Prayer into the Dark, Part 3
#30 of Codename: Stinger
Expect trouble, as if you couldn't already tell!
Part 3.
May, 2000.
"Very good, Avelyn. That'll be all for today," said Adrian from a bench he was sitting on while he jotted down notes. Avelyn, who had been using the facility's gymnasium on a daily basis for the last five months, landed under the overhead pull bar and grabbed her towel. A couple of female researchers that had just left the treadmills passed by Avelyn as she walked towards Adrian, whispering about the metamorph's antennae and eyes while giggling to themselves. Avelyn frowned a little, but didn't turn around. She also ignored those whose reaction in her proximity was to back off in fear, even if she had been given permission to be there. Adrian noticed it however and gave her a comforting smile, "It's like living in a big city, huh?"
"Quite so," Avelyn said in a mispronounced, but understandable German. "But I'm not bothered by it," she murmured with irony in her voice. Adrian gave her a wry smile in return.
"Well, Dr. Masters said you should speak your mind, Avelyn. If anybody's making you uncomfortable..." but before Adrian could finish, Avelyn shook her head and sat beside him, her chitin mask disappearing so she could quietly have a drink. "Thoughtful and reserved as always... Well, I can't blame her," Adrian thought with a small sigh, "Of the few people that have seen her; nobody has dared to approach her without reservation. They think of Avelyn as a freak experiment by Dr. Masters gone wrong. Doesn't help that Dr. Schmidt is so eager to present her as an item with monetary value to the directive board, either. There hasn't been progress in the investigation for her identity either... Who knew that researching a person could be so hard? If this keeps up, it'll be hard to justify keeping Avelyn around just for recurring follow-up fitness and routine check-ups. She's healthy as healthy can be, maybe even more so than your everyday girl, and she still is developing and growing as if she hadn't turned into a metamorph at all. Other than her appearance and enhanced abilities, there really is no reason to keep her inside Humani anymore... I hope Dr. Masters knows what he's doing."
Adrian looked down at Avelyn's long black hair, watching her swing her long legs over the bench anxiously. It had been long enough between gym sessions for Adrian to understand when the mantis was ready to go. "Have you stretched? We don't want you getting cramps, Avelyn."
With a nod, the female insect set her towel and drink down before she willed her mask back on and began to stretch her legs, followed by her arms. Meanwhile, Adrian consulted his schedule for later in the day. "Dr. Masters says he's not going to be available for lunch after all. Would you like us to grab something together instead, Avelyn?"
"Thanks Adrian, I'd like that," she nodded and put her towel around her neck and shoulders. "Is it time to go?"
Adrian nodded back and stood by Avelyn before they left the gymnasium together. It had been five months since Avelyn's rebirth as a metamorph. Without her memories and without a way to stimulate her without causing her great pain in the process, the teenager looked to be heading into her adult years as nothing more than an observation subject for Humani. Adrian, while passionate about medical research and a diligent pupil of Dr. Masters, was feeling the moral pressure of keeping somebody so pitiful segregated from the rest of the world, and inside a building where she was only seen as a genetic aberration. The young doctor often wondered if his mentor had the same doubts and concerns as he, or if he eventually would go down the same road as the others.
Masters had delegated the monitoring of Avelyn's day-to-day progression to Adrian, while he pursued the furthering of his Xteria research by using the samples they have collected from Avelyn and the remains of her chrysalis. "The doctor's growing obsessed with his research; he barely has shown himself to Avelyn in the last month. It's getting even harder for me to defend her in front of the others..." Adrian sighed to himself as he and Avelyn made a turn towards their own kitchen, "And poor Avelyn. Just how strong willed is she to be going through all of this?" he looked down at the walking mantis girl with a frown. She was incredible to him, just pushing forwards as if nothing was happening. Avelyn trusted in Dr. Masters' promise, but Adrian was becoming the skeptical one. "Maybe we should just set her free."
"Adrian? Are you coming?" Avelyn called from the door-frame towards their kitchen, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry." Adrian shook his head and returned to Avelyn with a smile, "Now, how about some mashed potatoes and frankfurters?"
