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At what age did they choose her from the litter? When did they assign her a purpose, a destiny, forcibly thrust upon her?
She was just a child—a cheerful, carefree little girl whose sole mission in life was to bring joy to her dad. Even if pleasing him meant adhering to his every command, following his instructions, engaging with those he wanted her to, and studying what he wanted her to learn.
Jaiden would execute everything verbatim, like the wonderful kid he claimed her to be.
Whether it involved acing exams or overpowering the other kids during their physical exams, she would do it for him.
Performing these tasks granted her freedom from his watchful eye, as it was expected of her to excel whenever tested. Unlike her peers who still avoided looking at Cucurucho's face, she would boldly raise her arms towards him with grabby hands until he noticed and lifted her from the ground.
He was nothing but wonderful to her, too.
Which is why she could never understand the way she saw Baghera wince everytime she got picked up, as if something bad was going to happen, or the way Cellbit would tense up whenever he got close to them.
Why would they distrust her dad? He was so cool, fluffy, and soft…
Her relationship with her dad definitely brought her problems, though. During recess, particularly, one of the only times where they were allowed to be themselves. To be children, for the time being.
She liked the other kids. They were so cool! Cellbit and Baghera consistently solved the puzzles they had to play with in record time, always improving.
Foolish would be off doing his own thing - Never staying in one place for too long. He’d be jumping, and moving from one game to another in record time.
Herself, during some days, would play with them. Foolish would have her running around and jumping with Cellbit as they pretended to fight. Baghera would always comment on her bear headband, a little bit too nervous and thus repeating the same compliment all the time before offering to play Animals together. And then there’s Maximus…
Blinking, she briefly scans the room and notices someone missing.
Just as she does, the door opens with a hiss, and some workers push Maximus in as he berates them, seemingly out of a particularly awful training session.
“Hijos de puta, ¡Me cago en todos sus putos muertos!”
They don't respond; instead, they simply shut the door as he approaches, closing it on his face. Grumbling, he turns around and scans the room, checking which kids are in recess with him.
He gets along with most, but it still must be hard for him, as most of his friends are in the Adult Group, and he's still stuck with the kids for the time being.
That meant that Maximus stood out from the rest. He never rested during recess, always engrossed in planning his next move, refusing to grant himself any downtime.
At least, not when under the watchful eye of the Federation.
Today was no exception. She excelled at identifying the footsteps of her friends and non-friends (Maximus wasn't an enemy, just someone with whom she didn't get along much). He swiftly caught her attention as he approached. Engaged in playing with one of her bear plushies, she felt as he looked her up and down until his watchful eyes finally met hers.
He towered over her, older, larger, and more intimidating. He had spent far more time in the program than she had, growing weary of its confines.
Unlike Cellbit, who simply remained defiant as he complied, Maximus posed a threat, indifferent to the repercussions that opposing Cucurucho would bring.
Her fear stemmed from the realization, even at her young age, of the stark contrast of just how much better she had it inside the Federation due to Cucurucho's influence, and Maximus's apparent indifference to it.
Squinting, he muttered disdainfully, "You're pristine," before casting a glance to the side - specifically to Baghera. "You always are, and they are not."
Jaiden also observed her, taking note of how she observed the conversation between her and Maximus, weakly waving back when noticed. Jaiden observed the bandaged arm, stretching from elbow to palm, and as she turned away to resume playing with Foolish, a slight limp accompanied her movements as she followed him.
It made Jaiden hide her face into her plushie’s back. Baghera was hurt during their physical exam, by her, in particular. But it wasn’t her fault, it was… It was expected to happen!
“It’s not my fault!” She rushes to retort, then withdraws into herself, shoulders raised as if seeking refuge within them. “They… They all know that these things happen!”
He rolls his eyes. “Is that what He tells you?” He mutters, casting another disdainful glance at Jaiden. “Your brain is rotten by His ways of thinking, and that’s unfair on them. Do you really know how they feel? You’re just a dumb kid, in the end, What do you even know about these kids?”
“...I know a lot about them.” She refuses to accept his statement, but he’s older, so… Maybe there’s some truth to his words?
“No you don’t. You only know what that psycho Cucurucho wants you to think.” Looking down at her, Maximus remains his eyes glued to her in a way that feels like he wants to say more - But something holds him back.
This pause in Maximus's words provided Jaiden with the opportunity to reflect on his harsh remarks.
