Merrin stared at the clock pasted on the ceiling above her bed. Was it a gift or a punishment from Charles? Probably both which made her cherish it. Any gift from Charles was a prized possession of hers and she soaked in every thoughtful bit of it. That said, the clock also let her pay attention to each agonizing second being stuck in this bed, inside this useless body.

After feeling what it was like to move again, to touch and feel and grab and walk and… Then to have that all taken away.

She was a prisoner with no bars.

The clock ticked by as her only companion, reminding her that it wasn’t all bad. It was almost time for her favorite part of the day. The only part of the day that held any joy for her.

The clock ticked to line up with the hour and punctual as ever, Charles walked through the door.

Merrin felt her face flush as she watched Charles stride across the room, carrying a tray,

“H-hello Charles.” Merrin said.

“Good morning, Merrin,” Charles said with a sad, yet sweet expression on his face. He set the tray on her night stand and sat next to her bed.

Merrin cringed at the expression. She didn’t need the ability to sense his life pulse in order to know what that expression meant. He was disappointed, but he still cared. It hurt so bad to know that she was the one to force that expression on his perfect face.

“I’m so sorry,” Merrin said, desperate to drive that expression away.

Charles held up his hand, “None of that, now,” He used that same hand to caress her cheek and Merrin savored the touch. “You are apologizing for what you did by experiencing what you are going through right now.”

Merrin would have nodded if she could have, so she forced herself to smile instead “You’re right.”

Charles sat and used the remote to activate the hydraulics in Merrin’s bed to sit her up slightly.

Merrin caught sight of the case that contained her dormant hypnosite on the bookshelf in front of her. For a brief moment she stared longingly at something other than Charles.

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Charles took a spoonful of soup from the tray he had set down and gently fed Merrin.

“I have good news today,” Charles said.

Merrin raised an eyebrow and stared at him, but didn’t speak with her mouth full.

Charles coughed lightly then spoke, “A thought occurred to me a few days ago. While CX21 was special, it was his blood that let us understand that. That was when I realized that he might not be one of a kind. I had my hopes that maybe he had a child and after doing some digging, I found out that he had a daughter.”

Charles started coughing violently and dropped the spoonful of soup on the ground.

Merrin frowned. His condition was worsening faster than she thought. Even with all of his biological enhancements, there was only so much time he could buy. That made her feel like dying from guilt. She deserved to be in this bed for what she had done to him, but then she realized what he was telling her, “You think the daughter inherited his compatibility?”

Charles nodded while coughing, his eyes squinted in pain.

“That is amazing news,” Merrin said.

Charles’s coughing calmed down. He wiped the blood from his mouth and then took a sip of water.

“That’s not even the best part,” Charles said after he recovered from his coughing fit. “I ran into Colin’s wife today and was able to make friends with her.”

“Oh?” Merrin said, not able to fully conceal the jealousy in her voice.

“You have nothing to worry about from her. She means nothing to me,” Charles said, with a meaningful smile.

“So you made friends with her?”

Charles nodded, “Right. I lied to her about having a missing daughter and then helped her pass out flyers. She invited me to her house for coffee so we could talk about how to find our mutually lost loved ones.”

“CX21 for her, and your fake daughter for you,” Merrin thought about that for a bit, “So are you trying to get in her good graces so you have easy access to the daughter?”

“Exactly,” Charles said, with an excited grin, “You understand me so well. What better way to collect a blood sample from CX21’s daughter than by being invited into their home. I need to garner some trust first, but hope is not lost.”

“Are you going to seduce her?” Merrin blurted out before realizing she said it.

Charles’s face scrunched as he spoke, “Not at all. I’m not sure that would even work with her if I wanted to try. When I shook hands with her, I slipped her some of the serum that we use for the Gilbert’s and for the CX subjects. I intend to slip her some more of the serum on our next visit so she’ll begin to associate the addiction with my presence.”

“Almost like the chips we insert in the CX experiments to make them return,” Merrin said, “I love it. It’s only a matter of time at this point.” She looked at the shelf and said, “I could help you if you want.”

Charles shook his head, stood and kissed Merrin on her forehead, “I want to forgive you, but I can’t trust you with this. Once it’s done, I promise I’ll let you back out of this body.”

Merrin savored the kiss, then as she processed the words Charles said, her heart sank, “Please hurry.”