Gremlins: Aftermath

by Maniacal Dragon

This is a story covering the background of two Gremlins and how they came together to wreck havoc on the world.. this is a rather old fic, and probably will not be finished.

Gremlins: Aftermath

The Story of Gaji and Stripe

By Lynne Stephenson

Author's note: Most of this was written a looong time ago. some of it more recently. It's not finished, somebody maybe it will be. What it is, actually, is the background of two characters in a RPG I was in long ago that's over and done with now. The RPG was called Gremlins: Aftermath. sort of a name we added after it was all over (

Kali Dunmore discovered the creature while hanging out with her friends one warm fall day. School had started two days ago, and Andrea had invited some of the girls over. Now, the four seven-year-olds were walking together along the sidewalk past the McDonald's restaurant.

Kali enjoyed the sensation of the breeze blowing through her long, wavy, dark golden hair. She thought absently that her mother would not be pleased with the mass of tangles that the wind was creating. But who cared? The day was nice, and life was good, and she was with her friends, and that was all that mattered to Kali.

The four girls walked along the sidewalk until they came to a huge old gray building that loomed up from an empty lot about twenty meters from the road. They slowed their pace, and then stopped, staring up at the structure in awe.

"I wonder if those stories are true?" Andrea murmured. "I don't think ghosts live in warehouses. Mostly they stay in the woods and cemeteries and old houses."

"Ghosts don't live anywhere," said Kali with certainty. "They're a bunch of hokey twaddle!"

"Why don't you go in and prove it to us?" a girl named Kirsten challenged.

Kali scowled. "Why don't you?" she shot back. Kirsten's face took on an exasperated expression, and the girl told Kali, "Because you're the one you doesn't think it's haunted!"

Kali murmured something under her breath. She didn't really believe the stories, but that didn't mean she wanted to actually take any chances. Her friends were waiting, expecting her to turn down the proposition. Kali was afraid that they would think she was a wimp if she chickened out now. So, Kali sighed and said, "I'll go in.but only because you are all too afraid to do it yourself!" With that, Kali turned and strode toward the warehouse.

The minority Mogwai laid under a dirty, ragged cloth, his ears flat to his head and his arms pulled tightly around himself. Shivering slightly in the chilly air of the old warehouse, he tried to relax enough to sleep. Memories filled his head, memories of warmth, and food, and love. A sense of longing swept over him, and he wished for the hundredth time that things had somehow turned out different.

The elderly human couple had been the most dedicated caretakers he'd had. The Mogwai had lived with them for nearly seven years, the longest he'd ever kept an owner! They were old and leisurely, and both they and he enjoyed more than anything else a comfortable place to sit in a dark room by the fireplace. Those years were the happiest time of the Mogwai's life, fleeting as they had been. If only humans lived longer!

The Mogwai was used to such upheaval, however. He'd been sufficiently lucky enough to avoid many, many deaths at the claws of.them.or his former owners, or a sudden intense light. Always after discovering the Mogwai's powers and unleashing the horror upon themselves did his owners seek to get rid of him, in some cases even trying to destroy him. There were also those who simply passed him on to anyone who would take him, often telling them of the dangers. Not that these humans always listened! The outcome with them was very nearly the same, be it caused by spitefulness, curiosity to see what would happen, or simple carelessness.

The son of the Mogwai's elderly couple was the Mogwai's most recent owner. Although the man's intentions were good, having promised to look after the Mogwai when his parents died, he, his wife, and his children were nevertheless careless, and the nightmare began for the Mogwai all over again. He had been abandoned in this warehouse, and he had been here ever since.

The Mogwai was terribly underweight, dirty, his fur mussed and nappy, and only remembering and dreaming left him his will to live. He spent a good portion of his time touring places he'd seen, or places he imagined, in his mind. It was entertaining and provided him with a wonderful method of passing the monotonous, lonely days.

Today, as he recalled his past, he opened his large brown eyes and looked toward the wall of the warehouse, where a small hole next to the ground allowed him passage to and from the building. The light streaming in, illuminating a small area, was almost beginning to dim. It was facing the east, which meant that the sun was across the sky and would set presently. Soon, the Mogwai could go out to look for food. He closed his eyes again.

A loud creaking noise roused him to the real world. The Mogwai snapped his head around towards the sound, crouching down on his blanket, trying to stay out of sight. The door across the expansive room was slowly easing open.

A human stepped through, outlined by the painful light from outside. It was female, and no larger than a child. As the door swung shut behind the girl, the Mogwai saw that she was a child, probably not much older than his elderly couple's grandchildren. The human ventured in slowly, and the Mogwai kept absolutely still, hoping to not draw attention to himself.

Kali shivered as she entered the warehouse. It was very cold, compared with the sunny warmth outside. It was dark, too, but looking up Kali noticed that the roof was completely intact and she saw no puddles of water or any wetness on the floor or walls. The whole setting was rather eerie.

A soft, barely audible rustling sound came from the far side of the warehouse. Kali's stomach twisted and she swallowed. There was something alive in here! She stood for several more seconds, but no other sounds followed the first. Finally, she decided she must have imagined it, and she started towards the back of the warehouse.

The warehouse was huge, and there were a lot of storage cases, most of them empty, stacked along the walls and on the floor. The place, despite having been abandoned years before, was virtually undamaged. The only flaw Kali could see was a small hole at ground level near the door. Next to the wall farthest from the door was a dirty cloth that was haphazardly bunched up in the center. Thinking of finding something interesting under the blanket, Kali started towards it.

The cloth moved. Kali froze, never taking her eyes off of it. A minute passed, then two. Still Kali did not move.

A soft chirping noise came from the depths of the cloth. A moment later, two furry white paws pushed the edge of the blanket down, and two large ears and a pair of gentle, intelligent eyes appeared. As the strange creature emerged from hiding, Kali could see its wide mouth in a nervous downward curl, and its small pug noise twitching rapidly. Its large, soft eyes stared up at the girl.

Kali was a total sucker for cute and fuzzy animals, and she completely fell in love with the little creature. Stepping forward slowly so as not to startle it, Kali reached out and touched the animal's head. The fur was downy and wonderful to her touch. She stroked the creature's fur and rubbed it behind the ears. It closed its eyes and made a contented noise, which sounded to Kali like a cross between a purr and a coo.

Kali couldn't resist picking the animal up. She lifted it carefully under the short furry arms and held it to her chest, smiling as the little creature began to hum. Listening carefully, Kali didn't recognize the tune, but it was very pretty.

Kali thought she had better go and meet her friends, or they might think she'd been eaten by a ghost, or was trying to scare them. She wanted to take the little creature she'd found with her, but she didn't want the others to know about it. Maybe if she waited, they would leave.

Kali sat down on an empty crate, listening to the creature hum. It changed the tune every few minutes, and no tune was the same. Each one was composed inside the creature's mind a moment before it was played, and after playing it, the animal composed another, and switched to that one. Each tune was unique and beautiful and played only once.

"What kind of animal are you?" she murmured to the furry creature. The humming slowed and stopped, and the creature looked up at Kali. It let loose a stream of chattering words in a high-pitched voice. Kali didn't understand the language at all. "You're a strange little guy," she said.

The creature said something in its language again. Kali leaned a little closer and asked, "What did you say?" The creature repeated the word. Concentrating, Kali tried to reproduce the word. "Ma---cg---," she struggled. This little creature had a very difficult language! Patiently, the animal repeated the word slowly. Still, Kali had trouble getting it. "Ma---giu," she said. "Mog---uuy. Moguw. Mogwai?" The creature nodded at her last attempt. Kali smiled. "That's what you are?" she asked. "Mogwai?" She formed the word with difficulty, but she was very close, and the creature nodded. No human being could speak Mogwai any more than a Mogwai could fully speak a human language. "Mogwai" was more a human- language interpretation then an actual word in their language, but, knowing the liability of a human mouth, the Mogwai accepted this as the correct word.

"I should give you a name," Kali mused. She thought a moment, and then said, "How about Tapsi? You like that, Tapsi?" The Mogwai blinked and smiled at her. His marvelous adaptability allowed him to accept any name she decided to pin on him. He was Tapsi.

Soon, Kali realized that she could get in major trouble for worrying her friends, and the sun was starting to set. Getting home after curfew was a serious offense for a six-year-old in her household. Not that she really had a curfew; Andrea's mother would take her home, or make sure she got there.

Kali stood up and looked around. She spied the old cloth she'd found Tapsi in, and walked over to it. She picked it up and carefully wrapped the Mogwai in the blanket, hiding him from view.

Tapsi held his breath against the musty stench of the blanket that was wrapped around his head. Fortunately, it made a thick light-blocking cover when wrapped around him several times. He felt the motion of the human girl's movement as she headed out of the warehouse. The sun was setting, and he had the blanket, so Tapsi was unworried about the light.

He became concerned, however, when he heard human voices talking to each other and to the girl. Her responses were nervous and clipped, and she was being very blatant about her desire to leave and go home as quickly as possible. Tapsi shared this desire, as the blanket's odor was beginning to make his nose itch terribly. He knew the girl didn't want him to be discovered, but he had to sneeze! Tapsi held his breath again and tried to stifle it. Still the humans talked. Tapsi's eyes began to water from the strain.

A muffled kachu! sounded from the blanket Kali was holding. She stopped talking as the other girls one by one turned their attention to the bundle in her arms. Kali said nothing for a minute, and then said, "You guys, I really have got to go." Without waiting for an answer, she bolted across the street and began to run towards her house.

Kali reached her home and threw open the front door. She paused in the kitchen, where her mother was cooking dinner. Macaroni and cheese, Kali thought, not again.

"Hi, mom," Kali said, and Amy Dunmore nodded in greeting. Kali walked through the living room and up the stairs. She passed her sister's bedroom on the way down the hall. The older girl had her stereo blasting, as usual; some rock song by Marilyn Manson. Kali personally couldn't stand the kind of music her sister listened to. She quickly went to her room.

Turning on the lights, Kali set Tapsi down on the bed, still wrapped in the blanket. Kneeling down, she pulled the blanket from the Mogwai's head.

Tapsi screamed, and his paws flew up to cover his eyes. He pulled back under the blanket, turning from the bright light. Kali, realizing the problem, got up and turned the lights off. After a moment the Mogwai poked his head out from under the blanket, looking around the room fearfully.

"You don't like the light, huh, Tapsi?" said Kali, petting the Mogwai to comfort him. Tapsi murmured in his Mogwai language, and Kali smiled. "That's okay, I won't get you in the light anymore, now that I know," she said. She picked up her new pet and rubbed him under the chin, and the Mogwai closed his eyes and began to hum a new tune.

Kali listened, enraptured, and Tapsi changed the tune. Kali sat down on the bed, holding the Mogwai on her lap, and listened to the shifting music. She wished she had a tape recorder, so she could save some of them! She knew as well as if Tapsi had told her that the Mogwai never repeated a single song. They were all so beautiful, each more exquisite and lovely than the last. Each song was a practice, each song composed by the Mogwai to try new sequences and different patterns, each song was sung once, and only once, and Tapsi created a new one.

Kali was unaware of how much time had passed until she heard her mother's voice calling her and her sister to dinner from downstairs. The girl jumped, starling the Mogwai singing in her lap. Tapsi quieted, and Kali placed him on the bed.

"Tapsi, you be good," she whispered to him. "I have to go now, but I'll be back."

Kali turned and left the room, shutting the door carefully behind her. She headed past her sister's room. She leaned through the doorway and yelled, "Hey Laura!"

The dark-haired girl turned and squinted at her younger sister, looking bored and confused. "What?" she snapped. Kali knew her sister had not heard their mother call. "Dinnertime!" she yelled, and rushed down the stairs, not waiting to see if her sister would come or not.

Kali's parents were both seated at the table when Kali came in. She quickly slid into her place and began toying with her fork as they waited for Laura. A few minutes passed.

"Laura!" yelled Amy.

"Coming!" came an annoyed voice from upstairs. A minute later Laura came flouncing down the stairs, her dark hair haphazardly put up in a ponytail.

Laura mumbled something under her breath and sat down next to Kali. The family began to eat. Kali grimaced as her mother loaded two spoonfuls of macaroni and cheese onto her plate. They had this usually around three times a week. But Kali had gotten used to it, and she ate without complaint.

"Mom," she said, breaking the silence. "I have to tell you guys something."

"What's that, dear?" Amy asked absently.

"I found this little animal, it is so cute!" said Kali. "He's a Mogwai, and I named him Tapsi."

"He's a what?" Amy asked, turning to look at her daughter.

"A Mogwai," repeated Kali. "At least, that's what he said he was. I never saw anything like him before. He sings, too, and he has such pretty songs! But he doesn't like the light, it hurts his eyes."

Kali's parents exchanged glances. What was their daughter talking about?

"Can I keep him, Mom?" asked Kali eagerly. "Please? I'll take really good care of him, I'll feed him and give him water, and everything all by myself!"

"Maybe we'd better see this creature," said David, Kali's father.

"Sure!" said Kali. She started to get up from her chair.

"After dinner," said her mother, motioning her back down. "We're still eating."

Kali sighed and lowered herself back into her chair. She began to spoon the macaroni into her mouth methodically. As soon as she finished the sticky mass of noodles and cheese, she took her plate up to the sink. Then she turned and nearly dashed up the stairs.

Kali slipped into her room, whispering, "Tapsi?" Tapsi's voice began to hum a tune. Kali smiled and walked over to the little Mogwai, who was curled on Kali's pillow. She petted him behind the ears. "I have to get Mom and Dad to see you," the girl explained as she wrapped him up in her quilt. She then headed back downstairs, standing near the table impatiently with her bundle, waiting for her parents to finish eating.

Finally, the rest of the family finished, and each silently took his or her plate to the sink. Laura immediately went right back upstairs to her room. Finally, Kali thought as her parents turned to her.

"Show what it is you wanted to show us, dear," said Amy.

Kali looked up at the light in the dining room. It was shining down brightly, illuminating the whole room. "Can we turn that off?" she asked. "He doesn't like the light."

"Of course," said David, and he switched off the light.

Kali carefully unwrapped the blanket from the Mogwai. Her parents' amused and skeptical faces turned to surprise and then amazement. David petted the creature, asking, "What did you say this thing was?"

"He's a Mogwai," said Kali. "Or that's as close as I can come to saying what he is."

Tapsi looked up at Kali's parents and said a strange word that they missed completely.

Kali said, "That's it.that's what he is."

David bent down to hear closely, and Tapsi spoke the word again. "Well, I think 'Mogwai' is as close as you're going to get," he said, shaking his head.

"What did you say his name was?" Amy asked.

"Tapsi," said Kali. "I don't know if he had a name before besides Mogwai, but I gave that one to him."

Amy smiled tentatively at the little creature, who returned the smile and flattened his ears, his gentle brown eyes sparkling. The woman looked absolutely melted.

"Can I keep him?" asked Kali eagerly.

"Well." said David.

"If you feed him, and water him, and keep him out of the light, and play with him every day, then I think you can," said Amy. "I've never seen anything like him before, but he's very cute!"

Tapsi smiled and began to hum. Kali's parents listened, enchanted, and Tapsi changed to a new tune. He closed his eyes as the music shifted once more, and then became silent, opening them again. Kali gave the Mogwai a hug.

