text: [Themes: fan fiction, serious]
  
  I don't know how long I have been asleep, but my body tells me I am a woman now. I have been separated from my body for awhile as well.
  
  Some years ago, how many I am not sure, the scientists decided I was too dangerous so they put me in a coma. Their life support system keeps my body alive and with it trapped in slumber, they can experiment and take samples all they please.
  
  No one can see me, but I move about among them. I watch them and I haunt them. They all have heard my whispers in their ear, but none dare to speak of it to anyone else. They all know that those deemed mentally incompetent to continue working, are terminated. No one can simply be fired from this, there has to be an elimination of evidence. Either they go through a painful procedure to induce amnesia or collateral is taken. I don't feel sorry for the ones I drive to insanity, I can only take pleasure in the pain of such monsters.
  
  There is...another soul in my body. One that is separate and yet connected to mine. It is small and pure. The only truly innocent thing I have ever encountered in my entire life. I can't help my like it. It isn't intelligent enough to speak or even truly think, but our minds can touch. It's purity eases my pain somehow, gives me a little bit of hope.
  
  But, I am more afraid now than I ever have been before. I am afraid they will corrupt it and take it away from me. As I am now, I cannot stop them. I can only haunt them perhaps move a small object here and there. I'm not strong enough to do any real harm, unlike when I was in my body.
  
  [Author's Note: Bringing back this little slice of fan-fiction by Mizal's request. It's old and was written before I really understood how to do a CYOA, but enjoy it anyway lol.]
  
  > watch them carefully
  I am constantly vigilant of all their doings. Nothing escapes my gaze, there is no door I cannot pass through. No voice I cannot hear. They speak of strange things, DNA and bioengineering. That they have made a scientific breakthrough if only the... prototype would exhibit the expected skills.
  
  What is the prototype?
  
  My only company these long months has been my doll, Baby, and the innocent little soul locked inside the Vault with my body. Although the soul was faint and weak with no real thought functions, I just like to touch my mind with it's. It is so comforting that not everything in this hell is evil or monstrous. When I am weary of haunting the monsters of my nightmare all I have to do is reach out to it and the warmth and sweetness of it gives me hope.
  
  I have never felt hope before. It frightens me a little. Before I had hope, I had nothing to lose. Now... Now there is something I can lose. Just one more thing they can dangle in front of me, never quite letting me grasp it.
  
  The more I paid attention, the more I understand just what the little soul really was. They referred to it as the prototype, but I knew it was really a baby. It was the result of manipulating my DNA samples and mixing it with... their own specimens. I didn't fully understand the terms or their meanings, but I did know that it was my child.
  
  Being able to touch my mind together with my baby's kept me calm. I merely whispered warnings in the ears of the monsters and occasionally moved their objects around. I did not cause them harm outright, I did not know what they would do to me if they felt threatened despite my body being asleep. I did not want them to hurt my baby.
  
  > Reached out to your baby
  I begin to pay less and less attention to the monsters in this place and start to focus on the one thing that gives me any peace. I rarely leave the room which contains my body. I guard the Vault with unblinking eyes. My body is always sleeping, therefore I never need to rest. I am a constant haunt within this evil place, the only thing standing between them and my baby.
  
  I feel the strangest tug in my chest when I reach out to his mind now. It is a boy, I know it. His mind is not open to me, I cannot read his thoughts. But, I can touch his soul with mine and it makes me want to cry when I can feel him grow excited at my presence. No one has ever been excited about having a visit from me before.
  
  I like to press myself against the cold steel of the Vault and hum the quiet tune of my old music box. I have never been so close to feeling peace before. Perhaps, when he is born, I will be able to reach out to him even more. Perhaps, one day the two of us can escape this place. I just have to become more powerful, saving my energy and practicing the use of it.
  
  "They won't let you keep him, Alma."
  
  I turned around and saw my doll, Baby sitting on the floor. I had been ignoring her lately, but at times she still appeared and spoke with me. I knew she was correct in that statement, but I wanted to hold on to this sweet, peaceful bliss for just a moment longer. If they took him somewhere my mind could not reach, I have nothing anymore. I would cease to exist as I am. Right now, I am capable of ignoring my anger and hatred, because I can feel his pure soul. It tells me there isn't only evil in the world.
  
  "I know, Baby. But, maybe he will still be here and I can reach him as I am now. I don't need my body."
  
  "And if they take him out of here entirely? Where you cannot reach him?"
  
  "I'll kill them. Every. Last. One."
  
  > keep to myself
  I am aware that something is different now. I'm not sure what it is, but the demons certainly are excited. I stand in their midst as they scramble about their laboratory, invisible yet present. There was too much going on for me to grab their attention. My voice, coming to them as whispers, could not be heard above the noise and anything I moved was assumed to be knocked by one of the many scientists running this way and that.
  
  They scurry about like rats.
  
  I catch the sight of movement inside the room where the Vault is kept. Three of them have entered and are playing their little computers.
  
  Something isn't right.
  
  I watch them carefully, feeling that something was terribly wrong with this situation. At least, more wrong than usual. What were those demons planning now? Why were they suddenly flooding into the area around the Vault? I willed myself inside the room with them, watching over their shoulders as their fingers tapped wildly against the keys of a computer.
  
  Then the sound of fluid draining filled my ears.
  
  They were emptying the Vault of the fluid my body floated in.
  
  > Panic
  Why?
  
  Why after all this time were they opening the Vault now? Would they wake me? If they did, would I return to my body? Will I become trapped inside my dreamworld again? I can feel the panic surge through me as the sound of liquid flowing finally ended. A groan of metal and the turning of gears alerted me that the Vault was opening.
  
  My mind flew to the door, seeing my body lying there on the floor. A strange substance dripped over my body and down into the drains. So many wires were hooked up to me. A breathing mask covered my unrecognizable face. I had never seen so many tubes, wires, and mechanisms.
  
