Sanctify
Epilogue

Noriko sat alone in a room. She closed her eyes and reached into the deepest and darkest recesses of her mind and found a memory fragment. She pulled it out and found herself seated at a small table. She couldn’t have been more than a year old, as she sat at the table, tracing the lines. Noriko frowned and moved forward to see herself focusing on the task at hand.

The door opened and the familiar presence of Wesley Dane and Maria Hawkins entered, followed by Naomi Egas, very un-pregnant and excited. When Naomi saw the baby Noriko, she exclaimed, “Is that her?”

Noriko turned from her task and looked up at Naomi with blank eyes. Maria smiled, “I’m sorry to trouble you, Mimi, but there wasn’t anyone else I could trust with this. I mean, being what she is and all.”

Wesley walked over to Noriko and sat down on the other side of the table. He looked over her work and smiled, “Good job, Riko.” He replaced the paper onto the table and then motioned to Naomi as she sat down next to Noriko, “Riko, this is Naomi. She is a very close friend of ours.”

Noriko looked up at Naomi and then turned back to Wesley, expecting more of an explanation, but he gave none. Instead, Maria sighed, “Are we doing the right thing?”

“Riko,” Wesley started, again, ignoring Maria’s words, his words harder to get out this time, “you have to stay here from now on. Until we come back to take you away, you have to remain here, okay?”

Naomi smiled and leaned closer, “Hello, Riko. I’ve always wanted a little sister,” she added, and then frowned, “or should she be my daughter?”

“She’s my daughter,” Maria interjected, and then, “which makes you her aunt.”

Wesley moved across the table and picked Riko up, holding her close to him. Naomi watched Wesley and Maria say good-bye to the little girl and then, when they were talking to her husband, Naomi moved closer to Riko and asked, “What should I call you?”

Without hesitating, the little girl replied, “Noriko is fine.”

Naomi was surprised that Noriko could speak so well. So, she got on her stomach so she could stare up at Noriko, as if their ages were reversed. “Hey, Noriko, why are you so smart?”

There was a moment’s pause and then Noriko replied, “Because they made me this way.”

Naomi frowned, feeling the hollowness of her words and then she sat up. Placing a hand on Noriko’s small and warm back, Naomi stated, “You are who you were meant to be. Remember that, Noriko, no matter what happens,” she added, and then dropped her hand.

But, at that moment, Noriko turned from the paper and crawled over to lay her head in Naomi’s lap. It was such a small gesture and yet, Naomi knew it meant something.

And from the window that looked into the room, Professor Egas gasped, “She is truly amazing. What a beautiful creature she is,” he added, turning from the window to face Wesley and Maria, who sat before him, looking concerned.

Wesley swallowed, “We thought about countless foster homes and orphanages, but it didn’t feel right. We need her to be cared for without changing her.”

Professor Egas smiled, “You don’t want the heavy hand of the government. I got it. Luckily, I know of a place the government can’t touch. I’ll enter her into that home so she can be somewhat normal. When she’s old enough,” he added, peeling through his papers.

Maria sighed, “Is this really the best thing to do?”

“Jordan can’t get her here,” Wesley reassured and Maria cringed. She hated the thought of leaving the only daughter she’d ever grown to a friend’s care, but she knew better than to think her ex-boyfriend would leave her child alone.

They hadn’t intended on growing close to Noriko, but Wesley changed his life so that he could be with her daily. Maria, oddly enough, also found herself spending more time with Noriko. So, when Noriko started talking four months after being birthed, Wesley and Maria were over the moon. Noriko got down talking three months out of the capsule, and then, at ten months, she had properly trained herself to feed herself, clean herself, and do things that adults did, like use the restroom and bathe.

Maria looked over to see Wesley stand and walk over to the window. He was more attached to Noriko, by far, because he was there when she said her first words. And then, he chased after her the first time she learned how to run. Hide-and-seek with a toddler was interesting, especially the lack of fear she had for hiding in high places. But when she did fall, she always landed on her feet, sometimes a hand would be extended to keep her balance. Maria knew Noriko would be exceptional, but what she had become was far more than how either of the scientists imagined she would be.

Wesley swallowed, “I want to be there to observe the growth of human emotions within her, but Jordy might figure it out if we came here, too often.”

Professor Egas nodded, “I agree. Jordan Christensen was never the type of man to just let things go.”