Amy reached out to take Tapsi. "May I see him?" she asked. Kali handed the little animal to her mother.

The woman looked him over, petting his soft fur. "He's pretty dirty," she said. "Why don't you give him a bath?"

"Sure!" Kali took Tapsi back. Strangely, the Mogwai's attitude had changed. He looked apprehensive and cowered in her arms. His eyes held a gleam of fear.

"Not too much water," said Amy. "We don't know if he can swim or not."

Kali nodded and carried Tapsi upstairs, eager to have her new pet play in the warm water. When she was four, she remembered her parents had brought home the neighbor's dog for a week. The animal had run out and rolled around in the grass and dirt the very day they got him. His owner was on vacation with his family, and hadn't left instructions as to bathing.

Amy had insisted that the dog be given a bath. Kali and her sister had volunteered, and they'd had great fun, and gotten soaked, with the happy, splashing animal. The girl was eager to repeat the experience.

Setting Tapsi on the counter in the bathroom, Kali turned on the faucet in the tub, filling it about two and half inches of the way up. Smiling, she looked over at the Mogwai on the counter. Her smile quavered slightly.

Tapsi was curled in a near-fetal position, his ears down, his eyes wide and black. He looked at the water sloshing around in the bottom of the tub, shaking.

"Come on, Tapsi," said Kali. "It's nice water." She dipped her hand in the tub, splashing the water.

Tapsi remained frozen.

Kali dried her hand on a towel and stood up. "Come on," she said coaxingly, and lifted Tapsi from the counter. She carried him over to the tub and started to lower him towards the water.

Tapsi looked down at the liquid. "No!" he cried in Mogwai. "Water will kill us! Water will kill us all!" The girl didn't understand him, so he cried out his warning again, louder this time, and began to struggle from her grasp.

"What's the matter, Tapsi?" Kali said, pulling the Mogwai back from the water. "You don't like the water?"

Still quivering in fear, Tapsi shook his head vigorously.

"Well, then I'll go tell Mom," she said, and brought Tapsi downstairs.

"Mom?" she called, glancing around the living room.

"Yes, Kali?" her mother's voice called back from the kitchen. Kali went into the kitchen, stopping in the doorway.

"Mom, Tapsi doesn't like the water," Kali said.

"He didn't like getting wet?" Amy asked, scrubbing a plate with soapy water at the sink.

"I didn't get him wet," said Kali. "He saw the water and freaked out!"

"Really?" said Kali's mother. "Bring him over here. I won't splash him, I promise."

Kali brought Tapsi over to the sink. The Mogwai looked down at the water roiling in the drain and shuddered slightly. Mumbling to Kali in his strange language, he tried to lean away from the water.

"See, Mom?" said Kali.

"Yes." said Amy. "Well, wait until I'm done with the dishes and bring him to me. I'll brush the dirt from his fur."

Tapsi collapsed with relief as the girl placed him back on her bed. He closed his eyes; his ears hanging limp. That had been too close. He didn't even want to think about it. If he had squirmed the wrong way, if some of the water from the sink had splashed.Tapsi shuddered. The bright side of that close call was that these humans now knew to keep him away from water.

Kali reached over and petted the top of Tapsi's head. The comforting sensation washed through him and calmed him down. He ran a set of notes through his mind, arranged them quickly, and began to sing. The girl listened to his song, still petting him. Finishing that song, Tapsi put together a new composition of music and began to hum that. When he finished the tune, he opened his eyes and smiled at Kali.

She smiled back and reached over to pick him up. She held the Mogwai to her chest, and Tapsi felt himself falling asleep in her warm embrace. He closed his eyes and discerned her putting him on the pillow as he was nodding off.

A few minutes later, Tapsi felt someone gently shaking him awake. Kali was talking to him in her human language. She wanted him to come with her. The Mogwai opened his eyes and sat up, yawning. Kali picked him up and carried him through the house.

The hallway was dark, but the light was on downstairs. Tapsi saw a bright glow from the room below the staircase and he put a paw on Kali's arm. "No," he said. "It's light down there."

The girl was already calling down the stairs. A moment later, the light went off, and the cool comfort of darkness replaced the painful light. Kali went down the stairs with Tapsi.

Tapsi found himself submitting to a vigorous brushing by the woman. The brush was soft against his fur and skin, but the cold metal utensil with many long teeth was unpleasant and it pulled his fur. The woman was using both of the implements mercilessly, and after about ten minutes, he was finally handed back to Kali. He shook himself all over to be rid of the feeling of the cold teeth. He started to doze off as Kali carried him back up the stairs.

Kali gently placed the sleeping Mogwai on her pillow. She looked at her bedside clock and sighed. It was eight-thirty, time to go to bed. Kali never fought her mother about her bedtime, because she rather liked lying in bed in the dark and thinking. Tonight, she had a lot to think about; namely, her new pet.

Kali went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She grabbed the toothpaste and started to squeeze some onto her toothbrush. Nothing came out. With a sigh, Kali put the toothbrush down and began to roll up the toothpaste tube. Trying again, she managed to force out a tiny stream of toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

After brushing her teeth, Kali kicked off her sneakers and left them under the window in the bathroom. She headed back to her room and changed into her pajamas. Turning off the light, Kali climbed into bed and fell asleep holding her pet Mogwai in her arms.

The next morning, Kali was awakened by the sunlight streaming in her window. She rolled over to see what time it was on her bedside clock. It was 7:30. With a yelp, Kali leapt from bed and began to dress hurriedly. Tapsi woke up and looked over to see what had roused her so quickly. He looked around, his ears perking up, chattering lightly in his strange language.

"I have to go to school, Tapsi!" said Kali breathlessly, as she ran a hairbrush through her tangled curls. Reaching over, she pet him on the head, then dashed from the room and down the stairs.

"Honey, where were you?" Amy asked as Kali appeared. "I was about to go up and see what was keeping you."

"My alarm didn't go off," Kali said as she slid into a chair at the table and poured herself a bowl of Frosted Flakes. She started munching, and mumbled around a mouthful, "Mom, I need you to watch Tapsi, he's in my room, okay?"

"Yes, dear," said Amy. "Now, hurry, you have five minutes before the bus gets here!"

Kali finished her cereal and jumped up, grabbing her backpack. "Bye, Mom!" she yelled as she ran out to the front of her yard.

When the dingy yellow bus screeched to a halt in front of her, and the doors slid open, Kali jumped up the short flight of steps and headed down the aisle. Reaching an empty seat, she sat down and stared out the window, wondering if Tapsi was going to be okay all by himself. Of course he is, silly, she told herself. He lived for all that time in the warehouse.

The bus pulled up to Kali's school about twenty minutes later, and Kali went to her classroom. She hung up her backpack and went to her seat. She wondered if Tapsi was an alien from another planet. That would be cool! But then the government would probably be after him. Kali didn't know much about aliens, but she knew that they existed and that the government was hiding them. Her sister Laura fretted about it all the time.

Kali's mind dealt on Tapsi throughout the morning pledge to the flag, reading group, and poem writing exercises. At recess, she wandered aimlessly over to where her friends were, on the swings.

"Kali!" called Andrea, who was swinging high on one of the swings. "What was that thing you found yesterday you wouldn't let us see?"

"Was it a cat?" asked Kirsten.

"No," said Kali, walking up. "It was a Mogwai. I named him Tapsi and got to keep him for a pet."

"It's a what?" yelled Andrea from the swing.

"A Mogwai," repeated Kali.

"What's that?" said Andrea, dragging her feet along the dirt to slow down. She came to a stop and stared at Kali in confusion.

"It's really cute!" said Kali. "It's brown and white, and furry, with big ears and big eyes. His name is Tapsi and he doesn't like light and water."

"Awesome," said Andrea. "I've never heard of anything like that. Can I come over and see him sometime?"

"Sure!" said Kali, eager to show off her new pet. "You can come over today, my mom will be at home."

"Great!" said Andrea. "I'll call my mom at the office and ask her if I can get dropped off at your house. I'm sure she'll let me."

After recess, Andrea called her mother and got permission to go to Kali's house after school. The prospect of sharing her newfound friend with her classmate had Kali excited the rest of the day. She couldn't wait to go home and show Tapsi to the other girl! The rest of the day crawled along, with Kali watching the clock impatiently. When the bell finally rang, she jumped from her seat and, grabbing her backpack, ran out to the bus. She sat with Andrea, and proceeded to tell her all about Tapsi while the bus loaded.

Andrea seemed particularly interested when Kali told her about the bath.

"He hates water?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Kali. "Maybe he's like a cat, they hate water too."

"Maybe," said Andrea, "it melts him, or something. Like a witch."

Kali looked troubled. "That doesn't happen in real life!" she said indignantly. "Water doesn't kill people really, just witches in movies and stuff."

"He hates light too," said Andrea. "So maybe he's a vampire and a witch!"

"No!" said Kali. "He's a sweet little animal!"

"All killers try to look harmless," said Andrea, delighted with the reaction she was getting out of Kali. "Vampires become bats, and witches turn into cats. Maybe Tapsi is a cross between them and is just in innocent animal form. He's waiting to let loose something bad on you and your family. You should get him wet to kill him as soon as possible! He's dangerous!"

"Andrea, you watch too many horror films," said Kali. "That's all fake!"

Andrea smiled. The truth was, she did watch too many horror films. She was an only child, and her parents let her watch anything she wanted on TV. She'd gotten past the nightmares; she was too desensitized to suspense and horror for it to frighten her anymore. She enjoyed making her friends nervous with her knowledge of the stuff, however.

The bus came to a stop outside of Kali's house. The two girls disembarked and walked up to the front door.

"You'll see," said Kali. "He's really nice and wouldn't hurt anything ever."

Andrea just smiled.

"Hi, Mom!" called Kali as she entered the kitchen. "I brought Andrea home, she wants to see Tapsi!"

"All right, dear!" Amy called back. "There's oatmeal cookies if you would like some after you look at Tapsi."

Kali grimaced; she hated oatmeal. Her mother just didn't seem to get that, though the girl had told her several times. Oh well, maybe Andrea would eat the cookies. "Come on," she said to her friend, and the two girls tramped up the stairs.

Andrea followed her friend up the stairs, eager to see the strange creature. She was sure it was a witch, or a vampire, or both. As Kali eased open the door to her darkened room, Andrea peered past her towards the bed.

The little creature was sitting on her pillow, looking over towards them, its ears perked. Big ears, Andrea thought, like a bat. It was furry and had large eyes and a little pug nose. It didn't really look like a bat, or a cat either. Nevertheless, Andrea was sure it was some kind of diabolical beast. Nearly all mysterious little creatures were, in horror movies. But this isn't a horror movie, Andrea reminded herself. This is real life. But Andrea's mental line between reality and non-reality was very thin and very fuzzy.

Andrea followed Kali into the room, where she knelt down by the bed and examined the creature more closely.

"What did you say this was?" Andrea asked Kali. The creature opened its wide mouth and said a strange word that Andrea could not begin to reproduce, or even recognize.

"He's a Mogwai," said Kali. "That's the word he is saying; but it took me a long time to figure it out."

The Mogwai said the word again, and Andrea listened carefully, barely able to match it with Kali's version of it. But the resemblance was there.

"I named him Tapsi," said Kali. "He's the neatest little guy! Wait until you hear him sing."

On cue, Tapsi smiled and began to hum. The tune was very beautiful, and Andrea listened, enchanted. All too soon, it was over.

"He makes up a new one every time," said Kali. "You won't ever hear that again."

Andrea was disappointed. Why throw away such a wonderful melody? But when Tapsi began to sing another, it was just as beautiful as the first, although quite different. The Mogwai must be an excellent composer, Andrea thought. And indeed he was.

Andrea looked into the Mogwai's eyes. The creature gazed back, his ears flattening slightly.

"What are you?" Andrea whispered, narrowing her eyes. "You're going to be our demise, aren't you?"

Tapsi's eyes took on a suddenly mournful expression. It told Andrea more than she really wanted to know.

She stood up and wondered which to try first, light or water. Kali had said the Mogwai hated both, so obviously they were dangerous to him in some way. Well, water would be the easiest. Andrea stepped past Kali, who was fiddling with something on her dresser, and went to the bathroom across the hall. She turned on the tap and put her hand under it, curling her palm into a depression to hold the water.

Andrea walked back to Kali's room. She paused momentarily, wondering if what she was doing was altogether a good idea. Still, she was curious about the creature's aversion to water. Cats hated water too, but getting a drop or two on them was no problem, and at least they drank water! Kali had told Andrea that the Mogwai didn't drink any of the water she put out for him.

Making up her mind, the seven-year-old jerked her hand forward, letting the water fly through the air and fall towards the Mogwai. He ducked in an instant, his ears flattening to his neck, his eyes widening. The water seemed to move in slow motion, propelled by gravity, towards the Mogwai's back.

When it struck, a shrill cry was torn from Tapsi's throat. He twisted on the bed, his back arching, his mouth open, gasping. A terrible crackling sound filled the air, and both Kali and Andrea, their attention riveted on the Mogwai in horror, backed away.

I knew it, Andrea thought. He's dying.

Tapsi writhed on the bed, four huge abscesses blistering on his back. They were a hideous red and yellow, and swelled until the screaming Mogwai seemed about to burst.

Then, the blisters on his back exploded, each releasing a furry ball that flew into the air and landed on the bed. Tapsi's cries quieted as his wounds healed over and the crackling sound disappeared.

The four balls of fur were growing; forming themselves into shapes resembling Tapsi. Soon there were four new Mogwai uncurling on the bed, lowering their large ears from a position covering their eyes, looking around the room.

Tapsi watched them, the mournful expression that Andrea had seen intensifying. Other than that, he seemed fine.

So he didn't die, thought Andrea. He just didn't want more of his kind around. Andrea wondered if the new ones were dangerous. This wasn't saying witches and vampires to her anymore. It was simply saying weird alien creatures.

The Mogwai opened her eyes. She surveyed her surroundings, gathering details and bits of information about them that might come in handy later. The room was cluttered with various items that she didn't recognize, and there were two large creatures standing near the fixture she was sitting on. Her gaze landed on three others like her, and then on a fourth Mogwai.but this one was different. His eyes held a glint of despondency as he looked at her and the other three.

In that moment the Mogwai knew: she was in the company of one of the minority. She felt an inborn hatred well up inside of her for this creature watching her and her companions with sorrow.

The two larger creatures, which were definitely younglings of their species, were acting unusually frightened. A moment later, they had run from the room. The Mogwai could hear their footfalls retreating.

The three other majority Mogwai had turned and were looking to her. The Mogwai stood up, looking them over. Two were male, one looked withdrawn and shy; the other had a contained fierceness about him that was apparent mostly in his large black eyes. The other was a female, and she had a spirited yet mild aura throughout her.

Her mind rapidly assessing her situation, the Mogwai looked again at the minority Mogwai, the one in a thousand with charitable aims, a long life, and most importantly, knowledge. He had the answers they needed. But another need prevailed; the Mogwai needed a name. They all needed names, to refer to themselves and each other by. Mulling over possible designations, the Mogwai chose for herself the title "Gaji", from a Mogwai word meaning intense. The others would come later. For now, they needed information.

Gaji turned to the minority Mogwai. There were three important things she needed to find out. "Tell us," she said in Mogwai language. "How can we reproduce?"