  What do I do?
  
  If I could, I would have cried. But, my mind is not a physical thing and therefore could not make the tears. I couldn't recognize the body of the girl before me. I knew it was me, but I didn't want it to be. Why would they do this to me?
  
  How could they?
  
  They began plucking wires and needles out of my skin, another dragged the horrible tube from my throat. I could hear the wet gurgle coming from my throat as it finally popped out.
  
  Wake up!
  
  Wake up, Alma!
  
  Please let me wake up!
  
  This can't be right. This is all wrong. Where are they taking it? Why are they moving my body?
  
  I followed, feeling everything that was somehow solid and stable in my conscious mind begin to bend, threatening to break. They had place it...me... on a rolling bed. The room they wheeled into was all too familiar. They used to experiment on me here. But, they had not done an experiment on me in so long. Why would they start again now?
  
  > Watch
  My body was on the operating table that I knew all to well. What would they do now? Will I die this time?
  
  A small part of me
  
  wished that they would.
  
  kill me
  
  Please...
  
  please let me die
  
  I had never seen the device they used to hold me up before. My legs were put in a strange device that made my knees bend and my legs spread wide. My body was naked beneath a thin white sheet. They were all staring between my legs. I wanted to cry, but I was frozen in place.
  
  Stop
  
  Leave me alone
  
  Don't look there
  
  The last little bit of privacy the scientists had ever afforded me had now been taken away. Never before had they gone anywhere near the pelvic region of my body. I felt violated and sick. What were they doing to me?
  
  It felt as if I were weighed down to my spot in the corner. They injected my body with a drug and a scientist probed my most feminine of regions. I flinched even though I could not feel the touch. It was horrible to watch what they were doing to me. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. I had nothing left that the scientists and daddy had not taken from me. It was all torn from my grasp, like someone yanking a rug from beneath my feet.
  
  I didn't understand what they were doing or why. But, there was a part of me that knew no one should be proding me there. I had seen the scientists, the males and females that lived here would wallow with each other at night. Their differences had been made clear to me then.
  
  The difference between a man and a woman.
  
  The things they did together together were revolting. I didn't understand it and I had no one to explain it to me. But, they grunted and groaned like beasts and twisted and writhed about each other. It made me sick.
  
  Would they do that to me now?
  
  > block the pain
  I tried to block the pain, but I could it taking over. I was terrified and horrified. Perhaps this is what they call being in shock? I shook my head, trying to deny what was happening. I just wanted it all to end. My life, my entire existence, had been nothing but pure torture.
  
  I had never felt love or kindness from anyone around me.
  
  I had been treated as a monster.
  
  They had poked, probed, stabbed, experimented, and operated on my scarred body for every day I could remember of my pathetic life. I didn't understand it. I didn't want to be special. But, what was it that made me special? Was I born this way? Or had they changed me into it? Or had I been born to be special?
  
  I would probably never have my questions answered. But, I had never hurt like this and I did everything in my power to escape it. I tried to block it. But, it felt as if I was suddenly being dragged through time and space.
  
  > Was so afraid
  Suddenly I was being hurdled through space. I was not a physical thing and so I was dragged through objects, walls, and people. I screamed and lights exploded, but I could stop myself. It was if I was being pulled by a magnetic force to a destination I did want to go. It felt as if someone had my foot and was slinging me in circles like a rag doll.
  
  Then I feel strange. It felt as if I had suddenly be thrown into something, I felt confined. Like something was wrapped around me and I could not get rid of it.
  
  No... no, it's not something trapping me. It moves with my thoughts. I feel so... sleepy. But, I'm just barely away.
  
  My eyes open.
  
  My eyes? I have eyes again?
  
  It is blurred at first, my vision has not been used in a number of years I cannot name. But, there is a light shining in my eyes. Shapes and shadows move about above me. My whole body hurts and my belly feels as if it will implode upon itself. I try to move my hands, but they are restrained.
  
  > fade back out
  My eyes shot open as a crippling pain surged throughout my entire body. I looked around wildly for the source of my torment and found demons in white coats all around me. One is watching me, taking notes and adjusting nobs on a machine. The others are below, their heads hidden from view by a white sheet drapped over my legs.
  
  I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The pain came back and I felt tears spilling over my eyelids. Then a great pressure in my lower body made me go rigid.
  
  What was happening?
  
  Then, a new pain exploded through my pelvis. I screamed and sound came out, the lights flickered and they all stopped to stare at me. Then they began to hurry. I felt as if my legs would split apart, like my insides were being pulled out from between my legs.
  
  I moaned in agony and pulled at my restraints. What were they doing to me?! I couldn't see past the sheet over my lap and I was almost glad of it. It felt as if they ripping me open, straight down the middle. Would they cut me completely in half? I could only scream, wail, and cry out from the pain. With every guttural shriek the lights and machines flickered.
  
  Then suddenly I felt the pressure leave me and the pain lessened. Were they done now? They had moved away from me and were gathering away in the corner. What were they doing.
  
  I felt groggy again and realized they were putting me back to sleep. Back to the Vault perhaps?
  
  Then I heard it.
  
  A weak, pitiful wail
  
  The cries of a baby
  
  "You will be a god among men," I heard daddy's voice as my conciousness began to face.
  
  I screamed and thrashed as I watched my father take him away. I had not fully understood what the presence of that tiny soul within my body meant. And I had not known what was happening.
  
  Until now.
  
  I shrieked hysterically, trying to get lose to save my son from that monster! The lights exploded in sparks and shards of glass, the room shook. I broke one of my restraints and began to pull at the other. I was groggy, but my rage fueled me on. A scientist took hold of me and tried to restrain me, I turned my eyes upon him.
  
  The force of my mind flung him across the room, ripping his body apart in mid air. Guts and shreds of flesh splattered everywhere. I heard someone yell, then I turned my wrath upon him. My hate fueled my psychic powers into an unparrelled rage.
  
