Well, here's chapter two. In which Sal tells Opal of her past, guards make phone calls, and Opal takes a shower and then plays chess with her feet.

It's not as bad as it sounds.

I hope.

Opal stared at the centaur for a good five seconds. Then, she opened her mouth-

And laughed in her face.

"My daughter!" she squealed. "Oh yes, very amusing. Really." She turned to guards, who had just gotten very interested in the conversation. "Hilarious, gentlemen. I had no idea you could be so bored watching someone like me." She turned back to Sal. "If you are done wasting my time, I would like to get back to my meaningful meditation."

"But...I am your daughter..." Sal began, nervously tapping the ground with one hoof.

Opal sighed, her good humor gone. "Listen to me. If you really are my daughter - which I doubt - then I am afraid that you need some variety of proof to show me that-"

"Like this?" Sal reached into her ratty coat and pulled out a large collection of papers. "DNA tests, birth certificates, everything. Is that enough proof for you, Mum?"

Opal looked over the papers. Her eyes scanned every word, every conformation, everything. She looked the centaur in the eye. "Soooo," she said casually. "You're the little result of my college...eh, experiences. And you're back."

Sal gave a grim smile. "You remember me."

"Remember you? You gave me the most painful day of my life. Do you have any idea on how painful it is for a bipedal creature to give birth to a quadraped? Do you have any idea how awkward your conception was? If it was not for the fact that my mother knew about, kept it secret from my father, and paid for the very expensive surgery it took to safely deliver you, not to mention that blasted lawsuit...So, how has Daddy been taking care of you? He obviously hasn't cared about the way you dress..."

"I'm sorry...'Daddy?'" Sal looked confused.

"Yes. Daddy." Opal raised an eyebrow. "You know. The one that takes care of you."

"Uh..." Sal scratched the back of her head. "I...never knew my father...I spent my life in foster care with a family of elves."

It took two full heartbeats for Opal to react...badly. "That...that Idiot put you up for adoption!?"

Before Sal could answer, Opal stood up and gave out a shrill scream. "I can't believe it! That moron! That twit! That fool! First he gets me pregnaet, then when we break up, and sues me for rights to you, and then pop! The fool puts you up for adoption!"

Sal took a cautionary step back, and the guards began to take notes with their digipads. Heaven knows how much that story would sell for.

"I am sorry..." Sal's voice was filled with a tiny touch of pity, but was mostly filled with fear.

"Oh, but it isn't your fault. When I get my hands on that fool..."

"Well, it is not like you were the parent of the year, either," said Sal.

Opal glared at the pixie/centaur. "Very funny. So, did you come here to insult me, or do you want something from me, your dear old mum?"

Sal gulped nervously. "Well, it concerns an invention of mine. I have constructed a device of immensly useful capabilities - I guess I got that from you - and I have need of an immense amount of funds to produce it and give it to the world."

"An invention, hmm?" Opal suddenly looked more interested. "So what is it? Wings of some kind, or something stupid like contact lense cameras?" Still a bit of bitterness on that department.

"Actually, they're boots." Sal grinned widely, feeling pleased that someone seemed to actually be taking intrest in her idea. "Hover boots, with anti-grav capabilities for easy transportation. modeled off of you wings. But with these boots, wings will be out of style and obselete. And to make it even better, centaurs can use them!"

Opal looked at the girl with mild intrest. She was supposed to be a genuis, and she just spilt her invention's secrets to a criminal and to several listening guards. However, it was a good invention. "Not bad," she admitted. "And you want me to provide money for you? I am in prison you know."

"Yes, I know. But I was hoping that you may have some money left over, maybe?" Sal's eyes were filled with hope - or as Opal would call it, foolishness. "Something that wasn't compensated? Maybe?"

Opal opened her mouth to say something, but she was distracted by the sound of her cell's door opening. An elf guard, the captain of the group guarding her, said, "Visiting hours are over."

Sal sighed and followed the guard out of the cell, and into the multitude of scanning devices again, to make sure Opal hadn't given her anything. After the scanning, Sal left for apartment by hover-taxi, leaving Opal alone in her cell.

Opal told the guards she wanted a shower.

The guards were willing to oblige. Opal's entire cell, including the bathroom, was transparent, so her whole body would be exposed when she was naked, giving the guards a good view at a naked pixie. Opal tried to avoid this humiliating exposure, usually. She would just not shower.

Today, however, she needed a shower. Something to calm her nerves. So the guard removed her straight-jacket, and she pulled of her orange prison uniform. A flurry of wolf-whistles came from outside. Opal ignored them.

She resisted the urge to scream in joy as the fresh, warm water soaked her skin, enveloping her in the heat. She ran her hands through her black hair as she sighed quietly. This was something she hadn't done in a while. And she knew why, as she looked over her shoulder, seeing the guard in her cell, stationed to make sure didn't escape, watch her with a sick smile on his face.

"Perverted slime," muttered Opal.

The guard said nothing. He simply grinned.

The other guards all watched in intrest, a few even encouraging him to get in with her. Opal made a note in her head to shoot him when she was released, but settled for saying she was done taking a shower and getting out, putting her clothes back on and allowing the guard to put her jacket on and leave. The guards outside groaned. She simply sat on her cot and said nothing, simply thinking.

Was this Sal girl telling the truth? Was she really in foster care? Or was it a plan to destroy her? Whatever it was, it fascinated Opal. She had a daughter, who wanted her help. And Opal wasn't sure how to help her. Or if she wanted to. Did it matter that shen was her daughter? Why should she care? Why did it matter?

Why did she...feel worried?

She growled. It wasn't an emotion she was fond of.

Sighing, she rose from her mat and went to the small box she kept in the corner of the room. The box contained a few valued possesions she had been allowed to keep: a few pictures of herself as a child, a rare bracelet she bought in school, a collection of seahorses made of chewed cardboard (a personal hobby of hers), and a digital, holographic chess board.

Ah, chess. A sport that always calmed her nerves.

She tilted the box, spilling the chess board out, and kicked it to the foot of her cot. She sat on the cot, turned on the game, and began to play against herself, turning the board around with her toes when she wanted to change the board's direction.

Playing against oneself can be quite difficult when one is quite intellegent. Opal was no exception to the rule. Her every move was countered and she was never able to mprtally wound herself on the board, as the holographic pieces moved left and right, reacting to her toucking the board's sensors with her toes. After a long time, she stoped playing and thought about the girl again.

Was she really her daughter? And did she, Opal Koboi, actually care?

She glanced down at the board and saw that while she thinking, she accidently move her king into a less defendable position. If she moved her bishop, she would have him in check-mate.

Opal stared at the board for a long time, thought about, and then turned the game off with her toe.

She lied back on her cot and smiled.

"How could I do something so horrible to myself?" she asked.

Sleep came later, and the centaur/pixie hybrid was still on her mind.