"Everything alright, Harper?" Logan asked. This was supposed to be one of his last days there, so they were catching up as much as possible. Harper would show him around their small town and Logan would talk about life where he lived.

"Yeah," Harper told him, "Just a dream I had last night."

"Ah. For a second I thought you were upset with me."

Harper rolled her eyes and smiled, "Logan. Buying a smoothie for me to make Hayden happy would never make me upset. If they're happy, I'm happy."

"Is that why you looked so worried when they went to school without you?"

Her smile wavered, "Um, not exactly. More like... More like some people don't really like us."

Logan glanced at her, confused, "Why wouldn't people like you? You guys are great!"

"Yeah, but... When we're walking in the streets people think Bailey and I are Thomas and Hayden's parents. They technically aren't wrong, but.... It's complicated."

"And that's why they don't like you? Really?"

"Well, parents think we're a bad influence. And trying to explain our situation just gets us pity. I'd rather be ignored than be treated like a piece of glass."

"Hm... Well, apparently this place isn't as perfect as you made it sound."

Harper laughed slightly, "Oh no. It's not perfect. But it's better than... Anywhere. It's home. Even the boys agree, and they can't settle down for the life of them."

Logan grinned, "Hey, I like their energy! We need a little crazy sometimes."

"And you don't get that already?"

"Eh. Bonnie is surprisingly calm for a two month old. More scared than anything. Barely makes a sound."

"Bonnie's your sister, right?"

"Half sister. My mom finally remarried after all these years. Guess she still was getting over my dad's death."

"You say it so casually..."

Logan winced, "I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine. Like I said, I don't want pity. Anyways, you were saying?"

"Uh, right... Bonnie. Um, she's nice. Our house is much louder now, but what else would you expect? She doesn't cry often, though. My parents are kind of worried, actually..."

" ...As a person who was unwittingly part of a science experiment that probably affected my personality, I highly recommend getting it checked out. Even if it's nothing. "

"Probably a good idea. I'll tell my parents when I get back," he looked at the buildings as they passed, "I wonder..."

"Wonder what?"

"I just... Think my parents might like it here. Maybe. It's nice. Quieter. Especially compared to where we are right now. After everything with your dad, we've been... Pretty big." He chuckled, "It's kind of weird, the difference between these places. Crazy."

Harper smiled, "Well, how have things been since I left?"

"Well, the lab's been investigated by the military. So has your old house. Apparently someone's been living there? Like, besides you and your dad. Someone else."

"What? How do they know?"

"First off, everything still works. Someone had to be paying the power company and water and all that. There's no way that'd all still be running after 5 years. Then there's the dirty cup in the sink that was still wet. And the door they couldn't open."

"The office. I got in there once. Then Wyatt was killed. Hate that place."

"Maybe. Either way, they can't get in. They've found a ton of codes. None work."

"That... Might be because I took the paper with the code." Harper admitted, "Though I'm not sure if they'll find anything important in there anyway. I took most of the papers."

"Don't think that's gonna change anything. Though, if you could tell me those numbers, that might get the military out of town, at least for a bit."

Harper thought for a bit, "I'll text them to you once you're at whatever building you can show them to. I don't want anyone who isn't trustworthy possibly getting those numbers."

"Understandable. But, if you don't think there's anything important in there, why are you so careful with the code?"

Harper looked at her feet, watching them spray small pebbles as they walked along the sidewalk, "Because, I guarantee you that there's something in there that isn't important. Yet. I don't want to risk anything falling into the wrong hands."

_____________________

Isabelle held her child carefully. It felt like she was handling glass. The room was so quiet it almost felt suffocating. No one spoke, as if they were all afraid one word would kill everyone. Not even the newly born child made a sound.

Bailey stood by her mother's side as everyone watched. Either the baby would live or it would die. That's all there was to it. Everyone held their breath to see what would happen.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. The baby just stared at her, occasionally blinking. Her large eyes were the same color as her father's with a small purple tint, which Isabelle tried to ignore, but otherwise she looked like a normal baby.

Isabelle refused to name her. That would be getting her hopes up. She didn't want her child to end up like Edge of Dakota. She'd wait. Name her if she survived.

"Hi, baby," she whispered, tickling the baby's chin with her finger. Her daughter smiled for a moment before going to her bland expression. Isabelle looked towards one of the nurses in the room, "Why isn't she... Doing anything?"

"Um, well..." The nurse said slowly, "Truth be told, this hasn't happened before. Normally they all burst into crying. You know, like a normal baby."

" ...So is this good?"

"I... I really don't know. I think so, considering that most of the other subjects cry likely from pain. So, this would mean the test isn't hurting her. It also..."

"It means it affected her brain." Isabelle finished, "Her emotions."

"Its... possible."

Isabelle grabbed her baby's hand. She was so beautiful. How... Why did she put this at stake? She risked... This. Just to spite Corin? This.... This was wrong. "How long is this experiment supposed to run again?"

"I think he said 5 years. Then your daughter should go back to normal."

"Will 5 years be enough?"

"According to our calculations, yes," another nurse said, "We've gone through 99.99% of all situations. In all of them, 5 years was more than enough. So, even if the last 0.01% is much longer than 5 years, what are the chances that'll be the circumstance that happens?"

As Isabelle stared at her daughter, she was still worried, even with those odds. Looking at her baby's still face, her but told her that that small percentage that could be terrible was the case here. She shifted her gaze to Bailey, who didn't seem to understand what was at stake. Bailey's eyes were focused on her baby sister who she already seemed to adore. Isabelle sat up a bit more and slid over. "Come here, sunshine." She told her.

Bailey hesitated a moment before climbing up next to her mom. She studied her sister's face in intrigue, carefully touching it with her small fingers. The baby's face flickered with unidentifiable emotions, finally stopping on a small smile when Bailey grabbed her hand, though that smile quickly disappeared.

Suddenly, Isabelle's phone buzzed beside her. Corin. Of course he would be curious. Isabelle turned her phone off and looked towards another woman in the room: Olivia. Her sister.

"Help me pack our stuff. We're leaving in the morning."

I did it! I got a chapter out today! Sure, it's pretty late, but at least I did it. I lost some motivation during the middle of the day, and I was pretty tired when I started writing, so I'm sorry if there isn't much detail in this chapter. I'm going to try to update again these upcoming days; Maybe it'll get me back in the habit of writing daily! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see y'all later! Bye!