Factory

Thankfully, the girls managed to stay hidden for a week with no trouble. So as to not leave the room, food and laundry services came to them. All of the details had finally been worked out for the ship Max was getting them, leaving only about a day of waiting left. When the sun rose on that day, all three of them were awake to see it and enjoyed a collective sigh together.

"These sunrises have been nice," Misty said. "Now that we're out of that forest of metal towers."

"Hopefully, this evening we'll be able to leave and maybe we'll go undetected," Max sighed. "I'm happy everything has been quiet for a little while."

As if to interrupt her pleasant thought, her mobile phone suddenly rang out for her to answer. The sound of the ringtone made Max cringe.

"Please don't let this be a phone call about some complication," Max said in a whimper before answering the call.

Max took her phone call and walked away from the window where Misty and Factory stood. They looked at each other in careful suspense.

"I hope everything is all right," Factory said.

"Me too," Misty replied. "I'd hate for her to lose her head again."

After a very brief moment of talking, Max rejoined them at the window with a serious face.

"I just received some interesting information," she said.

Both Misty and Factory just stared at Max without saying a word.

"Well," Max began, "we may have discovered the research facility that developed the drug."

"Oh, my gosh," Misty gasped. "Really? We know where this stuff came from?"

"Yeah. Apparently it's in a big laboratory of some kind in Industrial Sector 4. It's underneath a big pharmaceutical company tower. The question is though, what do we do with this information?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, this facility might have information about Factory."

Max and Misty looked at Factory with inquisitive faces. Factory was surprised by their sudden gaze and wasn't sure what to say or how to react.

"Well?" Max asked. "What do you think? Should we investigate or leave this be?"

"Um, I don't know," Factory stumbled through saying. "Like I told you before, I'm not so interested in my past anymore since I am with you guys. You two make me happy and make me feel like I have a place to belong to and move forward. I don't really see any big gain from discovering anything I've lost."

"All right then, that settles it," Max said. "No more mention of it. We'll just let it be and see if we can get off this sinful rock by tonight, hopefully."

As the anticipation for the ship's arrival reached its highest point, the day seemed to drag on and on. The girls knew they were making things worse by failing to keep themselves occupied, but couldn't tear themselves away from the art of timekeeping. As the sun inched closer to the edge of twilight, the girls were all glued to the window with unrelenting attentions. The ship had reached the liftoff pad in front of their suite in the early afternoon and was finally completing the last few bits of preparation needed to leave. Almost as if watching a movie, Max sat down at the window with Misty and Factory with a bowl of popcorn.

"Man, I can't believe we might be out of here soon," Max said, grabbing a handful of buttery snack.

"You're sure you can pilot that thing?" Misty questioned her older, overconfident sister. "That thing is brand new. What if it has new stuff in it or procedures you've never encountered before?"

"It'll be fine. You worry too much. This is an advanced fighter model that can be fully run by as little as five people."

Misty and Factory looked at each other with concerned faces.

"But, Max, there's only three-" Misty attempted.

"Hush, I'm thinking about that," Max interrupted. "I think we might be able to just automate some systems. Or perhaps we won't need the two extra right now anyway, since there are probably dedicated placements for armaments. Right now we just need to fly and as long as our heat doesn't follow we'll be good."

"I sure hope you know what you're doing," Misty said with a sigh.

"Yeah, me too."

After a short phone call in the young stages of night informing them that they were all set to leave, the girls excitedly made their way down to the hotel lobby. They had already had their belongings and supplies stocked on the ship before they were to board, so all that was left was for the crew to begin the journey. Being very careful to go from the hotel room straight to the complimentary shuttle provided by the hotel, the girls did their best not to gather any attention in the final moments.

Nervous and full of anxiety, the girls patiently sat in the large hover vehicle, which seemed like it was made more of windows than anything else, as it made its way to the liftoff pad at a steady pace. The driver attempted some small talk but was met with simple replies that implied that a conversation was not wanted. With only a moment of driving left, the girls could almost taste their escape, but a sudden noise broke their euphoria. A bullet had suddenly torn through the windshield and taken out the driver from an unknown shooter and the vehicle quickly came to a stop.

"F.u.c.k!" Max exclaimed, readying her machine pistols.

However, before any assessment or retaliation could be had, the shuttle was bombarded with gas canisters that concealed the vehicle and quickly replaced all suitable air for breathing. The girls coughed and dropped to the floor quickly as the gas made its way inside the shuttle.

"Girls, I swear I'll protect you…" Max said, succ.u.mbing to the gas.

Factory's vision was quickly becoming blurred and dark. Misty reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand as they all began to lose consciousness.

"I'm sorry!" Misty cried.

Factory could faintly make out the blurred shape of Misty losing her short fight with the gas. She did everything she could to hold tight onto her hand as she slipped into darkness.

Over an unknown amount of time, the girls could only make out faint glimpses of their surroundings. The inquisitive eyes of men and women dressed in white hovering over them, needles, medical machines, and always bright lights. Only a scant resemblance of consciousness was allowed to them, until one fateful day the cycle changed.

Factory slowly opened her eyes to a blinding white light. Giving time for adjustment, she then found herself lying on an examination bed in an all-white room. The ceiling was covered in large lights, making a glance in any direction very difficult. As she tried to sit up she realized she was restrained with large leather belts at her ankles, wrists, and a large one across her stomach. She was also completely n.a.k.e.d, but far too confused and disoriented to care.

Just as she may have attempted to call out for help, a sliding door with a pressurized sound opened on her right and two individuals that looked like doctors came walking in casually. The two were a young man and woman, dressed in white lab coats and both checking things on clipboards. Factory didn't know how she could have missed it but she suddenly realized she was being monitored by a couple of machines near her head by way of several wired stickers on her body. There was also a large sack of clear liquid being given to her intravenously on her left arm along with a very unpleasant catheter collecting her urine.

"All right, looks like she's nice and stable right now," the man said. "Let's start by giving her the 23H and see what we get out of it."

The woman added a substance in a syringe to the bagged liquid that Factory was receiving. The liquid temporarily turned red as it passed through to her arm before disappearing. Factory felt her body warm up and soften. An overwhelming relaxation took over and she felt as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"Good, good," the man said. "Looks like... hmm."

"What is it?" the woman asked.

"The information seems incorrect. It's stating that she has no DNA abnormalities."

"What does that mean? Did the faults correct themselves?"

"Amazing. If this is true, this means she has fully integrated with the drug. She's absolutely been rewritten with no adverse effects!"

"You're joking!"

"I can't believe it. She is the first subject to be fully changed into a Natural. She should need no maintenance or upkeep of any kind. We have to report this immediately."

The two excited examiners quickly exited the room without another word and left Factory to her relaxation. Factory felt as if the world was melting away from her. She had nothing to hide. No shame, no anger, no emotions of any kind. A blank state had come over her and she was completely content with it.

"You shouldn't be so quick to accept your defeat," a little girl's voice said.