  I killed them one by one. Blood, guts, organs, and shreds of skin littered the room. It stank. One of the scientists had released his bowels before I destroyed him and the piss and shit had mixed with the gore on the floor.
  
  I was still in so much pain. My baby was gone. I buried my head in my hands and wept. The tears flooded over my cheeks and I wailed at the top of my lungs. What had I ever done to deserve this? What would they do to my son? I couldn't stay awake much longer, the drugs were in my system and I no longer had the strength to fight the sleep.
  
  I couldn't save my baby.
  
  > pass out
  I was here again.
  
  This vast void of nothing.
  
  I couldn't even grasp what had just happened to me. All those years of torment, pain, and anguish had never prepared me for this. I just wanted to die, to shrivel up and fade away. To give in and become the ash, never to acknowledge that there was a world going on around me as I was trapped once more in the coma.
  
  But, I could not forget my baby. Before I heard his cries, I had always known he was a baby, mine to be exact. I had touched his young, undeveloped mind with my own. Even if it was small, I had bonded with him. But, when I heard his cries... That was when I knew he was my baby, my son... the only living human being I loved in this world.
  
  And daddy had taken him. Would my baby live the same life as I had? It felt as if my mind was being pulled in a thousand directions, like it could snap at any moment. I knew what that feeling meant, I had felt the minds of the scientists do the exact same thing just before I destroyed their sanity.
  
  > wander the Dreamworld
  The final piece of my humanity had finally died.
  
  I was no longer a person or a human. I did not want to be one of those... things. Those monsters who took my son from me. The same monsters who stuck me with needles, tortured me with electrotherapy, and tested my limits with sleep deprivation.
  
  All in the name of their fucking science.
  
  I had once believed in a little fairy tale I had thought up as a child. I used to tell myself that one day, a good person would come in here and chase away my nightmares. That he would love me and take me away from here.
  
  But, that was just a stupid child's fantasy.
  
  I understood then.
  
  I understood so perfectly clear
  
  I would never be free
  
  > Weep
  I curled up and hugged my legs, letting my forehead rest against my knees.
  
  And I wept.
  
  I don't know how long I cried, but I begged that someone or something kill me. End my miserable existence. Had I been born to be tortured, forced to give birth to a child that I don't even know how I conceived, and then die alone in this darkness? What I had ever done to deserve all of this?
  
  I could only cry, clinching my fists and sobbing uncontrollably. Everyone hated me, feared me, and tormented me. Would they do the same to my baby? He was defenseless, small, and he needed me.
  
  But, I was stuck here.
  
  > become the Ash
  I wilted and turned to ash, the particles of burnt dust flowing through the deep void of the dreamworld. I did not wish to create, to see, to hear, or even to be. I wanted to cease to exist. I wanted to give up.
  
  And so I drifted.
  
  Slowly, I began to forget that there had been a time before I was the ash. I only drifted through space. Time had no meaning for me. And I merely drifted, became, lost form, and drifted again. It was an endless cycle of birth, becoming, dying, and being reborn again as something else. I don't know what it was I would become, then cease to be time and time again. I did not care.
  
  I just knew that I did not want to remember, to wonder why, or what.
  
  But, no matter how much I forgot...
  
  I still hurt
  
  Like a knife was in my gut
  
  > search for the the tree swing
  I began to walk, tears streaking down my face. I sniffled and sobbed as I moved, barely noticing the ashes begin to float about me. Things began to form and become shapes and objects, but I did not care to stop and appreciate the wonder of it. I would have destroyed it all had I the strength left to do so.
  
  I didn't want to see anything exist.
  
  I just wanted everyone, everything, the entire universe to cease to exist.
  
  My whole life had been little more than pain and torment. And now I truly had nothing left. Everything had been stolen from me, dangled before my eyes as a taunt, then hidden away forever. I lived in a world of demons dressed as scientists. Test tubes, wires, drugs, and wicked machines which caused more pain that I cared to remember.
  
  My life was nothing more than a joke.
  
  A horrible, vile joke thought up by an evil man. An evil man who claimed me as his daughter once. Now, he simply calls me Project Origin.
  
  I screamed to the void, my teary eyes falling on the familiar tree. A heavy sigh escaped my lungs and I trudged through the tall, dead grass until I was standing next to the swing.
  
  > But, someone else was there
  There was someone else on my swing.
  
  A little girl swinging back and forth. I recognized her, then.
  
  She was me when I was young.
  
  "What are you?"
  
  "I'm you, Alma." She giggled, continuing to sway on the swing.
  
  "How?"
  
  "I'm the part of you that is still a child. I'm the last part of you that wants to be good."
  
  "Then what am I?"
  
  "The part that doesn't want to be good."
  
  It was a simple explanation and I think I understood. Ever since I escaped this place the last time I had been able to transform between this form and that of my child self. I had not transformed since I came here now, this second time. So then, I was stuck in this adult form.
  
  "I'll stay like this, until you're ready to try to be good again. So you can do whatever you need to, Alma. You can kill them. They all deserve to die. And when you're done, I'll come back. And you'll be able to remember that you aren't just a vengeful killer. You'll remember that you were a person."
  
  I turned away from her, no longer caring to understand. We needed to be separate. That last shred of innocence within me needed to be protected so that I could go out and do what must be done.
  
  I would slaughter them all.
  
  > look for answers
  I existed in the dream world as an unrelenting force. Violent and angry, searching for the tiniest hole in this illusionary world. I found no answers to my questions, but I could feel my strength building. I had fully allowed the innocent, good part of me to separate to the little girl on my swing.
  
  All that was left of me was violent will and hate.
  
  And when I wake up, they will beg for death before I am through with them. Filthy, vile demons that they were. They gave no mercy to me, even when I was a small child. I would never show them any.
  
