Unipsi, lovely entity
chapter 43c: caring
Idra with her rifle was rushing out. Her array of sensors pulsing and pinging the surrounding. Nothing, just the small Lean slowly running across the field toward the light of the farmhouse. The child didn’t even see Idra running toward her. Seconds later acute screams were heard from inside the living room where the Leans had little to no time to react.
“DON’T HURT HER! SHE’S A KID!” yelled Nuria at the top of her lungs.
As fast as she disappeared Idra was already back with a “small” Lean kid under her arm. The child was wearing undersized and damaged clothes. She was dirty and full of small cuts and bruisers. However what was more peculiar war her colour. The kid was a rare purple Lean. There are few Leans with the recessive purple colour. Among their children few keeps the purple colour if one of the parents is not purple. However there are some rare natural mutations that will result in purple children even from a totally red couple. Purple Leans didn’t had the better of lives. Their colour was too close to the dark blue of the Droxi and so they were easy prey for discriminations. They mostly found strength in other purples and being usually a product of purple parents they were at least accepted by their family. The child that Idra brought back had be clearly left alone by her parents and with almost absolute certainty that happened because she was one of the few unfortunate to get out purple from red parents.
“I’m not gonna hurt her. She is a kid” replied Idra.
“what the fuck. Whose...? No wait. She is not your kid right?” asked Scilla looking at Nuria.
The child kept screaming and trying to get free from Idra’s grab with no success.
“of course not, and Idra could you please free her?” replied Nuria.
“sure.” said Idra letting go of the kid that rushed behind Nuria and grabbed her trousers scared.
“this is also why I asked you to came. I know you don’t have prejudices toward purples. I can’t keep her here. So I thought that maybe you could help her somehow”
“this is a hell of a surprise” said Wiola.
“so you want me do adopt a child that you don’t even know?” said Scilla.
“well… not adopt. But take care of her somehow. I don’t have the money to keep her. We can barely eat...”started Nuria to be interrupted by Idra. Her voice was serious and send of a strange wise feeling.
“but you have the money now. The kid is already attached to you as I suppose you fed her right?”
Nuria nodded.
“so taking her away and bringing her into a massive city would do her no good. Only scare her more. So you will keep her. I gave you money and will give you more to pay for whatever she will need to grow up. Now you and Scilla will help me fix back this poor puppy.”
“I work almost all the time. How can I even be a parent to her? She needs…” replied Nuria.
“SHE. Needs YOU. Someone she trusts and that can be trusted. Not strangers in a world full of discrimination toward her. Here she could learn from you and assist you in a dying farm. Here she will be safe and away from those that abandoned her.”
Nuria was caught off guard while Scilla was surprised by how humane and strangely wise Idra was being. The same Idra that needs to be told each time she saw a new species that they could feel pain. That same Idra that found pleasure in torturing her enemies was now slowly crouching to avoid scaring the kid. Once levelled she opened her hand and manipulated the goo to make it assume different shapes. Flowers dancing in her hand, animals playing. Things that could easily be liked by a kid that was indeed mesmerised by them.
“did you gave her a name?” asked Idra.
“well, not really. I just fed her when she comes out of the woods. I never thought to keep her” replied Nuria.
“well now she needs a name, a bath, some new clothes and medication for both internal and external wounds” said Idra.
“she has internal wounds?”
“sort of. She probably recently contracted worms. So I will take care of that too. Scilla go fill a bathtub and prepare the shower. Wiola and Paz find some clothing. Nuria give her something to chew on and lets get moving. Also if you don’t find a name I’ll give her one”
the group started moving while Nuria kept discussing with Idra.
“then go on. Give her a name, I’m not that good with naming.”
“then call her Lia. If you look back at a possible meaning it stands for weary which she seems to be. Do you also want a surname? If so give her the surname Volta.”
“the name will be enough, I will eventually make her an Ibarra.”
