Rain & Ice

00.01

"Miss Y/n. Your father requests your presence at his office." You peer over your shoulder at Pogo from your place on the bed, back facing the door as you listen to Viktor describe his musical adventures.

"Now?" Pogo nods and walks away, leaving you to follow him after giving Viktor a quiet apology.

The many halls you walk past are quiet, quivering only at the rumble of a car passing by or the chaotic banter from children of the outside world. You almost walk into Pogo with eyes trained down at your shoes until a hand lands on your shoulder. You look up to see Pogo nod, something of sympathy lacing his facial features.

You give him a small smile of encouragement. Whether it was for his sake or for yours, you couldn't tell, but regardless of who it was for, you knock on the thick wooden door that leads to the one place you dread the most in your house, your father's study.

You hear no response. You look at Pogo and he simply gestures for you to walk in. The door opens to reveal your father sitting at his desk, writing in his journal about who knows what.

"Dad? You requested to see me?" You quirk your head in an attempt to meet his downcast eyes, but it was useless.

After a few moments, he looks up. "Number Eight, I'm afraid that you won't be going on missions with your brothers and sister anymore."  The pen in his hand finally stops moving for once, and all you can do is stare at him silently.

What would be the right emotion to display? Annoyance, because they weren't your brothers and sisters? Relief, because now you wouldn't have to suffer the pain of multiple injuries? Or fear, because you might just never be able to leave this house again?

Your lips part slightly in question, eyebrows furrowed as his statement processes itself through your brain, the result coming out as a big question mark. "What do you mean? Why can't I go?"

Your father stands from his desk and your reflexes tell you to step back in defense. "You're malfunctioning, Number Eight. Or more specifically, your powers."

The word 'malfunctioning' makes you sneer in disgust. It's almost as if you're just another machine to him as your mother, Grace, is. But when that thought registers itself, you realize that you honestly wouldn't be surprised if he thought of you that way. He's already using you for your powers.

"What do you mean by 'malfunctioning'? I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much." Your voice lowers the last part into mere mutters but your father could pay less attention to it. "Your fire manipulation is turning on you. It seems as if your body is starting to reject it but I have come up with a solution that will benefit the good of humanity for the better. It will all come together with time."

You couldn't see how your body could possibly be rejecting your powers now after having already been manifested years ago. His logic didn't make sense. "But—" Your father holds his palm up to stop you, and you begrudgingly oblige.

"None of that. Now come along, Number Eight." He walks out the door and you follow him slowly down a few halls, facial expressions contorting to evidently show your confusion. You never even knew this part of the house.

Finally, you stop just as he does in front of a door. It looks like all the others, though newer and untouched. When he opens it, you expect it to also look like the insides of all the other rooms but no, this one was clearly different.

Sitting smack dab in the middle of the room is a capsule almost like the ones you would see in advertisements showing water parks and their newest attractions, but there was no water in this capsule nor was it attractive.