Chapter 1: The Beginning of Everyday From Now On
A soft knock on the door stirred the sleeping mother from her sleep. Artemis sat up from her bed, the white covers rolling off her body, revealing that she hadn't changed out of her clothes, other than taking off her lab coat, and horrible bed head. After rubbing her eyes for a few seconds, the brunette walked over to the door, opening it to see who was knocking. This simple action revealed a girl close to Artemis' height, wearing a black, loose, short sleeved shirt, a yellow, ruffled skirt, black and white striped socks that reached up to her mid thighs, and brown, buckle shoes. Hanging from the collar was a pair of red, rectangular glasses. The girl had fair skin, neck length blond hair with a bang covering her left eye, and two green hair pins in it, interlocked to form an X on her bang.
Artemis smiled as she saw the girl, stepping out of the way for her to come in. "Thanks for coming down here Angela. I know you have tests you're needed for and such, but I can't leave my little girl alone."
Angela smiled to the older woman, walking into the room. "It's OK Mrs. Caswell. They have a few other subjects they want to study still," she walked over to Lucina's bed, kneeling down to take a look at the still sleeping girl's face. "They didn't mind booting me back a day or two, so don't worry." She swept one of the young girl's hairs out of her face and behind her ear.
"Guess I needed you more than they do then," the tall girl said quietly to herself. She then walked over and knelt down to her daughter's bed side, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Upon contact Lucina stirred slowly, her eyes fluttering open softly.
"Mommy?" The girl asked, still half asleep from the sound of her voice. "Is it work time?" Artemis just smiled at her daughter, beginning to feel bad for leaving her.
"Yes, yes it is. Mommy is needed with that silly old Abraham." She said to the child, petting her on the head. "Be good for Angela while I'm gone. And I promise to be back by lunch, OK?" With a nod of confirmation from Lucina, said girl closed her eyes again, her breathing slowing down as she began drifting off to sleep.
Once she was sure her daughter was asleep, Artemis stood back up and walked to the door with Angela following close behind. "Make sure she's entertained, alright Angela?" The brunette asked as she grabbed a prepared backpack, slinging it around one shoulder.
The blonde's smile only brightened as she raised her right hand in a mock salute. "I'll do just that Mrs. Caswell. You can count on me!" With a final nod, Artemis left the room, leaving the two blondes alone.
Now alone with the baby girl, Angela sat on the brunette's bed and watched the little Lucina. She usually was the girl's sitter, but mainly because she was the only person who volunteered. Everyone else was usually 'busy' or they plain out didn't want to. Why was a mystery since Angela found the child to be a delightful distraction from her job. Having your body devoted to science was more work than she thought it would be, but at least she wasn't in any life threatening danger. There's no way she'd accept being a test subject if her life was in danger.
As the blonde kept thinking these things, an idea popped into her head. Something to pass the time until it was actually time to wake the younger girl up. She pulled her glasses off her collar and put them on, and then pulled on her collar, sticking her hand in. She searched for a few seconds, before pulling a small notebook out of her bra. She opened it up, revealing several drawings of animals and herself, only different.
In the artwork, her face and features were the same, but her clothing choice was closer to that of a witch. She had on a tricorner hat with a pointed top and a white X on either side, and a robe that was black as pitch. The only thing that set her apart from the typical witch look was a scythe, as tall of her. She smiled at her drawing, imagining herself as a witch and flying around on her scythe.
She then reached back into her bra and pulled out an unsharpened pencil. Angela stared at it for a few brief seconds, as if doing that alone would sharpen it. Her book was set on the bed as she brought her left hand up and twirled her index finger a few times. At first it didn't seem like anything happened, but slowly a green tornado formed between the area she was circling. "Gale Slash," she whispered, the tornado turning to an air stream as it moved towards the pencil, then turned into an upside down tornado and sharpening the pencil. With a now sharpened pencil and a smile on her face, she began to sketch the sleeping girl in front of her.
It was rare for Angela to get a chance to draw anything since she was hired here. The only things she could do were things for her job. Tests, training, and getting poked and prodded with who knows what for who knows how long. Anytime they injected her with something, or stuck something in her to keep a device she couldn't tell how much time it took for sure. Sometimes it was hours, sometimes minutes, heck, she'd been kept in some experimental torture device for almost a year before people allowed her to get away from it. The mere memory of that sick device made her shiver, her left hand following suit and ruining her sketch. "Urgh! No!" She quietly yelled to herself, not wanting to wake Lucina.