"We had that yesterday. Isn't there anymore chicken?"
"Ah, let me check the fridge then." Adrian laughed a bit at her immediate response, and then he thought: "At least her appetite makes her thoughts very clear for me to read!"
Dr. Masters had been spending the last month making corrections and hard at work with his new iteration of the Xteria. "This is the problem," he erased part of his graphics before redrawing them with slight alterations. He erased part of his equations and rewrote them differently as well. The blackboard looked severely abused, as if someone had been writing and erasing on it for dozens upon dozens of hours per week. "Now to solve the ATP synthesis..."
"Dr. Eugene Masters, Director Mullen would like to see you in his office." His chalk snapped. The sound of the intercom bugged him. Dr. Masters wanted to have it uninstalled, as it interrupted his delicate work at the worst possible times. Looking at the clock, Dr. Masters decided to send a message to his assistant, putting off lunch with his patient yet again. He briefly looked over at his incomplete calculations and graphics before dusting his hands off and leaving his office.
Dr. Masters opened the door to Director Mullen's office and inched forwards, "Did you want to see me, director?" he asked while stepping in.
"Come in, Eugene. Sit down, please." Director Mullen was one of the five representatives of the Humani Corporation, an ex-career politician with silver tongue for business and a deep-pocketed interest in biotechnology. He was a robust and large man, one whose image intimidated everyone as he towered over even the tallest men Dr. Masters had ever seen. Unlike most of his peers however, Dr. Masters only legitimated Mullen for his rank, and definitely not for his scientific prowess. After the doctor had sat down on the chair in front of Mullen's expensive-looking mahogany desk, the director was the one to stand up, hands tied behind his enormous back. "I imagine you know what you're here for."
Dr. Masters hardly needed any reminder, especially when he could see Schmidt standing by the wall, wearing an Armani suit instead of his usual lab coat. "Does this make it the third time this month, Eugene?"
"Fourth I believe, director," Dr. Masters answered matter-of-factly. Mullen turned his head around after having peered through the blinds outside of his office.
"And do you think you're in any position to be so casual about it, Eugene?" Dr. Masters cringed at his superior's ill-displayed familiarity with him. He never remembered buddying with the director, and yet he called him by first name as if he had earned such a right. "Frankly, I'm disappointed in you. I was the one the notice your ability. I gave you a full team of the most capable researchers Humani could offer. You trained many of them well over the years, I admit, but you lost 90% of them over the course of two days, Eugene. And you continuously reject the introduction of new members to your team to top it off. I can't say I care for such poor leadership skills."
"New people would only hinder the patient's reception and make her uncomfortable. Adrian is more than capable of standing in for five people, director."
"Is that so? Well, then," Mullen approached Schmidt, who handed the former a couple of document folders the director summarily hit the desk with, "What's the use for these?"
"Progress reports written by Adrian. I had him write those about my patient."
"Yes, your "Avelyn". I'm afraid that months of physicals and fitness checkups don't amount to much "progress" for us, Eugene."
"In order for me to properly implement the data we recover to my Xteria research, I must have day-to-day updates, director. I made that clear in the last general meeting." Dr. Masters defended himself without even making eye-contact.
"And I am a patient man, Eugene. But patience has its limits, and I'm about to cross mine here," Mullen walked over to his subordinate, a heavy hand falling onto the desk right in front of Dr. Masters', whose hair was blown slightly from the sudden blow to the desk. "Edgar's project has been reportedly rejected by you, and I believe it is a much more efficient method of achieving the results we want."
Dr. Masters didn't want to show any weakness in front of the burly director, so he made sure to grip his thighs tightly, where they couldn't be seen. He had come to hate the word "results" when spoken by these two men. It was no secret to Dr. Masters or Adrian that Avelyn's unique physiology opened the door to an entirely new species whose characteristics could be implanted in human soldiers and operatives, allowing them to gain the upper hand in any physical based conflict. To Dr. Masters, that was an utter perversion of his research, whose goal was to create a catalyst powerful enough to more than half the time of medicine production.
