-Chapter IV-
Step by Step, Finally Coming Home
“Ma’am, I apologize. But at this time, I am unable to share any more detail with you. I am under orders and until such time that those orders change, I cannot tell you anymore than this.” The soldier tells us. He and his partner look remorseful as they cannot tell us more.
I can tell just from looking at their eyes that if they were permitted to do so, they would tell us everything. I go over and hug my mom- It still feels so weird to think of her that way. – and pat her on the back letting her cry onto my shoulder.
“Please ma’am, for now be happy in knowing that your daughter is safely on base and is very much looking forward to being with all of you again.”
“But, how can I know that, that she is… that she is safe. Please! Let me see her! Let me be with my daughter again!”
“I am truly sorry ma’am. I wish that I could. You and your family will just have to wait a little longer. I can only reassure you that she is safe.”
Richard, Lain’s dad… my new dad, speaks up. “But you said that she is in quarantine! How could that possibly mean that she is safe!?”
“There is nothing to worry about sir. We do not suspect your daughter to sick or in any danger. She is in quarantine simply as standard procedure. She has been alone out there with nothing but a Kobold as company for some weeks now and has traveled through some dangerous areas. We are simply taking precautions to ensure that she is not carrying anything potentially dangerous in that could harm others. Let me reiterate that we do not suspect her to be in any danger and that we are working as fast as we can so that your family can be reunited. It’s just that procedures need to be followed.”
“I don’t understand. We didn’t have to undergo any quarantine when we got here. Nothing but a simple check up from a doctor. Why is it that she has to!?”
The soldier looks to his partner as if troubled. The other man gives him a nod before stepping forward and getting our attention.
“If I may… What I am about to tell you is not to leave this room.”
He looks at all of us and we give him a nod, mom quietly begs for him to tell us.
“As my partner here has stated, your daughter has traveled through some quite dangerous areas. These quarantine procedures are for any soldiers that venture too deeply into the city where the risk of encountering dangerous entities is much higher, in places that are exceedingly hostile to human life. Your daughter, Lain, was found deep inside of the city and surviving just fine despite the danger. During her time out in the city, she saved the lives of five soldiers and helped them get home with only two being injured. I cannot go into the specifics of what happened out there, and I need you to know that what I have told you is top secret.
“But please know that many of us regard your daughter as a hero and we want nothing more than to see her returned to your waiting arms. The minimum wait is two days, ten at the maximum, although that is looking to be unlikely. Please… Just a little more patience.”
The three of as are shocked to silence as he tells us that Lain saved five soldier’s lives, that she is a hero…
Just what has she been up to out there? Why was she in a city!?
The urge to throw an endless number of questions at them starts to grow, but then the two of them put on their hats and the first one interrupts us.
“Please, we have already told you too much as it is. Please remember to keep this secret, telling others would only cause trouble and may potentially delay matters. Be happy in knowing that she is alive and that you will get to see her soon. We will be taking our leave now. Thank you for having us in your home.”
They both give a respectful nod and leave the house in an orderly manner before we can bog them down with more questions and demands.
With the soldiers gone, my adoptive parents turn to one another and hug. Holding each other as they cry before eventually pulling me in as well. I can feel hot tears run down my cheeks and wet my shirt as I let weeks of pent-up sadness finally fall free. I don’t know how long we stay there huddled together on the couch crying, but eventually my dad lets us go and laughs through the tears.
“Hahaha, I told you she would make it. She even became a hero… Hahaha, my daughter is a hero…”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He shakes his head and laughs before going in and hugging us again. The both of us can’t help but laugh along as we imagine Lain being a hero to a bunch of big tough soldiers. Unable to think of her as anything other than that big softy that we all remember.
I can’t wait to see her again and give her a big hug.
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-Lain-
Holy shit, I am so freaking bored!
It’s been a whole day and we have done nothing but sit in this room and wait. They brought me my book when I requested it, but I got bored of doing nothing but reading for hours. I was able to get a bit of a laugh when Sky found the mini fridge in the corner and drank the soda inside like she just discovered cocaine. She got a sugar rush that lasted for about two hours until she crashed hard and passed out on the provided couch by the wall. Luckily I was able to stop her at two cans or she would have downed the entire fridge’s stock of the stuff.
So I ended up spending a lot of my time just sitting on the couch and petting a conked out Sky. Around lunchtime someone called us on the intercom and asks if we would like anything to eat. I request that they cook up about a half-pound of the meat that we brought with us for Sky and let them know that I don’t need to eat for the rest of the day; I already had breakfast.
