
"No, it's fine! I got my magical girl transformation spell down!" Kiri said "I actually wanted to show you, here, let me just..."
She quickly diced up some of the [food] with speed that made me nervous for her fingers and dumped it on a plate. Some bits were dark, some pink, but they all smelled yummy... She washed her hands and wiped them on her pants, then took off her glasses and stepped back, taking a breath.
"Ok, are you ready for this?" she asked. Me and Ryllis both nodded, and she grinned.
She floated into the air, her eyes opening wide, pink slime oozing out of her mouth, nose, and ears, crying more of the glowing substance as it ran down her face. It gushed, and expanded, flowing down her body and covering her in a bright glowing pink wad of sticky mess. It clung to her tightly, then exploded outwards with a pop, evaporating as it left her body, and she dropped to the ground, dressed exactly like she'd been when I first met her, complete with lipstick and blush. She struck a pose, and winked.
"Warrior Mage Blinding Crystal, making her entrance!" she sang
I clapped, it was always a little gross to see someone use magic, but it had a strange draw to it, like you just couldn't look away. I'd heard it hurt to use, but she looked fine, so maybe that was just a rumor spread by gatekeepers?
"That's very impressive, Kiri." Ryllis said, the second half of her sentence pitching up in an attempt to show excitement "I'm glad you got it down. I remember when it used to just melt your clothes off."
"Haha... yeah..." Kiri said, blushing "It still does that, I'll never see those pajama pants again..."
"That's unfortunate." Ryllis said "Hopefully you keep making progress, I look forward to seeing you get better."
"Aw, thanks Ryllis!" Kiri said "Now quick, get in your room before Maud wakes up or Mourner gets home! I gotta get out of here..."
She looked at me, and held out a finger "Hey Pendra, sorry for all the scary stuff, we'll get you back to your mom soon, ok?"
I smiled, and shook her finger goodbye. After she'd left, Ryllis took me into her room and closed the door, locking it behind her to be extra safe. It was a nice room, dim lights, lots of plants under [suns], a humidifier chugging away in one corner, and it was warm too, just the right temperature. Her [nest] was huge, twice as big as [progenitor]'s, and it was covered in thick [leaves]. Her desk in the corner had a fun chair, too, almost like an egg cut in half, just the right size for her shell to nestle in, I was guessing.
I admired the posters she had up, they weren't the usual hero crap you usually saw, they were almost all of faces I knew, super scientists who worked closely with abominations, or who created them themselves. I looked for one of my dad, but I couldn't pick him out. I did see his friend, Dr. Entima though, he'd worked with my dad trying to make sure the dryads he was modifying retained their awareness and therefore personhood. His specialty was helping abominations pass the tests to get registered correctly, with tools, training, or even body mods. If he hadn't moved to the northern wastes, I'm sure [progenitor] would have contacted him about helping me.
I pointed to his poster and made a heart shape with my hands, nodding.
Ryllis looked up and it, and chittered "Ah, he's one of my inspirations, my mouth piece was based on one of his designs. It's difficult to use, but it helped me pass the test without any restrictions on my personhood."
I raised my eyebrows, impressed. For someone as... inhuman as she was, getting a full, no restrictions registration was almost impossible. I'd be lucky to even be considered a person, much less not have restrictions put on me. She really must have impressed them.
"My ability to speak perfectly, and my skills with technology and my history as a former human all contributed." she explained "It's how I was able to become a hero; on paper, I was the same as any other person, legally speaking."
I whistled, that was impressive. Maybe she could help me, too... I pointed to myself and shrugged, asking if she could help me too?
"I could... talk to one of the registrars I know." she said, tilting her head "I think it could work. Do you know more words than 'help' and 'please'?"
I thought about it, I didn't have my notebook, so it was difficult to remember, but I listed a few off, struggling to swap between them on the fly, my manual manner of speaking sounding... broken and unintelligent to my ears.
"Hak, cahsh, shag, hep, peez, fud, cry, hurt, no, yiz, dink, sleep..." There were more, I had dozens listed from the past couple days, I just couldn't remember them... I'd learned so many letters lately, damnit...
"That's very good, and how are you studying?" she asked
That was another word I knew! I smiled proudly "Teevee!"
"That is less than ideal... But it is a testament to your intellect that you've leaned to speak so quickly just from television. We need showers, and then we can eat our snack and study my way, ok?" she said, pointing to a bathroom door across from her [nest]. I nodded, and she set the plate of [food] down on the desk, and carried me over to the bathroom and set me on a counter.
"We really should get you some clothes, too." she said, looking me up and down "I may be lucky enough to have a featureless body, but you most certainly are not that lucky."
I shrugged, I didn't care, I was me, I looked how I looked, [upper shells] were cozy, but I didn't care much about modestly.
"Now, I need to take off my faceplate for the shower, my mouth is a little scary, are you going to be ok?" she asked.
I frowned at her, of course I'd be fine. It was just a mouth, and she was super pretty, I'm sure her mouth wasn't that bad. I gave her a 'duh' look and nodded. She chittered, and reached up, pulling the metal thing off her face with a slight click. I watched, and as the orange-slice shaped tool came away, I saw her face in full for the first time. Her kind eyes I'd already seen, with their multi-pupil-ed depth drawing me in, but her face itself was only skin from the nose up, with her chitinous mouth splitting open into a cross shape, with rows of sharp wiggling teeth both vertically and horizontally, mandibles not unlike my [fangs] poking out around her mouth. If I had to guess, those were what held the mouthpiece in place while her teeth and jaws manipulated the tool itself to make words.
I felt my breath taken away, she was [stunning], if I could still feel attraction or love, I'd be crushing so hard.... I might have gotten a little crush anyway... She watched me, and moved one of her hands, one of the upper ones with human fingers, up to her face, covering her mouth and lowered her head. I realized I was gaping, and I gasped, and shook my head, quickly making a heart with my hands, she shouldn't cover her mouth, it was amazing! So many teeth, all working together, all able to move on their own!
"Me!" I said, showing my [fangs] to let her know I was like her "Me!"
She lowered her hand and leaned forward to see my [fangs], and I clicked them together, nodding. I pointed to my mouth, then to hers, and made the heart hands with my top arms, and clapped with my lower ones.
Ryllis made the cooing noise again, and made heart hands herself. I smiled, we didn't need words, we figured it out! She turned way, reaching into her [rain box] turning it on, then undressed, her skirt hanging on a hook behind the door and her jewelry on a small plastic tree on the wall. She wasn't wearing anything under her skirt, and from what I could see, she was most likely wearing it as a fashion choice rather than because she [needed] to; she had nothing to be modest about, just smooth chitin. I climbed onto her arm as she held it out for me, and she stepped into the [rain box].
