"Lex, the lying is getting ridiculous. I'm here, I want to help. Quit making me find out about things, and just let me in." Lana stood on her side of the bed in her jade colored, thigh length nightgown, and began tossing extra bed pillows onto a chair. He emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered in his own pajamas, and helped to turn the bed down.

"Trust you?" he asked without looking at her, and it felt like a blow to the ribcage. It wasn't so long ago that he did trust her with everything he had. Well, so far as she knew anyway.

Lana sighed and searched for words. Once the covers were down, he did look at her, waiting for an answer. "I know that we've had our problems lately," she started, and though his expression did not change, she could practically feel the accusations coming at her. She sat down on the bed, but Lex kept standing, making her feel like a child. "I haven't been the most trustworthy," she said, deciding to take a different route. "This is different though. These are my children too, and you can't keep details about their well-being a secret from me."

He softened a bit, finally sitting beside her. "I suppose part of me didn't mind keeping this a secret because . . ." She could see that this was very difficult for him to say. It wasn't often that Lex actually said whatever happened to be in his head. "I was angry with you. For pulling away from me, for running around behind my back." At this, his eyes flashed very briefly with anger, and she recalled the hundreds of pictures and sound files that he had to prove it. She had no rebuttal to offer. "Being alone is something that I've had to deal with my whole life. You were the person that I felt I could be the most honest with- the first person I ever felt I could really trust. That's been damaged Lana, and I can't just pretend like everything is fine between us."

He looked at her again, and she felt herself withdraw from him, as if she were disappearing down a tunnel, seeing only his face at the other end. "I'm trying," she said weakly.

"I know, and it has been better." He placed his hand on her knee, making her feel very warm despite her distress. It felt like a lifeline almost, and her whole body seemed to reach up and grab it. "I want things back the way they were, but it'll take a little time," Lex continued, pretending for the moment to be oblivious to her heightened awareness of his contact. It was always this way between them. Even when they were at their worst, fighting and barely speaking to each other, all it took was a look and they were in each other's arms. A temporary truce was called because the bedroom had always been where they made the most sense.

"And in the meantime?" she asked as his index finger began lightly tracing circles on her thigh. Her eyes followed their invisible trail, transfixed.

"You can have full access to the lab. No more . . " he chuckled. "Murdering the security or taking the doctors hostage." His hand snaked upwards slowly, and she parted her legs for his questing fingers. Strange how her body went on autopilot when he was around, regardless of how she felt emotionally. There was so much that still needed to be said, so many questions that needed answering, but one by one she felt all higher brain functions begin to switch off as the blood ran from her head down towards her pelvic region.

Lana leaned back into her pillows and closed her eyes. Now really wasn't the best time for this, but she could always argue with Lex in the morning. "I hear pregnancy does that to a woman," she said with a sigh. Lex said nothing in response, already too lost in lust for conversation. "Makes her irrational."

Lana spent more time away from home than ever, playing the role of "mother" to all 23 of her new sons. It seemed ridiculous to even be dealing with this kind of situation, but she did the best she could, meeting the others, one week after meeting David. They beheld her as some kind of Goddess, and each came to her, kneeling down and kissing her hands, begging for her to name them as well. For the youngest, she chose names from children's books like Max from "Where the Wild Things Are," Omri from "The Indian in the Cupboard," and Peter from "Peter Pan." It became obvious to her that she could have named them anything really, because it wasn't the name they loved so much, but that she had given it to them.

While observing their daily routines, Lana noticed many odd behaviors. For one, they were completely docile and this she learned was a result of some kind of drug they were being given, probably to keep them under control. They certainly weren't like other boys their age- they never fought or argued much, and when they talked about "the outside" it was in hushed tones. The mother in her wanted the boys to be free to live and experience the world, but the realist in her knew that this wasn't possible. At least not yet anyway because they still had so much left to learn and understand. As it was, they had taken in so much information in such a short amount of time that it gave them powerful headaches, for which another drug was given.

