DISCLAIMER: I don't own Big O; Sunrise Inc. does. I do, however, own this original story.

The Handmaiden

By The Lady Razorsharp

Part 5: The Author and the Finisher

Mary said also, "Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to thy word." --Luke 1:38

Pain.

There was nothing in the world but pain. Love was gone, hope was gone. All there was left was pain, and Katherine's soul overflowed with it.

"Oh, God," she moaned, dragging her parched tongue ineffectively across her chapped lips. "Please, God…"

"Shh," a voice whispered, followed by the touch of a cool cloth on her feverish forehead. "It will be over soon."

Katherine's eyes focused on a dark shape at the end of her bed--a shape that became Gordon Rosewater. The author of her pain. "You," she snarled at his stony-faced visage. "You did this to me! You bastard!"

"She's delirious," Rosewater commented, watching Katherine writhe in the agony of childbirth. "There's no chance that she'll harm the child…or herself, is there?"

A thin white hand removed the cloth and exchanged it for a fresh one. "It is common for women to feel a great deal of discomfort and emotional distress with their first child," said a bland, informative female voice. "That would lead me to assume that Mrs. Rosewater is no different."

"Hmm." Rosewater gazed at his wife a moment more, then turned and walked toward the door of the birthing chamber. "Let me know if there is any change."

"Of course."

When he had gone, Lotte gazed down at her charge with night-black eyes. Katherine had grown quiet for a moment between contractions, and she met Lotte's gaze squarely. Though Lotte was an android, there had been many times over the past year that Katherine was sure she had seen traces of emotion on her companion's pale face. Having almost daily contact with Lotte had acquainted Katherine with the subtle variations of Lotte's dour expression: curious, resigned, annoyed, even anxious and uncertain at times. Right now, Lotte was moving through all of those, though to an outsider, her expression would have remained exactly the same.

"Lotte," Katherine rasped. "I didn't mean that."

The android smoothed Katherine's hair back from her face. "It is to be expected. You are feeling pain such as you have never felt before, and are frightened."

Katherine gritted her teeth at the beginning of another contraction. "Easy for you to say," she growled.

It seemed to Katherine that the moments of agony began to outnumber the moments of clarity, and she became vaguely aware of increased activity in the room. Lotte's hand stayed in hers, the temperate skin never warming as it held her own feverish flesh, and now Katherine gave a startled cry as the hand was pulled away.

"Don't leave," she whispered.

"I will not," Lotte assured her. "Your labor has gone on too long. The physician has deemed that the best course of action is a cesarean section."

Katherine nodded. "Is…is the baby all right?"

"At this moment, yes." Lotte continued her steady commentary as Katherine felt her bed begin to move. "This procedure will be less stressful on both you and the child."

The thought of something happening to her precious baby was more than Katherine could bear, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the tears. "I hope so," she whispered.

Lotte's voice was right beside her ear. "Do you know what a prophecy is, Katherine?"

Katherine's blood went cold. "What--"

"You will have a son, Katherine. He has a destiny to save this city from itself. You will be lost to each other, but do not be afraid. He will carry your memory in his heart as he fulfills his destiny."

Bright light flooded Katherine's vision after that, and dark shadows appeared in the midst of the pools of light coming from the ceiling. "Just relax, Katherine," said a male voice to her left. "You're going to go to sleep for a bit, and when you wake up, it'll be time to see your new baby."

Confused, Katherine swiveled her head away from something cold and hard they were trying to put over her face. "But…but she said…"

"That's it, take a deep breath," the voice continued, as the air became thick and medicinal.

Two heartbeats later, Katherine plunged into darkness.

~*****~

Katherine found herself floating in the darkness; buoyant and rising like a bubble. With a gentle bump, she reached the surface and was enveloped by a soft white light that smelled of roses.

"Mmm," she breathed, feeling the coolness of the air on her skin. There was an odd tingling in her legs, but when she tried to move them, they refused to obey. Annoyed, she opened her eyes to see what was going on.

She was in a small, white-painted room with yellow organdy curtains, covered from shoulder to toe with a warm, snowy-white blanket. Beyond the twin bumps of her unresponsive feet, Katherine could see a low white enameled railing, and beyond that a single door with a high, square window. Next to the door was a small table that held a huge vase of bright yellow roses.

