Who were they? And how are they doing human testing? Where did the children come from?


    He had an unspeakable thought. One so chilling he refused to look at it again. But it was there.


    How far had the rot spread? He was afraid to lift the cover. He didn’t want to look.


    Mary held her son as he took a moment to compose himself, clearly disturbed beyond the pain her daughter had inflicted. She was proud of Jun for not allowing the hurt to consume him like it had her, but also worried how much he was repressing.


    They still hadn’t discussed them. Neither she nor Juan knew how.


    But at least in this moment, there was something else that was troubling her son in a way she’d never seen. She wondered for the millionth time about what was haunting her little boy’s past and feeling impotent in her helplessness.


    Juan stood close by and felt similarly concerned.


    His boy had become an influential person on the highest stage possible and made many friends that would probably look like gods to them. What matters could there be to make Jun feel afraid?


    Juan hadn’t thought for a moment that his wayward son had any right or standing in Jun’s heart to be of any genuine concern. He knew Jun preferred being low-key but had a higher pride than he’d admit.


    So, was it about the ones after him? But it didn’t look like Jun’s confidence on that matter was faked.


    Whatever it was, he knew Jun would confide in them now that he brought it up. This was the difference between Jun’s pride and Danny’s arrogance. While Danny believed himself superior to everyone else and above their help, Jun knew how to ask from those he trusted.


    It didn’t take long for their son to find the words to voice the terrible fears that now became their fears.


    Jun’s casual description of the precarious state of their world’s spirit was alarming, and the very real threat of an untimely Second Wave wasn’t helpful either, but Jun seemed confident in turning the situation around so they drew strength from that.


    It was the origins of their adoptive granddaughter that was disturbing their son’s heart.


    When the children had been around, Jun had explained that Ella had escaped from a secret lab where she experienced many hardships. They had been horrified but comforted that she was now safely with them.


    She was such a little thing, so skinny and malnourished that all her ribs were prominent with flesh sunken. Thankfully, she seemed in good health with boundless energy befitting her age.


    Now that there were no children around, Jun revealed more of the truth.


    “Thousands of… of babies?” Mary stuttered in horror. Tears welling as waves of nausea threatened to overwhelm her. Juan supported her from behind, with similar emotions flashing across his face.


    Jun regretted himself immediately. His adoptive mother was too kind to have even imagined such horrors. How could he have just dumped that in her face? There must have been a more sensitive way to disclose such awful truths. He was in such a rush in his own distress that he’d forgotten himself. Well, at least the band aide was already ripped off.


    “I asked Lady Cynth, an Elder friend, to do some tests,” Jun kept going. The truth sucked, but it couldn’t be ignored. “Whoever these bastards are, they harvested thousands of infant souls and used them as artificial nourishment for Ella’s soul. There are also signs of several over similarly strengthened souls being bound to hers in her body.”


    Jun paused there to give them a chance to digest that when Juan asked, “So are you saying there are multiple souls that have been nurtured with thousands of baby souls each in her one little body?”


    “The papers that Ella is always clutching.” Jun said, not answering immediately.


    “Yes, Ella showed us her ‘sisters.’” Mary chirped as she recalled the little girl’s excitement to introduce her ‘family’ to them, “I wanted to ask you about that.”


    “Those were the four girls that she grew up with.” He still remembered how Ella tearfully recounted the scariest moment in her life, one more terrifying than her escape had been. The day her sisters disappeared.


    “They injected their souls into hers and now they’re all jumbled up in her. I think they are the reason she could escape the facility. It seems they still have their own consciousness and an ability to interact with the world. They’re dormant for now, maybe because they used up their limited energy, but Lady Cynth used some of her power and helped stabilize her situation.” Jun explained to his rightfully shocked adoptive parents.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    “What happens when they wake up?” Mary asked, understanding nothing about the souls business but still concerned whether the little girl would be safe with so many in her little body.


    “I’m not sure, but Lady Cynth assured me it won’t be dangerous to Ella at least, so we’ll just find out when it happens.” Jun helplessly shrugged.


    “What was it all for? And where did they get so many children to sacrifice?” Juan quietly asked, having seen the crux of the matter.


    Jun sighed and shook his head, signaling his own confusion.


    After an uncomfortable silence, Mary spoke, “There has been nothing about missing children from the news, and even if it was all covered up, it would be impossible to hide so many. Could it be….clones?”


    Mary’s hesitation and skepticism at her own suggestion was expected. The topic and history of cloning had been an extremely popular genre in the Film Prompter circles that had captivated the imaginations of creatives and storytellers for years.