  > Then you felt it
  There was a vague feeling in the back of my conscious. A vile de ja vu which frightened me, but I could not remember what had brought on this feeling of dread in the past. I tried to ignore it, still searching for the exit to the dreamworld. I no longer noticed the shifting landscapes, simply accepting the fact that the ash never kept its form for very long.
  
  The dread only grew worse and I finally remembered why I recognized it as a new symptom presented itself. That strange tug as if thousands of tiny, invisible threads wrapped around me and were pulling me away.
  
  I was waking up again.
  
  I didn't fight it, instead I fought to go with it. I wanted to wake up, to take back what was rightfully mine. I was hurtled through the void at a violent pace, yet I tried to go faster. I merely wished for consciousness.
  
  For revenge.
  
  > wake up
  There are... voices around me. Hurried and loud, but I can't make out what they are saying.
  
  For a brief moment, I can open my eyes and I see the blurred scene around me. It is hectic and filled with scientists and machines. Then I fade back out.
  
  My eyes open again, this time I have more clarity. How long have I been trapped in the dreamworld this time? Last time years had gone by while I still thought myself only there for moments. How old was I now? What would happen to me this time? Last time had been terrible.
  
  They brought me out of the coma, just long enough to give birth to the baby I didn't fully realize I had carried to full term, and then daddy had taken him from me.
  
  My eyes felt like dead weights, but I managed to drag them open. I could see now that I was awake enough to comprehend my position. It was an all too familiar scene. Very similar to the last time I had been brought back out of the induced coma. But, they were taking precautions this time. My limbs and muscles did not respond to me, but I felt everything.
  
  It was an intense pain, far worse than before. The heavy pressure in my pelvis wouldn't budge, there was no relief from it. Even though I could not command my muscles, the contractions still came in devastating waves of pain. As usual, the scientists cared nothing about my pain, only that I be still. I was strapped down heavily. My wrists were locked in place and a large belt-like strap held my chest down. My head was also clapped in place. I couldn't look anywhere other than where my eyes could reach.
  
  But, I knew what was happening.
  
  again
  
  But, unlike last time I had no way of fighting back. I was paralyzed by their drugs and my own pain, my mind too groggy to harm them. I was awake, but barely. All I could do was feel the pain. I could not even open my mouth to cry out.
  
  But, the tears came in a torrent.
  
  > Something is wrong
  Something is wrong. They are moving me out of the room on the rolling bed, each bump and careening turn total torture on my body. I tried to scream, but only a garbled groan came out. What were they doing? Why does it hurt so much worse this time?
  
  Light floods my vision as I am wheeled into a new room. One I am also familiar with. An operation room, complete with a large window where people would sit and watch as the scientists performed their experimental operations on me.
  
  A thin blue sheet was spread over me and I tried to struggle, but still had no motor control. I barely managed to twitch a finger. I was powerless.
  
  Burning pain shot through my abdomen as a searing pain dragged over my belly. The warm blood followed it. They were cutting me open? It wasn't the first time, but I had never been awake through it. And there was nothing to dull my pain.
  
  I could hear the suction tools and felt the horrid sensation of it vacuuming the blood from around the incision. My vision blurred as a new, more intense pain shot through me. Something felt like it clamped on my insides, it hurt horribly. I wanted to scream, but could only gurgle.
  
  What are they doing to me?!
  
  I could feel it all. Everything they reached in with and all the organs they moved about. The pain was more intense than anything I had ever felt before. After a brief moment of letting me lay there with my guts wide open, I felt them cutting deep inside me.
  
  I clenched my jaw, drawing blood from my tongue. What were they doing?
  
  Why?
  
  The suction tools were working hard to suck up all my inner fluids and I could feel more clamps placed firmly somewhere in my gut, stretching me. I felt as if it would all dump out onto the floor when someone reached in, their hands passing my organs and began to dig within me. I wanted to scream, but could merely gurgle the blood in my mouth. It felt as if they were digging their hands around inside my abdomen. Then, the heavy pressure below the hands lifted and was pulled out.
  
  I felt empty.
  
  They all left me there, stomach open and guts clamped to make way for whatever they had just removed from me. Perhaps they had finally found what made me so fucking special. It was strange to feel air against my insides and I felt frigidly cold.
  
  My vision was beginning to blur again as I was overcome with exhaustion.
  
  It hurt so badly.
  
  I was vaguely aware of a few of the scientists covered in their scrubs and medical caps and masks as they loomed over me again. I felt them removing the clamps, then piercing a needle through an organ deep within. The dragging of the thread felt like razor wire as they pulled it taut. Every pierce, every tug, every knot was excruciating.
  
  They released my innards so that they could fall back into place, a very strange and horrid sensation. And again they stitched up the incision on my belly. A breathing mask was shoved roughly over my face and I smelled the odd the scent of the gas as it made me fade back out.
  
  > fade out
  Here again.
  
  I'm falling down the vast void of nothing that is my dreamworld prison. What had just happened had made me so very numb. I felt nothing and I wanted to feel nothing. But, I could remember the pain. I had wanted so badly to wake up, but I regretted it now. All that pain had been for nothing. I had not achieved my revenge, I had not hurt them as they had hurt me, and I hadn't saved my baby.
  
  The sensation of falling was disconcerting. My long hair rippled up as my downward spiral dragged me in the opposite direction. It was strange. I felt as if I was plummeting swiftly, but I never seemed to actually go anywhere.
  
  > It's a dream
  This isn't real.
  
  That's right, this is a dreamworld.
  
  My dreamworld.
  
  I took a deep breath and focused on my own will. I wanted to stop falling and slowly I felt the rush of air slow as I began to float rather than plummet. Opening my eyes, I realized that there was now a scene before me. The ash had something to show me again, perhaps?
  
  Slowly, I lowered until my felt touched the cold floor. I was in the Origin Facility as I remembered it so long ago. Was there something here I needed to see? Was my mind trying to tell me something?
  
