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Designer Born pages 37-60

Written by happiest_in_shadows :: [Monday, 23 February 2015 04:11] Last updated by :: [Monday, 23 February 2015 09:20]

May 16h 2020

That wasn't natural. As Warren looked towards Elise and Mary he didn't know what to think. Even newborns showed a preference for their mother's voice however Elise had already gained a preference for her mother's face. She had already learned to associate her voice and face. It wasn't just that though as he watched Elise reach out towards her mother with clear intent. “She's already developed her gross motor skills. She's two days old and she's already developed her gross motor skills.”

Micheal knew that Warren was speaking with him but he had more important things on his mind at the moment. The first was Elise. Currently he and Warren were watching Mary and her newborn daughter through a one way mirror. At the same time he had Nancy on the phone and was holding it up so that she could see as well. They were other recording devices going but she wanted to see exactly what he was seeing. “Do you see that Nancy the way she's working her arms already? She's not fumbling blindly or acting on reflex she's intentionally reaching towards her mother.”

Nancy, “Micheal why has Elise scooted herself up into the left corner of her bed? I can see her reaching for her mother but she'd be closer on the right?”

“Her integumentary system is becoming more active. Sun light feels good.”

“Better then her mother's affection?”

“Oh. Hm.” That was a tough question. As Micheal looked at the young girl it was clear she wanted her mother. However she wanted to be in the sun light as well. She wasn't quite crawling on her own yet but he had seen her scoot along.

“You don't know.”

“Well we did improve on her ability to utilize sun light so it is a source of energy for her. Ah see that? She's scooting towards her mother. Do you hear that? I believe she was waiting for Mary to wake back up.”

Mary blinked a few times as a gentle cooing reached her ears. Some giggles were mixed in and she smiled as she turned her head to look at her daughter and extended her hand towards her. Unfortunately due to Elise's size and more importantly her weight Mary wasn't quite ready to pick her up. She was still heeling. Still she reached out and gently took hold of her daughter's hand by placing her thumb in Elise's palm. She was surprised by how firm Elise's grip was yet she had to giggle whenever Elise did and smiled at her. “Micheal you wouldn't believe how firm her grip is.

Micheal flipped the intercom on almost immediately. “It should be around sixty newtons if you're talking about her entire hand.”

“Okay that means nothing to me.”

“You have a very strong baby.”

As the intercom turned of Warren was about to respond when Nancy spoke up. “Sixty newtons in one hand. Does that mean she could already pick herself up?”

“Not with one hand.” Micheal could see Nancy roll her eyes on his screen and couldn't help but grin. “I'm just being precise. You should have seen the arm of the poor nurse that tried to carry her out of the room.”

“I saw the images. That was some nice bruising from a kicking and a screaming newborn. I'm grateful that the grandfather was there to take hold of the child in order to calm her. What happened about that?”

“Oh that! Elise may not know the word but she knows her family's voice and her mother's scent already. To a lesser extent I'd say she already knows her grandparents as they're similar to her mother. If you try to take a child away from what's comfortable into a scary new place it's going to fight back. From the way she's been looking at her mother I believe she's already learned to recognize her face.”

Warren, “How am I suppose to treat that thing!”

Nancy, “That child Doctor. That does bring up an interesting question Micheal has she been given her shots yet?”

“I'm afraid not. Due to her initial resistance regular procedures have been delayed. Not that she has anything to worry about.”

While the conversation continued Mary lightly pulled on her finger until Elise extended her arm and then let the infant pull her finger back towards her. A delighted squeal came from her each time her hand came closer and Mary used her free hand to gently tease her daughter's side. “I bet they're talking about you Elise. Who wouldn't though? You're so cute. Yes you're just adorable. Mommy loves you.” Mary smiled though she took a moment to look away from Elise and around the room. “Hey as I'm sure you're listening in where are my parents?”

This time Warren turned the intercom on. “They went to get some food. I believe they're bringing something for you to eat as well.”

“Did you hear that? Grandpa and Grandma are bringing food back. Would you like to eat to?” Mary started to reach over with her free hand but stopped herself whenever she remembered her injuries. “Has Elise eaten?”

“Vanessa fed her just before she left with Adam. She wasn't willing to take formula from any of the nurses.” Warren wasn't going to mention it that had resulted in another nurse receiving a few bruises from Elise's flailing hands and kicking legs. It was yet another reminded of how developed her brain was that she already didn't trust strangers. As he turned off the intercom he turned to Micheal. “Micheal what's going on here. Her support cells shouldn't be fully organized yet or even formed completely and myelination should just be beginning. What is going on inside that child's brain?”

“The formation of support cells, organization of those cells, growing axons, forming synapses, myelination and so on of course. These things happen in Elise at roughly the same rate as they would a natural newborn. What you're seeing is the capabilities of Elise's underdeveloped brain.”

How could a child do all of this? Warren took in a deep breath as he looked into the room and focused his attention on Elise. She was already capable of associating sound with site. She knew that Mary's voice came from her. What else had she already developed? Did she already have a concept of object permanence or did she believe that when her mother left the room she no longer existed? It wouldn't be hard to test this to find out but the problem would be getting the family's approval and perhaps even Micheal. He couldn't forget Elise either. This wasn't a newborn who's flailing arms and kicking legs you could simply be ignored.

Warren felt his eyes widen whenever he saw Elise's head turning towards the doorway. His feeling of alarm only grew more intense as Elise continued to watch the door for several seconds then he heard the door knob opening and her grandparents came into the room. “The next time. The next time her grandparents leave the room we need to send a nurse or two by like they're going to enter the room. We need to see if Elise responds the same way.”

Micheal didn't respond right away but listened to Elise as she began to happily giggle upon her grandparents entering the room. This only grew more intense when Adam walked around to her bed and began to tease her stomach with his fingers. Her legs kicked but she seemed to be avoiding kicking him. “You want to determine if she knew someone was near the door or if she knew that her grandparents were just outside.”

“I'm certain she knew someone was near the door. We need to determine if she can already recognize who it is somehow.” There was no way that a newborn could learn all of this upon their birth. Warren was certain of that. Elise had been implanted with knowledge. She'd been programmed somehow. First he needed to find out what all she knew and then he could compare it to the learning curve of a natural child and prove that Elise had been programmed in advance. After that. Warren took in a breath. If she had been programmed in advance was she even a human?

Nancy, “You are her attending physician. These decisions aren't ours to make.”

*****

Adam had went to Elise almost immediately upon entering the room. “Hey there kiddo. Look what we got? Fries and chicken wings! They smell good don't they? Just you wait until your teeth come in we'll enjoy a whole plate of them together.” As he spoke Adam lightly tickled Elise and then set the tray he had been holding down so that Mary could reach it.

Mary, “Fries and chicken wings? Where did you get those?”

“We went to a restaurant a bit down the street.”

“Am I suppose to be eating those?”

“The doctors haven't spoke up yet.” Adam chuckled a bit when Elise gave a slight squeal. “Are you hungry again little lady? Well we shouldn't eat in front of you.”

Vanessa was actually a bit surprised by her husband's response. “Aren't you worried we're over feeding her? She just ate a little while ago. Well the doctor said she has a very efficient digestive system. Hey Micheal is she hungry already!” Adam actually laughed a bit when he heard the intercom turn on. He wasn't fond of the constant observation but he planned on taking his daughter and granddaughter home soon anyway.

“Do the bottle test.”

Now Mary looked up a bit. “Bottle test?”

In response to her daughter's question Vanessa took a moment to retrieve a bottle that had been resting in a near by cooler and held it up for Elise to see. “Want?”

