Was this guy in his right mind? Calling him dad? Was he actually serious? He couldn't be. He treats them as though they were toys. He only uses them for entertainment, so what was the point of acting like their father. It was insane! Like crazy insane!

"I don't think either will be possible, director," Inizio said, thinking that there was seriously something wrong with Aarth. Like mentally wrong. There had to be something wrong somewhere in his head.

"It's impolite for us to call you something like that. We're not even human," Srusti added. Aarth looked at the two through the window, trying to read their facial expression rather then relying on the words coming out of their mouths, but he couldn't read any of their facial muscles. Well, he could just barely see a confused expression on Inizio's face, but he saw nothing from Srusti. That girl was a complete wall. He couldn't even find a lift in her lips or eyebrows. Still, he still smiled at the two of them. They were just children who'd never gone outside before.

"You two are children and need an adult to lean on. I'm the only guy that know of you two and have the ability and heart to take care of the two of you."

Wow, what a benevolent guy he was. They both thought, sarcastically. There was no way they could actually trust this guy. He was insane. Like medically. However, neither of them were in the position to tell him that he was wrong. They just had to suck up his insanity and deal with it.

"If that's how you want to view us, then go ahead. We're in no position to tell you any different, but it would be improper for us to view you as a parent," Srusti said, sticking her nose back into the magazines as a way to get away from the conversation.

"Why is that?" Aarth asked.

"Because we're nothing more then scientific lab rats, and aren't worthy enough to considered your children."

"I think you two are plenty worthy," he said, "You both are smart and well behaved children. And even though you weren't born like everyone else, the two of you don't have to be human to need to be taken care of. You're still children who need adults to guide you."

Like hell they really needed a guide. The two kids were smart beyond compare. If they didn't know something, they would learn it as soon as possible. If the environment was different, they would adapt as fast as they could. Besides, that was what they were meant for. To see the limits of their body and mind. If they couldn't adapt to their surroundings fast enough, if they couldn't even survive jumping out of a moving car, they would be considered faulty yet again. So, it was better if they just ran away now before they were considered failures again and killed.

"So, call me dad," he said.

Wow, they didn't even have a choice anymore. He really just got ride of their second option just like that. It just showed how he did everything on a whim. But, they weren't going to back down as easy as he took away the option. After all, they were starting to understand Aarth's personality a bit more.

"Is this an order?" Inizio asked keeping his nose in a magazine as his sister was.

Aarth continued looking at the two through the mirror. He saw how uninterested the two seemed in the subject thought it was an important topic. It was something that could almost be seen as one of the most important things in their lives, yet they just suck their nose in magazines with no interest in this life changing moment. Rather, they found this topic bothersome and would rather browse through catalogs. It was annoying how he couldn't read them like he could any other person. The two of them, in that moment, were completely unreadable.

"If it was, what would you do?" he had to ask. The two continued their indifferent strike with Srusti taking the lead, "If it's an order, then we'll humbly oblige. If not, then I'm sorry," Srusti looked at Aarth through the mirror making eye contact that was ever so indifferent and emotionless, "but that's not something we're able to do."

Aarth felt the pressure behind the emotionless stare, but just laughed it off. In truth, he was a little scared of the kids he said he was going to raise. Sometimes, they were like wild animals, sometimes actual children, and sometimes they were so emotionless that it would scare even him. Still, like how they weren't showing what they were feeling, he wasn't going to either.

"Well, it's not an order then. I don't want you two to be uncomfortable after all."

Srusti just looked away not caring as she always did, ending the serious little conversation.

The next time the two kids got out of the car, they weren't in front of an institute like building. It was more like a store. It looked like a rich person store too. The suspicion was only proven to be true when they walked into the store and found almost nothing to be seen. Proof that everything to be sold was way too valuable to be put on display. There was also a little waiting area with catalogs on the table and a dressing room. There were shelves that lined the walls, probably holding clothes of some sort. Of course there was no way of finding out as it was impolite to just open drawers in a place that didn't belong to them. That didn't mean they were curious though, but there was no time to think about it. As soon as they walked into the store, a lady walked out from the back of the store and picked up Srusti without any warning.

