DNA

Chapter One

The bright sunlight crept into the windows of the DNA Laboratory, waking up a young girl. Lilium slowly opened her eyes and looked out the window at a robin. She thought of how serene it must be out there in the summertime, but quickly came back to reality. It's not like the stingy scientists would let her go outside anyway.

"Lilium," came the voice of Professor Veta, "it's time to eat."

Lilium couldn't help but mutter swears under her breath. She finally just answered him.

"I'm not hungry, Professor," Lilium sighed, keeping her gaze out the window.

The professor walked into her room and stood by her bed.

"Please, Lilium. Don't do this every day. You're fourteen now; act your age," he argued with the girl.

"No. Leave me alone," she grimly stated, closing one eye.

"If you come eat, I'll ask Professor Lox to get you a new book," Veta tried to reason with Lilium and slowly walked to the door.

"Fine, I'll go. You better not be lying," Lilium said as she jumped out of bed.

"I'm not lying."

The two of them walked down to the dining hall and greeted Professor Lox.

"Ten minutes. You're ten minutes late. Will, I expect more out of you," Lox looked coldly at Professor Veta.

"My fault, indeed, sir," Veta said with a snarky attitude.

"Watch it. I can put you out on the streets," Lox warned, staring at Lilium.

"Well now, Lilium. Eat and then get ready for your new upgrade."

The way he had put it made Lilium feel like a robot. She wasn't a robot at all. She was just a clone. . . or maybe that does count as a robot. Whatever she was considered, she definitely wasn't normal.

"Lilium!"

This new voice seemed familiar, so she turned and saw her best friend, Aluca. Aluca was a young scientist and the granddaughter of Professor Lox. She was only eighteen years old and was the youngest at the DNA facility.

Her black and purple hair fell to her shoulders and curled at the end. Lilium liked her hair, but admired her unusual, almost golden, eyes. It made her smile to see them. One great thing about Aluca was that she had a big heart. She treated Lilium like her younger sister, so the two had been close.

"Aluca!" Lilium yelled, running to her friend for a hug. The two smiled at each other and sat next to Veta at the table. The next moments went by way to quickly and Lox came to the room.

"Aluca, go work on that medication in case the procedure goes wrong," Lox snarled at his granddaughter."

"Of course, grandfather. I'll get right to it," Aluca bowed and spoke gently.

"You're leaving already?" Lilium asked as soon as Lox left the room.

"I have to. You'll see me later, okay?" Aluca put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Okay. Bye, then," Lilium held back her tears. She thought it was unnecessary to cry.

"Bye," Aluca stuttered, not wanting to leave her friend alone. She had to, thought. It's not like she had a choice.

Professor Veta just stared at Lilium as she looked to the floor. She felt the tears filling her eyes. The professor stood, and called her name.

"Lilium, are you okay?" he asked her. She only nodded her head and wiped her face with her arm.

"You're clearly not doing well, so let's go to my office, okay?" Veta took her hand and she silently followed him.

Professor Veta's office was a very cheerful room. It had neon yellow walls and plants everywhere. Lilium sat in a chair and looked at the plants, examining them one by one. She looked around until her eyes landed on a picture on his desk. There were actually about six pictures. All of them had one thing in common: a little girl.

"Who is she?" Lilium asked, staring at the pictures. Professor Veta looked at what she was talking about and seemed to be troubled by her curiosity. Still, he answered.

"That's my daughter."

Lilium never knew he had a wife, let alone a child. He had never told her about the girl before, but still told her everything else about himself.

"I didn't know you have a daughter," Lilium stated, in shock.

"Well, I do. She's almost twelve. My wife didn't want her around the lab, so she took off with her. Now I only see her once a year on her birthday."

Lilium felt pity for the professor, and she asked one final question.

"What's her name?"

"Kiki," he answered. Veta sat at his desk and unlocked his computer.

"Anyway, care to tell me what's wrong?"

Lilium looked at her puffy crimson eyes in a mirror on the wall. Her light violet eyes looked kind of pretty with the redness. Even if they were pretty, she didn't want to be the damsel in distress.

"Just think of my situation. What do you think could be wrong with me?" Lilium used a little bit of attitude in this statement.

"That? Don't let it get to you that bad. We're trying to make the world better."

Lilium scoffed, "Well then, how is making me miserable a help to the world?"

Professor Veta seemed to think for a moment.

"I'm not sure, actually. Ask Professor Lox," he finally answered. Lilium closed her eyes and let the final tears fall. The professor continued on with his work.

When she was almost asleep, Lilium quickly awoke to a loud scream. Before she knew it, she hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Lilium, are you okay? Do you recognize that scream?" Professor Veta quickly questioned, shutting down his computer.

"It's Aluca!" Lilium yelled as she rushed down the hall, nearly tripping over everything.

Finally, she reached the lab and what she saw was something she'd never forget.

Red and orange flames filled the small lab rooms along the hall. Without a moment of hesitation, Lilium rushed into the second lab where Aluca worked.

"Aluca!" she yelled out, already coughing from the smoke. She heard a small groan and crawled to the corner it came from. There lay Aluca, already half dead. Lilium felt a new feeling of nothing and without fear grabbed Aluca, burning her arms in the process. Aluca must have weighed at least 130 pounds, and to a young teen who weighed ninety-five pounds, that was heavy.

"I'll get you out of here. I promise," Lilium told her friend, refusing to let go.

"Save yourself," Aluca weakly replied, coughing in the process of speaking.

Lilium rushed her near the door when she heard glass break. She covered Aluca as glass and a purple liquid poured over her. It burned her skin and dyed her hair. She screamed out in pain and shoved Aluca out the door. With one final breath, she passed out.