“if you change Idea Volta is free to use”
“thanks but no”
Following Idra’s commands it didn’t took long before the newly nameed Lia was being washed under the shower. Idra insisted to help and her brutal manners disappeared almost magically. Among all of them she was the gentler one to avoid pressing too hard on Lia’s wounds. After a couple of washes they moved Lia inside the bathtub that had filled in the meanwhile.
“now. A few thing are left to fix her back to how she should be” said Idra and with haste poured a flask of grey dust inside the water.
“what’s that?” asked Nuria.
“what else if not omni-cure? This is the version for field medics. It’s a dust that you mix with water and place in contact with external small wounds. Now, one of my droids is coming with the solid encapsulated version to de-worm her.”
They looked at the grey mass moving around the water as if it was intelligent and alive. The grey dust would attach to open wounds and close them within minutes. It was a miracle cure indeed.
“this is fucking real. I can’t believe this” said Paz.
“of course it’s real. You also saw in in the video”
“I know. But I thought it was some propaganda shit. Not real technology, so call me impressed”
“mmh. I suppose you can’t tell me how it works nor give me a sample right?” asked Wiola.
“I can’t tell you how it works, but I technically could provide you with a sample”
“really?” Wiola was happy to be immediately brought back to reality by her sister remarks.
“hey, this is not a funny joke” said Scilla not pleased at all.
“uffi, I thought it was funny. Sorry Wiola but I could provide you with some omni-cure only if you were hurt. Also your sister caught me immediately. The sample would be too dangerous for your species if I get too far from it. So it’s a big no.”
“you have a strange sense of humour” said Wiola partially disappointed.
“it’s not may fault. I’m learning how to tell jokes from your big Sis” replied Idra smirking.
“what? How is that my fault? I’m an excellent comedian.” said Scilla.
Before Idra could reply her droid came in running and scaring Lia for a second. The machine was carrying a glass tube containing 3 pills that were not the smallest but of a normal size for Humans.
“so, Nuria. You are her adoptive mother? Sister? Whatever. The honour is yours. Make her shallow all 3 pills”
“what? They are massive. Can you make them smaller? She probably never took pills in her life”
“who cares. You are bigger than me. I scanned the size of her throat. They fit with a lot of margin. Just shove the in her.” Idra’s delicacy was just thrown full speed out of the window.
Nuria sighed and with a glass of water moved closer to Lia. The kid got immediately alarmed. She could sense that something was off and the dark pills didn’t help. Nuria tried to show Lia how to take the pills and explained to her how to do so, but in the end it didn’t matter much. Reassured by Nuria, Lia tried with the first pill but she couldn’t push it down and split in back in the tub. Nuria turned to Idra.
“see I told you. This is not going to work”
“ok, than plan B. If it doesn’t go in from the right end it will from the wrong one.”
“are you suggesting…”
“that you push them inside her ass? Yes. Or you can leave her so she develops worms and get sicker and sicker as time goes on”
“I can go to a pharmacy and buy the correct medication”
“you can, but you can’t buy them for Leans without a prescription. So you would have first to bring Lia into a hospital. Have them scan her, where they would probably still push a tube up her ass, and then bring her back to take the medicine. A medicine that could also be in suppository form. So?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“fuck, fine. But at least you all should get out. I don’t want to… to make it worst for her”
“you know that I can (see through walls?)”
Scilla, understanding what Idra was trying to say, grabbed her by placing her hand on Idra’s face and pulling her out. Once outside with the others she let go of the Esterian that didn’t appreciate.
“what the fuck? Why? The fuck is your problem?”
“I saved you from saying something that you should have not”
“what that I can see through walls?”
“exactly. You would have only make her concerned of unwanted attention.”
“oh. Ops. Then thanks Scilla. But it was not cool. Work on your manners”
“said the one that tells others to shove pills inside others butts”
Idra looked away and her movement suggested that she was looking for a comeback that she never found.
“shish. You won this one. But I’ll win the next. War is never over”
“sure” replied Scilla while chuckling.
About 30 minutes and a few screams later, Nuria opened the door. She had a couple of scratches but nothing significant.
“hahaha, look at your face, getting all fatigued from a kid beating” said Scilla, mocking her friend.