The minority Mogwai was calm as he answered, "I won't tell you the things you want to know. It's not a good idea for anyone involved."

"It is for us," said Gaji. "We are social creatures, we want the company of our own kind. Of our own population."

"No," said the minority Mogwai. "It's dangerous."

"For who?" Gaji demanded. "You and your." She broke off, not knowing what the creatures that had been in the room were called.

"Humans," said the minority Mogwai. He looked into Gaji's eyes defiantly.

Gaji swore softly under her breath in Mogwai. This creature wouldn't help them at any cost to himself.

"What are you called?" she asked suddenly, pointing with a short finger at the minority Mogwai, wanting a name for him.

"Tapsi," he replied quietly. "The human child gave me the name."

Before Gaji could comment, the door to the room flew open, and the humans walked in. There were a couple of mature ones as well as the children, and there was one in-between, probably an adolescent. Gaji snapped her head around to watch them, and felt her instinctive warning system go off.

Gaji turned back to the other Mogwai. "Be quiet and act pleasant," she said. "These ones probably have the authority; if they have any reason to doubt that we are just like the minority Mogwai, we could be restricted."

The other three nodded solemnly. Gaji turned again to the humans, and put on her sweetest, most innocent expression. The humans looked both amazed and delighted. They pressed forward in a group, peering close, their odd five-fingered hands petting the Mogwai, talking to one another. Gaji and the others suffered through it until they left, all except one of the young girls.

One of the other Mogwai, the fierce male, chose this moment to attack a stuffed toy. It was orange colored with black stripes and had a long tail. The Mogwai grabbed it with his paws and wrestled it down on the bed, attempting to pull off the tail, ears, and eyes with little success. He was having great fun, however.

Gaji watched him for a moment. The human girl reached over and pulled him away from the stuffed toy. She was laughing, and Gaji heard her talking to the Mogwai, using one word over and over. The word was "tiger". When she put him down with the other Mogwai, she repeated the word several times, still giggling.

Gaji looked at the Mogwai, who was somewhat perturbed at being pulled away from his toy. He really needs to grow up, thought Gaji. Then she smiled slightly. We all need to grow, she thought, but not in the same way, and as soon as possible. The Mogwai sat down next to the others and looked back to Gaji.

"Tiger?" said Gaji. The Mogwai's ears perked up. "Tiger," she repeated. Tiger's eyes glinted, and he grinned. Gaji glanced over at the other two. The female was sitting, watching Gaji for some kind of instruction. Gaji pointed at her. "Kasil," she said, looking into the other female's eyes. Kasil smiled, accepting her name. Gaji had taken the name from the Mogwai word "kasila", which, roughly translated, meant "loyal warrior".

The third Mogwai was curled in a ball, his ears perked, looking at Gaji. He was waiting for her to assign him a name. A withdrawn Mogwai such as this needed a powerful name. Gaji pondered a moment. Her mind listed all the words in her language that stood for power. The word kumon, which translated to something like "courageously creative", appealed to her but didn't seem to be enough. Her brow furrowed as she poured over her choices. None seemed right. Oh well, his name would have to wait. Unless.there was a word in the human language that would fit.

Gaji went over to the bookcase next to the human's bed and selected a hard, thin volume. Hauling it onto the bed, she lay down, moved the book in front of her, and wrestled open the cover. A painting of a winged reptilian with fire spewing from its jaws greeted her amazed eyes. Now this creature would be a good source for a name for the shy Mogwai! What did they call it? Gaji could not understand the foreign markings on the pages in the book.

Gaji looked over at the human girl, who was holding Tapsi and listening to him sing, paying the others no attention. "Hey," called Gaji. "What's this beast called?" As the girl looked up in response to Gaji's voice, the Mogwai pointed to the picture of the fire-breathing reptilian.

The human girl smiled and began to talk. Gaji flattened her ears, smoldering. She didn't need some long detailed explanation; she needed a word! The Mogwai pointed more insistently at the painting, forcing her ears up to appear more questioning, looking at the human. The girl seemed to get the message, as she leaned over and pointed to the picture.

"Dragon," she said. Gaji very nearly missed the odd word, and shook her head. She pointed again to the picture. "Dragon," the human said again.

"Dragon," said Gaji, the word heavy with a Mogwai accent but nevertheless understandable. The human girl seemed delighted, picking Gaji up and hugging her. Gaji wormed free, giving the girl an offended glare before stalking over to her siblings. The human seemed daunted at this, and she turned her attention to Tapsi. The minority Mogwai, however, was staring at Gaji in surprise, eyes wide.

"How do you pick a human word up that fast?" Tapsi said, amazed.

Gaji shrugged. "It wasn't that hard."

Tapsi shook his head. "There are very few Mogwai who can speak any language other than their own." His expression became worried. "That's a valuable tool for you."

Gaji's mouth spread in a wide smile. "I'll be sure to use it wisely," she said, and shifted her concentration to the nameless male majority Mogwai.

He was still waiting expectantly for his name. Gaji took the two words she had obtained from the two separate languages, and pieced them together to make a new word. The word meant nothing except that it was a combination of two other words. Gaji pointed to the Mogwai. "Dramon," she said. Dramon's ears perked higher, and he grinned with delight. He had no idea where Gaji had gotten the name, but he was sure she had chosen him a good one with a significant origin.

Gaji smiled as well, having overcome the task of picking names for herself and her siblings. She flopped down between Dramon and Kasil and closed her eyes to think. What next? Tapsi wouldn't tell them how to reproduce or become more powerful, two vital pieces of information that Gaji knew was essential to their very survival. The majority Mogwai had such short lives, compared with the centuries that one of the minority would live, that large numbers were very important.

Gaji's ears perked up as she caught the flow of conversation from the human child to Tapsi. The Mogwai remembered Tapsi's comment about her aptitude for languages, and she began to listen. To learn some human speech couldn't hurt, and might even turn out to be useful at some point.

After only a few minutes, Gaji had already picked out a few words and phrases. Like all Mogwai, Gaji was an extremely intelligent being, so intelligent that she was able to fathom the basic meaning of what someone said even if the language was completely alien. It would not take her much time to learn the human language, which was terribly simple and slow compared to the Mogwai language. Nevertheless, the words themselves were hard to form, and they would take some practice. From looking at the book, Gaji understood that humans had a written language as well. She intended to learn both adequately enough to be able to communicate effectively, even if the need for such communication never arose.

Gaji heard one of the other humans call from downstairs. The girl jumped up, spoke hurriedly to Tapsi, and ran from the room. Gaji blinked, and stood up. Time to further her learning. Tapsi, Kasil, Dramon, and Tiger watched her as she walked over to the book she'd left lying on the bed. It was still open to the page with the beast called the dragon. Gaji settled down to pour over it and start to learn the written language of these humans.

* * *

Yasuko Otani sat in front of her computer console, fingers poised over the keyboard, staring intently at the screen. Readings, diagrams, and charts scrolled down the screen as her large black eyes flicked over them, taking in every bit of information.

"Fascinating," she whispered. Yasuko was a biologist, three years out of college, and tonight she had decided to delve into the files of the Tokyo laboratory where she worked. She was looking at the readouts of a strange, greenish photochemical substance that had lain dormant in the lab for fifteen years.

Collected on Christmas morning of 1984, the substance was unidentifiable so far. Very little lab work had actually been done on it, and most of the information assembled was rumors, based on news stories, interviews, and speculation.

Supposedly, the stuff was the remains of a small creature. One individual, interviewed briefly, had seen the creature melt upon its exposure to sunlight. Many strange myths were attached to the creature, including an ability to reproduce on contact with water. Yasuko wondered where on earth that one could have been conceived.

Yasuko printed outlines of the information on the greenish substance, and turned off the computer. Standing up and stretching briefly, she turned off the lights, locked up, and headed out to her car. It was past midnight, and she was tired. Flipping through the printed pages as she climbed into her car, Yasuko started the engine. Turning her attention to the road in front of her, Yasuko drove to her home to knock off.

The next morning, Yasuko came to the lab early. She needed to talk to her boss, Kazuma Ayabe. She had phoned him this morning, simply requesting a meeting.

Now, she entered his office. Kazuma Ayabe stood up from his desk and shook her hand. "Thank you for coming," he said with a smile, and gestured to a chair. "Please, tell me what is on your mind."

Yasuko hesitated for a moment, and then began. "I was searching through the archives on the computer last night, and I found some readouts on a substance that has been in our vaults for nearly fifteen years." She handed her boss the printed information, and continued, "There has not been much research or experimentation done on this substance, and I would like permission to begin an experiment of my own with it."

Kazuma Ayabe flipped through the printed readouts, his brow furrowing. He had known about the substance in the vaults, but his staff always seemed to be involved in some other project, and he'd never felt the need to have anything done with it. "What exactly are you planning to do?" he asked Yasuko.

Yasuko looked Kazuma right in the eye. "I plan to try and clone this creature back to life."

Kazuma met her gaze for a few moments. "Don't you want to research.what it was, before you try this?"

"Of course," said Yasuko. "The witness to its death was a man named William Peltzer. He lives in America, but I believe I could set up contact with him and question him in more detail."

Kazuma nodded slowly. "I have no direct objection to this experiment. When can you get in touch with Mr. Peltzer?"

"Probably sometime this week," said Yasuko.

"Kate," called Billy Peltzer to his wife one afternoon, after an eye- wearing day of working on the second issue of his comic book series; 'Mogwai's Gift'. "Come and look at this."

Kate Peltzer, a good-looking woman in her mid-thirties, walked up to her husband and peered at the notice he was holding.

"It's from a laboratory in Tokyo, Japan," said Billy. "They want to interview me about.my experience with.with Stripe."

Kate and Billy looked at each other. Terrible memories rushed through Billy's head; the evil, leering face of the Gremlin called Stripe, crested with a flowing white mane. Billy slowly reached up and touched his chest, one of the places where he still bore scars from the creature's claws.

"Why?" Kate asked fearfully. "Do they say why?"

Billy looked back at the notice. "No."

Kate was silent for a moment. "Will you go?" she asked finally, trying to suppress memories of the abusive Gremlins. She hadn't thought of them in a long time, but she knew she would have nightmares about them tonight. The worst had been her experience as the only waitress at Dorry's Pub for a horde of the vicious green demons.

"I think I have to," said Billy. With a sigh, he put down the notice. The trip was all-expenses paid, though Billy could've afforded it. Selling his design to Daniel Clamp had paid off well and now he could spend all his time working on his comic book series. He had based it on the Mogwai, and the Gremlins. It made a wonderful fantasy comic, popular with a smaller-than-average group, but it did well.

The next day, Billy took an all-expense paid trip to Tokyo, starting with a long, stressful flight. Kate had suggested that Billy bring the Mogwai, Gizmo, that Stripe had been spawned from, but Billy had been fearful of his pet being hurt and had opted not to bring him.

Yasuko Otani arrived at another meeting with her boss a few days after their last one.

Kazuma Ayabe looked up. "Any luck contacting Mr. Peltzer?" he asked.

"Yes!" Yasuko with a smile. "He's on his way now, and should arrive by tomorrow."

Kazuma smiled as well. "Very good," he said. "Keep me informed on your progress."

Yasuko bowed and walked out.

* * *

Kali headed downstairs, eager to hear what her parents had to say. They had told her they would discuss the appearance of the new Mogwai, and then tell her what they decided. Would she be able to keep them? Would she have to find homes for them? Would they just go to the animal shelter? Would they get sold?

Amy and David were seated in the living room on the couch. Kali came into the room and dropped down into a chair. She looked at her parents expectantly, waiting for them to start talking.

"Kali," said Amy, leaning forward from the couch. "Your father and I have discussed the.Mogwai, and we think that Tapsi is quite enough for you to be able to take care of and watch on your own."

Kali's face fell. She had hoped that her mother would let them stay!

"Also," Amy continued. "We don't know where these creatures come from, or what they are."

"They're Mogwai!" said Kali, a pouting expression starting to form.

"But we don't know anything about them," continued Amy. "Except that they don't like light, or water.and if what you told us is true, they reproduce with water. A creature that does that is very strange, and probably very rare."

"What are we going to do with them, then?" asked Kali, a hint of a scowl on her face.

Amy sighed. "We could give them away, or take them to the animal shelter.or to a biologist who could tell us what they are."

"We think that the best option is probably the animal shelter," said David. "They will treat them well and be careful of what happens to them, more than we could guarantee by just giving them away."

Kali pouted some more, then said, "But I keep Tapsi, right?"

"Yes," said Amy. "You may keep Tapsi."

"Okay," said Kali, and she got up. She saw no reason to argue with her parents; it had never worked in the past and she did not expect it to work now. Besides, Kali wasn't sure she like the new Mogwai as much as she did Tapsi. So Kali simply went back upstairs. She wished Andrea had stayed, but Kali's parents had sent her home after the incident with the water. Kali was quite bored.

When she went back into her room, Kali saw one of the Mogwai lying on the bed, staring intensely at an open picture book. Kali wondered what the little creature was doing. Reading it? Kali didn't know if Mogwai could read. They couldn't talk, except their language. Maybe the Mogwai was just trying to read it. Maybe I can help, thought Kali.

She went over to the bed. The Mogwai paid her no attention. Frowning, Kali pointed to the first word on the page and spoke it carefully. Running her finger along the sentences, she read them out loud for the Mogwai.

Gaji was delighted. This was much faster than simply learning the letters and sounds by herself! As the human girl pointed to each word and spoke it, Gaji took note of the configuration of the letters, matching sounds the girl used for each letter. Sometimes she used different sounds for the same letters, but Gaji filed away all the information in her brain to work into a usable system later on.

The girl continued reading until she reached the end of the book. Gaji had an enormous store of new info, and she was quite sure she knew nearly all the letters. She didn't mind when the human put the book away in the bookcase; she was through with it. Instead, she walked over and pulled out a different book. Skimming through this one, Gaji tried to match the sounds of the language with the letters, piecing them together in her mind. About halfway through the book, Gaji began mumbling the human words to herself, and for this she received an amazed look from the human girl. Gaji was reading! The Mogwai allowed a smile to cross her face. The only thing was, she didn't know what most of the words meant. She would have to do some more listening in to human conversation.

But now, Gaji was tired. She curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

When she awoke, the light that had shone from the window across the room had disappeared. A dim glow came from a tiny nightlight near the floor. By this illumination Gaji could see the girl, asleep on the bed, with Tapsi curled up in her arms. Gaji's brothers were curled in a fuzzy ball, snoring gently, but Kasil was awake. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her ears perked forward, looking towards the door.

Gaji stood up and walked over to her sister. "What are watching for?" she asked.

Kasil shrugged. "Nothing in particular," she said.

Gaji smiled. "I think now is the time to go exploring," she said.

Kasil's cold smile matched Gaji's. "I'll agree with that."

Gaji turned and walked back over to Dramon and Tiger. She hurriedly shook them awake. They were bleary and disoriented, but after a couple sharp pats from their leader they were on their feet and ready for action.

The four majority Mogwai carefully slid down onto the floor and snuck through the slightly open door of the human girl's room. They scampered across the hall to the bathroom, which was lit only by the full moon shining through the window. Dramon and Kasil climbed onto the white porcelain rim of the tub in the corner, balancing carefully. Kasil gripped a fluffy towel that hung from a hook on the wall. The counter was only about a foot away from the tub, although it extended up much farther. Reaching higher to a new grip on the towel, the Mogwai pulled herself up until she could grab the edge of the counter with one paw. Dramon, watching her example, managed to clamber up himself.

