{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}+{+}+{+} CH 3

"Violet, this is Derek Maza. My brother."

"Everyone else calls me Talon," the creature… the man?... said, holding a hand out to Violet. "Elisa is one of a select few who still call me Derek."

A little more at ease, Violet hesitantly reached out and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Elisa gave us a heads up, and we'll do our best to not make you nervous," he said with a feline smile.

"Thanks," Violet said again, looking around at the dark grey hallways. "What is this place?"

"We call it the labyrinth," Talon said. "It is basically a large series of underground tunnels that were once part of a Cyberbiotics laboratory. Once they… vacated… we took it over. We decided to put it to better use, and retrofitted it to be living quarters for some of Manhattan's homeless."

Violet blinked. She hadn't seen that coming.

"Talon, Maggie, and Claw were part of an experiment that was forced on them by the Gen-U-Tech scientists," Elisa said, smoothly re-entering the conversation. "They've been here for years, trying to help people."

"Katie, Maggie's and my adopted daughter," Talon said, no small hint of pride in his voice, "is almost done with college. Once she's done, she's going to be manning a small office in the building above, where she can put her experiences here to good use. She was homeless once," Talon said, turning to lead the way through the maze of hallways, "and she's wanting to run a resource center. One where she can try to help people before they need a place like this. She's also going to help those already here to find work and get back on their feet."

"That's awesome," Violet said, so focused on what he was saying to be nervous about her surroundings anymore.

"We think so," Talon said.

"You're obviously proud of her," Violet said with a small smile. "It almost radiates off of you."

Talon gave a laugh. "So I've been told." Two figures came out of a hall in front of them, and Talon gave a small whistle to get their attention. "This is Maggie, my wife, and Claw. As you can see, they're the other two who were… changed." As the two approached, Talon stepped aside so that they would be able to see the young woman. "Maggie, Claw, this is Violet Bauer. She's here to see what she can do to help the cloned clan."

Maggie gave her a small smile in greeting.

Claw's eyes widened, and he looked as if he wanted to run. Furiously, his hands moved in the air.

Talon frowned. "Slow down. I can't understand you when you go so fast."

Claw huffed out a breath in frustration and turned to storm away.

Violet blinked after him. "What did I do?"

"You'll have to forgive Claw," Maggie said, though she looked as puzzled as Violet felt. "He's a little anti-social with new people."

"We really have no idea if the mutagen struck him mute," Talon said softly, "or if he just refuses to talk. We've all been trying to learn sign language, but I couldn't seem to get the hang of it."

"Katie learned really quickly," Maggie said. "When Claw has something he really needs to communicate, he goes to her for translation."

Violet looked around at all of them. "He said he wanted me to leave. What did I do?"

Elisa turned to Violet, "You understood him?"

"I tutored a lot in college," Violet admitted. "I was paired with one girl the whole time I was there, and she was deaf. I learned ASL so I could help her. Claw," she gestured to the tiger form's retreating back, "just said that I don't belong here, and I need to leave."

"Huh," Talon said, rubbing his chin, "I don't know, but I promise I'll talk to him later. For now," he gestured to the right hand tunnel, "The ones you need to see are this way."