Artificially Bio-engineered Human - The Origins of the Abh Race
Chapter 1: Copyright Seal - The Family Crest
The scientist gestured to the young, blue-haired woman on the treadmill beside him. "As you can see," he explained, watching proudly as she jogged easily on the fast setting, "even after an hour of moderately heavy exertion the model is still functioning at peak efficiency." The girl's white, sleeveless shirt was soaked with sweat near the top, and she was breathing heavily, but other than that she seemed to be keeping pace with little effort. The seven middle-aged men in business suits looked mildly impressed.
"Observe," the scientist continued, switching the treadmill off. As it rolled to a stop, the girl slid gracefully off the back to stand behind it, attentively waiting for her next instructions. "Enter the zero-grav test chamber," he told her. She nodded with a small smile and left through the nearby cold-grey steel door. The scientist turned to the businessmen and gestured at the large glass pane that took up most of one of the walls in their small room. "Gentlemen," he invited them unctiously, moving over to the glass window while motioning that they should come watch as well.
As the eight men watched, another steel door opened in the larger, adjoining room and the same young woman from the treadmill floated into the room. Her short, dark blue hair bounced in free-moving wavy curls around her face in the zero-gravity that was being artificially generated in the test room. She kicked lightly off from the wall with one foot and glided to a piece of equipment slightly larger than herself which was already floating in the middle of the room.
"Ready," she said, her sweet voice managing to sound soft while travelling clearly to the ears of her observers. She looked through the large window at them, patiently waiting for instructions from the scientist. She was still breathing hard, but her eyes were bright and focused.
"Diagnose and repair the problem," the scientist said into a microphone that was fixed just below the window. "You have ten minutes, beginning now." He pushed a button, and a digital countdown with large, red numbers lit up on the opposite wall of the test room from the window, in clear view of both the subject and observers.
The girl nodded and turned to look at the piece of equipment. As she scanned it with her eyes, looking for anything visually out of the ordinary, she reached up with one hand to push a lock of her hair behind one small, delicately rounded ear. "Is this a Grade-5 Model B Mining Shaft Bullet 577?" she asked as she moved around the entire machine, looking it over from top to bottom.
"No," the scientist told her. "It is a Model C, just released for public use."
The girl, now hovering upside down below the mining bullet, glanced up - down, from her perspective - at the scientist in surprise. "I am not familiar with this model," she informed him calmly. "What are the key upgrades from the Model B?"
"Increased speed and efficiency of aerodynamics in design, made from a harder alloy reinforced with diamond," the scientist read off of a paper on his clipboard. "It has also been outfitted with a locator beacon."
The girl nodded thoughtfully as if she were barely listening, and continued looking over every inch of the mining bullet. As the digital countdown read '4:57 remaining', she finally asked, "Is it designed to fire from the Grade-13 Mining Shaft, as its predecessor is?"
"Yes," the scientist told her through the microphone.
"Thank you," the girl said politely, then was silent. She opened a few panels in the side of the mining bullet and her eyes flicked back and forth as she looked over the wiring.
"What is this?" one of the younger of the businessmen, a bored man in his early thirties, said while checking the watch on his wrist. "It's been over half the allotted time and she hasn't even begun repairs. You promised to show us efficient workers," he complained, frowning at the scientist.
"Ahh, patience, Mr. Browensen. Her time hasn't elapsed yet," the scientist replied with a smirk.
Mr. Browensen snorted, and reached up to adjust his thin-rimmed glasses with one hand. "She's not even familiar with the model, nor has she been told what's even wrong with it. If you're wasting our time..."
"I assure you," the scientist said vehemently, "you will not be disappointed! I pray you will bear with me and merely continue to observe for the next few minutes."
By now, the countdown on the far wall of the test chamber read '2:51 remaining', and the girl still had not moved to begin repairs. Suddenly, her face brightened as she seemed to realize something. She closed three of the four panels she had opened, reached into the remaining open panel and unplugged a few wires. She rewired it to her satisfaction and closed the panel, coming away with one blue wire in her hand.
"Preposterous!" another man, this one short and fat and well into his fifties, exploded. "She's ruined it. A $500,000 piece of equipment, and she's taking it to pieces."