Kasil looked at her reflection in the mirrors over the counter. Reaching out to touch one, she saw a shadow near the edge. Peering closer, Kasil realized that the mirror was a door that could be opened. So of course, she opened the door, revealing a set of shelves containing bottles and tubes. Dramon came up behind her, his eager eyes flicking from one bottle to the next. Suddenly, spying one that he liked the look of, Dramon reached up to try and grab it. Unfortunately for him, he was reaching right over his sister, and that annoyed her. She turned around and shoved Dramon to the side, causing him to slip on the edge of the sink and topple in. The sink was not shallow, but neither was it deep. Still, Dramon seemed unsure of what to do about it, and he lay there in the bottom with a perplexed look on his face.

Gaji, who was inspecting a pair of sneakers with Tiger, heard the noise, and looked up sharply. She heard Kasil giggling slightly as she walked around the sink. Gaji went over to the tub, grabbed the towel and climbed up onto the counter. She saw Dramon in the sink, still wearing a very unsure look on his face. He had regained his composure enough to sit up, but seemed incapable of doing anything else at the moment. Kasil was fiddling with one of the silver knobs next to the sink.

Gaji looked at the open mirror door, then at the contents of the cupboard it had concealed. She reached out and pulled down a shiny metal canister with an oddly shaped dispenser at the top. Setting it on the counter, she pressed down the top of the canister, and was delighted when a squirt of white foamy stuff squeezed out. She heard a noise behind her, and looked over to see Tiger coming over the edge of the counter. He looked at the canister and the foam, and a wicked grin crossed his face.

"Bring that over here," he said to Gaji. "I know what we can do with it."

Curious, Gaji shoved the canister towards him. He held it with one arm and used the other to let himself down to the floor via the towel. Scampering over to the sneakers, he set the canister down next to them.

Gaji saw immediately what he was planning to do. As Tiger angled the bottle and pressed the dispenser down, Gaji giggled madly as the white foam filled the sneakers. The sudden sound of a splash and rushing water came from behind her, but it wasn't until she heard an unearthly cry of pain that she spun around, her dark eyes flashing.

Kasil was madly twisting one of the silver knobs, stopping the flow of water. A terrible crackling filled the air even as she did this, accompanied by screams of agony from the depths of the sink. Rushing over, Gaji saw Dramon writhing in the sink, his eyes closed, his lips pulled back from his blunt little teeth, his ears flattened. His back seemed to be growing into a mass of blistering abscesses. The red and yellow bubbles swelled and then finally split, releasing six furry balls onto the counter next to the sink.

They began to grow, forming into new Mogwai. Slowly realization spread through Gaji, and she let out a shout of triumph, gaining a strange look from the recovering Mogwai in the sink. Facing her brother with a smile, Gaji reached down, grabbed his paw with both of hers, and hauled him from the sink. As he turned around, he saw the baby Mogwai and his eyes widened in amazement and glee. He grinned. Kasil was standing behind the silver knobs, watching the babies develop with a delight to match that of the others. They had discovered the secret of reproduction! One of the mysteries was solved!

Dramon turned to Gaji. "Should we reproduce now?" he asked excitedly, forgetting his ordeal. "Create an army?"

Gaji hesitated, and then replied, "What could we accomplish? These bodies are weak. We should wait until we become powerful and then reproduce. If learning that secret proves to be impossible, we'll consider other options."

Satisfied, Dramon turned back to watch the Mogwai finish their growth. Their eyes opened, and they looked around, their eyes wide as they took in the world for the first time, much as the first batch had.

Gaji walked up to them. The six new Mogwai turned to look at her. She looked each of them in the eye, quickly explaining the situation, and the one secret that had been discovered. The new Mogwai looked at each other, grins forming on their faces.

Suddenly, human footsteps were heard outside the bathroom, and the door was opened wide. As Mogwai eyes turned towards the newcomer, a human hand reached out for the light switch.

Gaji recoiled with a screech, her paws flying up to cover her eyes, and she hunched down on the counter, trying to shrink away from the overpowering radiation of the light. She heard her scream echoed by the other Mogwai even as the stabbing agony pierced through her head and down into the rest of her body. A moment later, the cool and comfort of the darkness returned. Gaji collapsed with relief, shivering slightly with the shock.

Looking up, her eyes still stinging a bit, Gaji saw the human girl come in, accompanied by one of the mature humans. It was the adult who had turned the light on. Gaji felt a well of anger erupt inside of her for an instant, and then it quickly calmed, replaced by a passionate hatred as her gaze fell on the minority Mogwai in the girl's arms. His presence caused a quick burst of consternation to ripple through the group of new Mogwai. They too saw him and recognized him for what he was.

* * *

Billy Peltzer sat down in the hard plastic chair in the waiting room of the laboratory. He was nervous about the interview, mostly because he was unsure what the laboratory wanted with information about Stripe. What good was it going to do anyone now? Billy distrusted the organization's motives, but he was stuck.

He did not have to wait long before a young Japanese woman entered the room. "William Peltzer?" she said, looking at Billy.

"Yes, that's me," said Billy, standing up.

"Pleased to meet you," she said with a smile, her voice slightly accented. She bowed her head and shook his hand. "Follow me."

Billy trailed her through a long hallway and to a small office. The woman sat down at the desk, and motioned him to a chair. "Please sit," she said.

Billy did, as the woman arranged a stack of papers on her desk.

Finishing, the woman turned to Billy. "My name is Yasuko Otani," she said. "I am a biologist here at the laboratory, and I would like to ask you some questions about a creature you witnessed the death of on Christmas morning of 1984."

Billy nodded numbly.

"Now then," Yasuko said. "How did the creature die?"

"He was exposed to sunlight," said Billy. Noticing the biologist's perplexed look, he added, "He was a Gremlin, it's a creature that can be killed by a bright light."

"Oh, I see," she said. "And he disintegrated, into a kind of sludge?"

"Yes, that's right," said Billy.

"Tell me about the creature," said Yasuko. "What was he like?"

"He was evil," said Billy. "Very sadistic, he loved to pull tricks, usually fatal ones, just like the other Gremlins did. He was their leader."

Yasuko nodded. "And he was dangerous, I take it? What did he look like? What physical attributes did he have?"

"He was very dangerous," said Billy. "He had sharp claws on each finger and toe. He had powerful jaws and teeth and he was very strong, for his size. He was about two and a half feet tall, with scaled armor covering him, red eyes, and large pointed ears. There was one really noticeable feature he had, and that was a white mohawk crest on his head." Billy considered going into more detail, about how Stripe had been a Mogwai, eaten after midnight, and become a Gremlin, but decided it wasn't necessary.

"I called him Stripe," said Billy. "After his hair."

Yasuko nodded. "Do you know anything about Stripe scientifically? His blood structure, his physiology? The way his mind works? How he reproduces?"

Billy shook his head. "My old science teacher was starting to get into that stuff, with one of the creatures, but it killed him and he never finished his research. I do know how he reproduces though, whenever you get him wet, he makes more of his kind."

"He doesn't need a female, or anything like that?" Yasuko asked.

"Not that I've seen," said Billy. "Just plain water is necessary."

Yasuko bit her lip, looking puzzled, and then smiled. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Peltzer," she said, standing up. "I most appreciate it."

Billy stood as well, shook the biologist's hand, and left. He headed back to the hotel, packed his suitcase, and took a taxi to the airport.

Billy walked into the bustling Tokyo airport and headed for the baggage checking area. As he walked, he glanced out the window. Funny, it was almost as dark as night out there.

A moment later, there was a crash of thunder, and the view outside the window was swept with sheets of rain. Billy, fearing the worst, turned to look at the departure board. One by one, the status of the flights began to blink to canceled.

After William Peltzer left, Yasuko Otani entered her boss's office.

"Did you get the information you needed?" Kazuma Ayabe asked as she walked in.

"Yes," said Yasuko. "I believe I know all I need to about this creature."

"Then, you may begin your experiment," said Kazuma Ayabe. "I look forward to your progress report. What will you call the project?"

Yasuko smiled. "I plan to call it, 'The Stripe Replication Project'."

Billy watched the rain patter down against the window of the hotel room as he dialed the long distance number to his home in Kingston Falls.

"Kate?" he said as his wife picked up the phone.

"Yes, Billy?" she replied. "What's going on?"

"My flight was canceled," he said. "I won't be home until this storm stops."

There was a pause from the other end of the phone. "Do you want me to call your employer for you?" Kate asked.

"Yes," said Billy. "If you would, I don't know how late I will be, but hopefully I'll be home in a few days."

"All right then, I'll call him," Kate said. "Goodbye, Billy, I love you."

"Goodbye honey," Billy replied, and hung up the phone. Having nothing to do until the storm stopped, Billy picked up the remote control from the bedside table and began idly flipping channels on the television across the room.

Yasuko Otani looked up at the clock on the wall. It was nearly midnight, and her preparations and research were finally complete. It was time to begin.

Bending over her microscope, Yasuko used a tiny syringe controlled by joysticks to inject the blueprints and chromosomes of Stripe's photochemical remains into the cell wall of a human ovum. Flipping a switch, Yasuko sent a miniscule X-ray pulse through the cell. The cell stirred and began to divide quickly.

Yasuko's eyes widened as she stared through the viewfinder on the microscope. The cells were multiplying incredibly quickly. The mass of cells was already visible to the bare eye. The cells continued multiplying, layering and re-layering. Bones and organs began to take shape, as well as the main external features.

The creature rapidly became the size of a mouse. Yasuko watched in amazement as scales, ears, claws, and eyes formed completely. An armored bony ridge spread across the creature's back, and a few sparse tufts of white fur sprouted from its head.

The creature was already conscious, and it crawled out across the countertop. It continued to grow, its features maturing, muscle tissue developing, and its white mane bushing out. Its blood red reptilian eyes opened, its pug nose twitched.

Yasuko shot a glance towards the clock. It was 12:10. The creature had developed completely in less than ten minutes

Stark, white walls jumped forward at him as Stripe opened his eyes. His surroundings tilted, blurred, and finally came into focus.

Where.Stripe's mind reeled in confusion. His last memory had been of excruciating agony searing through his body, and then, this. No pain, no fountain, no humans.wait.

Stripe's sensitive nose picked up the scent of fear wafting from the other side of the room. There. A human female stood frozen to the spot, apparently rooted in terror. Good. She wouldn't oppose him.

Stripe leapt to the floor from the counter he was standing on cast about for an exit. He had two obvious choices: the air vent, and the door. Stripe made his decision almost without thought, and dove for the air vent.

Smashing his way through the metal grate, Stripe sped towards the sweet scent of the outdoors drifting along the passages.

* * *

Kali's mouth dropped open when she saw not only Tapsi's four Mogwai, but also six more sitting on the counter. They must have gotten into the water! What were parents going to say now? Indeed, Amy did not look pleased. After forgetting the Mogwai sensitivity to light, and flipping the light switch, Amy had gotten rather upset when she saw the six new creatures. She was not, however, cruel enough to continue torturing them with the light, and she turned it off almost immediately.

"Kali," said Amy, still groggy with sleep. "Put these things in that box on the porch. They can stay in your room, but don't let them out."

"Okay," said Kali distantly, and she went down the stairs and out to the porch, still cuddling Tapsi. She grabbed the box one-handed, and dragged it up the stairs. It was not very easy, especially with one hand; the box was large and cumbersome. Kali got it upstairs soon enough though, and dragged it to a spot next to the bookshelf in her room. Her mother walked in, carrying three Mogwai. Placing Tapsi on the bed, Kali went to the bathroom and picked up the Mogwai that had learned to read. The little creature put up a bit of a fight, but soon Kali had it safely in the box.

When all the Mogwai were contained in the box, Amy gave Kali instructions to not let them out for even a minute, and went back to her room to sleep. Kali laid on her stomach on the bed, kicking her feet in the air, her head resting on her arms, watching the Mogwai in the box. They were chattering at her, presumably to be let out. They scowled and bared their teeth at Kali. Soon this behavior began to unnerve her and she looked over at Tapsi.

He was watching the Mogwai in the box with that same expression of despair that he'd had when they'd first arrived. He doesn't like them any better than I do, Kali though. He's so unhappy.

With a sigh, Kali got back into bed and fell asleep, despite the angry protestations from the box.

The next morning, Kali jerked awake as her alarm clock rang. She experienced a moment of disorientation, and then she reached over and switched off the clock. Climbing out of bed, Kali got dressed and brushed her hair.

"See you this afternoon!" she called cheerfully to the Mogwai in the box, who had also been awakened and were giving her and Tapsi baleful stares. Kali preferred not to think about the implications, and giving Tapsi a quick pat on the head, she dashed from her room and went downstairs for breakfast.

"How are the Mogwai doing?" asked Amy, as Kali sat down at the table.

Kali looked over to where the cereals were kept, but there weren't any Frosted Flakes. Probably her sister had finished them off this morning, or her father. Kali sighed and picked up the box of Cheerios.

"They're fine," Kali said to her mother. "They complained a lot about being cooped up but they're okay now I think."

"That's good," said her mother. "I have to take them to the animal shelter today, and it will go much better if they are behaving."

"But Tapsi's staying right?" Kali asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.

"Yes," said Amy.

When her mother turned back to the sink, washing the other breakfast dishes, Kali snatched the sugar bowl and dumped a few spoonfuls on her cereal. She quickly put it back in place and finished the Cheerios.

"Bye Mom!" Kali called, grabbing her backpack and heading out the door to the bus.

At recess that day, Andrea confronted Kali.

"What happened with those other Mogwai after I left?" said Andrea, her eyes radiant with curiosity.

"Not a whole lot," said Kali guardedly. "I don't see why you put water on Tapsi in the first place."

"I wanted to see what happened," said Andrea defensively. "You never know, he could be something dangerous!"

"Not Tapsi!" said Kali. "Maybe the other ones, but not Tapsi!"

"The other Mogwai are dangerous?" asked Andrea.

"No." said Kali. "But they're not as nice as Tapsi. They're weird."

Andrea grinned. "I knew it," she said with satisfaction. "They're evil little creatures and you and your family are going to get murdered by them."

"No!" said Kali. "They can't hurt us, they're not big enough. Anyway Mom's taking them to the animal shelter today, except for Tapsi."

"Ooooh," said Andrea. "That'll be interesting. Maimed mutts, frenzied felines.no telling what those Mogwai will DO to the animals at the shelter.until the hunters from the far reaches of space come to destroy them."

"Stop it!" Kali said angrily. "They're perfectly harmless, there's no one after them, and you know it!"

Andrea only smiled. The bell rang a moment later, and both girls went back to their classroom. Kali was fuming; she knew her friend had a sick and twisted nature, but she never knew that Andrea would become so obsessed with the dangers of an obviously harmless creature. It was also obvious to Kali that Andrea was trying to scare her. Kali knew she would have nightmares tonight. At least the Mogwai wouldn't be there to chatter at her in their weird language.

Awakening from a nap after breakfast, Gaji watched the human woman walk into the girl's room. Something's wrong, thought Gaji. She called out to the minority Mogwai, who was curled up on the pillow.

