((as promised, I'm starting this chapter in the same night I finished nine . Congratulate me! NAU.

Knux: erm... congrats, boss.

Watched a Star Trek movie with my darling (he's the epitome of nerdism- right down to the glasses and utility belt of 'puterphones- and he's gotten me into some nerdy things, you see.) and I have to admit: it's really not as stupid as some people think. But I'm a Piccard fan now, I'll have you know. Not the other guy. He's a lawyer now :P. And admittedly republican.

Wow, I got off topic fast. Anyway, if my cat, Ryu, can stop crawling on the keyboard and begging for lovin' for ten minutes, I can get this thing started.))

Chapter 10- The Chaos Theory

The two pubescent splicers spent most of that night in silence. Shadow finished unraveling her bloodied swaddling clothes of gauze, examining every inch of her in loving concern. The places where tubes had been connected were marked by nearly inconspicuous spots of gold glitter, winking through her rich red, tan and black coat of short fur. The only area that still bore any visible irritation from the good doctor's abuse was a bump in the center of her forehead.

Dolly looked up at him sorrowfully, finger tracing the new, noticeably softer fur in the black crescent on her chest. She drew a deep breath, and broke the fast of speech.

"I ran away."

Shadow looked at her, brow laden.

"You really don't have anywhere to run away to on a satellite, Eidola."

Her lip quivered.

"He'll come looking for me…. he'll find us together-"

"Let him."

He surprised her with this. Her lip quaked more violently, and a tear spilled down her puffy cheek as she sat up to take his hand.

"The next time I see him, he will breathe his last."

"No, Shadow. No. he's just doing his…. his…"

"His what, Dolly? His job?"

"It's for science, Sh-"

"EVERY GODDAMN THING THEY DO TO US IS IN THE NAME OF FUCKING SCIENCE!!" he shouted, voice breaking. Dolly had to yank her hand from his grip. She rubbed her sore knuckles, looking away and crying silently.

"You were right, Dolly. When you said 'that could have been one of us.' That will be one of us someday. We're just a couple of future cadavers to autopsy for them. Maria's the only one who believes different, and even SHE does the same sick shit in the name of science that they do."

"Maria's different and you know that."

"She is, but she's not. Science is science is science. It's a religion and she's bound to it like the rest of them. What separates her are her morals. I don't want to talk about this anymore." He kicked his skate-shoes off and flopped onto his back on the bed with his arms crossed.

Dolly looked upon him lovingly, smoothing a handover his forehead and top quills. He closed his eyes and drew a breath. She scooted closer and lay down, resting her head on the soft cushion of fur on his chest. She pried his arms apart- they came away easily under her touch- and took his hand. He squeezed hers. He reached up to the headboard and flicked the light on the control panel there with his other hand.

As he drifted off to sleep, he whispered in half consciousness: "I love you, Dolly. I don't want them to… I won't let them hurt you…"

-o-

Maria trudged down her little stone walkway, half awake. She was distantly relieved that they had conquered the beast- well, fixed it anyway. Patched temporarily, at best. She was already dreaming in programming code. She was having minor hallucinations of tiny biolizards leaping and dancing at the corners of her eyes. She didn't care. She just wanted some sleep. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, a heavy hand dropped onto her shoulder, causing her to draw a gasp.

"Maria, please tell me, have you seen Project Eidola?" Gerald asked in a rush.

She turned and blinked at him in unrecognition for a few seconds, then rubbed at her eyes and yawned, shaking her head.

He exhaled a graveled sigh, wringing his age-spotted hands. "She's somehow gotten out… she was under observation after the first stage of an experiment," at this, Maria's eyes widened and her sinuses cleared. She was now fully awake. "and I just can't afford for her to be off somewhere without close supervision… I'm not quite sure what the ore will do…" he stopped himself. "Never mind. You absolutely wouldn't know where she could have gone?"

She shook her head solemnly. She knew where Dolly was. Knew exactly.

He sighed again, raking a hand over his barren skull. He turned and strode off without another word. Maria, giving a heavy sigh of her own, went inside to set her digital notepad on its charger. She needed desperately to sleep, but she had to find them, had to make sure she was alright.

-o-

There was a sudden electronic beep in the dark, causing Shadow to bolt upright and wake Dolly with a start. The door slid open and he leapt out of bed, setting his feet and taking stance.

Maria held up her hands defensively, then fumbled for the light. She flicked it on and Shadow relaxed. He sat heavily on the bed and Dolly lay back, relieved.

The door slid shut behind Maria, and she tucked her card key back into her lab coat pocket. "Shadow, listen to me for a minute."

"He hurt her."