"If I knew you two would look this lovely in my clothes, I would've made thousands of different outfits!" She said before even introducing herself. Srusti just let the lady do whatever she wanted, but Inizio was infuriating by the actions she took.

"Please put down my little sister," he said, bringing the lady's attention to him. The lady put Srusti down hand looked over the Inizio.

"And you look cute too! Both of you are just perfect in black and white!"

Was it because it was their first day outside, but they were just surrounded by weird people. It was sort of unnatural. Weren't people supposed to be normal? Not like them, but rather normal people like the people in the lab. Well, the sort of normal they wanted to be, anyway.

"Thank you for the compliment," Srusti said since her brother was still trying to over come his annoyance by how impolite the lady in front of them was being.

"What polite little things you are! You sure are different front your father!" She said in response which immediately caught the children's attention as they looked at Aarth through their prereferral vision. Spreading around the word that they were his kids really was a cry for him wanting the two of them to call him dad, wasn't it? Nonetheless, they weren't going to give in to his little wants, but that didn't mean they were going to acknowledge the changes either. They found from reaching books that crushing such situations they were in now were easiest with silence. They were just going to act like the second sentence just wasn't said, and since there was nothing else to say, they just look at the lady that was also observing them. Well, not them specifically, but the clothes on their body and how they matched with their unnatural features.

Looking over the two, the woman nodded her head, "You were right in choosing a black and white color scheme for their first outfits. It fits them well."

Aarth nodded his head as well, agreeing with the statements seeing as she was the one she was talking to, "Well of course. But they're going to need outfits of all sorts and in different colors, so I brought them directly to you."

So it really was the director who chose out the outfits. Honestly, they thought the clothes were just taken off a shelf for them to wear and matched because they were identical test subjects. That just seemed the most fitting answer, but hearing the conversation now, it started to make sense why there were magazines in the car that had some picture circled in black pen. It was probably the director that did that, they both thought at the time. Though the two of them didn't see the merit of them choosing their own clothes. It's not like they had a preference in the first place.

"Well then," the lady said and kneeled down to the children's level while smiling, probably to seem more friendly.

"Are there any colors the two of you like?"

Inizio and Srusti responded at the same time using the same word, "No."

This got the lady's smile to turn into an awkward one. She'd probably expected them to nervously tell her their favorite color or multiple colors, but they shot her down with a straight answer.

"Then, do you two have a favorite color or a color you like better then others?"

The two answered the same way. In an uninterested, bored tone at the same time.

"No."

The lady's smile grew more and more awkward seeing that the conversation wasn't going to go anywhere. However, she wasn't going to let the conversation end in such awkwardness.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Then how about you say the first color that comes to mind?"

There was something they could do. It was as simple as going through all of the colors they knew rather then having to, on the spot, decide what color they favored the most when they've barely been exposed to them.

"Purple," Srusti said first with the brother following with, "Blue."

Now, with their answers, the lady's face brightened up into an actual, happy smiled.

"Alright," she said, "Then would one of you follow me or a moment?"

Inizio and Srusti looked at each other. Just one of them? Why couldn't it be both? What was this lady trying to do? Was she trying to take them away from each other? Inizio grabbed his little sister's hand and slightly pulled her behind him, so he would be a little more towards the lady as a way of protecting his sister.

Aarth saw this and spoke, "The two of them prefer not to be separated."

The lady nodded, understandingly, "Of course, of course. Then the two of you can come along together."

What was this about? The two siblings looked at each other again then nodded to the lady. After, they were lead to the back of the store, out of sight from Aarth. Waiting for the kids to come back, he decided to just sit on the couch that was behind the wooden table with the catalogs on them. Then, he picked up the catalog for children's clothing and started flipping through it looking for nice designs.