Elise's first reaction was to look towards the bottle then her mother then back to the bottle. Her free hand lifted up towards the bottle while her other continued to hold onto her mother's finger. Rather then respond right away though Vanessa continued to hold the bottle until finally Elise released her hold on her mother's finger and reached for the bottle with both hands. Bending down Vanessa reached under the child. “I swear I have never had it this easy figuring out what a newborn wants.”

Mary smiled at her daughter and her mother. “Are you sure you're okay mom? She's a bit heavy.”

“I'm not so old I can't hold my granddaughter! Yet.” Vanessa couldn't help but grin at the last part. Elise was rather on the heavy side and she wasted no time making her way over to a seat and setting down. She grunted a little whenever she felt Elise take hold of the bottle and pull it to her mouth. She didn't mind but she wasn't ready for such a force. Neither Mary or Adam seemed to notice as he began to set out the food. “I swear with the way she eats I'm not certain if we shouldn't just move up to baby food.”

Mary's first response was to look at Elise's bottle. She was surprised to see how much formula went down with every drink the infant took. “I swear I thought she wasn't suppose to need more food then a child that hadn't been augmented. Micheal stop standing in that room and get in here.”

For a moment Micheal didn't move but then gave a slight chuckle and began walking towards the door. “I hope you don't mind Nancy but the client wants to speak with me.”

“It's fine. Be sure to call me later.”

It didn't even take a minute for Micheal to get into the room. “What's going on with my daughter's appetite?”

“She's doing a really good job of developing her body. I'm sure you've noticed that compared to how much she eats you've only had to change her diaper a few times. Her digestive system is better at extracting and making use of nutrients then ours but she's got a lot of building to do and well her body is better at building then ours.”

Adam, “Why don't you set down and grab a chicken wing then tell me about when my granddaughter is going to start eating a bit less.”

It was nice to have Micheal out of the room. Soon he would be out of his hospital. As Warren looked into the room he was a bit surprised by how hostile he felt towards Micheal. The man had been helpful before. Yet the way the Willabes trusted his words upset him. It would also be easier to investigate Elise once he was gone. A slight vibration in his pocket got his attention. He felt a bit sick to his stomach upon seeing that he was being called to tend to some patience. He had other work to do.

*****

May 17h 2020

It was here. It felt good there. Elise's eyes opened and her head turned towards the light that was coming through the window. She had been surprised whenever the light had gone away and then she had been scared. She had started to call for help wanting the light to come back and reaching for it. Then the large person with the familiar voice and somewhat familiar scent had picked her up and held her. It didn't bring the light back and she missed the pleasant feeling that came with the light but being held by him had brought a different satisfaction. They had given her the pleasant tasting stuff and she'd calmed down. Now suddenly the light was back and she gave an excited giggle. Reaching her hand towards the light she began to rock herself excitedly and pulled on the soft material she was laying on bringing herself closer to the light.

Between the medicine and her fatigue Mary was anything but energetic as she began to waken. The sound of something scraping across the floor was there but she wasn't certain why she should care just yet. As the scraping persisted though she became more and more awake. Her eyes snapped open as she remembered her daughter and she turned to look at Elise. The moment her eyes came to wrest upon her daughter Mary was as awake as she was going to be. Immediately her hand pushed the call nurse button. “Nurse something is happening to my baby. I think. Something happened to her skin.” Even as the words left her mouth Mary wasn't certain if it was just a trick of the light. In the span of a night Elise's skin had gone from fair to dark.

“I'm contacting Doctor Warren now and we'll have someone in there in just a minute.”

Elise had reached the sun light a bit before her mother had woken up. As she lay in the sun light her arms and legs stretched out as far as they could to let the sun wash over her. Her fingers had began picking at her little outfit that covered her whenever she heard her mother's voice. Immediately she turned her attention towards the most familiar and comforting sound as well as scent she knew. A delighted giggle came from her as she looked at her mother and then Mary smiled back at her.

*****

There was no question this was Elise. Adam knew that from her giggle and the way she looked at him. He also knew that by how heavy she was. Even for her size she was very heavy. As he held her he had also noticed she tended to give a slight cry of protest whenever he tried to take her away from the sun light. Genun had paid for them to stay in a hotel closer to the hospital rather then their home so they had been some of the first there other then the attending nurse. The nurse had called Warren but Micheal had beaten them there. “So you're telling me that my granddaughter is fine?”

“Absolutely! Um may I?” Micheal was currently having difficulty getting close to Elise. Adam seemed to be turning his body to shield her as if he didn't trust him.

Vanessa, “What is going on then?”

“Elise's integumentary system was designed to better capture and utilize sun light then ours. Her exposure to the sun light yesterday finally triggered those cells to begin making the specialized cells that allow her to do so. If you'd allow me to examine her I'd just like to see how well they're coming in on a complete person. So far I've only gotten to see the end result in testing chambers.”

Mary, “Just how do you plan to examine my daughter?”

In response to Mary's question Micheal brought out his smart phone and tapped on the screen a few times. “Just a visual inspection. My phone has a magnification feature that let's me examine things in the field as well as a visible light microscope. That should be enough to reveal whether or not the cells are fully active. They are other test I'd like to run but I'd understand if you didn't want that.”

“Such as?”

“I would like to determine Elise's level of preference. I was thinking we might move her away from the sun light and place a bottle an equal distance from her. Then we could determine what she prefers. That or perhaps we could use someone she likes such as you Adam.”

Adam gave a slight chuckle after only a moment of thinking. “I'm pretty sure she'd taken the third choice. She'd scream until I came over to her and held her in the sun light.”

“You're probably correct but that in itself would give us some information.”

Mary turned her head to look towards Adam. Currently she couldn't see Elise entirely as Adam had his back turned to her while holding Elise in the sun light. “Go ahead and take a look at her but let's hold off on the experiments.”

“Understood.” Despite not getting to conduct his experiment Micheal was smiling as he walked around and looked down into Elise's bright sapphire blue eyes. As his eyes locked with hers though he found himself stilled. He had seen eyes with these augmentations before. Granted it had only been the eyes as they had been grown and experimented on with no body. He didn't remember them being this bright though. “Wow that is impressive. I wonder if it has anything to do with her blood.”

Adam, “You haven't even inspected her skin yet.”

Rather then respond right away Micheal held his phone up and looked at the magnified view of Elise's skin. Even as he inspected her skin cells and slowly moved the phone along though he was thinking about her eyes. “I've mentioned before that we've never combined all these augmentations in a single living person but they all have been tested separately. I have a pretty good memory for these traits and I've never seen eyes quite as bright as Elise's.” While Micheal had asked to look at Elise's skin he couldn't resist taking a few high detailed images of her eyes for future inspection.

Vanessa, “Could it be the contrast between her skin and eyes?”

“I don't believe so. Elise did you do a better job of developing your eyes then our lab did? I believe that you did. Here you are a newborn and you're already showing us that you can do a better job of developing your body then our labs can.” Micheal laughed slightly as he looked at the recorded image of Elise's skin. “Now this isn't a deep tissue analysis but everything looks correct. I wonder though. If you don't mind give her a bottle of water after her normal feeding.”

Mary, “Okay but I may know why?”

“It'll improve how effectively Elise can make use of captured light energy.”

Adam, “Does that mean she needs more water then normal?”

“To operate at peek performance? Yes. To survive no. She should need even less then us. As Elise becomes dehydrated her body should begin shutting down certain activities. One of the ones to go is the metabolism of light energy. At this point her skin simply becomes a very good insulator against electromagnetic waves. Don't be surprised if she hates sun screen. Well in truth I don't recommend using it on her you're just cutting her off from a energy source.”

