The One Who Survived
Chapter 6
Cirro woke feeling refreshed, as if all the pain and suffering she had experienced was but a horrid nightmare. Dull sunlight beamed through the chilly window and filled Cirro's face with warmth. She shut her eyes tight as her vision adjusted to the light and soon opened them fully. A bit of thin ice was clinging to the bottom corners of the cage and already showed signs of defrost. Cirro instinctively wrapped her bare arms around her torso, shivering slightly. But it felt good to be alive for a change. The world suddenly felt like it was worth living in again and Cirro wasn't about to pass the opportunity by.
But then reality struck her. Cirro's lower half still wasn't attached to her person and without her strong legs to support her weight and carry her anywhere, how was she to move anywhere else? Just as before, Cirro still had control over her legs and could move them fully, as if they were attached again. But Cirro felt so happy and free she just had to move, or else the rest of her limbs would grow numb and fall deeply into sleep. Cirro moved her arms to the front sides of the cot and pushed up, with some difficulty because she was still so weak.
Once she was sitting on her butt, Cirro slowly slid the dirty blanket off her skinny torso. Cirro yelped in surprise.
"How in the world?" Cirro burst out. There reunited with her belly were her scrawny legs. They didn't move at all, just laid there. Cirro realized she was probably wearing a goofy smile, but she wouldn't have cared anyways. She had her legs back. She was whole at last. It seemed odd that Cirro that she was so effected just because she was cut in half. It was as if her whole life would give out without them. In truth, if Cirro wasn't a formless clone she would be dead. All that blood loss would've ended her, even with the extra jar of life's fluid to aid.
But that was another thing Cirro hadn't pondered in such a long time. Why formless? Cirro thought. Just as she had questioned Mandarin about her existence, Cirro asked Mandarin what she was made of and why. Of coarse, this would be very difficult for her master to explain, but Mandarin couldn't handle all her questions. Cirro's curious nature was too overwhelming so Mandarin never answered her questions, but worked around them with long lectures. This became most irritating to Cirro, but she held her tongue. Cirro would've opted for a quiet answer that wasn't really what she was searching for than a hard slap.
Master Mandarin must've sewn me back to normal while I was asleep, Cirro thought. She rolled off the covers and pulled to her feet, a bit clumsy by being back on her toes and in control. A fresh cleaned set of Cirro's uniform drooped from the metal chair, like someone wanted to discard it quickly and found Cirro's cell to be a trashcan. Cirro never understood why Mandarin would go to the trouble to wash her uniform when all it took was a full day in the lab to infest the tattered fabric with oil, chemicals, slime, and a fire's smoke sent engraved deeply on it. Cirro always found the scent of smoke from a burning flame to be very inviting. It indulged her senses and made her feel at home. In Mandarin's lab, a stove was kept ignited to run the factory like clockwork. Cirro, of coarse, rekindled it often and her clumsy disposition caused soot and grime to splatter on her.
Mandarin would just close his eyes, bow his head, and shake it in disapproval. Cirro would react by giving a sheepish grin and hurrying away to her next task. Because it was an actual profession, Cirro worked a limited time period, from the early rise of the sun to its setting position. Food and rest breaks were beyond Cirro during her work, and only ate at night by a small portion of rotting food Mandarin would bring. Cirro looked through the barred windows closely. The orb of light which always hung in the sky was just to the tips of the horizon trees. Time to work.
At dawn every morning, Mandarin would unlock Cirro's cage so she could freely come and go. But what Mandarin didn't know was that Chira and Chiru occasionally would sneak in to her room and play destructive games with the girl or her few personal belongings. Cirro would wake up to find her clothes gone or ripped to shreds and pinned to the walls. Or sometimes Cirro was would be stripped of her clothes and would only have her undergarments on. Which proved Cirro could've froze in her sleep. The coal haired child stepped to the heavy iron handle and snaked her slim fingers around it. She struggled to pull it open and swung her feet up to the right side wall and tugged even harder. Cirro could hear a faint squeak of the rusty hinges and suddenly, with one final tug, the door swept violently across the dirty floor and shooting Cirro to the back wall.
The girl took the blow to her spine, doing everything she could to keep her head out of the blow. Cirro hit the cold wall just below the high window, sledding down miserably.