"Ah, don't give me that look, Eugene. The medical field is very important to you, and I would hate to hinder your discoveries, but this is a company! The biotech market is a place full of hungry beasts, desperate people that would pay the highest bid for only a fraction of what your initial research can offer. That is why we protect it. Can you imagine what your friends back in America would do to your family if they learned of your "Avelyn"? ...I hear your genius child is well on her way to follow in your footsteps. Lexine, was it?"
"Don't you talk about my family Mullen."
"Haha, of course. But Eugene; I do believe Edgar's idea has its merits, and you should give him more credit too. Imagine the amount of data we could gain and in such a short amount of time! Your research would be done in under a five years!"
"I won't butcher my patient for you." Dr. Masters stammered, getting a chuckle from Schmidt, who approached the table with an arrogant smile.
"Masters, I'm afraid you're misplacing your affections. This isn't your patient anymore," the short man's smile curled into a grin once he saw he had made Dr. Master's glare at him, "It is but a mere insect with the face of a woman. Honestly, I can't believe a personage of your caliber would forget his place. We scientists dissect insects to learn from them, we don't babysit them."
"Agreed. Now, Eugene, I don't want to repeat myself more than necessary," Mullen sat back on his tall office chair, elbows on the desk and hands joined. His fake smiles disappeared in favor of a sullen expression. "I don't want to see another report about how the subject is growing into healthy adulthood."
"I believe I'm done here," Dr. Masters stood up suddenly, unable to take Mullen's pressure and Schmidt's cockiness anymore. He turned to leave while Mullen simply smirked.
"I was about to give you another chance if you would've opened your eyes, but ah, finally we agree, Eugene." Mullen flicked his lighter open to light his Cuban cigarette, "You are done. Edgar will be taking over as the Xteria project leader. I hope you will provide the necessary assistance to him."
"What?!" outraged, Dr. Masters turned around, ready to lash out. "You can't...!"
Mullen immediately interjected, "I can, and I have. The board agrees with me. You're simply not producing the necessary results, and Edgar here promises me what you cannot, Eugene," a ring of smoke blew out of Mullen's mouth while a sickened Dr. Masters averted his gaze from the disgusting director's yellowish teeth. Everything had suddenly spiraled out of control. How had Mullen gotten approval so fast? The board had agreed with him on taking it slow with sample collection while he fed them the Regenerative Xteria updates regularly. Someone had betrayed him, sold his idea out, and hinted at the possibility of using his contributions as nothing more than warmongering efforts!
"Like you just said, Masters," Schmidt stood by the director's chair, a malicious glint in his one eye. "You are done."
"Your German is coming along fine," Adrian complimented as he and Avelyn washed their plates together.
"Danka," Avelyn's antennae twitched three times. Her expression remained unchanged, but Adrian was amused as he had picked up that reaction was when she was pleased with herself.
"We have some more scans scheduled for the day, but after that, you're free. Is there something you'd like to do, Avelyn?" Adrian asked, "How about computer games? It came out a while ago, but there's this American title called Quarter-Life I've been wanting to try. Last year was so busy though, so I still have it in my backlog."
"Sounds like a weird title." Avelyn raised an eyebrow. She nodded with a small shrug. "But sure."
Upon leaving the kitchen, Adrian and Avelyn headed towards the screening room, passing by Dr. Masters' office. The door was cracked-open, which attracted the mantis girl's attention. "Can I say hello to Eugene first?"
"Oh? Dr. Masters is in there now? Alright then. You know the way to the screening room, so I'll go ahead and fire the machine up, okay?" After getting a nod from Avelyn, Adrian walked out. The metamorph was forbidden from entering the office if it was closed, she had to knock first. But since it was cracked open, she decided to open the door with a simple knock.
"Eugene, are you there?"
"Silence, you fool!" Dr. Masters shouted startling Avelyn who found herself in an office turned upside down. He turned around with bitter rage showing in his eyes and prepared to spout more venom: "You're not welcome in this...!" but he stopped himself when he saw his creation standing before him with a bewildered, confused stare. Dr. Masters' glare softened and he rushed towards Avelyn to embrace her tightly, "Avelyn, I thought you were someone else."
