The Inescapable Guardian - Chapter 2

Here is Chapter 2. If you haven't read Chapter 1 yet, you know what you SHOULD do! I trust you will enjoy this story by "happiest in shadows"
Mistress Cassie

This story is meant for adults only if you’re a minor or are offended by sexual material or verbal depiction of violence stop reading now. If you aren’t a minor and such things interest you feel free to read on. Reviews are welcome if you wish to leave one I can be emailed at happiest_in_shadows@yahoo.com just be sure to mention the story in the title so I know it isn’t spam.

“Do you want me to help?”

It took a moment but as a sigh escaped Brigit she looked up at Lucy. “If I’m going to get this blood work I believe you’re going to have to. Let me guide though you only push when I tell you to okay?”

“Sure.” As she spoke Lucy used her free hand to take hold of part of the syringe that Brigit was currently trying to press into her. The needle itself was a special alloy that was more suited to punching through rhino or crocodile hide then human flesh. However, as Lucy’s strength had increased so had her endurance and while she was not the same scale as such animals she seemed to be as strong and durable.

Once Lucy took hold of the syringe Brigit carefully positioned it. After taking a few seconds to insure it was on the correct spot she began to push. “Okay Lucy, slowly increase the force with which you’re pushing now.” Even when Lucy began to exert force upon the needle Brigit had to be very careful to make sure it went in properly. Fortunately Lucy’s hand eye coordination and response time had proven to be nothing short of astounding. “Okay right there.”

After she was told to stop pushing Lucy released the needle and watched as Brigit slipped the glass tube that would hold her blood onto the back of the syrenge. “That’s one of the big ones right?”

For a moment Brigit just chuckled. While Lucy seemed to be very in control of her body her sense of scale had been thrown off slightly. “Yes this is one of the big ones.”

“I thought so due to the red top.”

As she removed the vial and replaced it with another Brigit took a moment to look at the hand that helped her press the vial down. Even though Lucy was still very much a child, not even a teenager that hand was bigger then hers. Not only that, but Lucy had surpassed Brigit’s height a few weeks ago. “So Lucy how does it feel being taller then your mommy already?”

“It’s a little odd but neat to. It’s kind of fun not having to yell for Mommy or Daddy whenever I want something from a tall shelf.”

“I imagine that it is. After we get your blood work how about we find out just how tall you are?”

“Yeah” in response to this Lucy quickly turned her attention to the scale. She was always eager to find out how much she’d grown whenever she came in for a checkup which was still very frequent though not as frequent as it had once been.

Even though she had seen it several times Lucy’s response to having her height checked always amused Brigit. As she set the last of the vials aside she was at least grateful that she didn’t have to have Lucy’s help to push the syringe out. At least not her conscious help though she did have the aid of Lucy’s body. Apparently her current muscle structure was extremely adept at forcing out foreign objects.

Instead of letting Brigit put a cotton ball on her injury the moment the syringe was withdrawn she stood up. This wasn’t due to her being overly eager to have her height checked. Rather it was due to the fact that the needle didn’t cause a significant enough injury for her to bleed. As soon as the syringe was withdrawn from her Lucy’s body would stop the blood flow.

It took Brigit a few moments to walk over and join Lucy as she quickly placed the vials of blood in a special carrying case. Due to Lucy’s current condition they were being very careful about transporting tissue samples from her around. Nothing had arisen to show that exposure to her may be dangerous but all agreed it was best to be conscious. As she placed the syringe away she could already hear Lucy working the little slide bars to find out what her mass is.

“Hey, I’m ninety kilograms. That’s even more then Daddy.”

As Brigit finished locking the case down and walked over to Lucy she couldn’t help but think that she didn’t look like she had a mass of ninety kilograms. Despite Lucy’s appearance though Brigit didn’t feel the need to look at the reading to believe her as they’d already confirmed Lucy weighed more then her volume would indicate. Her reformed muscle was clearly a fair bit heavier then that of a human’s. “I hope you’re being careful not to step on anyone’s toes.”

“I am.”

As Brigit spoke she moved the bar into position to check Lucy’s height. “That’s good. So have you given your dad a piggy back ride yet?”

To this Lucy shook her head forcing Brigit to wait a moment before checking her final height. “Not yet but I did get to carry him around some mommy to.”

“Are you waiting until you’re a little taller to give them a piggy back ride?”

“Yeah I want to be able to give them a real piggy back ride like what they gave me. Not just carry them on my back.”

“Oh and what’s the difference between a piggy back ride and carrying someone on your back?”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy. “For it to be a real piggy back ride you have to be a lot taller then them like they used to be to me.”

“Ah, I see. And here I thought that piggy back ride just meant being carried on the back.”

“Nope, so how tall am I?”

It took Brigit a moment to respond as she was made to chuckle at Lucy’s antics. The young girl was just so sure she was right. “At the moment you are one hundred eighty eight centimeters tall.”

“Neat! I wonder how long it’ll be before I reach two meters.”

“At the rate you’ve been growing you may reach it in a bit less then two weeks.” As she spoke Brigit walked over to her clipboard and wrote down Lucy’s height. She’d need to take some more measurements but she knew those in charge of Lucy’s clothes wouldn’t be happy. While a woman being so tall wasn’t too unusual it wasn’t common. To further complicate the situation Lucy was lacking in the curves of a developed women and the clothing meant for them didn’t really suit her. There were also limits on what was socially acceptable.

“Brigit are we going to do any strength tests today?”

“Yeah just as soon as we are finished here and I get these blood samples back to the lab we can do the strength tests. I hear you’ve been having trouble exercising at home though.”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy. “None of the weights have enough mass to challenge me.”

“So have you been doing something instead?”

“Yeah, Daddy has been taking me swimming.”

“That is good exercise. Where have you been going to swim though?”

“Michael has been letting me swim in the wave pool here.”

“Oh I bet the engineers love that.” An amused giggle escaped Brigit the moment she realized how Michael had most likely arranged that. Generally speaking the use of the lab’s pool for such purposes would never be allowed. However, thanks to Lucy’s change in muscle density they’d need to regularly test to see how buoyant she was. That would allow Michael to justify making use of the facility and indeed it was something they needed to test. “Have they been making waves for you?”

“Not at first but now they do.”

“That must be fun.”

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“I can’t believe I let this slip my mind.” As Claude looked over the paper work before him he couldn’t help but sigh. He was already exhausted but was no where near finished.

“A lot has happened in the last few weeks. With scheduling your surgeries and Lucy’s growing situation it was inevitable that something would escape us.”

“I know but if Lucy hadn’t mentioned it to us I wouldn’t have thought of it until I saw the bus.” After a moment more Claude finally set down the pin. He needed to take some time to wrest his head. “What are we going to do Karen? This is perhaps the first time Lucy’s actually been eager to return to school and we have to tell her that she won’t be able to go.”

Instead of responding right away Karen proceeded over to the table and set down. She then picked up the document Claude had left off on and began to read through it. “We will have to tell her the truth. That instead of attending regular classes a special teacher is going to come and tutor her.”

“Damn it. I was hoping that Lucy could make some new friends but now that doesn’t seem like it is going to happen.”

“Claude, even if Lucy hadn’t been treated with the symbiot and survived there is no way she’d be going back to school right now. Then when she was finally able to return to class she’d have to worry about surgeries and most likely still have several disfiguring scars.”

“That is true and at least people aren’t asking a lot of questions. So far all I’ve had to do is show them Lucy’s initial diagnosis from the fire and they quit asking questions. That isn’t really surprising though.” For a moment Claude was made to chuckle slightly. “They even seem surprised whenever I start talking about having an instructor come to our house and teach her.”

“How’s that going?”

“It’s going a lot easier then I thought it would. Of course David and Michael have been a lot of help in the process. Sense they’re providing an instructor it means that one won’t have to be pulled from the school system or at least make trips out here. Though, they haven’t actually told me who is going to be instructing Lucy.”

“They may still be deciding on that. I imagine they want to find someone who won’t mention Lucy’s condition until they’re ready for Lucy to make her debut.”

“That makes sense. You know even once Michael and the other researchers prove that Lucy isn’t dangerous to be around I don’t believe she’ll be able to return to school. Even if her height wasn’t a factor she’s just too healthy. It’s kind of a funny thought.”

A sigh escaped Karen as she set up. Still, she smiled when she turned and gave Claude a kiss on the cheek. “I know. Even if she doesn’t pose a biological threat to anyone with her strength her hands could be considered lethal weapons. Did you see their findings on her last strength test?”

“If I remember correctly she was able to bench press over ten times her own body weight right?”

“Yes she was.”

“At least that means that she is healthy. I’d be worried if her strength wasn’t keeping up with her increases in mass.”

“We will tell Lucy that she won’t be able to attend school whenever she gets home. Later we can speak to Michael about Lucy’s mental needs. No matter how big or strong she gets she needs friend to spend time with after all. Even if she’s taken it well so far she still needs social interaction.”

While it had only been a more recent occurrence Brigit had still seen Lucy’s strength in action before despite that as she examined the readout for the press she was astounded. “Lucy, how are you doing now?”

“I believe I can handle some more pressure.”

“Okay then. I’ll take up the pressure another five percent.”

A grunt escaped Lucy as she felt the machine pressing down on her. As the hydraulics began to force her arms backward she gritted her teeth and returned the force and then some. Slowly the press was forced back up into its original position though the strain could now be seen on Lucy’s face. “How much is that?”

“You are now up to one thousand five hundred kilograms.” As Brigit spoke she took a moment to look to her side and examine Lucy’s vital readings. For the moment the readings came second to how Lucy felt given that they didn’t know what were normal safe parameters for her body and what wasn’t. She had however been given a cap that she wasn’t allowed to push Lucy beyond regardless of how she felt.

“Really?!”

“Yes Lucy you really are holding up one thousand five hundred kilograms.”

“That’s a whole car isn’t it?”

Despite the situation Brigit couldn’t help but smile. She much preferred Lucy enjoying her new found strength and height then being afraid of it. She was however made to worry what would happen whenever Lucy found out what her new found height and strength may cause her to miss out on. “Some vehicles have that much mass some have even less though.”

“How much mass does the van that came and picked me up have?”

“I believe it has a little more mass then that.”

“Ah dang, um Brigit would you please decrease the pressure now?”

“Whoops. Sorry about that.” Even as she spoke Brigit quickly hit the dial to return the machine’s hydraulics to their waiting position. She was a little surprised when she heard Lucy sigh after words. “Ah it seems that you do have a limit to your energy.”

Lucy’s tongue quickly darted out from between her lips and stuck out at Brigit as she set up. Only after she’d raised herself to a setting position did Lucy withdrawal her tongue. “You just wait one of these days this machine won’t even be able to tire me.”

Even if Lucy hadn’t put much thought it the statement it wouldn’t have surprised Brigit if she was right. Considering the trend Lucy’s strength and volume had been following it seemed that day was approaching quite quickly. “Okay Lucy we have one last thing to do.”

“What is that?”

“I’m going to take you to talk to someone. Her name is Elaine and she’s going to ask you some question.”

“Like a test?”

“No. She just wants to talk to you about how you’ve been feeling lately and get your thoughts on a few things.” As Brigit spoke she began shutting down the equipment she’d been using to test Lucy. She also began the task of gathering up the data she’d gathered during Lucy’s strength test.

“Okay. Let’s go meet her.”

Due to the nature of some of the research done at InCon’s main lab Elaine had been stationed there and handled regular psychiatric evaluation of personnel. This was both for safety given the dangerous natures of some of the compounds kept there and it helped them spot security risk in the form of an unhappy employee that might make off with a bit of research data.

As she read through the report though Elaine felt that the project heads had really dropped the ball this time. While she could understand them not taking Lucy to her initially she still felt that she should have met with Lucy weeks ago. Given how easily Lucy could kill someone it was crucial that they kept track of her mental state. From what she read Lucy had continued to do as her parents told her so far but there was nothing saying that would hold constant.

“Elaine, are you in there?” Even as she called out Brigit continued to nock on the door. It had been some ten seconds sense she started though and Elaine had yet to respond. This didn’t deter her though as she knew how distracted Elaine could become with her thoughts.

“Yes I’m here. Come on in.” Elaine waited for the door open before speaking again. “Sorry I was busy fiddling with my thoughts.”

“It isn’t a problem.” After stepping into the room Brigit stepped aside and let Lucy walk in. “Okay so I’ll just leave the two of you alone.”

As Brigit moved to leave Elaine gave her head a slight nod. “Thank you I’ll call whenever we are finished. Why don’t you have a seat Lucy?”

While Lucy wasn’t happy to see Brigit leaving given that she didn’t like being left alone with people she didn’t know. She didn’t say anything about it but proceeded to set down. Her parents had taught her to be weary of being alone with people she didn’t know but she imagined this woman was like the advisor or instructors at her school. “Did you want to speak with me?”

“Yes I did. So Lucy, how are you doing today?”

“Wonderful I managed to lift a whole car’s mass just a few moments ago. It was so neat.”

“So knowing that you could pick up a vehicle makes you happy?”

“Yeah, of course it does!” A huge grin had spread across Lucy’s face as she thought of the feat of strength only a few minutes past.

“What do you like most about being able to lift an entire car?”

“It’s fun.”

“Okay let’s see if we can find out just why being so strong is fun.”

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As Karen looked at the clock she couldn’t help but wonder why Lucy wasn’t home yet. The tests they ran did occasionally ran over however not by this margin. After a moment more of contemplation she quickly turned the stove down and picked up the phone. They had been provided with a number to call incase they wanted to know how Lucy was doing on a day they didn’t accompany her.

It hadn’t surprised Brigit whenever Elaine took her time speaking to Lucy or whenever she’d seen the two going to eat lunch together. Given the situation Elaine had a lot to learn and she most likely wanted to learn it quickly. She was surprised though whenever she realized that dinner time was approaching so her phone was already at the ready whenever it began ringing. “Hello.”

Given that the phone hadn’t been allowed to ring more then once Karen felt certain that they had been expecting to call, “Hi Brigit I imagine you know what I’m calling about.”

“Yeah, I didn’t mean for Lucy to be kept so long but at the moment Elaine is speaking to her.”

“Ah the company therapist you mentioned. I didn’t know Lucy would be speaking to her today.”

“Well I wish I could have told you but I was instructed not to. Elaine didn’t want to risk you telling Lucy to be on her best behavior or anything along those lines.”

“I see. So is that the reason Lucy isn’t home for dinner?”

“I’m afraid so. You two may end up eating alone. I hope you don’t mind if we keep Lucy a while longer but I’m thinking she’ll end up eating here.”

“She’s really analyzing Lucy thoroughly to keep her this long isn’t she? Perhaps Claude and I should just come out there.”

“We’d actually prefer if you didn’t. It’s important to see how Lucy behaves with no one that she considers a real authority figure watching her. Sense she knows me rather well I’m not even allowed to be in the room with her.”

As soon as she heard that Brigit wasn’t in the room with Lucy Karen immediately resolved to ask her daughter about what she and Elaine talked about in very fine detail. “I see. I suppose you couldn’t tell me how she’s doing then.”

“Honestly I believe Lucy’s already caught on to what is happening and is playing with Elaine.”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“I’ve been listening in when I can. From what I’ve heard Lucy picked up on what was going on shortly after I left her and Elaine alone. I believe that she’s trying to answer Elaine’s questions in such a way as to worry her.”

“Oh and how is that?”

“Whenever Elaine started showing Lucy ink plots one of her answers was, someone that I stepped on for asking me too many questions.” The sound of a door opening and quickly being shut drew Brigit’s attention for a moment. To her amazement she wasn’t that surprised whenever she saw Lucy walking towards her.

“Brigit, I want to go home now.” An annoyed grunt escaped Lucy whenever the door opened behind her a short while later. She didn’t need to look back to see that it was Elaine.

It had surprised Elaine whenever Lucy had suddenly stood up and walking out of the room. What had been more surprising though was how quickly she could run. “Lucy, we’re not done talking yet.”

For a moment Lucy said nothing as she took in a deep breath. She then quickly spun around to face Elaine. “Yes we are. I’m going home.”

