About 2 months ago: Dr Caliban's Residence.
Dr. Caliban walked into the kitchen and to a door that led into his garage. As he entered, he marveled at the wondrous sight; he always did. The fully scaled down home was a small marvel, complete with running water and electricity. It had taken almost 3 years to build; getting furnishings and other workable items had been the most difficult part. All of the items had to be custom built at great expense. However he had the funds to draw upon to do so.
He rang the doorbell and waited silently at the small, roughly 2 ft. in height, door. As he stood there a small voice told him that she'd be there in a moment. It wasn't long before the door opened and out stepped a small female skunk. She was dressed in a blue bathrobe and stood about a foot and a half in height. She had glasses and looked like she just stepped out of a shower; she looked up at doctor Caliban, smiled and spoke.
"Hi dad, what's up?"
"Hi Ezzy." He said with a smile. Ezzy was short for Esmeralda; she was one of Mother's experiments that he had been left in charge of. However, a short time after Mother's disappearance, the canister in which she was held malfunctioned. He had pulled her immature body from the green goo in which she was encased. He had thought for sure she would die but she survived, much to his surprise.
She had been so tiny and frail that he'd thought for sure she would pass away within minutes but that didn't happen. During the next few months he fought with the forces of nature to keep her that way. The first year was the hardest; day after day he saw her readings fall then return to normal. He was a nervous wreck for most of that year but as time flowed on she grew stronger and stronger; which pleased him. As she developed, he became aware that she was not growing normally; she had stopped growing at approximately a foot and a half. She showed none of the classic symptoms of dwarfism, she was perfectly proportioned and healthy in every way other than the fact she was the size of a doll. He was devastated but never let her know that. She never let her height slow her down or get in her way if at all possible. As she matured she became his daughter; one that he had never had. He even had the papers to prove it.
He saw to her education and well-being. In that he found that her intellect surpassed his own; probably more in the line with Mother and Ti. He never pushed her and found she had a beautiful personality. Although, later on in her development, he could tell that she was disappointed in her stature as she threw herself into books and research. He had made small tools, microscopes and a computer keyboard just her size. He tried to give her everything she wanted, and took her out often. People stared but he didn't care; she was his daughter and nobody could change that. He eventually hired assistants to help Ezzy to do basic things; like open doors when she could not reach them. This allowed her to attend a university nearby, which helped her social life immensely. She made friends easily and she tutored many. In that regard she was extraordinary; she had excellent people skills, more than he thought she would. She graduated with honors, and almost made valedictorian, but to be eligible she had to have worked outside the campus with charity groups. She didn't have the stamina for that, and her size limited her to what she could accomplish in that area.
With the coming of the Internet and computers becoming more user-friendly, she worked hard at many things. Such as writing, something she loved to do. She had already 13 books written and a couple of them had made the top 10. She also started a publishing company that would publish anything that was sent as long as it first met her strict guidelines. She felt authors should be heard, even if some of the stories were not up her alley. So she had made a life for herself in a world that was much larger than she would ever be. The only thing he had asked her not to do was to publicly post her photo, such as on web pages and her books. She'd agreed so it wasn't too much of a problem; she had wondered why, though. She avoided the spotlight anyway as much as possible.
Eventually her father explained to her exactly what she was, an experiment with others who looked like her, although they had been destroyed. The only one left was her original sister who was oblivious to her existence. He was not sure of what had happened to the 'taur version of Ezzy, but he wasn't about to tell her that she could be still out there. She had begged him to be allowed to contact her but he said it was impossible and she was not to try to and locate her. It would only lead to disaster. She had grudgingly obeyed and so, we come to the here and now.
"How are you today, Ezzy?" her adopted father asked.
"A bit tired, Karen, kept me up with the editing she's doing for me."
"How is it going?"
"Karen's very picky, but I like that. It makes for a much better story."
"That's good to hear."
She smiled and relaxed against the railing on her front porch. She had grown accustomed to her size long ago; nothing really upset her now. Even the stares she got didn't bother her; she was a small fish amongst giants. However she could bite if she had to.
"What brings you around this early Dad?"