"What's going on?" Gaji said.

Tapsi opened his eyes and looked down at her. "They're taking you away," he said.

"What?" Gaji said, panic creeping into her voice.

"They don't want you around," Tapsi continued. "They think you're too much trouble."

That made sense, but it didn't still Gaji's fear that she and her comrades were doomed. Tapsi closed his eyes again, curling into a tighter ball.

"Tapsi," called Gaji, as the human picked up the box and began to lug it out of the room. Tapsi opened his eyes. Gaji looked into them intensely, and said quietly, "We'll be back, minority Mogwai." Tapsi blinked once, but otherwise showed no reaction. He doesn't believe me, thought Gaji with a smirk. He'll see.

The box was moving quickly now, getting jounced from side to side. The other Mogwai in the box were whimpering slightly, fear showing in every one of their faces. Gaji felt that fear herself, but she controlled it, because she was their leader. This change could be for the worse, or for the better. None of them had any way of knowing. Darkness fell over the inside of the box, and Gaji realized that a blanket had been thrown over the top to protect the Mogwai from the light. Gaji knew that light was very dangerous, especially since the episode in the bathroom. Another of the mysteries had been solved then.

Presently the box became still, and then began to sway with a gentle rocking movement. Gaji sighed, resigned, wondering how long the trip was going to take. The other Mogwai curled up together in a pile, and she joined them, snuggling down between Dramon and one of the new Mogwai. The gentle swaying quickly put her and the others to sleep.

Gaji awoke with a jolt when the swaying movement stopped suddenly. Picking herself up, she tried to see over the edge of the box, but all that met her eyes was the confounded blanket. Then, the box was jerked to one side and lifted. Gaji stifled a groan. Not again! The other Mogwai were forced reluctantly from slumber, and, getting up, tried to keep their feet as the box pitched back and forth.

Soon the temperature changed again, and the box came to a rest. They heard the humans talking. Gaji strained to listen, picking up the phrases she knew, and getting a good inkling of the discussion. The Mogwai were going to stay here, because the human woman did not want them any more. The woman was now telling the others of the dangers of water and light.

The woman's voice faded, and Gaji heard her receding footsteps. They had been abandoned. But at what type of place? Gaji gathered that it was brightly lit, since no one seemed at all inclined to remove the cloth over the box.

Soon enough, the box containing the hapless Mogwai was lifted and carried to another room. The light was much dimmer here. The blanket was removed from the top of the box, and a human face appeared. Incredulity was written all over it when he saw them.

Gaji flattened her ears, giving the human a hostile glare. She was extremely unsure about this new place and the humans' intentions. She wanted to keep the humans away from her and the other Mogwai. Evidently the human didn't get the message, and he smiled, speaking in a soothing voice as he reached into the box. Gaji watched in horror as Tiger was wrapped in the human's hands.

Cursing in Mogwai, Gaji hurled herself forward at the human's wrist, grabbing desperately at it, trying to make the human release her brother. Kasil and Dramon followed her example, chattering threats at the human valiantly. Their actions were in vain, however, and Tiger was taken out of their sight, to another part of the room.

A moment later, the human returned, picked up Gaji and her brother and sister, and took them across the room. The three Mogwai were popped into a metal cage with Tiger. The steel mesh gate behind them was swung shut and latched.

Gaji looked down at the floor. It consisted of thin metal bars in a mesh pattern. Underneath the floor was a pile of dry newspapers. Gaji wondered what purpose the arrangement had. At any rate, it seemed highly inconvenient and it was definitely uncomfortable. The metal bars bit painfully into Gaji's feet, and she didn't even want to think what trying to sleep on them would be like.

Kasil, Dramon and Tiger were huddled together in one corner, fear and uncertainty showing in their large black eyes. Gaji opened her mouth to rebuke them for being so pusillanimous, but stopped herself. She didn't really have a right, and she was frightened too. She just wasn't showing it. Gaji knew that she would be acting just like them if she weren't their leader, if she didn't have to be their rock, if she didn't have to appear strong.

So she trotted over to give them a little pep talk.

"I know this situation seems bad now," she said to the three Mogwai, and they perked their ears, listening. "But it won't stay this way. These people will not harm us. They know the same number of the secrets as we do: two. When we discover the third, we will have the knowledge and therefore the power. They don't even know of our potential. Tonight, we will figure out how to open the latch, and we'll go exploring."

Tiger grinned; evidently he liked this idea. The other two looked sufficiently reassured as well. Kasil and Dramon looked at each other and smiled. Suddenly, all four Mogwai felt a surge of impatience, and they hunkered down to wait for nightfall. Their limited experience told them that humans were not around much at night. They had only to wait.

The room was darkened, and there were no windows, no openings of any kind to let them know when it was safe to venture out. Kasil, Dramon and Tiger fell asleep, but Gaji remained awake, waiting for signs that night had fallen and the humans had left.

Less than an hour passed before another human entered the dark room. Gaji crouched on the uncomfortable steel mesh floor of the cage, peering out through the gate, remaining absolutely still. She held her breath, then let it go with relief as the human reached into another cage, pulling out one of the Mogwai that had come from Dramon.

Gaji only began to worry when the Mogwai was brought back, and another was taken away. Evidently, the humans were doing something to each of them. Perhaps this was a standard procedure for new arrivals. The only thing that comforted her was the returning Mogwai seemed unharmed and well.

All too soon, the human finished with the others and approached Gaji's cage. The Mogwai melted back from the gate, flattening herself to the perpendicular wall. The human opened the cage, the Mogwai saw her chance--- she didn't like to leave her siblings behind, and had they been awake, they could've come with her---and she slipped through the open gate, swinging her body around the edge of the cage, and grabbing the mesh gate of the cage beside hers. Fortunately, owing to the dark room and the fact that he hadn't seen her before, the human did not notice her maneuver.

Gaji started to climb. It was difficult, in this weak Mogwai body, but she made it to the top of the rows of cages. There she waited, poking her head over the edge of the top row, watching the human. He pulled a Mogwai from her cage. It was Dramon. He had been asleep a moment ago, but now he was awakening. Gaji felt a pang of guilt that she hadn't been down there to help fight off the human, but she reminded herself that the others had all returned unharmed. She just had to hope for the best.

The human walked out of the room, and Gaji began to descend down to the cage. It was latched, but the Mogwai could see easily how it could be opened. Hanging onto the gate with three paws, she used the fourth to unlatch it. It swung open, and Kasil and Tiger's apprehensive faces appeared.

"Come on," said Gaji. "Hurry and get out, we'll go now."

The two of them began to lower themselves to the floor via the mesh gates on the cages, and Gaji followed them after latching the door of their cage shut.

When the three Mogwai arrived on the floor, they dashed madly to one of the slightly open doors. Light shone through the thin crack of the other door's opening, but this one looked dark. Pushing the door open further, the Mogwai ducked inside.

Kasil and Tiger crowded close to the opening, watching for Dramon's return, while Gaji examined the room they were in. It was small and cramped, again with no window. The walls were lined with long shelves, and several large colored bags with the slightly familiar human-language markings lay on them. There were also other things; nylon strips of cloth of different lengths and ending with metal fasteners, cardboard boxes, wrapped and bleached strips of rawhide, small furry toys that smelled strangely, and several plastic dishes.

Gaji squinted at the large bags. One of the words in human was "food". The word seemed to be on all of the large bags. A grin formed on Gaji's face, and she trotted over to one of the bags. It was high above her head on a shelf, but Gaji felt she could remedy that with one of the cardboard boxes on the floor. She started over to the box to shove it underneath the bag.

An excited murmur from Kasil and Tiger halted Gaji, and she turned to look. Kasil glanced back at her leader, saying in a low voice, "The human brought Dramon back!"

Gaji hurried over to them, peering through the crack in the door. The good news was that Dramon was back, and seemingly unharmed, but the bad news was that the human had spotted the empty cage and was starting a thorough search of the room. He hadn't had the foresight to shut the door to the main room, Gaji noticed, but it didn't matter anyway. It was too brightly lit out there for the Mogwai.

He was getting closer to the storage room. Kasil and Tiger continued to watch, mesmerized. Gaji knew there was no time for watching.

"Hide!" she hissed. "Don't let the human know you're here!" Shoving the other two into action, Gaji dashed behind a bin to hide. Kasil climbed into a nearly empty cardboard box, but Tiger didn't seem to know what to do with himself. Finally he decided on the shelf. He clambered onto a cardboard box and jumped from it to the edge of the lowest shelf. Grabbing a hold of a bunch of nylon strips to try and balance himself, he inadvertently sent a few off the edge of the shelf. The metal fasteners on the end crashed onto the floor. Gaji flattened her ears and swore silently to herself. Her careless brother had probably just caused his and his siblings' discovery.

Sure enough, the human came into the storeroom. In his certainty of finding the Mogwai, he flipped the nearby light switch, forgetting as the human woman had the creatures' sensitivity to light. Gaji screamed, her paws shooting up to shield her eyes from the pain. She heard the others scream as well, and then the light was switched off. Gaji swore again in Mogwai as she realized that their screams had given away their hiding places.

Sure enough, all the Mogwai were located and placed none too gently back in the cage. Then Gaji herself was taken away, covered up by a thick quilt. She nearly choked, wrapped tightly in the cloth, as the human carried her to some unknown destination. Finally, she was set down, and the blanket was removed.

There was another human here. Gaji was seated on a cold, smooth, metal surface. The human's hands were petting her fur and poking her in various places. She heard mumbled sounds in the human language, but she didn't recognize any of them, mostly because they were mumbled.

She let out an involuntary yelp as a sharp pain pierced her shoulder. Twisting around, she tried to be rid of the thing, but it was stuck in her arm, and the human was holding her firmly. It was a needle of some sort, cold and painful. When it was pulled out, Gaji shook her arm violently, getting rid of the last tingle of pain from the reaction of her nerves. She'd been vaccinated.

After enduring a few more minutes of examination, Gaji was wrapped in the quilt and taken back to the cage. She joined her comrades glumly. She had little hope of getting away from the cage now. They seemed to sense this, and their mood matched hers. Silently the four of them grouped into a fuzzy pile and went to sleep.

Gaji opened her eyes. The light coming from under the door was out. Slowly, the Mogwai raised her head, her ears perking forward. Straining for some inkling of a sound, she heard only silence. Gaji got to her feet, rolling away from the other Mogwai, who were still asleep. She walked over to the gate and peered closely at the latch. It would be hard to open from inside, but Gaji was sure she could do it. Thrusting her fingers through the bars, she managed to push the latch up and unfasten it. The gate swung open. Gaji went back to her sleeping siblings and woke them.

They awoke suddenly, with a start, and clambered to their feet. Tiger saw the open door and let out a cry of excitement.

"Shut up!" hissed Gaji, clapping a furry paw over her brother's mouth. Tiger pulled away from her, a slight scowl on his face. He hadn't meant to cry out, but it had just happened. Nothing irritated him more than being rebuked for involuntary mistakes.

The four Mogwai climbed out of their cage and down to the floor. Dramon yawned suddenly, and Gaji wondered absently what time it was. She didn't know, but she was starving.

Leading her cohorts over to the door of the storage room, Gaji pushed it open and went in, them following closely. Casting about the room, she spied a bag marked "food" on a low shelf and headed for a nearby cardboard box. Shoving the box near to the shelf, she clambered onto it and from there hauled herself up onto the shelf.

Gaji gripped the tough paper in both paws and pulled, struggling against the resilience of it. Finally, with a burst of strength, she tore a good- sized hole in the bag. She released it and flexed her aching fingers.

Kasil and Dramon climbed up onto the shelf behind her, pattering over to examine the bag. Gaji glanced around the room while resting her fingers, looking for Tiger. He was nowhere to be seen. Gaji swore under her breath and turned back to the bag.

Kasil had picked up a handful of the contents of the bag. It was hard, brown, and dry. The stuff smelled very unappetizing. Nevertheless, the Mogwai were starving. Kasil shoveled the food into her mouth, chewed it with distaste, and swallowed. The substance tasted worse than it smelled. Kasil shoved a paw back into the bag, pulling out more food and eating it. Dramon joined her.

Gaji did not eat any of the food. She needed to find Tiger. Climbing down to the floor, she sniffed the air, trying to locate him by scent. His smell was coming from outside the storeroom. Gaji slipped through the narrowly opened door and spied Tiger almost immediately. He was halfway up the stack of cages, fiddling anxiously with a latch. Inside, three Mogwai gripped the thin steel bars and peered out restlessly. Tiger managed to get the latch undone, and the three inside the cage climbed out and down to the floor.

They surrounded Gaji, and she nodded to them. Turning around, she led them into the storeroom.

"There," she said, pointing with one short finger at Kasil and Dramon, who were still bolting down the nauseating brown food as quickly as they could. "Get something to eat," Gaji continued. "We don't know when we'll be able to eat again."

Obediently the three Mogwai joined Kasil and Dramon at the food bag. Gaji turned to head back out to round up the others, and saw Tiger enter the room followed by the other three Mogwai. Gaji allowed herself to smile faintly. At least that saved her the trouble.

Tiger was already leading the Mogwai to the food. Climbing up to the shelf, the four of them dug in with relish. After the first bite, however, one of the Mogwai gagged and the rest of them evidently abhorred the food just as much, though their empty stomachs drove them to continue eating.

Kasil and Dramon stopped eating, looking a little sick. Slowly they walked away from the rest of the group and curled up together on the edge of the shelf. Gaji glanced at them, but she had analyzed the food and knew it would not hurt them. She climbed onto the shelf to join the other Mogwai in their disgusting feast.

Gaji had eaten barely three bites when she happened to look over at Kasil and Dramon and noticed something strange taking place. The two Mogwai had curled up tightly next to each other, and were completely unconscious. Concerned, Gaji leaped off of the food bag and ran over to them. Crouching down, she touched Dramon's head. It was abnormally warm.

Suddenly, Gaji felt something sticky on her paw. Pulling it away from her brother's head, she looked at it. A strange veiny slime covered her paw. She looked back at Dramon, and saw with horror that the same slime was oozing from his pores and covering his body! The same thing was happening to Kasil. The mucus squeezed out at an extremely fast rate, matting their fur down. It looked as though they would be buried together in slime. Gaji decided that she should separate them at least. Trying to clean them would be no use, since the stuff would inevitably keep coming.

A wave of sudden sleepiness overcame Gaji. She saw with bleary perception the slimy foam around her siblings beginning to harden. She took a step forward. That was the last thing she remembered.

Gaji slowly regained consciousness. She wondered where she was. The last thing she remembered was heading towards Kasil and Dramon, who were sweating a weird mucus. Now, she was awake, and she couldn't move. Gaji wasn't even sure that she had a body anymore. She couldn't feel herself, she couldn't feel her surroundings. With growing fear, as all creatures have of the trap, Gaji tried to move, tried to break free of whatever was holding her. She couldn't.

Gaji wondered briefly if the same thing had happened to Kasil and Dramon. Had she fallen asleep and began to sweat the same slime as they had? And then gotten buried and trapped in it? Gaji was amiss as to how the process had been started. Was it the food? Had the food had some strange property that escaped her analysis of it?