Unfortunately, that wasn't so. The mere sound was more than enough to wake her up. Her covers flowed off her, not as gracefully as her mom though, as she sat up, sleep glazing over her eyes and a good night's sleep evident in her hair since there didn't appear to be a single knot in her hair. She looked over at Angela with a small smile, giving her a sweet, tiny smile. "Morning Angela-chan," Lucina said softly, still waking up, a little wave to add to her already cute demeanor.
'K-kawaii,' Angela thought, just staring at the little girl with a small blush on her face. She snapped out of the trance the girl's cute antics had out her under, smiling back to the girl. "Good morning Lucina-san. Would you like some breakfast?" She asked with kindness in her voice, earning a small giggle from the younger.
"Yes please!" Her eyes shone brightly, throwing her arms up into the air with joy. "Can I have pancakes!? With whipped cream and pecans and strawberries and apples!?" She shot out of bed, running towards the taller blonde, jumping up and down with excitement in front of her.
This didn't help keep Angela from thinking the girl as any less kawaii. She just thought it made her more kawaii. 'Is she trying to make me kawaii-gasm?' Angela inwardly sweat dropped at the idea, trying to stay focused as she smiled and patted the child on the head. "Of course. But, may I ask why apples?"
"Why apples!?" Lucina gasped in surprise, sliding backwards like she had been pushed while standing on ice. "How could you not know!? An apple a day keeps the witch doctor away!" Angela just stared at the younger girl, blinking a few times at the statement.
Honestly, she had expected something else. Something more fantasy filled or imaginative, not something she heard while growing up. "Oh? That saying? I thought you were going to say some other reason, like if you didn't you'd turn back into a pumpkin you imaginative girl you." Angela stood up, pulling the collar of her shirt out and put the paper and pencil back into her bra.
Lucina just stared at her confused as her sitter did that. "Why do you do that Angela-chan?" The afore mentioned girl looked down, realizing that she probably was setting a bad example by using her bra as a pocket.
"Er, well. You see," she stuttered out, trying to think of a good explanation. The sparkling, innocent eyes staring intently at her weren't helping any. But, maybe such innocence was what she needed to keep out of trouble. She smirked slightly, scooping the tiny girl into her arms. "Well, the only reason I do it is a personal one. It's not very proper, nor is it cool. I just do it because I don't like purses." The girl nodded in understanding, mulling over the sitter's words. "So, when you grow up, you be a better person then your dear, old, lovely and beautiful Angela-chan, OK?" The girl nodded, giggling as she did so. "Good. Now about those pancakes?"
Lucina's face lit up, hugging onto the sitter's neck. Angela patted her on the back, walking out of the room and heading to the mess hall for the breakfast. All the while, both girls couldn't help but wonder what was going on where Artemis was.
Over in lab 2310458, several loud bangs could be heard from inside, like something was banging against it. Several scientists were gathered around in a room, suspended above a much larger one that had no doors or windows, looking a lot like a canyon. Nothing was visible, but the loud banging was more than enough to convince a person that something rather large was down there. Several terminals surrounded the room, some with computers, and some without.
At one of these terminals, Abraham was sitting at it, a cup of coffee next to his desk as he began typing in some kind of code. He seemed so focused on his work that nothing could nothing could stop him. "Alright you bloody scallywags," he said in an English accent. "Test for Prototype X204 is about to commence. Are our shields prepared?"
"Grand Shields at full capacity," a random scientist across the room shouted. Said scientist turned a few dials as a low hum began to emit from a separate terminal.
"Second Reign is steady," another one shouted, followed by the flicks of a few switches from Abraham's terminal.
The sound of air releasing filled the room, a door sliding open as Artemis entered the room, looking much better than she had when she woke up. "Very good. How about Prototype X204?" Abraham turned in his chair, nodding to Artemis.
"She's in tippety top shape govena'," he replied using an Austrian accent this time. "Once activated, we can test the raw fighting abilities the golems will possess." Artemis nodded, walking to the only open area in the room, standing in front of a wall made of glass, looking down at the canyon room.
"Let her out then," she said with command, everyone typing furiously. This was it, the first test of the golem system that Abraham designed. If it worked, it would prove that things would be as easy as she promised her daughter it would be. If it didn't, than they'd work out the kinks. This one moment, would define the rest of their work from here on out.