"How are you feeling?"

Katherine's body was still too lethargic to do anything more than twinge in surprise. Everything from the neck up still obeyed, however, so she turned toward the precisely modulated sound. Katherine was relieved to find Lotte sitting in a white enameled chair on the right hand side of the bed.

Lotte, her usual ramrod-straight posture betraying no signs of discomfort at the hard metal surface, regarded Katherine with her fathomless black eyes, weighing and measuring each movement, each twitch of her mistress' body. "It will take some time for your physiological responses to return to normal," Lotte announced. "Going back to sleep will speed the healing process and pass the time."

Katherine tried to speak, but found her throat too dry. Lotte poured a glass of water and helped guide it to Katherine's lips. After allowing Katherine a small sip, Lotte replaced it on the table next to the pitcher.

"How long have you been here?" Katherine asked, after a grateful swallow.

"The operation was completed six hours ago. You have a son."

Tears sprang to Katherine's eyes. "He's…he's all right then?"

Lotte's pointed chin dipped once. "The doctor assured Mr. Rosewater that the baby is in perfect condition." She brushed Katherine's hair back from her forehead, and the gesture struck Katherine as an oddly human one, coming from the android. "Sleep now," Lotte instructed, and Katherine sank back into the darkness again.

It seemed to Katherine but just a moment, and she was once more rising to the surface of awareness. The tingling in her legs had grown to a dull ache, but she still could not move below the waist. With a mewling sound of pain and frustration, Katherine struggled to alert the presence she felt in the room to her discomfort.

Someone turned back the blanket from Katherine's feet and took her heels in a pair of cool, smooth hands. Relief stole the words from Katherine's mouth, and the 'thank you' turned instead into a low groan as the cool hands began to restore circulation to the sleeping limbs.

Opening her eyes, Katherine found Lotte to be the instrument of said relief, the russet head bowed in concentration on her task. At a small noise from Katherine, Lotte looked up, but continued her ministrations. "I was instructed to alert the nurse when you awakened so the baby can take nourishment."

"Just a little while longer," Katherine sighed, as the ache became a buzz, and then faded away completely. "I wish you could know how good this feels."

Lotte tilted her head slightly, which translated to amusement in her limited emotional repertoire. She laid Katherine's feet gently back on the mattress and covered them back up. "I will continue after feeding time is over." She turned with a rustle of skirts, and Katherine realized that Lotte no longer wore the maid's outfit, but a simple dress of pearl-grey crepe. The rounded white collar was ornamented with a red grosgrain ribbon, which fastened with a garnet cabochon. Stockings, slip-ons, even the ever-present hair band were grey, and Katherine found herself smiling a little. Even androids have their conceits.

The nurse, an expressionless blond woman dressed in a uniform that blazed white from head to foot—except for the blood red cross on her boat-shaped cap—pushed into the room ahead of Lotte. The nurse took Katherine's pulse, made a notation on the chart at the foot of the bed, then left the room.

Lotte bent over Katherine's prone form, slipping one slender arm under Katherine's shoulders and the other under her knees. "Are you ready?" she asked. "Moving will bring a momentary discomfort, but you must sit up to feed the baby."

Bracing herself as best she could, Katherine nodded. "I'm ready."

With android strength and precision, Lotte easily pulled Katherine into a sitting position and propped her against the pillows. Lotte hadn't exaggerated; there had been some discomfort, but her dexterity had made it minimal. "Thank you," Katherine smiled at her matter-of-fact companion.

Lotte resumed her post on the chair at Katherine's right hand. "You are my responsibility," she countered. "Thanks are not necessary."

Katherine smiled. "Next time, Lotte, just say 'you're welcome'."

The door opened, and the android and her mistress turned toward the door as one. The nurse returned, pushing a small crib on wheels. Inside the crib, Katherine could see a pale-blue wrapped bundle, and the bundle was squirming slightly. She bit her lip; this was her son.

