Chapter Four

"What do you mean you lost her?!" The commander glared at his partners. "She's at that school!"

"We went to the school,sir. The little brat has run away. They've got the police looking for her as well."

"Oh that's just wonderful! Wait a minute. Does Dr. Baker have a cell phone? She might try to call him. Return his phone to him. We'll just have to wait until she tries again."

"Yes sir." The two men left to follow his orders.

"I don't believe this. How hard is it to track down one little girl?! She couldn't have made it so far already." The leader sighed deeply. That child would prove to be a valuable cyborg indeed, with her premonitions. He mused silently. She could tell them where the other cyborgs were. "Oh well…" He stood up,and left for the main part of the base. There were other things that needed taken care of besides a runaway child.

"You're a quick learner! No one's ever beaten me at chess that quickly!" Professor Kasumi exclaimed enthusiastically.

Carla blushed deeply. "I've been playing since I was six. My father taught me. This is the first time I've played anyone for a long time."

"Well, it was my pleasure, Carla. I hope to challenge you again really soon." Kasumi smiled as he got up to leave the room. "004 is outside, if you want to go see what he's up to. No one said you had to stay indoors, you know."

"I know,Professor…it's just….I don't really fit in here."

"Does anyone ever fit anywhere? Carla, the group wants you to belong. It could be a long time before you return to your normal life. You should think well on their offer to care for you."

"I will. Just now though, I think I will rest in my room. I'm a little tired." Carla passed Kasumi in the doorway, and went into her room. Once she was in her bed, alone, she began to cry,and couldn't stop. Things weren't that bad with the cyborgs. They were all very kind to her,especially Francoise and Joe. Baby Ivan was like the baby brother she'd never had. It wasn't the cyborgs at all, she realized. It was homesickness. She missed her friends at the academy, and her lessons. Most of all, Carla wanted the comfort of her father's arms. She missed him more than anything. She laid there a long time, crying it all out, before finally finding solace in her sleep.

"She hasn't come out of her room all afternoon? Do you suppose she's sick?" 009 asked.

"I don't know. I knocked on the door a couple of times,but I didn't get any reply." 002 responded. "I don't think she's very happy here."

"I know how she's feeling. I was the same way for a very long time after you guys found me." 009 said softly. "Maybe I should go talk to her myself." Without waiting for them to reply, he headed upstairs to see to Carla.

As he left, 002 looked at his friends. "This was a mistake. We can't possibly expect to keep her cooped up here with all of us. Maybe one of us should take her shopping or something."

"Good idea,002. 001 and I can take her tonight. It's a beautiful night for boardwalk shopping." 003 commented.

"Me? Do I look old enough to shop?" The baby cyborg piped up. "No, I think you and 009 should go. Make sure you take your guns with you."

"Good plan. I'll tell 009 once he comes downstairs again. I hope he can get through to her…"

"This isn't easy on her. There are lots of reasons for keeping her with us. The most obvious is to keep her out of Black Ghost's reach. The other important reason is children have a tendency to talk too much. If our whereabouts were discovered…"

"I don't think she'd rat us out,Professor. She's become very fond of us, whether she wants to admit or not. " 004 said slowly. What he was really meaning to say was that he himself has become too fond of the girl. He was sure he was not the only one though. "She's only been with us a couple of days. Maybe this will all smooth out." He continued.

"Perhaps you're right,004. You must remember though. We are not her fathers. I can tell by the way that she spoke of him her first night here that she is very close to him. That could be a lot of the problem." The Professor looked down at 001. "Do you have any ideas?"

"If we could get her to open up to us a little more it would be easier. That will come with time, I expect. She seems to really like 009 though. He could be a big help."

"I think so too. Well, all we can do right now is wait." Professor Gilmore looked towards the stairs.

At Carla's door, 009 had been knocking for a while. "Carla, come on. Let me in."

"Go away!"

"Don't make me force this door open. Just open up so we can talk." 009 insisted desperately. This girl was almost worse than he'd been.

After a couple more minutes of silence, the door opened, revealing a red-eyed, tear stained Carla. She ran into 009's arms. "I'm sorry,Joe. I just….I don't know."

"Hey now…it's okay." 009 held her tightly, then led her back into the room. "I know how you feel, Carla. I really do. When I was first brought here, I felt really strange, and out of place. Almost angry. What I had to decide was who or what I was angry at. "

The girl looked up at him. "Did you ever figure it out for sure?"

"Yeah. It was Black Ghost. They killed the only person I ever considered a father. Then they did this to me. What about you? What are you angry about?"

"My father. I can't believe he would participate in anything so cruel!"

"Anything in particular?" 009 sat on the bed,and pulled her into his lap.

"Don't tell them downstairs…but…last night, I had a very strange dream. It was about my father and me. But the man in the dream didn't look like my father at all."

"Really?" 009 looked down at her. "What happened?"

"We were playing at the park. Then we were in my house…at least,I think it was my house. It wasn't as big as the manor in Antigua. My mother and him were fighting, then a black coat woman came and took me away from them. "

"That is some dream. How old were you?" 009 asked softly. He had a feeling he'd be talking to 001 about this later.

"I don't know. I was little though." She laid her head on 009's chest as she cried softly.

"Come on now…I know it was probably a little disturbing, but it's over now. The others are worried about you. Don't you want to let them know you're okay?"

"Yeah…. I guess so." She got off of his lap, and went to the bathroom to clean up.

"I'll meet you downstairs, Carla. Okay?" 009 called as he headed downstairs.

"Okay."

"It certainly took you long enough to come back. Is the young one alright?" 006 asked as soon as 009 reappeared in the parlor.

"She will be, I think. She's got a lot of anger and frustration towards her father right now. 001, I'll need to talk to you later."

"Okay. Hey, are you up for a trip to the boardwalk? 003 was thinking about taking Carla on a little shopping trip to ease her discomfort."

"That's a wonderful idea. We can take the submarine to shore. I'll bet Carla will love that."

"Just keep your eyes and ears open. Okay?" 004 advised cautiously. "We don't want anything to happen to her or you two."

"Of course."

Just then, Carla appeared in the doorway. "Did someone say shopping? I still have my father's card…."

"Well, we won't be needing that. We've got our own cards. It's our treat." 003 told her. "So let's go." Before Carla could object the two cyborgs grabbed her, and led her out of the compound.