It didn't always help.

"Shhh, it'll be okay," Lana tried to console. She sat in the dorm room of Collin, an 18 year old boy, who lay on his side with tears running out of his eyes, his hands covering his face which grimaced in pain. Lana put her fingertips at his temples and gently moved them in a circular motion in an attempt to help relieve his pain.

It upset her that Lex didn't visit them more often. He listened when she spoke about them, but rarely asked questions about their personal lives. The only times he was really around was when they took "testing." Or, at least that's what they called it. Individually, they were taken into another room with Lex and several doctors where Lana was not permitted to follow because it would distract them. She didn't know exactly what "testing" entailed, but the boys came out okay, and happy if they passed. If they failed, however, they would be inconsolably miserable.

Collin had been one of those boys, having failed his testing the day before, the stress of which probably helped cause the pain in his head now. "You can talk to me you know," she coaxed, still rubbing his temples and neck. The boys were extremely difficult to tell apart, since they all looked alike. There were subtle differences in their features though, and they each had very individual personalities. She would laugh in the face of anyone who ever tried to convince her that cloned beings had no soul of their own. Collin was a boy that Lana had come to know very well due to his deep love of the ocean. At all times, he carried with him a satchel full of various oceanography books, most that included beautiful full color pictures that he stared at for hours on end.

"When you go into the ocean, what does the water taste like?" he had asked.

"It's salty," she'd answered. "Lick your arm, it's kind of like that." He did and became so excited and happy that he licked his arms and hands constantly for a week, drying out and blistering his tongue and embarrassing the hell out of Lana. That episode had been an embarrassing lesson for her, and afterwards she had to be careful of what she said to them. As it was, they did not watch television, and didn't even know yet that it existed. She had several arguments lately about what they could and couldn't know.

"What are we supposed to do, Lex? Keep them locked up like rats forever?"

"Of course not Lana, they'll be released in time."

"Released! I guess that word is appropriate, because they practically do live in a prison, don't they?"

"They've only been alive for a few months. They've learned in that time what it takes ordinary people years to learn. They are intelligent, but lack the proper context for which to apply the knowledge that they've gained. How can they be let out of the building when they don't even understand traffic signals yet? The first time they try to cross the highway they'll be killed."

"I know," she sighed in defeat.

"Then why are we arguing about this?"

"I don't know."

Lana knew that in theory he was right, but she couldn't let go of the feeling that he never intended for them to leave. That somehow these boys, his children had become a second 33.1 project for him.

"What is the 'testing' for?" she asked.

"That's just where my team tracks their learning progress and intelligence levels."

"So you are teaching them?"

"I don't know what you want me to say Lana. I feel like I'm just repeating myself for you."

She sighed in frustration, and crossed her arms in front of herself, drawing a shawl tightly around her shoulders. Despite the fact that it would very soon be summer, the castle was always cold.

"It just seems like they don't know anything about the outside world except for what I tell them. I brought Chris a book about monster trucks the other day and he questioned me about cars for three hours. How they run, how people drive. And yet he can say the word 'truck' in six different languages. This just feels so backwards."

Lex laughed a little and moved to sit beside her, taking her hand and warming it between his own. "Well, I suppose that their education has previously been a little lopsided. That's why it's good that you've decided to help. I need you to be there for them and teach them the things that I miss."

She gave a strained smile.

"But Lana, I worry that you're spending a little too much time with them."

"What?"

"They may seem gentle, but most of them are grown men."

"They're my children."

"Yes, but there are a lot of things that they don't understand yet. Women in particular, and I want you to be careful around them."

She pulled her hand away from him. "What are you suggesting? That they could attack me?"

It was Lex's turn to sigh. "No, they've been given a drug to keep that urge under control, but you still need to be careful about paying any of them special attention so that they do not develop unnatural feelings for you."

Lana honestly hadn't given that idea any thought before, and she felt a shiver creep up her spine. How strange it was that she should think of these boys as strangers rather than her own children.

Unnatural indeed.