Fledgling

This is a story featuring Avis's life at the lab. It will feature trivia about Avis and will hint at plot twists in the RP.

## Chapter 1

The intern was officially displeased. Not that anyone noticed or cared, of course. The young woman's mouth was tucked downwards in a firm frown, and her hands curled into each other. She glared at her name tag. It was such a boring script, which perfectly matched her name. Melissa. She sounded like a stuffy old lady. Melissa briefly considered tearing off her name tag and storming out with her dignity, but the fantasy was swiftly halted. Melissa was almost broke, and her parents had already cut her off.

Still, was getting a normal job, like a waitress, worse than this? Melissa knew that if she left, she could never become a scientist. She didn't care that much. She only wanted the career because of the salary. Melissa's lip curled as she looked at he baby in the glass tank before her. She was a lab intern, not a nanny! Why was she forced to care for some infant? It wasn't even human!

Melissa knew some of her friends might gasp in awe of a baby with bird genes, but Melissa was unimpressed. The baby didn't look like much. Blond hair sprouted from her head, looking wild and unkempt. Her wings were small and folded, and on the beginning wisps of feather poked out from the lumps.

Still... Melissa was going bowling with her friends. She needed cash.

Relictantly, Melissa pressed a button on the side of the tank. A light flashed, and Melissa waved her ID card in front of the scanner. The lid the tank loosened, and Melissa wrapped her fingers through the air holes, pulling it aside. She reached down into the tank and gingerly wrapped her hands around the child, lifting them up. The baby sneezed.

"Ugh, gross," Melissa grumbled. She sat the baby on a table. A cart sat next to the table, covered in medical instruments and needles. Melissa was glad that wasn't her job. Melissa turned her attention back to the baby, who had gone very still. The baby stared up at Melissa with unfathomable blue eyes. Melissa shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm just here to change your diaper," Melissa informed her. "Don't blame me."

Melissa was saved as several scientists stepped inside. They nodded cooly to her, a dismissal. Relieved, Melissa almost ran out of the room. Barely pausing in the sanitation station, she hurried into the hallway. Melissa paused, looking back into the room through a large glass window. The scientists were obscuring the baby, but Melissa could still picture those large eyes. Melissa shrugged, straightening. This was for the greater good. Besides, it was paycheck day. Melissa regained her composture, and strode down the hall, away from the scientists and the not-human baby.

## Chapter 2

Avis blinked, her bright eyes clouded with cobwebs of sleep. An insistent arm tugged her relentlessly. Avis shifted in her nest of pale blankets. What was going on? And why couldn't she just lay down and... Avis yawned, her jaw moving slowly as if to agree it was far too early in the morning to do anything.

The hand tugged harder, and the four year old took the inconvenience to turn her head. A face swam in her vision, her features blurred and distorted. Black hair hung like displayed silks from the woman's head, and makeup smoothened any flaws in her skin.

"It's time to go. Come on; we're going now. Come on!" The woman's sharp voice pierced Avis's sleepy daze.

"...Seepy...?" Avis slurred, loosing another yawn. She cast a longing look to where the pale blue blanket lay rumpled on the otherwise pristine floor. Fuzz coated the fabric like a gauze, and Avis wanted nothing more than to burrow into it and close her eyes.

"No. No seepy. I mean, no sleepy!" The woman sounded irritated now, and an extra sharp yank on Avis's arm caused the child to yelp in discomfort and compliantly toddle beside the woman.

Avis steered the woman toward the edge of the railing, gazing down in childlike wonder at the levels and levels of empty space.

"Come along!" The woman pulled Avis from her excitement, and tugged her along faster.

The woman urgently pulled the young girl towards a door. Avis's mind wandered as the woman fumbled for a key card, cursing and mumbling under her breath.

A lone scuff mark marring the floor snatched Avis's attention. She studied the unusual mark for a moment before her interest was casually tossed to the woman's pocket, where a long, slim object was tucked into the woman's blemish-less white outfit. The woman hissed and smacked away Avis's curious hand.

Avis flinched and withdrew her hand. Her shoulders pulled up like she was forming her own personal cave.

The woman slid a card before the scanner and the door unlocked. Grasping Avis's forearm, the woman dragged the child into the room. Callously dumping her in the unfamiliar room, the woman immediately retreated, abandoning Avis.

Avis's eyes widened like china plates, pale and easily shattered. She hovered in indecision, unsure of what to do when she was left alone.

Her hesitation soon ended as the door slid open, and a large man reached out a thick arm, snatching her wrist. He easily tugged Avis into the room, and a pair of scientists peered at her eagerly from their dignified place across the room.

A third scientist joined the pair, stepping forward while the other two scientists bobbed their heads deferentially.

"We're glad you're here," the third scientist addressed Avis, his voice warm and friendly, but his eyes frigid. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time.