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CHAPTER 03: MOTHER
The outpost facility went livelier than expected as those previous months, the Hanging garden area lit their solar lights at a high pace. Sprinkler systems on the ground danced with joy as the green cow grass feds its water regularly after not been hydrated for a couple of months. The Nursery area, once a lifeless and an empty room starts to fill up with Children's colors which have not seen before, the floor is filled up with linen and cotton floor if not a very large playground outside the nursery hub. The Artificial Womb Hub is closed shut so that the children won't question, but it is unavoidable.
Adalwolf is facilitating on the recreational and holographic Hub to assign what kind of Artwork and hobby should the children be more impressed into. Eash was on the other side teaching the children what their best insight of passion is, to make something from scratch, art or anything, in particular, will help them of what they're a dream is going to be like.
Isaac, on the other hand, works on management and leadership. He facilitates and makes laws for each child that they can or can't have to avoid exploitation and spoil from time to time. He also works as an observer for the facility
If there is something wrong, even a minor thing, he continually orders Eash like a slave to fix broken lines or broken facilities. Eash, however, doesn't complain about Isaac's leadership as he never complains once.
Ms. Brighton is the sole caretaker of 200 children in the academy. With a level of high efficiency and the level of order around as few children follow her around wherever she goes, but sometimes she would end up playing with the children's games just for entertainment. Loves children with all the passion and even tries to protect them whatever is necessary when harm happens to them
"My dear children? Look lively, form your lines, form your lines." Clasping her hands constantly.
Guardian Brighton on the front row inspecting each child on the playground to calm them down after they are playing all kinds of fantastic sports; Hide and seek, tagging, world maker and other recreational things.
"Ko'ren no poking around with your companions." She said.
"Yes, Miss Brighton," Ko'ren said while chuckling
Everyone laughed and giggled after ko' ren replied to Brighton.
"Now now, children. I'm going to start counting, make sure you be quiet." She said
"Yes, Miss Brighton." The children all told with incredible sync.
In Brighton's sight. There's a Blue hue everywhere, she counted the children with just a split of a second, and in her visuals it says.
'Counted 27 people, 3 people missing: INCOMPLETE.'
"Where are your other 3 companions. Children?" she asked with a distinctive and soft-spoken words
"Miss Brighton they must be still playing Hidee-Seeker."
Reni said in the front row of the line with her cute voice.
"Children you may sit on the grass for a while; I'll go look for the children." She said while lifting her skirt up to walk on the bushes
"Yes, Miss Brighton." They said but this time with a less exciting tone
Brighton went into the fountain park as she casually walks like a socialite lady in distress, walking with her skirt being lifted up. To a lucky surprise, she saw a child with a decent black playing against the sunlit fountain with his delicate hands on the surface of the water.
"Garden? Now get on the line, the children are waiting for you out there. After this, you get to play with the fountain again."
"And also we will be given you all a special surprise."
The child dried up his hands, wiped it on his delicate jumpsuit and got surprisingly excited;
"Oh, Oh!! Is it another surprise, Miss Brighton? What is it? What is it?"
He jumped with excitement as if he could not hold his excitement any longer.
"Always get too jumpy my favorite goodie-one. Yes, my Dear! A surprise, as a surprise I wouldn't tell you."
Nardeen replied;
"I Like Surprises Miss Brighton, I'll go in the line now."
He immediately sprinted passed Miss Brighton as her reaction is gaping gasps in her mouth but later she chuckled as she continues to search for the remaining two children.
She walked longer than a few minutes now, walks near the edges of the Park Dome that it's like looking for clues and pieces of evidence. While she was walking around sightseeing the sunlight gaping on her dark silky hair she heard a footstep on the cow grass as if it were a sign of rush;
"Miss Brighton is going to kill me."
The child ran in a desperate tone of panic, did not bother to watch his front as he keeps running towards Brighton's walk path;
"Issues? Watch where you're going!"
She said in a desperate attempt to avoid the collision, but it was too late. Issyus bumped into her skirt, but even before he could attempt to hit her body, Brighton immediately grabbed her shoulders, and his forehead and the escalation was ceased;
"Miss Brighton!!!" The issue was covered in red with guilt and contempt.