As soon as the [life blood] hit me, I knew something was wrong. Why was this happening? This wasn't outside time, I needed to get to [nest]! I needed to hide from the [rain], it was going to get in my air holes and hurt me, I couldn't even swim in it like I could with a bath, who would want this? It felt like being splashed over and over again, not having time to recover between splashes, I couldn't do this, this was horrible! I squawked and thrashed, jumping out of Ryllis's arms and dashed out of the [rain box], hiding against the door, panting and shivering.
She looked at me, her large eyes full of worry, and shut off the water. She pulled a [leaves] off the rack next to her and dried her face before picking up her mouthpiece and clicking it back on.
"Was the water too hot?" she asked, crouching down.
I shook my head and made violent hitting noises with my hands, around my head and shell.
She hummed and looked back at the shower "I see. I'm sorry, have you taken a shower before?"
I didn't catch that, but it was obvious she was talking about the [rain box]. I shook my head, and mimicked swimming and scrubbing my shell.
"Ah, I see, so you prefer baths?" she asked. I nodded "Very well, let me finish up, and I'll give you a bath. It'll need to be a washcloth bath though, Kiri is the only one of us who got a tub installed, and I wouldn't want to use it without her permission."
I relaxed, and she pulled her mouthpiece off again, giving me a soft four-way smile as she drew the curtain on the [rain box] closed and turned it on again. I waited for Ryllis to finish, shivering on the cold tile. After a few minutes, she stepped out again, and rubbed her hair with [leaves] before rubbing the rest of her body dry too. She picked me up in the [leaves] and set me on the sink, running the tap until the [life blood] was nice and hot. She put a small washcloth in the [life blood] and got it wet, then rubbed me with it. I shivered at the hot touch and leaned into it as she quickly cleaned me, gently going around my legs and carefully washing my tails and horns. She understood what was sensitive and what needed care, she got it!
As she finished, she opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle and some white tape, she squeezed the bottle out onto the washcloth, and the smell told me it was [poison]. Why was she putting [poison] on it? Was she going to- She pressed the washcloth against my leg stump and I shrieked and thrashed, but she held me down hard. Why was she doing this? It hurt, it hurt so much, she tricked me, she wanted to hurt me, she was evil! She pulled it away, and I writhed in her grip, I needed to get away, her door was locked, but she couldn't fit under the [nest], if I could get away and get there, I'd be safe, I just needed to wiggle free!
She picked up the tape with her free hand and I squirmed harder, she was going to tie me up! She'd been working with the chosen all along, she wanted to wrap me up so I couldn't run, I needed to fight back! I extended my [fangs] and bit her arm as hard as I could, but they didn't pierce her thick shell, I needed to bite skin... She had skin on her face, but it was too far away, but there was also skin on her upper hands! If I could get away from this claw, I could get to that one...
My stump stung again, and I howled, forgetting my plan as I looked to see what she was doing. She had the tape and was wrapping it around the stump, a bit of fluff poking out from under it. Why was she starting there? That's a terrible way to tie someone up, I didn't even have that leg anymore, was she stupid? She tore the tape and finished wrapping, then stepped back, letting go of me and picking up her mouthpiece in one movement. I scampered to the back of the counter, pressing against the mirror and I hissed at her, my [fangs] clicking together.
Ryllis fit the metal piece into her mouth and shook her head "Pendra, I needed to clean and bandage your wound. I know you have a lot of legs, but you still lost a whole limb, that needs at least some medical attention."
I looked at her, and felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me. I'd been thinking with my lower brain again. I relaxed and crossed my arms, I was smarter than that, I knew what... [poison] was, ugh, not [poison], the kind to clean wounds, [poison]... I hated that I couldn't tell the difference now, I knew there was a difference, but my stupid bug brain just couldn't make that distinction...
"How did you lose your leg, if I may ask?" she asked, picking me up and moving me to her [nest] with her.
I pointed to my side, which was still tender, and tried a new word "Kik!"
"You were kicked and it broke off?" she clarified.
I wiggled my hand, no, not quite. I pointed to the stump, and made a breaking noise with my mouth, a crrk sound, while mimicking snapping something with my hands. Then I walked around fake-wincing in pain as I moved, before turning and making biting motions at the stump. Ryllis's eyes widened and filled with tears, and she made a strangled click in her chest before being able to speak
"Your leg was broken in the attack, it was too painful to walk, so you chewed it off?" she said, her hands shaking as she pet me, her voice still the same tone as always
I nodded, I was getting good at pantomime! She figured that out right away! Still, we had business to attend to. I pointed at the plate of [food] and wiggled my eyebrows, poking my fingers together, subtly asking if it was time to eat yet. She looked at the plate for a moment, and seemed to remember what it was after a second. She took a big, shaky breath, and got off the [nest], grabbing the [food] and putting it on the [nest] next to me.
"I need to go get my snack, Pendra, I'll be just in the kitchen, don't eat without me, ok?" She said
I pouted, I was hungry, damnit, I was hungry last night, and this was a whole day later... She left and I looked at the plate of [food], my mouth watering. I frowned. How could my mouth 'water' if [life blood] overwrote every time I tried to think about [life blood]? I didn't understand how my brain worked... Was spit different enough from [life blood] that my mouth watering meant something else? I needed to figure out if I could get any of these words back, this was getting confusing.
The door opened, and Ryllis stepped back in, calling over her shoulder "You're just jealous of my ability to go pants-less, you'd do it too if you could."
I didn't hear the response, but it made her shake her head, and close the door, locking it again as she did. I looked at her, then the door, shrugging and pointing.
"That was our teammate, Mourner." she explained "She's a bit of a stickler when it comes to following the law, so she might insist we turn you over to the GGDS if she saw you right now, because of your registration status."
I shuddered, I'd hate to go into GGDS containment, I'd never be seen again, or be registered as an animal, or worse, I'd be shipped off to the wilds... I was barely strong enough to run away from a single chosen, I'd never survive the wilderness full of dragons and wyrms and adventurers... Ryllis sat down and opened her snack, a small paper bag of dried slimes. I'd never been a fan myself, they always got gooey in my mouth and the fact that some of them tried to re-constitute in your stomach was... icky. I knew they were a pretty trendy food right now though, with each city having at least a couple unique flavors for tourists to try. Based on the bag, Ryllis was eating some kind of spicy mushroom flavor. She held a chunk out to me, and I shook my head, grabbing a bit of [food] instead and taking a big bite.
"I have to take my mouthpiece off to eat, and I'll need to clean my mouth before I put it back on, so we'll be quiet for a while, is there anything you wanted to know before I start eating?" she asked
I thought about it, and shook my head. I had food, I was with a cool new person, the room was warm and wet, and the [nest] was huuuge and soft, I had everything I could want except for [progenitor], and we were just waiting on that until later! She unhooked her mouthpiece and set it down on her side table and popped a slime into her mouth. It was amazing watching her chew, the teeth pulling and stripping the hardened bit of jelly down, moving it around the mouth as her mouths closed and opened in what looked like a pattern... I so wished my mouth was as pretty as hers. I liked still looking human, it was useful to me for a lot of reasons, but if I could pick, I'd love to look like her.