"Eugene, are you okay?" Avelyn didn't understand what the circumstance was, but clearly she had asked a rhetorical question. Dr. Masters was holding her tightly, like someone who does not want to let go.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you my dear. How was lunch with Adrian? I apologize for not making it, again. I will make it up to you though, I promise." Avelyn could notice the strain in the man's voice, his fingers almost digging into her chitin shoulder pads as he broke the hug.
"It's like a storm hit your office, Eugene. Do you need help?" Avelyn asked, again surprised by the scattered and torn pages and thrashed hard drives and other peripherals.
"No no. It's quite fine this way, Avelyn. I... I assume you have a few more scans to do with Adrian, is that right?" Avelyn nodded her head to the question.
"He says he wants to try a computer game with me too after we're done with that."
"Good! Good." Dr. Masters smiled shakily and let go of his patient, turning his back to her. "Stick with him for the rest of the day, you hear? Do not wander out of the labs on your own."
"Is there a problem, Eugene? I can tell Adrian I'll play with him tomorrow. Computers are hard to figure out anyway."
"No it's just... I have a surprise for you tonight. I want you to meet me in the kitchen by 7 PM, alright? Just stick with Adrian for now; I need to take care of something. Promise me you'll tell no one about what you just saw or heard, alright? We don't want to ruin the... surprise."
Avelyn was worried about her doctor, he looked distressed and restless. She was concerned about the state of his office, but she couldn't put her finger on what was going on exactly. This side of Dr. Masters unsettled her, but she couldn't bring herself to press him for any more details.
"Be a dear and close the door on your way out, Avelyn."
"Uh huh. Well, I'll see you later then, Eugene."
That night, Avelyn bid good-bye to Adrian after spending some time playing with his computer. The metamorph teen stopped by the restroom to fix her long black hair, "Oww, why are my feelers so sensitive?" she frowned she hissed after getting her right antenna caught between her combing fingers. "I wonder what Eugene wants to show me. He asked to meet by the kitchen, maybe he's going to make burgers again?" she thought to herself as her tummy rumbled, but then she reminded herself of his emotional state back at the office earlier. "Wish it was that simple. I've never seen him so mad; what could've happened for him to... ugh, my feelers keep twitching so hard. Wish they'd stop itching so... damn, stop twitching!" she reached up grab her antennae before a sharp pain force her to fall to her knees just as a wire flew above her and hit the small mirror she had been using to fix her hair. "What the?!" she startled.
Avelyn turned her head to the side and saw an unfamiliar man holding a weird-shaped pistol-like weapon in his right hand. She hadn't been able to hear him enter, much less approach her, but given the electrical current running through the wire embedded on the mirror, Avelyn could conclude this man hadn't mistaken restroom indicators for genders. Reincorporating herself quickly as she saw the man approach, Avelyn glared at him and took a couple of steps back to put some distance between them. The man was silent, Avelyn couldn't read him; he was dressed in black and was wearing a pair of tinted glasses, like the special commandos she had seen in one of the movies Adrian had showed her before.
The man dropped his pistol and took out what seemed to be a cattle prod, only much smaller and concealable. The rod extending and cackling as Avelyn was cornered. Avelyn was afraid, but seeing the portable stunner somehow made a spark click in her head; almost immediately the raptorial extensions in the metamorph's forearms came out with a slight crunching sound, making her attacker stop. "I don't know who you are," Avelyn started, "But it's rude to come onto a girl in the bathroom."
Her attacker lunged for Avelyn, who used her serrated extensions to block the incoming blow. She shrieked when the electrical current spread from her extensions and shocked her, making her squirm and be blown back against the wall. "Ahh! B-bad idea..." she cursed silently as she tried to get back up to her feet, but she was too slow for her attacker, who rushed her and stepped on her arms, pressing them together while he prodded her again with the rod. Avelyn screamed as searing pain coursed through her muscles, setting her nerves on fire.
