• Published 19th Nov 2019
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Child of Mine - Starscribe



After discovering a strange animal abandoned in the forest, Kyle is in for far more than he could've bargained for.

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Chapter 34: Tuesday

Nothing terrible happened that night, and Kyle woke to Fay’s cries for attention at what she assumed were normal morning hours. Considering she’d spent her last night asleep on a blanket in the back of a semi-truck, it was practically incomprehensible luxury.

Followed by incredible embarrassment, as she took care of Fay’s breakfast. Kara could obviously see through the plastic walls, but she had seen enough times by now that she’d given up caring.

Less so about who knew how many scientists and strangers who might be watching her through cameras all around the house. She covered herself with a blanket while she did it, feeling incredibly stupid every second. It wasn’t like she’d be less naked when she was finished.

Normally she’d have spent that first half hour relaxing, maybe reading something online or watching videos. But instead she spent every moment perched on the edge of the bed, wings splayed and ready to defend herself.

There were no attacks. If there was even anyone watching, they made no show of their presence either. She finished, passed Fay off to Kara for a bit to take her turn in the facilities, and took care of breakfast without incident.

Kara managed not to burn their eggs that morning. The bacon was a different story—despite her insistence it was fine, Kyle couldn’t get anywhere near it without her stomach doing somersaults.

“You have it,” she insisted, getting up. “I’m gonna take Fay on a walk around our prison.”

“Our badass prison,” Kara corrected, forcing a smile. “We deserve to have some fun.

Kyle rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue.

And Fay didn’t seem to mind their new quarters. The outdoor section might not be quite as large as their backyard had been, or with as much to explore. But for the moment it was new, and that was enough for her. She ran up and down along the plastic wall, spreading her wings and jumping energetically.

She didn’t fly though, thankfully. Kyle had to stay close enough, ready to catch her before she could get tangled in a steel net.

That meant she was already out near the ramp when she heard footsteps coming down. Well, a few steps and the wooden click of a cane, echoing in purposeful, regular rhythm.

Still just Edgar though. He didn’t bring his angry security guards when he came to visit. He didn’t even seem surprised when he rounded the corner and found Kyle already waiting by the wall. He grinned politely, walking right up to the barrier and letting himself in.

By the time he had, Kara came darting out of the room, still smelling a little like undercooked bacon.

“Kyle, Kara, glad to see you’re both getting along. I’m hoping your first night here treated you well.”

Fay settled under Kyle’s hindlegs, her touch so light that she’d hardly realized she was hiding there. Kyle spread her wings a little, subconsciously hiding her as best she could.

Not that it would be very effective. A foal was still large compared to a person, and Edgar wasn’t blind. Or… infirm in any way she could see, for that matter. His hair was white, his face was wrinkled, but that could’ve been a mask for how much it affected him.

“I hate the see-through walls,” Kara said, without preamble. “I can’t even sleep without waking up every time Kyle gets up to pee or whatever. And I don’t want to hide in the toilet if I want privacy.”

Edgar nodded knowingly, without any apparent anger. “I know exactly how you feel, Kara. One of my reasons for coming down here was to let you know that I’d ordered replacement panels. We’re some distance away from the rest of civilization, and it will be the limited run of a factory that I’m familiar with. But I’ve been assured they’ll put a rush on the project immediately.”

“Good.” Kara settled back on her haunches, relaxing at once. “That’s, uh… I thought that would be harder, to be honest. Why’d you put up clear dividers if you were willing to switch them?”

“I suppose I could’ve been clearer yesterday.” He turned away, walking past them towards the house. “The instant I learned about Kyle’s transformation, I began making calls to my contacts in the relevant fields. I was told by someone familiar with the subject that a transformation like yours should have worn off within the week. When it did not, that made your prognosis… bleak.”