He wasn't sure how to explain this but he gave it the best her could. "I had an interesting phone call this morning, it seems our benefactor has risen from the so-called grave."
Ezzy's eyes lit up. "Mother's alive!" She exclaimed.
"Yes, I wasn't sure I would live long enough to see her again. She had told me that might be the case."
This got Esmeralda a bit agitated. "What are you going to do Dad?" He had never said what he would do if she ever did surface again.
"Go see her. Actually, my presence was requested."
"What about me? Are you going to tell her about us?"
"Not the moment, I was told in confidence by Mother herself that she might not even recall ever talking to me."
"Huh??" "I don't understand?"
"Well, as I remember." He paused. "It's been awhile, about nineteen years; let's see, she said sometimes when she awakens from this rest phase she can become a totally different person with no memory of the past; other times she can continue as if nothing happened."
"That's weird." Ezzy said puzzled.
"Yes I should say so. Now that's why I'm here, I wanted to tell you I was leaving. I also wanted to warn you that she may want to examine you at a later date. "
"You're not going to let her take me?" She said obviously upset.
"No dear, I'll be there when or if she does anything; you mean too much to me. You were an experiment at one time, but now you are my daughter and she'll know this before anything goes on."
She loved him, as any daughter loves her father; she was glad he was around. "Thanks Dad for being here."
"Wouldn't have missed it for the world, precious." He bent down giving a gentle kiss to her small face. He loved her as any father loves a daughter. "I'll talk to you when I return."
"Ok, bye Dad, love you."
"Love you too."
She waved as he retreated back into the house. She gave out a yawn feeling it was time for nap.
His 68 year-old bones creaked as he got into his car. He still had his small practice, although he didn't take on any new patients. He cared mostly for the elderly; being one himself helped. However today he was to deal with this most intriguing patient ever. He pulled out into the street and down to the old meeting place; seems the old girl still didn't trust him with her location.
Immediately he noticed the voice had changed, it was lower, and she had a sort of lisp; he would soon find out why. He was stunned by her appearance; she was a bit taller than he remembered. However it was the bright blue fur that got most of his attention; then there were the bone extrusions on the back of the paws, elbows and knees. The fangs and the horns were also interesting features.
"Come in Dr. Caliban, come in. Please sit." She said in a low voice, showing very little emotion.
He made himself comfortable, well as comfortable as he could be in the situation he was in right now. "Welcome back to the real world, Mother." All the years he had known her she never told him her real name, that's if she really had one. "You have certainly changed quite a bit since I last saw you."
"I wish I could say the same to you Dr. Caliban but I cannot, for I don't remember you at all."
Her words struck him hard, but he had been warned that this might be the case. "You don't?" He said in surprise.
"Not entirely, I remember talking to someone but I couldn't say for sure it was you I was talking to."
"Ah …I see." This bothered him a bit, but it also relieved him. She might not know about Ezzy then "So what did you want to see me about?"
She grinned, which was a bit unnerving with those teeth of hers. "I wanted to touch base with someone my other self wrote as trust worthy."
"Oh?" This put a spin on things, she had thought of me as trustworthy, interesting. "How long have you been active?" This he wanted to know for himself, to see if she indeed had the time to check up on him.
"Two weeks, there's a lot to catch up on."
"I can understand that."
"My team tells me that you have an experiment of mine. It took me awhile to find a file with the information on it. It seems that what my team describes and what was planned are two different things." Mother saw that this information had unnerved him. "Relax Dr Caliban I don't bite, not hard anyway, still trying to get used to these." She put her finger up to one of her very noticeable fangs. "I'd like to hear all about….." She grabbed for a piece of paper and searched through it. "Ah..here it is Esmeralda."
He gulped, he didn't think she'd be this up on things so soon. "Well…" He said and he began telling her the truth, the whole truth. He talked about the adoption, the love, the bonding, everything, hoping that she wouldn't take Ezzy away. He would have no power to resist, she seemed to have eyes everywhere. When he finished he sat quietly awaiting for her to say, something.
"Interesting and the other two pods." She showed no emotion what so ever, which bothered him.
"Functioning normally, I checked them the other day."
