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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 15:30:37 GMT -5
"He was an adult who made a decision!"
She didn't intend her voice to get so shrill.
"Adrian's parents were tampered with so he would be born and he and my mother were manoeuvered together so that as the last surviving members of the program they would conceive children. Johan and I were born in a quiet little room and never even given names. We'll never be human, not really, not a one of us."
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 15:37:37 GMT -5
"If you poison a piece of food, it doesn't matter if you cooked it in from the start or if you add it later and feed it to the person who invented it, the food's still poisoned-"
It was a terrible metaphor, and as soon as it came out of her mouth, Megan knew it.
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 15:42:24 GMT -5
Nina shook her head.
"I don't feel ruined by trauma. I don't feel being appropriated for a dark purpose is what's wrong with me. It's not like that."
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 15:46:10 GMT -5
"That isn't even what I meant- I wasn't talking about me, I meant... Captain America," she said uncomfortably.
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 15:48:53 GMT -5
Nina chewed on her lip. "He is still the successful product of a eugenics experiment - and the science that made him was the origin of the science that made me. But he started out human, free to shape his destiny. I don't know how to explain it, Megan, but... Adrian and I are no more human than that android. We were made for a function. That's not the natural order."
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 15:53:38 GMT -5
"Are you listening to yourself?" Megan said, a little spooked. "You sound like some kind of self-flagellating Puritan beating herself up for being the product of adultery."
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 15:55:14 GMT -5
"Well, adultery's not that unnatural," she said, coming to her senses, realizing Megan didn't understand her at all. But it was curious that she seemed so little upset by the revelation. Prepared for it by Adrian, she expected. "Marriage is a manmade concept."
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 15:57:28 GMT -5
"Oh, goddammit," said Megan, breaking down in tears at last.
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 15:58:37 GMT -5
Nina took a step back from her, flushing with a sudden deep sense of shame at her own inappropriateness.
I really am my father.
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 16:14:52 GMT -5
"Honestly... Nina, look.
"My- my grandmother had cousins in Germany back then. The only thing I ever learned about them was not to ask about them. They got forced off the family tree. I put it together what that meant when I was about 15. For all I know, my family- my distant family, anyway- helped make yours. Or maybe they just... sat back and let the people who made you happen. Either way..."
She sighed.
"Would you let that happen again? I don't think you would."
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 16:18:22 GMT -5
She listened to her, trembling externally, but internally, regulating her breathing, her heartrate. She would be composed.
When Megan finished, she smiled at her.
"Oh, don't worry, my dear. I don't believe in any kind of destiny, nor that being inhuman frees me from my moral obligations." Perhaps it makes some new ones, though, she thought as her mind turned to Adrian's actions. He could do that where no one else could. Perhaps one day, she too would have to do something as horrible to spare others the stain.
A little more formally, she said, "I'm sorry to force all that information on you. I... wasn't thinking. Once I get started talking, I always do this." She shook her head at herself.
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 17:08:35 GMT -5
Megan's head snapped up.
"'…my… dear'?"
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 17:28:57 GMT -5
Nina flushed a sunburn-looking pink.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking like she wanted very much to run and flee. "I'm not so good at normal as I said earlier, I guess."
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Post by Megan on Jul 24, 2014 18:04:49 GMT -5
"Of course not," Megan muttered. "Probably worse than me, right? Everything's worse for you, isn't it? God- god fucking damn it, I actually tried to talk to you- find some common goddamn ground- but no, everything's worse for you, just because the wrong people made you fucking perfect- never goddamn mind that you're not even remotely one of them yourself- You're just gonna sit there and melodramatically tell me- me- that you're some kind of damaged goods, and meanwhile I'm over here with bad joints and- and-"
She started sobbing in earnest.
"Hey- hey Nina- I have a question for you-"
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Post by Nina Fortner on Jul 24, 2014 18:07:14 GMT -5
Nina had pasted herself to the wall, heart now beating so quickly that she thought it was going to fall out, but neither of her hands felt anything. It wasn't going away, though, so she had to answer her.
"Yes?" she asked faintly.
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