In the back of the store, Inizio was standing on a circle platform with a mirror in front of him while the lady was using a measuring tape to measure his body. He was the first to get measured because he didn't trust the lady to touch his little sister, not after her impolite actions of just picking Srusti up. There was no way he could trust her after all of that. And either way, this was a completely new person who the two of them knew nothing about besides the fact that she was a clothing designer. Plus, they were brought to her by Aarth, and she seemed a little messed up in the head. With all that, there was no way that they were going to trust her. So, he was going to sacrifice himself to see if everything was going to be okay, and if it wasn't then it would let his sister find hide or find a back door and leave.

"The measurements from before are perfect," the lady said.

Of course the measurements were perfect. They were constantly measured on the daily basis silently from a different person every time. If the measurements weren't accurate, it would be even weirder.

"You haven't grown much, but don't worry, you'll be really tall when you grow up," she said softly.

Inizio just looked at the lady through the mirror reflection not caring about what she was saying. He knew that he was going to get taller. He was sure that he would at least hit 6 ft while Srusti would grew to at least be 5'4. But, he couldn't be sure. He'd never been allowed to grow up to see how tall he would be. He hoped that he would, but even more so his sister. He would love to see her pick up a hobby that she really enjoyed. Like writing, reading, drawing, playing a musical instrument, or even gardening. As long as she was having true fun with it, Inizio was going to be happy seeing it. He too wanted to get a hobby or maybe even make some friends. Either way, he wanted to live a life. One where he would be able to continue growing. That was something he was working for. For both him and his sister.

"Thank you," Inizio said. The lady smiled, "You're welcome."

The, for some reason, she just continued talking, "You kids should loosen up a little. After all, you can't be kids forever. Have some fun with it. Open up, laugh, throw tantrums, do whatever kids do while you can."

She said that like it was easiest thing to do in the world. Like they could open up to random people that walk past them on the street. Like they could be nice to everyone before making any assumptions. Well, of course she did. Look at them. They were kids. They were 8 and 10. Now, they would be nervous or talking about multiple useless things on end. They would be naiveté be talking to a person they'd just met without any worry. Just like kids do.

They'd smile without regret, cry without hiding, and laugh all the time. They would be lively. They would have a favorite color, a favorite animal, a favorite everything. Exactly, like children did.

They would reach for someone to look up to, someone they could learn and follow. They would want and need protection from the outside world. They wouldn't even know what desperation was. They would've never had to even think about jumping out of a moving car just to lay in green grass under the sun. They wouldn't be scared and warry of everything single person. Just like kids were.

But they couldn't. So what if they were kids? So what if they were supposed to be talkative and smile all the time. They weren't protected and held dearly. They were caged and ignored by everyone around them. They were experimental tests subjects who weren't born to be loved in the first place but to just be objects to be thrown away.

Suddenly being thrown in this new environment, of course, they were going to be warry. Of course, they were going to question and second guess everything. Of course, they wouldn't be able to smile and talk with no conscious. Of course, they couldn't be kids. That right was taken away from them over and over and over and over. And, they didn't know how to get it back.

But, there was no point in tis random lady needing to know this. She didn't want to know of their vulnerability. About their boring past. No one did. Besides, who would actually believe them?

"I'll try," Inizio said. But, there was no way he could.

Next it was Srusti's turn to have her measurements checked. There was no need to, but the lady wanted to do it anyway. And like with her brother, she had stuff to say to Srusti too.

"What a pretty thing you are," she said, "You look just like your brother."

What was she going to look like if not her brother. She was modeled after him. He was the base for her. That's why he was A and she was B. Her brother was based off a real human while she was the splitting image of him. She was the needed but not cared about second while her brother got claps from being created. He was special after all. The first genetically engineered human being made from scratch using none of the natural steps while she was the second, created only because the lab had to know if making females was possible as well. She was made for nothing more but that.

"Thank you," Srusti said.

"You need to loosen up too," the lady said, sighing, "Both you and your brother need to smile some more."

Smiling sounded easy enough, but when Srusti looked at herself in the mirror and tried to smile, she couldn't. No matter how much she thought about lifting her facial muscles, they never turned into a smile. Smiling really did sound easy, but it wasn't. Not for her anyway.