"It seems you have become well attached to my little creation." She said with a smirk. It was the first time she had showed any emotion of any kind and it worried him. "Esmeralda does sound like a pleasant girl." She winked, which added to his discomfort. "I will need to do a few tests on her though. You understand that, don't you doctor?" She could see the doctor's face change; he was about to speak but she already knew what he was going to say. "I see your concern Dr." She sighed. "As far as I'm concerned at this moment, Esmeralda is yours. She is not what I had in mind, although I do want my other pods and the malfunctioning one."
He sighed but he still really wasn't out of the woods. "That's not a problem." His concern was for Ezzy, if Mother found something out of the ordinary with Ezzy then he would never see her again.
Mother rustled through some more papers and as she did she continued talking. "I am curious, though, what have you told Esmeralda. From what my report says she a smart little thing."
"The truth, she deserved to know. What I don't understand is why she didn't develop normally, I've run test after test and I have come up with nothing."
"Are there any other deformities in her than just her growth?" Her curiosity was now getting the best of her.
"That's just it, there aren't, everything is where it's supposed to be. Her brain, blood, everything checks. Well, her eyesight is poor but I don't think that is a deformity. I wonder why the others didn't suffer that as well. It could be something to look into."
"Hmm…..my tools here may help you and I in finding an answer."
He remembered her scanner and it still was beyond anything what they had today. "How are you adjusting?" She didn't answer. "I take it you want me to give you a look over?"
"Yes; that is another reason you are here. This body is very different from my latter one. I need to know I am all right."
"I can understand that, the new look is very ferocious."
Yes that it is for sure." She got up and headed for the door, her clubbed tail moving slowly back and forth just above the floor. "Shall we go." She said coaxing him out of his chair.
"Ah.. Sure." Dr. Caliban said, rising.
They entered the lab through a new elevator that had been installed, it was coded by voice, prints, and card if need be. No one was getting in there unless Mother wanted them to. He completed the scan on her and found nothing really out of the ordinary. Her bones were extremely flexible but strong. She was however low on potassium, which wasn't really serious but he felt it should be corrected.
"You are as fit as…. whatever you are. You have a very interesting Skeletal structure, everything else checks. Except for the lack of some potassium in your system you are fine.
"That is good to hear." She got up and moved about, stretching as she went. "You have anything for raging hormones?" She asked quietly.
This was new he thought, he didn't see anything on his scans to indicate a hormone imbalance. "What symptoms are you having, the scan shows nothing about imbalance."
"Oh there's one, builds I think. I get to the point where I'd fuck anything."
"Oh, really?" That definitely was an interesting trait.
"Oh yes, it was present for my other incarnation and is still present."
"I see, well I'd have to get a sample of your blood while you were in that condition, before I really gave you anything……too many hormones or not enough is not healthy."
"I will contact you when the need arises." She didn't like the fact that during that phase she was vulnerable.
"Good, I should be able to help you. Anything else?"
She looked him over, "You are how old?"
"Sixty eight, with a mild case of mange. It's very uncomfortable, but treatable, just have to wear warmer clothes like this sweater that's all."
She stared at him and really wasn't impressed, she couldn't see what her predecessor saw in him. "I see, I read that you did a serious operation on me. It didn't say what kind, care to elaborate?"
Oh boy, he thought her reports were very detailed. "Well, it seems you took a very large object up your anus and ripped yourself. I had to mend it."
"Oh, I can see why that was omitted." She dismissed the event and changed the subject. "You are married?" She asked.
"No never did, Ezzy has been my sole company. A little miracle I should say."
"Ah…yes." He didn't like the way she said that. "Bring her around tomorrow, I want to meet her. You and I can do a few scans of her and see what happened. I am curious as to why she didn't develop properly."
He didn't like that idea, it was too sly; he knew that she had something up her sleeve. Bargaining with Mother wouldn't work, she was used to having things her way. His mind tried to think of something but what….then an idea hit him. It was a very long shot, but he knew that Ezzy was in grave danger. This Mother was different, colder, and untouchable. This one made his skin crawl; the other he could at least talk with but this one was all control. He prayed this plan would work; it was out of desperation that he lunged for her throat.