For DannyMay Day 4- Science and Day 6-Stuck

(Unfortunately, this is a little late...or early?)

Chapter Summary: Still stuck in his lair, Daniel discovers some things he would rather not. But at least someone...or something is looking out for him.

At some point, Daniel must have fallen asleep (Did ghosts do that?) because when he woke up, the room was back in order, though he was still laying on the floor. The boy slowly sat up, noticing with a blush he was still just in his boxers. Then he frowned, his shoulders falling. It's not like that mattered. He was alone.

He stood up, grabbing a t-shirt and pair of pants from the closet anyway. The boy put them on, his eyebrow raising as he noticed his black suit, gloves, and boots folded on top of his set of drawers. So whatever set the room right also folder his clothes...and maybe altered the room right after he woke up.

Coming to sit on the beanbag chair, Daniel looked around, an idea sparking in his mind. He wanted a set of pencils to appear at his feet. The boy blinked and yellow, number 2 pencils appeared.

"Okay." He looked up at the ceiling. "So whatever this, it responds to what I want."

No answer. He crossed his arms. "I want a door out of here."

None appeared, causing Daniel's frown to deepen. "It appears I'm stuck here."

"And when did I start talking to myself?" He suddenly gripped his throat, gently feeling his adam's apple. "When did I start talking at all?"

The boy hummed, listening to the sound of his voice. "At least I can talk. That's good."

There was something surprising and satisfying about hearing his own voice, in the real world for the first time. It echoed slightly and he thought it was deeper than Danielle's but not as deep as Father's. But it was hard to tell since he always heard those two speak through glass and water.

He sighed, remembering. Earlier his sister had been excited to actually hear his voice but she wasn't here. He glanced at the picture of her tacked to the wall.

"May I have a picture of me and my sister?" The boy asked aloud.

A picture of both of them in ghost form side by side with arms around each other's backs appeared in his hand. The boy stuttered slightly at the feeling. He rubbed his thumb across the picture. It felt as real as anything else here, but they had never taken a picture like this. Instead it was exactly like he imagined a picture of the two of them would look like.

He had to find a way to find her, to see if Father found a way to stabilize her and what happened to his new brother and the others. But first, Daniel needed to know where he was.

Something tickled in the back of his mind. Daniel was starting to get a suspicion but he needed to test it. He stood up and clapped his hands together.

"I don't imagine you can summon a cat." No animal appeared. "But a stuffed animal?" A stuffed black cat with green eyes appeared on the bed.

Daniel nodded. "As I thought."

He closed his eyes, imagining his sister. His Father. His brothers. A ghost cat. A ghost bird. Daniel opened his eyes. Nothing as he thought. The room couldn't bring him people or animals, living or ghostly.

"How about a ball?" One appeared at his feet. But objects could appear.

"What about food? Cookies?" He imagined chocolate chip cookies, like Danielle showed him.

A plate appeared on the desk. Well, they certainly looked like cookies, but the colors were off, green and purple. Actually, the color of everything was muted, various soft shades of green, purple, and blue as if the light was dim and green shaded.

"May I have a red shirt?" The boy asked.

A shirt appeared….well it was reddish green. Daniel shrugged, deciding to try the cookies. Taking a brief bite, he smiled. It tasted good, sweet, a little….tangly too? Not that he was sure what cookies should taste like.

Swallowing, the boy bit his lip. There was one other thing he could try. "May I have a window to see outside?"

To the boy's surprise, the wall shimmered before turning transparent. A scene appeared in front of him and he slowly walked forward with his jaw dropped.

Swirling green cloud and lightning. Purple doors in the distance and floating bits of rock and dirt. Something long and undulating swam (floated?) by him, snapping at a small green blob with sleeping looking eyes.

Maybe it was his previous existence as a half ghost (that's what Danielle said they were called), hearing Father ramble about theories and information while the man worked and Daniel drifted in and out of sleep. Maybe it was new full ghost instincts and knowledge ingrained by death.