  I walked down the empty halls, following the familiar tune of my old music box. It had been a long time since I had heard its sweet music. I turned this way and that, following it. It was as if it were calling me to remember something. But, what was I supposed to remember?
  
  > Memory of Daddy
  I woke up one night in my bedroom when I was very young. I was still living with mommy and daddy. I had had a terrible nightmare and all I could do was scream for my mommy. Things were rattling on my shelves and it frightened me. The sweat from my terror made me cold. I couldn't go to them myself because I was still in a crib.
  
  I wailed and cried, terrified that what was in my dream was also reality. Every dark shadow, every rattle, every squeak could be a monster after me.
  
  Finally I heard mommy's footsteps and she flipped on the bedroom light. I squinted at the sudden change of lighting, it hurt my already swollen eyes. I continued to cry and mommy stood beside my crib and stared at me. I knew she hated coming in here when I was like this, but I still didn't want to be alone.
  
  I just didn't want to be alone.
  
  "Alma..." Mommy's voice sounded strange, like she was angry with me. I wasn't sure what I had done, she had never been angry with me before for a bad dream...
  
  This only made me cry more. I wailed and again my shelves rattled. I heard mommy gasp at the sound, then I felt her hands take a firm hold of my arms. I looked up at her, happy for a moment. Was mommy going to hold me?
  
  I screamed as mommy's grip began to crush me and it felt as if my very brain was rattling around as she shook me. I tried to pull away, but she just continued to yell and shake me. Why was mommy hurting me? What did I do wrong? I didn't understand...
  
  "What are you doing? What happened?"
  
  Daddy was here and he made mommy let me go. I fell against the back of my crib, sobbing and hugging my knees. What had I done to make mommy mad?
  
  "She isn't right, Harlan! That... that thing has to get out of here! I can't be around it! Please, listen to Marshal! Do what he says! Take her away. Get it away from me!"
  
  "Alright, calm down. I'll call Disler. We can arrange to have it work out. It'll be alright. No one has to know."
  
  They left me as if nothing had happened. As if they had just arranged a troublesome dinner plan. I was left alone in the dark.
  
  > Daddy took you away in the morning
  The memories only served to remind me of my anger. Time was passing rapidly whenever I was trapped in this place. Years flashed by in mere moments.
  
  I had to manifest outside, without my body. I can't remember how I did it before, but I wanted it so badly. I wanted out, to visit my son, to kill daddy. They had all outlived their sins and it seemed that only I could revisit their sins upon them. A blood bath was coming. I had been so patient.
  
  But, I am tired of waiting.
  
  > command the Ash
  That's right.
  
  I became the ash and I willed myself awake. Baby had come to me, a living doll inside my dreamworld. She had made me aware of my state and given me the will to escape. I didn't need her to give me a reason to escape this place. I had my own reason now.
  
  Revenge
  
  I would get my baby back, kill all those damned scientists, and I would butcher daddy like the filthy wretch that he is.
  
  I didn't have mercy left inside me, only hate and anger.
  
  The ash came to me, attracted by my power. I became the ash, commanding it and flowing with it. I cut through the darkness, reaching for anything that could lead me out. I just needed one beacon, one thing. One bread crumb in the dark.
  
  > reach out
  I pushed my mind out, using all my strength. Was that not why I was here? I was too powerful to be controlled while I was awake. So now I was drugged. But, I had not been weakened at all. Merely set back. Once I found something outside to latch onto and guide myself with.
  
  I would be free
  
  My body was of a little importance now. Even I awoke of my own free will, I would be trapped within the Vault. That prison of steal, fluid, and tubes. I had been so patient all these years. But, I had lost that virtue. I would wait no longer.
  
  At last I could feel him. Faint and closed off. But, I knew that soul. My baby was still inside this facility. I could feel his maturity. He wasn't a baby anymore, but he was not an adult either. A child as I was when they first put me in the coma. He could not hear me when I whispered, there was no response.
  
  But, nearby, I felt a stronger presense. Younger and strangely familiar, yet it was not my baby's. It was so much like my own angry heart that I was instantly attracted to it. And as I reached out, it recoiled and noticed my presence. I was not the only psychic within the facility anymore...
  
  > push harden to reach your son
  He was tiny spark in the darkness, but I had wanted to be with him so much for so long. I had never stopped thinking of him, my stolen child. Even if I escaped my dream prison, he may not be able to see me without my body. But, I would still watch over him. I would sing to him at night and haunt those that caused him pain.
  
  I loved him
  
  I knew so little of love, but I felt the strangest pull as I grew closer and closer to him. It was a yearning and a desire. I wanted my baby more than anything. I would even give up my revenge if it meant saving him from the same fate as I had been subjected to.
  
  > Was so close
  At last I escaped my drugged body, and rushed away from it. I flew through walls and past scientists. Too an unfamiliar wing of the facility. I had never seen it before. Perhaps it was a new renovation. No, matter. I needed to take over this new psychic so I could see my son.
  
  My mind was already latched onto his and, at last, I entered him.
  
  He was young and fragile, with not even half my power. But, his own power was so very much like mine. Far too similar to be a coincidence. But, I ignored my curiosity. I was only here for one reason.
  
  To see my baby,
  
  > possess the Psychic
  I took over him completely, shoving his mind into a dark recess within himself. Opening the eyes I now controlled, I could see so clearly. He was only a little bigger than I was when I was a little girl. Perhaps he was older?
  
  I was inside a larger cell. One wall was a large a one way mirror. A television was underneath the mirror. And on the other wall were two beds. Otherwise it was barren.
  
  Above each bed were large painted symbols.
  
  P2
  
  P1
  
  It was strange to command someone else's body. But, I managed to move the stiffened, alien legs. There was a figure lying on the bed underneath the label, P1. I knew his presence.
  
  My baby
  
  I stumbled towards him, reaching out the hand that wasn't mine.
  
  I was so close.
  