“bla bla bla. Your so funny. Next time why don’t you show me how you push 3 fucking pills up your sister ass?”
“that would not be a problem. I can take them orally” said Wiola with a smile. She also found it funny.
“she was not pleased, so it’s done right?” said Nuria looking at Idra.
“yes. The machines are working correctly. Her system is more compromised than aspected. I would suggest a couple more capsules…”
“NO!”
“yeah. I know. I was not going to give you more. I will remove the worms and fix some internal injuries. You will have to feed her with plenty of food in the following days”
“I know. You don’t have to tell me”
“but I do. The omni-cure eats you up, literally. So to make it more efficient you need to eat a lot more that usual. So get back into the kitchen woman. I can take care of Lia”
“I won’t let her go around wet and naked. Granny did you find something for her?”
“sort of. She is probably 8 or 9 and fortunately for her we don’t really throw away stuff if it’s not broken” said Paz.
“ok, bring them in. I will dry her and fix her hair…”
“I wanna do it!” exclaimed Idra.
“what?” was the general reply.
“I want to do her hair. You can… dry her. But I want to do her hair.”
“why?” asked Wiola.
“I’m the youngest of all Idras. I never had anybody else to play with. I also had no access to my hair as the suit was blocking me. So I want to do hers. At least let me try to brush and style them”
Nuria was not convinced. She was already in protective mode toward what she so hardly refused to accept as her family. However Scilla intrude speaking in favour of her Idra.
“I think it would be a good idea if not even the wiser one”
“what?”
“well she was by far the gentler among us while we were cleaning Lia’s wounded body. I doubt she would ever harm the kid. Quite the opposite being the idiot that she is, I think they would like each other”
“hey! I’m not an idiot.” replied Idra. She was not angry, she understood the joke.
“who knows. But I think you would take good care of her”
“thanks”
“so Nuri. Would you let her?”
Nuria sighed.
“fine. But only if Lia wants as well”
“that’s obvious” said Idra.
After being dried and dressed, Lia was left with Idra in the living room while the four Leans went into the kitchen in order to prepare something for the kid and talk for a moment away from Idra and the child. 20 minutes later, in which they didn’t conclude much, they got back into the living room to see Idra drawing with Lia on some pieces of paper. Idra somehow managed to cut Lia’s hair. They were by far in a better condition than before but Idra had no sense for fashion nor hairstyle in general. She kept Lia’s hair reasonably long and she went for a ponytail or at least tried as instead of starting at the back of the head she made it start on the top resulting in something akin to a palm tree. Scilla bursted laughing.
“what? Is it bad?” asked Idra confused.
“not too bad, but hilarious for sure” added Wiola that was hardly containing herself.
“Lia do you like your hair?” said Idra.
The kid nodded.
“see... she appreciates it, she is less snobby than you” remarked jokingly.
“get up puppy, it’s time to eat what your MOTHER made for you” continued Idra. She clearly wanted a reaction from Nuria that came.
“Lia, I’m not your mum. But I’ll be your sister. You can call me Nuri like Wiola already does.”
“can I call you BIG SIS Nuri as well?” said Idra laughing to herself.
“Don’t you try”-- “yes, go for it Idra” said Scilla
“k big sis Nuri”
“Scilla, whose side are you on? And stop laughing”
“on the funny side of course” replied Scilla.
Their jokes made Lia laugh.
Minutes later they were sitting at the table. Lia was in the middle, Idra on her right and Nuria after bringing out the food sat on the left. Lia jumped in as she was starving, but Idra stopped her. She instead took the food away, cut a piece of meat and spoon-fed Lia. The hungry demon soon adapted.
“why are you stopping her?” asked Nuria.
“because she has to learn some control and more importantly your food is too hot. At her rate she would end up burned, especially with this kind of giant boiled potato that you made as side dish. Kids tends to not like vegetables as their taste buds are developing. Bad experience ruins your future engagements so if I feed her balanced bites she will grow to like vegetables and eventually learn from experience how to eat properly”
“you are a hell of an encyclopedia. Are you sure you never had kids?”