Even Brigit was surprised by Lucy’s sudden behavior though her amusement surpassed her surprise. “Karen, don’t let the food get cold I’ll be bringing Lucy back now.”

Despite being surprised by the suddenness of Lucy’s decision Elaine was far from horrified. Of course Lucy would only indulge her questions for so long. After all she wasn’t an authority figure. What she was impressed by was the fact that Lucy had simply stood up and left instead of throwing a temper tantrum like some children. “Lucy, I just want you to know that you did very well today.”

Now it was Lucy’s turn to be surprised as she looked at Elaine. “Huh?”

“You put up with me questioning you for such a long time and yet you didn’t break a single thing. After I ignored your subtle and not so subtle request to go home you finally stood up and left yet you didn’t break anything.”

“Humph you’re just lucky that you didn’t try standing in front of the door.”

A slight chuckle escaped Elaine. Apparently Lucy didn’t like the idea that she had somehow been outsmarted. Though she had indeed kept away from the door incase Lucy should decide to depart suddenly. “Now Lucy I hope we can talk again later but don’t worry. I won’t keep you so long again. We just haven’t had any chances to talk until today and they were some things I really had to learn about you. I also want to say that it was mean of me to ignore your request to go home and I hope you’re not too upset with me.”

To this Lucy gave a rather annoyed humph before speaking. “I don’t want to speak to you anymore.”

“I’ll tell you what Lucy. If you’ll come and speak with me next time I’ll try to have something fun for us to do. You deserve it after today.”

The expression on Lucy’s face told Elaine that she still wasn’t fond of the idea of coming to see her again. After a moment of consideration she resolved to relent a little. “I’ll let you question me one more time but if you annoy me like you did today I’m leaving.”

Though she chose not to push the issue Elaine could tell that there was more there then Lucy had verbally said. Lucy’s tone showed her annoyance as if promising that if there was another day like today she’d be the one to regret it after words. “Okay Lucy. Next time would you like your mommy and daddy to be there.”

“No.”

“Okay then. Brigit, why don’t the two of you get going?”

“I’ll see you later Elaine.”

As Elaine watched Lucy walk away she felt confident that she had reached the threshold of Lucy’s patience. The greatest proof to that was the fact that Lucy said she didn’t want her parents to be there despite clearly wanting to go home to them. This meant that Lucy intended to do something that she knew her parents wouldn’t allow if they were there. Just what that something was would have to remain speculation. Elaine wasn’t about to push Lucy beyond that threshold.

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Generally Claude was a fairly average sleeper. He wouldn’t wake up at the drop of a dime or pin but you couldn’t drop a frying pan or glass without waking him up either. There was one thing that would wake him with exceptional ease though and that was the smell of breakfast. A young life time of waking up to freshly prepared meals had taught his body and when you smelt eggs or bacon it was time to get out of bed. So even before the alarm went off he was already roused from bed.

While his eyes adjusted to the darkened room he glanced over at the alarm clock and was a bit surprised by the hour. At times Karen would wake up before the alarm went off. If there was less then twenty minutes left between her waking time and her planned time of waking she’d go ahead and prepare breakfast. However, it was still thirty minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Once his eyes had adjusted to the dark he was a bit more surprised when he looked over and saw Karen was still asleep.

Fortunately when Claude woke up to the smell of food cooking he tended to be fully awake. So it didn’t take him more then a moment to realize that there was only one person in the house that might be cooking. He was grateful that Karen was a fairly average sleeper herself as he quickly climbed out of bed and made his way into the living room and from there to the kitchen. He was both amused and somewhat concerned when he saw his daughter preparing a rather large pan of scrambled eggs.

“Good morning Daddy. Did I wake you?”

“Well yes but not in a way I mind but Lucy what are you doing?”

“Making breakfast, you said Mommy had to leave today so I wanted her to wake up to a nice meal. I thought of it after I woke up this morning.”

A sigh escaped Claude as he checked around the kitchen. His first instinct was to go over and take the pan from Lucy but now that he was awake there was another concern. “Lucy, do you mind if I get some of the toast?”

“Yep I made plenty for everyone.”

After giving a nod Claude picked up one of the heavily buttered slices of bread and began to quickly eat it. Hunger wasn’t his actual motivation though rather he needed to have something on his stomach before he took his morning pain killers. “Um Lucy would you mind turning down the stove and stepping away? Once I take my pills I’ll handle the eggs.”

“You don’t need to Daddy I can handle this.”

“Sweatie I don’t want you to get burned.” As Claude finished speaking he noticed a rather playful smile on Lucy’s face.

“You don’t have to worry about that Daddy. Watch this.” With that Lucy quickly pushed the pan aside. She then wasted no time in pressing her thumb down upon the red hot burner and holding it there.

“Lucy!”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she noted the concern on her father’s face. Before he could come around the other side of the counter to try and remove her finger though she held it up for him. “See Daddy the burner isn’t hot enough to hurt me anymore.”

When Lucy had pressed her finger down onto the stove Claude felt like his heart had leapt into his throat. His heart was still beating frantically when he looked upon her undamaged flesh. It was only when he had walked around the counter and looked upon Lucy’s thumb closely that he was able to convince himself to relax. “Lucy, please don’t do that again. You might have hurt yourself.”

“Don’t worry Daddy I knew it wouldn’t hurt me. I found out when I accidentally touched the pan earlier.” As she spoke Lucy moved the eggs back onto the stove and continued cooking. She had been allowed to scramble eggs while her father or mother watched closely before so she knew when they were done. Before they had always been the ones to hold the pan handle while she only used the spatula.

Now that he was relaxed Claude made his way back to the other side of the kitchen. As he gathered his pills and water he took his time to consider the situation. “I know you just wanted to do something nice for Karen but Lucy you know you’re not supposed to be cooking alone.”

“But Daddy I can reach everything on my own now and you’ve let me help before.”

“We’ve let you help before. Plus you said it yourself. You’d burned yourself already if it wasn’t for your endurance.”

“You and Mommy have burned yourselves.” As Lucy spoke her tone was far from defiant instead her tone had lowered considerably and she had turned her eyes away from her father.

While Lucy had done something she wasn’t supposed to do Claude didn’t have it in him to be stern with her. She had only been trying to do something nice for Karen and he’d known for a while that she’d want to see what all her body allowed her to do now. “Okay Lucy you know that you did something you weren’t allowed to do don’t you?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Now I don’t mind you cooking however next time wake me or your mother up. Even if the stove isn’t hot enough to burn you that doesn’t mean you can’t start a fire.”

“You mean I can actually cook now and not just help?”

“Well after seeing that I don’t have to worry about you burning yourself I don’t see a reason that you couldn’t. As long as you have someone in here to make sure you don’t burn down part of the kitchen or the entire house. Still, the next time you want to try something new I expect you to tell your mother or me. I won’t be able to let it slide the next time.”

To this Lucy gave a quick nod. “Surry Daddy.”

After a moment of silence a grin formed across Claude’s face. “Lucy your eggs are going to burn.”

A slight yelp escaped Lucy as she quickly worked to flip the browning eggs. After giving them a frantic look over she proceeded to shovel the partly toasted fragments into near by plate. “You distracted me.”

For a moment Claude was made to chuckle as he noted the expression on Lucy’s face. “Oh and how often do you decide to start a conversation whenever your mother or I am trying to cook?”

A sheepish grin formed on Lucy’s face as she proceeded around the counter, past her father and over to the fridge. “This is when you normally put on the biscuits and bacon right?”

“No the biscuits should have gone on sooner. If you try to make them now the wrest of the food will be cold by the time they’re through. Yet another reason you need someone in the kitchen with you. You haven’t had much experience cooking.”

“Ah I wanted biscuits.”

“Well I’ll make some for lunch in that case. Just don’t tell your mother she isn’t fond of me eating breakfast for lunch.”

“No I am not so you won’t.”

Both Claude and Lucy’s attention was quickly drawn to the kitchen entrance were Karen stood. She had been woken up whenever Lucy had pressed her finger to the burner and Claude had called out her name. “Come on Karen it’s not like I do it often.”

“That’s only because I won’t let you. I remember what you were like when we first met and I also remember what the doctor said.”

“Yeah but I’m fine now.”

A sigh escaped Karen as she proceeded into the kitchen to see how Lucy had been doing. “Okay sense it’s a special occasion I’ll let you.”

For a moment Claude went silent as he found himself wondering what Karen was talking about. After a short while though, he assured himself that he hadn’t forgotten any important dates. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s the day you get rid of me for a little while.”

“Ah okay I see. Well then. Lucy I hope you don’t mind waiting but how about we have that breakfast lunch whenever your mother comes home?”

To this Lucy gave a quick nod. “I don’t mind waiting.”

Despite being woken up somewhat early Karen couldn’t help but smile. “Now Lucy did you remember to wash your hands first?”

For a moment Lucy froze and moments later she began to blush. “Whoops.”

An amused chuckle escaped Karen as she noted the expression on her daughter’s face. “Well it’s a good thing you weren’t making a salad. I’m sure the hot pan killed any bacteria just make sure that you wash your hands after handling that bacon. Mm I guess sense I don’t need to cook breakfast I’ll go ahead and start getting my things ready.”

“It will only be a few moments before the bacon is ready.”

“I know sweatie. Just call whenever it’s ready and I’ll come in here and eat.”

After giving Karen some time to make her way back to her bedroom Lucy turned to her father. “Daddy, why aren’t we going with Mommy?”

“The police just want to ask her a few questions about what happened. They need an official statement from her as to the night’s events.”

“So they arrested Kevin?”

“Yes they did.”

After a moment of silence Lucy removed the bacon from the pan and placed a few strips on each of the three plates she had set out. “Mommy the bacon is ready.”

“Okay Lucy I’ll be out in a moment.”

As he looked at the plates Claude couldn’t help but chuckle. “Lucy I believe that you might have over did it.”

“What do you mean?”

As Claude spoke he made his way around the table and began shoveling a large portion of the mountain of eggs Lucy had made onto another plate. “Too eggs are plenty for me.”

“Ah darn it.” A sigh escaped Lucy as having four of her mistakes pointed out to her in the last few minutes finally began to get to her.

“Don’t worry about it you’re still learning. It’s just that your Mommy and me can’t eat that much. Two eggs, some bacon and toast are plenty for us. You’re the one that needs the six other eggs.”

“I guess I have been eating a lot lately.”

“At the rate you’ve been growing I would be worried if you weren’t.” Despite his words Claude couldn’t help but feel a little concern. It wasn’t due to Lucy over eating though but rather the fact that it only took six eggs, some bacon and a few slices of buttered toast to serve as her breakfast. Granted it was a great deal but given her strength levels and the amount of energy it would take to sustain such a body he couldn’t help but wonder if that was really enough.

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While Karen set within the police station she closed her eyes and mentally went over the list of events that Claude and Lucy had told her. The details Claude had been able to give were limited most likely due to the fact that he wasn’t really thinking when he lunged into the fire. At least he wasn’t thinking the sort of thoughts that one recalls. Despite that she would have liked to have him with her at the moment.

There was good reason to keep Claude away though. One was that he was still very temperamental about the subject. Karen didn’t want to risk him doing something that he may regret later while in a police station. They also needed someone to stay behind with Lucy whom at the moment was somewhat limited in her movements.

The police had expressed a desire to speak with Lucy as well. Fortunately due to the severity of Lucy’s previous injuries and the fact that she had undergone a new procedure it had been easy to explain why she couldn’t come without really answering any questions about her current state. For a moment Karen was made to chuckle as she wondered how the police would respond to Lucy if she had came along.

Karen’s thoughts were put on hold as the door to the office she currently set in was opened and an older looking officer entered. “Sorry to have kept you waiting. I take it that you’re Misses Angeye.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Hi I’m detective Robert. I just need to ask you a few questions to get a better idea of what happened that night.”

“I’ll help in whatever way I can. Have you been able to find out what started the fire though?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t discuss that with you right now. I can’t risk telling you anything that may affect your answers whether I believe it will or won’t. Now if you don’t mind tell me misses Angeye do you or your husband smoke?”

“No. Claude use to but he gave it up shortly after Lucy was born.”

“So did you have any ash treys in your home?”

“We had one in the living room incase company was over. Though, I would normally request that they go smoke on the porch.”

“So you find smoking to be distasteful?”

To this Karen shook her head. “Smoking doesn’t bother me a great deal. We just didn’t want Lucy exposed to such things anymore then she had to be.”

“Did Lucy have a baby sitter often?”

“No. We were able to adjust our work schedules so that one of us could always be home with Lucy.”

“I see. So she didn’t have a regular baby sitter that you would call upon?”

“No. At least we didn’t have a regular baby sitter such as someone Lucy saw weekly or even monthly.”

“What about during emergencies or special occasions?”

“Yes, we normally would have her cousin Megan come and baby-sit if we were taken away from home quickly.”

“I see. So was this Kevin’s first time babysitting Lucy?”

“Yes it was.”

“Did you have any reason to believe that Kevin may leave Lucy home alone?”

“If I did Claude and I would have cancelled our evening out and stay home with her instead.”

“Have you asked your daughter about what happened leading up to the fire?”

“Yes I have.”

“Please tell me what she said. I’ll need to speak to Lucy eventually to get a first hand account but given her situation this will suffice for now. It will at least give us a better idea as to the night’s events.”

“That’s a little tight sweatie.”

As Lucy helped her father re-apply his bandages she took a moment to loosen the bandages around his elbows. After taking a moment to slacken the material she looked at her father. “How is that daddy?”

“Much better, thanks for the help Lucy this would be quite difficult to do alone.”

“You’re welcome. Daddy, when are you going to see the doctor again?”

“I have an appointment set up for the day after your mom returns.”

“Are they going to try and fix you arms more?”

“Yeah so I won’t be able to do much for a while after words while I heal from the surgery. You’re going to have to help your mother around the house. Hey what is that grin for?”

“Will you need to me to carry you into the living room?”

It was impossible for Claude not to grin as well when Lucy asked her question. “You like being able to pack me around don’t you?”

“Yeah it’s fun. Do you mind?”

“So long as you ask me first I don’t mind normally. I can’t say there won’t be occasions when I don’t want picked up.”

“I know. Am I putting your bandages on the right way?”

“According to what the doctors showed me you are.” As Claude watched Lucy working the bandages around his hand and fingers he couldn’t help but be impressed by how focused Lucy was. It seemed that he was actually more repulsed by the site of his burns then she was.

As Lucy slipped the pin in to hold Claude’s bandages secure she retrieved the salve he’d been provided. The compound served to accelerate the healing process but most importantly protected against infection. As she picked up the tube Claude extended his arm so that she was able to leave a thick trail of the compound along his arm. She then began the task of smearing the ointment on his forearm while he tended to his bicep.

“I swear Lucy I think the most annoying part of this is feeling my muscles turn to jelly.”

“Apparently around nine Kevin received a phone call. From his friend Travis Beard who had got himself into a bit of a situation. He’d been kicked out of the home of one Miss Tina Smith and ended up leaving his keys inside. Unwilling to force his way in he called Kevin to come and pick him up. We suspect that he was in the kitchen at the time and tossed a lit cigarette into the trash can. From what Lucy told you it sounds like we were right about that. What he didn’t see is some papers in the trash catch fire.”

As Karen listened to the story she quickly recognized Tina Smith’s name. Her father Joe Smith was actually a police officer himself and was a well known bastard. The odds of him letting even a little infraction slide were exceptionally low. If Tina had thrown someone out of her home it was fairly easy to understand why they would be motivated to get away before her father came home yet very unwilling to force their way back in. “So have you spoke to Joe’s daughter?”

“Yeah she confirmed seeing Kevin’s truck pull into the yard and Travis getting in.”

Reaching up Karen placed her left hand on her forehead as if to steady herself and closed her eyes. “I have no idea how I’m going to tell Claude this. Not only did Kevin leave Lucy home alone but it was his cigarette that started the fire in the first place. If you don’t mind telling me just how did you find Kevin anyway?”

A knocking at the door drew both people’s attention for a moment. At which time Robert leaned over so that he could see past Karen. “Come on in.”