"D-damn, my limbs won't respond. I can barely look around!" Avelyn cursed as she was carried out before violently thrown onto the floor. She widened her eyes once she saw Adrian's unconscious form sprawled on the ground, bruises and cuts all over his battered body. "No! Adrian...! What's going on?!"
"Avelyn! Oh my god!" Dr. Masters' voice alerted all of her senses at once. Avelyn managed to turn her dark eyes to look at her doctor being restrained, blood running down his nose and his glasses missing one of their lenses. He had been beaten up too. "What have they done to you? Are you okay?!"
"Save your breath. All of its nerves have been paralyzed, Masters." Schmidt popped up from between two of the like-clothed stoic men, wearing a satisfied smile. "Director Mullen will be pleased at my foresight. I'm glad I asked for security's help for this. Honestly, Dr. Eugene Masters!" he laughed, "Did you think you could do as you pleased, destroy all of your work and MY new laboratory, and then escape with MY test subject?!"
Avelyn was at a loss for words, not that she could speak. "Adrian, Eugene, what's happening? What's going to happen to us...?" she could feel her heart racing, her limbs slowly regaining movement as connections reset much faster than in a normal human's. Avelyn was careful not to let it show, as she didn't want to be prodded again. Dr. Masters couldn't bring himself to respond.
"Pfft, and what's this?" Schmidt made a grimace when he produced some legal documents out of Dr. Masters' coat pockets, "Adoption papers? Hah! You're not serious are you? You are?!" he laughed out loud, "Please! Who has ever heard of a man fostering an insect?! I knew you were losing your mind, Masters, but this just takes the cup! Hahahaha!"
The mantis widened her eyes as far as they would go. She couldn't believe her internal ears, but worse still was that the man with the eye-patch's laugh made it all irritating. Avelyn was all kinds of confused; she wanted answers, and more than anything, she wanted the man above restraining her to get off her!
Embarrassed at his own mistake, Dr. Masters couldn't face Schmidt, much less Avelyn. "I should've taken her with me the second I saw her. No... this can't be it...!" he growled in his head.
"Let us go, you assholes!" the sudden cry of Adrian's voice snapped both Avelyn and Dr. Masters' attention as they saw the young medical aide get up from the floor and throw himself against Avelyn's guard.
"Get that impertinent fool. Put him down if you have to!" barked Schmidt as Adrian put on all of his might into subduing the guard he had managed to surprise, but the other two quickly restrained and began to beat Adrian down. Avelyn however took the moment of confusion as her chance and swept both guards off their feet with a quick swing of her long legs. Heeding the twitch of her feelers this time, she bounced herself off the ground and jumped towards Dr. Masters, knocking the taser off the doctor's guard's hand before he could fire it at her. "What are you useless fops doing?! Stop the test subject now!"
"Good work, Avelyn!" praised Dr. Masters once he was freed, Avelyn having knocked his restrainer down with a swift blow. "Hurry, follow me!" He took her arm and dragged her towards the kitchen, where they had agreed to meet earlier, before she could say a single but.
Avelyn panted, the rush of adrenaline having taken a toll on her. She had never thought about actually fighting before, but something deep inside of her had given her not only the courage of but the confidence to awesomely dispatch the trained guards rather quickly. The door had been locked behind them with a special code; they seemed to be fine. "Eugene! What is going on? Who are these people?!" she demanded.
"There's no time for explanations, my dear. We must get out at once!" Dr. Masters was fiercely inputting a code into a hidden panel behind the kitchen's microwave.
"But Adrian!"
"We can't go back to him! He's gone!" Dr. Masters shouted with resounding defeat as he disposed his glasses but not before crushing them in his hand. "Avelyn, listen." He grabbed her by the shoulders while her frozen eyes stared at him in disbelief, "These are bad people that want to do very bad things to you. I have to get you out of Humani. You have to promise me you will do all I say from now on! Do you understand?" a loud bang at the door and Schmidt's barking of orders made Dr. Masters shout again, "AVELYN!"
She snapped back to reality. "I-I promise..."
