Chapter Twenty.

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THE man stared at the Engineer, a sinister and bitter sweet smile etched onto his lips. It wouldn't have haunted her so much if he hadn't attempted to disable her; if he hadn't attempted to sentence her to the junkyard – a had been. But her mind was only frazzled, the thought of the machine behind her keeping her alive and functioning acting like a sharp, dangling guillotine over her head. The thought of what would happen to her – would her body waste away and her living organisms live on – crossed her mind. But right now was about buying herself more time, and she waited for the man to answer her question. His eyes gazed across her face before he eventually conceded to her request, a hint of reluctance and impatience in his voice.

"What did you want to know?"

The Engineer returned his stare, the word immediately slipping out her mouth without thinking: "Everything."

The man cocked his head to the side, casting a look over at the unpowered Little Girl. He stood up, the chair rolling away behind him and hitting the edge of the metal bench. With lingering steps, he paced over to where the disabled body lay on the elevated bench and circled twice. "Also a GenesysX product. As a matter of fact, she was designed to be your predecessor – an XR2 model. She too was ravaged by the pulse, but not to the extent you were. Diagnostics show that she's salvageable; the only things that suffered were her personality traits. You, on the other hand, have severed speaking capabilities and can't communicate sentences as fluently as intended. Do you want to know another fact?"

The question caught the Engineer so off-guard, that she almost balked in response. Rather, she replied simply, being the easiest. "Yes."

"Well," he moved, placing a hand on Little Girls exposed upper arm. "Both of you share a genetic linkage – she's your daughter. How is that possible you may ask? You were inseminated during your employment with us, through a process that had just been developed. You were a trial, in a way. Once you were of term, she was taken away and stored for later use. And when the time was right and all our stars were aligned, we developed the XR2. She was our very first, and will also be a testament to our work. Notice the resemblance?"

Hearing the words, the Engineer closed her eyes as she began to experience memories – memories which came rushing back in the form of flashbacks. The white light that had clouded her vision had cleared into new, vivid scenes. The laboratory was her workplace; the scene quickly changing to a blank white, sterile room. The Engineer was laying on what must have been a bed, with massive, blinding lights angled down on her. The roof was tall; an equally ghastly white. Suddenly, she heard the words of the woman fill her ears again, the same from the visions in the Barrenlands but this time, uncracking. And she watched as a dark outline of a shadow came between the lights and her body. "It was a success," she heard the woman say to the sound of latex snapping off her fingers. And then the vision faded, returning back to the now. There was one question however, that remained at the top of the Engineers mind.

"How come she has memories of her past?"

"Oh, that? She was planted with a host family just so she could be in the field for a while and gather data that way. We wanted her to survive the pulse – and so she did."

There was only a brief moment's pause before there was a hiss and the door to the room slid open. Scurrying upon the tiled floor, a smaller man entered accompanied by a bulky comrade. Most of their bodies were covered in desert gear, and their boots were still pale from dust. With a quick click of their heels against the floor, they took a lightning-fast glimpse of the restrained Engineer and then turned to the dark-haired man that held her captive. The Engineer was unsuspecting that this would be the reprieve – the window – that she needed. "Sir, you are needed in the Command Centre right away."

Their superior refusing to look in their direction; rather, maintaining his connection with the Engineer. Eyeing each other as if something was out of place – out of discomfort – the two men quavered in their boots. Was it because they feared the man? Was it because the thought the interruption would lead to punishment? Decided they had waited enough, the man cocked his head towards them, responding in a flat tone. " A moment please."

And the two men left as abruptly as they came, their tails in-between their legs. Hungrily – deviously – the man sauntered towards the Engineer, his face small inches from hers.

"I'll be back for you once I'm finished."

With that, he strode out of the room and disappeared. 

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