Joe was silent as he opened the door and slipped into Robert’s office. A slight sigh escaped him as he looked at Karen and shut the door. He then proceeded to walk over to her. “Karen I just wanted to say that I’m sorry all of this happened.”

“It’s not your fault Joe there is nothing for you to apologize for.”

“Thanks for saying that. I just can’t help but feel that sense Tina was involved I had some part to play in all of this mess.”

Before Karen could respond Robert spoke up. “Joe here was the one that found Kevin after we filed an actual warrant.”

To this Karen gave a slight nod. “Well then. Thank you Joe, it’s nice just to get things started.”

Now Joe was made to grin. It hadn’t been hard for him to find Kevin he had just asked his daughter about Travis and his friends to get an idea of who Kevin’s friends were. He had then began keeping a close eye on them and ticketing them for every little infraction. It hadn’t taken long for them to become sick of helping Kevin. “You’re welcome it was kind of fun.”

After a moment Karen lowered her eyes to the ground. “I’m an idiot. I should have known that Kevin couldn’t be trusted with anything of importance.”

In response to this Joe placed his hand on Karen’s shoulder. “Hey we all want to trust family.”

It was hard for Lucy to keep her mind focused on what she was doing as she smelt the chocolate. Periodically she’d glance over to her side to see how it was coming along as her father continued stirring the thickening liquid. Her mother had called a short while ago and informed then that she’d been home shortly so they were finally going to get to enjoy that breakfast for lunch and Lucy was glad they had waited. If they hadn’t her father probably wouldn’t have decided to make more then biscuits, bacon, and eggs. Now she got to enjoy chocolate and oatmeal as well.

While the drive way to their current residence was shorter then the one at their old home Karen felt like the walk was longer as she made her way to the front door. Taking in a deep breath she held her hand on the door knob for a few seconds before finally twisting it and entering. “I’m back I hope you two haven’t broken anything.”

Upon hearing Karen enter Claude quickly turned down the heat on the stove so the chocolate wouldn’t burn. He then made his way around the counter and into the living room. “Welcome back.”

As Claude wrapped his arms around her Karen wrapped hers around him and they gave one another a quick kiss. For a moment they held the position then released and stepped back. “So how have you two been?”

“We’ve been just fine. Lucy’s been a big help sense you’ve been away.” As he spoke Claude made his way away from Karen and back into the kitchen.

After Claude had taken a few steps Karen began to follow behind him. “It smells good in there.”

“The food is just about ready. Just give the chocolate some more time to thicken and let the biscuits get done. So how did things go at the police station?”

“It appears to be going well. They seem to have a pretty good idea as to what happened however they still need to speak to Lucy.”

“Yeah I had thought as much. Okay after breakfast I’ll give Michael a call and we can start talking about Lucy going to speak with the police.”

Even though she hadn’t said anything about it Lucy couldn’t help but smile at this news. It had been so long sense she’d been out in public that she couldn’t wait to see how people responded to her height increase. There was another reason as well. “Do you believe I’ll get to speak to Kevin?”

Lucy’s question actually caught both her parents off guard so it actually took a moment for Claude to respond. “I’m not sure about that Lucy. Do you want to speak to him?”

“Yeah I do.”

Instead of responding right away Claude gave Karen a quick glance. He then turned his attention back to Lucy. “I suppose we could look into visiting hours but what do you want to talk to him about?”

“I want to ask him a few questions.”

Given Lucy’s tone and her answer both Claude and Karen couldn’t help but wonder what was going through their daughter’s mind. Finally Karen spoke up. “Let’s wait a while so we can talk about it.”

To this Lucy gave a quick nod. “Sure. Daddy you said you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow didn’t you?”

************************************************************************

As Lucy nibbled on her last bits of breakfast she turned her attention towards the living room. School had restarted which meant today she’d be meeting her home instructor for the first time. In truth she was a little down that she wouldn’t be attending regular classes. She couldn’t help but think it would be fun to tower over the instructors however she didn’t bother making a fuss. Even at her young age she knew that her body would require certain adjustments to her life style.

Unfortunately the knowledge that she wouldn’t get a chance to see what it’s like to be the tallest kid in school had taken away a bit of her drive. So her response to hearing someone pull into the drive way was less then energetic. Rather she continued to focus on slowly picking up the last scraps of eggs with the edge of her toast.

Lucy wasn’t the only person that had actually found a reason to dislike the current situation. Claude tended to enjoy a more comfortable form of attire when in his home then what his wife was currently permitting him to wear. It wasn’t any more then he wore whenever he went shopping with her however it wasn’t the t-shirt and old worn pair of jeans that was his home preference. Still, upon hearing someone at the door he tried his best to look awake.

As Patrick waited at the door he couldn’t help but wonder what the day was going to bring. He had been fairly surprised whenever he’d received the phone call and even more shocked when he had to fill out several papers preventing him from talking about his student. This wasn’t entirely new but in this case the restrictions seemed rather extreme. At last the door opened and he prepared himself to find out just why there was so much secrecy.

“Good day, so are you Patrick?”

“Yes Patrick Ames. I’m here for Miss Lucy’s home schooling.”

To this Claude gave a quick nod. “Come on inside.” As he spoke Claude stepped to the side and allowed Patrick to enter. “She’s in the kitchen right now.”

Despite not getting to see how a class would respond to her current scale Lucy was made to grin a little whenever she heard Patrick enter. It was true she wouldn’t get to see what it was like to tower over the entire student body but she wondered how Patrick would respond to her. As soon as her father and her instructor entered the room she spoke up. “Hi Patrick I’m Lucy.”

At first Patrick wasn’t sure what was going on as the person setting at the kitchen table didn’t appear to be a child. However, the moment she introduced herself and turned around his jaw nearly hit the floor. Despite Lucy’s height her features were indeed that of a young girl just magnified beyond the normal scale.

Even with her father in the room Lucy couldn’t help but giggle. Lucy had meant to surprise Patrick and it seemed that she had succeeded as he just stared at her. She even gave him a few moments to look her over before she spoke up again. “You know you shouldn’t stare at people.”

Finally Patrick gave his head a quick shake. Though he still wasn’t certain that this was a child he was looking at. She had the features of a child but he had never seen or heard of a child this large. “Pardon me but could someone tell me just what is going on?”

“You mean no one told you about Lucy?”

“They said that she had undergone a medical procedure that had surprising results. I wasn’t expecting this though. Lucy, are you really eleven?”

“Yes I am but I’ll be twelve in just a month.”

“Lucy’s height has been increasing at an alarming rate ever sense the medical procedure of which you were informed. They’re still testing to see if she may present any dangers to those around her so until that testing is done home schooling seemed to be the best option.”

If it hadn’t been for all the paper work and the payment he had received in advance Patrick wouldn’t have been able to believe the situation. Despite that if it hadn’t been for the fact that he doubted a cooperation like InCon would go through such trouble just to prank him he wouldn’t have been able to believe it. “Um well. Well then. I suppose we should get started.”

To this Lucy gave a nod and resituated herself at the table. “So what are we going to do first?”

“The first thing we need to do is see how good your math skills are. I brought a little test that I want you to try to work so that I know where to begin.”

Claude couldn’t help but smile as he watched Lucy ready herself for the test. Whenever Lucy would bring home homework he or Karen would always set down and help to insure she understood the problems and what she was doing. They also took the time to praise her for her efforts. The constant reassurance meant that she always felt ready for tests and the help insured that she was ready. It always made him happy whenever he saw that if his daughter lacked anything confidence wasn’t one of them.

************************************************************************

It was hard for Claude to be certain of how he should feel as he watched Lucy doing her literature work. A few weeks had passed sense Lucy began her home schooling and during all that time she hadn’t needed his help to finish her homework even once. What made the situation even more surprising was that she was finishing the work far more quickly then she had been originally. After waiting a few more moments he gave a sigh and made his way into the living room.

Helping Lucy with her homework could at times be a time consuming tasks however it wasn’t one that either parent minded. At times they had both even enjoyed helping Lucy as it allowed them to better see how their daughter was progressing. Despite that Karen hadn’t expected Claude to be so down whenever Lucy didn’t bother ask for his help. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” While he spoke Claude made his way over to Karen and set down next to her. “It’s just a little odd that she hasn’t asked for either of our help even once. What’s even more surprising is that she doesn’t seem to need it. Did you know that I set down with her just to see if I could help her understand the material a little better?”

“How did that go?”

“There really wasn’t anything I could do to help her out. The only thing I seem to be able to do is quiz her on spelling and question her about stories that she read.”

There was no desire in Karen to see Claude feeling down however she was made to smile as she listened to him. “You really miss helping Lucy with her homework don’t you?”

To this Claude gave a nod. “Yeah, they were times that I wished I could be doing something else but most of the time I enjoyed it.”

“So now your feel down sense Lucy doesn’t need your help. You knew it was bound to happen eventually though.”

“I know but I at least hoped that I would have until she turned sixteen before she quit asking for my help.”

An amused giggle escaped Karen as she leaned over and gave Claude a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m sure you’ll find another way to help her.”

“Maybe the material just isn’t challenging enough for her. Do you believe I should talk to Patrick about speeding Lucy’s lessons up a bit?”

“If you really believe that the material isn’t challenging enough for her sure. Just make sure that you’re doing it because you think she can do better and not because you want to hear your little girl asking for your help.”

************************************************************************

“So you’re worried that the material I’ve been providing Lucy with isn’t challenging enough for her?” Patrick currently set opposite of Claude while Lucy and Karen had both gone to the labs for a medical update on Lucy’s condition and further testing on her progress.

“Well normally Lucy calls me in to check her work and help her understand if she’s done something wrong. Lately though she hasn’t needed my help in the least.”

A sigh escaped Patrick as he gave his head a quick nod. “I know. So far Lucy has been getting one hundred percent of the questions I asked her correct. I’ve actually tried to step up the difficulty level but I honestly wasn’t prepared for this.”

“Prepared for what?”

“Claude, I don’t know if you realized this but your daughter is a border line genius. Not only has she been keeping up with the lesson plan that I had prepared but she’s well ahead of schedule.”

For a moment Claude said nothing as he considered what Patrick had said. After a moment of contemplation though, he gave his head a quick shake. “That can’t be right. Lucy has always been bright and we’ve always been proud of her but a genius?”

“So she wasn’t like this before?”

“Normally Karen or I would set down and observe Lucy as she did her work. If she began to struggle we would lend a hand or if she made a mistake. I will say she never needed much help but normally she’d need us to help with two or three problems. At first I thought it might be the one on one lesson that were allowing her to progress so smoothly but even if that is the case it seems a bit too easy for her.”

“You’re right. The amount of guidance that I’ve needed to give Lucy has been the minimum at best. As of late I actually believe I’ve began to bore her but she hasn’t said as much.”

For a moment Claude was made to chuckle as he gave his head a shake. “Some things never change it seems.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh there would be days Lucy came home complaining. After assigning homework most instructors would normally take some time the next day to answer questions. Lucy tended to find such events to be boring. She felt the teacher should give the days assignment ahead of this so that those that already understood the material could be working ahead.”

“So she doesn’t like feeling she’s being held back for the sake of others?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t just in class either. Lucy wouldn’t willingly and had an open dislike of being forced to participate in a team sport.” Even though Claude knew that it was far from a virtue he couldn’t help but smile and even chuckle as he remembered this aspect of his daughter’s nature. “Care to guess at what Lucy said whenever we told her that you can’t win them all?”

“Yes I can?”

To this Claude shook his head. “No. Her response was, but I can win most of them. She really got upset whenever the team she was forced to be part of lost because of a few members clumsiness or goofing around.”

“Ah so she had trouble accepting defeat.”

“I really don’t believe it is that to be honest. She’d admit to losing if she was asked. What made her so angry was whenever she lost because of something she couldn’t do anything about. Good grief did she ever teach me a lesson whenever I tried to teach her a little humility and showed her then beat her at checkers.”

“What happened?”

“She started asking me to teach her how to play better. At first it wasn’t so bad but soon it became a daily routine. That wasn’t the most surprising thing though. Soon she began asking Karen to play with her. I didn’t realize it until later but she was intentionally getting additional practice so that she could beat me. Eventually she got to the point that she couldn’t beat me all the time but most of the time.

It seems I didn’t teach my daughter to be a good loser instead I taught her to swallow her pride so that she can learn to win.”

After a moment Patrick gave a slight chuckle. “No wonder she hates working with others then. She probably can’t stand to be restrained by those that don’t match her drive.”

************************************************************************

For a moment Lucy tapped her pencil against the desk as she looked up at the clock. A large stack of paper set just opposite of her while her math book set before her over two thirds open. For a long while Lucy had enjoyed not needing as much sleep as she had once required. It was fun being able to set up later then her parents and still wake up sooner. However, as she looked at the clock she was for the first time made to regret it. Yet another sigh escaped her as she looked back down at the book and resumed her work.

“Lucy what is wrong?” Karen had been fairly surprised whenever she had come into the kitchen to find Lucy at the table working away. As she looked at the stack of paper she couldn’t help but wonder how long she had been at it.

Almost sense the changes in her body had become noticeable Lucy had been more aware then she once was. So she was somewhat surprised when she realized that not only had she failed to notice the alarm clock going off but her mother had entered the kitchen without her realizing it. “Huh? Good morning Mommy.” As she spoke Lucy turned to face her mother.

“Good morning to you as well Lucy. Now tell me what is bothering you?”

“Nothing is bothering me.”

“Oh then is all of that home work?”

At first Lucy said nothing as she glanced over her shoulder at the stack of papers. “No. I was just working ahead a little.”

“Lucy how long have you been working ahead?”

“I’m not sure. I came into the kitchen and got a snack when I woke up. There wasn’t anything I wanted to watch on TV so I decided to work ahead.”

As she spoke Karen made her way over to the table and began to thumb through the stack of papers Lucy had been working on. “It looks like you’ve worked ahead quite a bit. Did you do all of this tonight?”

“No. I’ve been working on it for the past few nights. I was thinking that I’d show Patrick whenever I was finished.”

Taking hold of the seat next to Lucy Karen pulled it out and set down next to her daughter. For the moment the fact that this meant Lucy towered over her didn’t even register. “Lucy I know that something is wrong. Now I want you to tell me what is bothering you.”

“Nothing I”

“Don’t lie. Lucy, turn around and look at me while you’re talking.”

At first Lucy made no motions to turn and face her mother. As she held her ground she bit down on her lower lip until she finally spun around. When she did tears were flowing down her face. “When I don’t have anything to do, I feel so sad.”

No words came from Karen instead she reached her arms around Lucy and hugged her.

************************************************************************

“So how is Lucy doing now?”

“When I left she seemed to be doing fine. When I told Claude about what happened he immediately resolved to spend more time with her. I don’t think that will be enough though.”

Elaine gave a nod as she listened to Karen. “Most likely it won’t be. What Lucy needs at this moment is someone her own age to spend time with. A parent’s attention can be helpful but it isn’t the same as a peer’s. I don’t believe that is the only cause though. The restrictions on her mobility have undoubtedly played a large part in her current condition.”

“So what can we do?”

“At this moment Lucy really needs a friend to spend her time with. A friend that isn’t also an authority figure that is. I had actually been expecting this to happen I had just hoped that the lab work would be finished before it occurred.”

Michael had been quiet while Karen and Elaine spoke up until that point. Now he had to step in though. “We have actually done plenty of testing confirming that it’s safe to be around Lucy. That is we have in regards to her posing a biological hazard to anyone else. I also believed that Elaine’s evaluation of Lucy would show she poses no threat as well.”

“So long as her boundaries are respected I don’t see Lucy posing any threat. However, I did establish that Lucy seems to have limits to what she can stand. While her initial reaction was to leave my office I’m not willing to chance what would have happened if I tried to physically stop her.”

A sigh escaped Karen. “I can see that causing trouble in an environment such as a school. To further complicate matters I don’t believe Lucy would be content being in a class of her peers. She’d most likely find the learning material to be less then stimulating.”

“I imagine family is out of the question.”

“Given what is going on with Kevin? Yeah that unpleasantness would make convincing them to send one of their children over for a play date with Lucy difficult even more so when they realized her current condition. There is also the little matter of the contract. Though I have been wondering, wasn’t Lucy going to serve as a sort of spokes person for the eighth step?”

