Nyx wakes up when the orderly comes back to pick her up. This time, her check-up is uneventful, and she’s sent back.

  “How are you feeling?” Roxy asks as Nyx gets out of the wheelchair by herself.

  Nyx reaches blindly around and finds what she assumes is Roxy’s hand, “I can’t sparkin’ see and my eyes are feelin’ like someone’s tryin’ to dig ‘em out.”

  Roxy leads her to the bed, “The orderly brought lunch while you were gone. It’s just Nufuud, but it always feels nice to have food in your stomach.”

  Nyx feels her ears droop with her tail, “Cai was havin’ these dum creepy foods. Milk that was comin’ from a weird thing from a cow thing. Eggs that chickens were shunkin’ out.”

  Those two days on the Donati seemed like they had lasted forever, and she already missed them. No pirates. No needles in her eyes. And the kindest man she’d ever met.

  “Cai seems like a wonderful person. He must be a special to you.”

  Nyx shakes her head, “I was just knowin’ him for two days. He was takin’ me in and givin’ me dum good food. He was bein’ the nicest person I know.” She puts a hand on Roxy, “You’re bein’ pretty nice. I’m thinkin’ Cai’d be lovin’ to meet’cha too. Maybe you can be comin’ with us when we’re leavin’?”

  There’s a pause, and Zone answers this time, “And do what? Be starvin’? Go from one box to another?” He scoffs, “I’ll just stay here.” There’s a sound of something hard hitting him, “Ow! Twoey you brat!”

  “I’d go.” Twoey says. “Wherever that is.”

  Zone, “You’re crazy Twoey.” A pause, “Huh… Where would be be going?”

  Nyx recalls the Donati, its spaces. She and Roxy, maybe Twoey to a room. Cai in his own. Zone sleeping with the critters, “The Donati. Cai was callin’ it a long range explorer. Lookin’ for new planets that are bein’ like Earth.”

  Zone’s excited voice, “Cool! How big is it?”

  Twoey, “Don’t care. I’m going.”

  Roxy giggles, “Well, aren’t you two excited. Nyx, have you been anywhere fun?”

  “Nope. Just two days, remember? He was headin’ somewhere, but we were turnin’ back to look for my siblings and who the spark was makin’ me.”

  Zone’s voice, “Well! You found us! Bet you wish you hadn’t.”

  Nyx grumbles and searches for her fork, which Roxy places in her hands, “Thanks.”

  Roxy scratches her ears, “Do you want some rest after you eat, or is it okay if I do your measurements for a dress?”

  Roxy sounds a bit guilty.

  Nyx shrugs, “I’ve got nothin’ better to be doin’. I’m bein’ shiny if you make a dress.”

  Nyx eats and notices the sounds of the others eating. Looks like they were eating lunch too. Had they waited for her?

  Roxy, “Thanks!”

  A hug and a squish between two warm pillows. Yeah, nice and soft… She’s seeing why Cai likes them, but it doesn’t make her any less self-conscious. They also look heavy and would make it harder to crawl through tight spaces.

  The rest of the day is quiet now that the others are used to her.

  Later, she finds that Zone sleeps separately and only stays during the day, so it’s only the girls.

  Nyx has settled into bed after fumbling in the shower in the bathroom connected to their room when she feels someone sit next to her. They’re lighter than Roxy and smell like a Felis, “Twoey?”

  She can hear the shower going, so she’s alone with Twoey at the moment.

  She hears Twoey next to her, “Is he cute?”

  Nyx is confused, “Who?”

  “Cai.”

  Nyx blushes.

  A giggle then in a sing-song voice, “He is! You like him!”

  Nyx growls and swats playfully at Twoey, “I just met ‘em!”

  Another giggle, “In romance movies, men and women fall in love at first sight all the time.” She sighs, “Then they have lots of sex in some of them! Roxy can’t stand them, so I wait until she’s sleeping..” Twoey’s movement suggests she’s leaning closer, “I can show you my favorites when you can see again.”

  Nyx pushes her away, her ears folding back, “No! I’m not wantin’ to be watchin’ that! They… the pirates… they sometimes were bringin’ women, and I’d… I’d have to listen or hide in the engines. Sometimes when they were drunk on rotten Nufuud drink, they’d try to get me doin’ it too.”

  Nyx feels Twoey sit back, “Sorry. I didn’t know it was that bad.”

