Orphans Beloved: "Attack of the Fifty-foot Clones…"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved and Sheldon Swifties bits in my Buffyverse and Sheldonverse, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later.
Disclaimer: No copy write infringement intended…
Note-There are always these minor consequences to any great advances in Science.
(PS-Some divergence from S-3 in that Aldous did not…Yet…while in mine Cal left without Kyra and engaged to Sarah, to resolve the pesky problem of a murdered police officer, and Ally is not going in for breaking somewhat bad. (And of course the ladies are not yet18-50 feet tall…Yet). And Seth is not…Yet…Dead. But we need Seth. The Castors deserved their own road trip, right?)
Part XXI…
Dyad High Containment…
"Rachel? How are we feeling?" Leekie, entering the room, now expanded to cover nearly half the floor by removing walls.
"Oh, hi, Dr. Leekie…" Rachel, blinking, looking over on the side. "I've been having the strangest dream." She eyed him. "What happened to you? You're…Bald and old(er)…I mean, excuse me, sir. And why do you seem so…Strange…You look like you're far away or…" she sat up. "Oh, my God."
"Rachel…" Aldous put up a hand.
"Oh, my God…This is what Daddy meant when he said always tell him or Mommie if anything strange happens to me or I feel sick. Dr. Leekie? What's happened to me?"
"Rachel, it's ok…We dealing with it right now." He noted, soothingly.
"I'm so…Tall…" she blinked, looking round the room.
"Fifty feet if our measurements are accurate, honey."
"Whoa…Say, what about my sisters? Are they big too, now?"
"A few, yes."
"Wow."
"Though some not…In fact…" he hesitated.
"Is one of them here? Which one?" she asked, eagerly.
"Is it Sarah, the missing one? I'd love to meet her. Or poor Helena?" she beamed. "Say…?" she felt… "Dr. Leekie, what happened to my eye? Was I hurt?"
"There was an accident, sweetheart." He sighed. "But we're doing what we can and you're doing pretty well."
"I don't remember…" she shook head, then feeling. "Hey, why am I tied up like this?"
"It was for your own protection, dear. I'll have the nurses remove the restraints. We thought you might hurt yourself while your growth was so exponential."
"So what?"
"Fast…" he smiled.
"Oh…" she nodded. "And the other girls? They're growing too?"
"Not all, most of them in our local area. Which is a good sign, there must be a reason we can find out."
"Right…" she eyed him nervously. "You said the nurses would…?" She indicated the restraints.
"Of course…" he turned to a female nurse taking notes behind him, nervously eyeing Rachel.
"Help Miss Duncan with the restraints." He ordered.
"Thanks." Beam. "My eye?" she felt the latest mound of cloth…
"We're not sure if it can be saved, honey. But we're trying…" he noted. "You know we'll do all we can."
"Sure…" nervous nod. "Can I have something to eat? I'm hungry."
"Certainly. Just tell the nurse what you'd like…" nod.
"I could eat a horse…I guess I really could, too, now." Smile.
"That's the spirit, sweetheart. Look, would you mind answering some questions? For our research, to see how this is affecting you?"
"You mean, am I going nuts?" wry smile.
"I doubt that, but we need to know if there are any effects on your brain."
"I won't go crazy, will I? The others are ok that way?"
"So far, no one's gone crazy." He smiled, patting her leg.
"Ok, fire away…Dr. Leekie." She nodded. "Say, can I see any of the others, if they're here? Maybe we can talk? It might help…Say?" nervous look. "How old am I? Am I old too?"
"Not as old as old Aldous…" grin.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. You always look very handsome, Dr. L." smile as the nurse and an aide, under Leekie's hard stare, ventured over to the end of the huge "bed" and began nervously undoing the leg restraints.
"It's ok. I'm not crazy." Rachel called to them. "Don't be scared, I know I must look awful." Warm if frighteningly huge, smile…
The two eyed each other…Uh…
"You look beautiful…Just more of you to love, as the Germans say." Leekie grinned.
"Danke, herr Doktor." She smiled fondly. Moving one freed leg cautiously… "That feels good. Uh, do you want to ask me something? My symptoms and such? I'm ready, doctor." High-minded tone.
"Right. First, an odd one but bear with me… How old are you and what year is this?"
…
"So you're my…Sister?" Crystal eyed the slight figure by her bedside.
"Cosima Niehaus, yeah, hi." Cosima smiled. "And the pretty, if large lady on screen…" she indicated the projected image on wall of Sarah propped to sitting position in her own "bed", trying to look welcomingly pleasant but largely failing…
"Hey." Wave.
"…is Sarah Manning, another sister."
"And we're…Clones…Like a science project or something?"
"Exactly…Sorta." Cosima nodded.