We ate in silence, aside from the light crunching of the slimes and the squelching of my [food]. I hummed lightly, this was fun! I hoped after [progenitor] came and picked me up I'd still be allowed to come over. I really liked the idea of having a friend like Ryllis to just hang out with, someone who I could be a weird lil bug with and no one cared. Of course
She stood up and walked to the bathroom, rinsing out her mouth with a lime green liquid, and came back, waving a hand at the last few bits of [food] still on my plate. I quickly ate them as she put her voice box back on, and she handed me the washcloth to wipe myself off with. I made sure to avoid the part with [poison] on it, and handed it back when the [nectar] was all rubbed off my skin. She stretched, her shell flickering, a slight glimpse of wings popping out, crystalline and transparent with an amber hue that caught the dim light as they pulled out and snapped back into place under her cape-like shell. Fuck, I was so jealous... I wondered if I could have someone mod me to get wings like that...
"Ok, Pendra, now let's start going over your letters and try and see what you know," she said, tilting her head at me "then we'll work with some of my study methods to try and refine what you can say, ok?"
This was it, this was my moment, I'd impress her and she'd think I was cool! I knew so many letters, and I'd figured out how to make a ton of words, with her help, I'd be able to pass the registration test in no time...
~~~
I woke up, yawning with a pop of my jaw and lifted my head. I was still on Ryllis's [nest], half tangled up in her blankets. I looked around for her, but didn't see her anywhere, was she out of the room? I remembered... learning letters until late, had I fallen asleep studying? I hope I didn't make trouble for her... It was already late when we started, and I could sleep at least 12 hours if I wasn't woken up, was it already afternoon? I wanted to see if we could contact [progenitor] today, maybe now was a good time! The door to the room opened and I bit back a squeal and rolled up in the [leaves] at the sight of the metal lady, Maud.
"Oh, no no, it's ok, uh, Amaryllis, sorry, can you talk to her?" I heard her say, her voice sounding much clearer and more emotional than Ryllis's
"Hey, Pendra, it's ok, I've explained to her." Ryllis said, and I peeked out of the [leaves] at her. She had her skirt and jewelry on and was crouching next to the [nest]
"She said they weren't trying to hurt you or hunt you, it was an accident." she explained, and Maud nodded behind her
"Yeah, I'm so, so sorry..." Maud said "We were investigating some weird buildings, and we didn't know anyone was living down there... We've called off the entire operation. You're free to go home! Turns out it's legal to do what that man was doing, or so I've been told..." she didn't sound convinced "...but if you show us how to get to the elevator, we can bring you back home any time!"
I... wasn't being hunted? But the scary patterned lady, and the chosen, she even... Or, hm... maybe she'd actually been fighting the chosen because they broke into our lab? It didn't make sense otherwise... I looked at Ryllis and she nodded. I trusted her, and she trusted Maud, but... Was this a trick to get me to show where our lab was? No, because they'd already been there, they knew a way how to get in and everything... I nodded at them, I'd show them the elevator, it only made sense that they were telling the truth.
"That's wonderful, I don't have to go out on patrol until tonight, may we go to the lab now?" Ryllis asked
I started to nod when a trilling noise sounded out from Ryllis's skirt, causing me to jump. She pulled out a phone, like my old one, with the top and bottom parts instead of a touch screen, and opened it. She held a finger to her mouthpiece, telling me to be quiet, and pressed a button.
"Hello, Mourner?" she asked
"Hey Ryllis," a rough, tired voice said "Are you busy? I need a new top if you can bring me one."
Ryllis frowned "A new top? Why?"
"Some asshole attacked Lorgiaia's Angels, said they stole his baby or something. I have bug guts all over me now, he had these giant gross worm-y bug things- ah, shit, is that insensitive?"
Bug guts? Worm things? Baby? That was [custodian]! She'd fought him?! She killed the [siblings]?! I felt my heart race, was he ok? Was [progenitor]? I flapped my hands and tried to stay quiet, but I felt like screaming, I needed more information!
"It is... a bit insensitive." Ryllis said, her eyes widening. "What happened to the man who attacked you?"
"What? He's in medical custody, I don't know. He gutted one of LA, the bitchy one in red, and their healer transferred her injuries to him. He was alive when they loaded him up though, why?"
"..." Ryllis looked at me, and I hugged myself, medical custody? That meant he was hurt and arrested, they'd take his lab, they'd take me!
"I was just curious, it's your first fight." she said "I'm actually about to run a very urgent errand for a friend, but Maud is here, she woke up a while ago, she could bring your top."
"Oh, perfect, Maud, could you grab the one with the planet on the back?"
"Of course, Mourner, anything else?" Maud's voice wavered slightly
"Yeah, some wet rags or something, my wood is soaking up these guts... I'll have to do a full sand and re-polish tonight just to feel clean..."
"No problem, I'll be right there!" Maud said, and Ryllis snapped the phone closed.
Ryllis looked at me and her eyes were deadly serious. "Pendra, I'm sorry, but we can't go back to your lab. We need to get you registered, and fast. We have about two hours before they process your creator into the database and label all of his creations as GGDS property, once that happens, you'll be instantly turned over to custody with him until he gets out if we ever try to bring you to registration. Will you let me register you right now?"
I wasn't ready for that, I needed more time, I needed to study! I needed [progenitor] to be there to put her name on the paperwork, to tell them about my disability, I couldn't- I didn't want- I wasn't- There... wasn't a choice. I knew it, I knew when daddy was killed, all of his stuff, even the singing plants he'd made for me to keep by my [nest], were taken away. We weren't even allowed to keep our shrubs and trees in the yard because of fears they might be modified dryads. I'd be sealed up, not allowed to watch TV, not allowed to study, not able to see Ryllis or [progenitor] or Brandy or Hiram or mom, or anyone.
I solemnly nodded at Ryllis. "Yiz." I said. I would let her register me. Doing that meant there was at least a chance I'd see [progenitor] again, and that's really what mattered.
She sighed a chittering sound of relief, and unwrapped me from the blanket "Maud, hurry on out, I'll be fast. If I'm not back by the start of my shift..."
"Yeah, I'll cover, no prob!" Maud said, and dashed out of the room as Ryllis started putting together a bag of papers and files from her desk.
"Pendra, I need you to hide while we get to the GGDS center, they may be on the lookout for centipede abominations after the attack, and we won't have any registration passes for you yet. I'll be putting you into a duffel bag, is that ok?" she asked, pulling out the bag in question
I... didn't really have a choice, did I? I climbed over into the bag, and gave her a tight smile as she slid the stack of papers in the other end, and put [leaves] around me. She gave me a sad look, and pressed her mouthpiece to my head before zipping me up.
