control ⇢ the maze runner / thomas [1] ✓

Chapter Twelve

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
the lion sleeps tonight."
—The Lion King

CONTROL,
CHAPTER TWELVE

"SHE'S YOUR OWN flesh and blood! You can't just stick her out there with the rest of them!", a man shouted towards a blonde woman. Behind them, a young girl was hastily building something intricate with thousands upon thousands of LEGOs. It looked like an entire city, complete with skyscrapers.

"I had her in preparation! Miles, I created a genuis! Look at her!", Ava Paige shot back, gesturing towards the small girl. "Look at what she's doing on her own! I've never seen tiny little hands move that fast!"

"I just don't feel comfortable—"

"Because she's my daughter?" Ava scoffed. "Rosa Marie, tell him how you were born."

Large hazel eyes looked up at the man, a tiny dimpled smile. "Mommy chose the best eggs and sperm donors and saw which embryo would survive her special fertilization process before being implanted. I was the only one." She said this last thing with pride, then she looked at Ava. "Mommy loves me because I'm special. And smart."

"Good girl." She patted her head like one might pet a lap dog. Ava places a Rubik's Cube in Rosa's hands. "Play with that." She turned back to the men before her. "I always knew I would do something great. I didn't know what I would do at first. I wanted to create highly intelligent children, auction them off. But Rosa... Well, she survived, didn't she? She's passed all the tests. She's excelling at an alarming rate. She is the key! There's no one to sell her to now. I decide how we'll use her."

Miles threw his hands up. "I'll be back to get her in the morning. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's been six years with that little... project of yours over there. You are obviously attached."

"And you take orders from me", Ava pointed out.

"Tomorrow you won't be my Rosa anymore", Ava explained that night.

"Then who will I be?"