The little girl's hand clutched a note. "Be happy for me," it said.

As I dropped the note and wept next to her body, she calmly pressed a button on a remote control.

The door to the lab slid shut, a crude jury-rigged device melting the door into its frame. She was sealing us in!

No worries. I could still find a way out if I wanted. This only benefited Abednego.

No more than five minutes elapsed, but it felt like forever before Abednego's legs and tail released my friend's trachea.

The socmavaj climbed off Sarah's face, staggered sideways, rolled on its back to die.

Sarah gasped due to restricted airways, commenced breathing through her nose.

I crawled up to her, gazing lovingly into her eyes. "This did not have to be your fate, little one. What good you think you do through this act does not compare to the immeasurable good you accomplish just by living."

She smiled and quoted John 12:24.

"Sarah. Christ came that you may have life, and have it abundantly."

"It's okay. I want this. It feels right."

"I don't understand. How could you possibly want this?"

"I shared your mind. This is your mother's legacy."

I wept.

Sarah grabbed my claw, like a woman would hold her husband's hand during a pregnancy.

She placed my claw on her chest, letting me feel the egg move. I briefly wondered if a human male experienced this when his female was with child. "Even now I have control over my body. I control my breathing, willing my passageways to widen around the egg. I can move the egg to where it's most comfortable. When I relax, I minimize my need for air." I am at peace."

"This is not what I want, Sarah."

"No. But it's what you need."

I cried again.

"Don't cry. We will meet again. I saw your heaven."

Choking down another sob, I brushed her slime covered hair out of her face.

Hearing strange croaking sounds, I leaned closer to the girl and found she'd been singing a hymn. Is Your All On the Altar of Sacrifice Laid.

I sang along with her, adding volume that she could not.

She fell silent and rested.

An hour passed, the child sleeping peacefully on the floor, hand pressed against her chest like she clutched an invisible teddy bear, or maybe attempting to clutch a teddy bear nestled inside her chest. She actually looked comfortable. Still, I propped her head up with a couple wadded jackets.

The security door beeped. Someone pounded on the door, trying to get in.

I laid down, watching the child sleep. Another hour passed.

Sarah's eyes flew open, her face reflecting resigned annoyance, as if only needing to use the restroom. "It's time."

No fear. No surprise.

The infant Ss'sik'chtokiwij did not `burst' from her chest, but rather sedately dug its way out below her diaphragm, bypassing the rib cage. Much less blood loss than there could have been, but she would still die.

The girl stroked the hatchling like a harmless pet, speaking to it in Ss'sik'chtokiwij, her tones full of loving and warmth. "Hello, Abednego. My name is Sarah. I'm your host. I have given myself willingly to you, like Jesus gave his life for me and you and other Ss'sik'chtokiwij. Eat and grow strong."

She coughed up blood, but continued inhaling through her nose. "Abednego, I do not have much time. You must share with me your secret tongue. Climb on my face and run your worms through this raised orifice I breathe through."

"Are you my mother?" the larva asked.

"Your mother is dead. I have many things to tell you, but I haven't much time. Join minds with me."

The small Ss'sik'chtokiwij hurriedly scampered up Sarah's body, climbing over her chin. "I do not know of this secret tongue."

"Try. You must try to find it."

Abednego's mouth opened, and out came the worms.

"Connect with me. Hurry."

The larva made a connection with Sarah's brain, evidenced by her rapid eye movement, change of breathing patterns, and the soft whimpering of the infant Ss'sik'chtokiwij, each appearing to correspond with the other.

The two lay like this for hours. Even after Sarah breathed her last breath, the little Ss'sik'chtokiwij continued to squirm, as if in communion with her spirit.

I lost hope on both of them.

Something hissed and crackled. I turned and saw the humans had employed laser torches to cut away the door. How long would it take to get in? Hours? Minutes? I didn't want to find out.

But Sarah and Abednego hadn't disconnected. Although I felt that Sarah's spirit would be at home in heaven, I feared that Abednego would suffer irreparable damage. What to do...

Hearing a series of coughs and sneezes, I rushed to Sarah's side.

It was only Abednego.

I gazed with sadness at the Ss'sik'chtokiwij that Sarah sacrificed her life to birth. I could only hope her death had not been in vain. "It is good that you weep, Abednego. This victim was more than food."

"I know," the larva said. "It used to be me."

I swallowed. "I don't understand."

She spoke in English. "Ernie, remember when you and I traded bodies?...I've done it again."

Not sure if Sarah's spirit actually inhabited the newborn Ss'sik'chtokiwij or if this hatchling merely believed she'd become Sarah, but it made me sad.

In bonding with Sarah, the larva gave me hope, a hope that I could at last ally myself with a Ss'sik'chtokiwij who understood my love for Jesus, and human beings. But the loss of her humanity, the destruction of her delicate little body, I could not bear it. I coughed continually.