The girl used her hands to pull herself along to the bottom of the mining bullet, unscrewed the cap at the very bottom, and disappeared from the waist up inside. When she emerged seconds later, she was no longer holding the blue wire, and a red light was blinking at the top of the bullet, accompanied by a repetitive high-pitched sound. As the countdown read '1:03 remaining' on the far wall, she carefully screwed the cap back into place at the bottom of the mining bullet, then drew her legs up to her body and kicked off for the door. "Repairs to the locator beacon on Model C are completed," she said as she floated by the window on her way to the door. "Someone at the factory must have miswired it."
As she exited the test chamber, the scientist turned triumphantly to the men who stood in shock beside him. "I have the owner's manual and the original design specifications from the factory if you'd like to look them over," he said smugly, handing out copies of the documents he'd mentioned to the businessmen. "She has been trained with such a good understanding of electronics and mechanics that no one needed to tell her what was broken or even familiarize her with the equipment itself for her to do her job. At about one-third the cost of a minimum-wage worker for the first five years, including the initial sale price and maintenance, this is sure to be a very, very good business venture for the company." This last was directed to the short, fat man who was obviously the CEO.
"What do you call them?" the short, fat businessman asked curiously.
"Artificially Bio-engineered Humans, Mr. Kerrely," the scientist said proudly, the words rolling smoothly off his tongue as if they had been coated in oil. "Or ABH, for short."
The ABH girl entered the room with the scientist and businessmen again, then stood quietly next to the door with her hands clasped behind her back. Mr. Kerrely looked her up and down with a newfound interest. She returned his invasive stare with an innocent gaze of polite interest of her own. "Do they do anything other than repairs?" Mr. Kerrely asked abruptly, turning to smile unpleasantly at the scientist.
"That is the only vocation I've tested them on so far," the scientist said, then continued quickly, "Of course, with additional funding to my project, I could produce and train more ABH at one time... Exploring other... possibilities." The last word slipped out like ice from a serpent's mouth.
Mr. Kerrely considered the scientist's words, eyeing the ABH's slender frame speculatively again. He seemed torn for a moment between lecherousness and avarice, then finally his lust for something other than money won out. "You've got yourself a deal, Doctor Harrow," he sneered, his gaze still lingering on the oblivious young woman. "You'll get your funding, and I want to see what you can do for my company in twelve months' time."
The ABH girl straightened up proudly, smiling. She was obviously unaware of the men's malignant intentions, and only knew that she had performed her job well. She was proud of her work, and her success at learning the trade she'd been taught.
"So, do you have a name?" Mr. Kerrely asked the girl, showing more interest than was seemly towards a girl so much younger than himself.
"Marellia," the girl answered promptly, in the same clear, sweet tone of voice she'd used throughout the entire demonstration.
"Well, then, good work, Marellia," Mr. Kerrely said insincerely. Then without a backwards glance, he walked out of the room, closely followed by his subordinates.
That evening, once the businessmen had left the facility for the day, Marellia retired to her small room. She stripped off her white shirt and matching trousers, deposited them in the laundry chute, and flopped down across her bed, lying on her back in her plain grey undergarments. She stared at the ceiling, thinking about her day. I wonder what else they're planning for us, she thought to herself. Maybe we'll get to learn how to pilot spacecraft, as well as repair it! She slid her hands under her head and took a deep, relaxed breath. Whatever it is, the five hundred ABH that are already here will get to participate in it, because in twelve months the only thing Doctor Harrow will be able to do is clone more babies so they can begin to develop. Marellia, herself, had spent the past seventeen years of her life at the Hydra Corporation factory since Doctor Harrow had cloned her and many of the other ABH near the start of his project. He had been a young man, then, only a few years older than Marellia was now.
She turned and looked at the wall above her door. The symbol of the Hydra Corporation, a multi-headed serpent, was designed in black outline above the cold metal door. She bent her left leg, resting her foot on the bed, and tipped her head down to glance at her knee. The same symbol was tattooed there, in the same simple cartoon-outline style. As she usually did when she looked at the design, Marellia imagined what the creature would really look like. She imagined it in full detail, large and imposing as it swung its heads lithely about to survey its domain. Marellia smiled, wondering as she had since she was a small child what name she would give to such a magnificent creature if it were hers to name.
She had read enough books to know that the symbol was a mythological creature from Earth called a hydra, but she had never been satisfied with that name for it. A hydra was a creature that lived in a large body of water, which was why it was named what it was. Marellia couldn't imagine enough water in one place to contain such a glorious beast as she secretly imagined, and besides, she thought something that wonderful should have the freedom of the entire universe to fly in. Marellia sometimes imagined the honor of taking such a ride on that creature's back, the stars streaking out into long white lines to all sides around them as they flew as fast as a ship going through hyperspace.