Eventually Sky’s meal shows up through a slot in the door and I wake her to eat. She seems to enjoy it as we sit together and I brush her hair.
We are probably being watched through the one-way mirror, but I don’t let it bother me. I just spend the rest of the day being lazy and bored with Sky.
The night ends up being really slow as well, spending all my time reading in the darkness of the room while Sky sleeps on my lap.
I wonder what the people watching us are seeing right now. Am I covered in shadows like Rookie described…?
Deciding to try and be productive while I have nothing to do, I put the book down on the table and close my eyes to focus on my senses. To try and figure out this weird sixth sense that I have for feeling darkness.
For the rest of the night I try to meditate on this feeling, to try and understand it.
It won’t be until about halfway through the next day that someone finally comes to get us.
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“Apologies for the wait, I can understand that quarantine is never fun. I’ve come to pick you up and bring you to your appointment for your checkup.” Says the soldier at the door.
He is accompanied a man in a uniform and another soldier, but he remains off to side and doesn’t say anything.
“Please feel free to leave the book and brush here. We will have then brought to your new residence. Also, this is Lieutenant Carter. He has brought the contract and we will be able to proceed as soon as it is signed. Please be sure to give it a proper read before signing.”
“Alright then. You got a pen or do I sign in blood?”
The Lieutenant laughs at that, “Don’t worry ma’am, it isn’t that kind of contract. Hell, it's hardly even legally binding. You're basically just signing a promise that you will follow the rules and that we will reward you in exchange.”
He hands it over to me and I carefully read through it. The original list was only one page, but this contract is a couple pages thick as each point is explained and spelled out in detail. Thankfully, it isn’t flooded with legal jargon, or I would have been really suspicious of a trap or something. Also, he is right about it basically being a written promise. Unless the army takes my family hostage, they would be hard pressed to force me into doing anything. After all, I am still at least a bit certain that I can shrug off a bullet…
Going through it and double checking everything, I make sure that all the conditions match with what I was told, and that the benefits package is all there. If I am going to be doing this, I at least want my money's worth. Or at least whatever it they are using for currency now.
With everything looking good, I go ahead and sign the contract and hand it back to the lieutenant.
“Thank you ma’am. We will be sure to have a copy of the signed document made and delivered to your new residence. Now then, if you will follow Private Brian over there, you have an appointment to keep.
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Our walk for our checkup doesn’t take too long as our destination appears to be in the same building.
Soon, we are let into a room and asked to wait for the Doctor to arrive. I have Sky sit in one of the chairs while I lean my hammer against the wall and hop up on the table. Sky looks around curiously, taking in the room and looking at the couple of diagrams on the wall as we wait.
Eventually, someone shows up and knocks on the door, before letting themself in. A nice looking woman, wearing a white lab coat over a button up shirt and a skirt. She stops for a moment as she enters, her eyes fall on me and then Sky. Seeming to be a bit surprised by finding a Kobold that doesn’t look like a Kobold.
She quickly pulls herself together and puts on a professional look and a smile.
“Hello there, apologies for the wait miss Dixon and…” She turns to look to Sky, “I believe you must be Sky, correct?”
She looks up at the Doctor and nods her head, “My name is Sky, yes.”
“Oh, well. It is lovely to meet you Sky. I was informed that you were more… human than expected. I must admit that I am surprised by how you look.”
Addressing the both of us, she lets us know that her name is Dr. Theora Doe.
“Now how about we get started and we can chat as we go? Does that sound alright with you miss Dixon?”
“Sounds good.”
“We’ll start off simple and go from there and with your permission, I would like to check on Sky here as well.”
“As long as I can convince Sky to let you, sure. Just know that I won’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want.”
She gives me a smile, “That should be just fine. We aren’t planning on doing anything to scary; worse will be collecting a blood sample.”
“Hmm, I might be able to get her to let you collect some blood. But no promises.
“Well we’ll see how it goes. Now miss Dixon, could you hop on the scale and we can get your measurements?”
I do so and she weighs me to be at 81ib and a height of 4’10.
Getting Sky to do the same, she is weighed to be 60ib and is 4’2 in height. A good bit of her weight is coming from her tail, which has been growing along with her.
I explain to her that Sky is still growing and that this probably won’t be accurate after a day or two.