Cut My Strings

Alice quietly nodded as he noted what the next step was. He didn't mention removing the weapons, but she could deal with them for now. However, her body then squirmed as she held onto Donny. It was injection time. The needles in her injected some of the serum. It caused her mild soreness and nausea. In a quick moment, her face paled even further somehow. She toughed it out and gave the man a weak smile. She slowly let go of him so that he could move. Her eyes spotted the red stains on his being and frowned. She didn't mean to get him dirty. Then again, it was no big deal, right?

The girl followed the demon like a lost puppy. Now that he proved to be less of a threat than she originally perceived, she could relax. His actions revealed his genuine nature; he was truly looking out for her. She was led to the bathroom. The sound of water made her immediately strip off the jacket. God, she would love a nice bath! She couldn't remember the last time she had a relaxing bath. Her hands grabbed her gown. Then she froze. She couldn't strip in front of a male! Her cheeks blushed lightly as she put her hands down and patiently waited for him to leave.

Once he left to fetch her some new clothes, she immediately shut the door and ripped off the lab gown. One hand pulled the hairband keeping her bun intact out. Her shoulder length hair landed around her shoulders. Once she was completely naked, she stepped into the tub and sank into the water. It was at a nice, warm temperature. A relaxed sigh escaped her lips as she took a moment to enjoy the water. It was incredible the things people desired after being deprived of a healthy lifestyle. After the moment passed, she took the soap and washcloth and scrubbed her body clean. She felt how thin she was and the slots installed onto her body. She realized how dry her skin was. Death changed her greatly....

The girl stepped out of the bath and dried herself off. She drained the tub and slightly cracked the door open. There were fresh clothes waiting for her. A light squeal escaped her lips as she saw it was a dress. It was not the nicest dress; in fact, she personally thought it was a bit too old fashioned. However, she was grateful to have clothes other than the dreary test subject attire she arrived here in. She quickly slipped on the clothes. From there, she silently slipped out of the bathroom and explored her surroundings. She took a tour of Donny's living space. This place definitely looked nicer on the inside.

It was then she felt a sudden wave of emotion hit her. She felt lonely standing there by herself. Many of her inner thoughts were negative, so she didn't want to take the time to ponder by herself. She wanted to enjoy more of the immediate pleasure that came from her positive thoughts based on her thus far good experience hanging out with Donny. She scampered out of the bedroom and went searching for him. It didn't take her long to spot him in the kitchen. She tried watching him quietly, but her cold disagreed with her. She went into a violent coughing fit. Her eyes watered a bit. Her throat really hurt....

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

After the coughing fit, she noticed that she was standing right next to a table. She watched the demon set up the table. He provided her with a warm drink and a bowl of soup. She was appreciative of his offerings and sat down. She picked up the tea first and eagerly drank. She cringed a bit; it was still hot. She put the cup down quickly. It did help her throat though; she could feel the herbs slowly relieving her air passages. Even the scent opened up her nose.

While she fretted over her poor decision-making, the man introduced himself and added that he would remove the weapons. The mask made her happy enough; if she wasn't sick, then she'd be doing back flips out of pure joy. How could she have gotten so lucky? Was this trying to make up for the fact that she had such a miserable time in that laboratory? If that was the case, then she greatly welcomed it. The girl relaxed and took a bite of her soup. She noticed that the soup was quite unorthodox, but it tasted wonderful. A smile graced her lips as she savored the food. It had been too long since she had a good meal.

Her red eyes gazed at Donny. She needed to introduce herself.

"The horrible scientists called me O.A.D.U., but I don't like that. My name is Alice. Alice Barbanel."

O.A.D.U. was an acronym for Organic Assassination and Demolition Unit. She disliked the name because it dehumanized her. It made her feel less like a person and more like a play toy. She was the test gerbil that got the short end of the stick. Just thinking about that place gave her shivers. She never wanted to go back to the lab ever again. She ate more of her soup and slowly sipped the tea. He could really cook! She didn't know how to cook. She held mild curiosity, but her main concern focused on consuming food.

"This tastes delicious. I can't remember the last time I ate anything, let alone food this good."

She coughed and sniffled throughout, but the tea and soup improved her health by a considerable margin. Her health was taking steps in the right direction.