Marellia sat up and swung her feet off the side of her bed, distracted from her flight of fancy by her door being opened from the other side. Doctor Harrow admitted himself, as was his custom, without announcing his presence first with a knock.
"Mr. Kerrely and the others were favorably impressed," he told her. "You did good work today."
"Thank you," Marellia said, smiling. She waited to see what else he would say. She doubted that Doctor Harrow had stopped by merely to tell her that she had done well at a routine training exercise, even if the Hydra Corporation's CEO and his staff had witnessed it.
Doctor Harrow said nothing else for a long moment as he stared at her where she sat on the edge of her bed in nothing but her undergarments. Something in his expression darkened, and a sense of warning touched Marellia's heart. Something is wrong, she thought.
"Mr. Kerrely took special notice of you, as well," he continued. "So I am here to begin your training in a new vocation. At the end of twelve months' time, I will be giving you to him and you are to be ready to go to work for him."
"Very well," Marellia agreed quietly, burying her misgivings for the time being. She still sensed a problem, but she needed more information to be sure.
It didn't appear to matter. Doctor Harrow didn't even seem to have heard her. He was already walking towards her. He crossed the tiny room in a few steps and put his hands on Marellia's shoulders. She shivered a bit at the touch of his cold fingertips. He spent most of his days handling cold, impersonal equipment and he seemed to be taking on some of those qualities himself. He was aging, as well, as was evident from the way his grey hair was balding at the front of his shiny head, so the blood circulation to his extremities would not be as good as it used to be, generally leaving his hands cold to the touch. Thick, black glasses rested on his long, straight nose in front of his dimming cold grey eyes that matched so much of the architecture in the facility where Marellia had grown up. With the brisk manner of a doctor preparing a patient for a medical examination, he pushed her down onto the bed, but there was more in his eyes. Something that made Marellia uneasy. She had spent nearly her entire life examining machinery for problems and repairing them, and though this didn't involve any malfunctioning equipment her same sharp instincts told her that something was very wrong indeed.
He didn't cause her any pain, but when Doctor Harrow finally stood and dressed himself Marellia felt that something important had changed. She sat up, instinctively pulling the sheet up over her now nude body as Doctor Harrow walked out of her room. Without a backwards glance, he quietly shut the door behind him.
A few moments later, Marellia stood up as well and reached for her night robe. She realized as she started to put it on that she was shaking. Well, I suppose it's to be expected, she reasoned. She had just experienced something so new that it had never occured to her to imagine something like it before. She took in a deep breath to calm herself and slipped back into bed. However much she nestled down in her sheets, though, she couldn't seem to find the familiar sense of security that snuggling in her small bed usually brought her. Perhaps... it's because it's no longer my haven, she thought, pulling the sheet up even further to completely cover her head as she curled up on her side and silently cried herself to sleep.
The next morning, Marellia woke up abruptly to the buzzing of her alarm. She had programmed it to wake her every morning two hours before her shift started for the day, so she would have time to herself and would never be late. She stretched to relieve her muscles of the stiffness of sleep, and sat up in bed. She reached up to the blinking yellow-white plate on the wall with her right hand, deactivating the alarm with her palm print, and pushed a disorderly clump of hair out of her face with the other hand. After another moment or two, she admitted to herself that she was awake and climbed out of bed.
Once she was on her feet, Marellia moved quickly and efficiently as she showered, dressed, and made her bed. There wasn't much else to straighten up in her small room, but she liked to make sure everything was in order when she started her day. Satisfied that it was, she activated her computer screen to check her schedule for the day.
Marellia's stomach lurched as though the artificial gravity settings in her room had suddenly gone haywire. The screen read: 'Train group of ABH subjects in new vocation.' She found it difficult to focus on the rest of the details in her schedule. Marellia found the prospect disturbing to contemplate. It was difficult enough with Doctor Harrow, she thought. Now I'm to do this with - to - my friends? Doctor Harrow, although all the ABH depended on him to teach them and care for their needs, had always been rather distant and cold. On the other hand, Marellia had developed a deep sense of friendship with the few hundred other ABH who shared the scientific facility on the space station with her. They had, after all, grown up together.
Now, more than ever, Marellia wanted to fly off into space on the back of a hydra. The thought of her friends that would be left behind on the space facility brought her crashing back to reality, however, and she forced herself to scrutinize the day's entire schedule.