Kyle nodded slowly. She opened her mouth to confirm she’d heard all the same things—then stopped short just in time. It probably wasn’t the best idea to share Monday’s details with Edgar just yet. Maybe it was safe, and they were just another colleague that Edgar could consult for help changing them back. Or maybe they were a rival, and Edgar’s other contacts would do whatever they could to eliminate them.

Edgar met her eyes, gesturing expectantly with the walking stick. “You’re thinking something, Kyle? What is it you want to share?” There was something in those eyes—nothing inhuman, but… did he know? Maybe he had looked into her belongings.

“I thought maybe I was going to go insane, or lose myself in this body,” she said lamely. “Animals aren’t people. I know that… that’s a stupid thing to say, but… how can I still be a person if my brain isn’t a person’s brain?”

You’re really bad at this. Her ears flattened in embarrassment at the shallow attempt at misdirection. But either Edgar didn’t notice, or he just politely ignored it. “A warranted fear. Strange as it may be to think about, there are… communities of those with abilities we don’t typically understand. Their laws explicitly forbid transforming another human being. Before what happened to Kara, we couldn’t be sure the animal you found was responsible. Obviously that isn’t in doubt anymore.”

He glanced briefly down, towards where Fay was hiding. He didn’t try to prompt her out, only gestured back towards the quarters. “There’s someone here to meet with you both. I hope this particular encounter goes better than the last time I sent someone. Don’t worry, there won’t be any doctors or embarrassing questions this time.”

Kyle hesitated, long enough to scoop Fay up onto her back. The foal squirmed a little at first, but didn’t fight her long. At least she wasn’t breaking down into hysterics the way she had with his doctors.

“Didn’t you get enough samples the last time you came?” Kara asked harshly. She caught up in a few strides, following right behind Edgar.

I guess it makes sense you’d blame him for this. You were just an observer until those scientists came.

“No samples this time.” Edgar was taking them to one of the sections of their enclosure that hadn’t made sense the day before—a plain room about twenty feet across, with a smooth metal wall on one side and nothing else in it but a few chairs. It had seemed unfinished before, but this time Edgar went directly for the wall.

He tapped it twice with his cane, and distant motors began to whir. “This is how most of my people will communicate with you,” he said. A section of the wall began to lift. Not a wall at all, but a blast door. There was another plexiglass shield on the other side, covered with a fine spiderweb of scratches.

Not scratches. Right up close, Kyle could see those little marks were each numbers, a single gigantic equation in the language of magic.

As she stood close, the glass seemed unusually solid, like it was pushing back against her forehead.

Fay squeaked and whined in protest, sliding away from it.

Kyle lifted her down onto a cushion against the far wall, where she fell still at least for a moment.

She joined the other two by the glass, just as lights came on from the other side.

The room was about the same size, though it looked very different from her enclosure. The other side seemed to connect to a well-appointed library, or maybe a workshop. Shelves of ancient books lined the walls, but near the dividing glass there were tables with more modern tools. A soldering iron rested beside an oversized oscilloscope and several different parts bins.

A server rack hummed against the far wall, radiating a gently pulsating white light. The kind of place she probably would love to explore for hours, if she wasn’t separated by glass.

“I’d like you to meet one of my employees,” Edgar continued, as soon as the motors had fallen silent. “She’s a recent acquisition, but the only one I view with any hope at all of helping either of you. Call her Akiko.”

She was so small that Kyle hadn’t even noticed her at first, tucked behind an oversized computer chair.

At Edgar’s gesture she hurried forward, lowering herself in a brief, polite bow. Her eyes locked on Kyle, settling on her wings and horn.

If this was a Willworker in person, Kyle wasn’t particularly impressed. A short young woman of Asian descent, with a single streak of purple running through her hair. She spoke with a light accent, in a voice timid enough to barely make it through the wall.

Kyle blinked, ears perking to try and hear a word she was saying. Edgar gestured again, and this time her words came through over an intercom.

“Kyle and Kara Harrington,” she said. “Pleasure to meet you.”

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