During the few moments it took for the nurse to wheel the crib to the bed, Katherine's mind buzzed with a million thoughts. Will I be a good mother? Will my son love me? Will he be like his father? Can I really do this? Then the nurse was laying the squirming bundle in her arms, and everything else faded into the background.

Turning back a corner of the blanket, Katherine looked upon her son's face for the first time. With a button nose, rounded cheeks, and long, sooty lashes, he was perfect. Velvety ravens' down covered his head, and one miniature hand reached out to grasp his mother's finger. "Hello there," Katherine breathed.

Lotte had been silently cataloguing every detail of the tiny human. "What will you call him?" she asked, her onyx eyes flashing.

Poor thing, Katherine smiled to herself, he's got those quirky eyebrows of mine. "I'm going to call him Roger."

"Roger. That's a fine name for a fine young man." Rosewater's voice rang out across the room, and Katherine looked up with a start to see her husband standing in the doorway. She smiled at him, but then the memory of her outburst during labor came rushing back, and her cheeks burned with shame.

"Gordon," she began, but she trailed off as Rosewater stepped to her side, his eyes only for the swaddled bundle.

Rosewater shook his head. "Those eyebrows..."

"Gordon, I wanted to tell you--"

"Make sure she rests after feeding the baby," Rosewater interrupted, turning to Lotte.

The android looked up at Rosewater from under her brows. "Of course."

He turned to gaze once more at his son, reaching out to gently stroke the baby's head. "Everything must be done to see that Roger grows strong and healthy."

Katherine tried again. "Gordon…"

Rosewater raised his eyes to Katherine without moving his head, his mouth compressed into a dark line. His face was blank, his eyes cold and dark. It was as if she was looking into the eyes of a stranger.

Katherine wanted to shrink back into the pillows. This was not the man she married. This was not the man who had come to her boudoir night after night, coaxing bliss from every cell of her body until she fell into an exhausted slumber. Who are you? she cried silently. Who are you and what have you done with the man I love?

Rosewater turned to leave. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned back to fix Lotte with a gaze that rivaled her own for solemnity. "You have your orders, android. Take care of my son."

Lotte nodded once, her features set in stone.

"Why?" Katherine whispered after the door drifted shut. "Why did he look at me that way? Why didn't he talk to me? Is he angry with me for what I said?" Tears welled up in her eyes until the door was just a misshapen blur. "I didn't mean it…"

The baby began to squirm and fuss, and Katherine shook herself as if from a deep sleep. Forgetting Rosewater for a moment, she watched as Roger's eyes opened to slits of liquid obsidian. "Yes, you're hungry," she murmured, finding it natural to pull back one corner of her garment and set the baby at her breast. When Roger was fully engrossed in his meal, Katherine looked up to see Lotte watching with her version of rapt attention.

"Is that painful?" Lotte asked, tilting forward slightly.

Awash in wonder, Katherine considered the android's question. "No, not really," Katherine answered truthfully. "However, there are moments when--" She winced slightly. "He gets a little too enthusiastic."

Lotte's expression shifted ever so slightly into something akin to pride. "Then he is already strong."

Soon, the tiny pulls at her breast slowed, and Katherine gently laid Roger on her cloth-covered shoulder. She rubbed his back until he let out a small burp, then she cradled him in her lap and tucked the blanket snugly around his small frame. Katherine looked up to see Lotte taking in every movement, no doubt filing every action away in her positronic brain. She's a robot, she'll never know what this feels like, to look on the face of something you've carried inside yourself. "Lotte, would you like to hold Roger for a moment?"

"It would be useful information to help me carry out my orders," Lotte agreed. "Yes. Perhaps for just a little while."

"Here. Put your arms like this." Katherine made her arms and hands into a loose circle, elbows out, and smiled when Lotte was a perfect mimic. "Good. Now, support his head--there you go." Katherine slid Roger carefully into Lotte's arms, where the android held him gently, but securely. To Katherine's shock, Lotte began quietly humming a simple tune.

"I didn't know you could do that," she breathed. "You've never sang before. How did you know to…to sing to a baby?"

"The real Dorothy knew this song," Lotte explained, her eyes fastened on the baby's placid face. "My memory banks have not accessed it before. Apparently it is an appropriate action for this situation." She tilted her head slightly. "He is asleep."