But Daniel knew where he was. This was the realm of the dead, the Infinite Realms. And it made sense. He was a full ghost now, a being belonging in this world. He reached out, trying to pass through the window but was stopped by an invisible barrier. So he was still stuck in here. But now he had an idea where he was. A lair in the Infinite Realms. His lair or maybe his and his sister's and brothers' lair. At the realization, the invisible wall in front of him buzzed in agreement.

So he was right. This was a lair, clearly linked to him but with its own consciousness as well. The boy frowned. "Why are you keeping me in then?"

There was another buzz and a feeling he couldn't quite decipher as the window closed, reforming a wall.

"Alright?" Daniel sat back down on the bed, looking around the room. "So you will not let me leave. Is this a trap? Are you planning to eat me?"

This time, the boy felt a very pronounced buzz and feeling (maybe offended disgust?). Daniel put his hands up. "Okay. I suppose that would not make sense." He crossed his arms. "Normally a lair is a ghost's home." Another buzz. "But you cannot just keep me trapped! I want to see my family."

Daniel could almost feel emotions churning through the lair but he couldn't decipher them, leading him to putting his head in his hands. Arguing his way out wasn't going to work. And he couldn't use force. So just wait and bide his time? He hated the thought but saw no alternative. He turned towards the book shelf. Maybe he should see if the books yield any information.

When Daniel first opened the book, he was met with the pleasant surprise that he understood the words, despite not actually remembering learning how to read. Although….he did dream about reading with Danielle sometimes so he didn't question it until much later.

The first books the lair provided him were about ghosts, the Realms, and lairs. Obviously a response to his desire for information. He knew ghosts came from living things but the details…. Those were new.

According to the books, ghosts formed because of strong emotions and a desire to persist after death. His mind flashed to melting on the floor, silenting begging for someone to save him, that he wanted to live. It made his stomach churn, thinking about his death. But as he read about Obsessions, Daniel thought he knew why he'd reformed as a full ghost. While he loved his Father and brothers and wanted to see them again, the thing he wanted most was to see his sister and live the life he'd dreamed about. They'd both dreamed about, really.

And being here, away from them hurt. He frowned down at his book, pushing the thought away. He read about the powers ghosts had- invisibility, intangibility, flight, ectoplasmic energy blasts. Those were the basics, most of which he'd displayed. Standing, Daniel raised a brow. When he'd been in his pod, Danielle had talked about father training her with her powers and she talked about training with him when he was ready. Maybe he could practice now, to pass the time. And once he figured out how to leave, he could show his sister and father what he learned. Hopefully, they would be proud of him.

The boy floated off the floor. He spun around quickly, stretching and giving a disbelieving laugh as his legs morphed into a flexible tail. That was strange but fascinating.

He glanced towards the ceiling, wondering how much he could manipulate the lair. "I would like a place to practice my ghost powers."

A portion of the wall shimmered, before forming into a door. Daniel raised a brow and tentatively pulled the door open. His core dipped slightly in disappointed; it wasn't a way out for the lair but a training room with targets and hoops along the ceiling. Well...it was what he asked for.

Daniel floated forward into the center and lit his fists. He marveled over the green energy before shooting a target. His core hummed in pleasure at the shot connected. This would be fun.

Some time later, after flying a few rounds through the hoops and shooting about ten blasts, Daniel sank to the floor, his core pulsing unhappily in his chest. He sighed, feeling exhausted. He'd hope to be able to do more than that but he just laid on the floor, pouting.

A glass of some kind of liquid and a plate with a sandwich appeared near his head. The boy looked up, confused. He didn't ask for anything to eat or drink. So why...?

The lair buzzed, the feeling pulsing through him but Daniel ignored it, staring up at his hands. Was his glow really dim? Was that normal? And why he was so tired. But the lair buzzed again, sending a nagging feeling to the ghost.

"Okay. Okay!" Daniel sat up, eyeing the food suspiciously.

Another buzz. He raised a brow and reached for the sandwich. The lair hummed in approval as he ate, the positive feeling increasing as he picked up the cup and drank.

Soon he finished the food. The boy patted his chest, noticing his core pulsing more strongly after the intake of energy. Though he still felt….. not hungry per say….but still drained of energy.

