08-16-2025, 11:41 PM
== Another month later ==
"Again, Robin." The elderly human woman's voice was neutral, conveying neither approval nor disapproval. She merely kept the stern look on on her face.
The five-year-old girl carefully picked up the fork in front of her, her moves deliberate. She was forcing herself to move at a casual pace and with care as she had been taught. She stabbed one of the pieces of chicken on her plate and put it into her mouth, then put the fork back on the plate before returning her hands to her lap.
Doctor Conaway gave the child a slight smile. "Very good." Robin beamed at the approval. It wasn't just that, though. As the treatments had continued her speed had begin to increase precipitously. Her first attempt to use a fork had resulted in a nasty wound in her mouth. The doctor was here to provide therapy to the girl, reteaching skills that had been lost but also teaching her to adapt to her rapidly changing physiology. Robin was also learning not just to walk again but also not to throw herself forward as quickly as she could. It was a delicate balance.
Conaway had decades of experience. Whether the Federation wanted to admit it or not there were quite a few parents who were eager for the advantages that genetic engineering provided. Such things were by no means common, but nor were they extraordinarily rare either. It was just as much her job to teach children to blend in as it was to help them adapt to their new enhancements. Moving too fast, showing off enhanced skills or suddenly genius-level intellect could reveal what had been done, and the consequences would be dire. Little Robin probably wouldn't have to deal with any of that, though. From what her mother had said the isolated colony world had little in the way of a Federation presence. Simply put, no one there cared. She might be treated as different, probably would be, but no one would look to arrest her parents or ban the child from pursuing a career as was done on supposedly-enlightened Earth.
"You may finish the rest, Robin. Carefully." The little girl said "Yes'm" around a mouthful of food that she swallowed a moment later. And then all protocol went out the window as the door slid open and Karlos Mayfair stepped into the room.
Robin was out of her seat in a flash. "Papa!" Doctor Conaway winced as the purple-haired girl slammed into her father at blinding speed, almost bouncing off him and taking a tumble before his fatherly reflexes kicked in and he grabbed her arms. The rancher pulled his daughter into a hug. "Robin! How are you doing, child?"
"Really good, Papa! I can eat without poking myself!"
That drew a rare laugh from her father. "Well, that's good." He picked the girl up, holding her with one arm so she sat on his arm, her arms around his shoulder and neck. Robin was still small for her age, likely a combination of her mother's small size and the years of damage her condition had done. He looked his daughter in the face and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I don't want to interrupt Robin's therapy, Doctor..."
The elderly woman shook her head. "It's fine, Mr. Mayfair. We were almost done anyway. Robin is making excellent progress. I believe your wife is in a meeting with Doctor Kizol, if you want to join them.
Karlos nodded. "Of course. I have some questions."
The rancher was escorted to the Chief Geneticist's office, still holding the girl. She hadn't released her hold and had babbled the whole way about what she was learning. As he entered the office he set his daughter down. "Robin, can you play with the toys over there while I talk with the doctor and your Mama?" He indicated a shelf in the corner full of books and various toys. He put the child on the floor, showing extraordinary care as if she was still breakable.
"'Kay, Papa." She plopped herself down on the colorful carpet and examined the collection, looking for something interesting. Karlos took a seat next to his wife and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Doctor Kizol was just filling me in, Karlos. So far the treatments are proceeding fine. Nine more resequencing treatments left. Robin's adapted to her increased senses, and the therapists all report significant progress."
Doctor Kizol nodded. "Yes sir. And your daughter has already finished the most radical of the resequencings. The rest will increasingly be 'fine tuning,' as it were. We're making sure her body is accepting the changes and that they're stable. We'll be finished in three months, and then it's just a matter of observation for the remainder of the year."
Karlos Mayfair had a concerned look. "Doctor... her face. She looks different." He could still see the resemblance to himself and his wife, but it was like a fading photograph. Robin still had the same skin tone as the Mayfairs, the same button nose as Sonjia, but her facial structure had changed, and not just because she'd lost weight.
