All of the board members were sitting around the table at their designated seats, muttering to each other and wondering why they had been called here. Among them was a woman with black wavy hair and blue eyes, and a permanent scowl on her face. Her nametag read Dr. James. Dr. Mangle saw all of this from the small window in the door that he and It were about to walk through. He looked down at his charge. She had the same hair as Dr. James, but curlier and much harder to keep in place. Her sea green eyes met his dull brown ones, and he gave a reassuring smile to her, shrugging off his lab coat. “Ready?”
It wiped a hand over her brown scale splotches to get her hair out of the way, and spread her bat wings wide. Dr. Mangle glanced back at the room. Men and women with manicures, fine pressed suits and judgment in their eyes awaited them. “Ready, Dr. Mangle,” she said back with trepidation clear in her voice.
He smiled at her, straightened his bow tie, ignored the faint stench of formaldehyde he’d never be able to get out of his nose and opened the door to the boardroom. Everyone looked at Dr. Mangle but soon focused on It. Her mud-brown dress matched her scales and reflected the light in just such a way so that it looked like she was covered neck to thighs in them. A simple black ribbon around her waist matched her hair. The board gaped in their dull black and grey power suits. Dr. Mangle remembered when he got the dress custom made. He had to do it all out of his own pocket, but it was worth it. It, however, did not take kindly to the tailor. “Such a monster!” the tailor yelled as she forcibly moved It’s wings out of the way. “Why anyone would spend so much money on such an abomination is beyond me!”
It was not happy, and neither was Dr. Mangle, but the work had paid off. The board was stunned at the previously considered “savage” standing before them as if she were nothing but human. It cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen of the board, Dr. James. Dr. Mangle and I have come forward today to ask for my release from these experiments in this facility immediately.” She took a breath and glanced back at Dr. Mangle. “My name is Bethany, but those I love and trust get to call me It. You,” she glanced at Dr. James, “Can call me Bethany. I am 4 years old, and a member of the Dragonborne project, made to join genetics in a human to make a dragon-like human hybrid. Dr. Mangle helped me understand what this meant, both scientifically and socially. I am at best considered a freak of nature or an unfortunate accident. At worst I am not even considered human.” She gave pointed looks at the entire board. “Some of your ancestors were treated like I am today.”
A woman with dark mocha skin laughed uneasily. “We don’t have racism anymore, sweetheart.”
“Oh, I’m a ‘sweetheart’ am I?” It asked, furious, “Is that supposed to be a step up from ‘abomination’? I am kept prisoner here, barely more than a slave. This goes against basic human rights the UN is enforcing the world over. I am not a monster, or a mongrel, or an animal. I am a human, like you, and I am demanding to be treated like one!”
Short, sweet, and to the point. Dr. Mangle was reminded of when 2 years ago, the board member before the woman It contradicted replaced asked him, “Dr. Mangle, you do realize you are implying these abominations are capable of intelligence?”
To which Dr. Mangle had replied, “Maybe not the same intelligence as you or me, but you have to admit there is such a thing as a dog that can recognize over 400 words, while most struggle with the concept of counting from 1 through 5.”
It was more intelligent than both those examples. She was standing poised and together, victorious over the board members and Dr. James, who were all in varying degrees of anger, shock, and indignance. “Well,” Dr. James said with the calm of the eye of a hurricane, “All in favor?”
No one raised their hands, though some looked guilty for doing so. “Well, I think we have all seen what a threat Bethany can be, and that Dr. Mangle can’t be trusted. All in favor of terminating Bethany and firing Dr. Mangle?”
One by one every hand went up. A board member turned on the intercom. “Security? We have an unstable experiment and a former employee who need to be taken care of. Will you please get in here?”
“No!” It screamed, clinging to Dr. Mangle’s leg. “No, this isn’t right! Don’t kill me!”
Security came in and forcibly removed her from the room. Dr. Mangle struggled to get to her, but two men were holding him back. “It!”
“-Angle! Don’t let them take me, please! DR. MANGLE!”
“IT! HANG ON, I’LL GET YOU OUT OF HERE!” Dr. Mangle screamed.
He was forced from the building and given a pink slip. Tears of rage clouded his vision. He was going to get It out of that toxic facility, no matter what.
Late that night, Dr. Mangle snuck in using his not-yet-deactivated key card, wearing his lab coat, looking like just another scientist around the labs. He speed-walked to It’s room entirely by memory. He slipped into her room and her face lit up when she recognized him. “Dr. Mangle!” she whisper-shouted.
“Hey, It,” Dr. Mangle said with a smile. “Ready to get out of here?”
“Where will we go?” she asked.
“Anywhere. Somewhere more accepting of you. Wherever you want.”
“Bethany Beach?” she proposed.
“Bethany Beach,” Dr. Mangle agreed. “Now come on, let’s get out of here.”
They dashed out the door and got on the last bus headed to DC. They’d change buses a few times, and then they’d have their toes in the sand and the water lapping at their ankles, trying to cool them from the sun’s heat. But all of that would come tomorrow. For now, they had a night to sleep on a bus before they even got out of state. It snuggled up to Dr. Mangle and said, “Thanks, Daddy.”
Dr. Mangle smiled. “Of course. That’s what fathers are for.”
ns 15.158.61.20da2