~~~
I stood on the counter, looking at the woman giving me the test. She was a creeping one named "Alejandra", and was very kind. She knew Ryllis from a support group, and it sounded like she was going to try and help me get a better placement than I deserved, from what Ryllis had told me. I watched her dozens of eyes slide around inside her body sack and tried not to imagine poking a hole in her and slurping out the green-yellow jelly... I'd never thought of it before, but it sounded pretty yummy right about now, as fucked up as that was.
"Now, Pendra, can you speak and understand human language?" she asked, her psychic voice echoing in my mind. 'human language', it was always 'human language'. What if [custodian] had taught me halfling language instead? Would I just fail?
"Yiz!" I said, nodding
"Very good, can you read and write human language?" she asked.
I nodded. I couldn't, not really, but... I could fake it, and I knew enough, right?
She slid a page over the counter to me with her telekinesis "I need you to read what's written here out loud, can you do that?"
In a quieter mental voice, she said "I know you have trouble, they can't record the mental messages I'm sending with their cameras, so just repeat after me, ok?"
She was helping me cheat? I wasn't about to say no to that. I cleared my throat and we started.
"The GGDS is an organization devoted to..." she prompted
..."Thhee gigidehes is ann originzation devoded too..." I followed along
"...Keeping the peace, protecting civilians, and upholding the law." she continued
"Kheepin thhee peez, procecting cilvilanns, an upolind thhee law." I finished
"Perfect!" she thought at me "I'll put that down as "language mastery, poor speaking skills due to physical disability."
I watched her fill out the page with more squiggles and I bit my lip. Was this really going to be ok? No one would find out? As long as I was quiet about it, I should be ok, right? She pulled out a box of cards with shapes on them and set it in front of me.
"Next up is pattern recognition and logic skills!" she said
I perked up, I could do this! I was great at this! She lay out the cards, and I grinned as she clicked the timer on.
~~~
"All in all, she's very bright, and for someone who claims to be less than three weeks old, I'm astonished at how quickly she learns!" Alejandra said as Ryllis filled out the paperwork "Why, in another three weeks, she wouldn't have even needed my help to pass!"
I tried not to preen at that, I had obliterated the logic, critical thinking, morality, and social expectations sections of the tests. Sure the last two sections I had some differences of opinions from the GGDS, but I was smart enough to know what they wanted me to answer, and that's what counts.
"I understand she's going to be considered a full person with a speech impediment due to a physical disability, and a slight learning disability?" Ryllis asked, pushing the paperwork over
"Yes, and she's currently a minor, she can come in and re-test later to be considered an adult, but for now, she's still a child." Alejandra's mind grabbed the paperwork and a stamp floated out from under the table, smacking the pages one by one as they flipped past. She pulled half the pages towards her, and half she slid toward Ryllis and her eyeballs boiled in excitement.
"Congratulations on your new daughter, Miss Amaryllis!" she said, with a bow.
Daughter? What?! No no no, I was [progenitor]'s daughter, not Ryllis's! This was wrong, I squawked and pulled at her arms shaking my head and pointing the door, we needed to find her, to get her to sign the papers! She was my real [progenitor], not Ryllis!
"Shush shush shush, it's ok." Ryllis said, her face worried but her voice hard as ever "It's only on the paperwork, we'll find her, and move the guardianship over, it's ok."
I relaxed slightly, but I was still worked up. We didn't even know if she was ok, and I'd just gotten adopted? Even if it was just for a day or two until we brought [progenitor] here to straighten things out, it was still stressing me out.
"Would you like to get a treat on the way home?" she asked, standing and picking me up "I know a couple places that are abomination friendly."
I shook my head, we needed to find [progenitor] asap, that was the number one priority right now, not treats.
"Very well." she said "Another time. Thank you for your help, Alejandra."
As we walked out, I hugged Ryllis tightly, hopefully she had a plan for getting in contact with her, my only ideas were to go to the lab or to go to our house, and we'd get caught instantly either way...
~~~
Ryllis hung up her phone and her shell fluttered with frustration "I'm sorry Pendra, that was the last person I knew who was at the protest. None of them have her contact information."
I flopped on the ground and moaned, kicking my legs in the air, it wasn't fair, why wouldn't she share her info with anyone? I knew it was because she didn't want to be arrested, but still, how was I supposed to find her? I couldn't even remember her name, much less write it down, so I couldn't even give Ryllis a name to look up at the college. Apparently she'd gone by the name "bug mother" at the protest and during her speech, which wasn't any help in tracking her down at all, neither was the fact she'd been wearing a bandana over her whole face, so the chances of someone recognizing her were slim to none.
"It's ok, Pendra." Ryllis said "I have to go on patrol soon, I'll ask around while I'm out, and I'll keep an eye out for anyone with dark blonde hair, ok?"
She was leaving? I didn't want to be here by myself... I held my arms up to her "Me cume?" I asked. I'd be able to find her if I went, I just knew it...
"...No, you need to stay here. I'll introduce you to the team officially before I go, you can hang out with them. The mean girl who kicked you is on patrol with me tonight, I'm not looking forward to being around her, and I'd hate to see what she'd do if she saw you."
I shuddered, I didn't want to see her again either... I'd stay here for now, we could go out and look another time.
"Here, let me introduce you to the others, ok?" she said, and opened her door "I promise we'll look for her super hard tomorrow, ok?"
I scuttled after her, exiting the room and into the sitting area where the other team members were sitting. Maud was playing a game on the TV, Kiri was reading again, and Mourner was sitting on the floor on her phone. I'd seen her before, and I was mildly surprised to see she was the dryad that had been patrolling with the hero with horns last week, although her comment about sanding and polishing earlier should have tipped me off. She was wearing little clothes, just a bra and tight shorts, showing off her glossy smooth wood tones. She had willow style branches on her head like dreds, and similar branches down her arms and legs, making her limbs look shaggy.
"Oh, shit, is that the baby everyone was looking for?" she asked, her eyes widening as I walked up
"Language, Mourner!" Kiri said admonishingly "This is Pendra, she's here until we find her mom."
"Wish I'd have known you had her, it'd have saved one of my favorite shirts from the trash..." she grumbled "What's she doing here anyway? She needs to be at the GGDS with the rest of that guy's super science stuff."
"I registered her, actually." Ryllis said, sitting down behind me, next to the TV "I'm her legal guardian, no one's going to lock her up."
"You adopted her?!" Mourner said, sitting upright "Ryllis, that's too far..."
"No, it really wasn't..." Maud sighed "They'd have poked her and experimented on her, and she wouldn't have been released for a decade."
"But- her creator was a bad guy!" Mourner complained
"My creator was a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy." Ryllis said, raising an eyebrow
"That's different, you were just accidentally infected with that stupid DNA energy or something, you weren't, like, 'built' like she was. You're still you. She was made from scratch from an evil guy."