"Ow…" Cirro moaned. "At least I got the door open," she said to herself. A regular Chiro clone walked by the open doorway, fresh off of the assembly line. Cirro could tell because the clone had sturdy gleaming white and pumpkin clothes, boots with a remarkable sheen, and glossy black hair. He wore a creepy blank smile and he marched from left to right, completely ignoring Cirro's open room. She returned the blank smile and stood up, jerking roughly to ease the pain. Remembering her task, Cirro jumped over her slept-in pallet and dashed down the hall, ever so happy to be back on her sturdy legs again.
The morning had gone by quickly enough. Cirro had brought Mandarin all the genetic cloning books he had asked for during the day's plethora of Chiro making. Then she had refilled the formless tanks to supply the machines with enough material to continue work. The dimly lit lab was difficult to work in as Cirro stood next to the furnace in a corner of the room, poking at the ember logs with a ashy fork and discarding some twigs into the flame. The fire danced and performed for Cirro, as it leaped and jumped sending small embers spewing out to the metal floor before dying.
"Close the furnace, Cirro. You'll set the lab a-spark if you leave it open too long," Mandarin said as he turned from his own work.
"Yes, Master Mandarin," Cirro replied, closing the furnace lid, regretfully. Through the cracks in the lid, Cirro could see the comforting orange glow and reached out a chilled hand to where they just hovered over the lid. Mandarin always kept the lab cool and Cirro got cold feet at all times.
"My child, go and refilter the formless solution," Mandarin ordered. Cirro nodded and bowed as she turned to a back counter with vials of formless spread neatly out. Cirro began to mix all the vials into fat bowl and began to grind the formless. From the back, Cirro could hear screaming, and knew it must be Chiro.
"You can't keep me here forever, Mandarin!" Chiro screamed from his cell. "I'll get out and when I do…!" "Huh, such pale threats," Mandarin interrupted. "You will continue to collect dust in that cage until I decide your fate." The bulky primate finished. Master Mandarin's been experimenting with that poor boy's genetic blueprint again, Cirro thought. The way the boy spoke with anger Mandarin didn't take seriously, Cirro did. She knew Chiro was suffering and behind those words the boy was completely scared. Cirro always felt sorry and, if she could, she would break the boy free from her master's torture. After all, she was connected to the boy by blood. Cirro always referred to the other clones as brothers, even Chira and Chiru sisters, no matter how much she hated it. Because they were all born from the DNA of Mandarin's captive and the same formless ooze that came from the Skeleton King's endless pit. But the only thing that Cirro wished was that her brothers had free will like her, and could choose their own paths.
But Cirro's master was in control and Cirro thanked the stars she escaped his dark grip.
"Mandarin!" Skeleton King appeared on the main screen, looking very annoyed.
"Ahh," Mandarin gave a small gasp of surprise and saluted to the dark lord. Cirro squeaked with terror and dived under the counter, shaking like a leaf. Her eyes were shut tight and her legs were pulled up to her chest, hugging them. From the small confidence of her poor hiding spot, Cirro could just barely make out the large screen that once held Chiro's angered face, now holding Skeleton King's. She knew Mandarin was a faithful adherent, but the way he talked was slightly surprising.
"Why haven't you come up with my clone?" SK forced.
"Ahh, just a minor set back, my lord. You will get the perfect Chiro replica by sun down tonight," Mandarin replied. Cirro made a silent gasp and curled up tighter. If Mandarin was to give the SK the perfect clone by nightfall, what would become of her and her brothers? Would Mandarin stay at the factory and allow them to live with him like his children? Surely not. Mandarin was no father figure in any kind of way. And Cirro completely understood Mandarin's hatred for her and the others. He only opted to do this to please his master. Cirro covered her ears in attempt to block those disturbing voices, but she was only blocking out the truth.
The disgusting truth that soon, maybe as soon as tomorrow, Cirro and all the clones Mandarin ever gave life to would be exterminated and there was nothing Cirro could do. But the more Cirro thought about it, the more her mind drifted into others' point of views. And then she suddenly realized it. What was to happen to the real Chiro? Surely something horrible. Mandarin wouldn't pass up the opportunity to extinguish the boy that cost him so much grief. Cirro opened her eyes, as if it was to erase all the sorrowful events that were sure to take place. Mandarin was gone. Cirro put her hands down and slowly crawled out of the cabinet. The whole lab was dark except for the lab prison window. This was her opportunity. She could make more of a difference than she thought. And she could start by releasing Chiro.
Author's Note: Pure rising action. Sorry that was a little bit of a long wait but, I'm working with two very long stories here! Give me a break. Time is Strange will be up shortly so look out for it and review. but don't forget this one! Read and tell me how it worked out.