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IT TAKES A VERY LONG TIME FOR MAL'S TEARS TO SUBSIDE AND FOR HER TO FINALLY CALM DOWN. Not long after her heaving sobs stops she falls into a fitful sleep, where she dreams of herself just fading, dissolving into nothing and being unable to stop it or otherwise do anything to attempt to save herself. She wakes up suddenly, taking large, gulping breaths as she attempts to still her racing heart.
She looks over to where Bianca is sleeping on the other side of the room and sees that the other girl has not yet stirred. The seemingly peaceful air of the room leaves Mal unsettled, because if there is one thing that she has learned it is that there is no peace in this place. She sits upright and slowly steadies her mind, refusing to give in to the fears that it seems like this place has planted into her mind.
She can't have been awake for long when the cell door slams open, startling Mal bad enough she tumbles off of her cot and causing Bianca to jolt awake. Guards surge forward and grab Mal roughly, but if there is one thing that she has learned it is that fighting these brutes brings infinitely more trouble than it is worth.
They haul her out of the cell and through twisting corridors until she arrives at a gleaming white office, probably the only place in this entire complex that is actually clean. The guards open the door, and Mal tears herself out of their grasp to walk in and sit on the exam table. If it weren't for the human experimentation and inhumane treatment, this room would almost look like an ordinary doctor's office, but the truth of what occurs within these walls crushes that simple innocence.
The lead doctor and researcher, Dr. Manuel Cruz, stands from his chair in the corner and silently signals a nameless nurse forward, who pulls on Mal's arm and draws her blood. Mal doesn't respond and instead stares ahead silently, a small act of defiance as she makes eye contact with Dr. Cruz. He takes the newly drawn vial of blood and puts it into a machine that whirrs to life and she wonders what its analysis will find.
Mal knows that she has been changed, but how intrinsic is that change? Have they violated her to the point of altering her very DNA, or are these newfound powers something much more superficial? She almost dreads the answer to that question, because if they don't find anything then she might still be able to convince herself that this was all a dream, but her anxieties are brought to a head when the machine stops with a shrill beep.
A page is printed out of the side, and Dr. Cruz reads it over greedily, presumably looking to see if all of his experiments have finally culminated with a success. His eyes widen, and a sick grin spreads across his face, and Mal knows that he has found what he was looking for. He looks over at her with a vile glint in his eyes that makes her stomach churn violently and takes her face in his hands.
"My perfect creation," he murmurs caressing her cheek in a way that makes her skin crawl. "You came here to transcend mankind and finally I have given you just that. It worked!" Mal flinches back out of his hold on instinct, unnerved by the tone of his words. She doesn't like the intimate sound of his voice like he knew everything about her entire life. She feels like a caged animal, stuck under Dr. Cruz's predatory gaze.
She refuses to say anything to him, even as he begins to demand if she felt different, if she had begun to show any signs of powers or unnatural abilities since his last test. Still, Mal's mouth stays resolutely shut, and she could tell the doctor is enraged by her silence. He becomes more and more violent, screaming and spitting in her face, and she's surprised that none of the guards have come in to force her to speak.
In the blink of an eye, Dr. Cruz goes silent and still, and Mal watches him carefully, certain that he's not done with her yet. Moments later, he lashes out violently, whipping his hand across her face. Just before he makes contact, something within her snaps and she feels the sensation of dissolving. Before she can fully process what has happened, she finds herself standing behind the doctor holding firmly onto his hand.
There is a moment of stunned silence as they both process what has just happened, and as it fades Dr. Cruz lets out a maniacal laugh. "I knew it!" he exclaims, looking at Mal with a sadistic smile. "I knew something had happened!" He tugs on her arm harshly, looking at the veins that now pulse black. The joy he gleans from this sickens her, and she yanks her arm out of his grasp and backs up, eventually huddling in the corner as he follows her.
-×-×-×-×-
He doesn't address her any further during their visit and instead calls for the guards stationed outside. Mal feels numb, both with terror of what Dr. Cruz will do with this new information and anger at what they have made her into. They have violated her body in one of the largest ways possible and view her as their property like they have done all of the work in making her who she now is. She's so engrossed in her inner monologue that she doesn't notice until it's far too late that these guards are not following their usual route, and are taking her somewhere that she has never been before.
Mal is thrown into an all new cell, and before she can turn back to protest the door is slammed in her face. When she quits raging at the closed door and slumps against it, she notices that this new room is not empty and that she has a new roommate. The other girl is comparatively tiny, with light blonde hair and pale skin that clearly hasn't seen sunlight in months, just like Mal's.
The stranger looks at her in fear, with big brown eyes that make Mal feel instantly sympathetic for this girl. Whoever she is, she does not belong in this place of pain and suffering and pain. She is the type of person who probably knew no pain in her life prior to what brought her here, and her terrified doe-eyed stare makes Mal think of a kicked puppy more than anything else.
"I, um," the stranger stutters quietly, and Mal can't help but notice that even her voice is soft. "I'm Greer," she continues, "Greer Cornell. Who, uh, who are you?" This new girl, Greer, is trembling, perhaps afraid that Mal is some type of new evil that they've come to inflict upon her.
Mal makes her way over to the other cot in the room slowly, trying not to spook Greer anymore than she already is. "Amalia Florés," she responds, realizing with a start how raspy her voice is. It probably hadn't yet recovered from all of her screaming during the last experiments. "How did you get here?"
Greer looks down, and Mal can tell that it's to hide tears. "I'm not really very sure," she finally responds after a long pause of silence. "I just woke up here one day. Not that I really have anyone to miss me, my mum and dad died years ago and I've been working as a temp, so..." She trails off, looking back up at Mal. "What about you?"
"Oh," Mal says in surprise, "I guess I sorta signed up for it." As she says it aloud, Mal realizes how stupid she was. Greer now looks wary, distrustful, and Mal can't blame her. Who in their right mind would trust someone who willingly volunteered themself for human experimentation?
Greer goes silent, and Mal takes that as a cue that the conversation is over. She now thinks back to Bianca, who must be all alone now. Mal wonders if she was moved because she started showing powers, but that must mean that Greer has too. She watches the other woman closely, wondering what exactly Necron has in mind for them.