I glared at her and shook my head, he was NOT evil! He was nice and sweet, and he loved me very much.
"I think you're forgetting that most abominations are made by so called 'evil' people." Kiri said, glancing up from her book "It's not where you come from, it's what you do with your life, and Pendra is choosing to use her life learning and getting smarter."
"...I guess." Mourner said "I just- it's such a loophole, you registered her as your kid just so she wouldn't get locked up, that's cheating."
"We often need to cheat to find justice, Mourner." Ryllis said, nodding
"We always need to uphold the law to find justice." Mourner said firmly
I perked up, was this an argument? I loved those! I loved seeing what people believed, it helped me see if they're safe.
"She didn't break any laws, it was just using the laws in a way that wasn't intended," Maud said "she registered Pendra before the hold and processing time for the seizure orders. It didn't even set off my programing as illegal."
"I'm not sure the laws are super just anyway..." Kiri muttered "I'm reading up on it because of that conversation with Pendra's mom, and there's so many weird ones. Like, did you know you can kill an inhuman in cold blood, and it's totally legal, and you get all their stuff? It's a law that was made for adventurers in the wilds or something, but it works if you just find someone who's not legally a person, just living their life in the city, too."
"I heard about that, yeah." Mourner said "It's just a leftover from an older time, when we needed adventurers. It'll get overturned soon, I'm sure."
"Oh yeah? Well what about the law that says that if you have more than five hundred thousand blessings in assets, you're considered to be 'blessed by the gods' and you get to ignore some laws?" Kiri shot back "That's used in court all the time to this day!"
"...That one's pretty stupid." Mourner said "But we do still need to uphold the law, it's our job."
"Whatever, I'm just saying, I'm kinda wondering if Pendra's mom was right about not all the laws being made with regular, non chosen people in mind." Kiri sighed "I'd rather see our job as protecting people than as... following whatever a book says."
I beamed, [progenitor] had done it, she'd made Kiri think, and she was spreading that to her team, too! Sure, she wasn't fully on board, but realizing the law wasn't always just was the first step.
"I have to go, Lorgiaia's Angels will be here any minute, and I don't want them to come in and see Pendra." Ryllis said, standing up "Everyone be nice to her, she's my daughter for now, got it?" She stared at Mourner for that last part
"Hey, she's all legal and above board now, I have zero problems with her!" Mourner said, throwing up her hands "I just don't like skirting the law is all."
"Ok, play nice then." Ryllis said, and rubbed my head before walking out of the room into the main garage.
I looked at the others as she left and bowed slightly, flourishing my hand. "Mm... Pen-dr-ra!" I said proudly. I was still having trouble with the sounds, manually moving my mouth for each one, but I was remembering what movements made what noises, and I could kind of talk on the fly, if I didn't mind my voice sounding choppy!
"Nice to meet you officially, Pendra, I'm Kiri!" Kiri said, smiling
"I'm Maud, or Mod, either one!" Maud said. I wasn't sure why she said her name twice, but it was easy to say at least.
"And obviously I'm Mourner." the dryad said, making a wooden popping noise with her fingers and pointing them at me like guns.
"Ki-ri, Mowd, Mmm-mownrer..." I said, taking care to show I was remembering them. I couldn't quite say Mourner, but the other two were easy.
"We'll need to work on that..." Mourner said, wincing "Anyway, come here, I wanna see if you can play games with all those arms." She held out a controller to me
"I'm in the middle of something, rude!" Maud said, frowning at her
"Shut up and go back to the menu, I wanna see if she can do this." Mourner said, rolling her eyes
I was never much one for video games, but... I did play every once in a while, I could try it, just to kill time while I waited on Ryllis to come back... I scurried over and grabbed the controller, wiggling up on the couch. Time to see what I could do...
~~~
"Pendra, no, dodge! You have to dodge!" Kiri squawked at me, waving her hands
"Use the momentum, momentum!" Mourner yelled
"Stop giving her tips!" Maud shouted back as I frantically smashed the buttons and wiggled the sticks
"Aaaaa!" I yelled, using my legs to press the top buttons as Maud's ninja dashed forward into my cat and slashed at her. My lower brain was doing most of the heavy lifting here, processing dozens of movements at once and helping me use the shoulder buttons more quickly once I realized I could just wrap myself around the whole controller to hold it better. I was fighting for my life though, bug reflexes were no match for sheer mechanical accuracy, and the only thing keeping me from getting killed instantly was the slower response time on Maud's clockwork hand. That was the one she used for movement, and it only had three fingers, so she was clumsy as she dashed around. Her other hand though, was a high quality prosthetic that looked just like a real human arm, and that was her attacking hand, so she was moving choppily and slashing with deadly precision at the same time.
"Pendra, no- you have to use the shoulder buttons to dodge!" Kiri said "Stop using them to get closer, she'll hit you!"
"No, use the dash and attack at the same time!" Mourner said "It's the only chance you have!"
"Stop. Giving. Her. TIPS!" Maud fake-yelled, and she attacked again, finally getting through my dodge and slicing my cat in half. I howled in despair, and uncoiled myself from the the controller, drooping on the couch limply.
"Gods, that was a fight, I can't believe you've never played it before, Pendra." Mourner said "Maud has been playing this every night for weeks."
"She has more ways to press buttons than me, she's cheating..." Maud said, poking me with her prosthetic hand
"You literally have a computer in your head." Kiri pointed out "I think you're both cheating, and you still won."
"Rematch?" Maud asked me "We can swap characters if you like."
I shook my head, that was enough for me, I wanted to just sit for a while. Maybe take a nap while Ryllis did her patrol. I sat back up and curled up on the couch cushion, laying back on the pillows. I was kinda tired, it was all dark outside already, and I'd had a long day... I'd most likely need to be getting to my [nest] soon, but... Ryllis... She might have found [progenitor], and I didn't want to miss that. A dinging noise sounded out from the front room and I turned, was that the door? Ryllis stepped into view, and I sat up sharply as I saw her. She was sobbing, tears running down her face as she hugged herself and quickly walked over to me. She unwrapped her arms from her own body and scooped me up into a hug, rubbing her face on mine.
"Ryllis, what's wrong? Are you ok?" Kiri asked, standing up and putting a hand on her shell
"It's just Angel Rouge, she just made fun of me the whole time." Ryllis said, her flat voice clashing with her shaking shoulders and tears "My size, my agoraphobia, she implied I should have to sleep in a box, and she said many horrible things about Pendra."
"Oh, ugh..." Mourner said "She's such a bitch..."
"I know she's rude, but to bully you until you cried?" Kiri asked "She didn't seem that bad when we've patrolled, I guess you just can't tell who someone is sometimes..."
"Well..." Maud said "You are both humans, and it sounds like it's a problem she has with abominations... She told me she saw me as a person, though, and she was polite-ish to me, so I'm not sure... I think she's just violently entomophobic..."