She is indeed significantly younger, and her da- Cucurucho, is the one imparting most of her lessons to her. He insists that these are valuable lessons for her future. Contemplating her father - Cucurucho! - in any light other than that of a good person causes her chest to ache and her head to throb.
As she looks up at him with her saddened eyes, he finally looks away, grumbling something about how He can’t wait to move up groups.
“Y-You’re wrong, M-Maximus.” She finally says, before he walks away, gripping her plushie like a lifeline. “He’s good to me, a-and, if you let him, he would be good to you too!”
Her words make him wince, appearing surprised that she's talking back to him. Perplexed, she looks at him, but he ends up laughing in her face. His laughter slowly builds into a roaring crescendo, directed at her, causing her face to redden and a few tears to prick at the corners of her eyes.
“Madre mía, madre mía…” He says, holding his face as a mocking smile appears on his face. “Kid, you’ll end up locked up in this place like a rat. Stay out of my fucking way if you do, because I’ll tear this place apart one day and it’d be a shame to have to take you down too.”
“Hey!” But Maximus turns around, intent on walking away from her to his own corner for the rest of time he had.
Remaining in her spot, her face still flushed with frustration and grumbling audibly, tears betraying her inner turmoil, she observes her surroundings.
When she looks around, the realization hits that all the other kids are staring at her, intensifying her embarrassment.
So much that it’s almost mortifying.
She looks away, disregarding the calls from Foolish and Baghera, and the uncertain gaze of Cellbit as his eyes shift from Maximus to her.
Desiring to escape the unwanted attention, she seizes some pillows and retreats to a corner, pressing her back against a drawer designated for toys. There, she remains for the rest of recess.
When the bell rings, signaling the end of recess, she observes two things: the kids walking past her, deliberately avoiding eye contact, and the workers neglecting to escort her out of the room, a duty they should have fulfilled minutes ago.
After all, it's the rules; no subject should remain in this room outside of the set schedule.
She remains in her spot, relishing the solitude until she discerns the reason behind the hesitation.
Nestled among the pillows, she listens for the familiar heavy footsteps echoing against the tile floors and walls.
They weren't waiting for her; rather, they anticipated the arrival of the big boss.
“What are you doing?”
Cucurucho.
She tenses slightly, knowing who’s behind her even before he makes himself known. And it’s not because she’s scared - It’s never because she finds him intimidating… Just that she does not want him to see her crying.
She has to be the strong, reliable Bluebird he wants her to be, so she hastily cleans her tears, in an attempt to make herself look more presentable for Cucurucho.
But for now, as they are always allowed to during recess, she acts like the little girl that she is, and goes against what she knows is the right thing to do to such a high-level Federation employee.
She moves away from her hiding spot, and hugs Cucurucho with all the strength her small, tiny body could muster.
“...Hiding.” She answers, immediately melting into his embrace, pressing her cheek against his fur. “Maximus gets too mean sometimes…”
His hand sets itself on her head, gently caressing it as he listens to her grumble, a little bit still hurt from Maximus’ words.
Lowering his hand, he places the bubble blower to her height, and he softly blows it.
“Hahaha.”
And she gets the feeling that Cucurucho is not laughing because of the bubbles. But he doesn’t say anything yet, and that’s when she realizes that his pause is him waiting patiently for her to give him more context.
“He says I don’t know the other kids… But I do!”
“Hahaha,” A brief pause. “Yes.” He took out his marker and notebook, writing something as Jaiden patiently awaited the completion. Once finished, he turned the book around to show her. “Do you want to know them better?”
Once she finishes reading, Jaiden nods. “Yes… I like them…” She looks up with a sad expression on her face. “He is mean, and wants to harm you. I want him to not be like that, I want him to be good to you too.”
Something resembling a welcome surprise seems to appear in Cucurucho’s robotic factions, before he lowers his face to write on the book.
“How much do you want that?”
Thinking hard as she reads, she ponders for a moment. “I want him to enjoy the Federation as much as I do…”
“Hahaha,” He takes the book in his hands again, he writes something. “We’ll see that done, dear. But you’ll have to work harder than anyone.” He leaves the book open as Jaiden reads, and once she finishes, he closes it to move his hand towards his face, drying a few stray tears that had escaped him at first.
Jaiden looks up at him, smiling before nodding. “I’ll do my best... ” Testing the waters, she grins cheekily. “...Dad?”
“Hahaha,” He says, before extending his hand. “Follow me.”