That morning, the two hours flew by faster than she wanted, and for the first time in years Marellia had to rush to make her first appointment. As she ran down the long hallway, she saw several ABH entering a class room marked 'piloting skills' above the doorway. She felt a sharp pang in her heart as she sped past, remembering how much she had hoped for that very chance herself, before -
Marellia shook her head roughly, clearing her mind of the painful thought. She had a job to do, and she needed to have her mind sharp. She slowed to a stop at her destination, looking above the door at the sign that read 'sex education' as she caught her breath. Gathering her courage about her, she pushed the door open and entered the small room.
She looked around at her students, seated in folding chairs that had been set up in a circle around the room, noting with relief that only fifteen ABH besides herself had been chosen for this particular vocation - at least for now. Two of the fifteen present were what Doctor Harrow had called his 'elite model'; their design based off of the elves of human myths, they had pointed ears. One was a boy named Darethan, the other a girl called Aurinel. They, along with the other elite model ABH, had been cloned a year after Marellia had, while the rest of the ABH in the room were her same age. The whole group of young ABH looked back at Marellia with a nervous, innocent expectation that tore at her soul. She realized that she had probably worn much the same expression just before her own experience on the previous night.
Marellia closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to gather her thoughts before opening her eyes again to address the group. "Doctor Harrow showed me this last night," she began, "so I can now teach the rest of you. I - am sorry that you are expected to do this..." She trailed off at their expressions of confused concern. "Well, let's begin." She stepped into the center of the room and removed her clothes. "I don't know exactly how to describe it. It's the connecting of two people's bodies - like a hug, but more. I will demonstrate, but I'll need a volunteer to help me."
Darethan stood up from his chair. "I will do it," he said in a quiet but sure tone. He stepped forward until he was standing just before Marellia, then started taking his clothes off. "What do I do first?"
Marellia reached out, trying to keep from shaking, and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "First, you hold me close," she told him. As he took her into his arms, she realized to her surprise that he was trembling slightly, too, although not visibly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head on his neck. "This will not hurt," she promised him quietly. At his nod of understanding, she placed all of her trust in Darethan and began the demonstration with him.
She could feel the trust he was placing in her as well, and she took comfort in the friendship they shared. It was nothing like this with Doctor Harrow, she thought. This is something that should be shared between friends - people who love and care for each other. This must be how it's meant to be.
When they finally stepped back away from each other, holding onto each other's hands, Marellia looked deep into Darethan's eyes and saw them shining at their renewed friendship. She smiled, and let go of one of his hands to reach up and dry off her tear-streaked face. "I guess it's different with friends," Marellia said quietly, stooping to pick up their clothes. Handing Darethan's outfit to him, she asked the group, "Do any of you have any questions?" Then, the two friends started getting dressed again.
"Yes," one of the ABH girls spoke up from her chair. "I have a question. How - how is it different when the people don't know each other, or don't care for each other? How was it different with Doctor Harrow?"
"It was invasive, Rachinu," Marellia answered simply. Her heart had ignited in an anger against the scientist. "He took something from me that he didn't care about, and offered nothing in return."
The room was quiet for several moments at that.
"Is that what we can expect to experience?" asked Fedrusk, an ABH boy with deep blue, almost purple hair.
Marellia looked steadily at him, though her answer was for all of them. "I don't know."
Dounei stared at his friend across the cafeteria table, his eyes wide as he listened to Darethan describe what he had learned that day. "I don't understand," he said. "What is the reason for it? It seems like an odd thing to expect us to do."
"I'm not sure," Darethan replied. "I was surprised at how nice it felt to be that close to Marellia. Maybe there is just something wrong with Doctor Harrow. He certainly doesn't seem to be interested in anything but his science."
Dounei frowned down at his plate, nodding. His short, light blue hair fell forward at the motion, kept out of his face only by Dounei's long, pointed ears. "You're right. Still, I don't like the idea that he could walk into any of our rooms at any time, and..." He sighed. "I guess we'll just have to live with it," he said without conviction. Instead, his eyes flashed with an entirely different type of conviction. Darethan had always known his friend to be rebellious, and this appeared to be one of those times.
"What are you thinking about?" Darethan prodded.
Dounei looked steadily into Darethan's eyes. "I'm thinking about what I want to do," he replied. Pushing his chair back, he stood up. "Good night."
Just be careful, Darethan advised his friend silently, though he knew Dounei couldn't hear his thoughts. I don't want to see you get hurt.
