Snippet #831812

Tildy returned a giddy smile to the others, her head wobbling unstably on her shoulders, the wounds in her chest would be slow to heal; even more so after the touch of Ebony’s chains. Following her instructions from the other girl she took a few deep breaths, wriggling back into the cold grip of her chair. Slowly but surely where her bare back touched the metal seat small flecks of flesh reached out, almost magnetized to the construction; pulling her flush to the seat, keeping her from falling. She watched each of them, flickering mainly between the two women who had offered her help or comfort, things she was at ease with. Fingers sluggish and thick with fatigue brushed against her slow healing flesh, absorbing all traces of metal that it could find. Truly it was disgusting, her flesh would not heal cleanly for many weeks, but it would seal within a few hours, creating a small sheath in her flesh, uncomfortable and utter repulsive. Her hand dropped back to her lap, lids lowering without her consent, blocking her view of the world. As usual when she fell asleep, the last thing she did was count the pieces that lay hidden beneath her flesh. Some were smaller than her little fingernail, others were as large as her thumb; in total there were 300 pieces that lay beneath her flesh, just sitting there where she knew them to be; safe and comforting.

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”Give me back my daughter!” The screams made her flinch, no one had ever yelled around her before. The Organics company was sure they only got the best environment, that meant very few harsh words and only mild tones of disappointment when needed. Through the misted glass she watched perplexed as the perfect people seized the fragile red headed woman. She screamed so loud, thrashing uselessly against them. Tildy moved slowly across the room that she had been shoved into as soon the woman had entered. The conversation had been quiet at first and she had sat uncaring playing with toys on the floor. Now once again she came to the foggy glass, wanting to know what was wrong and pressed her nose to the glass, hand raised to trail foggily against it.

The woman broke free, rushing to where she knew her daughter to be; she could see her red flash of hair behind the glass, the tale tale green eyes. She slammed her hand over there her daughters was, unreachable. So close to the glass Tildy’s eyes were wide looking up into her mothers blue; her own advanced eye sight clearing away some of the mist so she could see the woman before her. The pale woman flashed her a thin smile, beautiful mouth curving at the sight of her daughter; the first time since her birth seven years before. Tildy stood watching the woman’s emotions, eyes carefully measuring her for sincerity, just as she had been trained to do from her very birth. She envied the girl that such a person had come for, but knew it was not herself, they had told her that her carrier had died giving birth to her as almost all did, giving birth to engineered children was to hard on the mother, they took to much for them to survive.

“I love you.” Her mother whispered to her, steaming up the glass even more, then she was gone. Tildy’s ears registered the buzz of a stun gun, and peered through the glass. As she rose on her tiptoes she could see the twitch of the woman’s foot, erratic with the current running through her. The door besides her opened and they motioned her away from the glass. She stepped back as they closed the door again. She wondered why the woman had wanted so badly to get her daughter back, she had given her away for the good of the country; it was voluntary. She shook her head, sitting back down to look at her toys, all numerical or letter based to improve her learning. Still she felt saddened, she wished that someone wanted her so selfishly; for them and only them. She flickered through the games, her heart heavy in her chest. One day she would be a mother she decided, she would protect her child, till then she would become the best. She would become the best and go out into the world, find the people she saw in the books; real people, real families.

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She woke with a sharp jerk, the skin of her back stretching painfully as they came to a vicious halt. She was dizzy due to lack of blood, the world coming in and out of focus. Suddenly a man entered the ship, had they landed? She looked around at the others who seem slightly less disorientated than her, they must be on mars she decided. She followed through the motions he made, freeing her feet as her flesh let go of the seat with great hatred. She moved to the medic, ignoring her she picked up one of the cases that were marked with blood. She clicked it open with practiced motions, fingers flickering over blood types. With a sigh of satisfaction she picked out her own and plugged it into a drip before inserting the needle into her flesh. She gasped at the pain, making sure to puncture the flesh with the needle rather than let her body accept it. She placed the blood into her bag, elevated nicely and handily; it dripped into her veins letting her eyes steady as she walked out into the new world.

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Peng made and remade himself as he waited outside in the darkness, his eyes used to the little that were emitted by the dock. He wanted to look his best for them all, the first impression was important. He settled on his usual appearance, just more whole; rather than a floating torso. His gears turned uneasily in his body as he reformed flesh, something was bound to go wrong. Though he could not truly feel pain, when his made body became damaged he lost another memory or became less human again. He wished that some day he would be allowed back into the domes, but he knew they would never let him return. Every time he lost a part of himself his unattainable goal grew ever further away. Yes he could sneak into the dome with his non form, but he wanted to be invited back into their world. His long flighty hair calmed as he thought of returning home, these new generations would be the ones to get him in, it was in them that he needed to gain trust and confidence he had decided many years before.

“Hello, welcome to Mars.” His voice spoke into each of their minds as they walked out of the ship, uncertain of speaking to strangers but knowing it to be necessary. He stood in his all to human body, in simple clothing, human clothing. He could not feel the cold, nor did he need clothes; he did not know how odd he looked at -200 in dome clothing. Another thing he often forgot was to breath or move, having no need of such things with a mechanical body and cloth outer skin. His smile was mild and pleasant as he watched each of them, wondering what they would think of him. When they came closer to there carriers he held out his hand, trying his hardest to pay attention to each movement; usually he just moved from one position to another with a change of cloth rather than body. He hoped wildly that it looked right this time, he had been watching Leon and his crew for quite some time, trying to perfect such things. Little did he know that his concentration had furrowed his brow like it should have, for he had once owned a face and flesh; though this was a new body, it remembered.