"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...!" he added stuttering his words
"Remember what Mr. Adalwolf told you never to look back right, my dear child."
Brighton was soft-spoken and tried to pat his hair as a sign of goodness
"Yes, Ma'm, I mean Miss Brighton."
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She lets go of Issyus and now stood up by looking for the last child;
"Now you go ahead Issyus, children are waiting for you, after all, we have another test coming this night I want you to prepare."
Instead of Issyus replying, he immediately runs back where the children were with his face covered in red with embarrassment. Brighton smiled talking to herself
"If only it could be like this forever."
After that, she gave a sigh and proceeded to look for the very last missing child. She looked at her own vision with a strapped-on GPS locator and started searching through the academy map.
"Now what in heaven's name are you doing in there?"
talking to herself with a bit of disappointment.
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The Animal Natural Park Hub is unlike any park you'll ever see, to the extent you cannot walk it in one day as it is so large that it extends the boundary of full-grown Flora, all types of one-kilometer-tall trees extend high to almost near the glass dome panel. It is thus impossible to comprehend that the Hub has its own weather that depends on flora and fauna of the Hub will change the emotions of the weather. All types of animals lived in this area most likely from Earth 1,000 years ago. Which Dears and Sparrows are probably the most common in the area.
Brighton walks as she stumbles behind the clusters of trees, navigating through the tiny bushes and on the glimpse of the eye,
She saw her.
Sparkling between the sunlit reflections of the trees above her short silk hair, she was sitting above the aerial root of an oak tree smiling. Somewhat holding a Pen and very thick canvas using her knees as support. She was looking at her surroundings and looked back in her art after a few seconds.
Brighton observed closer on what she was making. But before she could have a chance to gaze at her work, she put aside the canvas on the grass stood up and starts stretching her arms high up in the air and yawned. With this reaction, Brighton grins her face with an absolute disappointment.
"Vertalia?"
Vertalia gasped her breath as she saw Brighton about a few feet away from her.
"Shhhhhhhhhh."
She said with a very soft tone with a hush finger sign in her left hands. After that, Vertalia gave Brighton a 'come closer' hand signal as she insists something was up.
Brighton looks contempt on the reaction she just gave. But out of curiosity, she followed her call whatever she was up to and got closer to her vicinity. Vertalia clasped her hands and dragged her into the nearest trunk and hid her there, observing something.
"Is something wrong, Vertalia?" she asked with a worried look.
Vertalia did not heed any reply, watched something out of curiosity, and looked with a serious face. As Brighton did not expect her to reply she watched where Vertalia is looking and to her surprise, it was hazy at first sight then she saw what the child had witnessed;
"Look at that?" she exclaimed.
It was a Dear, in the middle of the daisy flowers as it seems and it's been kneeling there in pain. The sunlight lit the deer up like its heaven, finally the deer tilted her body and lay on a sea of daisy, the petals flew out like kites and finally rested on the ground;
"Is she going to be alright?"
Vertalia is looking worried, and in spite of that, she was still looking at the deer out of curiosity.
"It's alright Vertalia, that Dear you just witness? She's giving birth."
"Oh?" she said with realization
They continued to look as the dear began licking her breast and tummy for a while, she was howling in unbearable pain but endured the suffering.
"Is this how I was born. Miss Brighton."
Vertalia asked
"Yes, my, Dear. But it's actually complicated."
She replied in a soft tone.
"My mother is long gone is she, you told me after when I was younger." The child said.
"Worry not my dear, they are actually in a safe place right now," Brighton said
"Was that the Paradise Mr. Adalwolf told us, Miss Brighton." She asked again
"Perhaps? You can go there someday, Vertalia. For now, you're just an innocent little girl." She added her lines still looking at the dear
"Well, technically I'm a short little girl, considering my height." The child said with the smirk on her face.
"You may be short, but someday you can use that to your advantage. You can run as fast as the other children would and will be the first person to go there."
