It's strange how quickly things can change, how quickly the life you knew can transform into something entirely unrecognizable. How quickly laughter and smiles can give way to tears and grief. But this is what happened. Marni fell sick so suddenly; at first they had both assumed it was the flu. But it worsened with such intensity that Nathan began to feel panicky. Something was just not right. She went to specialists and doctors, who did many tests and prodded and poked her. She was almost eight months pregnant now. There were a lot of tests which the doctors were hesitant to do, due to the baby. Nathan could only watch and fret as they failed to cure her. It was some sort of toxin, which was spreading through her body. That was all they had been able to ascertain for sure. Similar to the great plague which had overcome humanity years previously. Slowly, Marni's organs would fail. His dear, precious Marni.

He stood in the room they shared, by their bed, watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful and he stroked her cheek, smoothing her wavy hair with his palm. She felt so warm and soft. Rotti Largo cleared his throat, and Nathan was startled for a moment. He had forgotten the man was there.

"This is a terrible thing to happen." Rotti said, consolingly.

Nathan nodded slowly, his heart drumming in his chest. She had to get better, she had to be healthy. He couldn't lose her, or their baby. Rotti had come to show his support, and this in itself made Nathan more worried. Things must be pretty bad for Rotti to actually come and see Marni.

"You are a great surGEN, Nathan." Rotti said, touching Nathan's arm, "Perhaps you can do something?"

Nathan nodded slowly, "I'm working on it." He said softly. Then he turned to Rotti, "I'm sorry, I know this must be strange for you."

Rotti shrugged, patting Nathan's arm. "It's all water under the bridge, Nathan."

And Nathan believed him.

Nathan knew if he could just stop the spread of the toxin, then she would be okay. He had to stop it before her organs failed. Organ replacement was not an option, not with her being pregnant. Surely if he could just slow the spread then she would be okay. Surely. He had already seen a slight improvement in her, but he needed to perfect the serum, find the exact mixture to eradicate the toxin from her system.

It was early evening as he worked diligently, making notes and testing compounds. He sat at a desk in the small lab he had set up in a room of the house. Many vials and bottles and beakers surrounded him, scraps of paper littered the floor full of scribbling of formulas and notes. He knew he was close to perfecting it.

Suddenly he heard the doorbell, and felt incredibly annoyed. He didn't have time for visitors. He thought about ignoring it but the knocking grew in intensity. Cursing to himself, he left what he was doing and went down the stairs to the front door, flinging it open.

The red haired and brunette GENterns whom he seemed unable to avoid, stood on his doorstep, looking around curiously. They wore matching white mini dresses and their perfunctory red tinted visors. The brunette held a bunch of pink and yellow tulips.

Oh God, not them.

The brunette spoke, holding the bunch of flowers before her, "We heard your lovely wife is ill. We brought her some flowers."

"What?" Nathan's voice was deadpan and he looked at the two women in disbelief.

As he stood, trying to grasp the situation, the redhead pushed passed him into the house, wandering around the front room, apparently very impressed.

"Oh this is much bigger than your last place." She said, with approval.

She wandered through the front room, looking around.

"I didn't say you could come in." Nathan said, his temper short.

He had to get back to his research. Had to perfect the serum. He made to go after the red head, but the other woman moved in front of him, thrusting the flowers into his hands.

"Mr Wallace, you seem very tense." She pressed herself against him, "Would you like me to relieve you?"

Nathan pushed her off him, although she clung on resolutely. He looked repulsed, "Are you completely brain dead?"

He had no idea where the redhead had disappeared to, and he hated the thought of her in his and Marni's house. He half ran out of the front room, searching for the woman. The brunette followed him, grabbing at him and trying to get him to stop. He burst into his lab, where the woman was standing, glancing around with disdain.

"Guess we're not the only part of your work you take home with you." She said, grinning at Nathan and walking towards him.

"Get out!" Nathan yelled, grabbing the woman's arm and pulling her roughly out of the lab.