"I know, but listen-"

"He did something to her and now she's different."

"Ok… Shadow, please…. Wait, different how?"

"She's…" he looked back at her. She had crawled under the covers in the night, and now she hesitantly pulled them back, revealing the crescent on her chest.

Maria wrapped an arm around her chest and set her fingers to her lips in silent distress.

"She was covered in bandages when she got here… and she had stitches in her chest."

"He cut me." Dolly added softly. "He cut me and put things inside me. There were tubes… tubes stuck everywhere…"

Maria covered her mouth and looked to the ceiling, tears welling.

"and the cuts all healed themselves. I watched it happen." Shadow finished.

Maria stood for a long time, deep in thought. She rocked on her feet subtly for a few minutes, then started removing her lab coat.

"Come here, Dolly. Put this on. I'm taking you back."

"No, Maria! We can't! he hurt her!"

"I know that Shadow, but he's the only one who can help her if something goes wrong,"

"He'll just hurt her some more!" he drew her into his arms and cradled her head against his shoulder protectively. She had begun to cry, and her tears seeped hotly into his fur. This, for some reason, caused tears to well in his own troubled eyes.

"Do you know what to do if she should have a grand mal seizure? Hm? Or if- God forbid- she should go into cardiac arrest? We don't even know what kind of side effects she could have from that procedure. He's the only one who has any understanding of what's going on inside her body right now."

Shadow squeezed her tightly to him, loathe to let her go. He hated to admit the truth, but he didn't want anything else to happen to his Dolly. She pushed him aside, leaving him to bury his face in his hands and weep. She let Maria drape the oversized coat around her, and took her hand.

Shadow looked up at them with bloodshot eyes. "I know." He drew a breath, looking around his room for a moment.

Maria knelt and took Eidola's hands. "He's going to want to know where you were. I'm going to tell him I found you in the jungle,"

"He's already looked there." Dolly interrupted.

Maria was puzzled. "How do you know that, Dolly?" she asked, squeezing her hands.

"I don't know. I just know. He's already looked there and most of the station. The only places he hasn't looked are sector 19 and your apartment."

Shadow looked up, brow furrowed.

Maria's mouth opened and closed as she frowned disbelievingly. She finally let it go (with the child's hands) and stood. "Fine, we'll tell him I found you at my apartment, then. I'll have to let him know about all your symptoms, so I'll just say I observed them myself. You can fill me in on anything else on the way."

Maria turned and looked upon her surrogate son with tenderness and regret. "It's for the best, Shadow. You know it. You'll see her again, sooner that you think."

Maria opened the door and led Dolly out. Shadow turned out the light and flopped onto his side in bed, letting the door close behind the two women in his life.

-o-

Gerald was so pleased to see his little experiment he could have hugged her. Maria was sure to inform him of her whereabouts and symptoms- itchiness and burning sensations in her chest, rapid healing, sporadic migraines. Nothing about exocognition. That was up for speculation anyway. If she had psychic abilities, though… that would make for some interesting research.

She left her in the doctor's hands, both dreading further experiments and relieved that she was enough of an asset to his research that he would at least save her from death if he could.

She also hoped silently that the children had remained innocent during their night together. They had, after all, both been naked… but she wouldn't let her mind go there. They were far too young. They knew nothing of adult tendencies yet. That was something to be thankful for. She took this comfort to bed with her and slept deeply the rest of that morning and afternoon.

-o-

A week passed without sight or word of or from Eidola. Shadow worried endlessly, but went about his days without showing it. He studied studiously and exercised with vigor. He did as he was told, and stifled the rage. For Maria. For his Dolly.

That is why the next time he saw Gerald, the old man did not breathe his last, as the young man had vowed.

"Shadow, I must apologize."

This took him by surprise, and cool heat rose in his chest. He knew about them, and he was going to tell him she was dead. That he had inadvertently killed her, so sorry. These things rushed through his mind as the doctor continued.

"… really should have conducted this experiment first, you see. I don't know why I didn't realize that, maybe I was too eager to move to the next step. Oh, no matter! Here you are and now we can get started!"

"…. Wait….. what?"

"The experiment, my good lad! The thing for which I summoned you here today!"

"I… I'm sorry, I misunderstood the first part of that."

"Which part is that? You mean the previous experiment? That's all well and good, but today we'll be exploring what really matters!"

He pressed a button and a counter slid away, allowing a display case to rise in its absence. Two large gems gleamed on their pedestals within. One was a shimmering obsidian-silver, and the other a sparkling amber-gold.

"Today I will teach you about Chaos Emeralds and their ores." said he.

((end another good chapter. CLIFFHANGERZ!!"