Brighton chuckled on Vertalia's height but took on a positive note
The Dear screamed in pain and then all of a sudden she stopped, began pushing her nerves down to the spine with high intent, with high velocity to push out something coming out from her genitals. Slowly something came out. Ahead! Ahead of the younger one came, both of the girls were staring profusely into the dear happy and Brighton in a bit of tear. The shape of the youngling takes form as its body came crashing down the puffy grass and daisies.
"Do you always wanted to have your own daughter or a son, Miss Brighton?"
Vertalia asked.
"I'd like a daughter, someday I will, if only."
She replied with a pang of sadness into her reply.
The youngling moved its foot around and tried to stand up, but to no avail, for a while, it persists as the Dear kneeled back trying to wipe the liquid sacs out of the youngling.
In a few minutes, the youngling started its step by standing upon the soft grass, trying all his might to make his first step. It was a miracle to some extent, the baby slowly standing up at first shaking his legs profusely as if it is about to collapse but somehow and in some way, the baby stood up for the first time.
Vertalia looked closer at the miracle of the universe that she had witnessed as she was awed with a lot of questions.
But for Brighton her tone was in a different story, instead of happiness her emotions were filled with grief and sadness;
Brighton looked away from the Dear's beautiful sight and sat in the back of the oak trunk staring blankly in the evergreen grass as she could not take her emotional side anymore.
Vertalia looked at Brighton for a while as she was about to say;
'Are you alright, Miss Brighton.'
But that wasn't the right thing to do, it's just not right. Vertalia knew in her emotions that she wasn't.
Looking back at the Dear's birth site where the mother and the young began caressing each other, their heads intact. Vertalia gazes for a while out of curiosity, it seems she knows that it's going to be over soon. The Dear and the young began walking out of the daisy field, and the doe happily bounces around of excitement as the mother is following his own son.
Brighton still staring at the other side of sight out of instinct said to her;
"Is it done, Vertalia?"
Still staring the Dear and the doe from the far distance;
"I believe so Miss Brighton."
While on their way back, they were in complete silence. Brighton and Vertalia clasp each other's hands as they slowly walkout from the Natural Park Hub. She was still looking where the sight of the Dear and the doe was but to no line of sight, now she was looking at Brighton. Who was at first cheerful and caressing moments ago is now filled with a void and no emotions.
Brighton began holding her hands tighter and tighter, yet Vertalia doesn't mind the pain. She doesn't care about the pain; the only thing she could think of was that she was worried about Miss Brighton, who was on distress.
'Is she's showing what I think she is. A Weakness, that's impossible. A 'Guardian' who showed weakness in front of me. I need to help her.'
Her mind began on an observable state as Vertalia stopped moving, dropping her canvas with her. Brighton turn back into his mindless state into his self but still the look of sadness in her face;
"Is everything alright, my dear."
No reply from Vertalia as she was looking down the ground
"If you have any pains, I can carry you if u want."
Then she finally replied;
"Miss Brighton?"
Vertalia said in a softly spoken words
"Yes!"
Brighton replied with a state of panic.
"Ms. Brighton I know it hurts doesn't it. I don't want you to get hurt. I wanted to call you my 'mother' badly for a long time. I mean is it wrong? No matter what happens, you'll always be the best mother I've ever had."
Vertalia said as she sobbed with his heart as she could. That could not hold her cries any longer, her tears dropped like a river flowing through the ground.
Brighton's emotions were conceivably touched by this, her cheeks were filled with tears; this is the first time she cried this horribly in front of Vertalia, not by the feeling of despair and depression. But with the state of happiness and euphoria, she had never felt in a long time.
“Vertalia, did u just call me Mother?” Brighton said while sobbing and wiping her tears away
She kneeled on the ground to embrace Vertalia's tiny body, hugging her tightly as she could as if it was the end of the world.
“Thank you Vertalia.”
Vertalia knew along what to do, Brighton may be efficient at everything, but in truth, she had a weakness. The feel to have a daughter on his own, which she doesn't have, she wanted to experience real love from a daughter.
"Just this once..."
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