  Nyx scratches the scar on her wrist, “Goddum it…”

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  “The scar. The one on your wrist. It was that bad?”

  Nyx rubs the scar, “The cap’n cornered me. I didn’t want it, but he wouldn’t stop. When I… when I was cutin’ myself, he finally backed off. Wrench… He’s bein’ the half-Felis that was takin’ care of me. He saved me. Stopped the bleedin’. Cap’n never tried touchin’ me after that.”

  “Shit, Nyx. Your scowl is scary, but… That’s bad. I’d be grumpy too.”

  “I was hatein’ myself too much to be dyin’.” Nyx admits. “For leavein’ my siblings. Survivin’ for them.”

  The noise from the shower stops, and she hears the door open.

  Twoey pats Nyx’s shoulders, “Stay, Nyx. With us! Friends!”

  Nyx shakes her head, “These people. They were shootin’ them in the head to be escapin’ the pirates. They’d be shootin’ me too if I wasn’t runnin’.”

  There’s a pattering of wet feet, “You poor thing!” Nyx gets a face full of towel and cleavage as Roxy pulls her into a hug. “If you can’t go with Cai, stay with us. They promised to let us go when the time is right.”

  Nyx can’t breathe as Roxy’s cleavage smothers her.

  Twoey lets out a small laugh, “Roxy! You’re killing her! Me next.”

  Roxy makes some flustered noises as she lets Nyx go, “Oh! I’m so sorry…”

  Nyx takes a deep breath, “Mya! Those are bein’ weapons!”

  Twoey lets out an even bigger laugh, “Nyx’s face! I’m jealous!”

  Roxy groans, “Twoey…”

  “Just teasing. Cai likes them too?”

  Nyx can’t refute this and looks to the side.

  Twoey gasps, “Oh? Cai likes big ones?”

  “N… no… He’s not bein’ like that.” Nyx knows she’s totally giving away Cai’s preferences.

  Roxy is strangely quiet.

  “Roxy. Are you blushing? Dreaming of stealing Nyx’s man from her?”

  “He’s not bein’ my man!”

  Roxy adds, “I’ve… I’ve never met him. I want to though. If you like him, he must be a good person.”

  Nyx knows she likes Cai, but not in what way, “How are you knowin’ if ya are likin’ a man? I’m not bein’ sure if I’m wantin’ it.”

  Twoey trills in laughter, “No idea.”

  Twoey gets up and leaves just like that.

  Roxy takes Twoey’s place, “Nyx, if she’s teasing you too much, just ask and I’ll stop.”

  Nyx shakes her head, “No. It’s bein’ nice to be talkin’ to other women.”

  A pat on the head, “Okay. Now, let’s get some sleep.” She pauses, “Then we’re making you a dress tomorrow!”

  Nyx notes Roxy’s voice is giddy, and can’t help but take in some of it, which helps with her sour mood, “Okay. I’d be askin’ ya to be teachin’ me, but…” she waves at her eyes, “I can’t be seein’ nothin’ right now.”

  “I’ll be happy just to have someone to talk to.” A pause, “Do you want to sleep next to me? Zone and Twoey slept a lot better when we cuddled after treatments.”

  Twoey’s shrill voice, “We were six!”

  Roxy giggles, “You were adorable.”

  Twoey hisses.

  Nyx laughs at the exchange, but deep down she knows the people running this place robbed her of exchanges like this with her own siblings, “Mya. Okay. I don’t mind.”

  As she lays down, Roxy gets up, “Oh! Pajamas! Twoey, can Nyx borrow some of yours?”

  There’s a grunt of approval from Twoey.

  They change into pajamas, Nyx insisting she can do it herself.

  The next morning they wake and have a mashed breakfast of Nufuud.

  Roxy leads Nyx to a chair, “Okay! Do you have any preferences?”

  Nyx shakes her head, “Somethin’ that isn’t makin’ me lookin’ like a boy.”

  Zone, who joined them for breakfast, laughs, “Roxy make boy clothes? I’m a boy, and she only makes girl clothes for me. Everyone thinks I’m a girl.”

  Twoey’s voice yells from the table where Nyx can hear the scratching of the drawing stylus, “He likes it.”

  Zone growls, “What! You callin’ me girly! I just gave up trying to get this frill maniac to make boy clothes. And the orderlies think it’s funny, so they let her!”

