2 Injection 1.2

"Wake up kiddo, your mum's here," Words stirred me. My eyes snapped open as I jerked from my bed. 

Immediately a hand went to my shoulder, I looked over, it was 'father.' His face was distorted, his lips open as he looked at me up and down, he was afraid. 

But he didn't matter, immediately my hand went to my chest, and my eyes turned down to follow them. There was no wound. 

No blood, like there should have been.

The crimson red that should have been my sheets…

Just the plain black T-shirt I was wearing. 

Then my eyes shifted to find that case, that monstrous thing. It was gone, not even a trace of it. 

"Mira! Mira are you—" Again I ignored him to look at the drawer I had taken the case from…not there. Gone like magic. 

What? What!? My breathing thinned. I could hear the pounding of my heart in my ears, the place was maddening. 

Something was fucking me around! Something was playing! With me! Something fucking powerful! Fuck! Something that—

"MIRA!" He shouted, his hands gripping my shoulders and shaking me back and forth.

My mind turned. 

The sudden movement was lurching, my stomach did not agree with it. 

But it did well. The shock was kicking enough to restart my system. 

Allowed me to still my breath and refocus on him. 

No, not just him, a woman was standing next to him, with a face that was way too pretty to not be an important character. 

Still, the way her eyes were pressed together, the way they didn't even look at me, she was utterly devastated. 

My heart felt a dull ache looking at her like something was telling me—screaming at me. Go to her. 

I didn't. The ache turned from a dull hammer to sandpaper grinding against my innards.

But I refused. 

I would not be moved by impulses. 

Only animals move by impulse. Only animals are driven by snapshot desires. 

More than that whatever was left of 'Mira' in this body ought to just die. 

I was Mira now. 

And echoes would not drive me. 

Fucking never. 

Regardless, I couldn't ignore them, so I craned my neck up and forced my lips to part, "...Nightmare. Sorry." 

Hearing me answer a sigh of relief slipped the man, his panic slowly receding as he took me into a deep hug and started softly whispering into my ear, "You are okay, nothing can hurt…" 

It took him a second to stop the whispers, another to pull back but he did even if reluctantly. 

Then I turned to the other woman present in the room, "Hello?" 

She almost bounced, like a rabbit and grabbed me into an embrace ten times tighter than fucking army vet had, still, I didn't resist, "Oh sweety! It was…" Tears slipped past her eyes, I could tell because they wetted my shoulders. 

My body felt paralyzed like Trypanosoma had made its nest in my spine, and an unadulterated disgust boiled inside me. This woman was not my mother.

I had told her it was a nightmare. So why was she dragging this out? If she was truly my mother, she would have never comforted me. 

After all, as my mother had a few tenants I had to follow. 

Never cry. 

Never let pride speak for you. 

Make sure the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

It's not a crime unless you are convicted. 

These were tenets she had for me, and ones she followed herself. She would have never cried just cuz I had a nightmare, 

But this woman? She was bawling her eyes out, what a farce.

All it made me think was how much I missed my real mom. 

My hero. 

She had dragged the two out of poverty and the slums single-handedly. Taking us from starving beggars to landlords of entire colonies. 

This woman was not her. 

She never could be her. 

So, my hands jerked, to push her away. No, they tried to, my body didn't allow it. My limbs, they were there and they didn't care. 

It was like my body was rebelling. 

No, it was Mira, the little girl who was rebelling. 

And my new body was going along with it. 

She needed to die. Really fucking soon. So, I could live. But how? How do you kill someone already dead? How do you chase away lingering ghosts? 

Huh, Cthulhu's box and now lingering ghosts? 

I breathed in through my teeth, let the air hiss through my teeth and once more moved my arms. This time they complied, because this time I was not moving to shove away the woman. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her, to comfort her. 

Once she realised my hands were around her crying withered. She finally pulled herself off and asked me, "Mira, do you know…Who I am?" 

"Sabrina Smith?" I pointed at the man watching the scene play out, "He said that's my mother's name." 

"Yeah," She accepted, "That's my name. Sorry I couldn't be here earlier, it was just…" She trailed off guilt slowly building up on her smile. 

"Work?" I asked and she nodded, "Yeah, ever since the attack, the whole of the R&D department has been going apeshit." 

"The attack?"

"The aliens," She paused, "A thousand different programmes all over the world have started up and in some cases resumed." 

"Are you two sure this is what you want to talk about?" He asked and I shrugged. 

He smiled at me and asked, "How about we check if your taste buds are still the same?" 

"What?" 

"I am gonna cook up your favourite food," Oh, yeah, interesting, I care about that. Not lying. 

Despite my internal annoyance, I still nodded, "Sure." 

Then I turned to the woman sitting in front of me and still the question lingered, How do I get rid of her daughter? 

It was then that I realised what Pandora's death case did. Well, more saw and less realised. 

[Quest: Gain control of your body.] 

(Reward: A trait of your choosing.) 

Well, hello you.

And words left my lips as quietly as my breath, "Status." 

[Name-Mira Smith] 

(Age-14)

(Titiles-Nil)

(Status-Sever weakness)

[Status]

(Constitution-1)

(Intelligence-10) 

(Magic-0)

(Learning-5)

[Traits] 

(Cold Blooded)

(Self-disciplined) 

Well, that's bare bones as fuck.