“Yes she was. It’s just that the bored wants six more months of testing. Once Lucy is in the public eye they really don’t want anything to go wrong.” A sigh escaped Michael and he leaned back in his seat. “Still, in that time we don’t know what might happen to Lucy. Depression isn’t healthy regardless of how strong the body is. I guess I have no choice in the matter then.”

“What do you plan on doing?”

“Lucy needs someone her own age to keep her company. Now I won’t be able to convince the bored to drop the six months of testing that remains. So I’ll just have to introduce Albert to her.”

“Who’s Albert?”

“He’s my son. He’s a year older then Lucy but I believe that’s close enough. Perhaps if I show my confidence that Lucy is no danger to anyone the bored will be more likely to drop the six months of testing.”

“Don’t you need to talk to your wife about it?”

“Anne and I have already discussed the issue actually. Albert is still in the dark but that shouldn’t be much of a problem. I have a pretty good idea of how Albert will respond to learning that he has to meet someone new but it should be good for him. Hopefully Lucy won’t have too much trouble getting him to come out of his shell.”

************************************************************************

Claude couldn’t help but grin as Lucy rushed about the kitchen. She had nearly run him and Karen over numerous times until they had finally resolved to stay out of her way while she was setting the table. He had actually seen Lucy in such excitable states before however she had been much smaller back then. “You know Lucy it’ll be a little while longer before they arrive.”

“Yeah but we can already have everything set out.”

As Karen watched Lucy she couldn’t help but grin. It seemed that the news that she’d be meeting someone new was enough to perk Lucy all by itself. She just hoped that the meeting went well. Given Lucy’s current situation she truly needed a friend.

It was hard for Michael to resist reaching back and ruffling his son’s hair as the boy kept his attention focused on the vehicles window. Two things prevented this from happening though. One was that he was currently driving and the other was the fact that Anne would darn near break his hand for doing so. The effort she had to expend to get Albert out of the layer he called his room and dressed up had been monumental.

Anne smiled as she turned in her seat ever so slightly to face Albert. “Now sweatie I want you to be nice to Lucy and try to get to know her.”

“I know Mom. Don’t I always behave?”

“Albert this isn’t just about behaving. I want you to really give Lucy a chance and try to get to know her.” Anne couldn’t help but chuckle when she heard a low groan escape her son. “Now Albert you haven’t even seen the girl yet and you’ve already decided that she isn’t worth knowing. What kind of attitude is that?”

While Albert was no where near eager to meet Lucy he knew better then to argue over such things with his mother. “I’ll try to get to know her.”

Reaching into the back of the vehicle Anne slipped one of her fingers into Albert’s shirt collar and gave him a slight pull so that he was forced to set upright and quit leaning on the door. She then waited until he had turned to look at her to speak. She wasn’t surprised whenever she found her son’s face to be perfectly strait. The boy almost never frowned but he almost never smiled either. “You know Albert you just might get along with Lucy better then you believe. She isn’t like the girls in your class.”

“Yeah she’s a year younger.”

“Don’t be a smart aleck. Oh so that gets a grin out of you. Well what would you say if I told you that Lucy is almost as tall as me?” An amused chuckle escaped Anne as the expression on Albert’s face changed.

“I thought you said she was only twelve.”

“She is.”

“Mom it’s impossible for a twelve year old to be as tall as you are.”

“Now Albert that just isn’t true especially when your father is involved.”

“Hey you make it sound like this is a regular happening when it comes to my work.”

At first Albert didn’t say anything but focused intently on his mother as if trying to figure out if she was playing around or not. After a few moments a smile spread across his face. “That is neat actually. So Dad really messed up this time did he?”

“I did no such thing. When something performs beyond expectations it’s hardly a failure.” As he addressed his family Michael slowed the vehicle and pulled into the driveway.

“They’re here.” In response to hearing a vehicle slowing and then turning into the drive way Lucy quickly bound past her parents. As she passed Claude she actually had to weave to the side slightly in order to avoid plowing her father over due to his slower reaction time.

A slight chuckle escaped Claude as he watched his daughter bound past him. Her movements had been so swift and close that some of her hair had actually smacked him in the face as she darted past him. “I hope she doesn’t tear the door of the hinges like she did in the bedroom.”

Karen waited until she heard the door open to respond. “I think she might have heard you.”

The speed with which the front door of the home opened was so great that for a moment Albert thought it must have been torn off its hinges. He was actually surprised when he looked to the side and noted that it was still quite attached though he still imagined it had been loosened considerably. There wasn’t much time to focus on this though as a figure that did indeed rivaled his mother in height appeared in the doorway.

Upon seeing her son’s surprised expression Anne gave an amused chuckle. “I told you she was nearly as tall as I am.” Anne for her part was quite an oddity. Standing two meters tall and possessing an exceptionally fit build Anne could have easily passed for a Valkyrie. So it was rare for Albert to see a man taller or even as tall as his mother let alone a woman. Now here was a young girl of twelve years and while not as tall as his mother she was quite close.

Lucy practically had to grab onto the doorframe to keep from running out to meet their guest. She hadn’t said anything but ever sense she’d spoken to Michael she had been interested in meeting his son and wife. She was a little surprised whenever Anne climbed out of the vehicle followed by Albert and Michael a few moments later. “Hi and welcome.”

As this was the first time Anne had actually seen Lucy in person she took a moment to appraise the girl. Lucy most assuredly seemed energetic enough. The smile on her face also told Anne that she was very hopeful that this meeting would go well. “Well hello there. So you’re the young Miss Lucy that Michael has been telling me about. I’m Anne.”

“I’m glad to meet you. Wow Michael said that you were tall but I didn’t expect you to be taller then what I am now.”

“That’s nice of you to say but from what I hear you won’t be seeing me as tall for much longer.”

As Anne neared the door Lucy took a few steps back to let them in. She still glanced to the side and past Anne to see Albert. “That is Albert right?”

“Yes it is.”

Before his mother or Lucy could say anything more Albert quickened his pace. It only took him a moment to come to stand beside his mother. “Hi Lucy, it is nice to meet you.”

Upon hearing Albert and seeing him stand next to his mother Lucy’s first thoughts were to pick him up. Fortunately her parents had explained to her long ago that she couldn’t just go around picking people up without asking. Mostly due to her decision to help her father get around when he was still heavily medicated. “It’s nice to meet you to Albert. So your father says you like to play checkers.”

“It’s a fun game though I actually prefer chess.”

To this Lucy gave a quick nod. “I’ve never actually played chess though I believe the pieces for it came with the checkers bored. Perhaps you’d show me how to play later?”

“I’d be happy to.”

After observing Albert and Lucy for a moment Anne continued on into the house. “Hi so you must be Karen.”

Upon hearing Lucy and Albert talking Karen had come out to watch. Her attention had been taken from the conversation though upon seeing Anne. Apparently Michael was fond of woman of the larger variety. “Yes. It’s nice to meet you.” As she spoke Karen offered her hand to Anne

Upon taking hold of Karen’s hand Anne gave it a light shake. “Well it smells like dinner is already prepared.”

“Yes. Please give me a moment. Lucy, why don’t you and Albert come in here and get a plate?”

“Okay Mommy. We’ll be there in a moment.”

As Karen finished off a bit of the roast on her plate she turned her attention to Anne. “If you don’t mind me asking just how did you and Michael meet one another?”

“I was an experiment of his actually.”

While Karen had expected a rather interesting response given Michael’s back ground. She was rather stunned whenever she heard this. “Huh? What do you mean?”

An amused giggle escaped Anne the moment she noted the look of shock on Karen’s face. “In collage Michael was doing an experiment on the affects of exercise, proper diet, exercise and proper diet and intensive medically guided exercise and diet. Well it was easy for him to get materials on the first three but not the final one. So he came to me.

Now I’ve always been tall but back then I was also exceptionally fat. Michael and I had known each other for a while so he approached me with a little deal. Sense he knew that I had been trying to lose some flab for a while. He would take care of the expense of the exercise equipment, medicines as well as the food so long as if I would stick to the routine that he had planned.”

“So you agreed and just what was he testing exactly?”

“Well I can’t say that I agreed right away. However, I realized later how often are you going to have someone offer to pay for your meals and exercise equipment if you’ll just follow their plan to get in shape? It took a day or two of thought but yeah I took him up on his offer. If I remember correctly he was not only seeking to prove that with proper diet, exercise and the application of certain medicines one could achieve superior results faster. He also sought to prove that it could be done safely.”

“It looks like the experiment worked.”

For a moment Michael was made to sigh as he shook his head. “Not as well as I had hoped. Anne actually exceeded my original expectations however I needed more then one person to prove my point. Unfortunately I was never able to get the type of funding or number of volunteers I needed for that.”

An amused giggle escaped Anne as she reached over and placed her hand on Michael’s shoulder. “His professor was actually going to give his project an eighty percent due to lack of experimental data until I came and spoke to him. As I recall you didn’t make anything less then a ninety nine perfect for the wrest of the year on anything.”

It was impossible for Michael not to grin as he looked at Anne. “No I didn’t.”

“Are you being serious? Did you improve that quickly?”

“Yes I am.”

“Wow, just what were you taking during all of this.”

Before speaking Anne turned and looked directly at Lucy. “Something similar to what Lucy received. Though far less refined and not actually a living organism a good deal of the research Michael did while working with me went into the development of the eighth step symbiot.”

“Mom may I be excused?”

Upon turning her head to speak to Albert Anne was a little surprised to see that he had already cleared his plate. “Albert did you even bother chewing your food?”

“Of course I chewed my food Mother.”

Before a comment could leave Anne’s lips she noted that Lucy had already cleared her plate as well. It was very hard for her to keep from smiling as she noted this. “Well you must not have done a very thorough job then. You may be excused but next time I don’t want to see you rushing through your meal.”

“I will.” Placing his hands on the table Albert went to push his seat away. A slight grunt escaped him though when the chair didn’t move in the least. After a second of pushing he looked up to see a smile on Lucy’s face. “Hey!”

Instead of respond to Albert Lucy glanced over at her mother. I’m going to go and show Albert around okay?”

“Sure but remember Albert is a guest.”

“I know.” As she spoke Lucy removed her foot from behind the bar in Albert’s chair that she had used to hold it in place. She then gave the chair a gentle nudge sending it sliding backwards a few centimeters.

While Albert didn’t care for Lucy preventing him from scooting his seat back he didn’t say anything as he stood up. As he made his way to the entrance to the living room he quickened his pace as he noted Lucy’s much louder strides following close behind. There was a slight desire on his part to stop in the door way to force Lucy to stop but as he listened to her foot steps he felt it was more likely that he’d end up being run over. Upon entering the living room he began to get a better look at the structure. “This is one of the company houses.”

Once they were in the living room Lucy made her way from behind Albert to stand beside of him. “Yes it is. So are they others like this?”

“They follow a similar design though they’re not exactly the same. I believe you got one of the nicer ones.”

“Do the others have higher roofs?”

“I don’t believe so.” At last Albert turned to face Lucy. Upon realizing how close she was though and having to lean back a bit more then he liked he also took a few steps away from her. “So you really are a year younger then I am.”

“If you’re thirteen then yep I am.”

“Wow. That’s really neat.”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she reached behind herself and folded her fingers together. “I think so as well. So what do you want to do?”

“I’m okay with talking if you are. You could also check to see if you have some chess pieces and I could teach you how to play.”

“Sure. The bored games are in the game room.”

“What game room? Oh you’re talking about the study.”

In response to this Lucy quickly stuck her tongue out at Albert for a moment. “Study to you game room to us.” With that Lucy proceeded across the room. As she did so she made certain to keep her strides long enough and fast enough that Albert would have to jog a little to keep up.

Instead of trying to match pace with Lucy Albert kept the walking speed that he was comfortable with. Given that he already had a rough idea of the structure’s layout he felt no need to dash after her. Of course he noted after a few steps that Lucy’s pace slowed considerably. The sudden change of pace brought on a realization of what she had been trying to do and a slight chuckle escaped him. “So I’ve been told that my father had a part in your sudden increase in height.”

“You mean increasing height.”

“So you’re still growing?”

“The last time they checked I was.”

“Even if your height is still increasing though, it’s still a sudden increase. So were there any other changes?”

“You bet there is! I’m a lot stronger then what I used to be and not just due to my height.”

“How much stronger are you?”

“I can easily lift several times my own mass now.” Upon entering the study Lucy made her way over to some shelves and began to rummage through a few items in search of the checkers bored. Had it been in her old home she’d been able to find it in moments but as those were all burnt to ash she was still learning the placement of the games.

“Wow that is impressive. So would you say that you’re the strongest person in the world?”

“It’s a safe bet.” For a moment Lucy was made to giggle as she glanced down at Albert. “Are you thinking of asking your father to inject you with the symbiot?”

“No.”

“Why aren’t you?”

To this Albert gave a slight shrug. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t really appeal to me.”

“You seemed so interested in my height though.”

“Well you’re interesting. It’s just not something I have much interest in myself.”

In response to this Lucy quickly turned her face away from Albert as she felt her cheeks warming up a bit. She then busied herself searching through the various bored games even as she happened across the checkers bored. For the moment she was exceptionally grateful for her greater height and that she hadn’t found the checkers bored before hand. She had no desire to let Albert see that he’d just caused her to blush. “I see.”

“Hey you’re the little girl my dad helped in the hospital. Well I feel stupid now. I should have realized you’re the one that he was talking about while he was away.”

“Yeah that was probably me. I hope I didn’t cause him to miss anything important.”

“Don’t worry about it you didn’t and I got a new video game out of the deal. Well three new video games actually but not yet.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

A slight groan escaped Albert as he pulled out a chair from a near by desk and set down. “My dad has been playing the other two.”

Finally taking hold of the checkers bored Lucy carefully removed it from under the other games as she turned to face Albert. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“No I’m not.”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she opened up the box and looked around for a moment. After a few seconds she pulled out a small bag of chess pieces. “It looks like the bored came with chess as well. So how is your dad playing more then one game at once?”

“I honestly have no idea.” As Lucy placed the bored in the floor Albert got up and took a setting position opposite of her. He then began to pick up the pieces. “Okay these are the pawns. You just put them in a strait row right across here. Pawns can only move forward and can only attack diagonally forward. They can only move one space at a time and if a piece is occupying the space in front of they can’t move forward except during the first move when they can move two spaces.”

“Okay.”

“The rooks go here and here. A rook can move any number of spaces vertically or horizontally however they can’t jump other pieces. Next we have the knights. A knight is the only piece that can jump other pieces and moves in an l fashion. It can move either once in one direction and twice to either side or twice in one direction and once to the side. After that we have the bishop whose similar to the castle except a bishop can only move diagonally.”

“So except for the knight I have to get all the darn pawns out of my way before I can use any of the pieces that have any real ability.”

“Hey don’t put down the shield. Now we have the queen, the queen can move any number of spaces vertically, horizontally or diagonally however even she can’t jump her own pieces. Then last we have the king, the king can move in any direction like the queen however he can only move one space at a time.”

“So the queen is the most important piece in the game?”

“Well she’s the most valuable destroyer that is for certain. However, capturing the king is what decides if you win or lose. In order to win at chess you must put me in checkmate. You do this by getting my king in a position to be captured that is check. Whenever you get my king in a position to be captured that I can’t move it out of that is checkmate. Oh and you must always move the king out of check and can never move it into check.”

For a moment Lucy said nothing as she looked down at the bored. She then turned her attention back to Albert. “So the most valuable piece is also the weakest except for the pawns while the only other one of a kind piece is the most powerful and is the queen who must protect the king.”

“That’s right.”

At last an amused giggle escaped Lucy. “I like that!”

“Like what? Oh I see.” A grin formed on Albert’s face as he gave his head a slight shake. “Yeah it is rather amusing that they made the queen such a powerful piece while the king is basically the prey in the game that she and the others must protect.”

“It sounds like fun to me.” An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she turned her attention back to the game. She’d already resolved that as the queen was her most powerful piece that would be the first one she’d get out from behind the front line of pawns.