At the passive thought, another sandwich appeared on the plate. Daniel raised a brow but did nott reach to pick it up. The lair buzzed insistently. The boy hummed thoughtfully. "So you clearly want me to eat. I'm not entirely convinced you're not trying to make me lower my guard….or make me a more satisfying meal."

There was another offended buzz and Daniel couldn't help but feel that the emotion was authentic. "So you're not trying to trick me. You want me to eat….for my own good?"

Another buzz of conformation. The boy picked up the sandwich. "Is this some strange attempt to...take care of me?"

The lair hummed more strongly, a clear yes but without words. Daniel then took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. "Why?" He asked skeptically.

There were several more buzzes of different pitches, the room almost swirling with emotion. He shouldn't make any sense of it. The boy sighed; now he was starting to understand Danielle's struggle when she tried to talk to him with yes or no questions.

His core buzzed sadly at the thought of his sister but the boy just ate with his shoulder dropped. He stood up after a few moments, feeling physically better but still sad. Daniel returned to the bedroom, staring at one of the familiar blank walls. He kinda wished there was something decorating the wall other than the one picture of his sister. The boy blinked, finding a landscape painting- flowers and trees around a creek boasting a few frogs. It looked very much like one of his dreams.

Daniel frowned; he wasn't sure how he felt about the lair's ability to see into his mind. It was creepy but maybe not so bad, since it did give him a measure of choice. But it would be nice if that let him communicate with it better. The boy turned back to the book he'd been perusing earlier. Maybe if he found more information about lairs, he could figure out how to communicate with it or what it wanted with him.

Reading about lairs yielded both answers and new questions. Daniel wrinkled his brow as he stared down at one of the illustrations. A ghost and its lair existing in harmony, as they should. According to the book, lair were in fact homes for ghosts. They were nebulous ectoplasmic entities (not really ghosts) that exist in symbiotic relationships with humanoid ghosts. With their ability to read the emotions and thoughts of their inhabitant, the lair will mold itself into an ideal environment for their ghost, providing for its residence needs. In exchange, the lair feeds off of the positive emotions generated from a safe and happy ghost.

Putting the book down, Daniel put his head in his hands. That explained why the lair provided him, giving him food, clothes, a place to sleep, and things to occupy his mind. It wanted him to be happy, granted it was so it could feed off of him, but it legitimately wanted him happy and healthy. And for the long run. According to the book, the mutualistic relationship between ghosts and their lairs could last for centuries and strengthen both parties as they benefit each other.

But it still didn't make sense. Daniel looked up. "How am I supposed to be happy if you're keeping me away from my family?"

The lair buzzed, a cacophony of emotions. Care, comfort, sadness, distress. Maybe something that was….guilt? An apology. But like before, Daniel didn't understand what the lair was trying to tell him. And he was just about fed up with trying to understand it. Maybe the entity was selfishly hoarding him for itself or maybe it was being strangely over protective (though he couldn't imagine why). But through his arguing and research, he was still in the same position as earlier. Still stuck with no way out. The only thing Daniel could do was wait.

Time passed and Daniel quickly learned the lair was boring. There wasn't much he could do, other than read, practice his powers, eat, and sleep. So he read, searching for more information about lairs and how to force or trick his way out. But that proved a dead end. So Daniel decided to focus on getting better control of his powers and learning all that he could (only so he wouldn't worry about his sister, father, and brothers so much, though they were never far from his mind).

Time passed. Daniel practiced his powers. He ate and slept. He drew and made up stories and games to occupy himself. He read...and read….and read….and read. He learned that he loved reading. And the world of new information caused him to think and ask questions- many questions.

One of the first things Daniel learned- the lair could provide him with books on a variety of subjects but he loved science best. He loved reading about animals and plants and the earth. He loved reading about chemistry and explosions and the different kinds of matter. He loved physics and gravity and the laws of motions. He loved reading about how the universe was expanding, black holes, and theories about life on other plants. He loved space and the stars and the moon. He loved ectobiology, the study of all things ghostly.

And all of it, though there were many things he didn't understand, all of it fascinated Daniel. It made him want to explore and learn even more. It made him want to run experiments. And he tried.

