The Orphan Part III

Rain begins to pour overhead as Shiro lunges, her talons slashing toward Marcus's throat. But Marcus's hand shoots up, catching her wrist in an iron grip. His fingers, thick and leathery from his genetic modifications, wrap completely around her arm.

Friend scuttles backward, seeking shelter beneath a fallen hydroponic tray as rain pelts the metal around them.

Shiro twists, trying to wrench free, but Marcus's strength holds firm. His skin has the tough texture of ox hide, impervious to her clawing. Water streams down their locked arms - scales against leather, two fragments of Project GENESIS locked in combat.

She pulls harder, muscles straining, but Marcus's grip doesn't budge. His fingers might as well be steel bands around her wrist. The rain makes everything slick, yet his strength keeps her trapped, unable to slip away.

Despite Marcus's iron grip holding her still, her expression remains neutral, unreadable. "So you've caught the monster. What now, Marcus? Will you drag me back to another lab? Chain me up for more tests?"

Marcus's grip tightens, his uncertainty masked by resolve. "You're not a monster, Shiro. You never were."

"No? People scream when they see what I am. Call me a freak." Her gaze fixes on Marcus, her movements deliberate as she raises her scaled hand. "You hide yours well-farm work excuses those hands. But mine?" She flexes her trapped fingers. "There's no hiding this."

Marcus's grip faltering for a fraction of a second. "We can help people with these abilities. Use them to-"

"To save humanity? Is that the story you'll tell yourself when you hand me over to CryoCore? That it's for the greater good?"

A flash of lightning illuminates Friend's worried face as Shiro suddenly drops her weight, using Marcus's grip against him. The unexpected shift throws him off balance. Her free hand whips up, talons raking across his cheek before he can react.

Marcus staggers back, releasing her wrist. Blood trickles down his face, mixing with rain. Shiro bolts, boots splashing through puddles as she races across the hydroponics platform.

She vaults over tangles of nutrient feed pipes, diving between rows of vertical growing frames. Behind her, Marcus's heavy footsteps echo off metal walkways. Friend takes flight, wings beating against the storm as she follows from above.

Shiro ducks under a fallen air filtration unit, squeezing through gaps in the machinery. Her smaller frame gives her an advantage in the maze of broken tech. She emerges into what was once Pallas's central growing chamber - a cathedral of shattered glass and twisted metal reaching toward the stormy sky.

Automated harvesting arms hang limp from ceiling tracks. Shiro grabs one, using it to swing across a gap where the floor has collapsed. As she lands, her boot catches on loose wiring. She stumbles, crashing into a bank of environmental controls.

Marcus cuts her off, charging through a wall of hanging hydroponics trays. The impact sends waves of nutrient solution cascading down. In the chaos, he misjudges his strength. His arm catches Shiro's shoulder, throwing her hard against a metal support beam.

Pain explodes across her back. The breath rushes from her lungs as she crumples. Above, Friend's alarmed squawks pierce through the drum of rain on glass.

"Shiro, I'm sorry." Marcus approaches slowly, hands raised. "I didn't mean to-"

He kneels beside her, reaching out to check her injuries. His fingers barely brush her shoulder when Shiro's hand shoots up. Her talons sink deep into his throat, ripping through his tough, leathery skin.

Blood sprays across the metal walkway, mixing with rain. Marcus stumbles backward, hands clutching his torn neck. His regeneration struggles to close the wound as more blood pulses between his fingers.

"Remember..." Marcus chokes out, blood staining his lips. "The tomato plant?" His words gurgle through the wound, but his eyes stay fixed on Shiro. "That rusty tin can... you stole from the kitchen."

Shiro remains motionless, her bloodied talons glinting in the storm light.

"We hid it... behind the orphanage." He slides down against a metal support, leaving a crimson streak.

Rain streams down his face, mixing with tears and blood. "Every morning... before Mother woke up... we'd sneak out. Take turns... watering it."

"Stop talking," Shiro says, but her voice wavers.

Marcus's breathing grows more labored, each word a struggle against the blood filling his throat. "Even... in the labs. Remember? That plant... in the ventilation shaft?"

His fingers trace abstract patterns in the growing pool of blood beneath him. "Every time... they hurt us... you'd whisper about... our little plant. How it... grew stronger... even without sun."

Rain drums against the broken glass ceiling, creating a symphony of metallic pings across the ruined hydroponics bay. Marcus's eyes grow distant, lost in the memory. "The day it bloomed... you smiled. First time... since they took us."

His hand reaches toward her, trembling. "I just… want to plant something new… together."

Shiro's hands shake as she stumbles backward, unable to look at Marcus's crumpled form. Friend's worried clucks echo across the platform as Shiro snatches her.

Each step carries her further from what she's done. The rain masks the wetness on her cheeks as she clutches Friend tighter.

Running. Always running. The thought pounds in her head with each footfall. From the labs, from her past, from everyone who gets too close. Now from Marcus.

She reaches her ship, its black hull a looming shadow against the stormy sky. Friend's feathers are soaked, the chicken's usually golden-brown coat now dark and matted. Shiro's grip loosens, letting Friend hop onto the deck.

The rain continues to fall as Shiro leans against the ship's railing. Her scaled hands grip the metal until her knuckles turn white. She stares at them - these marks of what she is, what the project made her. The same talons that just tore through Marcus's throat.