Even as Micheal was speaking Mary was watching him examine the images on his phone. His words seemed confident but he was so focused on his phone. What did he see that she couldn't? What was he thinking of. “Micheal what are you looking for?”

“Looking at and I'm impressed. Take a look.” As he spoke Micheal turned his phone and moved towards Mary so that she could better see it. “Do you see how evenly distributed the pigmentation is?”

This was not what Mary had expected. She had expected Micheal to tell her nothing or say that she wouldn't understand. Instead he seemed not only willing to show her but even eager to explain it. “I. I guess but why is that important?”

“It's how well distributed and organized the cells are. Adam you work in construction so I'm sure you know how important it is things fit together.”

“Well yeah. It can be a real headache if someone shifts some bricks a bit too much so everything doesn't fit together well. If it's real bad you might have to take down that section or the entire wall.”

“Exactly. Well when we were testing Elise's integumentary system we managed to fit it together even better then the integumentary system of a natural human. We expected to suffer some degradation in the real world compared to what we achieved in the lab but Elise hasn't shown any degradation. At least on the surface her integumentary system is put together even better then what we achieved in the lab. I'm not sure how she did it but it's remarkable.”

As Mary listened she wasn't certain she understood but her father seemed to. “Is that because she has several augmentations working together?”

“I'm not certain!” Micheal couldn't help the very large smile that appeared on his face. “I do know it's a very good sign though and that's what makes the situation interesting. All to often things work out worse then you'd hoped. To have something so important work out better then I'd hoped for. Well it gets me excited.”

*****

May 18h 2020

Mary was tired. While she had managed to arrive at the hospital without any trouble leaving had been another issue. A crowd of reporters and onlookers had gathered outside the hospital hoping for a look at the newborn. They had actually seemed shocked when they saw Elise and even more so that the newborn was wresting in her mother's lap while Mary was in a wheelchair. This was somewhat dangerous as Mary was still recovering and with Elise's weight and strength there was a possibility of injury. Elise had been quiet and gentle the entire time until one of the reporters had gotten a hand a little too close to her. At least it had made for a good demonstration. Elise had kicked the reporters hand with such force that he had not only recoiled it but lost his microphone. A rather noteworthy bruise had began forming almost immediately which didn't surprise Mary. She had felt the force of the kick as well it had just been spread out over her entire lap rather then focused into the area of an infants foot.

Elise had very quickly established that if you weren't Mary, Adam or Vanessa trying to take hold of her was a bad idea. Micheal speculated that she had learned that strangers would try to take her away from her family after the experience with the nurse. Warren didn't seem to believe that Elise could have learned such a complex idea at such a young age or from a single event but Mary wasn't certain. She was certain that Warren seemed to be giving Micheal an annoyed look. “Hey do you two think that Warren was looking a little worried?”

In response to his daughter's question Adam glanced over her shoulder at Elise. Currently he was the one wheeling them up their walkway while Vanessa got the door. “I didn't notice anything but I was a bit busy with Elise. Why?”

A slight chuckle escaped Mary before she took hold of her daughter's hands and held them out to the side for a moment. Elise responded by looking up at her mother. As Mary looked into those beautiful sapphire eyes she had to smile. “Beautiful girl. I swear Elise I'm not certain if you're going to believe me when I tell you that I'm your mother in a few years but I love you. He seemed to be looking at Elise a lot and I just thought he looked concerned. He was frowning and I thought he was going to say something several times but then he backed down.”

Vanessa had by now opened the door and moved to help her husband. Unfortunately there home didn't have a ramp. That meant getting Mary and chair inside would be a bit rough. “I can give him a call later but don't worry about it. The two of you are home now.” Vanessa went silent as she helped Adam to push to get the chair inside. She didn't doubt that he could handle it himself but this would make it easier. “You're going to need to call the office and let them know you're ready to come back into work.”

A sigh escaped Adam before he gave his head a nod. “Yeah. I'm surprised they let you go so early actually.”

Now that she was inside Mary took a deep breath filling her lunges with the air and scent of her home. “Welcome home Elise. Let's show you to your room. I'd actually be afraid to leave her at the hospital alone to be honest. I'd worry they'd try conducting a few test on the side.”

While she didn't want to admit it Vanessa did have similar concerns. She had other concerns of course. Genun had been very involved with Elise during the birthing process. Now that she was here what would they expect from her? It was her understanding that they wanted to be somewhat hands off but what could she really expect from them? “We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen.”

*****

May 20h 2020

This had officially become bothersome. Every time she would find a nice spot in the sweet light it would move and then she'd have to move after it. They were other lights in the room but they didn't taste the same to her. As Elise opened her eyes to find the sweet light had once again left her she let out a sharp squeal of annoyance and pushed on the ground. She could have just laid on her stomach to make chasing the light easier but she preferred to feel it against her face. Unfortunately that made chasing the light all the more frustrating. As she rolled over onto her stomach she began to look around the room to figure out where the sweet light had moved.

It had taken some doing but Mary had managed to convince both her parents to go to work leaving her home alone with Elise. Vanessa had used up too many of her days taking her to Genun for the initial procedure to begin with. Not that Elise was very troublesome to deal with. Indeed Mary found herself astounded by how well behaved Elise had been. The only problem they had with her so far was keeping her inside her playpen. Turning her head Mary noted one of the bars on Elise's playpen had actually been kicked out and she had been working on the second one whenever they got into the room. “You know honey I'm worried that you're going to learn hitting is the way to get what you want. You hit the nurse when you wanted to stay, you hit that reporter and now you're hitting your playpen.”

Elise stopped crawling for a moment and looked towards her mother. The site of Mary's smiling face and that it was focused on her brought an intense wave of happiness in Elise and she gave a delighted giggle. Rather then continue on her quest for the light she settled down and proceeded to look back at Mary. As Mary looked at her Elise noticed her raising her right hand and waving. In response Elise raised hers and waved right back. As she did Mary continued to produce sounds that the young girl couldn't understand yet but they were some patterns she was noticing. One of them seemed to be Elise. She was beginning to believe that was her as it was used most often when the big people looked at her. She had also noticed Mary which is what they often used when looking at the woman with the familiar scent and wonderful voice.

Mary had no desire to reopen her wounds but as she looked at Elise she couldn't help herself. Very carefully she brought herself to a standing position and slowly began to walk towards her daughter. “You like that sun light don't you? Well sense you're already awake how about I fix you a nice bottle and you drink some?” It seemed standing was the right thing to do as Mary noticed the phone ringing. “One second Elise and mommy will have that bottle ready.” As she spoke Mary retrieved her phone and was a bit surprised to see it was Genun calling. “Hello.”

“Mary it's Micheal! I was just calling you to let you know that the lab wants me back. Everything that we've gathered has indicated that Elise is coming along beautifully as are you. I wanted them to give me some time to examine you and see if Elise's estrogen had influenced your healing but well that's something Warren can handle.”

“Oh.” Mary honestly didn't expect this. She had believed Micheal would be around for some time to examine Elise. “Why do they want you back?”

“Genetically engineered child requires constant attention from one of Genun's top researchers doesn't sell very well. So unless there is a reason for me to actually be here they want me back. That is unless this would pose some kind of problem for you. I want to assure you that you can still use my number to reach me or Nancy and we most assuredly want to hear about anything involving yourself or Elise.”

“You mean anything wrong right?”

“Well Nancy maybe but feel free to call me about anything. I wouldn't even mind it if you called me just to give a description of her sleeping habits.”

“Ah well. She likes to sleep in the sun and wakes up every time it moves away from her. Dad is thinking about expanding the window so she doesn't have to move as often.”