"Ooooh I love it when you tell me what to do." She giggled, but she allowed him to pull her out of the room. The brunette followed them to the front door.

"Both of you, get out! I'm very busy!" He exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. No need to be narky." Said the redhead, tossing her hair and wrenching herself out of his grip.

The two women linked arms and walked wordlessly out the front door. Nathan was left standing there, feeling very confused. The tulips were on the carpet in front of him. He stooped down to collect them, and threw them out the front door after the women. Why on earth would they bring Marni flowers? He ran up the stairs and checked on Marni. She was still sleeping peacefully, and stirred when he touched her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled weakly at him, "I had a funny dream." She said softly.

Nathan leaned close and kissed her forehead, he drew back and asked, "What was it, honey?"

"Mmmm." Marni looked sleepy and paler than usual, "We went to the zoo…I wanted to see the pigeons, but they only had crows. How funny. We should go the zoo, someday. Can we go?"

Her breathing slowed and she seemed to fall back into a heavy sleep. Nathan felt hot tears sting his eyes, but he blinked them away and turned back to his work. She would be fine.

The two GENterns purposefully walked down the path and out the front gate. The brunette spoke into her wrist communicator, as a hologram of Rotti Largo appeared above it, rotating slowly.

"It's done, sir."

Mag squinted, blinking as if to clear her vision, but it didn't help. The world had become a blur to her, and it was only getting worse. She needed a second surgery and was waiting for a suitable donor. She sat beside Marni's bed, taking her friend's hand in her own and smiling to her, wishing she could make out her friend's face clearly. Marni smiled at her, her brown eyes shining.

"I'm happy to see you." She said, and Mag was alarmed at how weak her voice sounded, yet Marni was as cheerful and bright as ever which was a small comfort, "I'm so sorry to be such a bother."

"A bother!" Mag exclaimed, squeezing Marni's hand, "Don't be silly. You're never a bother." She smiled and nodded at Marni's stomach, which was like a hill under the quilted bedspread the woman lay beneath, "Not long now."

Marni smiled happily, "Four more weeks. She's getting very active."

Mag's glassy eyes stared at the mound for a moment. She seemed to be deep in thought. She was brought back to the present by Marni's voice, which was suddenly serious.

"I want you to be Godmother." She said, looking at her friend, "I want you to be involved in her life."

Mag smiled, "Of course I will be!" She said, leaning over and hugging Marni, who smelt of vanilla and coconut. She drew back and clutched Marni's shoulder, and now it was her turn to look serious, "Just hurry up and get better, okay?"

Marni smiled at him, her eyes shining as she took the glass he proffered to her.

"This should do it." He said, full of hope.

He was sure he'd gotten it right. The formula would work now, it had to. He'd spent so long on it, gone over everything so many times. He hadn't gone to work in two weeks now, had just tended to Marni and tried to find her cure. He watched her as she daintily drank from the glass. She downed the liquid, and then began to cough, suddenly. Nathan's eyes widened in horror. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Nathan, Nathan I don't…don't feel…" Her words were punctuated with gasps and coughing.

He took her in his arms as she struggled to stay upright. He to held her upright but she seemed to be losing consciousness.

"Marni!" he exclaimed, shaking her violently.

What had happened?! This wasn't what was supposed to happen! He did the math, he'd perfected it, he'd gone over it so many times. This wasn't meant to happen!

Marni's body went limp, her eyes wide, frozen in a look of abject horror. Nathan screamed as blood poured from her mouth, from her nose. Tears ran down her cheeks, and they were tinted red with blood, leaving bloodied tracks on her pale white cheeks. Nathan started to sob, holding her against him and clutching at her. He looked down at her body and realized she was also bleeding from between her legs. There was so much blood. The baby! He hoisted her into her arms and flew down the stairs. He had to do something. He ran into his lab with his wife in his arms and lay her down hurriedly on a table. She was still bleeding and he stroked her cheek, tears falling from his eyes and onto her face. Her eyelids twitched and she seemed to struggle to open them, her hands reaching for him. She found him and clutched at his shirt, desperately.