"I did say that would happen, sir. Remember, she's far less related to you biologically than she was a few months ago. To be blunt, a lot of your daughter had to be replaced. I'm sorry, but there's no other way to put it."
The rancher frowned. He had been told, but it was one thing to hear words and another to see the results firsthand. How much Robin would be left? Would it be like they had lost their daughter anyway despite everything? He was about to say something to the Edosian when he heard a soft voice behind him.
"Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs."
He turned. His daughter had pulled down a book and was reading out loud. He recognized it.
"The great, dark trees of the Big Woods stood all around the house, and beyond them were other trees and beyond them were more trees. As far as a man could go to the north in a day, or a week, or a whole month, there was nothing but woods. There were no houses. There were no roads. There were no people. There were only trees and the wild animals who had their homes among them."
It was Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He'd read it in school himself, and though he wasn't a teacher like his wife had been he knew it was well beyond her age range... and when he'd last seen his daughter she'd forgotten her ABCs. He just stared.
"Wolves lived in the Big Woods, and bears, and huge wild cats. Muskrats and mink and otter lived by the streams. Foxes had dens in the hills and deer roamed everywhere."
The girl continued, oblivious to her father's staring. Her mother squeezed his hand. "Yes, dear." There were tears in her eyes. The elder Mayfair's objection was cut off.
For his part the Edosian doctor just gave a slight smile. His face otherwise revealed nothing.
As you humans say, 'You ain't seen nothing yet.'
He still had a lot of work to do, adjusting things and adding his own changes. They were well past the danger stage, and now he could truly work. He had ideas. Adjustments that could be made to truly see what the Augment DNA was capable of, especially with modern Adigeon Prime technology and expertise. Had he had failures in the past? Certainly. But they'd taught him to be careful.
"I didn't think my daughter was ever going to learn to read, Doctor. Thank you." Karlos Mayfair's voice had a slight break.
"The credit goes to your wife, sir. We've just worked to undo the damage her condition caused and give her a boost." He was underselling it, but a little bit of humility never hurt.
== To be continued ==
"Again, Robin." The elderly human woman's voice was neutral, conveying neither approval nor disapproval. She merely kept the stern look on on her face.
The five-year-old girl carefully picked up the fork in front of her, her moves deliberate. She was forcing herself to move at a casual pace and with care as she had been taught. She stabbed one of the pieces of chicken on her plate and put it into her mouth, then put the fork back on the plate before returning her hands to her lap.
Doctor Conaway gave the child a slight smile. "Very good." Robin beamed at the approval. It wasn't just that, though. As the treatments had continued her speed had begin to increase precipitously. Her first attempt to use a fork had resulted in a nasty wound in her mouth. The doctor was here to provide therapy to the girl, reteaching skills that had been lost but also teaching her to adapt to her rapidly changing physiology. Robin was also learning not just to walk again but also not to throw herself forward as quickly as she could. It was a delicate balance.
Conaway had decades of experience. Whether the Federation wanted to admit it or not there were quite a few parents who were eager for the advantages that genetic engineering provided. Such things were by no means common, but nor were they extraordinarily rare either. It was just as much her job to teach children to blend in as it was to help them adapt to their new enhancements. Moving too fast, showing off enhanced skills or suddenly genius-level intellect could reveal what had been done, and the consequences would be dire. Little Robin probably wouldn't have to deal with any of that, though. From what her mother had said the isolated colony world had little in the way of a Federation presence. Simply put, no one there cared. She might be treated as different, probably would be, but no one would look to arrest her parents or ban the child from pursuing a career as was done on supposedly-enlightened Earth.
"You may finish the rest, Robin. Carefully." The little girl said "Yes'm" around a mouthful of food that she swallowed a moment later. And then all protocol went out the window as the door slid open and Karlos Mayfair stepped into the room.
Robin was out of her seat in a flash. "Papa!" Doctor Conaway winced as the purple-haired girl slammed into her father at blinding speed, almost bouncing off him and taking a tumble before his fatherly reflexes kicked in and he grabbed her arms. The rancher pulled his daughter into a hug. "Robin! How are you doing, child?"