“Now that is interesting! We knew that she would be fond of sun light I wonder.”

Mary actually had to keep from giggling as she heard Micheal give an annoyed sigh. “Is something wrong?”

“That won't be enough. Okay Mary I just wanted to say goodbye and let you know that we're going to be in touch. If you have any trouble feel free to give us a call and we'll see what we can do.”

“What exactly could you do? I mean you keep saying that you don't want to be too involved but.”

“Ah! Yes. Nancy gave me a list. We will continue to pay for Elise's and your medical care so long as you retain custody of her. You're actually on a company's insurance plan as an executive with an exclusion made for your spouse or any future children. Once you're ready to enroll Elise in an educational institution you can expect financial help from Genun so long as the institution meets with the executive boards approval. We also understand feeding a developing child is costly and Elise may prove even more costly. We're prepared to help with the cost of feeding as well.”

“What? No day care?” Mary actually found herself laughing as the words left her mouth.

“I believe that might fall into the category of educational. You know what. Let me get Nancy on the line and we'll talk about that right now. I'm sure she'd love having Elise out in the public eye.”

For a moment Mary was about to decline but instead she found herself biting her lip. She didn't know how most day care centers would respond when they learned that Elise could already break the bars on her crib. Convincing them to take her could be very expensive. “You believe they will?”

“If it gets Elise in the public eye in a positive light, allows them to demonstrate how capable she is and isn't some kind of special care I'm certain they will.”

*****

June 5th 2020

“Hi everyone. It's Mary again and I have something to show you.” As she spoke Mary turned her new phone so it was focused on Elise. Nancy had managed to talk her into accepting the phone with the understanding she would provide regular if infrequent videos of Elise's family life and what the young girl was up to for the first six months. She had worried that she was taking advantage of her daughter but then Nancy had convinced her that she would be the one choosing what to show. This would be a good move to combat the less flattering images others might take.

Normally Elise would have turned to play with her mother but at the moment she was very thirsty and she knew there was something to drink on top of the table. It had taken her a little time but she had finally realized she could use the drawers to climb up onto the counter. She also knew the drawers could be opened but hadn't figured out how to do that yet. She was more interested in using them to climb at the moment anyway.

“So yesterday Mammal turned her back on Elise for roughly a minute only to find her on the kitchen counter when she turned around. Well now we know how. I don't believe she's trying to hide what she's doing though. At least she doesn't seem to mind me. Grandpa would you mind making sure she doesn't fall?”

It only took Adam a moment to approach Elise. He worried that she might stop climbing but she didn't seem to intend to. Upon kneeling down he placed his hands just behind Elise so that he could catch her in the event she did fall. He wasn't fond of the camera but this was something to see. “Less then five weeks old and she's not only walking but she's climbing. Later you should show them what she did to her playpen.”

“Oh we already did that grandpa!”

Elise wondered if her large playmate was going to pick her up. When he didn't she believed he wanted her to continue climbing and she intended to do that. Her little fingers easily took hold of the drawer above her and pulled her body upwards. Her left foot left the ground and joined her right as she stood entirely on the bottom shelf while her little fingers rested upon the second. While still keeping one foot on the bottom shelf and her hands on the middle she lifted her left leg and raised it so that her toes wrested upon the top of the middle shelf leaving her in a lopsided position and relying more on her arms for stability then anything else.

Mary tried to hold the camera steady even as she watched intently. Elise's left foot left the drawer and it seemed like she was about to climb up. The agility of her body was almost impossible to believe. So she couldn't help but gasp whenever Elise suddenly lowered her foot back to the bottom shelf. Wasn't this how Elise had climbed up before or was she trying something new? She didn't know what to say as Elise lowered her elevated foot to join the other and then released her hold on the drawer. Her twenty kilograms of mass fell roughly for thirty centimeters with just a little bind in her legs as she landed. Mary actually felt her heart rate speed up whenever she saw those legs bend again.

A controlled fall wasn't what Adam had been expecting. Both of his hands currently rested on either side of Elise. He felt like his eyes might bug out of his head as Elise suddenly shot into the air. He caught a brief glimpse of her diaper as she shot into the air and heard a slight grunt he didn't realize was Elise taking hold of the edge of the counter and pulling herself completely onto it. By the time he looked up he heard a slight thump as Elise landed upon the counter stomach first. She didn't seem to mind as she was already raising up and looking around.

Elise had smelt it earlier and that's why she had decided to climb the counter. Just like last time there was a pretty amber drink setting there though this time the glass was full. She wasted no time scurrying over to the iced tea and raising herself into a setting position. She had to use both hands to get a secure grip on the drink which she eagerly raised to her mouth and began drinking. She didn't notice the astonished looks of the two adults in the room.

*****

June 7th 2020

“I know I could hardly believer it whenever I saw it.” Trisha smiled as she looked at Elise. It was nearly impossible to believe that the girl wasn't even two months old yet. If she didn't know about the procedure Mary had went through she would have called someone a liar for telling her Elise was less then a year or two old.

Currently Elise was playing with some of her toys. In this case she was playing with a puzzle working on fitting the various shapes in the right socket. She seemed to be annoyed that the oval wouldn't go in the circle opening. It even surprised Mary that Elise was having this kind of trouble considering how quickly she'd been gaining knowledge. She expected her to begin speaking any day now though she didn't know when it would actually happen. “She really is amazing. What I find more amazing then her abilities is how well behaved she is though. She snapped the bars on her crib but she just wanted to be able to lay in the sun light.”

“She doesn't seem to want to be out of it does she?”

“No. Keeping her diaper on the first few days was rough as well. After a while she just seemed to accept that we wanted her to wear them and we had plenty of replacements. Shirts are another matter.”

Trisha gave a slight chuckle when she noticed the annoyance in Mary's voice. “She ripped them to shreds didn't she?”

“Yes! Yes she did. When she caught mom repairing one she actually started ripping them into smaller pieces.”

“Ah. Someone was being naughty. Still, it's amazing. I saw the video of what happened to that reporter that tried to touch her and the nurse. When I saw that I was worried she might be terrorizing everyone in the house. I guess they did as much work on her brain as they did on her body. How intelligent do you believe she is though?”

“I'm not sure. I guess she might be at the eight month mark already but I really don't know. No. I think in some areas she's beyond that while in others she's lagging behind. The development of her brain doesn't seem to be entirely even. It's more likely they focused on what they believed was important. Warren is wanting me to bring Elise in for some test to see exactly how her brain is developing.”

“Have you been going?”

“I did at first. Then Nancy called. I'm still on their insurance and so is Elise. They wanted to know how Elise was doing and what kind of test Warren was running. It kind of worried me. I thought they were getting along. Yesterday someone else called me I believe his name was Gregory. He wanted to know if I would consider changing physicians.”

“Oh. That is not a good sign. Do you think Genun didn't like the test that Warren was running?”

“I guess that's the case. I didn't get a chance to ask Warren about it.”

“Well what did you tell Gregory?”

“I told him I'd have to ask Warren about it. I mean. If Genun doesn't like the test that he's running I want to know the reason why. I asked him what would happen if I didn't change physicians and he told me that nothing would change as far as our health insurance goes. He said more then once this choice was completely mine. I did ask them why they might want me to change. They said they weren't certain Warren was the best local doctor to see to Elise's unique needs or more like lack of needs.”

Trisha gave a nod for a moment then looked at Mary's stomach and arm. “What about your unique needs? I thought you might tone down once Elise wasn't putting chemicals in your system anymore.”

“I've actually been working to keep them.” As she spoke Mary raised her right arm and flexed it watching as her bicep swelled in response. “I don't believe I could ever get myself back to this point so I'm really reluctant just to give it up. Besides having a little muscle makes playing with Elise a lot easier.”