"Especially you. Smiling would make you even prettier hen you already are. Then you'd make a whole bunch of friends."

Friends? Where there people who wanted to be her friends? How would she even go about making such a relationship? She didn't know. Besides, there was not a single person she met that was her age. Friends aren't limited to age, but still, that was how being friends usually worked. But, there was no one like that. And, she didn't even know how she should react when it came to kids. They were so happy go lucky that it actually scared her a little. She wondered how they were so oblivious of the world even though they were let outside. It was weird, and it was an attitude she would never get used to nor did she want to have. However, despite that, she wanted friends. She wanted more people to talk to besides her brother. She wanted to play group games with other people. But most of all, she wanted to see her brother running around with his friends playing a game. After all, Srusti knew that being around her all the time was taxing and not fun. Her brother just smiled through all of it to make her feel better. She didn't want to keep him chained to her anymore.

"Well, your measurements are perfect as well," the lady said, stepping away and allowing Srusti off of the little elevated platform.

"Now, if you two could stay here for a minute," she said, leaving the two kids to watch as she walked deeper into her store.

When the lady walked away, Inizio reached to hold his little sister's hand. He looked at her, and she looked at him. Both of them were thinking the same thing. Both of them were ready to take that first step forward, but Srusti shook her head. Now wasn't the right time. Now, they would look suspicious. Now, they would get caught. They had to wait, but Inizio didn't want to. He looked at his little sister and tightened his hold in his sister hand, telling her that he wanted to go. However, Srusti's head shook again.

Was it really necessary for them to go through with the most dangerous plan of all. He would have to break through the glass which would risk some of the fragments of the glass piercing through either of their skins which could cause a life threatening injury. Then, they'd have to jump out of a car moving at 60 mph or more. It was insane. Just putting the window down with the loud sound of the wind while it entered the car showed how bad it was going to be if they jumped out of a car moving at the speed. There was also everything that could be on the road. Dead animals, pieces of concrete, oil. All of it was something they didn't want their faces touching. Still, it was the best plan Srusti came up with it. It had the most risk, but that was the risk they had to take for the freedom of the outside world they wanted.

Inizio looked away from his sister's obsidian eyes.

"Okay," he said, rethink about his choice of wanting to go to the outside world this way. Maybe they could make a deal with Aarth about going outsides every so often after they get to their new, boring place of residence. That would be much safer. At least, it seemed to be.

"Alright then," they lady said, coming back with multiple sheets of fabric with her that were all different colors. She put one fabric after another text to Inizio's and Srusti's figure, trying to figure out what colors would suit them the best.

She came to find out that really anything worked for them. Well, except plain white. Because of their alright light color pallet, it was bad to put yet another light shade on top. Of course, white did work as long as it accompanied another color which was why the outfits the two were wearing right now were perfect. However, because of their white like tones, everything worked well with them, meaning that the lady's creativity would have to be put to a stop simply because the color didn't match the person. It was perfect. And see as she had already made a few more sets of clothes prior using the perfect measurements given to make the ones the children were currently wearing. She already had something made for them and didn't have a change anything. It was all thanks to her sudden burst of inspiration after hearing that two angelic like people existed. Though, she did want to see them try on each and every outfit she made, but she remembered Aarth telling her not to ware them out seeing as there were multiple other places they needed to go.

"You two can go back to your dad now. I'll be out in a second with your clothes."

That guy wasn't their dad, but there was no use refuting that anyway. So, they just followed her instructions and walked back to the front of the store where Aarth was sitting on the couch looking at catalogs.

Looking at the two of them and the Aarth, it was perfectly clear that the three of them weren't related by blood. And yet, they considered him to actually be a parental figure. At least, he was close to one. He had a direct hand in their making. He gave the order to start researching the creation of genetically engineered children. Plus, he was male, so he was, in one way, their father. However, no matter how you looked at it. In any other way, he wasn't. So, calling him dad, father, or any other synonyms to the word was out of the question.