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 Dr. James, who knew, unfortunately for her, exactly what was going to happen. Dr. Mangle saw her expression from the small window in the door that he and It were about to walk through and sighed. He looked down at It. Her green eyes met their dull brown ones, and he gave a reassuring smile to her, shrugging off his lab coat. “Ready?”
It wiped a hand over her face to get her hair out of the way, and spread her wings wide. Mangle glanced back at the room. Men and women with manicures, fine pressed suits and judgment in their eyes awaited them. “Ready, Dad,” she said back with trepidation clear in her voice.
They smiled at her, straightened their bow tie, ignored the faint stench of formaldehyde they’d never be able to get out of their nose and opened the door to the boardroom. Everyone looked at 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 “abomination” 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 often 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 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. Mangle was reminded of when 2 years ago, the board member before the woman It contradicted replaced asked them, “Dr. Mangle, you do realize you are implying these abominations are capable of intelligence?”
It was more intelligent than anyone had suspected. She was standing poised and together, victorious over the board members and Dr. James, who were all in varying degrees of anger, shock, and indigence. “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. Mangle struggled to get to her, but two men were holding them back. “It!”
“-Angle! Don’t let them take me, please! DAD!”
“It! Hang on, I'll get you out of here!” Mangle screamed.
They were forced into his (former) office and given a pink slip. Tears of rage clouded their vision. They were going to get It out of this toxic facility, no matter what.
They packed up their things like they were supposed to. All their papers and research were left for their replacement, everything else that would fit in bags put in bags and shipped off to the beach house in Bethany. This was not how they wanted this to go, but that wasn’t going to stop them from getting It away.
It knew that Mangle had back-ups plans depending on how well the meeting went, but they weren’t expecting such an icy reaction from Dr. James, making this worse than if It didn’t know Mangle had plans in case to begin with. For all she knew they had been kicked out of the building, never to return. Well. She knew that wasn’t happening on their watch, not without It by their side.
Late that night, Mangle snuck down the halls and opened It’s room using their not-yet-deactivated key card, wearing their lab coat, looking like just another scientist around the labs. They speed-walked to It’s room entirely by memory. They slipped into her room and her face lit up when she recognized them. “Dad!” she whisper-shouted.
“Hey, It,” 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. “You said we could go there first.”
“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, Dad.”
Mangle smiled. “Of course. That’s what fathers are for.”
They stared out the window a while, It occasionally making a surprised noise when she saw something really interesting. A bat flew by their window and she whispered, “Dad! That thing had wings just like mine!”
“It’s called a bat,” Mangle explained. “They took a bat’s wings and grafted them onto you while you were still growing inside...your biological mother before you were born.”
It nodded. “Cool,” she whispered. “And that’s the moon?” she questioned, pointing to the white-gray disc above them in the sky.
Mangle nodded. “And all the little lights around it are the stars. It’s beautiful to watch, isn’t it?”
It nodded. “It’s amazing,” she yawned.
Mangle chuckled. “Sleep. We have all the time in the world to see what’s outside those stupid labs. Tomorrow you might get to see clouds in real life. If we’re lucky, we might see a rainbow.”
It grinned excitedly and fell asleep against Mangle’s side, muttering about rainbows and a whole new world to explore. Mangle stroked her hair and sighed. They forgot how much would be waiting for them when they finally left the labs for more than a day; their first time in 2 years. They slept next to it, knowing that as long as she was there, they’d be all right.
“Everybody up!” a gruff voice shouted.
Mangle started and It clutched Mangle’s side. Mangle looked up. There were soldiers at the front of the bus, with guns. No doubt the national guard or something of similar caliber. Mangle brought out a coat and instructed It to put it on, giving her the appearance of a hunchback. The soldiers looked over everyone in the bus, stopping when they reached Mangle. “You’re Dr. Mangle, aren’t you, the one who got fired yesterday from Fantasy Labs.”
Mangle nodded. “That would be me. How can I help you gentlemen today?”
“You take the kid you were experimenting on?” the other one asked with a nasally but still baritone voice.
Mangle shook their head. “Gosh, did something happen to It before she could be executed? I told them the girl was smart. Gentlemen, the child sitting next to me is riding with me to D.C., her mother is taking a later bus and I volunteered to watch her. She unfortunately was born with some unusual marks, I’m sure you’re familiar with the ‘wine stain’ birthmarks some children are born with. It’s kind of like that, but more widespread. I don’t know the details; I’m not a dermatologist. She also has a… h-u-n-c-h-b-a-c-k, which she’s very self conscious about, hence the jacket. But I can assure you, I’m not breaking the law in any way.”
The guards looked at him dubiously, and left. When they were gone It shrugged of the jacket. “A skin condition? Really?”
Mangle shrugged. “They bought it, didn’t they?”
It frowned just as the bus was jerked into motion. She soon forgot about Mangle as she looked out the window in fascination. “Is this what a city looks like?!” she asked excitedly.
Mangle nodded. “Yep. There’s a lot of buildings, aren’t there?”
It nodded. “I saw last night that there were a lot of hills, and there was grass! Grassy hills! Can you believe it? All the stuff they described in books is real! And the moon really looks like it has a face! It’s amazing! And there are so many people everywhere! And I don’t know any of them! Even on this bus, I only know you! It’s so exciting!” she exclaimed.
A woman across the aisle looked at them funny and said to Dr. Mangle, “Excuse me, Mux. I was wondering. Have you taken your child to a doctor recently to check her development? I know she's yours.”
Mangle chuckled. “I myself am a doctor, and can assure you that my daughter is ahead of her peers. She has been trapped in a facility for most of her life, and I just recently adopted her. She’s excited to see everything she’s read about it person as we head back home.”
The lady looked skeptical but nodded anyway. “Dad, look at all the cars! And there are so many colors on them!”
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