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((This will most likely not be a very long, or organized story type deal...a series of flashbacks, as I try to get her history down a little more. Random bits...we'll see.))

"I don't understand why these precautions need to be taken so seriously...she's perfectly stable. All the tests showed that she was in full control of the infestation." The woman's voice was relaxed and calm, but at the same time frustrated. She spoke in hushed tones, confidently stating her thoughts.

The man who answered her sounded more harried. Something was worrying him and he was hesitant. "While she's unconscious, yes. We don't know what will happen when she wakes up. There's the possibility she'll use it against us. After all, she's been through quite the ordeal because of us."

"Then what would you suggest? We just keep her under for the rest of her life until the poison builds up in her body and kills her, along with what we can't undo? You were so enthusiastic before. and now you sound like all the other cowards who couldn't finish the damn job," responded the first.

There was a tense silence. The air was taught for a moment as the two looked down upon their young subject. Her face was peaceful and pale. She could have been dead for all they knew. Beneath the thin, white skin, darkness flowed through her bloodstream in spurts. They seemed to be concentrating around her eyes.

The male voice had a deep regret to it as he spoke again. "Wake her up." A door slammed as he left the room quickly. The woman stared for a while, then she, too, turned and left. The young drones looked sadly to the door, then fearfully to the young woman lying quietly in the bed of glowing light and metal.

Carefully, they approached one after the other, gently lifting off clasps and disconnecting wire. The glowing light began to fade and the leaking strands of shadow became visible. They leaked from the girl's nose, ears, from between her closed lips and eyelids, and from beneath her nails. The children-like beings scuttled back, looking fearfully down at her; she was what they were meant to be, but had failed at becoming. And they knew how she would feel when she awoke, and what she would be able to do. A tremor that was not their own ran through them. The smaller pieces inside them were broken from the whole being inside her. They were afraid.

Once all the lights were off, the girl began to stir. From the window, the older man and woman stared in, eager to see their creation's first steps in her new life. There was as much fear, though, as greed in their eyes. "She's getting up, she's getting up!" the woman squealed, traces of her orginal calm fading. And the girl was getting up, though slowly and stiffly, and she crawled out of the bed of metal and fell to the floor, dark tendrils rolling off her body. The children cowared in the corner of the room.

"Her muscles will need to adjust to the new weight," the man whispered, almost urgently. "She's a success! This one has to be!"

She was pulling herself to her feet, looking down with concern at the liquid dark running down her arms. It poured now from her open eyes and mouth. As if in a slight panic, she began to brush off her arms, sweeping the darkness down and off her hands, and spitting it from her mouth.

The man nodded. "It's natural, it's natural...she doesn't know what's going on, so what can you expect. A little panic..." The woman sighed. "You don't need to explain that to me. Once she figures out how to cut off the flow, it'll all be trapped and we can turn the lights back on. So hard on the eyes, you know."

The childrens' eyes widen as the girl spun around in a spiraling circle of darkness. Finally, one stood up. The others gasped, grabbed his hand, tried to hold him back. In his weak, quiet voice, he said softly, "We were scared, and we helped each other...but who's going to help her?" He pulled his hand away and walked up to the flailing young woman.

"Just think about it," he said, putting the metal contraption between him and her. He was much taller than he was. He was taken when he was ten years old; this girl looked to be eighteen or ninteen. "Just think about it and where it's all coming from." She paused, breathing heavily. Through the darkness, he could clearly see her wide, shining eyes. With every heaving breath, a cloud of black mist slipped from her mouth. She nodded. And she thought and she focused, and the flowed thinned and faded. For the longest time, she simply stared at her hands.

"My name's Jason...what's yours?" She turned her head toward him, dark hair falling in her face. She hesitated. It showed clearly on her face. But after the hell she'd just been through, she felt willing to run on a little faith in this kid. He had, after all, given her that focus, that jerk back to reality, that helped her seal off the darkness.

"Akira...Akira Valdis," she whispered. Turning her gaze, she found she could see clearly through the dark room. She took in the contraption she had rolled out of. It was large, smooth, complex, and hooked from the floor to the high ceiling. A gentle smile took the edge off the children's fear, though they did not leave the corner. Then she looked sideways, out the window, and met the tall woman's eyes.

"I told you this one was stronger than the others. She already had enough darkness inside her black heart to make him feel right at home in there," she said, smiling humourlessly. The man nodded, taking notes, observing her, even as Akira stared at him with her dark eyes. He was eager to see her in the light, to note how her appearance had changed. He also looked forward to seeing how much light she could take.