  > But, he was fighting me
  The young psychic began to push his mind back against mine, trying to shove me back outside of his body. He was not as powerful as I was, but I had little need to use him any longer. With a sigh, I left his body and stood in the room as my mind's ghostly manifestation.
  
  I was only here for one reason, to get my baby back.
  
  > look around the room
  Glancing around the room, I could see a figure on a bed. I knew who he was, my baby. A blanket was pulled up and over his head as he breathed softly in his sleep. So many emotions hit me head on as I stared at his form beneath the sheets. He had grown so much, but I was so happy that he was safe and healthy.
  
  But, I wasn't sure how safe he would remain while he was in this hell.
  
  I wanted to cry.
  
  "Who are you?"
  
  A small voice behind me made me turn around slowly, reminding me of my fellow psychic in the room. He was a bit smaller than my son, but there was a familiarity about him that I could not put my finger on. He could see me?
  
  > ignore him
  I blinked and ignored his question, instead moving to stand next my baby's bed. I reached out and at first my hand simply went straight through the blanket. It had been a long time since I had moved objects while outside my body, but it was not something easily forgotten.
  
  I focused until I could grip the material with my mind, pulling it back slowly. Now that I could see his face, I was surprised at how much he had changed. He had my black hair and dark eyes, even the shape of his face was reminiscent of my child self. I gently stroked his warm cheek, wanting nothing more than to cradle him in my arms.
  
  He stirred at my touch and I moved my hand to run my ghostly fingers through his short hair. The cold touch of my hand finally made his eyes blink open and he turned over. I smiled expectantly, it was time for us to be reunited.
  
  But, he looked right through me.
  
  > He could not see me
  I could feel the rage building up within my very soul. He couldn't see me? My baby didn't even know I was here?! I had tried so hard, wanted this so badly, and now he could not even see me. We couldn't be together like this.
  
  I backed away, desperate to be out of his unseeing gaze.
  
  Turning around, I could see that Two was surprised as well. Unsure as to why my son couldn't see me. He kept looking between the two of us, earning a very confused look from the little boy I had waited so long to see. A shuddering sob escaped me and I turned away, unable to look at my son anymore. I didn't have anything left now. Without my body, he could not see me. But, if I was in my body, I was trapped in a coma.
  
  "Two, what's going on? I thought the Creep had come back, but it felt like something cold was touching me," My baby's voice was childish, but frightened. Had I scared him? My own baby was afraid of my touch?
  
  "No, it's... it's nothing, One."
  
  Two's reply made me angry and I turned a hateful eye upon him. Nothing? I was One's mother, One was my baby. Mine! It wasn't nothing. He could speak to him for me!
  
  "No, he needs to know. My baby... he needs to know." My voice sounded broken and mournful even to my own ears and Two heaved a heavy sigh.
  
  "Well... There's a... a... girl. She's here, but you can't see her..."
  
  "Yeah... It's probably another commander prototype like you. We aren't the only ones here. You told me that you had talked to the others and I've seen some of them coming out of rooms after experiments."
  
  "No... One, she's... different. She doesn't feel like the commanders. They're weak and... kind of stupid... She's... I dunno."
  
  "You're a perceptive little copy."
  
  "Copy?" Two mused, turning to me.
  
  One simply shrugged and turned back over his bed, obviously used to such things.
  
  "That's right. A copy."
  
  > tell him about Project Origin
  "Do you know what this place is? Why you are here?"
  
  "I'm not sure... We have always been here. I can't remember anything else before this."
  
  "This is the Origin Facility. It is dedicated to researching ways to advance Psychic Warfare. Specifically, Project Origin. This is the heart of the research and experiments, but there are many limbs outside of this place."
  
  "And who are you? How do you know so much?"
  
  "My name is Alma. I was the first true subject brought here. The ones before were manufactured, unnatural abominations. I was born this way. They gave me the Paragon tests, then used me as the baseline for their future endeavors. In other words. I am Project Origin."
  
  Two looked at me thoughtfully, obviously contemplating all this information in his young mind. There was a hint of the scientists meddling about him, but also a natural power that mimicked my own.
  
  "Alma... I think I understand. But... they told me I'm going to be a Psychic Commander and they experiment on me. If you're the original... then... what are we?"
  
  "I'm not sure yet."
  
  "Why were you so sad when One didn't see you?"
  
  "I need to go now, I'll come back perhaps."
  
  > return another time
  A few days passed by and I continued to wander the facility. I was always there to check in on my son and his cell mate. I was angry at the thoughtless names they had been given. One and Two, nothing more than numbers. It was just like how I had been called the Subject or Origin. But, underneath all that I had had a name. Alma. They had no true name to turn back too.
  
  I went deep within the facility, searching for the Psychic Commanders I had heard of. The copies made from my DNA, but which fell so very short of expectation. My son had not inherited my abilities, but according to Two he was special in a different way. Enhanced reflexes, strength, stamina, and speed. He was the baseline for the perfect soldier. It made me very apprehensive.
  
  I had come to understand what One and Two were here for. One, my baby, was being used as a starting point to build and manufacture soldiers. Soldiers without minds of their own. Empty husks which could take more damage than a living human and they did not have empathy.
  
  They were experimenting on my son. Messing with his brain. I had heard them speaking of it and it had made me shake with rage. They had operated inside his skull, attempting to reduce his empathetic feelings and also cut off his ability to feel pain. They were slowly eating away at his soul, turning him into something that would eventually have no mind of his own.
  
  I had to stop it soon.
  
  And Two... he was the building block for the Commanders, who would connect themselves through a psychic link to these manufactured soldiers and control their every move. He also underwent horrific operations and tests, much like the ones I had once undergone. They would routinely give him the Paragon test, attempting to raise his scores. They were very high, but they never surpassed my own Paragon test scores.
  
  > try to find out more about Two
  I followed the scientists one day as they wheeled an unconscious Two into an operating room. I was angry at the way they treated him, so very similar to how I had once been abused. He was just a lab rat in their eyes, not a fellow human being. The little boy was strapped down and cut open time and time again. They would take samples, insert drugs, or perform enhancing operations on his brain.
  
