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1977
"REY!" a woman shouted her voice echoing through the forest as she walked down the dirt paths made by the cars that come and go. "RADHA!" the scientist sighed exhausted from the one hour walking "This girl is going to be the death of me." she sighed. "RA-" Rohini stopped mid-word when she heard the familiar sound of her little angel's giggles coming from behind a tree a few meters away. Rohini slowly walked around the trees assuming her daughter could not hear her but the SSS (Super Soldier Serum) gave her the ability to hear soft and distant sounds and noises, including her mother's feet trampling the dry leaves.
Rey smiled knowing her mother was walking around the trees to get to her Rey climbed the tree she was hiding behind. When Rohini reached Rey's hiding place she was confused to not find her daughter there she was sure she heard Rey's giggles. "Maa!" called an amused voice from over Rohini's head. She looked up and her eyes widened to see her five-year-old daughter hanging upside down on a tree branch over her head. "Hi." she said. Rohini's shock changed to slight anger and worry.
"Neeche utaro! Abhee! (Get down! Now!)" Rohini ordered in her mother tongue. Rey giggled because she knew her mother only used Hindi only during the two 'A's. First 'A' if she was angry and second 'A' if she was afraid and in this case, she was both. She was angry that Rey risked getting severely injured and she was afraid of what would happen to Rey if she got severely injured. Of course, the SSS that ran through Rey's veins provided healing and recovery faster but it would still cause her pain.
Rey grabbed the branch she was hanging with her hands she unhooked her knees from it and swung down to the floor "See? I'm fine." Rey assured her mother.
"You're truly going to be the death of me." Rohini said as she shook her head with an amused smile.
"But I would never do that." Rey said innocently. Rohini smiled affectionately.
"I know, Beta." Rohini said she cupped Rey's cheeks. "Your heart is of pure gold."
"But the books said the heart is made of myocardium and cardiomyocytes." Rey said. Rohini chuckled.
"The books are right." she said as she picked her daughter up from the forest floor and started walking back to their cabin.
"But if they're right why did you say that my heart is made of gold?" Rey questioned curiously.
"It's a way of saying that you are a good person." Rohini said but seeing Rey's confused face she pursed her lips thinking how to explain the expression she used. "When you tell someone their heart is of pure gold it means that you're telling them you have goodness and righteousness in their hearts."
"Like Popa Howard?" Rey asked. Rohini chuckled.
"Exactly like Popa Howard." Rohini said as she kissed her daughter's crown.
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Rey and her mother sat in the drawing room by the fire. Rey sat on her couch reading a storybook while her mother sat at the desk in the room working.
"Maa?" Rey called and 'hmm?' in reply "Who is my daddy?" she asked.
Rohini froze she stopped working as her mind started to race. Rey had been kept a secret all her life, especially her birth. If someone found out that Rey was made from the DNA of a deceased Super Soldier and a seven-year-old who is the son of a billionaire then Rohini could not imagine the experiments that would be done on Rey.
And if Rey found out that she was not conceived but created in a lab she would not even consider herself a human. She would only deem herself a hybrid, a chemical mixture made in a test tube. A lab rat.
"Don't ever ask that again." Rohini said firmly in an emotionless tone. She collected all her work and left the room. Rey watched as she saw her mother leave she could not see it but she knew that her mother had tears in her eyes.
Rey never had any friends the characters in the books she read were like her friends and she was happy with that. But in the books she read also had fathers. Fathers who would put their daughters to bed, fathers who would give their daughters piggyback rides, fathers who would cause mischief with their daughters, fathers who would hug their daughters and say 'I'm always here.', fathers who would just be there for their daughters. Rey wanted a father like that. Would she ever get one?
She hurt her mother with her question. She made her mother feel as if she was not doing enough. She made her mother feel as if she was not happy with her. That day Rey made a promise to herself. A promise that she would never ask who her father was. Sure, she was young for such a mature decision but she could not see her mother in pain.
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On the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the forest and cabin stood a masked figure with a metal arm. He was on a mission to retrieve a girl born of a true miracle, the only living human with the SSS running through their veins.