The next day, Marellia was relieved to find that she had been reassigned. Apparently, Doctor Harrow felt that the 'lesson' he had given to her two nights ago and that she had passed on to the others the next day did not bear repeating. Instead, she was to teach the younger generation of ABH basic math skills. Out of the five hundred ABH at the facility, only two hundred were within a year of Marellia's age. The rest had been cloned ten years after she had.
She pushed the door open and walked into the classroom, which was somewhat larger than the one she had taught in the day before. Rows of chairs with school desks faced one side of the room, which had a large screen covering most of the wall above her own teacher's desk and chair. The young ABH children were playing and laughing as they waited for her, chasing each other around the classroom in a simple game of tag. Marellia smiled. She remembered being seven years old herself, and enjoyed seeing the younger children having so much fun with their innocent play. She felt a sharp tug at her heart as she suddenly envisioned these children, her own age, presented with the same situation she and at least fifteen other ABH now faced, but quickly shook the notion off. If it is to be, then at least I'll let them enjoy their innocence for as long as I can protect it.
The children slowly settled down and made their way to their seats as Marellia stood at the head of the class.
"Good morning," she greeted the class politely. "Math is one of my favorite study subjects, and I'm glad you are finally getting an opportunity to learn it. Math can become extremely complicated, but don't worry - as long as you have a good base of knowlege, any math problem seems easier. So let's start out with comparing quantities."
One little girl with long, pale blue hair eagerly raised her hand above her head, pressing down on her school desk with her other hand to gain an extra inch or two of height into the air.
"Yes, Lealdej?" Marellia said, calling on the little girl.
"I want to be a starship captain!" Lealdej yelled exultantly, lowering her hand.
Marellia smiled, doing her best to hide her pain. But you won't get to choose, little one, she thought sadly. I hope you get your wish! "Math is important no matter what you end up doing," Marellia said aloud. "So let's start with that, okay?"
"Okay!" Lealdej agreed happily, settling down in her seat.
Marellia sat down at her teacher's desk, typing in the command on the desk computer to bring up the lesson display on the large screen behind her. "Now, I'm going to pose a hypothetical situation to help you visualize the math problem," she said, as illustrations of what she was saying filled the large display screen. The children looked it over, while listening attentively as she continued, "Let's say we have twenty-four pieces of metal sheeting, eight tanks of fuel, thirty-nine laser-saws, and twelve safety goggles. Which do we have the most of, and which do we have the least of?"
The next twelve months seemed, at times, to go by very quickly for Marellia, while at other times the time seemed to pass almost agonizingly slowly. The night before she was scheduled to leave with Mr. Kerrely, Marellia was slowly making her way back to her room, lost in thought. I may never see my friends again, she realized. She was not the only one who would be leaving tomorrow, and soon the ABH in her age group would be scattered throughout the galaxy.
Impulsively, Marellia changed direction. Soon she found herself standing in front of the door to Darethan's room. After only a moment or two of deliberation, she knocked quietly.
Almost immediately, as if he had been expecting her, Darethan opened the door. They stood there for a moment, just looking into each other's eyes, then Marellia threw herself into Darethan's comforting embrace, sobbing. Darethan gently escorted her inside and closed the door to allow them more privacy.
"I'm going to miss you," Marellia whispered, hugging Darethan with fierce emotion.
"I know," Darethan replied softly, his voice breaking slightly. "I'm going to miss you, too. I don't even know where I'm going from here."
Marellia looked up into Darethan's warm gold eyes, which reflected the same pain of loss she was feeling herself. "I wanted to - this may be the last time we can - " words failed Marellia, but her eyes conveyed her wish for a final closeness with her friend.
"I feel the same way," Darethan said, burying his face in her short, curly hair as he held her tight. "Let's not waste this precious opportunity."
It was as beautiful as it had been the last time, nearly a year earlier, that either of them had experienced this type of physical closeness. As they drifted off to sleep for the night in Darethan's bed, Marellia felt her heart recharged with courage.
Even without her alarm, Marellia woke up within minutes of the time she was accustomed to every morning. Sensing her movement, Darethan opened his eyes as well and smiled sadly at her. "Good-bye, Marellia," he said quietly, his eyes shining even brighter than usual with the depth of his feeling.
