Mangle, armed with nothing but a notebook, a tablet, and their wits the next day walked into the subject’s room. It looked up when it heard the door open and smiled. “Hi, ‘Angul,” it said, somewhat subdued from previous days.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulikwBRcpP
“Hey, It. Getting bored in here?”
It nodded. “Ball’s fun, but I stuck.”
“Yeah, it can’t be fun to be in here all day, can it?” Mangle said, sitting down at the desk and organizing their materials. “But on the bright side, I always know where you are. That makes me feel awfully safe.”
“Why?” it asked.
“I don’t want to lose you, It. Outside your room there are so many hallways that all look the same, it’d be easy for you to get lost, and I wouldn’t know where you are. It’s much safer if you stay here.”
It looked up at Mangle in awe. “Lots?”
“Lots and lots and lots,” Mangle answered. “It’s a veritable labyrinth out there.
It nodded solemnly. “Okay, ‘Angul. I stay.”
Mangle smiled. Being sympathetic certainly had some perks. “Thank you, It. Now, I have a game for you today.”
“Game? Or permez?” it asked.
“Well, a bit of both. I describe a shape, like the ones in your ball, and you have to guess what they are. Do you think you can do that?”
It nodded excitedly. “Fun game! I play! I play wi’ you!”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8gXleRo7c
Mangle grinned. “Good. Now, I’m a shape with 3 sides…”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfK9Hs43xV
“‘Angul!” it exclaimed with a giggle.
“That’s right, a triangle. Now I’m a shape that’s even and round…”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjnAjYatiH
“Circle!” it exclaimed.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMyom4qjvd
“Right. I have 4 sides…”
“Square! Rec’angul!”
“I have 5 tips…?”
It sat back and thought, before yelling, “Star! Star!”
Mangle smiled. “Very good, It!” they praised.
It grinned, eager to get in Mangle’s good books. They played for 2 hours, Mangle sometimes letting It describe a shape, which allowed for an expanding vocabulary. When lunch came around, Mangle stopped the game and It deflated. “Play more?” it asked.
“Sorry, It, but we have to eat sometime.”
“Wanna play! Wanna play ‘Who Am I’!”
Mangle sat forward. “It, that is not how we speak to adults,” they scolded. “I know you’re upset, but you need to eat.”
It looked on the brink of a full-scale temper tantrum.
“Tell you what. If you eat your lunch without anymore fuss, and you behave, I’ll bring in a new toy for you to play with,” Mangle bargained. They weren’t planning to use it until tomorrow, but if it got results, they wouldn’t mind bringing it in a day early.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhKQrTsass
It sat, sulking. “Play ‘gain, ‘Angul?”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbISvnjY67W
“Of course we can play ‘Who Am I’ again, eventually. But you need to eat first,” Mangle insisted, pushing the peanut butter sandwich Mx. Reich, the student, had brought for It.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0f0I8JaVnu
It took the sandwich and tucked in. Mangle took their time with their own lunch, a small salad with a few strips of grilled chicken. When they were done, they saw it looking up at them expectantly. Mangle went over what they told it. “Oh! Right, I’ll be back with your toy. You will behave, right?”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnRoAq8T9U
It nodded and Mangle left and went quickly to the joint supply closet. They saw what they were looking for earlier… there! A plastic stick and rings of different colors, stacked up on top of each other. Perfect for testing its development. They walked back to the room and it rushed over to see the toy. “Wha’sit?” it asked.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRrTLT6efe
“It’s… well, it’s a stick with rings,” Mangle said, letting the rings fall to the floor. “You have to put them in order from largest to smallest, or they won’t fit on the stick. You think you can figure out how to put them on?”
It nodded and reached for the stick. Mangle let it have at it. It finished stacking the rings correctly in a matter of 45 seconds. They didn’t miss the note of disappointment on its face as it finished. “Something wrong, It?”
It looked up and shook its head forcefully. “Nuh-uh.”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASAIOTJBOj
Mangle moved to the floor and stroked It’s hair. “It’s a little easy for you, isn’t it?”
It nodded ruefully. “So’y.”
Mangle frowned. “Why are you apologizing? You don’t have to apologize for being smart.” Flashes of a young child being shoved into mud puddles and being scolded by teachers for “goofing off” flashed into Mangle’s mind. “You never have to apologize for being smart. This just means we get to find better stuff for you to do.”
It looked up. “R-really?”
Mangle nodded. “Really. I can take this boring thing back by the end of the day if you don’t like it, but we could use it for things besides stacking.”
It observed the rings. “Rai’bow,” it said noncommittally.
“Do you know about rainbows, It?” Mangle asked.
It looked up and nodded. “Little.”
“Well, why don’t you organize the rings in the colors of a rainbow?”
It brightened a little and started organizing them. When it was done, Mangle frowned. “That’s not the order of the rainbow, It. Why don’t you try again?”
The rings were rearranged in a different order. Mangle sighed. “It, that’s not a rainbow.”
It looked up and frowned. “Colors make rai’bow wi’out order, ‘Angul!”
Mangle sat there, tilted their head to see what it had done, and shrugged. “I can see where you’re coming from, It, but the rainbow does have an order.”
It looked up, curious. “Why?”
Mangle froze. They remembered they asked that a lot when they were no bigger than It, but they usually got a smack from teachers or fellow students instead of an answer. “Well, it’s sort of…complicated. Grown-ups found that colors come in a certain order when…” inspiration struck. They took the tablet and held it under the light so a rainbow was reflected on the wall. “See?”661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UDQRWoqPA
It jumped up. “‘Angul! You make rai’bow!”
“Yeah. See how it goes, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple? That’s the ‘order’ of a rainbow.”
It looked at Mangle with a big grin. “‘Ankoo!” it yelled. “‘Ankoo much!”
Mangle smiled genuinely. “You’re welcome, It.”
It gave Mangle a hug, and Mangle stiffened. It looked up at Mangle confused, and started to back away. “So’y, ‘Angul.”
Mangle pulled It back into a tight hug. “It’s fine, It. You just took me off guard.”
It nuzzled into Mangle. “Warm,” it muttered, and Mangle could tell it was about to take a nap.
They waited until it had fallen asleep to put it on its cot, and clean up a bit. They stacked the rings on the stick, and left it for later. After all, you could learn many things you weren’t supposed to from the simplest of items. It rolled over in its sleep, and unconsciously spread its wings from where they were wrapped around its body. Mangle had to keep themself from laughing. Of course! That test was so obvious. They could test to see if the wings were actually functional! They crept out of the room, and nearly jumped in anticipation. This could prove to be an excellent idea.661Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6qZFoKRkS
Mangle wrote up their plans for their tests in their office just before they were to go home and retire for the night. The way they saw it, a bat’s wings were not unlike a human’s arm and hand. They were more flexible than a bird’s, making them more maneuverable. If Mangle taught the subject how to make a swimming motion with its wings, than it should be able to quickly learn how to fly low above the ground with the proper endurance training.
They submitted the form to Dr. James, acutely aware of how much opposition they were going to receive on such an idea. The subject was intelligent; if not watched it could use its flight to escape. But if the wings were usable, well! Their funding had the potential to triple! Having creatures with enough intelligence to follow orders and fly to inaccessible areas to humans could prove invaluable to construction, repairs, and countless other jobs. They braced themselves for the ridicule they were sure to find in their inbox tomorrow, and headed home to sleep. They would need a lot of patience for the subject and coworkers come tomorrow.
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