“One more thing, if you can get a pawn down to the other side of the field that pawn is promoted to any other piece you want. This for the most part means that you get another queen. As honestly I’ve never heard of anyone taking any other piece when that happens.”

“Okay who makes the first move?”

“You’re the white pieces so that would be you. Hey Lucy sense you’ve grown so much and you’re apparently still growing just what do you plan on doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you going to do when you’re finished with school? Try out for some professional sports?” I know they don’t have any females in certain sports however I bet you could be the first.” As Albert was speaking he watched as Lucy made her first move and he followed up with his own.

“You know that would be fun but I don’t know if they’d let me play. I didn’t think it was possible before but it seems that I might be too healthy for such things.”

“Well yeah given how strong you said you are it would make it a rather one sided game. Huh, that doesn’t seem fair to you though. Not being able to participate in something because you’re over qualified really doesn’t seem fair at all.”

“It would be kind of fun though. Stepping out onto the football field and being the tallest player around.” An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she moved one of her pieces. “Perhaps they could try to tackle my knees.”

“It might not even be your knees perhaps it would be your ankles.”

“That or perhaps my toes” for a moment Lucy turned her eyes away from the game and looked back at her feet. She then gave her toes a slight wiggle. “It’s quite a neat idea.”

“So what do you have in mind or have you given it any thought?”

“I believe I’d like to become a researcher. Sure being an athlete would be fun and feeling an entire football team trying to pin my toes would be wonderful. That said I think I’d prefer to become a scientist though if I grow that large I don’t know of any labs that I could work in.”

“Huh, well if you could find a place to work you could do both I imagine. It isn’t like you’d have to remember any plays or practice to be a world class athlete even now. After all how many people do you believe it would take to tackle you?”

“I can lift at least six times my own mass so I’d have to say around six.”

“I bet you could plow through most defensive lines.” A sigh escaped Albert as he looked down at the bored. “Just like your queen is going through my pawns.”

“So do you like sports?”

To this Albert shook his head as he continued to focus on the bored in an attempt to see a way to keep Lucy from taking anymore of his pieces with her queen. “Not really.”

“Ah does that mean even if I became an athlete you wouldn’t come and watch me?”

“Mm you know I might. I’m sure if you were out there playing it would be much more interesting. Perhaps you should tryout at your school.”

A sigh escaped Lucy as she pulled her queen back for a moment as she noted Albert nearly had her in position to take the piece with his bishop. “I haven’t been able to go to as of late.”

“Ah that must be nice. Just getting to stay home and relax. Though, if you’re going to be a scientist you’ll need to go back.”

“Oh I’ve been getting my lessons. My instructor actually comes to my home.”

“What? That I would like to be able to do, getting my lessons at home would be wonderful. Then I wouldn’t have to put up with so many people.”

“Do you have a problem with people?”

“It’s not that I dislike people as some seem to assume. I just can’t stand to be around large groups. I’ve come to believe that ignorance feeds upon the ignorance of others and grows greatly.”

“So does the same rule apply to intelligence?”

“I believe that it does.”

“That means that you believe ignorance is more prevalent amongst people then intelligence. So in a way you really tend to dislike people.”

After a moment of silence a grin formed across Albert’s face. “Yeah you’re right. I do believe that ignorance is far more prevalent in people then intelligence. You’re an intelligent lady though.”

“Thanks. I’m glad that you think so.”

“It’d be a little hard for me not to considering the move you just pulled.”

A slight giggle escaped Lucy as she watched Albert struggling to figure a way to avoid losing his castle. “You were so busy trying to neutralize my queen that you weren’t paying attention to your other pieces.”

“I see that now. Is this really the first time that you’ve ever played chess?”

“Yes it is. Oh darn.” Lucy gave a sigh as she watched Albert change his bishop’s position. Now she had to choose between taking his castle and losing her queen or just letting it go for the time being.

Even with this minor victory Albert felt far from relaxed. At the moment he was still stuck in a defensive position with no real openings to safely attack. It seemed that his only choice was to sacrifice one of his pieces in order to make an opening in Lucy’s armor so that he could regain at least part of the offensive. “So what is it like getting your lessons in your home?”

“Well they’re advantages as I don’t like having to worry about any group activities. However, you also know that all the instructor’s questions are coming right to you.”

“Mm I don’t see how that last part is much of a change. I bet you’re used to answering most of the questions anyway or know the answer.”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy and she gave her head a quick nod. “Well that is true. There have even been times when the teacher told me to give the other kids a chance to answer the questions.”

“Which is when class slows to a crawl and it seems like you’ll never move onto the next subject doesn’t it?”

“It can especially when the subject was easy. Do you have the same problem?”

“I don’t tend to answer all that many questions to be honest.”

“Oh and why don’t you?”

“While the teacher is reviewing the material with the class I’ll work on something else. That and it’s kind of fun to just listen and find out who did and didn’t do their work.”

“So in other words you like watching others get the questions wrong.”

“Well do you like showing off?”

“Of course I do! If I’m going to expend the effort and time to learn the material don’t I have the right to enjoy it?”

“I believe that you do. Well then. Yeah, I like it when they can’t answer the question or flat out get it wrong sense they’re pretty much the same thing. So long as I know the answer incase I’m called upon I’m quite content to just set back and watch others miss it. That or wait until the teacher finally gives up on waiting for volunteers and starts calling on people.”

“So do you get help with your homework?”

“Yeah my mom always checks over my work and helps me with the problems I missed. That is unless Dad is home though I really prefer if mom is the one to help me.”

“Why is that?”

To this Albert gave a slight shrug. “I just believe that my mom is better at explaining things then my father. I can’t say why but what she shows me tends to be easier for me to remember.”

“Well she does look like someone that people would tend to listen to and remember what she had said. You know. By not speaking up your letting the class drag on longer then it needs to so in a way you’re hurting your own progress.”

At first Albert said nothing as he looked away from the bored game and at Lucy then slowly a smile spread across his lips. “Well you are very smart. I never thought of it that way actually. Huh, well this is a first. Now you have me seriously contemplating participating in such question and answer sessions. Huh so I seem to have been hurting myself this entire time. Thank you for pointing that out.”

“You’re quite welcome. Now say good buy to your remaining castle.”

“Ah drat.” Even though a sigh escaped him as Albert found himself now missing yet another powerful piece his smile didn’t diminish. It seemed that Lucy was rather adept at making him smile. “So just how well is your home schooling progressing?”

“It was going quite well at first though recently my instructor has been having trouble keeping up.”

“So not only are you matching pace with the lesson plan your instructor prepared but you’re far ahead of schedule. I can’t say that I’m really surprised. Given how quickly you grasped chess you clearly catch on rather quickly.”

Ever sense her blush had faded away Lucy had worn a smile upon her face and she doubted it would be going away anytime soon. Even if Albert didn’t seem like the most people friendly person she could have met Lucy found his company to be quite enjoyable. “Thanks for teaching me how to play.”

“You’re welcome. Though, I’m worried that soon you’ll find me to easy of an opponent to beat. I’ll have to start asking Mom to play with me so I can offer you a challenge or at least not have you beating me within the first three moves.”

“So what do you do when you’re not working on school work?”

“I tend to play console games and spend a fair bit of time on the internet. I used to watch a fair bit of television but that doesn’t interest me much anymore.”

“So is there anywhere you like going?”

“I’m more of a home body actually. My father has taken to calling my room my layer or din sense I so rarely leave it.”

“Ah well I hope you’ll come and visit me once in a while.”

As Albert spoke he looked away from Lucy and focused on the bored in front of him so that she couldn’t see his face. “I’d like to visit once in a while as well or perhaps you could come over to my house as well.”

“Sure that’d be fun. How about we ask our parents?”

“Yeah but after this game is over, I really want to see if I can find a way out of this situation.”

************************************************************************

“Hello Anne this is Lucy. I was wondering if Albert could come over today.” Currently Lucy set within the dining room while Patrick busied himself gathering up his things. The massive stack of papers that Lucy had provided him with would take him quite a while to grade. His jaw had nearly hit the floor when she had set the stack before him and told him that she believed she was ready to move onto a higher level book.

“I’m sorry Lucy but I don’t believe Albert will be able to come over today.”

While Lucy wasn’t the type to try to put someone through a guilt trip even she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. “Why can’t he come over?”

“He’s fell a little behind in his school work so we’re taking today to help him get caught back up.”

“Really, that doesn’t sound like him at all?”

“Normally it isn’t but it seems that he’s been putting it off a bit. He should be able to visit you tomorrow.”

“Why has he been putting it off, oh wait. He’s been spending too much time with me hasn’t he?”

“Lucy you don’t need to worry about it. He doesn’t have any over due assignments the deadline is just a little closer then we’d like it to be. One day of diligent work though and he should be well ahead of the game.”

“Could I help him then?”

“Huh, Lucy you don’t have to help Albert.”

“Yeah but I want to help him. I’m partly to blame for him being behind after all.”

“Lucy this isn’t your fault and”

“Please? I really want to help him out. I’m done with all my homework already so I have plenty of free time.”

Instead of responding right away Anne turned her attention towards Albert who was currently focused on his literature book. For the last few weeks Albert and Lucy had been visiting one another quite regularly. Despite that it actually surprised her that Lucy would prefer to visit Albert and help with his school work then go a few days without seeing him. “Okay Albert, take a twenty minute break.”

“Hold on. I’m about done with this.”

“Then you can finish up whenever your break is over.”

A sigh escaped Albert as he stood up. He didn’t know why his mother was making him take a break but he knew better then to argue with her when she used that tone. Even his father wouldn’t argue with her whenever she used that tone of voice. “Alright, I’m going to go game a bit then.”

Anne waited until Albert was out of the room and wouldn’t hear what she said before resuming the conversation. “Do you really want to help out?”

“Yeah, Albert has been teaching me to play chess after all. Perhaps I can help him learn something.”

“Okay but ask your parents if you can come over or not.”

“I already did.”

“Okay then. Get dressed and I’ll come over to pick you up.”

“Okay! Just be sure to bring your SUV I don’t know if I’d fit in the car anymore.”

An amused giggle escaped Anne. “I noticed when you were getting in with Michael so he could take you home. For a moment I even thought I saw the roof beginning to bulge over your seat.”

“Well I did feel my head brushing against the roof and I have grown a little sense then.”

“Oh my you’re just shooting right up there. Well I’ll be over in a few. Bye until then.”

When Anne had left to pick up Lucy Albert had already been up in his room so he hadn’t noticed the vehicle starting or leaving. Had he been up in his room he wouldn’t have even known she had left or heard her pulling into the drive way. So he was a little surprised when he glanced outside to see who had pulled up only to see his mother climbing out of the SUV. Upon seeing Lucy climbing out though his curiosity peeked so that he actually jumped out of his seat and ran to the front door.

Upon the front door opening before either Anne or she had reached it Lucy’s smile grew until her teeth could just barely be seen for a moment. “Hi Albert, I hear that you’re a little behind in your school work.”

“Yeah just a little though. What brings you over?”

“I came over to see if I can help you get your work done. That way we can play some.”

“Huh, you don’t need to do that. I believe I’ve got enough done that I can finish the wrest up tomorrow.”

Anne didn’t give Lucy time to respond or let Albert continue. “No Albert. You have put your school work off enough.”

Despite there being a strong impulse within Albert to protest he didn’t give the impulse voice. His mother always insisted that he finish his work ahead of schedule and not wait until the last minute. It was something she wasn’t willing to compromise on even whenever his father sided with him. “Alright Mom, Lucy, I’m not sure if you can really help me with what I’m working on now. If you want you can play some games.”

“Let me try to help you first. What are you doing?”

“I’m just answering some questions about a story I read.”

“Well I can go back in the story and check over your answers once you’re finished then. I’ve recently become quite a speed reader.”

As Lucy stepped into the house Albert was forced to move out of the doorway or be run over. For a few moments he was entirely silent as he noted how Lucy’s head seemed closer to the top of a door his mother had no trouble walking through. “Wow, a few more months and I bet you’ll have to bend at the knees to keep from banging your head on the door frame. The story is kind of boring though. You don’t need to suffer through it.”

“Well let me find out if I consider it boring or not.”

At last Albert gave a slight shrug and began to make his way back into the kitchen. “Alright, but remember if you don’t care for the story there is no need to read it. I’m pretty sure that I got all the questions right except for perhaps a few names.”

“What is wrong with the names?”

“I kind of have trouble remembering names of people or places that I don’t hear very often unless they make a real impression upon me.” A slight chuckle escaped Albert as he took his seat. “I hate it when the teacher asks me to hand people their papers back as I have to call out their names to find them. I suspect that I offended a few people when they realized I don’t even bother remembering their names.”

“Albert what is my last name?”

“Angeye, why do you ask?”

“Wow I must have made quite an impression then if you remember my last name. It isn’t like I’ve mentioned it more then once for twice.”

There was a moment of silence on Albert’s part as he looked up at Lucy. “Well you do have quite a presence.”

“I’m glad that you think so. Okay now let’s get to work okay? I want to get this finished so that we have some time to do other things.”

“I’ll work as quickly as I can.”

“Just work at a comfortable pace. You need to make sure you understand the material after all.”

“Okay, give me a few moments to finish answering these questions and then you can have the book.”

“What else do you have to get done?”

“After this I have some English composition to work on, then a little bit of history and last but not least I need to begin my project.”

“Huh, what type of project?”

“My instructor likes to assign special home projects every few months. Right now we’re supposed to be working on our bridges. If you want to know more about it the list of requirements are in my folder.” As he spoke Albert used his pin to tap a folder that was a few centimeters out of his reach.

As Lucy reached for the folder she was aware of how closely Albert was watching her though she wasn’t sure that he was aware of it. As she easily took hold of the folder, she felt herself beginning to blush slightly. While Lucy loved her additional height and showing off she still wasn’t quite used to being admired for it. “Are you allowed to have help with the project?”

“Yeah but, well read the paper inside it’ll explain it well enough.”

“Ah Okay I see. I’m allowed to help you however you have to help build bridge, will need to know how to put it together incase you’re asked any questions and must know how it works as well.”

“Yeah that’s pretty much it in condensed form.”

“Have you decided on what type of bridge you would like to build then?”

“I haven’t really decided just yet. Why do you have any ideas?”

“How about we try to build a suspension bridge? I could go ahead and begin gathering the materials that you’re going to need.”

“Wouldn’t that be somewhat complicated?”

“I don’t believe it would be too much trouble with us working together. It would also give you a good chance to show off a little.”

“Mm I believe I’d rather to just get an A and leave the showing off to you.”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she turned to face Albert entirely. “Well this way you can do both. This list at the bottom is all the materials we are allowed to use right?”

“Yeah it is.”

“Okay while you work on that I’m going to go and see if I can find a design for a simple suspension bridge. Then I’ll begin gathering up the materials that we’re going to need.”

“I believe we have all the materials that we’re going to need. My dad took a copy of the materials list and picked up a good deal of everything on his way home from work.”

“Okay well this shouldn’t take very long then. I just need to find a general design. The bridge has to be at least a third of a meter long right?”

“Yeah, though the bigger the bridge the better if you’re interested in flaunting what you can do.”

“Mm I wonder if your dad picked up enough materials to make a two meter long bridge.”

A stunned expression appeared on Albert’s face as Lucy considered making the bridge six times the scale it actually needed to be. “Are you serious?”

It was impossible for Lucy not to giggle as she noted the look on Albert’s face. “Well instead of planning an exact length how about I first get the plans then look at the materials your dad picked up? Then we can build the bridge as large as the materials allow.”

“Lucy, I thought you wanted to help me finish.”

A huge grin adorned Lucy’s face as she stood up to her full height. “Actually I wanted to spend some time together and this project of yours seems to be the perfect chance for me to get to help you and spend some time. Is it okay if I use your computer to search for the design?”

************************************************************************

Upon finishing the twelfth sentence and making the proper corrections Albert couldn’t be quiet any longer. “Lucy I’m supposed to help with the bridge you know.”

Despite setting only a bit over a meter away from Albert Lucy didn’t even hear him as she focused on the task at hand. Currently she busied herself wrapping several bits of fishing line around a central one as if she was coiling cables together. The thick silver fishing line was actually more then strong enough to support the load it would be required to on its own but she wanted to go for the look as well.

