Children of the Plague

One, two, three. Ralph counted the germsuits housed in the airlock cabinet until the radiation screening was over. He stepped inside what had previously been his private lab. Another officer was standing guard there. The young man reached out to help Ralph through. The old man glared and jerked his hand away as the man averted his eyes in shame.

"Welcome back, sir," Ruth said cheerily. "I've done what you' ve asked...taken off her restraints, but I think you'll see they're for her own protection."

Ralph ignored her, and fought back his anger. He turned to the tanks, which glowed with yellowish light. A small figure was huddled by the wall in the far corner of tank four. Ralph stood before it.

Celeste was crouched near the back of her enclosure with her hands on the floor, feeling it. She was drained of color by the pale yellow light, and moaned as she felt her way along the floor. She reached up and touched a wall that was adjacent to another corpus chamber. She continued to feel it with her hands, arms, and face.

"Celeste," he called to her. "It's Father."

She did not respond. After a time she began to weep. She hugged herself, and slowly regained her composure. She smiled, feeling her face and ears. Then she began to slowly rock back and forth, softly whimpering. Gradually she stopped moving and gazed from her prison with a cold, level stare. She seemed to be gauging distances, mapping the room, observing every object as if she had never seen it before.

"You can see the new intelligence in her," Ruth said. "As if it were still getting used to sensory perception."

Ralph turned to Ruth. "It? How dare you! What have you been doing in here? Has anyone tried to interact with her?"

Ruth shook her head. "No, sir. She's like an animal. I had to sedate her."

"She's been drugged the entire time?"

Ruth pursed her lips. "I had to."

Ralph's eyes blazed with hatred.

"And what about cutting off her fingers? I suppose you had to do that, too? Maybe we should just kill her, see if she'll die!"

Ralph waited for a response, but there wasn't one.

The officer at the hatch door said nothing, but his jaw was clenched tightly. He met Ralph's eyes for a moment. A brief flash of understanding crossed between them. Ralph looked away. If this was the young man with the optic nerve camera, Ralph could not let the General see the connection that had developed between them.

"Celeste." Ralph spoke gently.

"Sir," Ruth said. "She won't respond. She's quite heavily sedated."

"Pack your things, and get the hell out of my lab," Ralph shouted.

"Sir?"

"You heard me. You're fired. The officer will see you out."

"Fine," she said stiffly.

Ralph ignored her as she ducked into the airlock.

"Celeste," he whispered.

The girl looked around trying to locate the source of the sound. Puzzled, she peered helplessly at him as he repeated her name.

Their eyes met through the glass. Celeste's tongue met her teeth as she made a hissing sound. "C-c-eleste," she said.

Ralph turned to the observer. The officer, 877 E219, had probably been trained to be coldly impartial, but his face revealed a shadow of emotion. Ralph again looked away. He turned back to the cell. He held his hand up to the glass. Celeste drew back, ignored him, splaying her hands on the wall next to the tank of Corpus Nine.