Ella

"She doesn't speak. She hasn't since she got here. All she uses is sign and even that's some weird form of American Standard." The scientist sighed. "There are signs that there's been significant alterations to her throat and lungs, but she should still be able to speak from what we can tell."

The general frowned at the tableful of scientists. His glance flicked back to the hologram of the little girl. She was sitting Indian-style with one fist propping up her chin. Intelligent green eyes flickered from dark green to hazel depending on the light.

"What do the others say?" he finally asked.

"A couple of the others said that she used to speak when they were still in the creches. According to reports, she was discovered in one of the laboratories during the Liberation." The scientist glanced at her fellows. "It's gotten out that she's here, and her biological mother's family has submitted subpoenas and are threatening lawsuits and media to get her back."

"They'll get her when we say they can have her," the general snarled.

"Her biological mother is a lawyer and a meta. She's spearheading the charge for her daughter as well as the release of the rest of the children to state monitored homes until their biological parents can come for them." Another scientist said. He glanced around the table at his coworkers who avoided him. "There's been increasing outcry over the fact that there's still children who haven't been reunited, despite any limitations they may have."

"Some people prioritize biology over public safety," the first scientist said coolly.

"There are signs that the Coalition has picked up this thread," the second countered. Even the general blanched; the children had been discovered and rescued because of the Coalition.

"If it gets worse, then we'll release them to their biological parents, even her," the general said after one last look at the hologram.

******

Ella sat in her little cage. There was no other word to call it, no matter what the new researchers said. At least they remembered to feed her on a regular basis. She still remembered Matthew who'd starved to death during his testing. She'd just embarked on her first rounds, but then the Liberation had happened.

Ella wasn't too sure about what it was supposed to accomplish. Most of the adults had been angry and outraged. Her circumstances hadn't changed though. She'd just exchanged one lab for another, though this one was run by humans.

At least they were nicer than the researchers. They called themselves 'scientists' instead. Ella wasn't too clear on what the exact difference was. One of them, a male, would occasionally slip hard round edible things he called 'candy' to her during her tests. It was a fascinating substance that came in many different colors and flavors with the overwhelming characteristic of sweet.

Ella resisted the urge to lean back against the wall. She'd done that once in a cylinder and gotten shocked for her impertinence. Instead, she curled up on the floor. Her throat ached from not speaking. She could almost feel the words that wanted to spill out, could almost feel HER wanting to spill out.

She held on tightly until the feeling stopped. Unknown to her, her eyes flickered between green and gold for a brief instance. Ella held in the breath of relief she wanted to release. HER wasn't the person she wanted the nice scientists to ever meet. She had an inkling that once they met HER, she wasn't going to be like the other kids and see her biological parents.

Ella knew about the biological parent thing because of her protector, Lucy. She missed Lucy a lot. She even missed Court and San. They'd always crowd around her, hiding her from the researchers until they couldn't any more. That had been one of the reasons Aarti had taken the chance to escape.

Ella heard the doors to the lab hiss open and yawned. Ignoring the scientists who were entering, she fell back asleep.

*****

Sphinxie paced restlessly in her corner of Ella's mind. This was all wrong. This was all so very much wrong.

When the Liberation had happened, they were supposed to be whisked away to real parents and a real house. Not back to a lab for yet more testings and whatnot. They were supposed to be getting that Christmas thing Lucy had talked about and junk food and even school. Instead they were in yet another lab getting poked and prodded by good-intentioned scientists.

Sphinxie threw herself onto the little bench. It was a simple bench, created based on memories culled from Ella. There was no cushion and no back. It was basically a long, hard block of wood. Still, It was one of the very few things here in Sphinxie's little corner. She hadn't bothered to create more, thinking that they wouldn't need anything else.

Sphinxie didn't regret being wrong. She just couldn't figure out just where they went wrong. The Liberation, as everyone referred to it, had sent most of the children to their respective bio-parents, most of whom were mightily surprised to see them. She and a handful of others, however, had been kept in secure custody.

Sphinxie knew why she'd been in secure custody. They'd interrupted an operation and panicked. Ella had gotten a quick-sew and even more attention than some of the others. If they'd bothered to ask, she'd have told them that she was fine. Most of the operations looked worse than they really were, and the alterations usually either took or killed you.

By her reckoning, it had been the fact that Ella was only five or so when they found her. That had to account for some of the overreactions. She'd been whisked away to some medical facility and when they were done with their examinations and whatnot a couple months after, she'd wound up in this lab's predecessor.

Sphinxie had told Ella to sign when people talked to them. They'd learned it mostly by watching and some from when she'd been rescued. She was worried that they would pick up on the strangeness of their speaking voice, and then they'd never get out of the lab.

There was a soft tremble of the space. Sphinxie clutched her bench tightly, shivering. The desire to switch places with Ella was growing, despite their desperate attempts to hold on. She couldn't figure out why it was happening and neither could Ella. They'd lived in harmony for a long time so far, Sphinxie securely hidden away.

The trembles had started a few days earlier. They happened on an irregular schedule which meant to Sphinxie that it might not be their fault at all. She still remembered the weird testing schedules the researchers had employed.

Perhaps they hadn't given up after the Liberation. That angry mob probably missed on some of the more normal looking conspirators. Not everyone had been a wild-eyed believer. Court's parents had been diehard believers to the point they'd turned their own son into part of their experiments. The few times that Ella had seen them, they'd looked so normal.

Sphinxie thought that they'd probably taken their research, burned their identities and started anew. It was like the show that Ella watched that the night guard allowed. He more than likely wasn't supposed to, but he felt sorry for Ella locked away and the television just a few unreachable feet from her cell. She couldn't change the channel, but the shows that came on that one singular channel were highly informative.

Sphinxie paused at that thought. One of the shows had a similar plot where someone had snuck into a lab and freed the research subjects. She sat up, unclutching the bench. She didn't know all the containers that the researchers had used, but she did know that there were those who weren't opposed and even supported being used. Aarti had always sneered at them as being brainwashed idiots. At the time, Lucy had just said that they were stupid people, but now Sphinxie knew better.

She just wished that they were away from surveillance long enough to start merging. She was a stopgap measure after all, a figment of Ella's personality locked away to keep them safe. However, she wasn't going to allow any merging if there was a chance that they weren't safe. Ella was just a little girl, and the world was a scary place.

There was another tremble, stronger than the last. Sphinxie wrapped her arms around her knees, shivering.

Yes, the world was, indeed, a scary place.