"That's not important though." Ryllis said "Angel Rouge, I mean, not you being a person. She's mean and we should forget about her, there's another reason why I came home."
She sat down and set me on her lap, drying her eyes with one hand while pulling some paper out of her skirt with another. She unfolded it and I gasped, it was a picture of me! It was surrounded with squiggles, but there I was, in my sweater! I pulled on Ryllis's arm and pointed, that was me, where had she found it?
"Oh, shit, that's her whole real phone number..." Mourner muttered
"Language, but yeah, that's bad." Kiri agreed. "Who's going to call?"
"I will." Ryllis said "I'm guessing these posters are all over section 247. I just hope no one else has seen them yet."
I looked at the others, what was wrong? It sounded like they had a lead now, that was good, right? Ryllis pulled her phone out, and punched in the number, letting it run on speaker mode. It rang once, then I heard a familiar voice on the other end.
"Hello?! Yes, who is this?!" [progenitor] said, her voice sounding urgent
"This is Ryllis, I am calling to inform you-" Ryllis started
"Oh for the love of- a fucking robo-call?" [progenitor] snapped, sounding frustrated
It wasn't a robo-call, it was me! It was us, we needed to talk! I leaned in and yelled at loud as I could "Me! Pen-dr-ra! Me! Hep!"
The line was quiet for a moment, and I was worried we'd lost her, then a quiet voice came through "...Pendra?"
"Yiz!" I yelled "Iz me!"
"Pendra, baby, where are you?" she asked "Can you put someone on? I'll come get you right now!"
I was so, so relieved, finally, after all this time, she was back! Just hearing her voice, just knowing she was ok, knowing she knew I was ok, it was such a relief... I sighed and let myself relax, feeling the fears and worry wash away, and I looked at Ryllis and nodded.
"Hello, I'm not a robo-caller." Ryllis said "I have a disability, I just sound like this. I'm the one caring for Pendra right now."
"Oh, gods, I'm so sorry!" [progenitor] said "I must have hurt your feelings, I feel like an ass..."
"Language!" Kiri said automatically, before covering her mouth in embarrassment
"Was that someone else?" [progenitor] asked
"Uh, It's Kiri, we met one time and talked about politics?" Kiri said "Pendra is at The Unchosen headquarters right now, we're all here."
"...Ok, is- is it ok if I come over?" [progenitor] asked nervously "I- I'm not affiliated with any villain groups, just political movements."
"I know," Ryllis said "We met at the protest, I was the insect abomination, Ryllis."
"I remember you, you were being attacked by those chosen that one time!" [progenitor] said
"That was a misunderstanding." Ryllis said "I was not attacked, those were my friends."
"...Ah, yeah, ok." [progenitor] said, sounding wary "Can I come get my daughter now?"
"Tomorrow." Ryllis said "Tonight you need to go remove all those posters. They have traceable information on them that the GGDS will use to bring you in."
Tomorrow!? That was forever away, she could just come right now, she could even sleep over! Ryllis's [nest] was big enough for all of us!
"But I'm not affiliated with anyone!" she said, alarmed "Why would they bring me in?"
"That doesn't matter." Mourner cut in "If you're associated with someone's creations, they'll bring you in and get a confession. Angel Cobalt was telling me about that, she said they'll just make you confess to stuff, true or not."
"I'm still not a fan of the fact you're friends with the Angels..." [progenitor] muttered
"We're not friends with Angel Rouge, the one who hurt Pendra and broke into her home." Ryllis said "The rest are very nice girls."
"...Tomorrow morning bright and early?" [progenitor] asked "I can come get her?"
"We'll need to head to the GGDS offices after, but yes." Ryllis said "You have our address?"
"I do, yeah." [progenitor] said "Pendra? Sweetie? I love you so, so much, ok? I'll see you so so soon, please be a good girl for me, ok?"
I leaned in
"Yiz!" I said loudly, so she'd hear me
"Ok baby, I have to go take down the posters so I don't get arrested now, I'll see you tomorrow! And the rest of you... thank you for keeping her safe."
As the call ended, I danced around, crowing and cheering, tapping my feet and spinning in a circle with joy. I was going to get her back! And now that the lab wasn't an option, I'd get to live with her! I'd miss [custodian] a lot, of course, but I'd be home! I hugged Ryllis's side and squeezed her tightly, I couldn't thank her enough for helping me like that.
"Ok Pendra," she said, standing up "We need to get you to bed, we want you up bright and early tomorrow like she said, ok?"
I whined and protested, but... honestly, the sooner I slept, the sooner I'd see [progenitor]! I waved goodbye to the others as I was brought to Ryllis's room and wrapped up in [leaves]. They were dry, which wasn't great, but the room itself was so warm and moist that I didn't really mind. I bounced up and down in place for a while, thinking about all the fun I'd have living at home, and didn't notice when sleep came for me.
~~~
The door finally dinged, and I ran in circles on the floor of the garage area as [progenitor] dashed into the room, a bundle of stuff under her arm. She dropped it on the ground and ran up to me, grabbing me off the floor and standing back up, spinning in place as she squeezed me and I squeezed her back as hard as I could. She pulled away to look at me, her eyes searching mine, then she grinned, and pulled me back, kissing my forehead and rubbing my face. I was putting out so much [protect] pheromones to let her know I loved her, and all my legs were digging into her lightly as we hugged. I finally had her back!
"You guys are adorable together..." Mourner said, leaning against the wall, smirking at us
[progenitor] gasped when she saw her and backed up, her arms tightening around me.
"Relax, you're not breaking any laws, we're cool. I just thought you two were cute is all." Mourner said "Ryllis is in the shower, and the other two are on patrol. We weren't expecting you this early!"
"I- I... I needed to pick up some stuff, so I left the house extra early..." [progenitor] said "Um, about yesterday-"
"This is the first time we've met, as far as I'm concerned." Mourner interrupted "There was no 'yesterday'."
She turned to the sitting area "Come on, she'll be out soon and you two can get Pendra transferred over."
"Transferred?..." [progenitor] asked "What do you mean?"
"I registered her yesterday." Ryllis said, stepping out of her room, slightly damp but clothed "If I hadn't, she'd have been locked up on sight as soon as the arrest processed."
"But- She's not ready!" [progenitor] protested "She's got issues that need to be explained to the registration, and-"
"She was registered as a full person, with a disability." Ryllis said "I know someone who works in the office. She understands."
"She- oh. Oh..." [progenitor] said, her eyes widening "Oh... Well, thank you... For everything, making sure she's a person, taking care of her, I really appreciate it. When did you find her?"
"On my way home from the protest." Ryllis said "I tried to contact you, but I couldn't find your name anywhere, and no one knew your number."
"I was trying to be smart about it... I guess I wasn't thinking of people who might find her, I didn't even know she'd escaped."