So Chaderwick wasn't lying or crazy, Crystal thought, giving guarded look…
"We just wanted to talk to you and ease your mind…" Cosima noted.
"That's a tall order, lady…Especially since I'm so tall." Crystal sighed. "And I see Sarah's got the same thing if I'm seein' her right… But how come…?" she eyed Cosima.
"We don't know, kiddo. Not yet anyway." Sarah, on screen. "But Cos is a scientist and the other science guys here are workin' with her on it."
"Am I gonna die?" Crystal looked at each in turn.
"I hope not…And as you see I gotta personal stake in that." Sarah noted.
"We've seen no life-threatening symptoms as yet." Cosima hastily added.
"Ok…So how come you're still…Normal?" Crystal, shrewd look. "You the one they made us from? That's how it works, right? Take a cell or something from somebody and make it divide up?"
"Something like that…But we develop like regular people…And I'm not the original, I'm one of you…Us…" Cosima, carefully. "We just don't know why I haven't grown yet. That may be a very good sign, something we can use to cure you guys."
"But you don't know yet. Well…? What do you know?" Crystal frowned.
"The growth seems to stop at fifty feet or so, from what we've seen, we don't know why. There don't seem to be other health effects. The growth is general…Not confined to one type of tissue or cell… Do you know much about DNA and human cells?"
"I took Biology…I got a B-." Crystal sighed. "Just tell me…Can you cure me? And what happens after that? I mean…" she eyed Cosima, then Sarah. "If some lab made me…Us…They must have done it for a reason, right? What do they want from me? Are they gonna experiment on me?
"The protocol is to avoid anything that would influence the outcome." Cosima noted. "See, this has been a double-blind experiment…"
"In a nutshell, they just wanna watch us and see what we do. Mostly." Sarah cut in.
"Ok…And you guys believe that? These science guys who made us can be trusted not to hurt us?" Crystal stared at Sarah.
"I wouldn't go that far…" Sarah noted.
Cosima rolling eyes…Not helpin' here, sis.
"Those guys who grabbed me the other night…" Crystal frowned. "They came from here, right? To bring me in?" She regarded the two in turn.
"Not exactly…" Cosima sighed. "They work for another group involved in this."
"Oh, someone's fighting over us? Great…" Crystal stared. "Which of them wants to cut us up like lab rats?"
"Now there's a clever girl…" Fee's voice.
"Fee…Pipe down…" Sarah's face on screen, frowning.
"Who's that? Sarah…?" Crystal, peering at the wall image. "I know that voice…"
Uh…Fee blinked.
Forgot about that little scene. Felix the straight, spy.
"Uh, yeah…That's my foster brother, Felix Dawkins. You've met." Sarah noted.
"Hey." Fee moved into view as Sarah waved him over.
"You?" Crystal frowned. "Is everybody lying to me?"
"No…Honestly…" Cosima tried.
Norris in the hall outside, listening…
Better and better...For me…
…
"Good grief…Really? 2015?" Rachel shook her head. "I'm so old…"
"Not at all…" Leekie smiled. "You're a young woman and very beautiful."
"Thanks…" she stretched her other freed leg.
"And I'd make a fine pirate, huh?" she grinned feebly, indicating the damaged eye with a shake of head as the nurse and aide moved to unfasten her right hand restraints.
"A wonderful one…" Leekie agreed.
"Have I been in a coma thing or something all this time? I only remember being…Thirteen…"
"No, you were fine unless just recently."
"Then my brain did get damaged, right? My memory…" she gave worried look.
"It's likely there was some slight damage but you're recovering." Aldous nodded carefully.
"Thank you." She addressed the aide as she raised and shook a freed hand. "That feels much better. Can I get something to drink?"
"It should be fine." Leekie nodded to the aide. "Just no soda or coffee."
"Yeah, the carbonated stuff would probably kill someone when I fart." Rachel chuckled.
"Sorry…" impish grin at his reproving smile.
"Is cranberry juice ok?" she asked.
"I think it should be…" he turned to the aide who nodded and rather eagerly headed for the door.
"Better bring a bucket or two…!" she cheerily called. "Say?" she looked up. "I doubt I could stand up without pokin' my head through the ceiling."
"You couldn't, dear. Sorry, you grew while in here." Aldous shrugged. "But give us a little time…We'll get to the bottom of this."
"Can I talk with the other girls or is that still outside the protocol?" she asked, a bit anxious. "See…" smile… "I still remember. 'We have to follow the protocol.'." wan smile.
"I think, in this case…We can maybe think a little outside the box." Leekie returned the smile.
"Really? Neat, I really want to talk to them." beam.
"Uncle Aldous? Do I know any of them now? Are we friends?"
…