In front of her, Gaji could see a patch of white. Had it been there before? Gaji didn't think it had, but her drive to go towards it was strong, though it pained her eyes terribly. She began to struggle again, and this time she could sense her own movement, could control exactly what she did. Shoving and twisting against the barrier all around her, Gaji thrust her arms out as hard as she could. With a soft splat, her limbs broke through the obstruction. Struggling towards the light, ignoring the pain that stabbed through her, Gaji tore her way from the thing containing her and burst out into the air.

The familiar sight of the storeroom was almost comforting. Gaji saw before her several green, sticky, burbling pod-like masses that had not been there before. An especially large one was at the end of the shelf. A moment later, Gaji looked down and saw that the thing she had ripped her way out of was one of these pods.

The slime! Had it become these awful pods? The pods that were trapping them all? Gaji struggled out the rest of the way. Glancing around, she felt an odd sense of power that had not been there before. She looked down at herself.

Gaji gasped. She was no longer covered in fluffy fur, she no longer had short, weak legs and arms, and soft paws. It was all gone. In its place was rippled, dark green armor patterned with paler markings; powerfully muscled limbs; and heavy-boned hands and feet, each with a set of three sharp, deadly-looking claws.

It took a moment for these changes to sink in, but when they did, Gaji felt like screaming for joy. They had done it! They had escaped the Mogwai existence!

"No more a Mogwai," whispered Gaji. "Forever a.Gremlin." Where did I get that word? Gaji thought. She'd never heard it before, but it seemed just right to describe this new form. A Gremlin she was.

Gaji looked over at the largest pod. Nearly twice the size of the others, this one's gurgling noises were getting louder. Glancing around the room with a delighted grin, Gaji saw that the other pods would at any moment burst forth with a Gremlin.

Gaji's ears perked up high and forward as a set of claws slashed through the outer wall of the large pod. Another hand broke through near the bottom. And then, two more.Gaji did a double take. Yes, there were four arms ripping out of that pod! Gaji cocked her head, perplexed. Thrashing its way out of the pod was a familiar-looking Gremlin, and another. Two Gremlins?

The two Gremlins pulled free of the oversized pod and stood there, still slicked with the veiny mucus. Gaji looked into the first one's eyes. His eyes were wide and astounded as he looked her over. Gaji smiled.

"Look at yourself, Dramon," she said. The startled Gremlin did so, and then slowly he met Gaji's gaze again with amazement.

The other Gremlin, Kasil, was giggling, her ears flattened. "We did it, Dramon," she said between giggles. "We became Gremlins!" Gaji looked sharply at her sister. How had she known the word? Gaji had figured her own mind had made it up for her, but it seemed that was really the proper name. The name of the new form was very likely instinctive knowledge that only became apparent after the transformation from the old form.

Around the room, Gremlins squirmed from their pods and discovered the changes wrought upon them, to their delight.

Gaji watched the operation a moment before leaping to the floor. The Gremlins filling the room turned to look at her, their ears perking forward.

"Comrades," said Gaji, a wicked grin spreading across her face, displaying her sharp, widely spaced fangs. "We have conquered the third and final mystery. Power and vengeance is ours. We are Gremlins."

Slowly, sets of vicious fangs were displayed around the room as the other Gremlins matched Gaji's smile. A moment passed, and then Gaji turned and headed to the door.

The others followed eagerly, hind claws tapping on the floor. Gaji pushed open the door to the storeroom, entering the dark room and taking a moment to look at it from her new perspective. The stack of cages no longer seemed like an insurmountable barrier, but an easily overcome obstacle.

Gaji looked towards the door to the outside. There was a light shining through underneath, but it was dimmer than before. Gaji did not waste time pondering on this, but simply opened the door (it was so easy in this form!) and stepped out, followed by the other Gremlins.

The sky was overcast today, Gaji saw, looking out the window. There were two humans in the room, and they were staring at the horde of green demons in shock and terror. Making up her mind to play with them a little, she flicked her ears up and bared her teeth, letting a hostile growl rise up in her throat.

The humans blanched, the one that was standing beginning to back away slowly. The one seated at the desk didn't move, but his eyes grew wider as he swallowed nervously.

"Wimps!" snarled Gaji in the human language. Both of the humans' mouths dropped in amazement, for although Gaji still spoke with an accent her human words were intelligible.

With a raucous laugh, Gaji dashed from the room, heading towards a door down at the end of the hall. Kasil, Dramon, and Tiger split off and followed her, and the other Gremlins divided into pairs and small groups, quickly scattering to different areas of the building.

Gaji reached the door, opened it, and walked into a large, smelly room filled with cages. It echoed with loud noises of animals, hammering Gaji's hearing mercilessly. Her siblings looked similarly uncomfortable. Peering into the nearest cage, Gaji saw a black and white animal on four legs with a long muzzle and tail. The loud noise was coming constantly from it, a harsh barking.

Reaching up, Gaji gripped the mesh on the cage and clambered up easily. She crouched at the top of the gate. The animal in the cage continued barking at her. Glancing down briefly, Gaji saw Kasil and Dramon running down the aisle, unlatching cages as they went, releasing the animals. Tiger was climbing one cage much as she had.

Making it over the gate, Tiger dropped to the ground next to the animal inside the cage, a tan-colored one with floppy ears and long fur. It did not make the barking noise, but simply stood, its ears thrown forward as best they could be. Tiger looked down at the animal's water dish, picked it up, and tossed it into the air. The dish flipped over, raining its contents down upon Tiger and the animal.

The familiar abscesses swelled on Tiger's back, and Tiger snarled with the pain, his lips curling back. The blisters on his back grew larger, until they split, releasing tiny Gremlins, which slid out onto the floor, their tiny jaws open, their eyes closed. As they fell, the animal in the cage yipped nervously, attempting to back away as it shook the thrown water from its fur.

Tiger, completely recovered, let out an evil laugh and climbed out of the cage. The aisle was a mass of the barking animals which Kasil and Dramon and let out. Gaji looked down at the black and white animal in the cage she had climbed. It was barking in a frenzy now, eager to join the others outside.

Her siblings looked like they were ready to head to the next fun park. Gaji leaped down from the cage into the sea of animals, pushed her way through them, and led the others out of the room.

Dashing through the halls, Gaji saw the work done by the other Gremlins. There were several smaller animals loose, many with fluffed up fur that made them look ferocious and bigger than they were. The building was getting uncomfortably hot, and Gaji guessed that someone had gotten into the heating system.

Gaji found her way into a room as yet unvisited by the others. It smelled clean and was full of shiny instruments. Gaji took a flying leap, landing on a smooth metal table. She recognized it instantly, and she searched the room with flashing eyes. Spying a collection of syringes on the counter, she snarled viciously, and Kasil, Dramon, and Tiger echoed her hostility. They too had felt the prick of the syringes.

Leaping onto a cabinet, Gaji opened it and proceeded to dump its contents onto the floor. Tiger attacked the syringes, gleefully snapping the needles and smashing the cylinders. Dramon and Kasil joined the fray, picking up anything that wasn't nailed down and tossing it onto the floor, or at the wall.

Their next stop was the X-ray room. There were glowing panels here covered with black and white prints of internal organs and bones. Gaji blinked somewhat nervously at the panels, and said to the others, "Avoid those if you can. They could hurt us if they weren't covered with the prints." The other three nodded, and the Gremlins began to dig through the cabinets, looking for something interesting, and, failing to find anything, throwing it unceremoniously across the room.

The horde stayed in the animal shelter until the light outside faded. When she judged it was dark enough, Gaji led her eager siblings out into the street. Dashing in the direction she thought they had come from, Gaji led Kasil, Dramon, and Tiger to a darkened house. Tiger took one look at the relatively empty house and decided he didn't want to cause mayhem there. He split off from the group.

"You two go with him," Gaji said to Kasil and Dramon, casting her eyes from one to the other. "I'll catch up in a minute." Dramon barely hesitated, and followed Tiger. Kasil started after him, then turned back to Gaji. "I'll stay with you," she said.

Giving a shrug, Gaji turned and entered the dark house. She and Kasil separated, Kasil heading up the stairs, and Gaji making her way to the kitchen.

Andrea dropped down in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorn. Species II was on tonight until midnight, and Andrea's parents had said she could stay up to watch it. The movie was just starting. Andrea scooped up a handful of popcorn and shoveled it into her mouth. She was bored out of her skull by some horror films, but she liked this one.

The movie had gotten hardly a half hour into the plot, with Andrea watching wide-eyed, when a faint sound came from the kitchen; kind of like claws tapping on the floor.

Alert, as always, Andrea snapped her head around, her hazel eyes blazing as she eyed the doorway to the kitchen. The tapping of claws increased steadily, and a moment later, Andrea heard a crash, followed by an extended muttering in some obscure language. Another crash, and this time it was accompanied by a high-pitched giggle.

Andrea jumped to her feet. A fraction of a second later, an inquisitive face peered around the doorway. The face had large ears, sharp teeth, and red eyes. It was like a creature out of a horror movie.

Andrea and the creature locked gazes for a moment. Then, as the creature flicked its ears forward slightly, she felt a sudden flash of recognition. The way it moved, the way it looked.this was one of the Mogwai! Recalling her visit with Tapsi, and how she had caused the existence of the new Mogwai, she recognized the craftiness in this one's eyes. This was one of Tapsi's offspring.

For some reason, Andrea wasn't afraid of the creature. Maybe it was because she was responsible for its existence; maybe that kind of thing just didn't faze her. Of course, other people would die by its hands---or claws---but not her. Andrea's line between reality and fantasy had just become more vague. Andrea was used to being outside the action, not harmed by it in any way. Too many horror movies.

The creature in the doorway smiled suddenly, showing a row of widely spaced teeth. A subtle change drifted over the creature, and it said, "You.girl with Tapsi."

Andrea was started to hear English come out of the creature's mouth. The words were heavily accented, but understandable. If it did remember her and Tapsi, it must be one of the Mogwai. But it looked so different from the cute and fuzzy creatures Andrea had seen before!

"Yes," said Andrea, not even thinking clearly. "I got Tapsi wet. I was there."

The creature clearly understood this, or at least some of it. "Tapsi got wet.and more Mogwai."

"Name," continued the creature. It pointed at its chest, and said a word in its language. Then it pointed to Andrea.

"Andrea," said the girl. "What was that word you said?"

The creature looked perplexed for a moment, as if switching its thought track back and forth and trying to keep up. Looking at the girl, it said the word again, slower this time.

Andrea remembered the difficulty she'd had pronouncing the name of the creatures. Obviously this was another such word. It was the creature's name.

Cocking its head, the creature repeated the word, and Andrea caught the edge of it. "Kajti," said Andrea hopefully. The creature narrowed its eyes slightly and shook its head. Andrea tried again. "Gkaji," she said. The creature repeated its word. "Gaji," said Andrea, and was relieved when the creature hesitated, then shrugged and nodded, accepting her pronunciation.

"So, Gaji," said Andrea, putting the bowl of popcorn on the floor beside her, forgetting the film. "What kind of creature are you now? You're not a Mogwai."

The creature grinned, baring its teeth, and spoke again in English. "Not Mogwai," it agreed. "Gremlin."

"Grimrin?" said Andrea. The creature shook its head at her attempt, and she tried again. "Greblin, Gremlin?" Gaji nodded.

"Cool," said Andrea, and she smiled. She was beginning the get the hang of these Mogwai words. Determined to learn more about this creature, she asked, "Are you a boy or a girl? How did you change from a Mogwai?"

The Gremlin looked puzzled. "Girl," it said finally, but seemed unsure how to answer the second question. Maybe she doesn't know how it happened, thought Andrea. Maybe she just changed.

"Popcorn?" Andrea asked, shoving the bowl towards Gaji. The Gremlin sniffed at it, then tentatively picked up a handful. She munched on it, and grinned.

A sound behind Andrea caused the girl to whirl around, spying another of the Gremlins behind her. Its ears were up, its eyes narrowed aggressively. Andrea backed away from it slowly.

"Who's that?" she asked the Gremlin who she'd become acquainted with.

"Kasil," said Gaji, and she ran past Andrea, trotting over to the other creature, talking rapidly to it in her own language. Giggling furiously at some unknown joke, the two of them ran out the door.

Andrea blinked, and retrieved the popcorn. She sat down in front of the TV again, the bowl in her lap, to watch the film.

Gaji and Kasil raced each other down the dark street, their claws skidding on the pavement. Their maniacal laughter cut through the still night air, but there was no one to hear them. The two of them were thoroughly enjoying the sensation of the breeze whipping past their faces, and listening to a pleasant rushing sound.

About a mile up the road, Gaji spied Tiger and Dramon standing near a house on the corner of the street. She and Kasil scampered over to them.

Dramon turned as they approached. "It's Tapsi's house," he said excitedly, his ears perked up with anticipation. "We were just going to go in without you, but I wanted to wait."

Tiger snorted derisively. Gaji cast a glance between her two brothers, cocking her head slightly.

"Then let's get going," she said, and trotted past her siblings towards the front door of the house.

Tapsi was jolted awake by a slight noise from outside the door to Kali's room. It sounded a bit like someone trying to suppress a laugh. Terrible suspicions and fears began to file through the Mogwai's brain, and he curled into a tighter ball next to the girl sleeping beside him. His eyes round, his ears back, Tapsi kept as silent as possible.

It was not a moment before his fears were justified. The door swung open silently, and an ugly, scaled face peeked through into the room. Tapsi's pug nose twitched, and the Mogwai caught the different but still recognizable scent of the female leader, Gaji.

Gaji slipped into the room, sniffing the air herself. She was trailed by three more Gremlins, who he also recognized by scent. Gaji's eyes narrowed and her ears flattened as she swung her head around to look at Tapsi. A slow grin spread across her features, her upper lip pulling back to display her sharp, widely spaced fangs.

She said she'd be back, thought Tapsi, swallowing in spite of himself. She wasn't kidding. Tapsi wished he'd found a way to communicate to the humans that the Mogwai were potentially very dangerous! And now, his failure to do that was going to cost him his life, at the hands of his offspring.

Gaji circled the bed, casting a glance at Kali. The girl was still sleeping peacefully. Tapsi shrank back as Gaji came nearer, followed by Kasil. Tiger had been reunited with Kali's stuffed tiger toy, and was proceeding to tear it into tiny shreds, delighted at his ability to do this, where as before he could barely make a scratch.

The two Gremlins next to the bed stopped, gazing down at Tapsi with unconcealed malice in their eyes.

"Hey, minority freak," Gaji finally said. "We're here."

"Yes, I see," Tapsi said weakly, dreading the moment when the Gremlin would kill him. He knew it was inevitable; she hated him so much. They all did.

Tapsi closed his eyes tightly as a pair of cold Gremlin claws wrapped around him and lifted him from the bed. He felt the cold, steel-hard tip of one talon rest on his eyelid as Gaji's hand encircled his head.

"Nighty-night, Tapsi," Gaji whispered evilly, a slow cackle rising from her throat. Tapsi tensed, waves of shivering spreading through him, as he waited for the claws to contract.

They never had a chance. Tapsi heard a wild yell, and a startled snarl, and he was dropped. The Mogwai hit the floor and his eyes flew open. Seizing the opportunity, Tapsi rolled over and scrambled beneath the bed. There he crouched, shaking with fear and reaction.