"Through here, we don't have much time!" Dr. Masters grabbed Avelyn by her wrist and pulled her along again. "I closed all the doors except the one that requires them to go all around," he thought confidently after having pressed one last button in his remote before discarding it. And with Avelyn in tow and the map of the installations in his head, the scientist knew exactly what routes to take to escape while explosions, panic and chaos ensued. "I'll be slowing medical Xteria research down by at least a decade... My life's work. But if this keeps people like Schmidt and Mullen from misusing it, I will gladly start from scratch!"
Avelyn could only watch as people ran past them in the direction of the explosions carrying fire extinguishers. Dr. Masters was taking them away from those though, avoiding to collide or to stand still for too long. They dashed together past winding halls into vacated locations she had never been to during her short stay at the Humani Corporation. Eventually, they found themselves in a dark parking lot.
"We found them!" came the shout of a security guard as Dr. Masters urged Avelyn inside his car."
"Damn it!" Dr. Masters cursed and slid over the car's front, hurrying into the vehicle. Panting and exhausted, an extenuated and soot-covered Schmidt ran out while flailing his arm and shouting.
"Stop them! Masters is getting away with my test subject! We don't have the research data anymore. I MUST have that damn insect!"
"Run! C'mon, run!" Ignited and on, the engine of the car roared to life, prompting Dr. Masters to pull back before making a violent swerve that hit one of the leaping security guards before his foot nearly went through the gas pedal. Avelyn still couldn't believe how beautiful and scary her first night sky in what seemed like years looked like to her.
The ride was fast yet quiet. Fortunately, transit was almost non-existent on the road and it allowed them room for outdoing their pursuers on their way to the city. Dr. Masters gave Avelyn a small glance as she nearly pressed herself to the window, admiring the city lights, the stars and the black sky she had probably been wanting to see for months. Pain gathered at his chest as he rode into the metropolis, knowing that his plans had failed, and that he didn't have many choices available. None of them had his family in the picture, and they certainly did not have room for Avelyn either.
"I have to get my family protection, fast. Even if they can't get Avelyn back, they will go to any length to get ME back. Once I get to America, I will need their help," he put emphasis in the word "their" in his head. He then turned back to Avelyn, "But she can't come with me. No matter where she goes, it'll be the same result. Once they learn what's inside of her they'll want to..." he bit his lip to make it stop trembling as he drove down to the opposite side of the city. "If she's to have a chance in this cruel world, she'll need to learn how to protect herself. There's only one person I can trust in to do this without any sort of bias..."
As Avelyn settled down, Dr. Masters averted his gaze and paid attention exclusively to the road. He had already lost his pursuers behind, his only saving grace for the day. The scientist tried to calm himself down, "But this will set her on a very dark path. I don't know if this is the best course of action but... damnit! I wish I had more time!" he banged his fist on the wheel out of frustration. Avelyn, startled and concerned, reached with one of her hands for Dr. Masters' shoulders.
"Eugene..." she started, but didn't know what else to say. Avelyn saw Dr. Masters take a deep breath before he finally began to speak again.
"I'm sorry, Avelyn. I'm so sorry," he said, the glow in his eyes unmistakable as tears began to gather under the rim of his eyes. "I was useless. I could not find any information about you or your past, even though I promised you. I had another plan. I would give you a home, somewhere to go to, Avelyn. But now that that is in shambles... I only have one option left."
Avelyn couldn't talk back. For her unchanging expression, she felt a knot at the front of her throat, choking her up. Her train of thought stopped with the car as Dr. Masters pulled over next to a rather old looking yet large house. Avelyn got off at Dr. Masters' behest, who led her inside the rather precarious looking cottage.
The door slid to the side, appearing to be made of some fancy kind of material the mantis could only relate to cardboard. The ceiling looked just as odd, with cross-sectioned tiles running over wooden beams. The floor made a small rustling sound when stepped on, Avelyn took notice of that. She was at a loss for words, so she looked at her hand which was grabbing Dr. Masters before she looked up at him with a quizzical stare.
"Avelyn, do you like this place?"