Trisha took a moment to lean back in her seat and look Mary over. While she'd never imagined herself with a body like Trisha's it did look nice. “I don't blame you. I don't believe I would either but how do you find the time?”

“Time isn't really the problem but the motivation sure can be. I just ask myself how I'm going to keep up with Elise if I let myself go and that tends to get me moving. It doesn't hurt that keeping up with Elise can be a workout in itself. Mom has serious trouble packing Elise around when she wants held.”

“Oh! That must kill Vanessa!”

Mary gave a nod as she noted the sympathy in Trisha's voice. “Yeah. If she gets much larger even Dad is going to have trouble packing her around for long. It also makes diaper changing bit of a chore for them as well.”

“I imagine so! What's going to happen when you need a baby sitter though?”

“I'm not sure.”

“You know that's something you might want to speak with Genun about.”

*****

June 14th 2020

Adam didn't believe he should be laughing. That Vanessa and Mary kept glaring at him told him that much. It was impossible to keep from laughing though as he looked at Elise and the way she was looking at Patrick. Currently she was focused on a small puzzle game that he felt was far too advanced for a child of her age but she was doing well. Yet every few seconds she would raise her head up and look towards Patrick. It wasn't the same look she gave to him, Mary or Vanessa but rather a quick glance as if to insure Patrick hadn't come any closer.

“I am so sorry.” As Mary spoke she was apologizing for her snickering father and Elise at the same time. Currently Patrick was setting across from her nursing two bruises now. One he had received whenever he'd made a move for Elise's toy and the second he'd received whenever Elise had thrown a toy at him after he reached to shake Mary's hand.

Patrick for his part currently had a large smile on his face. “It's fine. I was warned in advance that young Elise might not respond well to someone she doesn't know well. I should have let her get to know me a bit before I tried to touch her toys.”

As Mary looked Patrick over she couldn't help but think how different he was from what she imagined when she thought of a baby sitter. She guessed he was a bit over two meters tall and built more like a boxer or a professional bodyguard then a babysitter. The way he was handling his bruises made her think he wasn't a stranger to pain either. “I must say you're not what I expected when Genun said they'd found a babysitter. Could you clear that up a bit for me?”

A friendly chuckle came from Patrick as he glanced over at Elise again. His first few minutes with her had taught him that he couldn't let his guard down around her as strange as it was. “Babysitting isn't my usual profession. I'm actually in the protection business including the protection of children whose parentage could make them targets. Genun contacted me and asked about securing my service for young Elise as they felt a less conditioned babysitter might have trouble with her.”

“I thought Genun was trying to limit the special treatment Elise received.”

To this Patrick gave a slight shrug. “I'm afraid that I don't know about that. They did me warn me that Elise may be more of a danger to me then any outside threat until she got to know me. That's why it was recommended we set up a few play dates and meetings before I was left alone with her.”

Mary watched Elise perform one amazing feat of strength after another each day and had even seen people injured trying to interact with Elise. She had never hurt her or her parents though so it was easy to forget what Elise could do to someone else. She'd even been well behaved when their neighbors visited. Trisha had even seemed surprised whenever talking about how Elise could hurt someone. “You're probably right. What did Genun tell you about your hours though?”

“I'm salary.”

“Oh! Well you know that we're trying to handle Elise's care ourselves. So we don't actually have a set time when we'd need a babysitter.”

“I understand. You just need someone to be on call for emergency situations.”

Mary gave a slight nod. She'd actually explained as much when she contacted Genun and asked for some support. She had actually been worried this would fall into the category of problems they had to solve themselves but then Nancy had came on the line and spoken to her. Mary wasn't certain if Nancy really wanted help or didn't want to risk a babysitter appearing on television half beat to death by Elise but she had been willing to help. “I guess Genun informed you of this.”

“Indeed. They explained a bit more about Elise's unique condition then the news has provided and offered me a position to be on call.”

“I see.” Mary couldn't help but lean forward as if someone was listening in on her. “What exactly did they tell you?”

“I'm certain it was nothing they haven't told you or wouldn't tell you. They simply explained that they anticipate the position to be for no more then a year and they wanted someone on hand for an emergency situation. They also explained I may not be the first choice. I was reluctant at first as honestly it seemed to be too good to be true.”

Adam had been glancing between Patrick and Elise for a while now but had to speak up. “I imagine you're being paid a bit more then a regular babysitter.”

“A bit more yes.”

Adam gave a slight chuckle then looked back to Elise upon hearing a slight ding and the girl give a delighted squeal as she once again solved the puzzle and was rewarded with a short jingle. “What's with this year business?”

“That's when Genun anticipates that Elise will have developed enough to be left with a less trained babysitter and not send them to the hospital because she doesn't know them.” For a moment Patrick went silent and looked at the bruises on her arm. “They must have great faith in your parenting skills Miss Willabe if she's going to be even stronger then she is now.

*****

June 17th 2020

Mary didn't know if she was checking in on Elise or Patrick. Currently Patrick was setting a short distance from Elise trying to convince her to play with him while not intruding too close. Elise hadn't thrown anything at him or tried to hit him but rather seemed to be ignoring him. It felt strange to worry about a trained bodyguard with her infant daughter but she'd seen the damage Elise could do. Even if he could get the better of Elise that would be his last day working there if that happened and Mary would be contacting Genun and the police. From what she'd seen though he was behaving himself and likely had been paid to do so. “How are things going?”

“Well she's not throwing things at me I count that as a victory.” Patrick set up for a moment. “Would it be alright if I offered her some candy? If I can get her to associate me with sweets she may respond better.”

“I'm not sure bribing her is the best idea.” After a moment of consideration Mary walked further into the room and smiled as Elise immediately looked up at her. It was strange. At a age when a normal child couldn't even control their arms Elise was playing with simple toys. She seemed to have issue with her fine motor control still. Even when she tried to put the box in the square opening she missed several times normally. Yet she seemed to understand the concept of shape. As she neared Elise the young girl reached up for her mother.

Patrick turned his attention towards Mary for a moment and grinned whenever she picked up a puppet and held it out towards him. He responded by grabbing one of the toys Elise currently wasn't playing with. The speed with which Elise's heard turned in his direction reminded him of a snake striking and for a moment he worried he was about to deal with her wrath.

Holding the toy in front of her as if it was the one talking Mary began. “Hello Miss Elise and to you Mister Truck. Are we all playing well together?”

Patrick mimicked Mary's move with the truck. “”I'm trying real hard Miss Doll but I don't believe Elise wants to play with me.”

Elise noted the sounds of affection coming from her mother. She welcomed the ones directed towards her but she glared at Patrick. Why was this strange human receiving sounds of affection? How dare he touch her belongings! What was especially strange and upsetting to her though was the shift in her mother's tone. These sounded like the sounds of affection but they were different. They had the sounds of those that didn't belong mixed in with them as well. Why was her mother making the sounds of the unknown and the sounds of affection towards the same person? Elise had been thinking on this for awhile and she didn't have the answer but she didn't like it and due to that she didn't like Patrick.

Mary was a bit surprised when she looked over at Elise. The muscles and nerves that controlled her facial expression should still be developed but she could swear Elise was scowling. Perhaps she was scowling given how rapidly the young girl was developing. “What's the matter Miss Elise? Don't you want to play? I'll give you kisses.” As she spoke Mary gently brushed the doll against Elise and made a kissing sound. Elise responded to this with a giggle and placed her hands on Mary's wrist. As she felt how light the young girl's touch was she was amazed this was the same girl that had left others with rather serious bruises.

