Highs and Lows

Last Thursday struck me as a low point. The MPD, it seemed, was low on cash. Not surprising when you think about it but their method for recouping funds was no surprise either. Okay maybe it was something of a shock.

 I was in the church praying. It had become a ritual of mine after talking to the Father about my son and everything else. I didn't notice the officer watching me until I was done. He seemed to be just a reverent, well aware he was about to arrest me in the house of the God. I sure as hell wasn't happy. i'm just glad none of the sisters or Father Anthony were there to see me.

I would learn later I was charged with falsifying WU records, manufacturing and distributing illegal drugs, kidnapping, and torture. I don't know who made a note of the change in owners' name on my hybrid registry, but the rest of it was bullocks. What was more irritating was the fact the MPD detained me. Not in a cell - I was put on display outside of City Hall. I was made to wear this god-awful orange jumpsuit and sit on display in a cage like some collection item.

 It was reminiscent of my captivity as an experiment. I didn't like to be behind bars let alone on showcase. My friends could see me. Clients could see me. My daughter could see me. Arwen had just recently gotten back after her ordeal with her father, and it turns out Adagio's gone to the mainland.As if things could not descend any lower.

The MPD held me and others hostage for bail, 5,000 credits in my case, and I was not allowed to bail myself out despite the fact I had the money. I think the MPD chief had a bone to pick with me, being the current Ashagi CEO and all. I even joked that it was some form of initiation; every CEO before me had been jailed except for Dr. Parkin I believe. Arwen managed to conjure up some funds, but in the end the lawyer I contracted for Ashagi's legal team footed the bill. Mr. Hector Mendle.

I knew I'd pay for that. Several thousand of your own funds to bail your client out was not a part of Hector's contract. The next night, I went to his office to pay him back. It turns out he didn't want money; he wanted information. On me. I could have refused. I should have refused. I'm uneasy about anyone knowing my past, even my wife. Yet I told him about my past, about Dr. Foster, and about what kind of work I had to do to make ends meet while traversing the mainland as an uncollared, unowned hybrid. He seemed to listen well and assured me he would not use that information against me. He is a lot like Adagio and myself in that regard - we all like knowing things mostly for the sake of knowing.

I honestly felt like crap most of the weekend. Ashagi Head Office was not happy about the jail time. The branch won't pay for it, but my finances will. I was working on getting a larger apartment in the city since the house was likely to come up as an assest when I get a knock on the door.

Guess who?

I did not need to see Foster's face at the time; I was stressed enough. I don't even know how he got my address. He seemed calm and stoic in the face as always. Odd thing was that he had not come to visit alone...

 ...he brought a kid with him.

That seemed odd.

Yeah.

I at first assumed the kid was his, which was strange in itself. Given on the abuses he did to me, it would be a crime against humanity if that man slept with a woman and conceived a child. But that boy wasn't Dr. Foster's; he was mine.

Donatien Dubois, age 7

 I couldn't believe it.
My son was alive and he'd grown a lot. It seemed the group that kidnapped him sold the infant off for experimental work, which happened to mean Dr. Foster's lab. I shudder to think what would have become of our child if Foster hadn't decided to spare him. Then again, there is the man's pride to consider. He chased me relentlessly due only to the fact I was the walking template of his life's work. Donatien is technically the first human to successfully be born with the adaptive immune system Dr. Foster and my parents had been working on. I'm sure he worked on him, studied him - he gave me a folder full on paperwork and scientific logs on that. Along with them with pictures - typical childhood memories of crawling, walking, videos of first words and first questions...I'd missed it all.

 Donatien didn't care; he was happy as hell to see me. What a hyper child he is. Curious about everything and yet he seemed to already understand it. Glimmers of the intelligence Adagio and I bred him to develop, I'm sure. Donatien believes Dr. Foster is his uncle or grandfather, but he was raised to know that he had two mothers and he'd meet them when he was old enough. Dr. Foster seemed glad to turn him over and left without much flare.

Some hours later Adagio came home from her trip.

She knew Donatien the second she saw him.

Don't you find that strange?

A little. She claimed she recognized the eyes and facial structure she designed him to have. We reconciled and I apologized for hating her these past few months. Our family was back together again.
Speaking of back together, you look different.

Do I?

You are in a dress made of feathers.

So am I.

Why feathers?

Is that wrong?

To cover myself in such materials?

Well no...but...

Then there is no reason to ask.

There is no shame in being one's self.

You shouldn't question it.

Funny, you aren't saying "we"?

We are not the same.

You are Amara and  I am someone else.

Still no name then?

No.

I like not having a name shackled to me.

Just to add to the joys, the MPD continued their arrests. Ayr was taken into custody along with Father Anthony of all people, but this...THIS is what I wanted to see.

Catwalker Matron Bailey in handcuffs.

Sometimes being on high ain't so bad.