“Lucy did you hear me? Are you ignoring me?”

“Huh? Oh sorry I guess I was a little too focused. What did you want Albert?”

All Albert could do was sigh even as a grin formed on his face. “You really like this kind of thing don’t you?”

“Well it is kind of fun. Albert, would you mind if I told you something? It’s something that I haven’t even told my parents.”

“Yeah, I promise I won’t tell anyone whatever you’re thinking of telling me.”

“One of my favorite toys sense I was little has always been my blocks. It was my dolls for a while but that changed when the blocks started including little people. I actually like to build little homes and pretend that I was a giantess. The smaller or the more detailed the homes the better.”

“So you’ve always wanted to be a giantess like you are now?”

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to be a lot bigger.”

“Just how big are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. At times I thought it would be fine to be big enough to pick up a car with both hands. I would even climb to the top of trees and look out and pretend I was really as tall as I was in the tree.” A slight chuckle escaped Lucy. “You have no idea how often my daddy had to get me down from a tree and how many times both my parents asked why I climb them. Then they are days that I would want to be much bigger. I’d imagine what it would be like to be able to easily hold a semi in my hand.”

Even as the words left his mouth Albert had no idea where they came from or even that they had formed. “Seems a little short.”

A grin formed on Lucy’s face as she looked down at Albert. Moments later she felt her skin warming up as she leaned down and planted a quick kiss on the top of his head. She then spoke so that her breath ruffled the very top hairs on his head. “So how big do you believe I should be?”

There was no attempt to look up at Lucy as Albert felt himself blush a bit as well. Though had he looked up he would have found he wasn’t the only one. That did not keep him from talking though. “Bigger then that at that size you wouldn’t be much bigger then the standard movie monster. You’d need to be at least big enough that you could hold them in your hand to keep them from causing trouble other wise you’d end up leveling a city trying to subdue them.”

While Lucy knew that Albert wasn’t serious about a monster showing up an amused giggle escaped her as she turned back to the bridge. “So I’d need to grow large enough to handle the next mistake your father makes.”

“Well that would be very nice of you. Though I don’t believe you have to worry about my dad making any monsters. If you and my mom is an indicator he just likes making ladies bigger.”

“I believe someone takes after his father.” Before Albert could respond Lucy held up the wound fishing line she had been working on. “So does this look thick enough to you?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Now how about I slip these beads over the line and glue them together to give it a uniform look? After that I can then paint the glue so that it’s all red like the real thing.”

“That sounds like it’ll work really well. How are you going to keep the fishing line from unraveling though?”

“Didn’t you notice the bound ends?”

Instead of saying anything Albert took a moment to examine the wound line more carefully. What he found was that Lucy had used a bit of glue at each end to hold it in place. Given how tightly she had found the coils he imagined that between the tension and the glue insuring that it didn’t decrease it would stay wound quite tightly for some time to come. “Wow. I didn’t notice it before. Oh dang how am I going to explain getting the line wound together so well?”

“The instructions say you can have help. So just say that one of you held it while the other focused on winding the line.”

“Lucy, even with help I doubt I could get it wound that tightly.”

“Does your instructor know your mother?”

“Oh I see. That’s a good point but give me a second. I want to make sure mom knows the story incase anyone asks about it.”

“Sure. Go ahead and tell her I want to begin putting the beads on. Though, do you believe that the glue might make the capable too rigid for the bridge to swing?”

“Are the main support cables on a suspension bridge supposed to swing?”

“I don’t really know.”

“If they are I doubt you’d want them moving very much so I don’t believe you’ll have to worry about the over all look you’re going for. So long as the smaller support cables can move freely. Now don’t finish the thing before I can get done with my other work I’m supposed to help as well.”

“When does this need to be done?”

“I actually have about two more weeks to finish. My instructor gives us three weeks to finish each of the major projects that we’re assigned throughout the school year.”

“Your mom really isn’t fond of waiting until the last minute is she?”

“Not in the least.”

“While you’re up would you mind asking your mom if I can stay the night?”

Albert couldn’t hide the surprise on his face as he looked at Lucy. “Sure but why would you want to do that? I have school tomorrow.”

“I know but my instructor isn’t going to be coming by tomorrow to teach me. He said that he needed some time to prepare another lesson plan. I figure I can stay here and work on the bridge for you.”

“Lucy, my instructor is going to ask us questions about our bridges and given how impressive the one you want to build will be. Well I know the questions will be rather detailed ones.”

“I’ll just right down how I built each part of the bridge and you can read over it. That way you can answer any questions that your teacher wants to ask.”

“Thanks for the offer but I really don’t like the idea of you doing my work for me. It doesn’t seem fair.”

“Sure it is. I’m actually having fun doing this and it isn’t like I have any school work of my own to worry about. Now go and ask your mom.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind doing most of the work on the bridge?”

Throughout the conversation Lucy had continued working on the bridge. Now she turned to face Albert entirely revealing that she had a rather impish grin on her face. “Are you going to make me carry you to your mom?”

“I’m just trying to make sure you don’t mind and actually want to do this. The idea of letting you build the bridge yourself makes me feel like I’d be taking advantage of you.”

“I suppose you do.” An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she rose from her seat and reached down for Albert.

“Hey!” Upon realizing that Lucy was actually going to pick him up Albert attempted to jump from his seat. He was a little too slow though and he felt Lucy take hold of him. One of her arms circled around his bag while the other easily worked its way under her legs. She then lifted him from his seat in one swift motion.

An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she effortlessly held Albert aloft despite his protest. Without a word she then began to quickly shift his position so that she was cradling him in her arms.

A sigh escaped Albert as it became apparent within moments that there was no way he was going to be able to struggle free of Lucy’s grip. “You know if you’re going to carry me you could just ask to stay the night yourself.”

To this Lucy gave a slight shrug. “She’s your mom. I’ll be the one to call and ask my parents if it is okay.”

“Okay you win. It’d be awfully silly of me to resist if you really want to help. Just don’t push yourself if you begin to get tired.”

“Don’t worry about it. You know the paper didn’t mention anything about add-ons do you believe you’re teacher would mind if I added a few little touches?”

“As long as the bridge can stand on its own, is based on a real world bridge’s design, is made from the listed materials and is at least a third of a meter long my instructor doesn’t mind if we add in a few little details. Actually depending on how well done the additional details are we can get extra points.”

As she spoke Lucy lifted Albert slightly higher and cuddled him more securely against herself. “You know I can’t help but wonder. Why is your instructor even having you do such a project?”

“Well they say it’s to show us how math relates to the real world. In truth it has nothing to do with math as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a project assigned so that those students that can’t do the actual math still have a chance of passing the class so the instructor won’t have to deal with them next year. Of course for those of us that can do the math it’s just an annoyance that waste our time.”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy. “Well of course you don’t like it. If it helps them pass the class then you don’t get to see as many fail as you would other wise.”

“In the short term that is true. However, I like to believe they’re made to pay in later years when they’re called upon to use the mathematics that they never learned. To me this kind of project belongs in an arts and crafts class. At least then we’d actually get some time during class to work on the darn thing.” As they entered the study Albert turned his attention away from Lucy and looked to his mother. “Hey Mom, would it be okay if Lucy stayed the night?”

Anne hadn’t bothered looking towards the entrance until Albert had actually addressed her. Though she had heard them coming she figured they were coming to speak to her given that Albert was supposed to be working on his school work. She was rather surprised when she turned to find Lucy holding Albert in her arms. It was actually a few moments before she was able to respond and even then she couldn’t wipe the grin from her face. “Well that depends. I can’t have the two of you playing when you’re supposed to be working on your lessons.”

A sigh escaped Albert as he rolled his eyes. “We’re not playing. Lucy just decided that I was taking too long so she carried me in here.”

“Are you sure? It looks like you’re playing mommy and baby from the way Lucy is carrying you.”

In response to his mother’s teasing Albert began to fidget about in Lucy’s arms as if trying to get down. After a few seconds of struggling though it became clear that wasn’t going to happen unless she set him down. “Mom we aren’t playing. Now can she stay the night or not?”

“Ah is someone being a cranky baby?”

“Mom! Will you quit it? We weren’t playing.”

An amused giggle escaped Anne as she waved her hand in the air. “Okay. Okay. Lucy you are welcome to stay over but first you need to call your parents and make sure they’re alright with it. Now how is your work coming along?”

“It’s going just fine. I’ve almost finished with my English composition work and the history shouldn’t take me long at all.”

“Be sure you take the time to memorize any important names.”

A low groan escaped Albert and he actually leaned into Lucy’s grasp as he looked up at her face. “She means every name that the history book mentions. I swear I don’t see why I should have to care about what a bunch of dead people did.”

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

“That may be true. However, I can understand the concepts and why it happened without knowing their names.”

“Knowing their names is a way that we show them respect for making the mistakes that we learned from.”

“Like they care if we respect them, they’re dead.”

“It’s also useful to know their names whenever you’re trying to make a point or look up the information for a lesson. How seriously do you believe you’d be taken if you were constantly referring to this guy or that woman whose name I can’t remember?”

“Okay now that makes sense.”

“Oh and Albert let me say this before you go. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the feelings of the dead. They are plenty of things in this world that we don’t fully understand or know.”

For a moment Albert bit down lightly on his tongue as he fought back the desire to make a comment. Part of him truly wanted to debate with his mother on that subject however another part of him knew to keep quiet. Fortunately for him the wiser part won out over the pettier. “So Lucy, are you going to carry me back into the kitchen so I can get back to work? If not I need you to set me down.”

“Well I’m going to carry you of course!”

************************************************************************

As Lucy set on the edge of her bed she took a moment to glance over at her clock. Three nights had passed sense she’d spent the night with Albert and she was considering asking her parents if she could spend another now that the weekend had come. Though she didn’t feel it would be needed she had even gone so far as to prepare a reason. While she could have already finished the bridge she and Albert had been working on she’d slowed down. As now she intended to use it as an excuse to spend most of the weekend with him.

The bridge was only the excuse though. In truth she felt that she could finish the bridge in less then an hour and had even set it up so that she could. She hoped that would let her and Albert spend the entire weekend playing. Her instructor had brought a few assignments for her but that hadn’t taken her long to finish. Given that she seemed to be catching onto new material not just at a remarkable rate but an increasing rate really helped as did the fact that she was needing less and less sleep.

Just the thought of asking her parents if she could go over Albert’s made her anxious until she could no longer set still and stood up. Upon taking a few steps towards her door she was surprised to hear something coming from downstairs. For a few moments she just stood there trying to figure out just what she was hearing however while it sounded familiar to her she couldn’t place it.

Even before her strength and scale had began to increase so dramatically Lucy often found her curiosity would often overwhelm her fear. Given the changes in her new body it was only a matter of seconds before she carefully opened her door and began to creep downstairs to find out where the sound was coming from.

It was hard for Claude to keep himself from simply breaking down as he set in the middle of the living room. He and Karen had often found themselves holding one another when they would wake up before he was burned. Of course this wasn’t something they could do after he had been injured and he was grateful that even in her sleep Karen seemed to realize that. This night though it seemed that her subconscious had forgotten his injuries and she had taken hold of his arms.

Pulling himself free of Karen’s grasp was nightmarish for Claude on both a physical and psychological level. The nearly overwhelming pain had made it a requirement though and it had taken nearly all his willpower to make it into the living room and shut the door so that he wouldn’t wake her.

Ever sense Claude had began following the recommend dosage of pain medicine it had actually been bothering him. Indeed every time he would lift a container of milk or vigorously use a pin he felt as if someone was holding a lighter to his skin. It had taken tremendous effort on his part to keep this a secret from his family and indeed it seemed that he had done an exceptionally good job of it considering what had just happened. Still, as it became more and more clear that he did not have to worry about his family the pain was beginning to take a greater and greater toll on him.

At first Lucy didn’t know what to think upon seeing her father bent over. It took her a few moments to realize that he was crying so hard that he hadn’t noticed her coming down the steps. As she made her way towards her father she finally made her presence known. “Daddy what is wrong?”

Upon hearing Lucy’s voice Claude quickly looked up to meet his daughter’s gaze though he wasn’t able to repress his tears. Despite the tears though he tried to make himself smile. “It’s nothing Lucy. I’ll be fine in a few moments.”

While Lucy trusted her father without question there was no way she could believe what he had just said. In all her life she’d never seen her father crying like this. “You’re in pain. Come on and I’ll get your pills for you.”

Though Claude would have loved to take one of his pain pills at the moment he didn’t feel he had the strength to get to the kitchen. So he resolved to tell Lucy he’d be fine once more. No words got to leave his lips though as he didn’t realize what his daughter meant by come on. Shortly after she finished speaking he felt one of her arms slips under his legs and one press against his back while avoiding his arm. With perfect ease Lucy then lifted him from the ground and carried him into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen Lucy pulled one of the chairs out with her foot and carefully set her father down. She then made her way over to the medicine cabinet and quickly retrieved her father a glass of water and his pills. As she made her way back over to him several questions were running through her mind but she realized that it would be best to wait until her father’s pain had subsided to ask them.

As Lucy neared Claude managed to move his hands to take the glass and pills. He was a bit surprised when Lucy made no attempt to hand them to him but proceeded to nearly force them into his mouth. Had he tried to keep his mouth shut he felt certain that she would have forced it open. She then held the water for him while he took a few swallows.

Once Claude had taken the pills and actually drained half the water Lucy set the glass down upon the counter. Reaching behind her father she once again lifted him and carried him back into the living room at which time she began to look around. It only took her a few moments to resolve that the recliner would be the best spot to lay her father given that the sofa wasn’t really long enough for him to lay upon it and not disturb his arms.

At the moment Claude found his feelings to be very confusing. While he was grateful for his daughter’s help he also felt a great deal of shame at the moment sense he still didn’t feel ready to let his family know about his situation. It also bothered him to an extent how easily Lucy had handled him. He had felt like a small child in her arms. The fact that she hadn’t handed him his pills or allowed him to hold his own glass of water didn’t help the situation either.

After setting her father down Lucy made her way over to the sofa. She then removed a section of the seating and carried it closer to the sofa before setting it down and seating herself upon it. “Is there anything else you need Daddy?”

Instead of trying to speak Claude just shook his head. He was still trying to get his tears under control and it was easier to keep from crying if he just kept his mouth shut. As he tried to regain control of himself while the additional pill helped to diminish the pain he turned his head to look into Lucy’s eyes. A part of him wished that she would just go to her room and forget that the night had never happened but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. She was too concerned to forget this.

Thirty minutes at least passed before Claude regained enough composure for Lucy to question him. Once his pain seemed to have died down Lucy had to know. “Daddy what hurt you?”

Normally Claude would have said that nothing was wrong but Lucy had just seen him crying for the better part of an hour. He knew that wouldn’t work. “My burns acted up a little while ago. I guess my pill wore off.” Claude was a little surprised when he noticed a scowl upon his daughter’s face.

“Daddy, I know Mommy makes sure you take your pill in the morning at mid day and at night time. I even saw you take it before you went to bed.”

“I don’t know maybe they’re losing their effect.”

“How long have your burns been hurting you like this Daddy?”

A sigh escaped Claude at last as he had to force himself to keep focused on his daughter. “Karen grabbed hold me in her sleep. When I tried to pull free she only held on tighter and it really caused my burns to flare up.”

“If Mommy holding onto you was enough to make your burns hurt like that then it can’t be the only thing that does. Daddy do your burns ever stop hurting you?”

“They don’t hurt me at all for maybe thirty minutes after my pills begin to kick in. Then after that it gets easier and easier to irritate them. I guess at night it would be the worse.”

The scowl that had been on Lucy’s face upon her father lying to her quickly vanished as the implications of what he had told her were far from lost on the child. “That means that every morning you’ve been hurting when you would open your pill bottle or get your water. Why didn’t you ask me or mom to help?”

“You two have enough concerns without me complaining.”

“No! You should have told us. Your pills have been wearing off throughout the day as well which means you’re pain gets worse and worse.”

“I can handle it.”

