Freak of Nature - By Julia Crane Page 0,4

the mask she usually wore. There were only heat sensor cameras beyond this point in case anyone tried to break into the secure facility. The heat sensors made it possible for the guards to make the distinction between humans and animals.

“What did they do to you today?” Quess asked, her pretty freckled face tilted up to meet Kaitlyn’s eyes.

Ever since Quess had warned her not to show any emotion around the staff, she’d considered the girl a companion. Kaitlyn shrugged. “Nothing interesting. More testing and physical activity.” She remembered her stray thought about the ‘rolling of eyes’ and added, “But I do have a question for you.”

“Sure.” Quess slowed her pace.

“Quess, what does it mean for me to ‘roll my eyes’? The phrase crossed my mind today at the oddest time. I felt like I should know what it meant, but I couldn’t figure it out.”

The young girl giggled. “It’s so funny when you ask such strange questions. How can you remember you should wear pants, but not what rolling your eyes means?”

Kaitlyn sighed. “I wish I knew. My mind is a mess. I seem to only know what they want me to know. It’s very frustrating.”

“Well, that’s where I can help out.” Quess touched Kaitlyn’s shoulder, a brief show of solidarity, or maybe, sympathy. “Rolling your eyes is just a saying. Well, really it’s an action. Like if you think something is ridiculous, you roll your eyes. Watch.” Quess came to a stop. She demonstrated, her hazel eyes making a full circle.

Kaitlyn thought about it for a moment, her mind categorizing not only the verbal definition but the visual. She grasped the meaning, but she couldn’t understand why ‘rolling of the eyes’ had anything to do with it. She didn’t bother to press the girl any further.

Who knew? A lot of sayings didn’t make any sense to her logical, mechanical mind.

One time, Kaitlyn heard the professor say it was ‘raining cats and dogs’. When she was relieved from the laboratory, she had rushed back to her room to look out the window. She wanted to see the animals falling from the sky, but there was nothing but a lot of rain.

Another time, she heard the Professor’s wife tell him that he was ‘going to hell in a hand basket,’ because of his latest experiment. Even Quess didn’t get the logic of that statement. The going to hell part made sense, but why in a hand basket? There were many mysteries in the english language.

“How much longer will you be here? Don’t you start school soon?” Kaitlyn asked quietly. She hated the thought of being alone, and once Quess was gone, she really would be alone. No one else talked to her like she was a real person, like she was a human being. She was a machine to them. Just an experiment, with a more human-sounding project name than most.

“I’m staying here for school this year,” Quess said. “Boarding school didn’t agree with me.”

Relief flooded Kaitlyn. She had been surprised that they would even let Quess near her, what with Kaitlyn’s very existence being ‘top secret.’ Quess had explained that the professor and his team had used hypnosis on her; she would forget Kaitlyn whenever she stepped foot off the compound.

They’d thought of everything….

“What about your parents?”

Quess shrugged. “They don’t care as long as my grades are good. It’s not like they are ever around anyway. They are always traipsing around the world at some archaeological dig site or another.”

Kaitlyn could tell the girl was upset, but had no idea what to say. Times like this she wished she were more human.

They walked in silence for a while.

“I heard some of the guards talking about you the other day.”

Kaitlyn didn’t care if she was talked about, but she knew that Quess enjoyed to gossip. So she tried to humor her when possible.

“What did they say?”

“Jimmy thinks your sexy and Terry says he would give his right arm for a fraction of your skills.”

“His right arm?” Kaitlyn asked confused.

“It’s just a saying. He wants to have your skills no matter what the cost.”

“The cost is too high.” Kaitlyn said sadly. She had often wondered if she were the only one Harrington had created.

“Are there any others like me?” Kaitlyn asked. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, the computer within checking over everything for potential threats as they walked.

Quess shook her head. “Not that I’ve seen. I think you’re the only one. All of the other experiments I’ve seen have only been