"I would love some scientific equipment, something to use for experiments." He tried to imagine what kind of scientific equipment he'd use but most was too complex or not described enough in the books for him to imagine.

The lab buzzed confusedly before objects appeared on the table in front of him. Some glass beakers, scales, a measuring tape, and a stopwatch

Daniel furrowed his brow. That was it?…. Well, he did not have a lot of background knowledge and skill so he'd have to experiment with what he could. Instead of just practicing, he'd test his powers. He'd recorded his progress (that's one thing scientists did, they recorded their observations).

He pressed the stopwatch as his invisibility quit. "And that is…..15 minutes. 47 seconds more than last time."

The boy grinned, writing the measure down. How much longer he could fly or stay invisible or shoot ectoblast. All of those were improving.

He stared at the mirrored wall of his training room. "And my glow is brighter. Though I still don't know how to record that."

Daniel was proud of how he was growing stronger and more agile. He hoped Father and Danielle would be proud too. He still missed them dearly but as he felt himself growing stronger, he hoped he would find a way to get to them soon. And while he waited, he could occupy himself with his practice and his books.

And those two things- his experiments and the books- tickled memories in his mind. Of a sterile metal place beyond his pod (a laboratory maybe?), of his father goggles and a lab coat (the few times Daniel opened half-lidded eyes with his father in the room). Was his father a scientist?

That led to other, creeping revelations as Daniel realized how little he actually knew. How strangely patching his knowledge was. He knew some of the ghost biology stuff from half listening to Father work. He knew basic concepts- what food was, what plants and some animals looked like, the words of many things, what the basic parts of his body were called. But from before he died, all he remembered was floating on a glass and metal pod and dreams of being alive.

And that was not normal.

He saw it in the anatomy book first. Humans (and he had been half human before he died) were born as babies and they grew into toddlers, then children, then adolescents. And he was an adolescent now but he didn't remember being a young child. Or any younger than he was now. He knew his age (14) like he automatically knew so many other things. But he didn't remember ever having a birthday party or being any shorter or smaller than he was now.

At first he argued, maybe this was a half ghost condition. There was no information about half ghosts in the books and he was unable to summon any. But that made sense. According to Danielle and Father, half ghosts like them were rare and special. His father and he and his siblings might be the only half ghost in existence. But….that wouldn't explain why he didn't remember growing up or having two parents like the books on both human and ghost reproduction said was required. He tried to push down the unease, distracting himself with summoning some paper and drawing.

He frowned down at the paper. Daniel had drawn his pod. His chamber. Himself floating inside with his hair spread around his head. He bit his lip. There must be an explanation. He'd been sick and the pod had been keeping him alive, hence why he died when he fell out. But why was he sick? Why were Danielle and his brothers sick too, when their father was well? Yes, he'd been trying to help him like a doctor or scientist would. Like a parent who wanted their child to be safe and healthy would. But something was still off.

Daniel pushed the thought away and read something else. He asked for fiction, a story like those Danielle read to him. And he wasn't sure how or why but his love of science led to a science fiction book in his hand.

His core fell as he read, drawn in even though the ideas were too...close. He read of possible futures. Clones, Genetic engineering, bioprinted organisms, artificial wobes (The boy glanced at the drawing of his pod. That was too much like…) He read about people made in laboratories who weren't real people because they were experiments.

Experiments…..

Daniel pushed the thoughts away, floating in his training room. He poured all his unease (and anger and hurt over something at the edge of his consciousness) into his neon-green lit hands. His strengthening aura glowed brightly as he incinerated his targets.

Though he didn't want to, Daniel remembered. Words and fleeting images he pushed down.

Daniel drifts in and out of consciousness.

Father stands in front of his computer. "Progress report?"

"Yes Lamb Chop. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 at 50% stability and falling."

Father shakes his head. "As I suspected. A lost cause then. And the girl?"

"Danielle remains at 80% stability, still experiencing gradual decline."

The man frowns. "And the prime clone?"

"85% stability. Mid-morph DNA from the original will assure 100% stability."

