Actual Filler (I promise!)

The tiny figure slowly stretched out its limbs with a weird crackly noise. It slowly sat up, blinking its eyes as it looked all around. Its entire being seemed to be made entirely of electricity. It was thoroughly fascinating that the padded flooring of the cage wasn't catching fire or smoldering.

"What is it?" Rena whispered, tiptoeing cautiously to the open-topped cage.

"It's not a what. It's a 'she,'" Jebediah corrected. He carefully noted details about the small being on his datapad.

"Whatever it is, it's adorable," Rena said. She glanced at Jebediah, her expression somber. "You know if they see her, they're going to want her."

"Not going to happen," Jebediah said, reaching out with his stylus and poking at the little being. It giggled, the sounds tiny and scratchy like static mixed with a high frequency shriek. "They're not interested in this direction."

"Yet," Rena corrected. "Everything else failed. Why would they waste time on it when they have so many other projects?" Rena took a step back and let her gaze wander over the lab. "It's a wonder they don't have you under surveillance."

"I was," Jebediah said. He stepped back and walked to his official desk. He sat down. "There was a faction fight and so, no one monitors me live. They read my notes, though."

"Then you should falsify these." Rena peeped back at the small being who had shakily gotten to its feet and was swaying back and forth. "It's made out of electricity!"

"It's not entirely electricity," Jebediah said. "I mixed a bunch of stuff together, and it just looks that way…I think?"

Jebediah keyed on his research computer and started entering data. He paused for a second before changing his results to 'indeterminate, ongoing' from 'completed growth, promising.' He turned and looked at Rena.

"Do you really think they'd try to take her away from me?"

"She's unique, and they love unique, especially with notes." Rena sighed. "If not, then why am I here?"

"Visiting me," Jebediah promptly replied. He even deigned to crack a smile.

"I'm supposed to be undergoing tests, but there was some sort of experiment going on instead." Rena pinned him with a look. "You know what happens when you're sent for tests."

Jebediah frowned. Most of the kids he knew who were sent for tests eventually became research topics for him, mainly in their active parts. He glanced over towards the far shelf. Sitting in a jar were a pair of eyes with glowing green pupils. He hadn't been able to make himself start any experiments with them.

He could still remember Beverly smiling up at him as she offered him pudding a month ago in the canteen. He hadn't even known she was slated for disassembly.

"Surely they're not," Jebediah started.

"Of course, they are," Rena replied. She shook her head and returned to looking at the little electricity being. "Are you going to name her?"

"So, she'll be harder to give up?" Jebediah asked. He shook his head as he started falsifying a bit more. "I'm not giving up my research to anybody."

"But isn't that why you're here?" Rena smiled at the little being who pressed its face against the glass and made little squeaking noises. "So cute!"

"Her name is Trolli," Jebediah suddenly said. "It's from something one of the old guards used to tell me about. He's not here anymore."

They both fell silent at that. Sometimes the guards broke and tried to help the children in some fashion. Usually it was the kinder ones, but the worst for the overlords were the bad guards who had attacks of conscience. They would babble nearly incomprehensible things like 'freedom' or 'safety.'

All the children knew that they weren't safe. At any moment, they or one of their friends might disappear forever. The most dreaded thing was disassembly, and that was when the guards would break.

But before they reached that point, they would tell the children stories about the outside world. None of them knew whether or not it was true, though Lucy had confirmed that the sky, sun and moon were. Since she'd grown up there before coming to creches, her words held more authority.

"Hi, Trolli," Rena said to the little being.

It blinked its tiny black eyes. Then it pointed to itself, squeaking.

"Yes, you're Trolli!" Rena assured it.

Trolli squeaked again and then started hopping around the cage.

"Is it sentient?" Rena asked Jebediah who strolled up beside her.

"I'm not sure. As I said, I threw in a lot of different materials when I made her," Jebediah shrugged. He reached into the cage, dodging Rena's concerned hands and patted Trolli on the head. "See? She's not made of electricity. Just looks that way."

Trolli squeaked happily before snagging Jebediah's sleeve. It levered itself onto his wrist and darted to his shoulder.

"Squeak! Squeak, squeak squeak squeak!" Trolli pronounced triumphantly.

"Jeb!" Rena scolded.

"She's happy to be here and loves me," Jebediah chuckled, turning away carefully. Trolli rested a hand on his ear to keep her balance. "It's not like this is the first time."

"What?" Rena glanced towards the door and then back at the cage.

"Trolli woke up a couple weeks ago. I've been hiding her in the lab," Jebediah sat down in front of his research computer, staring at the screen. "I think I'll label it a failure."

"Jeb!"

"Trolli's just a baby. I wasn't that worried until you started pointing things out." Jebediah sighed. "I don't know what to do. She's getting bigger and harder to hide."

Trolli made a sad squeaking noise. Jebediah summoned up a smile and gently rubbed a finger over her head.

"We could ask Court and Lucy." Rena opened one of the research bins and paused. "Did you really put part of Cavanaugh in there?"

"And a few others," Jebediah agreed. "That's why they're not getting their hands on her. She's one of us."

Rena rummaged around a few more bins before surfacing with an armful of organic materials. She glanced at Trolli before roughly shaping a weirdly colored cocoon.

"They don't know that she's viable, right?" Rena asked as she approached Trolli's cage.

"Not that I know," Jebediah agreed. Trolli made an agreeing squeak as well.

"Then we put this here and pretend that the experiment is in its last stages," Rena said, suiting actions to words. "Then we hope that they believe it."

"And we hide Trolli with us," Jebediah said.

"And talk to Court and Lucy, and maybe Kaylen?" Rena added as the door to the lab chimed.

They never barged into Jebediah's lab, not after the last faction battles. That was when they fought over the gas he'd created that could knock out any carbon based lifeform with minimal to no side effects. It had been Overlord Pleja who'd removed the surveillance from Jebediah's lab to prevent anyone from trying to copy Jebediah's work.

Jebediah nodded in approval. Kaylen would most likely know what to do.