"Well, 'escaped' is a strong word." Mourner said "more like 'ran away in panic' as far as we can tell."
"There was a... misunderstanding." Ryllis said "Let me explain what happened, as far as we know."
As Ryllis explained what had happened, I snuggled [progenitor] tightly, feeling her skin, smelling her scent; [dCdGaB], just as I remembered. It was just safe to have her back, to feel this love and comfort. I circled around and around and around her body, not paying attention to the story, just covering her with [protection] and letting her smell get on me in return.
"Pendra, you should stop that..." Ryllis said, finishing her story of my adventures "I can smell that from here, I don't think she wants to smell like... what is that, a queen pheromone?"
"It's the smell that made the other centipedes protect her, I don't mind." [progenitor] laughed "It's how she shows me she loves me."
"Well... we are going to the GGDS offices soon, and you smell all musty and spicy now." Ryllis said "I just wanted to make sure you're ok with that."
"I'm fine, yeah." she nodded "I'll get Pendra her clothes and we can head out, ok?"
"I'll see you guys around, I'll be painting the doors a little more, have... I don't know, not fun, it's the GGDS, but like, don't suffer?" Mourner said
"I had wondered if you'd have clothes for her." Ryllis said, waving to Mourner as we went back into the garage area "I wanted to get her something, but I haven't had time."
"Yeah, I got all the stuff she needs..." [progenitor] said, pulling something out of the bundle she'd left on the floor. She handed it to me and I gasped, it was the [upper shell] mom had made me! I squealed and clapped, and grabbed it, putting it on. I poked into the rest of the bundle, a familiar smell hitting me. I pulled out a corner and gasped again, it was [leaves]! The good one, with rainbows! The frog one still didn't smell quite right, but the good one was here!
"She seems to recognize these things..." Ryllis said "Did you go to the lab to get her stuff?"
"...She needed to have her familiar stuff." [progenitor] said "I used a round about entrance, from a few buildings away, no one knew I was there, I swear."
"That was dangerous and very foolish." Ryllis said, her eyes angry "You could have gotten caught and taken in, and never seen Pendra again."
That was true, and it was a risk, and that would have been sad, but... She wasn't caught, and now I had my favorite [upper shell] and [leaves]!
"Well I'm not doing it again." [progenitor] said "I just... I wanted her to feel safe, despite everything."
"...Ok." Ryllis's eyes softened "Let's just go, we can come back for this stuff later, ok?"
I cheered, finally, I'd be able to get everything sorted out and go home!
~~~
"No, but- she's my daughter! The blood test just proved it! The brain scan just proved it!" [progenitor] said to Alejandra "I'm the mother!"
"Well, according to documents recovered from the lab, you terminated your rights to motherhood in exchange for a one time payment, I'm sorry, but we can't transfer the paperwork to you for at least another eleven months." Alejandra echoed in our minds.
I wailed and pulled at Ryllis's shell, do something, anything! She was my [progenitor], she needed to take care of me!
"Is there anything we can do? Any loopholes?" Ryllis asked, petting me to try and calm me down. It wasn't working, I kicked my legs harder, I would not be calmed.
"I'm sorry, no. You're the legal guardian, that can't change unless you give her up for adoption, and even then, Miss Chrissie here would be ineligible to adopt."
"I just- but her creator is in prison! Or- a hospital, waiting on prison!" [progenitor] protested "Surely the contract is null now, right?"
"It's still a legally binding agreement, sorry." Alejandra intoned, shaking her mass in what looked like regret "Miss Amaryllis, you're the mother for at least eleven months, and she must live at your registered dwelling, as you will be checked by a child services agent regularly at that address."
[progenitor] slammed her head on the desk and screamed, shaking it back and forth. I cried too, pulling at her and shaking my head, there had to be something, right? I needed her, I couldn't do this alone!
"I just want my fucking daughter!" she moaned
"Don't say that, Pendra, it's a bad word." Ryllis said, patting [progenitor]'s back "It's not so bad, it's just a year. You can come over every day. I will be the best mother to her I can be."
[progenitor]>'s head snapped up and she glared at Ryllis "No, you are not her mother, I am, I'm the only one who knows her, who can be there for her when she's hurt, who can raise her, she's my flesh and blood and if you try to step in and take that away from me I'll-"
"We are on camera." Ryllis reminded her, eyes wide "Please, let's continue this outside."
[progenitor] huffed, and scooped me up, glaring at Alejandra as she spun and stalked out of the office. I sniffed back my tears as she held me close. Once we were on the sidewalk again, she turned and looked at Ryllis.
"You have her ID that shows she's legal, right?" she asked
"Of course, yes." Ryllis said
"Come on then, we're going to a certain diner I know to work this shit out." [progenitor] said firmly.
~~~
I chewed the long flat piece of [food] and watched the two women flip through the paperwork, checking for something, anything that would let me stay with [progenitor]. The waiter kept looking over at us, giving us funny looks, but screw him anyway. We'd gotten a seat right at the front, and I was sitting on the table itself, in full view of the window, and so far only one or two people had even come in since we'd sat down. At least Ryllis was able to convince him to give me my treat this time, she'd said something about a discrimination lawsuit, and he'd brought out a whole pack of [food] just a few minutes after.
"I don't see anything, this is a nightmare..." [progenitor] said, pulling at her hair "We can only get away with the 'she's sleeping at a friend's house' a couple times before they flag it, so we can't even just have her live with me most of the time, or even some of the time, since the inspections are random..."
"I could ask Alejandra to get us the schedule for the child services inspections, but that may be too much for her to provide..." Ryllis said "I know she already risks her job to get abominations registered, I'd hate to jeopardize other people's chances at personhood."
"I just- ugh..." [progenitor] said "At this point I'm just about ready to ask if I can pay rent and move in with you."
I perked up, that was a great idea! I nodded and clapped, do that! Ryllis's [nest] was big, it'd work! Ryllis frowned, and looked at me, then at [progenitor] and tilted her head, thinking.
"We don't have an extra room, but... Maud sleeps in a charging bay in a closet instead of in her room, if you didn't mind sharing a space with her, maybe?..." Ryllis said
"Wait, really?" [progenitor] asked "I don't- I mean, you're a whole super hero team, I can't just live at your base, right?"
"Well, where do you work?" Ryllis asked
"I... I'm in college to be a research assistant." she said "I was interning under my uncle, Dr Halfroot."
"I see, and you have money for that?" Ryllis asked, flipping through the papers
"My daddy was Dr Sorela, there was a scholarship program that the dryads he was working with set up, I was the only applicant, and it's a full ride..." [progenitor] admitted
"The famous Dr Sorela?" Ryllis asked, her eyes sparkling "I studied his work while I was still trying to undo my transformation, I'm honored to meet you."
"Well, I don't have the spark, just... a love for science." [progenitor] said sadly "Otherwise I'd pick up where he left off, and we'd have dryads growing all kinds of fruits and veggies, plants on every corner singing and cleaning the air, and buildings made of pure, living plant matter..."