"Very good. I suppose it is time to proceed." Father leans forward on the panel. "The girl and the other experiments are not a total waste. They will prove useful in securing their original. It's just inconvenient all most likely will destabilize in the upcoming confrontation." He grins. "No matter. What is a little spilled ectoplasm when I will soon have my perfect son?"

In the lair, Daniel landed on the floor and leaned over feeling sick. The words pounded in his head. Experiment, Unstable, Clone, Perfect son. Father's 'perfect son' was him, the prime clone. Daniel knew what a clone was. He knew what he was. The product of immortal and definitely illegal experiments. The FAILED product, since he died right out of the chamber. But he was supposed to be perfect and strong but he failed.

But that wasn't the worst part. Father called his brothers experiments. His SISTER was an experiment. His fists balled. They were spilt ectoplasm of no consequence. Their destabilization was an inconvenience!

Destabilization….. Had they all melted like him? Daniel's eyes popped open wide. Oh god, where his siblings all gone? Had his sister seen him die only to die soon after herself? Was she a full ghost somewhere, trapped like he was? Or was she gone, destroyed in the unforgiving Realm before she even reformed?

No! No! NO! Daniel shook his head, hoping and praying. She was still out there. She had to be. He could just feel it in his core. She was somewhere out there. But...what if she wasn't…?

And that was worse than being a full ghost or a clone. Or anything else he'd learned or experienced. She might be dead because of their father's heartlessness.

Daniel started crying, as the lair hummed comfortingly to him. "Please." He hiccuped. "I need to find her." The lair just soothed him until he fell asleep.

Daniel blinked awake, his eyes crushy with tears. He was….on the floor? This was becoming an unfortunate pattern. One that needed to end.

He sat up and shook his fist at the ceiling. "You need to let me go!"

The lair buzzed comfortingly but the boy wasn't having it. "No!" He hopped to his feet. "We are done. Let me out."

The lair seemed to sputter at the demand, the light dimming oddly and objects disappearing and reappearing in different places. It physically trembled, tilting and throwing off Daniel's balance. The boy fell to his knees and growled. "Really! You're throwing a tantrum! I do not care how angry you are! I will not be your pet!"

The trembling suddenly stopped, the lair righting itself. An emotion swelled through the air. And Daniel's jaw dropped. That emotion. It did not make sense. The lair wasn't angry or offended. It was….the emotion was one Daniel knew too well, when he missed his sister. When that thought he would never be free and never find her or…..she was gone and he never got to hug her, creeped in. The lair was hurt and heartbroken and worried and…..afraid. It was afraid. And it was guilty, extremely guilty.

And Daniel did not understand. He knelt on the floor. Why was this happening? Why was the lair doing this to him, if it felt guilty about its actions?"

Looking down, Daniel addressed the lair. "Just tell me why you are doing this. Why you will not let me leave." The lair buzzed in a cacophony of emotions and the boy just shook his head. "Please explain it to me."

The buzzing increased, the emotions trying to overwhelm the boy as the lights started flickering again. "Please!" Daniel begged. "I know you can understand me! Why won't you show me why you are doing this?!"

The lair trembled again, something crashing in the lair's anxiety. Then the light increased back to normal, the subtle trembling of the lair settling. After about a minute, something neon green- brighter than anything else in the lair, flashed at the edge of Daniel's vision. His head whipped up. An image was on the floor in front of him, shifting, changing, morphing into…..

Daniel's core sputtered. It was him, on the floor, the broken remains of his pod littered around him. His limbs were melting into...ectoplasm. Limbs trembling, the boy swallowed and looked down. He tried to force down his dread but it just bubbled in his gut, trying to drown him. Daniel shook his head.

Then he froze, glancing up again as the lair's sadness and….dread(?) swelled. Daniel furrowed his brow. "You do not want that to happen? But it already did."

That was the truth. Though he hadn't thought about it a lot since manifesting here, he'd died but he'd survived, even if in a different form. There was nothing he or anyone else could do about it. And really, the knowledge that he was an experiment and he might never see his sister again was much worse than dying.

The image changed. He was still...melting but alone on a floating island in the Realm.