"Really good, Papa! I can eat without poking myself!"
That drew a rare laugh from her father. "Well, that's good." He picked the girl up, holding her with one arm so she sat on his arm, her arms around his shoulder and neck. Robin was still small for her age, likely a combination of her mother's small size and the years of damage her condition had done. He looked his daughter in the face and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I don't want to interrupt Robin's therapy, Doctor..."
The elderly woman shook her head. "It's fine, Mr. Mayfair. We were almost done anyway. Robin is making excellent progress. I believe your wife is in a meeting with Doctor Kizol, if you want to join them.
Karlos nodded. "Of course. I have some questions."
The rancher was escorted to the Chief Geneticist's office, still holding the girl. She hadn't released her hold and had babbled the whole way about what she was learning. As he entered the office he set his daughter down. "Robin, can you play with the toys over there while I talk with the doctor and your Mama?" He indicated a shelf in the corner full of books and various toys. He put the child on the floor, showing extraordinary care as if she was still breakable.
"'Kay, Papa." She plopped herself down on the colorful carpet and examined the collection, looking for something interesting. Karlos took a seat next to his wife and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Doctor Kizol was just filling me in, Karlos. So far the treatments are proceeding fine. Nine more resequencing treatments left. Robin's adapted to her increased senses, and the therapists all report significant progress."
Doctor Kizol nodded. "Yes sir. And your daughter has already finished the most radical of the resequencings. The rest will increasingly be 'fine tuning,' as it were. We're making sure her body is accepting the changes and that they're stable. We'll be finished in three months, and then it's just a matter of observation for the remainder of the year."
Karlos Mayfair had a concerned look. "Doctor... her face. She looks different." He could still see the resemblance to himself and his wife, but it was like a fading photograph. Robin still had the same skin tone as the Mayfairs, the same button nose as Sonjia, but her facial structure had changed, and not just because she'd lost weight.
"I did say that would happen, sir. Remember, she's far less related to you biologically than she was a few months ago. To be blunt, a lot of your daughter had to be replaced. I'm sorry, but there's no other way to put it."
The rancher frowned. He had been told, but it was one thing to hear words and another to see the results firsthand. How much Robin would be left? Would it be like they had lost their daughter anyway despite everything? He was about to say something to the Edosian when he heard a soft voice behind him.
"Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs."
He turned. His daughter had pulled down a book and was reading out loud. He recognized it.
"The great, dark trees of the Big Woods stood all around the house, and beyond them were other trees and beyond them were more trees. As far as a man could go to the north in a day, or a week, or a whole month, there was nothing but woods. There were no houses. There were no roads. There were no people. There were only trees and the wild animals who had their homes among them."
It was Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He'd read it in school himself, and though he wasn't a teacher like his wife had been he knew it was well beyond her age range... and when he'd last seen his daughter she'd forgotten her ABCs. He just stared.
"Wolves lived in the Big Woods, and bears, and huge wild cats. Muskrats and mink and otter lived by the streams. Foxes had dens in the hills and deer roamed everywhere."
The girl continued, oblivious to her father's staring. Her mother squeezed his hand. "Yes, dear." There were tears in her eyes. The elder Mayfair's objection was cut off.
For his part the Edosian doctor just gave a slight smile. His face otherwise revealed nothing.
As you humans say, 'You ain't seen nothing yet.'
He still had a lot of work to do, adjusting things and adding his own changes. They were well past the danger stage, and now he could truly work. He had ideas. Adjustments that could be made to truly see what the Augment DNA was capable of, especially with modern Adigeon Prime technology and expertise. Had he had failures in the past? Certainly. But they'd taught him to be careful.
"I didn't think my daughter was ever going to learn to read, Doctor. Thank you." Karlos Mayfair's voice had a slight break.
"The credit goes to your wife, sir. We've just worked to undo the damage her condition caused and give her a boost." He was underselling it, but a little bit of humility never hurt.
== To be continued ==