    Humanity’s sordid history with the particular failed branch of scientific study was filled with colorful pre Fall characters and events from greedy old billionaires seeking immortality to global dictators seeking cheap super soldiers and ended when the world governments officially banned the study beyond medical research. Officials had always assured the masses that no human cloning had ever been successful, but the public’s deep mistrust of the government only helped fuel the public paranoia. Countless urban legends bloomed of people being replaced with clones that the government could do nothing about. Of course, by that point, the public’s focus was all on the Colonization projects.


    In modern times, people mostly treated it as science fiction, but with a hint of nervousness. Cause it wasn’t real. Right?


    “No. Cloning is impossible.” Jun refuted and explained. “I’ve learned more since I’ve been here. The whole process of birth and life is heavily reliant on the world spirit. It wouldn’t recognize cloning as life, so they can’t gain souls.”


    “What about test-tube babies?” Mary interjected. “As long as they have a healthy egg and viable seed, they could grow any number of children.”


    Jun thought about that. He wasn’t wrong. There were significant differences from the two, and there was plenty of evidence of success from scientific research before the Fall.


    But the question remained. Where were they getting all this genetic material?


    “How about we shelve this for now?” Juan said as he placed a firm hand on Jun’s overburdened shoulders. “This isn’t your responsibility Jun,” He reminded.


    “But I’m in a position where I can do a lot. It doesn’t feel right to just ignore this,” Jun said, wanting himself to recognize his new position and influence.


    “Then don’t ignore it. But don’t focus on what you can’t do. Focus on what you can do and work from there,” Juan said patiently, in the way he did when he wanted to guide his children. “We don’t know more about Ella’s situation. What we do know is that she’s with us now and that you’ve bravely taken up the mantel of guardian and protector. There’s a whole list of other problems you scared us with, too. As we move forward, we’ll learn more and do more, so we can’t stop here.”


    Mary looked at her boys and couldn’t hide her pride. They were so grown up, kind hearted and mature.


    “Hey what’s up with that look?” Juan asked suspiciously. He didn’t like that smile. It made him feel funny.


    “What are your plans for Ella?” Mary ignored him and asked her son pointedly. She knew how responsible Jun was, but being a father was a whole new kind of adventure.


    Thankful to both his adoptive parents for lifting the fog that hindered his sight, they moved on to parenting tips and guidelines, crap-tons of childcare literature and names of famous parenting gurus being thrown left and right by an excited Mary.


    In the hours they waited for the kids to return from their guided tour, the three adults brainstormed and discussed numerous potential next steps. They talked about the kids’ continued education, their careers as prompters, what Jun wanted to do about the Crowns, the kind of role he wanted in society, and how he envisioned the future.


    This discussion couldn’t avoid the subject of Ella’s introduction into society. Was it even possible or was it too risky and what were the risks?


    Then there was the unpleasant bit of all of Jun’s work having been stolen. And by whom.


    He couldn’t lie. That one hurt.


    Jun had never questioned Danny when asked to sign anything, neither had he ever bothered reading the contracts. His brother had his absolute trust.


    Apparently, he had signed away all his rights to all his art and broadcasts. Now, James Vaults, ‘The Last Artist,’ was claiming everything had been his own specialized AI’s productions and was selling licenses to all the big and small data farms for anyone and everyone to use his art as a resource. Jun felt foolish for feeling grateful for Danny’s enthusiastic help in digitally documenting his entire portfolio of work now.


    Hindsight was a bitch.


    He tried hard to not think about what Desi would think of all this.


    Jun noticed how they skirted around the topic that had never come up, obviously not wanting to make him feel cornered into talking about anything he wasn’t yet comfortable revealing. He appreciated the space they gave him, but it was time now.


    If anyone deserved to know about his past, it was his family.


    As if right on cue, their heads turned in unison as they heard the cheerful and silly laughter of their children returning with a giant red cloud of tiny jumping baby bunnies.


    “Daddy!” With a scream and a plop, a mass of giggles cannon balled into Jun’s open embrace. “They looked so stupid, Daddy!” Ella squealed and then burst into laughter when Lily came and retaliated with tickles while Davie was busy recounting the crazy things they’d seen and about the amazing gifts Jun had left for them.


    Jun looked out at the lapping waves and listened to the happy sounds of his family and selfishly decided to wait just a little more on bringing up the last topic. They had already covered some heavy things. It was fine to hold off for a bit.


    He wanted to bask in this warmth for just a little longer. It was a great moment.