"You are afraid I am going to destabilize?" The boy asked with a raised brow. "But..."

His mouth snapped shut as the image changed, this time showing multiple scenes- Daniel being chased by a serpentine beast, the same snake squeezing him in its coils, the boy trapped in a net by a robotic looking ghost, Daniel being devoured by a giant snapping plant.

"So...outside is dangerous." The boy swallowed; he already figured that but actually seeing it made his core clenched. "But….I would be okay. I could escape. Or I could defend myself."

Daniel frowned, looking at his slightly glowing hand. That was debatably true now. But….when he figure formed here. The boy swallowed. At the beginning, he could not fly for five minutes and shot off only ten blasts before collapsing in exhaustion. His glow had been weaker than even his weakest brother, almost non-existent. He glanced at his barely glowing hand again; And though his glow was stronger now, it was still pathetically dull. The boy put his hand on his chest, feeling his core pulse weakly.

"I would not have stood a chance out there." His shoulders sagged defeatedly.

The lair humed loudly; it almost sounded relieved but Daniel was anything but. At the beginning, he'd been weak, vulnerable. He distantly registered his core pulsing again. It was hardly stronger than when he'd been in the chamber. He was still weak.

And it oddly made sense. Yes, he'd been a half ghost before but practically, he was an infant ghost. He'd died, his old half ghost body literally fell apart. And his new full ghost body formed in the Realm, probably in this very lair unless the entity picked him up as soon as he started manifesting. Of course he was physically weak.

Daniel started trembling, sitting heavily on the bed. "You...you save me." He bit his lip. "If you had let me leave like I wanted, I'd be a puddle of ectoplasm."

His gut churned in unease and fear, making him feel sick. If he'd gotten his way, he'd be gone before he had any chance to find his sister. It would have just been over before it even started and he'd come very close to losing everything again, because he hadn't even noticed he was vulnerable. He hadn't even known the signs to look for.

At that point again, Daniel was reminded of how very little he knew and it terrified him. He felt small, young, weak, and vulnerable. He was all those things. A word came into his mind. Child, he was a child. He had thought earlier that he was an adolescent. That he'd never been a child because he was a freaking clone and that had stolen his innocence. But that was false. He was an experiment but he still was a child. He was just a kid. He was isolated and alone and trapped. Suck here. Only existing because of the mercy of a random lair.

But was it mercy? Most of him wanted to trust that the entity that saved him had good intentions (that's what the book said, right?) but a smaller, cynical part of him pricked with fear. How could he trust it? How could he trust it when his own father saw him as an experiment and his siblings as trash to throw away? Why couldn't it be doing the same thing, trapping him while he was useful to it? Using him as only a tool, a prize?

The lair must have sensed his fears because it started thrilling, almost cooing. A comforting sound, like it was trying to soothe him.

The boy brushed it off. "Please. I know you think this is protecting me, but I can not stay here forever. I need to find my family. I'll….I'll be miserable if...if you keep me here."

The lair hummed sadly, but…with understanding. The pictures in front of him changed- him practicing his powers, him eating, him reading intently, him floating in front of a mirror with his aura blindingly bright. All the things he'd already been doing to….get stronger.

"You want me to grow stronger?" The lair buzzed in agreement.

More pictures, a door opening, him hugging his sister somewhere in the Realm.

"Once I am ready, you will let me find her." He raised a brow. "But what's in this for you?"

Him and Danielle in the lair with the door open. Them laughing with each other while eating. Them flying through the open door. Another scene of them returning, the door still open.

"So both of us come and go as we please? And..." He furrowed his brow, thinking of what he read in the book. "You become our home. You receive the energy from both of us as long as we are happy and safe."

The pictures disappeared and the lair hummed in agreement. He could feel its swirling emotions- fondness, care, happiness. No deception. It wanted to keep him safe and happy. And that authentic care would need to be enough.

And it was nice knowing he was cared about even if it was by a faceless ghostly entity. He would keep doing as it showed him. He would grow physically stronger and he would learn, growing mentally stronger. And eventually, like he had hope when he was in his pod at Father's house, he would be ready and free.