Then he heard the yell again, and recognized it as his human, Kali. The absence of Tapsi's warmth had awakened her, and seeing her pet about to be killed, had acted with immense bravery to save him. But this time, the scream was one of pain. Tapsi ached to go out and help, but he knew there was nothing he could do.

Then, a flow of light streamed under the bed. Covering his eyes with his paws, Tapsi rolled away from the light, towards the dark patch in the center under the bed. He heard unearthly shrieks of pain, and Gremlin feet pattering away as fast as they could.

In a few moments, the light went out again, and he heard Kali talking soothingly, as she reached under the bed. He willingly climbed into her hands, and she pulled him out.

Tapsi's fear gradually faded, but he remained apprehensive. Apparently, Kali did as well. The girl got up and hauled the box that had been used for the Mogwai to the bed. Flipping it upside down, she propped it up slightly on some pillows. Wrapping Tapsi in a small blanket, she placed him under it, and turned the lights on. The thin stream of light coming from outside barely bothered the Mogwai. It would keep the Gremlins away, and that was the most important thing.

Gaji stalked up the dark street, followed by her siblings. "So close," she hissed through the clenched teeth. "We almost had him."

The other three were just as upset. Tiger had a slight scowl on his face, which was still decorated sparsely with a few threads from the stuffed toy. In one claw he carried part of the toy's remains. Dramon simply ambled along, looking at the ground, reflecting. Kasil was busy mulling over what they could of done differently, but she wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

Gaji knew that going back to finish the job would be useless. The human girl had been warned of their presence, and would not allow it to happen again. The Gremlins' aversion to light gave humans an ultimate advantage over them.

However, Gaji was not one to linger long on her failures. Within ten minutes she had spotted another interesting setting. It was a small building between two larger ones, darkened and closed up. In the windows, there seemed to be an odd type of stones that glittered in the faint moonlight. Curious, Gaji headed over, and the other three followed.

They were stones, Gaji saw, but they were cut so that they reflected light. They were strangely intriguing. Gaji leaped, curling her body into a ball to hurl herself through the window. The glass shattered, cascading down over the display area and the floor. Gaji struck the floor with her shoulders, breaking her fall and rolling over onto her feet. Turning around, she saw her siblings climb through the broken window and jump to the floor.

Paying the others no heed, Gaji trotted over to a glass display case in the counter. She cocked her head, fascinated, her blood red eyes flicking over the stones. They held no interest for her other than the appealing way that they caught the light, but that was enough.

Reaching forward with both heavy-boned hands, Gaji slammed both fists into the glass in front of her face. The glass splintered into dozens of tiny shards. Carefully reaching through the jagged opening she'd made, Gaji picked a crystal necklace out of the glass debris.

Kasil trotted up behind her leader, perking her ears forward as she spotted the necklace, which Gaji was holding up and scrutinizing.

"What is it?" Kasil asked curiously.

Gaji cocked her head and frowned slightly. "No clue. But it's interesting." Gaji glanced over at a model supporting a couple necklaces a bit like the one she was holding. Did it go around the neck? That seemed silly. But Gaji was willing to try anything once. She flattened her ears and slipped the crystal necklace over her head. It wasn't too tight; she barely felt it there. And now I'll have light reflectors around my throat, Gaji thought sardonically.

Kasil giggled. Gaji turned a sharp look at her. Kasil shook her head, a grin still on her face. "It just looks strange, that's all. I don't see why anyone would want something around their neck.but you're right, it is interesting."

Giving a shrug, Gaji leaped onto the counter and walked over to a small mirror lying there. Picking it up, she surveyed the necklace in it. It did look strange. Gaji giggled and dropped the mirror to the floor with a loud crash.

She turned to see Tiger rooting through the display case, pulling out earrings, bracelets, armlets, necklaces, and everything he could get his claws on, before draping them all over himself, especially his ears.

Jumping to the floor and walking over to her brother, Gaji gave him a sharp rap on the skull with one clawed hand. He jumped, looked at her in surprise for a couple seconds, and then proceeded to remove the jewelry.

Gaji glanced around the store, which was completely disheveled, and decided it was time to head off. She trotted out the door, followed willingly by her siblings.

Emerging to the dark street with a string of crystals glittering around her throat, Gaji pondered what to do next. She judged it was still early, not yet time to start looking for a place to hide from the impending daylight. Otherwise, she was at a loss for what to do next. Her siblings waited for her to make her next move, standing patiently and smelling the night air inquisitively.

Finally, Gaji spun and darted back the way they'd come, down the street, and back towards the first stop that they'd made.

Andrea yawned, letting the empty popcorn bowl fall to the floor as she switched off the television and stood up. Tossing the remote onto the floor, Andrea turned and started into the hallway, moving lethargically with sleepiness.

A muffled pattering of feet on the carpet stopped the girl in her tracks. Following the sounds, Andrea made her way down the hall and peered into her mother's workroom. The familiar sight to the ugly, scaled "Gremlins" greeted Andrea's eyes. One had opened up the photocopier and had both sets of claws thrust deep into the machine, eagerly toying with the mechanics inside. Another was carefully pulling folders and papers from the shelves and onto the desk and the floor. Two more were seated at Andrea's mother's computer, gazing at the screen as the machine went through its initialization checks. They'd figured out how to turn it on, and seemed determined to fathom its every intimate detail.

Without a word, Andrea turned and went down the hall, away from the alien intruders. It bothered her not in the least that they were creating havoc and a terrible mess that would take a long time to set right. Reaching her bedroom, Andrea collapsed into bed without even bothering to change out of her clothes.

Gaji watched as the black of the screen gave way to a bright picture, a sound blaring out from twin speakers on a shelf above the desk. Squinting against the glare, Gaji and Kasil waited until the computer ceased its "working" noises.

Gaji began an intense study of the screen. Tapping the buttons on the panel before her did nothing, but the motions of an oval-shaped grey object with a cord seemed to dictate the movement on the screen of a little pointer. Finishing her relatively non-helpful observation, Gaji turned her attention to the keyboard. The buttons were labeled with many symbols she knew from the human language, and a few she did not.

A row of soft round buttons at the top right of the panel were labeled to one side, as opposed to being labeled directly. "E-mail", "Internet Explorer". Gaji frowned slightly and touched the Internet Explorer button. "Internet" was a relatively new word to her, but explorer was one she knew well, and she certainly wanted to explore the workings of the machine and learn everything about it. Perhaps the button wouldn't help, but it never hurt to try.

A program leaped up, filling the screen, and a smaller window with a picture followed. A dialing sound hummed in a small machine with green and red lights near the main computer. Gaji looked at her sister. "It says it's connecting," she said, reading the word in the small window for Kasil. The two of them waited patiently until the icon disappeared and words and pictures popped up on the screen. Gaji immediately resumed her careful studying.

Yahoo, Gaji thought, isn't that an exclamation? She'd heard it out of Kali's mouth once or twice. Maneuvering the oval object, Gaji observed the triangular pointer change to a little hand when it passed over some underlined words. Cocking her head as the ventured to push the flat buttons on the oval object, Gaji kept watching, taking everything in.

Tiger opened his eyes and yawned, uncurling from where he'd fallen asleep on top of the machine with the bright light inside of it. He'd left it alone after that unfortunate encounter, and had decided sleeping was a safer pastime. Shaking his head, Tiger looked over towards where he'd last seen his sisters. They were still there, their ears perked forward as pictures and strange writing flashed across the screen of the machine they were using. His internal sense of time told him they'd been at it for at least four hours, and they didn't appear to be on the verge of finishing anytime soon. Tiger curled up and went back to sleep.

Gaji hopped down from the chair, stretching her stiff legs. She cast her gaze back to Kasil, who had fallen asleep in front of the computer about an hour ago. Looking around the room, Gaji saw an enormous mess, and her two brothers, peacefully asleep, one on top of a large machine, the other curled on a shelf. They must've gotten bored while Gaji was digging through the program on the computer. Trotting over to Dramon on the shelf, Gaji reached up with both sets of claws, grabbing his arm and dumping him onto the desk. The maneuver awakened him but also succeeded in scaring the poor Gremlin half to death. As Dramon jerked around, bringing his claws to bear, he accidentally flipped off the side of the desk. Gaji snickered, then hopped to the floor after him.

Dramon was staring straight ahead with a dazed expression on his face. Gaji whacked him solidly in the temple, and he winced, then looked at her. But Gaji was already heading over to Tiger, who Kasil was shaking awake. In a few moments Gaji had all of her siblings in an attentive group.

"What'd you find?" Tiger asked immediately, unable to contain his curiosity.

"They were.pictures," Gaji said. "Of human places, much bigger than this place. They were huge. We looked through the machine, it told me about a human city called New York, and it told me about the planes. You know the planes."

Tiger and Dramon nodded, Kasil remained silent, having heard this already.

"Not far from here is a port for them," Gaji said. "By finding the right one we can get to a city where there are many more opportunities. Where we are is known as Minnesota. I found maps---they give pictures showing how to get from one place to another. We could make it to New York or another city easily by walking. But taking a plane would be quicker."

"The city called New York is large," she continued. "It is large enough to let me believe that we may even find others of our kind there. We can check other cities if there prove to be none, but there is where I want to start."

"When do we go?" Dramon said, his voice low. Gaji could see that the idea of moving to a larger city had unnerved her brother, just a bit.

"Tomorrow night," Gaji told him, flicking her ears at him. "Until then, we hide out here."

* * *

Finally, Billy Peltzer thought with a sigh. The storm had stopped, and if he was lucky he would arrive back in Kingston Falls by late tonight, his time. He glanced out the airport window worriedly. The sky was overcast, but there was no impending storm. Billy was eager to return home to Kingston Falls as soon as possible.

Billy waited outside the gate as his plane rolled up next to it. When the tunnel was secured against the doorway to the plane, the people began to file out. Billy waited, then handed his ticked to the flight administrator and stepped onto the ramp. He didn't notice the pair of eyes watching him from behind the entrance to the gate; he didn't notice when a being about two and half feet tall slipped imperceptibly into the crowd and followed him.

Kazuma Ayabe looked his employee in the eye. "It got away?" he repeated incredulously. "How could you allow it to escape??"

Still white-faced from her ordeal, Yasuko swallowed and said, "I had no time to prepare for its containment. It grew much more quickly than I anticipated, and escaped before I could even call for assistance."

Kazuma sighed and arranged a stack of papers on his desk. "Would say the Stripe Replication Project is a failure, then? Do you wish to try again, with another sample of the substance?"

"No, the project was not a failure," Yasuko said. "The creature was successfully cloned. However, it is no longer available for study." Yasuko met her boss's gaze again. "That creature was dangerous. It is my recommendation that we destroy the remaining photochemical matter."

Kazuma said nothing for a long while. Finally, he sighed. "You are excused," he said. "You may dispose of the substance by incineration." Yasuko nodded and quickly left the room.

Entering the vaults, she pushed on a pair of rubber gloves and carefully removed a container of green liquid material from the freezing cold storage chamber. Holding it carefully, Yasuko brought it to the furnace and dropped it in. Throwing the switch that would open the air holes; she watched the fire inside roar up, consuming the container. Yasuko watched for a moment, the fire reflecting in her black eyes, before sealing the furnace back up and leaving.

This was not, Stripe thought, the best hiding place. He was incredibly lucky to have gotten on board the plane without being spotted by the humans, but he wasn't sure that this hiding place would offer him any help in prolonging that luck.

The small space was dark, and cramped, and far above the floor. Opening the door a crack, Stripe watched as the passengers filed onto the plane, his eyes alert for one particular individual----there he was. Billy Peltzer, looking older but still recognizable, took a seat a few meters ahead of Stripe's hiding place. Stripe allowed a grin to spread across his face, as he savored the realization that he was alive, well, and heading back to avenge his murder by the minority Mogwai Gizmo.

A human stepped right under his hiding place, reaching up to open it. Stripe shrank back instantly, flattening his body against the side of the cramped space. He remained perfectly still as a large case of some sort was thrust into his hiding place, leaving him even less room. Stripe swore softly under his breath in Mogwai, but kept the peace lest he be discovered.

Suddenly, the door of the space was snapped firmly shut. Stripe flattened his ears, another curse rising up in his throat. He was effectively trapped here until someone opened the door again. Knowing there was nothing he could do without attracting attention, Stripe closed his eyes, curled up as comfortably as he could, and went to sleep.

He awoke when the movement of his environment stopped. Blinking in the darkness, Stripe's senses came on full alert, his ears swiveling, his nose twitching. Barely audible sounds leaked through his cramped prison, and suddenly, with a rush of fresh air and light, the door to his hiding place was opened.

Squinting against the glare, which luckily wasn't bright enough to cause him significant pain, Stripe shot forward, his claws latching onto the rim of the opening, as he swung himself out into the interior of the plane. His desperation for escape did not leave him unnoticed by the humans. Dropping to the floor among their feet, Stripe darted down the narrow aisle, evading the legs and bags of the humans. He heard several shouts, and he knew he had been seen. He also knew that if he moved quickly and stealthily, he could escape.

Reaching the entrance, Stripe half-ran, half-leaped down the small set of stairs. It was night, the flat expanse around him illuminated only by a streetlight here and there. Lifting his head and sniffing the air, Stripe made his way through the expanse, getting as far from the plane as possible. He was following the barest trace of a scent coming from the cars parked here.

Finally, he reached one on which a familiar scent lingered. This was not the car Stripe remembered Billy having, but it carried Billy's scent, and Stripe knew it belonged to the human he sought.

Circling it carefully, Stripe tried the doors, which were locked. No matter, he could deal with that. Lifting the handle of one of the doors while tugging upwards and back, he gripped the edge of the door with one set of claws. A loud snap from within the door brought a pleased smirk to his face. The lock was broken. Opening the door, Stripe leapt into the passenger's side of the car, closing the door behind him. He huddled down under the seat in the back of the car, keeping alert, and remaining absolutely still.

Billy Peltzer looked up at the sudden screams from the passengers down the aisle. He felt a chill go down his spine, and he shivered slightly. Moving over to a group of agitated passengers, he asked what had happened.

"Oh it was the ugliest thing I've seen in my life!" one woman cried. "It was like a little man, but all scaly, with white hair!"

The vague description caused Billy's stomach to turn. This can't be happening to me.Billy thought. He felt his awareness numb, the screams and exclamations fading into the background. It can't be Stripe, Billy thought. There's no way it can be him. He's dead, I watched him die.

But even though his subconscious refused to accept it, Billy's mind was already piecing together bits of evidence from the recent events that had taken place. The interview about Stripe at the laboratory, what purpose could that have had, unless they were planning something? If they had cloned him, or something.and the woman's description pointed inevitably to that fact.

As Billy moved out of the plane and into the dark airport, the fact of Stripe being alive still had not sunk in yet.

Billy closed his eyes, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion surge over him. His mind dismissed his unpleasant thoughts of Stripe. All he wanted now was to go home, and go to bed. He headed into the airport to pick up his luggage, and afterwards headed right out to his car in the parking lot. Kingston Falls was an hour and half drive away, and he wanted to get started as soon as possible.

Stripe cocked his ears forward at the approaching staccato of human footsteps. He waited, unmoving, as the door was unlocked and opened. The scent told him it was indeed Billy Peltzer. The man climbed into the car, and as he inserted the key it started with an obliging grumble. A moment later, the car moved out onto the road and settled into the light swaying motion of fast, smooth travel.