"I'm sure being born tires one out," Katherine said around a massive yawn.

"I will call the nurse to take Roger back to the nursery." Lotte stood, Roger still cradled in her arms. "You need your rest."

Katherine wanted to protest, to ask Lotte to lay Roger beside her on the bed, but another wave of exhaustion washed over her. "Be careful with him," she murmured.

As if responding to some automatic summons, the nurse returned. Without a word, she took Roger from Lotte and laid him in the mobile crib. Pulling a black marker and a pale blue card from her pocket, the nurse glanced at Lotte. "What is the child's name?" she asked in a monotone.

"His name is Roger."

The nurse made a notation on the card, then placed it in a pocket on the side of the crib. Katherine's vision was blurry, but she could just make out the letters: Smith, Roger.

Smith? Katherine thought dimly. "Wait, there's been some mistake," she began.

Lotte stood at the foot of her bed, blocking the view of the nurse and the crib. "Sleep now," she said, and Katherine found she could not resist.

I'm sure someone will tell the nurse she made a mistake, was Katherine's last thought before sleep claimed her.

For the next three days, morning brought the doctor, who came in to check on Katherine's incision. After Katherine bathed, the nurse would change the dressing. By the time the nurse collected her supplies and left, Katherine was exhausted, and had no trouble sleeping until Lotte woke her to feed Roger. After feeding Roger, Katherine would eat her breakfast, with Lotte standing by to make sure her mistress ate every crumb. Then it was time for Katherine's favorite part of the day, when it was just she, Roger and Lotte. The android absorbed every detail as Katherine pointed out Roger's perfect toes and tiny fingers, cataloguing every coo and cry from the squirming infant. As Roger gripped the android's finger one bright morning, Lotte tilted her head at him.

"His skin is much different from mine," she noticed, watching the pinkish fingers flex against her snow-white digit. "It is softer and more flexible." She withdrew her hand and placed it with its twin in her lap. "However, it is much more fragile and susceptible to injury."

"That's the difference between androids and humans," Katherine said gently, wrapping Roger up once more and cradling him to her side. "Our bodies wear out after seventy or eighty years, or so." She sighed. "It sounds odd, and even a little sad to say, but even Roger will grow old someday."

"It seems difficult to be a human," Lotte said. "Growing old sounds like a real downer."

Katherine gaped at Lotte, then burst out laughing. "Where did you hear that?"

Lotte's expression was a perfect deadpan. "I hear things all the time."

Still chuckling, Katherine shrugged. "I suppose growing old can be a real downer," she conceded. "Roger's got a long way to go until that happens, though. First, he'll learn to sit up, then to crawl, and walk and talk and run and jump." Roger cooed, and Katherine touched his button nose with her fingertip. "Yes, isn't that right, my little man? You'll do all sorts of amazing things, won't you?"

One morning, the light from the window was still gray when Lotte shook her awake. Startled, Katherine glanced up at her companion. "What is it? Roger--"

"He is well. It is time to leave."

"Oh." A few days ago, that message would have filled her with joy; now it filled Katherine's heart with uncertainty. She hadn't seen Gordon since the day Roger was born, and she wondered what kind of a reception she would get at Rose Terrace with things so strained between them. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as you have fed Roger. You will take your meal later," Lotte informed her.

The thought of seeing her precious boy lightened her heart, and Katherine managed a smile as Lotte helped her to sit up. "That's good. The food here isn't very tasty. I'm looking forward to Giselle's cooking again."

The nurse soon brought Roger, but Katherine stopped her with a hand on her arm after making sure Roger was settled. "Excuse me, but I want to talk to my husband."

With a cold glare, the nurse pulled away from Katherine and walked away without a word.

"I said, I want to talk to my husband," Katherine said sharply.

"You'd have to be married to talk to your husband," the nurse spat, pulling open the door.

Katherine stared at her in disbelief. "What did you say?"

The nurse left, throwing a sneer over her shoulder at Katherine. A moment later, the door opened again, this time to admit Alex Rosewater, a welcome splash of color in his red polo shirt and khaki slacks.