Feeling her throat clenched uncomfortably tight, Marellia replied, "Good-bye, my good friend Darethan." She looked away from him so as not to start crying again, and reached for her plain white clothes. There had been enough tears last night, and she didn't want him to remember her crying at the last moment they were together. Dressing quickly, she exited Darethan's room and headed for her own.
As she rounded a corner, she bumped into someone heading towards her from the other direction - someone who seemed as distracted as she was. "Sorry," Marellia said, looking up to see Dounei.
"No, it was my fault too," the ABH boy said, putting his hands on Marellia's upper arms to steady her. He was, she saw, already dressed in a two-tone grey, red-trimmed pilot's jumpsuit, rather than the standard white garments the ABH had so far been given to wear. "Be strong, Marellia," he added quietly, looking intensely into her eyes, "and be patient."
"Patient?" Marellia echoed. His voice had held some sort of promise, but she didn't understand what he intended. "Dounei," she whispered urgently, "This is not like the time when you were five and you tied Doctor Harrow's shoelaces together! What are you planning?"
Dounei merely smiled impishly at the memory, not answering her question. "Until we meet again, Marellia," he said, then gave her arms one final affectionate squeeze before letting go and rushing past her.
Marellia turned to stare after him as he left. After a few moments, the memory of Dounei's childish hijinks crumbled her resolve to remain stern and worried, and she laughed.
When she did reach her room, Marellia saw that a new dress was hung on the outside of her door, and a small box sat on the ground below it. The long, elegant dress was made out of a shimmering mint green satin, and as Marellia reached out to take it, the full skirt rustled like soft, white-noise static over a radio wave. On closer examination, she saw that several layers of built-in petticoat had been sewn in underneath the skirt, which was what caused it to billow and rustle. The top portion of the dress appeared to be form-fitting. The neckline was cut somewhat lower than the white shirt she was wearing, but still far from revealing, and the dress had no sleeves whatsoever. Draping the dress over one arm, Marellia reached down with her free hand to lift the box from the ground, carrying both into her room.
Inside the box, Marellia found a pair of long, white cotton gloves, and a pair of black, high-heeled shoes. There was also a short necklace comprised entirely of small white pearls strung together.
I suppose this is my uniform, Marellia thought with bitter irony, for my new 'vocation'.
Looking down at herself, once the entire outfit had been put all together, Marellia had to admit the effect was extremely positive. In fact, she felt like a fairy tale princess from the books she so adored. More like a damsel in distress, she reflected. Oh, well.
She sat down at her computer and stared at the black screen, not even bothering to turn it on for a few moments. She already knew what it would say - she was going to leave with Mr. Kerrely. With a sigh, Marellia finally switched her computer on and checked what time she was expected to leave. She still had some time left before she was expected to greet Mr. Kerrely and his staff with Doctor Harrow, but she found herself at a loss for how to spend that time. She stared straight ahead, not really seeing the text on her screen, lost in thought. What will Mr. Kerrely be like? she wondered, her heart gripped with painful hope. He did ask me what my name is... Maybe he'll want to become friends?
Marellia flinched at the sudden, unexpected cold touch of Doctor Harrow's hand closing on her shoulder. Marellia had been so distracted that she had not even heard him open the door and enter her room. With eerie gentleness, he spun her around in her chair to face him. Cupping his free hand under her chin, he lifted her face to look up at him.
"Mm," he muttered approvingly, nodding his head. "Yes, that's very good. I am sure Mr. Kerrely will be pleased with you, Marellia."
Marellia wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so she said nothing.
"Mr. Kerrely and the rest of the senior staff of the Hydra Corporation will be arriving early," Doctor Harrow went on, not seeming to notice Marellia's silence - or else simply not caring. "So I've come to make sure you're ready. They will be here momentarily. It's time to go." The scientist finally withdrew his hands from Marellia and turned to leave. "Come," he said unnecessarily.
Marellia stood obediently and followed him from the room, trying her best to conceal the way she felt about Doctor Harrow. She could not suppress a small shudder, however, now that his back was turned.
As they walked through the long hallways on their way to the visitors' airlock, Marellia saw that the other ABH in her age group were dressed in assorted types of clothing, heading towards their new assignments. Fedrusk caught her eye as he passed her and Doctor Harrow, heading back the way she had come. He was dressed in a long, traditional Japanese kimono. The dark, intense blue outfit complimented his own dark, almost purplish hair and light lavender eyes. Those eyes locked sadly with Marellia's for an instant as they passed, then focused on the ground in front of his feet again.
May whatever force watches over the universe protect him! Marellia wished silently, her heart aching with worry for her friend.