  Roxy laughs, her voice breathy, “I’ve seen you posing.”

  “I’m just making sure I don’t look ridiculous.”

  Nyx laughs as they bicker.

  “You have pretty hair, Nyx.” She feels Roxy pulling her short hair into a pony tail.

  “Mya? Yer white hair is bein’ more pretty.” Nyx never cared about her hair color either way, but Roxy’s white hair was unique to her. “And yer eyes are bein’ shiny.”

  “Shiny? Thank you, Nyx. Most of the AA and AB children think they’re scary or weird.”

  Nyx recalls the room filled with young human children. Were they a final test batch of kids this organization was making for whatever reason? The AB kids seemed like they might be the ones that satisfied the lab?

  Roxy starts doing something to her clothing, “Just pinning your clothes so I can measure you.”

  Nyx touches a pin, and pricks her finger, “Ow!”

  “Careful.”

  Nyx’s attention focuses on the pin. They let the kids here have things like this? Sure, Roxy seemed docile, but the other kids, especially Zone? And now she’s here, an ex pirate trained to use many tools to break into places. A pin to the eye might do a lot of damage too…

  Nyx smiles as she realizes she has a chance. The room has a holographic camera, and the computer likely watches for anything suspicious, so she has to be careful. What about the medical room? Was the camera watching her there? Probably. But after they strapped her to the bed, it usually took a few minutes for Dr. Yang to come. And the drone hatch was over a counter so she could reach it.

  The drones would be a problem too. But there were plenty of things she could use in the medical room on the drones.

  She’d have to wait until she could see again. And she needed to hide her tools. Maybe she could use a drawing stylus too?

  “Roxy, can you be makin’ me somethin’ with long sleeves.” She rubs her scars, “I’m wantin’ somethin’ to hide these until the medicine is makin’ them gone.”

  “Oh! How about ruffled sleeves? Maybe something with sheer fabric?”

  Zone groans, “Great, now you got her goin’”

  He lets out a huge belch, which makes Roxy jump and Nyx yelp as Roxy pulls her with the measuring tape, “Zone, that’s disgusting!”

  Twoey giggles and lets out a burp herself.

  Roxy grumbles, “You two are so gross.”

  Nyx sighs, “You think that’s bein’ gross, try livin’ with sparkin’ pirates.”

  Zone’s excited voice, “I’ll do it! But we’ll be noble pirates! Stealing from the bad pirates and… and…”

  Twoey’s voice, “Aliens?”

  Zone, “Yeah! That’d be awesome. Cai find any aliens yet?”

  Nyx shakes her head, “Nope.”

  “Aww, boring. Maybe I’ll go with you two and help find aliens!”

  Twoey cheers.

  Roxy giggles, “I’ll leave that to you. I’m happy making clothes.”

  Zone, “She makes all the clothes. Even for the Generation AA kids. They may all look like girls, but there’s some boys in there.”

  Nyx’s ear twitches as she realizes something, “Don’cha be havin’ a clothin’ fabricator? The Donati does.”

  Zone is practically yelling, and she imagines him yelling at the camera, “You’d think that! I mean, you guys use something to make her cloth! Why can’t you make me some boy clothes!”

  There’s a yelp as something hits Zone.

  Roxy turns away from Nyx, “Twoey, stop throwing things at him! Zone, keep your voice down!”

  Zone growls, “Twoey…”

  Twoey hisses, and there’s a commotion.

  “You two…” Roxy sighs, “They never stop.”

  Nyx finds memories of her time with her siblings. She and Tyx play fought a lot too, with Oyx crying for them to stop. The others joined in or yelled about how annoying they were.

  And she was crying again.

  Roxy stops, “Oh? I didn’t stab you, did I?”

  “No. I’m bein’ fine.” She snaps back a little too quickly. She reached for her bracelet, “They were takin’ my bracelet. Were they putin’ it here somewhere?”

  “No. Maybe ask Dr. Yang next time?”

  Nyx smiles as she thinks about next time. She’s going to ask, but she’d also practice. Once she had sleeves to hide things in she’d practice removing her restraints, then when she could see again, she’d find Cai and they’d get their revenge. She didn’t want to escape. Not with the murderers and torturers right here. They’d get justice for her siblings and the other children they’d killed.