"I can't feel her moving, Nathan." Her voice is coarse and brittle, her hands shaking as they cling to him.

Nathan felt sobs wrack his body and stared into her face with desperation, "Marni I don't-"

"You have to save her…please save her." Marni's eyes are closing again, "Save Shilo."

"Sh-Shilo?" Nathan spluttered, as tears continued to slide down his cheeks.

Her voice a desperate murmur, "I didn't want…I'm sorry I…there was so much…I wanted to…"

Marni's voice broke off and she was very still, he couldn't find a pulse but his hands were shaking so damn much. But she was breathing still, only barely. He could feel the almost imperceptible warmth coming in tiny wisps from her mouth. Something in him snapped and he suddenly saw clearly what he had to do. Somehow, he found his medipack, snapping clear plastic surgical gloves on his hands with a well practiced ease, and picking up a scalpel from the counter. He advanced on Marni's still body, holding it before him. Suddenly she didn't seem like Marni anymore, just an unmoving thing all splattered with blood and nothing like the joyful woman he knew. He tore her nightgown back to reveal her swollen stomach, creamy skin stretched tight over the rounded bulge; and with a strange detachment, he sliced her open.

The Genecops spilled into the lab, all noise and yelling and uniforms. They found him sitting in front of Marni's lifeless body. There was blood everywhere. He held a tiny baby in his arms, who was screaming and wailing. Such a tiny little thing, glistening in blood and fluids. He just stared straight ahead, seeming catatonic. Yet he held that baby with a gentle tenderness, holding her to him and shielding her with his arms. It wasn't until two of the Genecops grabbed him, and wrenched the child from his grasp, that he seemed to snap to life.

"No!" He yelled, his voice raw and desperate, as he was held back by more police.

They forced him to the ground, holding him tightly by his arms as he reached out for the baby.

"Give her back! Give her back!" He screamed at them, looking crazed, half mad, and struggling helplessly against the men who held him.

More police swarmed into the room, milling around Marni's lifeless body, talking on their radios in hurried voices. Nathan watched helplessly as his tiny daughter was handed to a GENtern, who marched out of the room with her. Nathan reached out for her, straining to break free, but it was useless.

"You are under arrest-"

But Nathan wasn't listening to what they said, just yelling for his daughter.

Suddenly, from the confusion and yelling, Rotti Largo appeared, looking grave. His eyes flicked to Marni, and then to Nathan who was still yelling and struggling against the men who held him fast. Nathan was beside himself with fury and frustration, and didn't see Rotti nod approvingly at the police, a slight smile on his face, before rounding on the kneeling, grief stricken man.

"Nathan!"

Nathan's ears faintly registered the booming, rumbling voice of Rotti. He stopped yelling, choking on his tears, and looked up at the man who now stood over him.

"Rotti?…I'm sorry I didn't know…I didn't know what would happen." Nathan spoke with an aching rawness, eyes wide with horror and shock.

"You killed her." Rotti stated.

"I didn't, I didn't mean to…" Nathan said, desperately, "Something went wrong…I didn't mean to…I didn't mean to!"

Nathan looked helplessly over at Marni's body. He'd cleaned the blood from her face. She just looked like she was sleeping now. Her face was pale and beautiful and perfect. Only her body was defiled and covered in blood. Ripped open. Destroyed. God. There had been so much blood. It was all over his hands, his clothes.

"You'll go to prison for this." Rotti said, leaning in close to Nathan.

"Where's Shilo?!" Nathan exclaimed, "They cannot take her! Bring her back!"

Rotti straightened, flicking lint from his immaculate suit and casting a disdainful eye around at his surroundings.

"She's fine." Rotti assured him, "She will be cared for."

Nathan cried bitterly, no longer trying to struggle against the men who held him. His shoulders shook. He looked up at Rotti, desperate and pleading.

"Please, I need my daughter."

A hint of a smile seemed to come over Rotti's face, for a fraction of a second, before his somber expression returned.