All too soon, Doctor Harrow and Marellia arrived at the airlock. They didn't have long to wait once they got there - within minutes, the ship carrying the CEO of Hydra Corporation and his staff members docked, and the seven
men came aboard the space station's science facility.
"Welcome, gentlemen," Doctor Harrow oozed, smoothly pouring himself back into the oily unctiousness he reserved for special guests, especially those involved in funding his project.
Marellia just stood quietly, a few feet behind Doctor Harrow. Mr. Kerrely's eyes bugged almost right out of his head when he caught sight of her.
"Well, now," Mr. Kerrely said, obviously impressed by what he saw. "It looks like you were true to your word, after all, Doctor Harrow."
Trying not to look too offended at the veiled insult, Doctor Harrow gestured for Marellia to come forward. "Allow me to present Marellia to you for the second time," he said smoothly. "This time, as a gift."
Mr. Kerrely's glance shot towards Doctor Harrow for a moment, then settled greedily back on Marellia. He smiled broadly and extended his elbow towards her.
Marellia hesitated - did he want her to take his jacket? She moved towards him uncertainly and reached out a hand towards him. Mr. Kerrely quickly caught it up in his own free hand and looped her arm through his, setting her hand on his forearm and giving it a few satisfied pats.
"Well, don't keep me waiting," Mr. Kerrely told Doctor Harrow happily. "Go ahead, give me the grand tour. I want to see what else you've done with your time this year. Come, my dear," he added aside to Marellia. "You can tell me when he's exaggerating."
Hiding his annoyance, Doctor Harrow eagerly showed the men around the facility. Mr. Kerrely nodded agreeably to what the scientist told him, but seemed overwhelmingly distracted by Marellia's presence. She had a feeling, however, that he was still keeping a sharp section of his mind focused on the business at hand. The other men, meanwhile, seemed to still be capable of making reasonably intelligent conversation with Doctor Harrow.
"Okay, I'm convinced," Mr. Kerrely said finally, as the tour of the facility drew to a close over celebratory glasses of champagne. "You'll continue to get your extra funding. I can see it's well worth it."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Kerrely," Doctor Harrow gushed, rubbing his hands together in a combination of greed and gratitude. He lifted his own glass of champagne from the nearby desk and raised it above his head. "A toast, then, gentlemen," he said smugly, "to a successful experiment!"
The other men raised their glasses in response as well, and they all drank to their success. Marellia, meanwhile, had had just about enough of Doctor Harrow and was more than ready to leave. Out of everyone here, I surely won't miss Doctor Harrow.
As they boarded the private space jet, a stewardess dressed primly head to toe ushered Mr. Kerrely and Marellia to their seats, while the other six businessmen were guided to their chairs by more stewardesses. Mr. Kerrely gestured for Marellia to take the seat by the window, while he himself opted for the aisle seat next to her. As they strapped themselves into their safety harnesses, the stewardess beamed happily at Mr. Kerrely. "Why Mr. Kerrely, I didn't know you had a daughter! She's charming."
Mr. Kerrely merely stared icily at the woman, while Marellia smiled and said helpfully, "I'm not his daughter." "Oh," the stewardess said, seeming to suddenly lack enough oxygen to properly support herself. "I see. Excuse me." She left so abruptly that Marellia wondered what was wrong with her. Mr. Kerrely, meanwhile, had turned bright pink in the face, yet he seemed to be working hard to hold back laughter.
"I hope she's all right," Marellia commented to the much older man, concerned. "She doesn't seem well."
"She'll be fine," Mr. Kerrely replied gruffly, pulling a folded up newspaper out of his jacket pocket. He unfolded the paper and shook it once to eliminate a few of the worst wrinkles, then began scanning the pages with his eyes. His face seemed to be at least as wrinkled and lined as the paper he was reading, and he paid Marellia no more mind for the moment.
Marellia couldn't help but enjoy the space flight to Mr. Kerrely's home planet. Having spent her entire lifetime on the space station in Doctor Harrow's science facility, she had never personally seen so many beautiful sights before. Almost before the ship had set sail into space, her heart was fluttering in her chest with excitement. Then, suddenly, the ship sprang into hyperdrive and the stars out her small window stretched out into lovely white streaks across the black sky. She gasped, instinctively reaching out to clutch Mr. Kerrely's hand in surprise. She had, of course, expected to travel by hyperspace, but had no idea what it would actually be like to experience it firsthand.