Elise hadn't forgotten about Patrick but she couldn't help but laugh whenever her mother brushed the doll against her. The sounds of comfort continued and the sound of affection was joined as well. As the soft person shaped toy brushed against Elise she couldn't help but giggle. Her mother's continued attention brought more giggles and it was soon hard to think of Patrick as she began to laugh and focused on her mother. Uncertain of if she wanted Mary to stop or continue the young girl placed her hands on Mary's wrist but didn't stop her actions. At least she forgot Patrick until she felt something brush against her.

Patrick surprised himself by how much he wanted to pull his hand away when Elise looked at him. It felt like he might be about to lose his hand. The young girl didn't make any hostile actions but he was certain that was because Mary continued to tickle her. Mary didn't seem to notice as she seemed to be focusing on playing with her daughter. He was certain now that he was going to have to try sneaking Elise some candy and see if he could bribe her to at the very least tolerate him. She wasn't even half a year old and she could already be dangerous. What would she be like at six or eight months old?

*****

June 22nd 2020

Elise could tell that there was less light but her eyes could still see through the darkness easily. She could hear the sounds of sleeping and knew that her family was asleep. There was some noises outside most of them she knew but she didn't know all of them. There was the box her mother called a radio gently playing music. As she listened to these things she carefully raised up and looked around her crib. She didn't want to make too much noise otherwise it would wake her family and she'd seen what happens if she wakes them too often. They became slow and their eyes began to redden. They didn't seem as happy and she didn't want to make them unhappy yet she wanted out of her crib now.

They knew that she could break the bars of her crib and she didn't want to make her papaw fix them again. They had set pretty things above her crib that made nice noises whenever she hit them but not too hard. If she hit them now they would wake up her family. As Elise looked around and considered her options she knew that she would have to jump out of her crib after only a moments consideration. If she hit the ground too hard though or hit the wrong thing that might wake up her family as well. A grin formed on the young girl's face as she noted the thick bundle of covers and other soft things she'd prepared earlier was still there. Her mama often cleaned that up but not all the time. She left it often enough that Elise had taken to regularly leaving them in a pile ready for the night.

Turning her attention upwards Elise looked at the pretty objects dangling above her. She wanted to reach up and smack them but she didn't want to wake her family more. After a moment she resolved there was enough room for her. After one more moment of inspection she raised herself to a standing position, bent at the legs and leaped both upwards and forward. As she went up she held her breath fearing that she'd overshot her target. This feeling vanished the instant she looked down to see the railing of her crib beneath her and she exhaled as she began to drift downward. Rather then trying to land on her legs Elise held her hands out to her sides and allowed herself to flop onto her stomach. Previous experience had told her this generated less sound. A slight breath escaped her and her stomach tingled a bit upon landing but did nothing to slow her down.

A slight giggle escaped the girl as she pulled her legs under her and pushed off the ground to bring herself to a standing position. The soft material had done much to muffle the sound and now she turned her attention to the open doorway. Out of her crib the infant turned her attention towards her sleeping mother. She knew Mary would be worried if she didn't get back to her crib before she woke up but as the young girl felt pain in her belly she wanted to end it. Resolving to come back and return to sleep quickly she turned towards the door and moved to the kitchen.

As Elise looked around her home she marveled at how different it was during the night. The light's were off which meant she didn't feel the warmth touching her skin. She missed the light and wanted to turn on the indoor light's but resisted the urge. Surely her family turned them off during the evening for a reason. Why did the outdoor light have to go off though? That was the sweet light but chasing it could be so bothersome. It was the disappearance of the sweet light that made her hungry sooner. Walking into the food room she looked towards the large box that she'd seen her family getting food out of before. Her papaw had even let her grab food out of it before.

With no family around she couldn't quite reach the handle and the floor. Instead she slipped her fingers into the gap between the opening and the box. A squeal of delight escaped her as it easily popped open and the rush of cold air and light hit her. This light was weak but now she could better see what she wanted. What did she want though? She wanted something to make her stomach be quiet but they were many things that could do that. She wanted the bottle her mama called chocolate, she wanted the apple, she wanted the cheese. They were other things she wanted but they were too high up to reach without climbing. She'd already learned that if she climbed on things they might fall over and she didn't want the large box to fall onto her.

As she gathered her food Elise laid it out on the floor and pushed it away from the door not wanting it to be closed up inside of it. Every time her family opened the big box they would shut it and so she would as well. At times her papaw stood there for long periods of time until Mamaw made the angry sounds. She wasn't certain if her papaw was trying to upset her though or if he needed reminding to shut the box but she didn't want Mamaw to make the angry sounds with her. With the box closed Elise settled down onto the floor and lifted the chocolate to her mouth. The syrup was thicker then water but tasted really good as she began to suck on the bottle.

*****

Despite Elise no longer flooding her system with chemicals Mary still enjoyed the benefits to her body. This included needing less sleep. As she was the first up though she didn't know what to think as she looked at the floor. A bottle of chocolate syrup was laying there though it was collapsed in on itself. Several packets of cheese were laying about and an apple core as if someone had set down and had themselves a little snack in front of the fridge. An almost surreal feeling washed over her as she began to walk back towards her bedroom.

Elise currently lay in her bed. She was aware that her mother was awake and moving around yet she didn't want to get up just yet. The sweet light had returned and was shining on her and while this wouldn't meet her energy needs it was helping to awaken her. Despite that she opened her eyes and smiled as she looked at her mother looking down at her. Mary responded by smiling back and Elise reached one of her hands up towards her hoping for contact. This was rewarded with Mary gently taking hold of her tiny hand.

There was chocolate on Elise's cheek. Mary knew that she would have cleaned that off before bed. Had someone come into her room during the night and let Elise have a snack? That didn't make sense. It was possible but there would be no way either her mother or father would leave a mess in the kitchen. Mary knew that Elise could get out of her crib though. “Elise where you in the refrigerator last night? I believe that you were. I believe you filled up on sugar and cheese.”

An excited giggle escaped Elise. She didn't know all of the words that'd just been said to her but she recognized the mention of food. Her mother made breakfast every morning. Did that mean her mother was going to be making sugar and cheese? She'd never made that before so Elise doubted it. Perhaps she was going to use sugar and cheese to make her breakfast. She did that at times and this thought made the young girl even more excited. There was no protest from Elise despite feeling tired as Mary reached down with clear intent to pick her up.

“That's my big girl.” Mary smiled despite the situation as she lifted Elise from her crib. “We're going to have to talk about this with your mamaw and papaw.”

*****

Vanessa didn't know what to think as she set holding Elise. Currently the young girl was focused on eating her eggs and oatmeal. It was strange enough holding a child less then three months old while she ate these things and Elise's efforts weren't perfect but this was even beyond that. “She got into the fridge on her own?”

Elise couldn't help a slight snort and growl of frustration that escaped her. She'd managed to shove her most recent bite into her face twice now rather then her mouth. She knew where she wanted the spoon but each time she tried to move it she overshot her mouth. It was becoming very annoying and the young girl was on the edge of dropping the spoon and crying for her mamaw to feed her. Before this could happen she felt Vanessa's hand take hold of her own and help to guide the spoon into it. The girl gave a delighted giggle after she closed her mouth and then began to chew. The frustration of the past few moments was gone and she didn't bother to think the next few moments would be just as frustrating.

“As far as I could tell. The bottle and packages were left in the floor but the fridge was closed. I didn't hear anything but then she had a smudge of chocolate on her face.”