To this Lucy quickly shook her head. “No you’re injured and when Mommy wakes up I’m going to tell her what is going on.”

“Lucy you don’t need to trouble your mother with this or yourself. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You’re not! Daddy, if it wasn’t for you I would have died in that fire. Now you’re injured and need to be taken care of. So when Mommy wakes up I’m going to tell her that your pills have been wearing off and that we’re going to have to help you out more.”

“I can’t take care of myself sweatie.”

“No you can’t. Daddy, I just came downstairs and found you crying. I’ve never seen you cry like that before. Now Mommy and I are going to take care of you and there is nothing you can do to change my mind.”

As Claude listened to his daughter he felt his face growing a little warm. While he knew she was only trying to help he couldn’t help his embarrassment. “Lucy I’m your father. I’m the one that is supposed to take care of you and I know what I can endure. You don’t have to worry about me.”

For a moment Lucy did nothing then she slowly began to stand up and a stern expression appeared on her face. The affect was immediate as Claude actually had to move his head slightly in order to keep his eyes locked with hers. As she stood Lucy placed her left hand on her side while her right hand remained free. In his current position Lucy seemed even taller and more massive then what she already was and the pose was one he recognized from her mother.

“Daddy, you’re injured and you’re hurting. You’ve been hurting yourself this entire time and keeping it a secret from Mommy and me. When Mommy wakes up I’m going to tell her that your pain pills aren’t enough to actually keep the pain away, that I found you crying downstairs just after she grabbed your arm in her sleep and that you’ve been forcing yourself to endure the pain. Then Mommy and I are going to take care of you. There is no point in you suffering like this.”

Even though he loved Lucy it was hard for Claude to hear her talking to him in such a way and by now a strong desire to scold her having risen within him. What kept him from acting on the desire though was the fact that he recognized it as pride. He knew that Lucy was right and on some level he was happy to know she cared about him so. Despite that happiness though it was still hard for him to accept and he most assuredly wasn’t use to Lucy talking to him in such a way.

Instead of continuing right away Lucy gave her father a few minutes to take in what she’d just told him. Once it seemed that he had managed to accept what she’d been saying she once again seated herself. “So is there anything else you need? If you want I could go and get you a quilt so you could try to get some sleep in here.”

“No thanks Lucy. You can go on back to bed I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t wake me Daddy. I haven’t been sleeping for more then six hours for quite some time now. I’ve actually been averaging more along the lines if five hours sleep.”

“Huh, so the amount of sleep you need has gone down even more?”

“Yeah it has. Ah I know what I will do. I’ll go and get you some covers and my homework. So if you need anything I’ll be right in the room with you.” As Lucy stood up she didn’t bother telling her father that she was also staying in the room to insure that he didn’t try anything.

************************************************************************

“No it isn’t a problem Lucy. My mom helped me to finish up the bridge though I wish you could see it.”

It was hard for Lucy not to sigh as she heard this. Her decision to stay home and help take care of her father meant that she didn’t get to play with Albert as much as she’d like to. She had known that it would though and hadn’t mentioned it to either of her parents. “That’s good. I wish I had gotten to add on the little details though.”

“What were you going to do?”

“I was going to get some toy cars to set on it. I was actually hoping to find some electric ones so they could really move around.”

“That would have been a neat seen with you setting next to the bridge! You really did a great job decorating it so it looks realistic. Um, Lucy I’ve been wondering. Sense you can’t come over here as often anymore perhaps I could come over there after school? I think having you help with my school work is more fun then when my mom or dad helps me.”

“What? How could you say something so horrible? Anne did you hear what your son is in here saying?”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy the moment she heard Michael’s voice on the phone. “I guess your dad heard you.”

“Do you think so?” An annoyed groan escaped Albert as he prepared himself.

“We love him, raise him, we teach him and what happens? The moment he meets a pretty girl he forgets about us and decides that she’s more fun to be with. That’s gratitude for you.”

“Well can you blame me with you going on like that?”

“Anne, Anne did you hear that?”

“Yes sweatie I did. He really takes after you. Doesn’t he?”

“What? Anne, how could you say that?”

Albert gave a grateful sigh as his mother redirected his dad’s attention for a few moments. “So anyway, would it be okay if I came up and visited every once in a while.”

“Sure, that would be wonderful. Do you believe you could bring up the bridge after your instructor has seen it?”

“I should be able to. Though it may take a while, my instructor likes to show the more exceptional works to other classes. I believe he believes that it inspires them but I like to believe that it shows them how truly pathetic their works were especially now.”

“Oh and why is that?”

“Because this time it is your work that is being showed off. I just wish that I could tell them that. I will be sure to mention that my friend Lucy helped me though.”

“Thanks but you don’t need to. You can keep all the credit for yourself.”

“I’d rather give it all to you if I could and still get an A. Anyway, there is no way I could claim that I had made it on my own as honestly I couldn’t do half the things you were able to do without help.”

While Lucy normally preferred to speak to Albert face to face she was grateful they were on the phone now. She couldn’t help but wonder if he realized how often he made her blush. “Okay then. You’ll have to tell me what your instructor says about the bridge.”

“I’ll be certain to. You know I don’t have any work today. Would you mind asking your parents if I could come up now while I ask mine?”

“Sure. Mommy’s not going anywhere today so she can take care of Daddy.”

************************************************************************

As Lucy lay in the darkness she kept her eyes focused on the roof. Even on her back it seems like the roof was growing closer with each passing day and she knew that her feet were growing closer to the end of the bed. An amused giggle escaped Lucy as she lay her foot flat and ran them along the edge of the bed. They had actually had to bring in a larger bed once already soon she imagined they’d need to place a bed at the base of her current one.

Reaching to her side Lucy felt around on the table that stood beside her bed for a moment before retrieving what she was looking for. She then lifted Albert’s history book and held it out in front of her. It had been a few weeks sense he had started visiting and they were common enough that he had actually managed to forget something at her home. The odd thing was that while Albert’s visits were fairly frequent she ended up missing him even more when he wasn’t there.

So far she had resisted the urge to speak to her parents about these feelings as for the moment there was nothing that could be done about the situation. Still she found the situation odd as it seemed to her the more often you saw someone the less you would miss them not the other way around. After a few more moments of looking the book over a sigh escaped her and Lucy set it down she then reached up and placed her hand on her forehead.

It felt like she was being torn in two at times. One part of her truly wanted to stay home and see to her father’s well being as he had done hers many times. However, another part of her wanted to be with Albert. To make the situation even more difficult the parts seemed equally strong. If staying with her father hadn’t been the easier choice simply by the convenience of living there she wouldn’t have been able to make up her mind.

These thoughts had only occupied Lucy’s mind for a few moments before she gave her covers a swift kick sending them into the floor. A layer of sweat had formed all over her body and while the temperature change the comforter caused didn’t seem to affect her anymore she still felt warm and it seemed like and easy way to get cool. She even found that upon removing her hand from her forehead a slight layer of sweat had formed upon her hand.

There wasn’t even a minute between Lucy kicking off her covers and her reaching behind her head and pulling the pillow out from under her head. Even the slight heat retention ability of the pillow was enough to frustrate her at the moment. “Okay. Sleep time now. It’s time to get to sleep.” Even as these words left her lips Lucy could feel the heat retained by her shirt beginning to frustrate her along with an annoying itching on both her sides. It took all her willpower just to remain still and try to fall asleep.

“Honey, do you believe that Lucy is alright? She’s normally downstairs by now.” As Claude set in the recliner he turned to take a quick look at the clock. Normally Lucy would already been downstairs before either of her parents had woken up to help them out. Today though it was going on one and she still hadn’t come downstairs.

“She has been up there for a while.” Standing up Karen leaned over and gave her husband a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll go and check on her to see if she’s doing alright.”

“You know my legs work fine. How about I come with you?”

An amused giggle escaped Karen. “I felt certain that you’d offer to go by yourself for a moment.”

To this Claude shook his head. “I’d like to but honestly I don’t like the idea of banging on a door or turning a door knob.”

“Well you could always kick on the door.”

“That is quite true. So how about helping me stand up?”

Giving her head a quick nod Karen took hold of the leaver that extended the recliners leg wrest and pushed down while Claude used his legs to push in on the leg wrest itself. After lowering the leg wrest back to its lock position Karen then placed a hand behind Claude’s back and helped him to a standing position. While this might not have been necessary ever sense learning what had been going on both Karen and Lucy had been very picky about what Claude was and wasn’t allowed to do as well as what he needed help on.

A sigh escaped Lucy as she tried to bury her head further into her the mattress. Currently an annoying thumping resounded throughout the room from what she imagined must have been a raccoon or something similar outside. As the pounding continued though and she was brought more into the waking world she realized that a voice was joining with the pounding and it wasn’t coming from outside so that she risked becoming fully awake and opened her eyes just a little.

Sun light rushing in wasn’t something that Lucy hadn’t woken up to in a very long time and this wasn’t lost on her. As she quickly rose to a setting position she placed one hand on the bed cushion to steady herself while another came to wrest on the knob at the base of the bed. She then held a hand up to her mouth to help direct her voice. “I’m up. Sorry what did you say?”

“We just came up to see how you’re doing Lucy. I take it you stayed up late last night.”

A sigh escaped Lucy as she used one of her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes. As she was brought more into the waking world while clearing her eyes though she couldn’t help but notice something. She could still feel the frame of the bed and mattress under her hands all the while she was clearing the sleep from her eyes and had a hand held to her mouth. As this realization set in Lucy slowly removed her hands and looked down at her side. “Um Mommy is Daddy with you?”

“I sure am Lucy.”

“Okay. Then Mommy, please open the door and come in first.”

It was impossible for both parents not to feel a bit of surprise at Lucy request. At last though Karen gave a shrug, opened the door and stepped in ahead of Claude. She instantly understood why Lucy had wanted her to come in first. Even in his current condition Claude probably would have tried to knock the door down if Lucy had told them what she found. “Well. This is. I believe that I’m just going to call Michael.”

To this Lucy gave a quick nod as she looked down at the two additional arms she now had. “Yeah I think that would be best.”

“What’s going on?” Due to Karen standing in the door way Claude couldn’t get a very good look at Lucy. Upon Karen stepping aside to get the phone in Lucy’s room his jaw nearly hit the floor. “Lucy what happened?”

“Well over the last few days I’ve ended up wishing that I had an extra set of arms a couple of times. You know even with my strength some tasks are cumbersome and an extra set of hands would be a big help. So this morning I finally decided to form myself an extra set of arms and hands.”

Normally Claude would have been able to tell his daughter was just joking around. However, in his current mind set he wasn’t so rational or really paying attention to the grin on her face. “Lucy, how did you do this?”

“I have no idea.”

“But you just said” before he could finish Claude took in a deep breath. He then took a moment to examine Lucy’s face. “Okay, I see. I believe that I need to lay down now.”

Using two of her four hands Lucy reached down and patted her bed while scooting backwards a bit. “Here you go.”

************************************************************************

“Well Lucy you seem to be handling this fairly well. How are you feeling? Alright I hope.”

“Yeah Michael I felt just fun though I didn’t last night.”

“So this might have started then. Please tell me what happened?”

“I just felt really hot. I couldn’t even stand to have my pillow under my head and my sides began to itch really badly.”

“I see. Given the rather extensive alterations to your form, the fact that you felt warm doesn’t surprise me. Your body was most likely preparing for the change. Still, now we need to find out just what else has changed and what might have caused this sudden adjustment. Your growing height was one thing forming an extra set of arms is quite another.”

“Just be sure not to bleed me dry. You’ve been taking enough blood samples already.”

“Actually, I doubt will take very many blood samples from you. As to be perfectly honest if there was an indicator in your blood that this was going to happen that we could have noticed we would have seen it well before hand. No, today we’re only going to require a little blood from you to see what all has changed.”

“Huh, so what else are you going to do?”

“Well I’d like to take a quick look inside of you. Right now Brigit is busy preparing a special milk shake for you that will help us see inside of you.”

“Yuck you mean like the ones you had me drinking when my testing first started?”

“Well yes. The only reason we stopped was because we determined that the layout of your body hadn’t actually changed. With this development though, I wonder if we should have continued testing. Even if the blood work didn’t give us any advanced warning it might have.”

“Yuck.”

A slight chuckle escaped Michael as he reached out and patted Lucy on the side. He would have normally patted her on the shoulder but given her current scale that would have been rather awkward. “You’re taking this all very well. I’d even go so far as to stay that you’re taking this better then your father.”

A grin formed on Lucy face as she reached behind her head with one of her hands and rubbed the back of her neck lightly. “Well growing each day is quite an experience. You get kind of use to odd happenings.”

“Okay Lucy it’s time for your barium shake. Now I tried to make it a bit tastier this time and added in some flavoring. I don’t know how well that will work out though.”

“What kind of flavoring?” Even as she asked the question Lucy reached out with her bottom two hands and took the shake from Brigit.

“I added in some vanilla flavoring.”

“Do you want to see a nice benefit of having four arms?” With that Lucy reached up and proceeded to use her last free hand to pinch her nose. The whole time she kept a hand on the back of her neck and used two to hold the shake. Then the lifted the mixture to her mouth and inhaled as quickly as her lunges would allow.

The power of the suction generated by Lucy’s strengthened lunges was quite exceptional. Michael and Brigit both gave a slight jump when a sudden pop resounded throughout the room as the cup collapsed inward on itself. “Well if I had known that you were going to do that I wouldn’t have mixed in any flavoring at all. I bet you didn’t taste a darn thing.”

Once Lucy removed the straw from her mouth a huge grin spread across her face. “Nope and you didn’t ask me what kind of milk shakes I enjoy. I prefer strawberry milk shakes not vanilla.”

“Picky.”

By now Michael was grinning as well as he took the empty container from Lucy and put it in the trash. “Okay, we’re going to have to wait a while for that to go throughout your system then we’ll check to see what your insides look like. Why don’t you go on and wait with your parents? I’ll just head on down and make sure everything is ready.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes then.”

************************************************************************

“So how is she?” Even though Claude could see the screen himself he couldn’t help but ask the question. He was also finding it very hard to keep himself from fidgeting and aggravating his burns.

It took Michael a few minutes to respond as he continued to examine the screen. After a few moments he gave a shrug and turned around. “The overall layout of her body is the same as it has always been except there have been some slight adjustments made for the additional two arms. Except for having the two arms and one pair being shifted lower then normal there is actually nothing truly spectacular about the current layout of her body.”

“So what is going to happen now?”

A sigh escaped Michael as he glanced over at Karen for a moment. “As you know for a long time now all we’ve been able to do is watch the changes happening inside of Lucy. We don’t have enough knowledge of her body’s current workings to risk tampering with it. So unless you want us to cut off your daughter’s extra set of arms we can’t really do anything about them. We don’t know if she’s going to grow another set of arms or if these will fade away.”

There wasn’t time for Karen or anyone else to respond as Claude spoke up. “You will not cut off my daughter’s arms! I don’t care how many she has.”

It was impossible for Michael not to chuckle as he noted the concern in Claude’s voice. “Believe me we have no intention of cutting off any part of Lucy. The only reason we could justify operating on her is if it was a clear threat to her life and her additional arms are not. We do have some concerns though. It seems that some of Lucy’s bones have begun to thicken. Well no thicken isn’t the right word they have began to widen.”

“Does that mean they are becoming weaker?”

“In a sense yes, however this change is subtle and surprisingly enough seems to have uniformly occurred throughout her body. I should also mention this. The arms Lucy has grown don’t seem to have added any additional mass to her. Which means they weren’t grown rather they were formed from her already existing body.”

“So what happens next?”

“Well we’ve gathered all the physical data we can use now we just need a psychological evaluation of Lucy’s condition. From what I’ve seen so far I doubt that the reason for this sudden change lays in her body but perhaps in her mind. If that is the case then we might be able to find out where these changes are going. Though, I haven’t really had time to carefully evaluate or test the materials or data we took from her today.”

“So you believe that Lucy’s body might be doing this because she wants it to?”