"Alex, thank Heaven you're here," Katherine gasped. "Someone should tell this nurse's superior she's unfit for her duty!"

The young man cast an uneasy glance at Lotte, who was sitting like a statue. "What do you mean, Katherine?" he asked as he moved around to Katherine's left side.

"She's lost her mind," Katherine said. "When I told her I wanted to talk to my husband, she said I'd have to be married to talk to my husband. Isn't that the craziest thing you ever heard?" Roger began to fuss, and she bounced him gently. "She shouldn't work around babies if she's gone crazy."

"This is for you," Alex said, pulling out a long white envelope from his back pocket. "You need to read it and sign it. I'll wait until you're done." He pulled a pen from the pocket of his shirt, uncapped it and laid it on the table next to her.

"Lotte, would you--" she began, handing the still squalling Roger to Lotte. The android took the baby and placed him the crib, then sat and rolled it back and forth gently. As she sat rocking the baby, Lotte stared at Alex from under her brows. Katherine could have sworn the android's eyes glittered with malice at the young man, but she dismissed the notion. You're just imagining things, she told herself.

The envelope was sealed with a red blob of wax, with an ornate R pressed into the wax. Breaking the seal, Katherine lifted out several sheets of heavy paper and scanned the title at the top of the page. Decree of Divorce, said the thick black letters, and Katherine dropped the papers in shock.

"What is this?" she demanded. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"I assure you, Katherine," Alex said gravely, "my father is not joking."

Father? "Alex, have you lost your mind, too? You never knew your father, he died in the Event."

Alex laughed coldly. "On the contrary. Gordon is my father. Tell me, were you really that stupid, Katherine, that you didn't notice how similar we look?" He glanced at the android, who was letting the baby suck her finger. "That little whelp doesn't look anything like him, thank Heaven. That wouldn't do at all."

Stunned into speechlessness, Katherine picked up the papers and scanned the rest of the black words. …Grounds for separation…infidelity…irreconcilable differences… Fury boiled up in Katherine, and she threw the papers at Alex. "These are all lies!" she screeched, as the papers fluttered to the ground. "I've never been with anyone else! I've barely left the house since we got married!"

Alex methodically gathered up the papers and jogged them neatly. "You will be provided for," he said, monotone. "You will be placed with the others."

"Others?" What is he talking about? Has everyone gone crazy? Am I dreaming? Katherine shook her head. "Alex, you're not making any sense!"

"You and Roger will live with the others, until it's time for Father to teach Roger what he must learn." He thrust the pen at her. "Sign at the X, please."

Katherine's snarl was that of a lioness protecting her cub. "I will not!" She threw the pen at him, but he dodged it and the barrel shattered against the wall. The ink made a blood-red splotch on the wall that dripped slowly to the floor.

Alex leapt forward and slapped Katherine across the face. With a series of precise movements, Lotte gave the crib a push to where it rolled next to the wall, then took two steps toward Alex, her hair bristling. She moved between Katherine and Alex, her hands rising toward his throat.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash in the space between the two combatants, and Lotte crumpled to the floor without a sound. Alex smirked, and Katherine could see blue-white sparks coming from an evil-looking device in his hand. "Sweet dreams, you electronic bitch," he snarled.

"Lotte!" Katherine shrieked. "What did you do to her, you bastard?"

"She was going to kill me," he spat tersely. "Now, you can do this the easy way or the hard way." He produced another pen from his pocket, a compact ballpoint that pulled into a larger instrument with a hard jerk of his hands. "Sign the bottom and you'll get to see your son grow up."

Katherine's eyes were as cold as Lotte's. "And if I refuse?"

"You're overwrought. The doctor is outside with a needle full of sedative," Alex explained. "However, if he happens to give you a little too much…" he shrugged. "It's your choice, Katherine."

In the corner, Roger wailed, his tiny body wracked with frightened sobs. Katherine closed her eyes, feeling cold tears spill down her cheeks. She held out a hand to Alex, who laid the pen in her palm. He held out the sheaf of papers, and she took them.

Katherine J. Smith, she wrote, in blood red ink.