"Don't cry," the larva said. "I'm happy now. I have a family. I'm just like you now."

I bowed my head in sadness. "Eat every part of her. So you can grow up big and strong."

"That was what your mother said, wasn't it?"

I swallowed hard. "It's what our mother said. Now eat, this will be the last human flesh you will ever be allowed to consume. Few would give it so willingly."

Nodding, Abednego-Sarah took her (presumably) first bite of flesh.

I held up a claw. "Wait. We should pray."

The newborn Ss'sik'chtokiwij folded her tiny claws, bowing her head.

I led her in grace.

Sparks flew from the saw holes in the door. "The men will soon be here," Sarah said. "It is not safe."

"Yes. But what can we do?"

Her stubby little claw pointed to a ventilation register in the corner of the lab. "I entered this room through there. We should be able to use it to make our escape."

Nodding, I grabbed Sarah's poor lifeless body by the armpits, letting out soft sobs as I gently dragged her into the vent.

The panel had been affixed by a single bolt, so I could swing it like a hinge. I squeezed through the opening, laying the corpse inside a recessed corner with as much tenderness as I could muster with my sharp angular claws.

I brushed the victim's hair until it looked pretty, like a large Barbie doll. "You were so beautiful."

The infant had been using Sarah's stomach as her own personal carriage, but now she crawled out to speak to me. "My beauty was homogenized. No uniqueness. I was only a thing to experiment upon." She gestured to her exoskeleton. "This is beauty. I am a unique, one of the kind creation."

I wept.

"I understand why you grieve, but this death brings me great joy. I am free from DAMBALLAH now. We are of the same pack now. Before, I was only a clone, no different than the rest of the cattle they bred for their evil purposes. Now they cannot touch me. I am free!"

"Until you get captured. The moment the scientists find you, you will be a prisoner once more, just like me. You will have brain probes that will confuse the mind and weaken the body."

"But they will not destroy you. You are too valuable. In the body I once occupied, what was I but a human guinea pig?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"Is there a trail of blood?"

I frowned. "I'll check."

The girl's exit wounds had been clean. The socmavaj had laid its egg without struggle, the larva exiting with more gentleness than most. When I checked the floor, I found little blood. What I could find I lapped up in a couple seconds.

I didn't want to drink her blood, mind you, it just happened to be the most efficient method of cleanup at my disposal.

I climbed back into the vent, closed the register behind me, and watched with anxious unease as the unseen humans continued sawing at the door.

"We should move further back," the infant said. "The camera has been disabled, but they'll wonder how the tank got opened when no one had a key to the room. If they don't assume the lab help made a mistake, they may decide to search in here."

Having spent days in the ventilation system Sarah knew the layout well, and it seemed the new Ss'sik'chtokiwij had absorbed her knowledge. We rapidly acquired a new nesting place behind a loose grating in an air conditioner duct.

I scoured our trail for blood, then, when only finding nothing but a few drops, returned to our nest, curling up next to the body as the newborn fed.

I spent an entire day in this fashion, resting, idly observing the infant's progress, flinching at the air conditioner when it switched on, checking adjoining passageways whenever I heard a noise.

When I returned from yet another check, Abednego-Sarah offered me a piece of liver. "You can have some of me if you want."

I sadly shook my head.

"It's better than cruelty free. It's donated. It's okay. You can eat it. I want you to be healthy and strong too."

Depressed, I waved the meat away.

"You still don't believe I'm Sarah, do you?"

"I know our minds had a strange connection, but Sarah is in heaven now. Her soul wouldn't be in the body of a Ss'sik'chtokiwij."

Her voice took on a scolding tone. "Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik, I remember everything. I remember that socmavaj being on my face. I even remember dying as this larva body linked minds with me. My soul must have moved here. How else could I know so much when I've just been born?"

I had no answer to that.

In perfect English, she continued. "Ernie. Why would human Sarah, human me, willingly let herself get impregnated with a Ss'sik'chtokiwij if she didn't also want her flesh consumed?"

When I didn't answer, she added, "You licked up my blood."

Although true, I still couldn't bring myself to physically eat my friend. "You have her. Gorge yourself and build up your body."

"How is Grandma?" she asked in between bites.

I stared. "You don't know?"

"No. They don't have cameras around there. At least not any good ones."

"Grandma's fine, mean as usual. She trapped us as we tried to escape. Both Craig and Roger are dead."

She nodded. "I saw you leaving by yourself...what's that thing you got stuck to your arm?"

"You just now noticed that?"

The larva sighed. "I didn't have time to ask about it before."

I told her about the weapon, and the incident in the training room. "I may need to retrieve other weapons later. We live in dangerous times."

"You're going to have to kill her. You know that, don't you?"

I didn't want to admit she was right. "There has to be another way."

"She'll continue laying eggs, the men will come down, and they'll die. Every minute that passes, you're putting the whole base at risk, Rebecca included."