"Leave us." He said firmly, and the Genecops at once filed out the blood stained and shadowy room. Nathan slumped forward on the ground, free of his captors.

Rotti put his hand on Nathan's shoulder, "I can fix things. You need not go to prison. Your daughter needs her father."

Nathan looked up sharply, his sore, red eyes fixed on Rotti from behind his dark rimmed glasses.

"Fix things?" Nathan asked, voice hoarse from yelling, and his lips dry and cracked.

Mag blotted her eyes with a tissue as she walked up the driveway to the front gate of the house. Huh. This was a new edition. An intercom had been installed, and the black cast iron ornate gate was locked electronically. She looked up at the house, feeling full of trepidation. She saw so clearly now. Her new eyes had been successfully installed, the corneas replaced and fitted with the newest technology for added perception and precision. Her eyes, she found out, had been Marni's. Now, her friend would be a part of her. She wasn't sure how she felt about it. It was an entirely strange and confusing feeling. The skin around her eyes was red and raw, but they worked perfectly. She saw with astounding clarity the colours and shapes of the world. But the only thing she wanted to see, was Marni. And she could never do that again.

Nathan would not return her calls. Rotti would not speak about Marni's death or the fate of the child. She felt so lost and alone in her grief. She had to know. Mag pressed the button on the panel, willing Nathan to answer.

"What?"

His clipped tones rung out over the speaker, and Mag leant in close to speak into the microphone, "Nathan? It's Mag, can you let me in please?" Silence. She pressed the buzzer again, "Nathan!"

His voice was cold and dispassionate, "Leave me alone, Mag."

Mag choked on a sob, and pleaded into the microphone, "Do you think you're the only one who is suffering, Nate?!" More silence was his only response, and Mag grew angry, "What about the baby?! Where is she?"

Nathan's voice trembled slightly, "The baby died with Marni. Don't ever come back again."

She buzzed him again and again, but he didn't reply. Mag cried quietly for her friend, and for her godchild who she never got to meet. She looked at the house once more, seeming so dark and shadowy. Then she looked back at the limo which had brought her here, and at the two bodyguards who stood by it, watching her. She put her shoulders back, and walked back to the car.

Nathan watched the limo leave from the window. Good. No one would interfere with his daughter's life now. No one would take her from him. He would protect her as he had been unable to protect Marni. He looked down at her, so soft and tiny and perfect. Her little hands were balled into fists and she slept peacefully on her back, clutching at the fuzzy pink baby blanket spread over her. He touched her head, smoothing her fine, downy hair. Almost two months old now. And no one would ever take her. She would stay for always with him. No matter what it took. He walked out of her nursery and down the hall, to stand before the oval pane of glass he had built into the wall. Behind it, he had made a small, cold room. Marni's corpse sat on a chair, a veil hanging over her face, to hide the fact that her eyes were missing. He looked at her, putting his hand on the glass and staring at her. Good. Marni could rest there. He couldn't bear to have her rot in the ground. To have some uncaring grave robber use her to gather zydrate from? No, Marni would stay here. Where he could see her and she would never rot and never leave. His wrist communicator beeped and he hastened to answer it. Rotti Largo's hologram appeared.

"Nathan, collect on the Tyler account. I've faxed the details through to you."

He put his hand over the device, causing Rotti's image to disappear, and the communicator to go quiet. He went back into Shilo's nursery and checked that the monitor by her cot was switched on. It would alert him immediately if she stirred. He couldn't trust anyone else to care for her.

"I love you, precious." He said softly, kissing her softly on her smooth hair.

Shilo. Beautiful, innocent Shilo. She was all he had now. He had to protect her. He couldn't let her go out. He hated the thought of her growing up and leaving. No. He would stop at nothing to keep her with him. He knew that. She would stay always. Years passed, and he saw Marni more and more in Shilo's face. Her eyes were the exact same shade. Just as shining and full of life. And gradually, although his obsession with Marni was ever lingering and always present, he would realize. That his obsession was twisting into something new. He would realize that his obsession was Shilo.