Manipulative Attraction

44. ⚛️ That's A Wrap

Many years ago...

"Can I begin?" Valeria Jones squinted from the bright light focused on her face.

"Please do."

"Where do I start?" She tittered due to her uncertainty and the hands in her lap gripped each other tighter at the foreign sound. Her thumb moved absentmindedly over her knuckles.

If only she had worn her softer, broken-in jeans. The pair she had on, the latest Levis, was bought off the street from a notorious black market seller. She hadn't had time to wash them, and the stiff newness was uncomfortable under the heat of the lamps. On the other hand, her pink sweater, far from new, was as soft as a cloud. She loosened her hands to pluck at the hem.

"Just start from the beginning." The camera lens moved in closer, so just her head was visible. "When did your parents come here?"

That was easy. I'll just start from there.

Valeria's parents came to Russia in 1964 as Children of the Festival, shortly after their country, formerly known as the Tanganyika Territory, became Tanganyika.

Anisha, her mother, and Manaili, her father, didn't meet each other until they went to Moscow State University. In the many dates that followed, the couple found out their homes in Dar es Salaam were separated by only a few blocks.

Loved blossomed quickly between the two. Once they graduated, they were married by rospis v zagse the day after.

"My parents tried for several years to have a child, and finally, I was born on a cold day in January." Her hands stilled in her lap as Valeria laughed at the long lost memory. "My mother said snow was almost up to her knees when she and my father walked to the subway station from their multi-family apartment, her labor pains in full swing."

She chuckled, her brown eyes dancing. "Mother was afraid she would have me on the subway platform, yet they made it just in time. I was born with no incidents an hour later, kicking and screaming, already determined to have my way."

Valeria's face clouded over, her gaze lost focus in the light.

If only I hadn't been so stubborn...

"What did your parents do for a living?"

"Oh, um." Valeria scratched at the phantom itchiness of the jeans by rubbing her hands down her thighs. "They worked in a research lab that dealt with the race for outer space samples. More specifically, they studied the effects of what space did to the human body."

"So you received your affinity for science from them."

Valeria smiled, outshining the beacon of the lamps surrounding her. "Yes. Yes I did."

"Do you hope your daughter will be the same?"

The camera zoomed in as she patted her belly. The bump under her sweater was barely noticeable. Even at four months along, Valeria was still a slim woman.

Her thoughts drifted to her unborn child and her lips trembled as her hands tightened around each other one more. Tears spilled out to run down her makeup free face without hindrance.

"How can she not? She was engineered to be that way."

***

Valeria, tear free, was back on camera.

"Tell us how she came to be."

Valeria shook her head. "To tell you that, I need to go back about six years earlier."

***

The red-light district of Amsterdam was usually crowded, but this night, in the heavy mist and fog, hardly anyone was about. The lateness of the hour also decreased her chances of being noticed in the black jumper. It clothed her body from neck to ankle. Gloves, and boots took care of the rest. The gun with a silencer, sat zipped up in the side pocket of her lightweight vest, waiting for her targets.