Alright, this is the second chapter. Enjoy and expect surprises!
"Mornin' Cosette. Mmm, something smells good."
Cosette glanced up from the omelet she was making to see her foster sister entering the navy blue robotic kitchen.
"Mornin', Sari. I made an omelet." If it could be called an omelet: the cheese is leaking out of the golden yellow wrap and it's breaking in two pieces. "What would you like for breakfast?"
"Actually, if it's alright with you, I'll have cereal." Sari replied sheepishly. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her foster sister's kindness, she was used to cereal since the 'incident'. "But my dad likes them." Sari added as she filled her bowl with honey-tasting bran, not wanting to disappoint Cosette.
"Great." Just as Cosette slid the finished omelet onto a white plate, a loud low humming was heard along with a higher pitch following it. She quickly shut off the burner and filled a dark green mug with hot water from the kettle. Then she added an orange pekoe teabag to the water. Realizing something, Cosette turned her gaze to Sari, "Exactly when is Professor Sumdac going to have breakfast?"
"How about I'll take breakfast to him?"
Cosette looked at Sari, puzzled.
"Dad works so long in his lab that he missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Sari explained. "In fact, you could find him sleeping from working all night."
Cosette understood. Sumdac Towers is responsible for all the manufacturing robots of Detroit. Not that she likes most of them: they could handle some jobs in environments that could kill people, but jobs that require people should stay people. Otherwise robotic creations would rise against mankind, and Cosette had seen far too much man clash machine movies to know what would happen next.
"Thanks," Cosette handed the tray that holds the omelet and the tea to Sari. It seems only suitable and reasonable for Sari to deliver food to her father since she assumed Sari and her father, since they are the ones who owns and lives in Sumdac Tower, are the only ones who know the password to the lab.
"In the meantime, may I be in my room until further notice?" Cosette asked. Then she added. "That is, unless you have something for me to do?"
"There's nothing much you could do," Sari replied. "I'll let you know if we need help with anything."
As both girls went their ways, Sari added, "Y'know, you're not a guest, you're something more."
Cosette stood and listened attentively. What Sari said next nearly caught her off guard.
"You're my sister."
-Some time later-
"Sister…"
She murmured the word to herself, lost in thought.
Cosette was sitting on the balcony outside her room, legs dangling over the side as she drinks from her warm orange pekoe.
The view was amazing: the bright sun was shining, wispy white clouds were scattered among the lovely mix of ultramarine and phthalo blue sky, a nice breeze whiffed through the air, and the silver landscape of Detroit was as busy as ever.
The outside environment, however, was not reflected within Cosette. Her mind drifted to the ten year old girl in the photo. Externally she almost looks the same as her past counterpart: frizzy brown hair, glasses, average pale skin color, and jeans. But the girl in the photo had reason to be happy: she might have had a loving mother and father who cared for her, and a wide range of friends. But a few days after the photo was taken, her father had disappeared without a trace. Then-something else-
Cosette squeezed her eyes shut, cutting off burning tears of frustration and sorrow, and fiery memories before she breaks down. She painfully remembers the recent five years of her life, but before that were static, messy watery images, missing pages of her life. She knew They stripped some of her memories, though some of them might have been missed or cloaked, for she can remember- is it remembering?-some in her dreams. Some were unimportant, little memories of childhood things most people forget or don't remember. But others were tiny important ones, ones that have love from her family and friends. She knew she likes horses and nature as it had showed on her photo, but some were carefully blank, as if They knew which ones to remove.
Breathing in slow, deep breaths as the nurse at the Academy had taught her, Cosette calmed herself as she drank in her still warm tea. She hates to waste good tea while it's still fresh.
"M'lady."
Cosette nearly choked in surprise on her almost finished tea. She hadn't heard that voice in a long time but she still recognized it. "Nyghtwing? Is that you?" she asked in her mind.
She waited for a bit. Telepathy takes some time for messages to be sent back and forth, depending on the distance of the sender and the receiver. It didn't take long.
"It's me, M'lady." Nyghtwing replied. "And the other Crofs are here."
A surge of happiness and hope rose within Cosette like the morning dawn. "Where can I meet you?"
"Deep within the forest in a clearing, during a full moon."
"Full moon's a few days. See you guys there." Cosette paused a bit, and then she added, "I miss you guys."
A moment of silence-except for the city sounds- had past, then: "Make sure no one's following you." A few minutes later: "We miss you too."
Bit sucky, yes I know. I had such a hard time with Sari's and Cosette's conversation. Yes, that's right, I revealed the main character's name! Her pic is in my gallery you could find at the profile page, along with a few surprises.
SUSPENSE: Who are They? Who is Nyghtwing? Who are the Crofs? What happened to her past? Sumbit reviews and tell me what you think!