“So she's already sneaking snacks.” Adam was silent for a moment as he rubbed his chin. “I'm just glad that she picked actual food items and didn't get into anything else. We don't want our little lady poisoning herself after all.” As he finished Adam stood up and reached over the table to take a moment to run his fingers through Elise's jet black hair. He was made to chuckle when the young girl only spared him a quick glance and smile before she returned to trying to guide her spoon into her mouth.

Mary couldn't help but roll her eyes. “Thanks for that thought dad. What are we going to do?”

Adam knew that was a general question but he had a strong feeling it was directed more to him then anything else. “Leave a trey of snacks out in your bedroom for her to eat if she gets hungry and buy better locks for the cabinets with the dangerous stuff in it. Not certain what kind of locks would hold though. I never thought of using padlocks to keep an infant out.” As he spoke his final words Adam directed them towards Elise and changed the tone of his voice.

Elise gave her papaw another look and smile. This time she waited longer as she was also chewing her food. She was glad that her mamaw was finally letting her use the spoon. As much as she loved her mamaw she never seemed to notice what she was pointing at. Now Elise could focus on getting what she wanted and Vanessa would help her guide the food to her mouth. When would her arms move the way she wanted them to though? She never saw her family have these problems. Was that something that would come when she got big? She didn't know but it sure was amazing how their hands moved where they wanted them to.

For a moment Mary said nothing and crossed her arms as she looked at her father. “You're not more worried?”

“Not really and there isn't much else we can do unless you want to put a bell on her. I don't believe she'd like that do to you? We do need to make sure all the windows and doors are shut so she doesn't slip outside on us and go for a stroll.”

“What if she falls down when she's wondering around the house?”

“Then I'll just have to fix whatever she broke.”

Once again Mary was taken aback by her father's words and by the realization they brought on. Elise had strength on par with many adults. She may have even been stronger then many of them. However, this strength was wrapped up in a large infant sized package. Elise was very large for her age but you wouldn't have mistaken her for a toddler. All that strength in such a small body meant she was very durable. It also meant she could do a lot of damage if she hit something. All that force focused into such little fist hurt.

Vanessa, “You know you could always start closing your door at night and locking it.”

A sigh escaped Mary as she looked at her mother. “Okay I feel rather slow. I don't know though. She seems to get so upset whenever I leave the door shut.”

“Yes and now we probably know why.”

Adam gave a nod but couldn't stay quiet. “Seems so. But if she's been going on this night strolls for this long it seems she has an idea of how to keep herself safe. What I'm amazed by is she chose to return to her crib.”

For a moment Vanessa said nothing but wiped of Elise's cheek. “She may have already realized that's where we want her to be at night so she's been returning to that location. I can't believe I said that. Less then a year old and we're already talking about how sneaky she is.”

Adam, “She's amazing that's for certain. I don't believe the people at Genun expected her to develop this rapidly.”

To this Mary gave a nod. “I've gotten that impression many times as well.”

Vanessa glanced down at Elise who had continued to work on her food. Given the weight of the girl she imagined she needed to eat a lot. It was a relieve that she didn't seem to be an overly picky eater though she clearly favored sweet and savory over everything else. She would eat bitter food but it was the last thing she ate and without the same eagerness. “So what are we going to leave out for her to snack on during the night?”

Adam couldn't help but grin. “Peanuts and pretzels.”

Both Mary and Vanessa gave him an annoyed look but it was Mary who spoke. “How about peanut butter sandwiches and well we'd better stick to things she can easily eat. Apple slices?”

“That's not a snack!”

“It is for her.”

*****

July 9th 2020

Story time had arrived again. Elise knew the word for it but she couldn't say it. She couldn't make any of the amazing sounds the adults could that meant things. She tried but her tongue never formed them. She pointed and made sounds when she wanted something but that was it. Yet she happily walked towards the bookcase having to stop and balance herself several times as she threatened to throw herself onto the ground. The adults kept saying that her fine motor control hadn't developed yet which she had finally come to understand meant she couldn't walk or move like they could. Yet they were constantly praising her for this clumsy walk. How she longed to be able to walk like her family and speak like them even more so. That didn't trouble her at the moment as she neared the bookshelf.

Adam currently set in the recliner still amazed by Elise. He had once said story time and carried her over to the bookshelf. Then her eyes had began turning towards that bookshelf whenever he said that. Finally he had simply said story time and watched as Elise had rushed over to the bookshelf before he'd even stood up. Now the young girl was looking over the spines of the books clearly searching for something. Was she able to read the books though or was she simply looking at familiar images? He wasn't certain but he was going to give her the time she needed.

Some of the forms of the books were familiar to Elise though some looked too alike to tell apart. She had noticed different levels of usage in the spines and color of the bindings as well. Thanks to this she could recognize several books or could guess between a few of them. As she looked the collection over she wasn't certain if she wanted her papaw to read the same book to her or if she wanted to try something new. As she looked the books over she noticed one that had a familiar symbol to her. The symbol was on a book she'd seen her family reading but it wasn't the same color of a book. This one was thinner, wider and taller and had a pretty picture of people on the cover it unlike the other one. The symbol was the same though. It was also the shape of some of her mamaw and mother's jewelery.

Adam watched intently as Elise looked through the books. His grin tried to widen a bit as she finally selected and began to walk back towards him. Rather then reaching down for her as she came to him he extended his arms while keeping his back strait. Elise responded by placing the book in his lap and then placing her hands in his. While before he had picked her up the simple truth was that having her help was easier on his back. Her height had been increasing rapidly and her weight even more so as her muscles grew stronger and apparently denser. Elise landed relatively softly on a thin pillow he had waiting for her. A precaution to spare his aging legs. “Let's see what you got here.”

As he spoke Elise settled back against her grand father and leaned against his chest. She liked to listen to the sound of the drum in his chest while he read to her. She could actually hear it even when she wasn't so close if he was excited but needed to be very close when he was relaxed. As she settled down she placed her hands on her legs and looked toward. Her head was made to tingle and a delighted squeal escaped her as she bent forward to get away from her papaw's nose as he sniffed her hair. For a moment she shot him an annoyed look while he grinned at her. She couldn't frown at him for long though especially whenever she heard the book opening.

“Scripture stories for children. I'm afraid this is a bit much for one setting but let's see if we can find a good one. Three foolish kings? At the water's edge? The strength of the meek?” Adam blinked for a moment as he looked down at Elise. “I believe that would be a very good story for you. Let's go with that one alright?”

The symbols on the page had meaning. Elise had figured that out. Her family called them words and whenever they looked at them they were normally much better at telling stories. At times they even pointed out certain words to her and repeated them. She had tried several times to remember the symbol and the word that went with it but it was so hard to remember. The last time her mama had tried this she'd actually began crying she'd been so upset. Now she regretted doing that as they hadn't tried sense. They had continued telling her the name of other things though. She had learned that the soft thing her mama laid on at night was called a bed and the smaller one she was in was a crib. She didn't understand why her mama's didn't have a fence around it but perhaps that was part of being bigger.

“A long time ago there was a mighty man blessed with great strength.” As he began to read to Elise Adam felt the young girl settle back against him. He didn't know if Elise had developed enough to truly appreciate such a story but as he was reading the parallels between the people in the story and Elise struck him as rather noteworthy. Hopefully they could teach their granddaughter to love herself without being prideful so that she wouldn't suffer the same fall though. Then again the story didn't feature someone that learned at an accelerated rate and had tremendous physical strength.

*****

July 15th 2020

“Apple. Good. Now orange. Wow. Chair.” As Mary said each word Elise pointed towards a picture of the desired item on a book. She was trying to remain calm but she was positively amazed by how easily Elise took to the tasks. As she came to the fifth item Mary retrieved a small fruit snack that she offered to Elise. Her heart positively skipped a beat whenever Elise took the snack from her but rather then eating it she held it up towards her as if offering it. “Is that for me Elise?”