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

"Nothing great"? He was lying! She giggled a bit before devouring the rest of the soup. Foster care would be a bad choice for her; she wouldn't fit in well with the other children, and her distrusting nature would make everyone scurry away from her. The girl sipped her tea. Color came back to her face. She was looking less like a zombie and more like a human. With each good action that Donny took to take care of her, she grew more attached to him. She wished to stay at the shop. In her eyes, he was the perfect daddy.

Once she finished her drink, she gently placed the mug on the table. Then she hopped out of her chair and scrambled over to Donny. She gave him another hug, but this time she got hit with a wave of nausea that made her nearly pass out in front of the demon. The girl suffered from dizziness and the urge to vomit. This wasn't the cold's fault; it was the fault of the injections that went off earlier. Those were side effects associated with the serum being shot into her veins. They granted her super strength but made her sick as a consequence.

Her nails scratched at the needles stuck into her arms. While she wanted to rip them right out, she had the intelligence to figure out what that would do to her body if she did. The little girl couldn't possibly carry all of that weight on her own; it would crush her delicate frame. Previously she had desires to die because it would save her from the horrible experiments and maltreatment. However, now that Donny was in the picture, she didn't want to die. She wanted to live on so she could have a normal life. She wanted to be with her new daddy.

@Maximum_Fatalis

The girl lightly panted as she clung onto the arms dealer. She resisted the urge to vomit. She already messed up his clothes enough earlier. He didn't need to be covered in puke. If anything, she had the common sense to rush over to the nearest toilet or trash can to rid herself of the contents of her stomach. Her red eyes gazed up at the man. Thankfully she had data on the serum stored within her database. She listened to the scientists as they added it to her system. She pulled up the name of the chemical and uttered it to him.

"Serum found. Serum Name: Fortitudine Maximus. Used to provide subjects with superhuman strength. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, soreness at the injection site, muscle weakness, muscle spasms, and paralysis."

While her words were akin to a robot's, her tone was notably human. There was an underlying feeling of bitterness in her words. The more she read about the side effects, the angrier she became. She didn't do anything, but her words and tone stated the whole truth. There was no way he couldn't detect her inner fury. This man cared a lot more about her health than those scientists did, that was for sure.

"The version of Fortitudine Maximus used within the subject's body is an experimental version meant to enhance the performance of the previous version. Subject is the test subject for this serum due to her unusual nature and necessity because of the body's relative fragility. Do not remove the syringes from Subject's body. Without the serum, Subject will be unable to lift the added test machinery and will be crushed under the two hundred and fifty pounds of weight. This will likely result in death via suffocation."

Alice hugged Donny even tighter. Another emotion came into play: fear. The child clearly didn't want to die, and definitely not in a painful way like that. She could imagine herself slowly getting crushed under the weight and losing her oxygen supply steadily as her bones break and puncture the organs. Her lungs especially would be prone to damage, and all of her insides would squeeze together tightly as she faded from existence. The pain would be immense. It would be worse than suffering an asthma attack. She never wanted to have that horror happen to her. At the same time, the serum made her sick and put her at risk of becoming permanently paralyzed.

She hated that they put her through all of this risk.

@Maximum_Fatalis

"It was those bastard scientists. They're all jerks, and I hate them."

The girl was lifted up by the demon. He didn't flinch in the slightest. Papa was quite strong to be lifting three hundred and fifty pounds without a sweat! She wondered if he had super strength. She figured that he had supernatural strength, but she had no reference point to compare him to. Well, at least no reference point that actually existed. Waves of nausea kept her spinning as she was escorted into the workshop. It was time to fix this wretched "upgrade" job. Alice felt excitement over the impending removal.

She sat in the chair and watched him go through his tools. A light smile crossed her scarred face.

"Thank you. You're the only one that's cared about me since my revival. Not even my parents do...."

One hand curled up into a fist.

"It was my biological father that did this to me. He betrayed me. I hate him....I wish him dead."

Her blood pressure began to rise as anger flowed through her. She felt hotter than before. Her fury worsen her illness as she went into a violent coughing fit. The nails on her arm slots slid out. Urge to stab something rising.

@Maximum_Fatalis