She quietly observes him, noticing his softer grip as he runs his thumb over her hand after she takes it.
///
Yes, they didn't choose you from the litter. You willingly went with them, Silly Bluebird. Thus, you spent the years following the destiny you crafted for yourself out of spite, on a childish whim.
Pristine white coat over a white suit with a blue tie, a tag on her name proudly describes her as Head Behavioral Researcher.
Standing in front of a viewing window with a notepad in hand, Jaiden’s eyes move from the subject of her attention back to her notes intermittently.
Turning towards a nearby colleague, a junior visibly on edge, Jaiden watches as he nervously fidgets in front of the microphone connecting them to another room. Her keen eyes stay fixed on him.
“Any progress while I was gone?”
“No stimuli so far h-has brought back any… any similar responses to the previous subject.”
She frowns, looking at him with a stone face. “Previous Subject.” She echoes him.
He is quick to correct himself. “Duckling number 7, Miss.” Taking a notepad from his desk’s drawer, he shows it to her. “Duckling number 8 demonstrates no response to the Food and Smell test, and the Physical Exams show completely different responses to what we have on record, but we still haven’t been able to approach her due to her seeming… Aggressive to most of us.”
Reading the notes, she squints annoyedly. “Of course she doesn’t want to talk to you. To any of you, really.” Taking the notepad to inspect it closer, she scoffs, taking her own pen and underlining the world Duckling. “She won’t ever talk to you if you call her that. One always adapts to the current experiment, and this one will never respond to being called Duckling.”
“I… Yes, ma’am, but… We guessed that this one would be different…” Silence. “Hehe?”
A quick glance from Jaiden silences him.
“Get out of this room, I’ll handle the escapee myself.”
The junior and some other workers still in the room were divided into two groups: those who agreed to leave and those who resembled deer caught in headlights, hesitating to leave the room.
That never meant good news to said team… It meant they failed.
And no one wants to fail under Cucurucho’s Brilliant Daughter’s command. Imagine the consequences of failing the Head of Behavioral Research of the Federation.
Sneaking a glance towards the room beyond the window, she observes the source of her team's trouble: Baghera.
…Baghera number 8, apparently.
Taking a moment, she observes the way she sits – legs crossed, looking up, seemingly bored, on the table instead of one of the chairs, the only furniture available in this room besides a bed.
Always so defiant, even in the smallest things. Jaiden can’t help but smile.
She closes her eyes, counts to five in her head, and exhales loudly through her nose.
“What did I just say?” As the rest hurriedly leave, she calls out at the junior who she had spoken with. “It’s not called ‘Food and Smell test’, by the way. It’s called olfactory testing.”
He winces audibly before nodding and hastily leaving the room, just like his other colleagues.
Finding herself alone in the room at last, she pushes a button next to the microphone to turn off the cameras. With a content smile, she slouches and sighs in relief.
“Baghera would never like to be reduced to her being The Duckling… Not in this iteration, nor in any.” Stretching her arms until her back pops, she pauses before speaking. “I’ll ask dad to change the team again, have them transferred to another department if they can’t help me here… Maybe I could get Cellbit to join me. That would be fun.”
She throws off her white coat, along with her blazer and tie, leaving them atop her desk. If she intends to speak with Baghera, she can't maintain the appearance of the pristine, clean woman she presents to her colleagues.
“Your workers,” Cucurucho would have told her. But she chooses to be a little nicer about the matter.
Acting pristine gets tiring after a while, but she knows that behaving in this manner is expected of her.
The daughter of Cucurucho had to be as pristine as him, after all.
But for the time being, she allows herself to just be Jaiden.
Returning from her thoughts and focusing on the current matter at hand, she walks toward her backpack.
Usually, they are for her and Cucurucho. But today she makes an exception. It was a special day after all. She produces a few cookies inside a plastic container and places two tea bags into two cups she habitually keeps in one of her desk drawers.
Normally reserved for her and Cucurucho, today she makes an exception—it's a special day, after all, considering her current guest in the other room.
While waiting for the water to boil, she takes the time to look towards the window, inspecting the person inside a little further.
Looks like this one has shorter hair than the last one.
To find herself caring for one of Baghera’s iterations wasn't surprising after the third one escaped. Searching for the runaway ducklings had become a routine. They seemed to yearn for freedom, providing a fun experiment for her department to study.
But, most importantly, it brought a familiar face to her workplace—a welcome one at that.