“On some level it may be. Even if that isn’t the case though we also need to insure that these changes aren’t affecting Lucy’s mind in someway. We really can’t rely on the physical layout of Lucy’s brain to tell us if she might be changing psychologically. After all her brain chemistry has been being altered ever sense her intelligence first began to increase and it hasn’t affected her thinking process. At least it hasn’t affected it in anyway that we’ve been able to detect.”

************************************************************************

Even though Elaine hadn’t done her like she did their first meeting Lucy still wasn’t fond of the woman. This was due mostly to the fact that Elaine didn’t always tell Lucy every detail of her diagnosis. Rather she would either speak to her parents or one of the project heads and this last time had been no different.

It had only taken the lab three days to decide that it was safe for her to go home and that she should try to return to her regular life style. It had actually been a relief for Lucy though as she lay in bed she found a previous concern had returned. During the three days she spent at the lab Lucy had slept well however as she found herself in her own bed once again she found her body heating up.

The fact that her body was suddenly warning up wasn’t unexpected though. While she didn’t know everything that had been discussed she had been told that upon returning to her normal life style the changes that had started would most likely continue. So apparently whatever had caused her additional arms to form in the first place had been a result of her environment and her own desires. By taking her out of the environment they had stopped them but now felt it was best to let them finish.

“Blast it.” Taking hold of her covers Lucy once again through them off her and this time didn’t bother waiting for her pillow to start annoying her. “Why couldn’t they just tell me what thoughts were causing the changes?” As sigh escaped Lucy as she quickly rolled over onto her stomach and pulled the back of her modified night shirt up revealing more of her skin to the cool air. “I guess they were worried if they told me what desires were causing the changes it might interfere.”

“Okay you can open your eyes now.”

A sigh escaped Brigit’s college. He hadn’t actually been about to close his eyes by Brigit had threatened to throw her coffee in his face if he didn’t. “I wonder if we should have suggested she take an ice pack to bed with her.”

To this Brigit gave a slight shrug as she continued to observe Lucy and her vital signs. It had actually only taken them a bit over twenty four hours after Lucy’s mental evaluation was finished to decide it was best to return her home. The additional time had been used to set up observation equipment in Lucy’s room. “Well it looks like Elaine was right. The lab wasn’t a comfortable enough setting for Lucy’s body, subconscious or whatever control mechanism there is to continue the changes.”

“It seems that way. So what do you believe is going to happen tonight?”

“I’m thinking that her extra set of arms will shift further up her back and begin to form into massive wing due to the subconscious desire in all humans to be able to fly under their own power.”

“Are you serious?”

“No.”

“Ha ha very funny, now why don’t you tell me what you really believe is going to happen?”

“Didn’t you read Elaine’s report?”

“No, as unlike you I’m not allowed to see such materials.”

“Oh yeah, in my humility I at times forget that I have seniority over many of you and thus higher access levels. Hey subordinate why don’t you go and get me a cup of coffee? As the more senior one here and due to my greater understanding of the current situation I believe that it’s best if I keep an eye on Lucy.”

“Come on Brigit, I want to know what we are waiting to see.”

“Okay. Okay.” An amused giggle escaped Brigit as she glanced over at her colleague. “Go and get me that coffee and then I’ll give you a few more details. Keep in mind though anything I tell you is purely speculation. We didn’t expect Lucy to form an extra set of arms in the first place.”

“Okay, how do you take your coffee?”

“A large cup, three sugars and two screams.”

************************************************************************

“Wow you weren’t kidding. She’s really doing it.”

Before she bothered speaking Brigit took a quick sip of her third coffee of the night. “We believe that Lucy’s current condition was brought on by the strong emotional division that she’s been feeling over the last few weeks. Though, we weren’t sure if it was possible for it to go this far given the previous abilities of the symbiot we felt it was worth observation.”

“So what should we do?”

“Keep watching of course. We don’t know whether or not it would be dangers to interfere or even risk waking Lucy at this stage. The arms Lucy formed were most likely her body getting its first experience with the process.”

“I see.”

“Woe. Well darn.” A sigh escaped Brigit as the screens she was currently watching began to flick and blur. “What a time for the wiring to go wrong.”

“I don’t believe that fiddling with the screens is going to help anything.”

“Well we might as well try something.” A sigh escaped Brigit as the monitors continued to grow fuzzier as something was clearly interfering with the signal. “I swear they had twenty four hours to just set up the equipment and they couldn’t even get it to hold together for a few days.”

“Should I call Michael or David to let them know something is going wrong?”

It took a minute for Brigit to respond but as she noted half the image was nearly lost already due to the fuzz she finally gave a sigh and leaned back in her seat. “Yeah go ahead and let them know what is happening. We’ll probably need to send someone over there now.”

“I thought we couldn’t risk disturbing Lucy.”

“We can’t. We’re going to have to have someone inform her parents about the situation and they need to wait a while before trying to wake up Lucy. Actually, if they must check on her it would be best if they took a quick look. Now go and make those phone calls.”

As Lucy slipped back within the waking world her first reaction was to lift her arms above her head and slowly stretch them towards the roof. Even though she knew she was no where near being able to reach the roof at her current height while lying on her back she liked to keep her eyes closed and imagine that she was. At the same time she stretched her legs and flattened her feet against the bed so that she could feel the frame. She was quite surprised when the only thing she felt under her foot was mattress.

Not being able to feel the edge of the bed was in many ways far more surprising to Lucy then when she’d first woken up to find that she could. As her eyes opened she quickly set up in bed and placed her hands to either side of herself for stability. The moment her hands came to wrest at her sides though she quickly lost all interest in the bed and turned to her side as she felt someone else’s hand touching her own.

Suddenly finding that her height had begun to increase had been quite a surprise for Lucy but she had managed to keep control of herself. She had been shocked by the formation of her additional arms but she had managed to keep from screaming and think clearly. However, as Lucy realized that she was still the only person in bed she couldn’t help but scream so that her voice shot forth from two sets of vocal cords.

Both Claude and Karen had been anxious for Lucy to wake up sense they had been visited the previous night. However, neither of them had expected the first sign of their daughter waking to be her scream. Before either parents really had time to think they had both dashed upstairs Claude’s longer strides allowing him to make it to the door moments before Karen did.

In response to her father nearly busting the door in as he used all of his weight to push it open Lucy quickly turned her head towards the door. What she found to be most odd about the situation though was the fact that the moment she looked at her father she realized that she was seeing him from two different perspectives.

“Lucy, are you okay?” Even before Claude had stopped to consider the situation the words had left his mouth. However, despite his reaction being purely instinctive he had no idea how to respond when he found two Lucy’s looking back at him. Even when Lucy had grown or formed the extra arms there had only been one of her. What he didn’t realize at the moment was that there was still only one Lucy she just happened to be in two places at the same time.

Normally Karen was a fair bit more rational then Claude however as she saw her daughter even she didn’t know what to say. So she did the only thing she knew to. As Claude made his way to the Lucy on the right of the bed she made her way over to the left. “So I guess this is the results of you feeling emotionally torn.”

Instead of responding to her mother Lucy looked back at herself then turned to her parents. What she quickly noticed is that she could see both of her parents at the same time even though they were on opposite sides of her. She was actually seeing through the eyes of both of her bodies. She felt her heart racing in both bodies and both bodies realized they were naked at the same time. “Mom Dad, I’m naked!”

Despite the situation Claude’s reaction to his daughter’s words was instinctive. “Sorry.” Quickly turning around Claude took a few steps towards the door. “I guess I’ll go and call the labs. Tell them that they may need to check this out.”

“Daddy, you can’t use the phone it will aggravate your burns.”

Hearing his daughter’s voice coming from two different directions at the exact same time was quite an odd experience for Claude. So much so that it took him a moment just to respond as he had to adjust to the oddity of the moment. “Don’t worry about that. The adrenaline and endorphins are taking care of my pain right now. I’ll just make that phone call before they wear off and then take one of my pills before I regret opening the door like that. Um Karen you help Lucy get dressed.”

“Sure, but oh darn. We don’t have any of your smaller outfits handy do we? I guess your clothing will just have to be a little baggy.”

************************************************************************

“Did you know that Michael paces whenever he’s thinking?”

Even though the question was innocent Brigit couldn’t help the surprise on her face as she looked up at Lucy. “Well yes. What makes you bring it up though?”

“He’s pacing right now but he doesn’t look nervous.”

“Huh, you mean you can see him pacing right now?”

“Yeah, I can.”

At first Brigit said nothing as she looked at Lucy trying to judge if she was telling the truth or playing around. There wasn’t time for her to ask though as her phone suddenly began to ring. Reaching into her coat pocket she quickly retrieved her cell phone. “Hello?”

“Lucy’s not lying. She really was watching me pace around the room.”

“Huh?”

“Just a few moments ago Lucy told me that I needed to call you and tell you that she wasn’t playing. I really was pacing around the room when she said I was.”

“Oh. I um see. Well then I’ll just continue my examination then.”

Once Brigit hung up her phone an amused giggle escaped Lucy. “I told you. I wonder what Michael is thinking about though.”

“Lucy you are currently occupying two places at the same time. Truly occupying two places at the same time your mind is in both of your bodies and functioning normally. There is plenty to think about and try to understand. Even the eighth step couldn’t perform such acts. It had to make use of the nerves throughout the body to communicate with different groupings of its cells if it broke apart entirely.”

“It is really neat! The neatest thing about it is now that I have two bodies I can play with Albert and help take care of Daddy at the same time.”

“Well that is most assuredly a possibility but before that we need to find out just how far this connection of yours can reach. We have no idea what might happen to you if your two bodies move too far apart.”

“Michael said it was okay.”

“You mean you already asked him?”

“Just now, we’re talking about how he’d need to set up some observation equipment right now.”

“I see. I have to say you’re adapting to your current situation quite well. It’s doubtful that most people would be able to adapt to being in two places at once so rapidly.”

“Hey! You hid cameras in my room?”

For a moment Brigit was made to flinch as she quickly looked directly into Lucy’s eyes. She was rather relieved though when she only saw a smile on Lucy’s face instead of a scowl. “Well yes. We did hide observation equipment in your room but Lucy we weren’t trying to invade your privacy.”

“Well how would you like it if I had cameras hidden in your room?”

“I wouldn’t like it once I found out but Lucy we were only trying to insure your safety. We didn’t believe that you’d feel comfortable enough for your body to finish the process it had already begun if you knew you were being watched.”

“How can I ever sleep in my bed again after this? After learning how my privacy was violated.”

A sigh escaped Brigit as she shook her head. “It would be much easier to take you seriously right now if you weren’t grinning.”

“You’re just lucky that Michael said I can come and play with Albert now. That and I feel that we’re kind of even sense I apparently fried your observation equipment.”

“Huh?”

“Michael just told me that when they checked the equipment it looked like they had been hit by an EMP. He seems really interested in the fact that it was only in my room though. Apparently an EMP powerful enough to fry your equipment should have knocked out every electrical device in the house.”

“What? I thought it was a wiring error.”

“That isn’t what Michael believes. Okay, Michael just informed me that he wants you to take me down one floor at a time on the elevator. I’ll let you know if I start to feel strange. If we can make it you’re to take me down to the electronics lab. Apparently before I get to go anywhere he wants to see if the distance between my bodies may affect electronics in anyway or possibly generate another EMP.”

“What is he trying to do fry all the electronics in the building?”

For a few moments Lucy said nothing then a giggle escaped her. “He says that is a good call. He’s going to try to find a good location to test what happens when my bodies move further apart. Until then he says we should head to the cafeteria and get something to eat.”

“Would you mind if I said something that I don’t want you to pass on?”

“Sure.”

“I hope he manages to pick a spot with no electronics to fry and not just a spot where they aren’t electronics he worries about.”

“Care to give an example?”

“Oh something along the lines of the freeway, one car drives in one direction while the other drives in the opposite. Sure the company wouldn’t lose anything more then a couple of cars initially but I’m sure we’d regret it later.”

“Has Michael ever made such a mistake?”

“No but he has come close. Though, I have at times wondered if he does it just to scare us.”

“I believe he just wants to scare everyone a little.”

“I hope you’re right. I’ve considered not mentioning anything to him before but I was too worried what would happen if he indeed didn’t realize what may go wrong.”

“In this case though, you don’t know that something would have gone wrong.”

“That’s true but it is better safe then sorry. Now let’s go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Surely splitting into two different bodies has worked up an appetite.”

“Actually, it has. Let’s go and eat.”

************************************************************************

“Hey Mom, you said that Dad was bringing Lucy to visit.”

“He is Albert.”

“Then why isn’t she in the car with him?”

“I bet that she is. Perhaps you’re just having trouble noticing.”

“Mom Lucy is taller then you she’s kind of hard to miss.”

Even before Anne could respond the phone ringing drew her attention. Upon lifting the receiver to her ear she was rather amused by who was on the line. “Hi Anne, may I speak to Albert?”

“Sure you may. Albert come in here someone wants to speak to you on the phone.”

As Albert stood up and left the window a sigh escaped him. While he made his way over to his mother he tried to perk up a little. He had a pretty good idea who was on the phone. “Hi Lucy. I guess you won’t get to come over today.”

“Oh I don’t know about that. I just might be over a little later then previously thought is all.”

“Really, when do you believe you’ll get to come over?”

Anne had made her way into the living room after Albert had taken the phone. As Michael and Lucy entered the room she took hold of Lucy’s shoulder and pointed towards the dining area. This got a quick nod from Lucy who proceeded to quietly make her way to the dining area. “Oh sooner then you might suspect.”

“That’s good but can you give me a time? Your idea of soon and mine might differ.” An annoyed grunt escaped Albert when he felt a finger poke him in the back of his head the moment he’d finished speaking. Even without really thinking he then turned to see who had poked him.

“Yeah they probably do your idea of soon is way too slow.”

Albert’s jaw nearly fell open and he felt his eyes widen upon turning around to face his poker. The person on the phone sounded exactly like Lucy however here she was standing right in front of him though it did take him a moment to recognize her. He was use to Lucy being taller then his mother not being shorter then his father though still taller then himself. “Lucy?”

The wide grin that already adorned Lucy’s face threatened to break into a fit of laughter as she struggled to keep control of herself. “Yes?”

“How, what is going on? Who is on the phone and how did you get smaller?”

“That would be me on the phone.”

“Are you serious?”

As Lucy spoke she boosted herself lightly up on her tiptoes making herself slightly taller for a moment. “Yes that is me on the phone and right in front of you.”

“That can’t be though.”

“You think so? Well then hold up some fingers and I’ll tell you how many you have up over the phone.”

Whether he believed what Lucy was telling him or not was hard for Albert to decide. She had after all outgrown his mother despite her young age only to lose over a meter in height sense he’d last seen her. He also knew that her strength far surpassed her scale still the idea that Lucy could be in two places at the same time was hard for him to believe so that he held up his fingers.

“Two, three, four, four and a thumb, one pinky, index finger, none” Lucy easily called off the number of fingers over the phone while she used her second body to see which ones Albert was holding up. After a moment a giggle escaped her. “About to be poked.”

A slight grunt escaped Albert as Lucy suddenly jabbed him in the stomach. The act wasn’t exactly painful but it did force a bit of air out of him and could quickly become annoying. Fortunately annoyance was the furthest thing from his mind. “You are serious! You really are in two places at the same time.”

“Yes I am. Isn’t it cool? Now we can play and I can still help take care of my daddy all at the same time.”

“I guess there isn’t much of a reason for me to stay on the phone then. Lucy this is incredible! Can you think of all the things you could do with two bodies?”

An amused giggle escaped Lucy. “Well I just mentioned the most important two things but yeah I can think of a few other uses. For one thing they believe that I may be able to appear at my cousin’s court trial as a witness now. Provided that there isn’t any adverse affects from my bodies being too far apart.”

“How far can your two bodies be separate?”

“I’m not sure right now. So far we’ve only made it to roughly twice the distance between your home and mine.”

“Is that what they’ve been testing over the past few days?”

“Well that and a few other things.”

“So are you still growing?”

“Yeah, I’m still growing. I’m not quite sure if it’s at the same rate as I was or not.”

“That’s wonderful Lucy. So how about you tell me what else they’ve been testing?”

“Sure but let’s go up to your room. It’s been a while sense we’ve had a chance to play chess.”

End chapter 2