May 7, 2030

Dear Diary,

I am a failure as a mother. I let a horrible thing happen to my baby.

~~May 6~~

The huntress was still, her eyes locked on her quarry. It would not escape her, she was built to hunt. She was a cat.

She pounced.

The rabbit nimbly hopped away from the six-year-old.

"Ow..." Irisa moaned, starting to extract herself from the shrub she had landed in.

Claudia heard Irisa crash into the plant and sighed. She set aside her book- a copy of The Time Machine- and walked over to the Irathient girl. "Risi, what have I told you?" the human used her best mothering tone- adopted from Leena- as she began removing the child from the bush.

"...I'm not a real cat..." Irisa mumbled.

"And?" Claudia raised an eyebrow.

"That I shouldn't attack wild animals..." the child sighed.

"Correct," the adult freed the girl from the imprisoning foliage. "Can you be a good girl and keep yourself occupied- without attacking things- for a while?" Claudia had gadgets to construct, they needed scrip and to get money you needed something to sell, which they were currently in short supply of.

"Yes momma." Irisa said, subdued.

"Good. I'll be by the roller if you need me, and don't wander too far, okay?" Claudia ruffled the girl's messy hair, earning a laugh, and went to the roller to get the Vo-tech that was her inventing canvas.

Irisa wandered back over to the tent, grabbing the pad of paper and crayons that Claudia had acquired for her. She started doodling the rabbit she had attacked earlier, tuning out the world around her. Suddenly her face was covered with a cloth. What's going... going on? Sleepy...

The chloroformed child was carried away stealthily by a masked Castithan with a twitching eye.

~~About 2 hours later~~

Claudia had finally finished putting some useful gadgets together, and packed up all the tech she had been using. emIrisa really has been quiet, maybe she fell asleep?/em the human pondered as she put her stuff back into the roller. "Irisa!" She called, smiling. "Irisa, time to make dinner! Wanna help me?"

The little girl did not come running.

"Risi? Risi, come here sweetie!" Claudia called, more loudly this time. She was getting worried.

Irisa still did not appear.

"Irisa! Risi!" Claudia yelled, feeling panic start to rise in her chest. She zipped around the campsite, looking for the Irath.

Shrub? No. Roller? No. Tent? Claudia was about to check tent off the list of places Risi could be when she heard a snap under her foot. It was a crayon, they were scattered all over the ground, and there were footprints, bigger than her own or Irisa's, coming up to the tent and leading away from it.

Someone took her baby. Claudia felt sick, someone had taken Irisa, and she hadn't been paying enough attention to stop them.

~~Elsewhere~~

Irisa woke up groggily. What happened? Where am I? "Momma!" Irisa called. She tried to reach up and rub her eyes, but she couldn't. Her little heart began racing. No, no no no no!

She was tied up again. Her wrists were bleeding again. She was trapped again. "Momma!" Irisa shrieked, terrified. Someone began approaching her.

His face was covered by a mask, but he was clearly Castithan. His right eye had a twitch. He stepped forward and placed something on the floor in front of her.

"Who are you? What's going on? Where's my momma?" Irisa begged, eyes flicking between the man and the object on the ground. The object began to move.

The snake uncoiled itself and locked eyes with the panicked child. She sobbed. It lunged.

"MOMMA!" Irisa sobbed at the top of her lungs as the snake injected venom into her.

~~Claudia~~

Claudia's head whipped up from the box she had been looking in. She heard a sobbing scream that could only have come from Risi. She slammed the crate of artifacts shut and dove into the driver's seat.

No artifact could help her track Irisa down faster than that scream could.

I will end you for hurting my daughter you zdaake.

~~Irisa~~

Irisa was aware of other people around her, aware that she was in some kind of cave or something, aware that someone was cutting the ropes that tied her hands, aware that a knife was being shoved into her hands. She was aware of all of all of this, but she didn't care. She wanted her mommy and that was all she was thinking about. Momma, please help me. Please... She started sobbing wildly, screaming for Claudia

~~Claudia~~

Claudia heard the sobs, and was reminded of when she had saved Irisa a scant three weeks ago. She saw a cave with light shining out of it and stopped her Prius, shot out of it, and ran into the cave, Autopistol loaded and ready.

A sense of deja vu washed over her as she charged in, firing at the people who were holding Risi captive. Bodies dropped around the sobbing child, and after emptying the gun's magazine, Claudia had the full attention of those who were still alive.

"Against the wall." Claudia demanded as she reloaded her Autopistol. The cult members did as they were told, and Claudia kept the gun aimed at them as she swept the Irathient child into her arms. Once she had Irisa settled into her embrace, she spoke again.

"I am going to leave here with my daughter now. You emidaka/em people will leave us alone or you will all die slowly and painfully." Claudia holstered her gun and pulled out a Tesla Grenade. "Now I'm gonna knock you all out and when you come to, you will not try to find me or my baby ever again. Do I make myself clear?" No one objected, and Claudia backed out of the cave and chucked the Tesla Grenade. Once she heard the thuds of the now unconscious people falling to the ground, she turned to Irisa.

"I am so sorry baby. I'm a terrible mother." Claudia whispered to the child who was sobbing into her shoulder. She stroked the Irath's hair gently, and walked back to their roller.

She drove them to the nearest town she could find, Irisa still clinging to her as she drove. By the time they got there and Irisa was treated for the snake attack, it was well after midnight. Claudia had made up her mind while the doctors took care of Irisa's wounds. She wasn't a mother, she couldn't take care of this kid. She had to do what was right for Irisa, and she knew now that she was not right to take care of the child.

~~End of day~~

I'm not a parent. Who was I trying to kid, raising Risi? I have to find her a safe home, one where she'll grow up to be the person she deserves to be. With any luck she'll forget about me in a few years. It's what's best for her. Clearly I can't protect her, I let her get kidnapped for goodness sake!

~Claudia Donovan