After all, Baghera wasn’t permitted to be around Jaiden as they grew up. Not that they cared, though. They always found a way, with Jaiden persuading Cucurucho with puppy eyes until he agreed to let them hang out.
Until the first one escaped. Then the next one, and the next one…
By the time they recovered the first escaped Duckling, Jaiden had already become an intern for the Federation, thanks to Cucurucho’s recommendation.
Mingling with an experiment wouldn't have looked good for her as the Chief-To-Be at the time.
Given that it would have been seen as inappropriate behavior, they’d only see each other in passing. Most of the time, Jaiden looking at her through a two-way mirror like this one.
The water boiling distracts her train of thought, and breathing in the sweet aroma of the chamomile tea as she pours water in the cups, she places the cookies and cups on a plate.
She makes sure to put an almost illegal amount of sugar in Baghera’s tea. If the patterns and behaviors she’s gotten from this Baghera are something to go by, she believes that this iteration will like her tea this way.
After completing her task, she turns toward the door providing access to Baghera's current room.
Scanning her eyes over the door, it hisses open, and she walks in, ensuring that she presents the plate with both hands occupied.
Obviously to convey that she poses no threat to Baghera.
The moment the door opens, Baghera looks up from the table, eyes wide open, anticipating a potential new threat.
“What are you doing here?” She practically hisses.
“Thought you looked lonely and I was about to take my break.”
“I am not dumb.” She says, squinting her eyes at her with a hint of anger in her words. “You are here to run dumb test on me.”
“Am I?” Walking confidently towards her, even as Baghera retreats into herself once she takes the first step. Leaving the plate on top of the table, she turns around and sits on the chair opposite to the door. Once her hands are free, she takes one of the cups and raises it to her lips before also raising a finger up, pointing at the usually ever-recording surveillance camera on one of the corners. “Camera’s off.”
Baghera looks up, confused. This was the first time since her arrival at this room that the camera wasn’t working.
“That… That is new…” Her eyes move from Jaiden, to the plate to the mirror covering the entirety of one of the room’s walls.
She responded to her unspoken question by saying, "No one is in the other room." She then clapped, transforming the mirror into a window just so Baghera could see for herself that there was indeed no one in the other room. "I shouldn't be here either, actually." She lies.
Upon realizing that the only person in her presence right now was a girl about the same age as her, Baghera felt perplexed. None of the annoying scientists attempting to delve into her brain seemed to be around.
She is aware that there is someone overseeing the other scientists conducting her tests, and for a second, she wonders who that person is.
“What… But…” Turning around, she eyes Jaiden suspiciously. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“I’m Jaiden.” She smiles. “And I’d like to chat with you, simple as that.”
Her smile is calming, genuinely friendly, even. Is she just a gutsy intern, maybe?
Cautiously coming back to the table, she hesitantly sits down in front of Jaiden. This time, she does so in a chair.
She takes one of the cups in her left hand, looking at Jaiden as she drinks from her own cup, before deciding to hold the cup closer to her lips.
“They call me… Duckling, I guess, nice to meet you.” Retreating into herself, Baghera avoids Jaiden’s eyes. “I mean, you look young so I guess you are kinda new here.”
“Sort of,” Jaiden smiles - A well practiced benevolent and warm smile. “But that is not how you want us to call you, I suppose.”
Giving her tea an experimental sip, her eyes open wide before she takes another, larger sip.
“A-Ah, I’m sorry. I haven’t… Haven’t had anything with any real flavor for a long time.”
Behind her own cup of tea, Jaiden smiles.
That is indeed true. Because Jaiden had instructed her workers to avoid foods with strong flavors, specifically for this moment.
“It’s okay, Duck… No, uh, I mean…” Jaiden lies, mimicking a particularly convincing grimace, as if she’s unsure about how she has to call the person in front of her. “What I mean, is that… Enjoy your tea, please.”
Finishing her tea, Baghera looks at her and, for the first time, smiles.
“Call me Baghera.”
“Nice to meet you, Baghera.” Sliding her own cup towards the other hybrid, she smiles back. “What did you think about Egg Island?”
“Ah… Not that bad… Wouldn’t recommend it if you planned to escape a government facility.” She says with a small chuckle.
“Not great? Oh what a shame, I hoped that you enjoyed the Island, sincerely.”
As those eyes fixate on her, Baghera feels a shiver run up and down her spine.
"I... Y-Yeah."
Where has she heard that phrase before?