The motion was soothing, and Stripe closed his eyes, drifting into a light sleep to await the vehicle's arrival to Billy's home, and Gizmo.

* * *

Gaji's plan was just a little off base. The daily interruption of sunlight broke up their travel to the airport, spreading it over a period of about a week. This cemented in Gaji's mind the determination to get on a plane to New York City, rather than walking. Walking would take them months, perhaps longer.

The four Gremlins arrived at the airport around eleven one night. Finding a gate with a plane heading to NYC wasn't too difficult, although Gaji's siblings followed her closely, being unable to read human words, they relied on her to get them where they were going. Gaji knew they were depending on her, and she elected to do the best job she possibly could. The four of them kept in the building but out of the areas where humans moved through, as these were brightly lit. Employing a few deft alterations to the lighting in the building, Kasil and Tiger knocked the lights out of the entire airport.

The four Gremlins darted across the street, finding the gate they had located inside and the plane they wanted. Luggage was still being loaded into the bottom compartment of the plane, and it was into here that the four scrambled, ducking down among the bags, to wait.

Kasil was jolted awake by a large suitcase slamming in her in the head as a sharp bump hit them below. She jumped to her feet, only to have another lurch throw her back down. She remained where she was, clinging to a canvas bag with her foreclaws as the plane slowly stopped bumping and began to roll, and then stopped rolling as well. It was then the Gremlin got up, shaking her sister awake and nudging her brothers in the ribs with a foot until they too awoke.

Gaji shushed them all and bade them to stay crouched and hidden in the muddle of luggage. Kasil did not know how soon the plane would leave after unloading, but she knew, as the others did, that they were counting on it to be dark outside. If it was the middle of the day, they could not leave, and would be trapped inside the plane, carried helplessly with it wherever it decided to go.

As it was, luck was with them. The opening of the luggage compartment revealed to them that the sun had set a few hours ago, and only scarce and distant lights lit the runway. Gaji gave the signal, and the four of them snuck towards the opening, crawling on their bellies over the bags and suitcases. There were humans out there, but the Gremlins took a chance and shot out into the night, brushing past the humans, who saw or felt only scales and claws, leering grins, and red eyes before the Gremlins were gone.

Gaji led her siblings across the runway. She narrowed her eyes at the airport building, measuring its size compared to the one they'd left from. It was perhaps half the size. That can't be right, she thought. Her next thought brought her to a standstill. This can't be the NYC airport.

Indeed it wasn't. There were no huge buildings, no crowds of people, in fact, this place was positively almost deserted. Gaji was at a loss to explain how they had gone wrong. The gate had been labeled as leaving to New York City. The plane should have gone there, but it hadn't. Where had it gone instead? Gaji racked her brain desperately for an explanation, feelings of anger and concern welling up in her mind.

Layover, the thought came. Gaji swore, baring her sharp fangs. Her siblings, standing behind her, said nothing. She turned to them.

"This isn't New York," Gaji said flatly, stating something that they already knew. "The plane is going there. Unless we get back on, we aren't." Her siblings knew what she meant. The four of them looked back at the plane, but it was already closed back up, being checked over, soon to be sent on its way.

"Where are we then?" Kasil asked, looking back at Gaji.

Gaji did not have any idea. "We have to find out," she said. "We need one of those computers.it will tell us where we are."

"Are there any in there?" Kasil asked, perking her ears at the airport building.

Gaji shrugged. "We had better go somewhere else and see what this place is like, and try to find a computer," she said. "Airports are always brightly lit, we can't count on the lights being out for a long enough time to find a computer and find out where we are. It might say somewhere inside, but I would rather not risk it." Gaji stared across the runway, towards a street leading away from the airport. "We aren't in a hurry."

Without a word, Gaji darted off across the parking lot, followed quickly by her siblings. They reached the road and set along the shoulder, following the lonely street the rest of the night.

It was a couple nights later that they reached what look like the outskirts of a small town, no larger than the one they had come from in Minnesota. There were still a couple of hours left in the night, and the four of them fell to exploring the small town, splitting off into pairs. Gaji went with Kasil towards one end of town, Tiger and Dragon staying to explore the main square. Lights all around the place were shut off for the night. Here and there lights would still be lit in some houses, but these were avoided easily.

"There are others here!" Tiger hissed sharply to his brother, grabbing his arm in both claws to halt him. Dramon turned to look at him in confusion. Tiger glared at him, and Dramon cautiously sniffed the air. His ears went up, his lips curled back in a slight snarl.

Tiger sniffed the air again, taking in the scent of another Gremlin. This was one he'd never known, but the scent made him want to cringe, want to run as far away as he possibly could. The scent was male and spoke of power, and it instilled a strange primal fear inside of Tiger. Dramon seemed to feel the same way, judging from his nervously flattened ears and the worried expression on his face.

Tiger caught the scent of Gaji and Kasil as well. They were not too far away from the stranger. Tiger felt a little bit better. His sisters would take care of the other. Giving Dramon a kick to the shin, Tiger turned and trotted down the street, followed closely by his brother who shook his smarting leg briefly and trotted after Tiger.

Gaji drew to a sudden halt, ears thrust forward, nose taking in a strange scent eagerly. This was not a scent she'd experienced before, but it spoke irresistibly to a deep, instinctive node of her brain. The scent was musky, and compelling, and it was coming from a figure crouched in the shadow of a cluster of bushes.

Kasil, standing beside her sister, had also caught the stranger's scent, and her eyes held a strange gleam.

Gaji turned to Kasil, looking into her sister's eyes, wordless but eloquent. Kasil met Gaji's gaze for a moment, and her attention left the stranger.

Gaji trotted over the dead grass towards the location of the stranger. He was watching her approach; she could tell by the position of his body and the carriage of his ears. As she neared him, she slowed her pace and proceeded cautiously.

The stranger stood, and for the first time Gaji noticed a course, flowing white mane cresting his head. Although attractive, the mane was among his less compelling attributes. Gaji's eyes swept over the male's body appreciatively. He was fit, healthy, and attractive.

Without a word, the stranger turned and made his way across the empty street, and with equal silence Gaji followed him. Kasil, standing far back, stood frozen for a moment, a bit shaken by Gaji's sudden deference to the unfamiliar Gremlin. It was of course another instinctive survival mechanism; always submit to those with better ability in leadership. This one's dominant nature was displayed in his ear and body position, as well as his scent, and his white crest.

Gaji had trailed the Gremlin throughout half the town before they arrived at a small, cheerily lit house. The stranger stopped, his ears flattening back and his upper lip drawing back from his fangs.

Kasil came up behind the two of them silently, and she and her sister waited for the Gremlin to make his next move. He did nothing for almost two minutes, before turning to face them.

"One of the eternal ones lives here," he said simply.

Gaji felt her ears flatten to her skull of their own accord, as a deep hatred began to swell inside of her. She flexed her claws, suddenly eager to find this minority Mogwai and mutilate it.

The Gremlin smiled slightly, his hostility ebbing as he watched her reaction.

"I have a very personal reason for wanting to kill this one," he continued slowly. "He killed me."

Gaji turned a puzzled gaze on the stranger. "He killed you??" she said incredulously.

The Gremlin nodded. "I've been dead for fifteen years," he said. "I was cloned back to life in a laboratory far from here."

"Oh I see," said Gaji a bit doubtfully.

The Gremlin smiled. "I'm called Stripe," he said, flicking both ears forward towards her briefly.

Gaji cocked her head. "What word is that?" she asked. "It's from the human language, isn't it?"

Stripe nodded. "It was given to me by my parent's human masters. I think that it refers to my mane. They gave the minority a strange name too; Gizmo, which is something like a small technical implement."

Gaji nodded. "I named myself and my siblings from Mogwai words. My name is Gaji, from the word 'gatji'." Gaji gestured to Kasil. "Her name is Kasil, from the word kasila."

Stripe looked into Gaji's eyes. He had a very penetrating gaze, and Gaji felt her joints go a bit watery. "Your name fits you," Stripe said approvingly.

Gaji smiled and flattened her ears.

The three Gremlins turned back to the house that the minority Mogwai Gizmo was within. "The lights are on," Kasil said softly. "No good."

Stripe nodded, his disappointment in not being able to hunt down his nemesis unmistakable. He turned from the house and headed towards the street.

Gaji and Kasil followed, and as the three of them turned a corner, Gaji spotted Tiger and Dramon near an unlit lamppost. Tiger was halfway up the post, hanging on tightly, and Dramon was circling underneath, watching his brother.

"Hey!" she yelled to her brothers, gaining a sudden, startled look from both of them. "You two! Come over here!" Obediently, Tiger and Dramon abandoned their game with the lamppost and headed towards her.

They stopped a couple of feet away, their attention fixing on Stripe. Dramon began to back away fearfully. Gaji walked over to him and gave him a rough shove in the direction opposite from the one he wanted to be departing by.

Gaji made quick introductions between Stripe and her brothers. Tiger and Dramon seemed less than pleased, exchanging glances with each other and lowering their ears, and Gaji sent them off before any kind of a commotion could break out.

As the two of them darted away down the dark street, Kasil turned to her sister. "Maybe I should go with them," she said.

Surprised, Gaji started to ask why Kasil thought that she would be needed, but stopped herself before the words ever left her mouth. Ever loyal, her sister was offering her a chance to get to know Stripe, alone. A grateful smile crossed Gaji's features.

"Go ahead, keep them out of trouble," Gaji told her sister, and winked almost imperceptibly. Kasil grinned and dashed off after her brothers.

Gaji turned back to Stripe, who was watching her with a hint of a smile on his face. "Let's find some action," he said, and darted off down the street. Gaji sped after him with more than a little bit of excitement coursing through her.

The two Gremlins drew to a halt outside of a small establishment on the far side of town. Gaji's eyes flicked over the signs, which read in human language, "Gold Dragon Chinese Restaurant". Which made little sense even in human context, but Gaji was pretty sure it was just the place's name.

Stripe was standing still, looking up at the building, reflecting. "That used to be an Irish pub," he said. "Very nice atmosphere, dimly lit and really cozy." Another moment passed, and then Stripe walked over to one of the windows. Tensing suddenly, he leapt, curling into a ball and diving through the glass, sending shards of it flying. Gaji dodged backwards as the shards rained down onto the sidewalk, and then looked up, perking her ears forward.

There was a hole easily large enough for a Gremlin to get through in a lower panel of the window. Stepping forward, avoiding the bits of glass almost intuitively, Gaji leapt through the opening.

She found herself in a darkened room, with several booths and tables as well as a long counter. The tables were ornamented with festive tablecloths and centerpieces, and there were paper lanterns strung around the establishment. Spying a switch on the wall, Gaji had a sudden flashback of the night she and her siblings had explored the bathroom, and a hand had reached for a switch just like this one.Gaji shivered and blinked at the memory of the awful agony.

Stripe was walking slowly among the tables, taking in the changes from when he'd known the place. Stopping near a table at the far wall, he whipped the tablecloth from it with such speed that the centerpiece kept its position. And a nice centerpiece it was, Gaji noticed, a crystal, intricately cut vase filled with aromatic cherry blossoms. How were the plants kept alive? Gaji found herself heading over to the table.

Stripe had subsequently shredded the tablecloth, leaving an array of small rags around his feet. Gaji leapt onto the table, picking up the vase. Peering closely, she saw that, yes---it was filled with water. Gaji smiled. But, for some reason, she didn't want the company of others of her kind right now, except.Gaji drop-kicked the vase into the far wall, giggling as it shattered and water sprayed across the floor. Best to stay away from that area.

Gaji leapt down and headed to another table, pulling the tablecloth and centerpiece onto the floor. The centerpiece on this table was a small, Oriental statue of a human-like figure, a god of some sort, Gaji thought. It made a pleasant tinkling crash as it hit the floor, breaking into pieces.

Gaji and Stripe roamed the whole restaurant, making as much of a mess as possible, and having more than a few fights with various flying objects-- -but they were always harmless objects. Neither Gremlin had any desire to harm the other.

Laughing, Gaji ducked behind a table and quickly tipped it over, trapping a chair beneath it and spinning to find something else to throw. Before she could move, she felt something draped over her head and pulled tight, her air cut off. She gasped, and found herself spinning across the floor into a wall, tumbling into a heap on her contact with it. Still giggling like a maniac, she used her claws to tear her way free of the twisted tablecloth covering her.

Gaji leapt to her feet, altogether eager for the game to continue as she glanced about for new objects to mess with---and a pair of arms slid around her waist, not playful, nor roughhousing, just.electrifying. Gaji turned around, finding herself face to face with Stripe. She looked into his eyes, and saw there a stimulating excitement. Instincts erupted inside Gaji's mind, instincts that told her exactly what she was supposed to be feeling and doing at a time like this.the prelude to the essential switching of genetic material that would ensure healthy, new individual combinations of traits in offspring.

Gaji's ears laid back against her head almost involuntarily, as Stripe pulled her in closer to him, his muscular chest moving in and out against hers as his breathing quickened.Gaji leaned into him, tipping her head back and licking his mouth. Stripe returned her attention, moving his head down to nip her neck gently. The action generated a surge of sensation that swept through Gaji's entire being. Neck nipping was the most intimate lead up a Gremlin could give, and now the gene swap was inevitable; neither party would likely have the willpower to back down, nor would they need it.

Gaji pressed up against Stripe feverishly, her arms sliding around him. Stripe returned the overture, licking at her collarbone and wrapping a leg around her. Gaji knew this to be the best night of her life, but it had hardly begun.

Dramon and Tiger were expressing an unusual amount of agitation, Kasil noted. Dramon was less withdrawn then he usually was, engaging in quick, pointless spats with his brother over such things as which direction to head. Tiger was no better; occasionally zipping out of sight into an alley or bush, and reappearing far ahead or behind Kasil and Dramon, or directly behind them, which as often as not scared the hell out of them, to Tiger's hysterical delight.

Kasil was growing impatient with her brothers. She wondered what was bothering them, she even asked them a few times, but they both met her inquiries with odd gazes, as if they had no clue what she was referring to. Kasil suspected it had something to do with the attractive newcomer, Stripe, that she and her sister had met. Kasil had not missed Dramon and Tiger's reactions to him.

She didn't exactly blame them for their apprehension; Kasil herself was wondering about what Stripe and Gaji were doing. She supposed they were probably looking for action, much as she and her brothers were, but some deep-rooted instinct cried out to her, telling her that chances were good that her sister and the still relatively strange male were getting a different kind of action.

But so what? Kasil asked herself angrily. If her sister was deciding to risk her genes on Stripe, wasn't that her right? Gaji was their leader; Kasil knew she couldn't try and make decisions for her. Kasil even admitted to herself that had Gaji not wanted him, Kasil would have gone for Stripe herself. Imagine any female not wanting a Gremlin like that!

Disgusted with herself, Kasil shoved all thoughts of her sister and Stripe from her mind, and, spying Tiger out of the corner of her eye a moment before he leaped at her from behind, pivoted to one side and used a heavy fist to knock him silly with a blow to the head.

Tiger sprawled to the ground in a heap, lying half on his side and half on his back for a good two seconds before getting to his feet. Shaking his head, Tiger ignored his siblings and trotted away from them down the street.

Kasil sighed, and she and Dramon aimlessly wandered towards the nearest large building.