Mr. Kerrely smiled to himself and briefly glanced away from his paper to Marellia's hand, obviously enjoying that she had reached out to him voluntarily like that. Moments later, Marellia had let go of his hand again to press both of her palms and her nose against the window in unbridled wonder. "It's beautiful," she breathed. It was just like she had always imagined it would be to fly off into space on the back of her Hydra - except that she was still inside a manmade structure, looking out.
By the time the taxi pulled up to Mr. Kerrely's large, expensive home a few hours later, Marellia's mind was swimming with new input. Mr. Kerrely paid the taxi driver, then escorted Marellia up the fancy drive and into the house.
It was awkwardly quiet over dinner that evening. Marellia stared at Mr. Kerrely across the table, but his attention seemed to be utterly consumed for the time being by a large t-bone steak and a mountain of mashed potatoes. His steamed green beans, meanwhile, went mostly ignored. She wondered why he hadn't said much since they had left the space station where she had grown up. Maybe he's just lonely? she wondered. Maybe he doesn't know what to say? So Marellia decided to take the dinner conversation into her own hands.
"The space flight here was beautiful," she commented.
"Mmm," Mr. Kerrely agreed around a bulging mouthful of food.
"Ever since I was little," Marellia confided, "I've dreamed of riding off into space on the back of a Hydra - "
"A what?" Mr. Kerrely interrupted, his attention finally on what she was saying.
"A multi-headed dragon creature," Marellia explained enthusiastically. "I - "
"Fairy tales," Mr. Kerrely scoffed, returning to his generous dinner. "Waste of time."
Hurt, Marellia looked down at her own plate and said nothing more. She picked up her fork and lifted a bite of food to her mouth, but she could hardly taste it. She was exhausted from all the new events of the day, and still wondered what her life from here on out would hold. The rest of the dinner passed in silence.
Once they had finished eating - Mr. Kerrely considerably later than Marellia - they retired to Mr. Kerrely's bedroom. The bed, standing prominently at the rear of the room, its ornate brass headboard against the wall, was easily twice the size of Marellia's own bed back at the science facility where she had grown up.
Mr. Kerrely began eagerly taking his business suit off and flinging articles of discarded clothing into the laundry hamper that stood in the corner of the room nearest the closet, eyeing the young ABH woman all the while.
Marellia shook off a brief flicker of nervousness. He's not Doctor Harrow, she reminded herself firmly. But then, I don't really know him at all. She realized, not for the first time, that she had no idea what to expect from this man. He was much older than she was, as Doctor Harrow had been, but he was nowhere near as cold and distant. As far as Marellia knew, he couldn't care less about science at all. On the other hand, they had only known each other briefly, so how could they share a friendship the way Marellia did with the other ABH she had grown up with? I suppose every friendship must start somewhere, she thought hopefully.
Mr. Kerrely paused in removing his clothes long enough to grab Marellia's wrist and haul her roughly towards him. "I've been looking forward to this all day," he muttered, pressing his face against her smooth, pale neck.
Marellia pulled away a little, twisting her arm free of his grasp. She retreated to sit on the edge of the bed, beginning to feel nervous again. "I thought we could talk for a while, first. Maybe we could get to know each other better?" she suggested, looking earnestly into his eyes.
"Shut up, girl!" Mr. Kerrely snarled, striking her hard across the face with the back of his open hand. "Did I ask what you wanted?"
Marellia put a hand up to her throbbing cheek, staring wide-eyed at Mr. Kerrely, his face twisted by an ugly expression of pure selfishness. Then she realized the awful truth. He didn't care if she loved him, he just wanted to lie to himself about it. She dropped her eyes down towards the floor and said quietly, "I apologize."
Seeming to be contented with that, Mr. Kerrely went back to undressing himself.
It was easy enough to satisfy him with her body, and he cared not at all for her mind. So that part of herself, at least, was safe that night and the nights that followed.
Early the next morning, Marellia crept out of bed and quietly made her way to the bathroom. She was less than eager to wake Mr. Kerrely up. Flicking on the light, Marellia went and stood in front of the sink, looking at her face in the mirror. Her left cheek had turned an ugly purple where she had been struck the previous night. She got a washcloth wet with cold water and gingerly held it up to the bruise Mr. Kerrely had left on her face that matched the one he had left on her heart.
'Artificially Bio-engineered Human.' That means I'm human, too, Marellia realized. But I'm not just any human... I am an Abh.