I thought about daddy, his sweet smile, his dirt-smell, his fingers always stained with sap... It'd be so nice to get to do what he did... I sighed, and hummed sadly, missing him.
"Well, your father aside, if you have a free ride, that usually includes lodging, if we take you in as an intern, and charged you the section 247 minimum rent for part of Maud's room, could you do that?" Ryllis asked "I'd love to work with the daughter of such a smart man. I don't have the spark either, but there's ways around that. Maud needs lots of repairs, too, and I'd love the help."
"I- but- I don't know..." [progenitor] said "You're heros... I hate heros, I can't- I don't know if I can betray my beliefs."
"Do you hate heroes? Or do you hate chosen?" Ryllis asked "Anyone can be a hero, even if we didn't have a license, we'd still help people. Chosen, on the other hand, aren't always heroes, even the ones who haven't fallen yet."
"...I think I can say I hate chosen." [progenitor] reluctantly said "I think that's a concession I can make. But I still have my family to think about, my mother, my little brother, my life, I'd... be on my own..."
Her eyes filled with tears "I'd be away from everything I've ever know... away from the people I love, even my boyfriend is over an hour from here by bus..."
"It happens to everyone, eventually." Ryllis said, tilting her head sadly "At least it'd be on your terms, I was on my own at your age because I was thrown out."
"I- oh..." [progenitor] said "I just- I feel like I'm having to pick between my family and my daughter... I think... I know what I have to do though, so it's not much of a choice."
I felt my heart lift again, was this about to happen? I'd miss mom and Hiram, of course, but I'd see them I'm sure, maybe even still have sleepovers!
"So, Miss Chrissie Sorela, will you accept my job offer and become our live-in intern at The Unchosen headquarters?" Ryllis asked, her ams moved dramatically to make up for her lack of tone
"If Maud is ok with sharing her room... Yes, I'm ok with it!" [progenitor] said firmly, blinking her tears away "I have to be. Anything for my daughter!"
I cheered, it was happening! I was finally getting to live with [progenitor], after all this time! I knew it'd work out eventually, I crawled up her arm and kissed her cheek, and she laughed, her voice shaky, and wiped the [food] juice off her face.
"Holy shit, I've never lived outside my family's house before..." she said "Fuck, I don't know if I'm ready, and I'll be so much further away from school, so I'll have to get up earlier, and I'll have to buy my own food, and I won't see Hiram or mom, and- and- gods, this is really happening, I just, like... I just became an adult, didn't I?"
"Language." Ryllis said, putting her hand over [progenitor]'s "I think you became an adult the moment you saw Pendra as your daughter. It just took until now for the universe to catch up to you."
She was an adult, she was my [progenitor], and I was happy she was seeing herself a little of how I did now! I hugged her, and hopped down on the table, this was going to be fun, like a sleepover with my [progenitor] and my new big-sister-who's-legally-my-mom every night! [progenitor]'s eyes filled up with tears, and she bit her lip, but pet me gently as she straightened the papers and set them in a stack. I didn't know why she was crying, this was a good thing, wasn't it? I looked over to Ryllis, and saw her looking sad too, and I felt lost, like I was missing something.
"It's ok, Pendra." [progenitor] said quietly "I'd do anything for you, this is nothing, it's ok."
I knew it was, it was a great thing, so why was she so sad? I wiped my hands and mouth of the sticky [food] and climbed up around her neck. She'd be ok, she was just overwhelmed or something. I gave her a hug, and I felt her smile, and she took a deep breath.
"Well, let's go talk to Maud, then." she said " And if she says yes, I guess... I'll start moving in."
"We'll make you feel right at home, it's ok." Ryllis said as she stood up out of the booth, leaving some blessings on the table for my snack
"Yeah, I know. I'll have Pendra, and that's all I need to be at home." [progenitor] said, patting my thorax
I couldn't agree more.
~~~
We all sat at the kitchen table in our home, me, [progenitor], Ryllis, Maud, Mourner, and Kiri. It was a rare time when none of them had patrols. Apparently there was a hero I'd never met who was so strong she did solo patrols, and she was covering the whole area today. I'd heard she was very scary, and close friends to the mean red bitch, so I was happy she hadn't come around to see us yet. [progenitor] had just finished moving in a few hours ago, and her room looked super cute! Maud's stuff was mostly mechanical stuff and tools for fixing her up, and she'd moved most of that into the garage area, with one corner having a fashionable cabinet full of parts and things Ryllis needed to keep her working, so most of her room, aside from a chest of drawers, was free for [progenitor] to use as she saw fit.
She'd made it all warm and muggy, just like Ryllis's room, at her recommendation, and it was just right for sleeping in! Her [nest] and [leaves] were bug printed, she had a small terrarium with little black and yellow [siblings] in it she'd picked up from a pet store for us to take care of, and I'd helped pick out some framed pictures of cute bugs to put on the wall. She was still being weird about moving away from mom and Hiram, and she'd cried several times while we were moving her in, but when I tried to comfort her, she just kissed me and told me 'Don't worry about it. You're worth it.'
I looked at the table in front of us, our first family dinner, or at least the first one with all the room mates. My other family plus Brandy were coming over tomorrow for a house warming, or maybe a room warming, since it wasn't a house, but for now, we were having a special meal to celebrate. Mourner was sipping sparkling bubbly stuff and eating some dark brown cooked [food] shaped like a rectangle, Maud was just enjoying our company, and Kiri, [progenitor], and Ryllis each had had one of the brown [food] things along with little green balls and white mush with yellow on top. I was the lucky one, I had a whole plate of three different kinds of [food], sooo much of it, all at once! I ate quickly, tearing into it as the others welcomed [progenitor] into her new home, and I felt cozy as she smiled and watched me, her eyes not leaving me once.
"Don't eat so much, sweetie, we still have desert coming. We can save what you don't eat for later, you don't want to be too full for your mangos, do you?" she asked gently
She was full of care and love, and she was sending all of it my way! I picked up a particularly yummy looking bit of [food] and offered it to her, I couldn't do much to show how much I loved her, but I could at least try. She looked at it, looking slightly icked out, but reached over and plucked out out of my hands anyway, looking at it for a second before popping it in her mouth. Her eyes watered and she scrunched up her face, but she chewed and swallowed anyway, and I clapped, I'd been able to share my [food] with her! That was a way to tell if someone loved you, they shared their [food], so I was glad I could give her some of mine. She was so nice to me... She gave me a smile as she blinked away the tears, and for a moment, I wasn't sure if it they were because of the [food] or not.
"Uh, that's a little extreme, Chrissie..." Kiri said, cringing "You don't have to go that far just to make her happy."
[progenitor] looked at her with a serious, loving half smile
"...It's ok." she said softly "Whatever it takes, Pendra is worth it."