A New Home

The moon retired as the sun rose up into the sky once more. H-108 groggily shuffled in bed and woke up to the sound of muffled voices in the other room. Rubbing her eyes, she scanned the area. A humble little room, affixed with a double bed and old wooden desk. It was definitely not the sterile cell that she had grown accustomed to.

'Ah…' Almost immediately, the events of last night flashed through her mind.

The small girl pulled herself out of bed and made her way out the room. Down the hall she could see the source of the voices. The man who had escorted her out of the laboratory in the wee hours of the morning and an unknown tall figure, his hair the colour of snow and face a glacial iceberg. They both turned to face her, Will with a smile and the unfamiliar man with just a gaze.

"Good morning, did you have a nice rest, Milady?" Will greeted respectfully.

H-108 nodded, her gaze focussed on the stranger. His tall figure and attractive facial features stood apart from the crowd but it was the regal air around him that truly turned heads. He was no doubt not an ordinary person.

"Are you the father of the family taking care of R-143, I mean, Cotton?" A smile adorned her face but her voice lacked the emotion that often accompanied a smile.

Kin slightly furrowed his brows.

H-108's face was unchanging but she noticed the problem and explained. "This is a side effect. It will go away soon."

Kin raised an eyebrow.

That same smile on her face, H-108 further elaborated, inwardly wondering how a man could be so impassive yet convey so much with the slightest movement of his face at the same time. "I have the ability to give round things an ability that I copied and saved. The side effect is that I don't feel as much and sometimes not at all, like right now."

Will recalled the events of the night and nodded in confirmation. She did indeed become much more demure and quiet after the first instance of her using her ability. After the second time, she had become eerily calm and later passed out. A thought then flickered through his mind.

"Wait, that means you can basically use any ability there is!"

H-108 shook her head. "I can only give an ability if I've seen it and understood how the ability works. There are a lot of rules that I don't really understand either. However, what I do know is that I can save up to four abilities at a time. If I erase a slot, I will have to copy the ability once again."

"Is that so?" Will mused, understanding that though not every ability was equal in strength, they all came with their pros and cons.

"When will the side effects wear off?" The ever-silent Kin inquired.

"Around noon."

"Then meet me at lunch." He turned to Will. "Take care of her."

"Yes, Boss." At his reply, Kin pointed his toes at the direction of the front door and left without a word. "Shall we eat some breakfast for now?"

After a quiet breakfast, H-108 let out a yawn.

"I'll clean up here so why don't you go back to sleep? You only slept for a few hours last night."

The child had no complaints and so went to bed. The next time she woke up, the sun was glaring into the room. Her eyes shimmered with an unknown light and slowly, moisture gathered and tears formed. A drop rolled down the side of her head and then another. Then, like an avalanche, it all came pouring down.

H-108 laid still in the bed, body trembling as she wiped away at the never-ending tears.

"Milady, may I come in?" A short while later, Will knocked at the door and awaited her response.

In a panic, H-108 sat up and wiped away at her tears. Eyes still red, she spoke. "Y-es."

"Would you like to take a bath before lunch? I'll prepare the water for you." There was a benign smile on his face as he offered his services. A sense of gratitude bubbled up in H-180 but she just nodded and followed the suited man to the bathroom and watched as he filled up the bathtub.

"Um." Just as Will was about to step outside, H-108 called out to him. "My name...I'll tell you my name soon."

Will's smile faded into faint surprise before returning into a flower of a smile. "I'll be looking forward to it."

He exited, closing the door behind him. Meanwhile, H-108 sunk into the warm bath and stared at the ceiling above. 'Alice, Beatrice, Cathy, Dorothy, Eden, Fiona, Grace, Helena, Io...Io…I've heard about it before, one of Jupitar's moons, Io from the Greek mythologies...Turned into a cow by a love-struck Zeus and tormented by a jealous Hera yet she never gave up and regained her freedom…'

H-108 let out a chuckle and started to play around in the water, like any child her age would. She built bubble castles and little animals, splashed the duckie and stayed in there until her skin was red like an octopus and skin on her finger wrinkled up like an old dish sponge. When she finally came out, she was more refreshed than ever and ready for anything.

"Hey, hey, hey. Butler Will, what's for lunch? I'm hungry."

Faced with a pair of enthused eyes, Will inadvertently chuckled. This was how a child should be, he thought. "We bought curry from a famous restaurant around here."

"I love curry!"

Kacha, the door opened.

"Boss!"

Kin walked in and glanced at H-108 before nodding at Will and looking back at H-108. "I have a proposal for you."

"Proposal?" The image of Kin getting down on one knee popped into her mind.

"Would you like to become a part of my family?"

"...what?"

"Kuhum." Will cleared his throat, knowing that his Boss wasn't explaining properly. "He means to adopt you, so that you can be family with Cotton."

"With Cotton?" H-108's eyes beamed, mouth widening with glee. If a background were to be painted behind it, it would be that of sunflowers and butterflies. "Would Butler Will be there too?"

"If you wish."

"Eh? Boss? I'm a thief though? Not a butler."

"Cotton and Will will both be there."

"Then please let me join!"

Kin's frost gaze seemed to have melted a little. "Welcome to the Cruz family."

"Hehe, I'm Io Cruz from now on."