  He was in pain. I could feel it, so much like my own. There was a connection there with Two, stronger than I should have felt for just some stranger who shared a cell with my son. I was patient, waiting for information to slip past the demons' lips. I would whisper in Two's ear as he slept there during their horrible experiments. I wanted to comfort him and many times I pulled him into my own mind, saving him from the pain.
  
  He trusted me.
  
  I could feel how strongly he needed me. And we did grow steadily closer. I would whisper to him when he was in the cell, telling him everything I knew. He grew steadily stronger under my guidance. His psychic abilities expanding as he learned to let it flow with his emotion. It wouldn't be long before, like me, he could move objects.
  
  > Continued to whisper secrets in his ear
  He began to let me into his mind more and more. Two had begun to... love me. It made me happy that someone loved me. And through him I could have some small contact with my baby. He would tell One about me, what I said. How I promised to do everything I could to set them free.
  
  It wasn't long before my continued presence began to effect him, however. He became paranoid and had begun to draw on the wall and floor around his bed. They were reminiscent of my own artwork in my old cell and I found it very interesting how much we seemed to connect. We had an effect on each other even on a subconscious level, me much more so on him seeing as I was so much more powerful and experienced. He was slowly absorbing some of my emotions, habits, and memories.
  
  At night, when he had nightmares. As he trashed about his bed would move with the pulsing of his mind. But, I began to give him space as I realized he had become a threat to my son. And I also quickly found out that daddy was very much involved in this experiment.
  
  Daddy sometimes came to their cell personally or even to their 'training' or 'testing' sessions. I would shake with anger at his closeness to my baby. Two and One had called him 'the Creep', not knowing his true name or title. It was fitting, especially since I saw his true essence rather than the weak looking old man the scientists beheld.
  
  > Daddy messed with their minds
  I watched in bitter contempt as time and time again daddy fucked with their minds. He would give them each a toy, then take one away from them. Leaving them to fight over who got to play with it. One was stronger than Two, but Two was smarter and reminded me a bit of my own habits of manipulation. More times than one I would whisper in Two's ear, making sure he never hurt my baby.
  
  But, there was something building around us. I could feel it. I was drawn to Two in a strange way, not so different from how I was drawn to my son. No matter what I did, my baby couldn't see or hear me. His mind was closed to me, though I always left mine open for him... hoping that one day he may reach for me.
  
  I followed Two one day as he was taken away after throwing a rather powerful tantrum. He had telekinesis like I had and had thrown the cell into disarray. One had been left in the cell, shaken but unhurt. I had may sure that he was shielded from the uncontrolled rage of Two. I would never let anyone hurt my baby, even if I did like Two.
  
  He was angry and fighting them the whole way to the operating room. I walked next to them, catching Two's attention quickly. His mind reached out, touching my own. With a knowing smile I let him in.
  
  "Alma, please... help me. The Creep is really mad. I don't know what they are going to do. He says I'm not suited for the project anymore and that One and I will both be transferred to other facilities!"
  
  I felt fear rising within me. If they were both being transferred, than my baby would be taken away. I wouldn't be able to be with him anymore. I would be alone again without Two being able to see and speak with me.
  
  > stop them
  "Don't fight me. I'm going to use your body. I will stop them."
  
  I could feel his mind opening up to my own and my manifested consciousness entered his small body. There was no fight and I did not push him back. He merely moved out of my way, allowing me total control. I began to lock my mind in with his senses, taking over everything.
  
  I stopped moving and the scientists around me looked at me with apprehension. Daddy turned around and opened his mouth, planning to intimidate Two. But, Two wasn't here anymore. I smiled at Daddy which stopped him in his tracks. I think, perhaps, he recognized my twisted expression.
  
  "I'm going to kill you now... Daddy."
  
  And I turned my full power upon the two scientists holding Two's arms. Daddy cried out in shock and fear as their bodies shook with my unbridled power. I melted the flesh off of their bones, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton and a wreaking ooze of their liquefied meat.
  
  "What the fuck... Alma? It can't be. Tranquilize the Prototype!"
  
  I flung him away from me with my mind, feeling the satisfied popping of his bones as he slammed into a wall. He was still alive, but I had the other demons to exterminate for now. I giggled and sent two more of the white garbed monsters to hell. And as I turned my attention back to daddy, I was startled as a sharp pain stuck into Two's neck. I reached up and pulled out a dart. Turning I saw soldiers coming towards me.
  
  I screamed in defiance and the earth shook with my hate. I was so close! So close to killing daddy, to saving my baby. But, the drug was taking over Two and his body was not responding to my commands as it should.
  
  > Lost control
  I retreated within Two's body, touching my mind with his own. He was growing groggy, but I would offer at least a small comfort before he lost consciousness. I didn't know what would happen to him after this and I wasn't sure if I could protect him. But, I was thankful for his company, for allowing me to have a small taste of my coming revenge, and for trying to relay my messages to my baby.
  
  For just a moment, our minds merged into one.
  
  He saw all my memories
  
  And I received all of his
  
  And in that moment, we both completely understood each other. He was fading quickly from the effects of the drugs and one fleeting, blurred memory of Two's grabbed my attention. I was frozen in shock and gripped by fear.
  
  I understood now.
  
  I knew who Two was
  
  Just like I knew who One was
  
  They were both my babies
  
  > lose the connection
  One loses consciousness just as our realization dawns on us both. We have one, single shared memory. Of my second awakening from the coma. Of the scientists cutting open my belly and pulling something out. I knew now that they had cut out my second baby. I had two babies...
  
  I screamed and wailed, hating daddy for doing this to me. And hating myself for not realizing who Two was before now. They were dragging him away now and I could do nothing to save him. The lights flickered as I shrieked my terror, but I could not harm them.
  