“100% sure. All my knowledge comes from books and a lot of time spent in solitude. I may be able too take care of a child, but I’m not fit to be her reference figure nor I’m able to provide social knowledge. So you will have to.”
“fair enough.”
Soon after eating Lia started to show the signs of exhaustion. She had been starving, she was wounded and now fed and healing. It was also the middle of the night so the perfect time to call it a day and go to bed. Idra petted Lia a few times on the head.
“you should sleep with Nuria, so you get used to it and you will have some space for yourself”
but the kid shook her head and with her weak and cute voice spoke.
“mmh umh. Idra?”
“THE FUCK? You speak?” exclaimed Nuria.
“it was highly probable that she was able to speak. I doubt she is fluent but you will help her out in such regards.” then Idra looked at Lia.
“I won’t be sleeping with you, nor you can sleep with me. More importantly I’m not going to sleep. I have some work to do”
“what kind of work so late at night?” asked Nuria before Scilla could do the same.
“probability computation. Some data doesn’t add up, my empirical distribution has to be upgraded. I won’t bother with a more extensive explanation as none would understand it. Good night Ibarras, good night Lises”
Idra motherly behaviour was rapidly replaced with her more serious version and so she left for her ship.
“who the fuck works at night?” asked Nuria.
“she does. Well I guess we will meet again tomorrow. Good night” said Scilla and as she and Wiola were leaving they both petted Lia.
In their bedroom Wiola was slightly concerned.
“does Idra sleeps?”
“what do you mean?”
“well from your stories and her behaviour I don’t think she sleeps, or at least she doesn’t sleep on a circadian base”
“you are full of shit… she slept all the time on the Sheridan…”
Saying it out loud made Scilla reflect more on what she knew about Idra biology.
She has the knowledge and technology to cut away nervous impulses and inject what she desires, she also lives in the suit and the only times I saw her sleeping out of it were when she was sick. In those instances she also woke up before me. Some times she seems to forget to sleep and just this morning she apparently had been up all night. Even when we had our combined training she didn’t seem to sleep as her incursions were a constant threat. But I also remember that she had a nightmare on the Sheridan. Maybe Wiola is not totally wrong.
“you know, maybe you are right. There were several cases that were quite suspicious…”
“see I told you. You should ask her. If she doesn’t sleep it would be so fascinating and unique. I know of no mammals that doesn’t sleep or doesn’t sleep based on the day night cycle”
“maybe she does sleep like water mammals by turning off half her brain or by going into energy savings”
“maybe… can you ask her for me? Please Sis, please…”
“fine I will ask her, but tomorrow. Now sleep. Night shorty”
“night sis”
The next morning Scilla waited for Idra to take a pause from Lia. From the moment Lia woke up, she and Idra were basically glued together. They drew, played hide and seek and more importantly Idra shared her comic with her. She read alongside Lia to show her the pronunciation and writing of the words.
“Idra, do you have a moment?” asked Scilla.
“yep, do you need something?”
“I was wondering… do you sleep?”
Idra was confused as they shared a bed multiple times.
“did you hit your head? You saw me sleeping”
“I know, but at the same time it seems to me that you can stay awake for… for a lot of hours, even for several days”
“oh, I suppose it could seem strange to you but I do sleep. We shared a bed in several occasions. I just need less sleep as I’m accustomed to Weeping Sky with it’s 42 hours days. Also I only sleep when I have to recover. I don’t need the memory organising part so often as you do. I already do that upon getting data”
“so you don’t follow a circadian cycle for sleeping?”
“not really, I sleep when I need to sleep. Why did you ask? Does it disturb you?”
“no, well… it’s just peculiar. The firsts nights on the Sheridan...?”
“I had to fake some nights.”
with her answers Scilla left Idra to her playing and “teaching” with Lia. The next few days passed in absolute calm but unfortunately they had to return to their usual lives. The Ibarras to take care of their farm full time along side teaching Lia. Wiola to her house and job as researcher and Scilla with Idra to their scavenging.