"It looks fine," the mantis said while brushing some of her hair back, "Why are we here though? I thought we were escaping."
"We've reached your destination, Avelyn. We..."
"Eugene Masters. It's been a while." Doctor and patient turned around and then looked down to a miniature of a person staring back at them. Avelyn couldn't believe the small person; the old woman couldn't have been taller than 4ft.!
"Ren Mao." Dr. Masters bowed and urged Avelyn to do the same.
After Ren Mao had prepared and served tea, the three sat down on the tatami floor. Avelyn was still uncomfortable and curiously looking around, keeping close to Dr. Masters.
"I am amazed. Is this the girl you want me to train?" Mao put both her index and middle fingers on top of her red lips, her wrinkled face scrounging together as she seemed to squint. "Why, she's a little cupcake!"
"You promised me, Ren Mao."
"And I make good on my promises, Eugene Masters. I am still grateful for the successful transplant for my grandson."
"Please, Ren Mao, take care of Avelyn. Teach her all you know. She needs to be strong in order to defend herself. I just hope she doesn't have to, but I will not be around to protect her."
"Wait. Eugene, what are you saying?" Avelyn perked up and looked at her doctor, "What do you mean you will not be around?"
"I'm afraid I must leave for America, Avelyn. And after that... I must disappear," Dr. Masters closed his eyes as he confessed. "I don't know when I'll be able to come back, but until then, I want you to stay with Ren Mao and do whatever she'll tell you. It's the only way you..."
"No." Avelyn sharply cut him off as she seized him by the arm. "No, you can't do that! Eugene, you can't tell me that!"
It wasn't any easier for Dr. Masters, whose eyes had begun watering along with the mantis's. "Avelyn, listen."
"No, don't say it!" Avelyn broke down in tears and tackled him down, displaying the same monstrous strength they had been monitoring until that date. Ren Mao's eyes opened wide as the mantis held her friend tightly in her brown and chitin covered arms. "Adrian's gone! Now you're leaving. I thought you wanted me to be part of your family!"
"Avelyn..." With his wind knocked out, Dr. Masters looked at how Avelyn's black haired head sank against his chest, her grip not letting him go. "You're part of my family already. I promise you that. You don't need my name next to yours to prove it. But my mission with you hasn't changed since I met you back then. I want to protect you. However, I also have a duty to protect others, and to protect the world as well from the bad people that want to hurt us."
"Then let me come with you!" Avelyn begged with a cry.
"No, Avelyn. You can't. I'm afraid that those people will look for you wherever I go. That is why I'm leaving you under Ren Mao's care," Dr. Masters explained. "Here you will be safe, and you will grow stronger. Keep growing stronger until you can look after yourself, then maybe one day in the future..."
"This isn't fair." Avelyn groaned, her tears streaming down and over her facemask. "You have no right to do this."
"I know, Avelyn. But this is the only way I can guarantee your safety." Dr. Masters concluded, hugging Avelyn tightly. He then slowly and gently began to push Avelyn away from him, sitting back up before the shuddering, crying insect metamorph would sit down. He stood up and left her there.
"I hate you." Avelyn spoke, her voice almost completely broken. "I hate you!" she finally screamed. Dr. Masters however did not reply, and he turned around, ready to leave. "I HATE YOU!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her mask disappearing as she smashed a fist down on the tatami floor. The doctor slid the door and exited, closing it behind him.
Ren Mao stood up and walked over to Avelyn, silently placing a hand over the praying mantis's shoulder. "You don't hate him. You simply can't understand him right now. But men are often difficult to understand with words, little girl." Avelyn could only sob, having little mind for a lecture, "They often hide their meaning in their actions instead."
Bitter, Avelyn shut her eyes tight and clenched her teeth. "His action is to tell me he wanted me to be part of his family and then abandoning me..."
"No, young mantis," Ren Mao took her hand off Avelyn's back, the girl looking back at her. "Eugene Masters just saved your life. I am a woman of my word. And I promise you..." Avelyn's head turned up for a brief moment as Ren Mao's stare turned steely cold, "...I'll make you the strongest there is."
To Be Continued...