  I tried
  
  I tried so hard
  
  To kill them
  
  I tried to grab a hold of them, but I merely passed through them.
  
  "Give him back! Where are you taking him?!"
  
  They could not hear me. I had thought I was helping him, but I had condemned him.
  
  > Are helpless
  Daddy finally catches up to the group, clutching his ribs and looking about in wide eyed horror. I throw myself at him, but pass right through. However, the lights flickered and the doors rattled with my effort.
  
  "Leave him to me. We have what we need. Cut off the Vaults life support system. And seal it. She is too dangerous. We have to take away the prototypes to another facility. Project Origin has been compromised."
  
  I froze, understanding his words all too well. They were finally going to finish me. I would die, slowly. Trapped within the vault. And my babies would be at their mercy. The others left daddy to drag Two's body away, slowly returning to the cell. I followed them, dumbfounded with how this would all end.
  
  I was going to die.
  
  I had longed for death and begged for it all these years. Yet, I wasn't ready now. I needed to stay alive! To protect my babies! I needed my revenge, to kill all these demons so they couldn't hurt my children anymore. If I died now, then... Both of my babies would be at the mercy of the scientists.
  
  The cell door opened and daddy dumped Two on the bed, grabbing One and dragging him away.
  
  > go after One
  I followed daddy and One down the halls, finally coming to another holding cell. One was thrown into it unceremoniously and I watched as he jumped up and down to see out of the door's window. He didn't know it now, but his little brother was in a lot of danger now... And his mother would be allowed to waste away all too soon.
  
  I reached out to my first baby. My fingers brushed his face, but went right through.
  
  I wept.
  
  "I'm so sorry... I can't keep you safe.... My baby..."
  
  I sobbed, unable to give him any comfort. He was still unaware of my presence and he had barely believed Two when he told him about me. All I wanted... was for us to be... together.
  
  "Why?"
  
  Why like this? Why did it have to end like this?! All I wanted was to have my babies back.
  
  > Are being dragged
  I could feel myself being pulled away, yet i fought it. I returned to Two's cell, knowing that I didn't have much time. He stood now, dumbly staring at nothing. I was fading fast and I needed to do whatever it took to assure that they would be safe. That a least a piece of me would be left for them.
  
  "Two...."
  
  "Alma?" He sat down against the wall, hugging his legs. "I mean... mother."
  
  "It'll be ok."
  
  "I'm so scared."
  
  I went to him, fighting the increasing tug of my soul to return to my body. They had stopped the drugs which kept me asleep and slowly, I was waking up. I reached out and ran my fingers through his hair. He was crying and frightened. I backed away and watched as he stood again, looking at me with puffy eyes.
  
  "Come." I held out my hand. I would comfort him now. Not out of pity or selfish gratitude. But, as his mother. I would die soon and I didn't know what would happen to him. But, I would not let him die without knowing my love for him. He reached out and touched my hand.
  
  > take over
  The furniture in the room was blown about with the force of our minds fusing together. His body was thrown into fitful convulsions, but I made sure his mind was completely unaware of his pain. I was going to make sure he had a small part of me left after I died.
  
  We both stood in the darkness of his mind. A familiar void that I knew all too well. I gentled cradled Two in my arms, rocking him as the mother I had always wanted to be to my babies. I began to sing to him, the only song I knew. The words sounded haunted and broken by the shudder in my voice as my tears bathed his small face.
  
  I was slipping... Fading away, slowly. But, I would make sure they feared him and also felt like he was an unparalleled asset. I would assure his survival in the only way I knew how. In his mind, all he knew was that his mother cradled him and comforted him with her haunted lullaby.
  
  But, I knew what was really happening. The soldiers were entering the destroyed cell, not knowing that once again I was in control as Two sat in bliss within his mother's arms. Another dart pierced his shoulder, but I was enraged. I was going to fucking kill them.
  
  They walked forward as if they had everything under control. I smiled and screamed, laughing as their heads imploded. Brains and bits of skull splattered everywhere as their bodies fell to the floor. The kept filing in, like sheep to the slaughter. Each one having his brains spread across the room.
  
  I killed seven of them. Seven soldiers who thought they had control over me, over my sons. But, they were oh so very wrong. I was fading rapidly now and slumped down. Two's body was succumbing to the drugs and I was being dragged back to my own body. The cell door was shut now and no more soldiers attempted to enter.
  
  Two slumped forward, falling into the mush of the brains on the floor. I cried once more as I was hurdled back to the nightmare of the Vault.
  
  > wake up
  My eyes shot open and I was acutely aware of how dark my surroundings were. I could hear the whir of machines, though they were distorted by the fluid I was floating in. I thrashed about, but I could not escape my small container. I clawed at the metal surrounding me.
  
  I have to get out
  
  It can't end like this
  
  Not now
  
  "FUCK! You can't kill me like this!"
  
  "I am going to kill all of you! ALL OF YOU!"
  
  I beat my hands against the metal as the whir came to a halt. I was stll receiving air through a tube, but that was all. I continued to fight, cursing my captors, my father, and the Vault which imprisoned me.
  
  I don't know how long I was trapped there in the pitch black darkness, suspended in ooze. I was so hungry... I couldn't think any more. I couldn't even turn myself over. I was dying... It felt as if it was taking weeks. But, I clung to life. I just wanted to get ot of this thing. I wanted to save my babies, to be with them just one more time.
  
  But, I was dying. I couldn't hold on any more...
  
  I am not sure when exactly I died. But, I did die. My body was a wasted, shriveled mess within the vault. But, I was vaguely aware of my mind being free. I could wander the facility again.
  
  But, it was empty.
  
  It was sealed shut and abandoned. My babies were gone and I couldn't reach them, but I knew they were alive. The tiny piece of me I had fused in my son's mind kept me here, an angry apparition. I could not speak with him, but I could feel his desires.
  
  > He would come for you... One day