"Grandma is too big. I told you how she threw me to the floor."

"Your mother was big."

"Yes, but that time Brice had explosives, and I died when that happened. I don't know the first thing about explosives. I could get hurt."

"If you don't figure it out, our friend will get hurt."

I slumped my chin on the metal floor. "I don't even know where to start."

"There could be information in the computer system."

I didn't stir.

"You miss it, don't you? The imprisonment. You could eat and read your bible in comfort. You could knit, and write your epistles, not having to worry about anything."

"It was more than that. It was companionship. Friendship. Mutual respect."

"With brain probes and an electrified collar."

"My sufferings are nothing compared to the sufferings of the Lord. I gladly bear them for his name."

Abednego-Sarah's expression became unreadable. She just sort of stared.

At last she spoke. "You know, Becky Butler is still alive. Maybe you can pay her a visit."

She returned to her feast. "I really think you should eat some of this. I don't like how my liver tastes, my feet are kind of tough, and I don't even want to think about eating my own eyes or my brain. That's just plain yucky."

I just gave her a `Seriously?' look, which she probably couldn't read. "Abednego. Sarah. You're a Ss'sik'chtokiwij now. We don't know where you're going to find your next meal."

"The Lord will provide. I learned that one from you."

"We should bury the bones. Once you've stripped the meat off them."

She showed me the wrist bone she'd chewed open. "There's marrow inside."

"I know."

"You said I should eat every part of me."

"Yes. But we must retain something to honor her memory."

Abednego-Sarah nodded, gnawing on her fingers, literally. "But not all at once. The humans will see us as a threat if we're found dragging around a whole rib cage."

"Too many trips to the same spot could be just as dangerous."

"Do you ascribe to the superstition than a ghost cannot rest if the bones are separated?"

I frowned. "I do not wish to visit a hundred graves just to pay my respects."

Abednego-Sarah swallowed some thumb fat. "Remember that program we saw about the Indians and their sacred bundles?"

"You wish for me to sew a bag for the bones?" I paused and thought a moment. "Perhaps we shall."

"If you are in need of fabric, you can use my clothing."

My first thought: Retrieve the sewing kit from my cell. Although risky, I couldn't think of a better place to find supplies. Plus, with Craig and Roger dead, the androids more than likely absent...

I announced my intentions.

"I'll show you the way."

"You must stay and eat. And watch the body to make sure no one takes it."

Abednego-Sarah shook her head. "I've been all over these tunnels. You'll get lost without my help."

She climbed up on my shoulder. The act made me think of Mother so much that I cried. I felt like her, looking down on my small self.

"You must let this become a new memory, Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik." Abednego-Sarah quoted Philippians 3:12-16 to me.

I replied with Romans 5:3-4, then sighed. "Young Ss'sik'chtokiwij, you speak and think like Sarah, but you no longer have her body. You have the flesh and instincts of a Ss'sik'chtokiwij larva, yet your heart is kind and gentle. You are a new creation, but what shall I call you?"

"How about Maria? You know, like that lady on Rosedale Square."

"But that is a sad memory!" I protested.

"No. It is joyous, for she taught you the value of human life."

"But she died!" I coughed at the memory.

"The Maria you knew was an actress. She didn't actually die when you attacked her. They programmed her death into the simulation to teach children with mental problems not to attack people. I looked it up on the computer.

"The actress actually died in a boating accident, and she isn't the first woman to play her."

I didn't kill her! It felt like a great burden had lifted from my shoulders. My heart pounded. An island of joy in a sea of sadness. "Very well. I shall call you...Maria."

My...little sister guided me through a confusing labyrinth of ventilation and electrical access tunnels until I reached a passage that smelled of Hissandra (She obviously had to access my cell somehow!).

At the end, I discovered a register sealed into position with cocooning slime, a clever solution that disguised the attacker's entry and departure during Taylor's death, ensuring I'd receive all the blame for the incident. (On a related note, I would need to seal it with my own secretions in order to preserve my own exit).

Seeing no one through the slats, I carefully pushed the cover open and climbed out, setting Maria back inside the tunnel. "You stay here where it's safe."

I propped the panel back up. "If something happens, go back to our hiding place and...eat yourself."

"Ernie, if you lock yourself in, you're going to need someone to get you out."

I swallowed and nodded. "You are surprisingly wise for someone who was born yesterday."

"I had a good teacher."

This made me purr.

Seeing my cell had been left open, I quickly grabbed my sewing kit and materials, preparing to return to Sarah's body with that and a nice comforter I had knitted a few weeks ago.

The door came sliding shut on its own.

Alarmed, I rushed to the ever shrinking opening, only to find myself being shoved to the floor by a pair of scorched black claws.

As the locking mechanism clamped into place, Hissandra laughed at me behind the glass. "Why Sh'kassk'dwuissueblik! You look tired! Why don't I take care of the kid while you...make yourself at home?"