They had been playing this game for a little while now and Elise had realized her mother hadn't eaten any of the candies. Rather then take this one for herself she'd chosen to offer it towards her. As she did so she could hear several rapid thumps coming from the people with the touch pads. They had been making those sounds for a while now and she was rather certain they were making words. She didn't know what was going on exactly but her mother seemed to think this was important.

“Yum!” As Mary ate the candy she gave her daughter a huge smile which returned. She then turned her attention towards the examiners for just a moment. “How is she doing this? She knows what the words mean but she isn't speaking.”

As Warren looked towards Mary and Elise he found himself rather surprised as well. For the moment he remained silent and waited for the people from Genun to respond. He was preparing to push the issue whenever one of them spoke up.

“Physically Elise is superior to a natural human in every practical way. However, some things are more superior then others. Those regions of Elise's brain that handle course motor control and developing bonds of attachment for example developed extremely rapidly as well as those regions that would allow her to grasp the concept of harm. This was done to diminish the chances of her harming her mother for example.” As the research spoke he chose not to mention this had an unwanted side affect. Elise had developed the concept of harm more quickly then desired which meant she understood the idea of harming others and had clearly shown she would do so. That was why Mary was conducting the test.

“Does that mean she understands what the words mean?”

“I am certain of that. However, the region of her brain that handles translating the words into physical actions of her tongue is still developing.”

Mary gave a slight nod and looked at her daughter. “Mama.” It was impossible for Mary to keep from giggling as her daughter pointed right at her. In response to this Mary gave her daughter a kiss on the hand. “The last time I spoke to Micheal he talked as if Elise was developing faster then expected.”

“She is! Believe me she is. Micheal has been contributing this to an extremely nurturing home environment but these numbers. Everything is developing as planned if we're talking proportionally however she's over a month ahead of schedule at this point.”

“Oh? How many months?”

“I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to reveal that.”

Mary found herself frowning for a moment though she quickly removed this expression from her face as Elise suddenly turned around. “Clown.” The fact that Elise gave a slight jump upon hearing this word made Mary chuckle and even breath a sigh of relief. She could have sworn her infant daughter was about to start throwing things. “She sneaked out of her crib and watched a movie she shouldn't have while her her papaw was watching it. I think she's scared of them now.”

A large grin formed on one of the researcher's face as she continued taking her notes and evaluating Elise. “I would be afraid to test that theory. We might have some very expensive medical bills.”

*****

July 28th 2020

“M mai mau ma m.” Elise's tiny hands clutched her crib as she took in a deep breath as anger filled her. Why couldn't she say mama? Why wouldn't her tongue work right? Currently Mary was sleeping quietly so she kept her voice down but how she wanted to scream. “M m m ma.” A sharp gasp escaped Elise as she began to cough as the word refused to form on her tongue. Her eyes grew hot and her mouth opened releasing a harsh cry. Why couldn't she make the sound! Why couldn't she tell her mother that she loved her! Her mama, mamaw and papaw where always saying they loved her. Why couldn't she say it back to them? A sharp gasp escaped the young girl as she felt hands taking hold of her side and she was lifted from her crib.

It had shocked Mary whenever she'd woken up to find Elise crying. Without thinking of the why she'd climbed out of bed and quickly moved to retrieve her daughter. “What's the matter Elise? Did you have a bad dream?”

Elise took in several deep breaths of air. The touch of her mother helped calm her but she couldn't respond. As she looked into her mother's face her mouth opened again. “Ma.” Growing quiet for a moment Elise took in a deep breath. “Ma.” Her heart fluttered a bit when Mary smiled at her.

“That's right Elise! Mama. I'm your Mama my little angel.”

“Ma Ma.” A delighted giggle escaped Elise as the words formed. It wasn't what she was going for exactly but Mary's calming influence had a wonderful affect on the young girl. “MaMa. MaMa”

“Yes!” Mary couldn't help but kiss Elise. As she looked towards her doorway she was tempted to call to her parents and let them know what Elise had done. Yet as excited as it would make her grandparents to know Elise was speaking they needed their sleep. Mary needed hers as well but there was no way she could quiet Elise down right now. “That's my baby!”

*****

“Mama!” As she spoke Elise pointed towards Mary she then turned and looked towards her Mamaw. “Mama aw.” A scowl formed on the young girl's face for a moment though her family continued to smile at her. Currently she was being held by her mother but she was determined to say Mamaw. “Mam aw.”

Vanessa covered her chest for a moment as she felt her heart rate speed up. To not only hear Elise trying to say mamaw but for it to be so clear she knew who Mamaw was made it all the more amazing. “That's amazing!”

“I know! Believe me I wanted to wake the both of you up but I knew if I did Elise wouldn't let you get back to sleep. She's been saying Mama nearly the entire night.”

“Adam isn't this amazing?”

“You bet it is.” Adam for his part wondered how long it would be before she said papaw. Given how quickly she'd already grasped mamaw and mama he doubted that it would be long at all. “She's an amazing girl though. After all she's our granddaughter.”

*****

October 10th 2020

Elise didn't take hold of the page even as she turned it. Rather she laid the book flat on the table and inserted her fingernail under the page then lifted it. Her fine motor control had yet to develop fully and she still ran a real chance of ripping a page in half or out of the book. She'd done this several times with practice books her family had gotten her. Effectively cheap books no one really worried about but this book she had too much respect for to risk ripping apart. The sound of an engine drawing closer took her attention away from the book and she carefully closed it and stood up. “Papaw is about home!”

“You hear him already?” Vanessa didn't bother hiding the amazement in her voice even now. Elise didn't hear her papaw coming home whenever he pulled into the driveway or whenever he was on the sidewalk. She could recognize the motor of his truck and recognized he was returning home from nearly a kilometer away.

“Yeah!” As the young girl raised herself to a standing position she marveled at how her body had changed. She had put on several centimeters since her birth and now stood seventy eight centimeters tall despite not being quite six months old. Her parents told her that she was growing very rapidly but she felt like she had a lot more growing to do. It was easier to maintain her balance and reaching things was a lot easier though. This was truly appreciated as she rushed over to the window so that she could see her papaw returning.

As impressive as the increase in Elise's physical height was the increase in her mind was even more impressive. For a moment Vanessa just looked at the book Elise had laying on the table. She wasn't just talking but she was actually reading. She was less then a year old and could read simple stories. Her understanding had a long way to go but she was reading. This wasn't the type of thing a child less then a year old should be able to do. The only thing that seemed to exceed the development of her mind was the development of her body. The thought made Vanessa shiver for a moment. Her granddaughter at less then a year old had already exceeded her in strength and all that strength concentrated into such tiny hands could do a lot of damage.

Hearing the motor of her papaw's truck start up every morning had allowed Elise to learn it and even recognize changes in it. This allowed her to tell it apart from the other motors she heard. She had learned to do this with her mama's and mamaw's motors as well. She liked to be ready to great her family when they returned home. “Mamaw why does Mama have to work later now?”

“Well. That's because your Mama needs to earn some more money.”

“Then what about you mamaw? You work at the bank with mama right?”

Vanessa gave a nod though Elise couldn't see it and turned down the stove to avoid burning their food. She then proceeded into the living room to find Elise setting on the windowsill looking outside. “Well sweetie I work the early morning shift and your mama works the evening shift. That way one of us is always at home with you.”

For a moment Elise just took in her grandmother's words. “Then what if I went to the bank with both of you? I'd be good I promise and then we could all be home together!”

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