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This story contains violence, detailed descriptions of the human body and actions. If these offend you you may want to stop reading now. Though this chapter contains none of that.Reviews are welcome if you wish to leave one I can be emailed at happiest_in_shadows@yahoo.com just be sure to mention the story in the title so I know it isn't spam.


Upon taking the floor Michael took a few moments to look around the room. Seated around the lab area were various colleges and executives. A few particularly important investors were also amongst the audience and he counted around ten politicians. He was grateful that he didn't have to handle the introductions and had only been called onto the stage to actually run the experiment. "Thank you David and now if everyone would either direct their attention to the box in front of me or one of the video monitors we'll begin."

Opening the lid of the small grey box inside wrested a single human bone engulfed in a thick gel. The gel was actually a form of synthetic blood that was used to keep certain organs alive during transportation. Though it had only met with limited use in humans as the gel was thicker then blood and hard for the heart to pump.

After slipping on a pair of gloves to protect his hands Michael reached into the gel and took out the bone. He then proceeded to take a paper towel and clean the gel off. Once that was done he wrapped a wire around it which was already connected to a scale. The massive dial on the scale insured that everyone in the audience could see the force read out in Newton as he pulled down on it.

When Michael was done pulling down on the bone with all his strength and mass to show its strength he removed it from the scale. Setting the bone down on a small pan in front of him he picked up the hammer and wedge that had been provided. Placing the wedge over the bone he gave it a quick tap with the hammer a knocked a sizable chip away from the bone. "Mm tougher then it looked." Giving a slight shrug Michael gave the bone two more cracks.

There were a few mummers amongst the audience and even some chuckles. Given that it was from his colleges he imagined it was in reference to the number of times it'd taken him to shatter the bone. He had told them he wanted something more substantial to break the bone then a five kilogram hammer.

"Well now that we've established that this bone is not brittle in anyway we can get to the actual demonstration. Even with modern developments recovering from a break of this nature would take weeks and maybe months depending on the age of the person in question. What we've developed is a way to get this person back up and active within days if not hours."

As he spoke Michael reached into an additional container and took out a small metal test tube. He then began to speak once again as he opened it. "The eighth step is the solution to speeding up the long tedious natural healing process. Now this isn't just a new medicine or stimulant but rather is an actual living organism. A symbiot that is meant to work with the human body and help in repairing damage."

The symbiot wasn't placed directly on the break but was set on the point further from it. "The eighth step requires no intervention from human's outside of the initial application as you're all about to see."

As David watched the presentation from the corner he slowly made his way around the room. He finally came to stand in front of Michael though outside of the audience's and camera's view. It was hard for him to believe that Michael had been their best speaker amongst the projects research and development staff. "Too close. You're leaning forward."

For a moment Michael didn't notice David and nearly forgot to keep a strait face whenever he looked up at him. At last he got what David was saying and quickly backed away from the test area. He just loved watching the symbiot at work was all.

The eighth step didn't act at first but seemed to lie dormant for three to five seconds. At last though it began to move, slowly expanding outward until it had engulfed the bone width wise and then pulling itself forward. As it neared the brake those that were closest or watching the monitors saw the creature reach across with small tendrils formed from its greater mass.

Using the tiny bridges it formed the symbiot then proceeded to pull itself across and seep down into the fracture. Several gasp where heard seconds later. When Michael had driven the wedge between the bones he had forced them further apart. Then when the symbiot entered the space it pulled the two parts closer together so that the gap between the only represented the missing materials.

Michael waited a few moments for the symbiot to fill the gap and settle before he continued. "Now this is only one fracture of course. What happens if there is more then one?" Grinning he took up the hammer and proceeded to break the bone in two additional places.

Once again it took the symbiot a few moments to respond. It didn't leave its current location though but rather left enough of itself behind to still feel the gap. As it made its way over to the additional two breaks and filled them in the same way it had done the previous one. "As you can see the symbiot doesn't just fill in one damaged location but is capable of detecting several and taking care of them. Now if everyone would just wait five minutes we can move on to the next step."

In truth the symbiot didn't need five minutes to be ready for the next part. Two would have most likely been enough once it had settled in but Michael gave it the extra time to be certain. Then he picked up the repaired bone and once again placed it on the scale.

David grinned as he noted the scale reading the same amount of force it had previously clearly displaying that it could handle as much tension as the bone could once it had settled in. What would happen next should truly surprise the audience though.

Taking up the hammer and chisel once again Michael placed it against the bone though this it was on the symbiot. He then proceeded to give it a single sharp strike. More them a few mumbles could be heard going throughout the room as various people commented on the fact that it hadn't even chipped the symbiot.

"As you can see not only is the eighth step as strong as the bone it has replaced but is actually stronger. Now if you'll direct your attention to the screens." Turning to face the screens himself Michael waited for a display of a close up of the project to show. "The first thing the eighth step does when introduced to a body is detect nerve impulses. As you saw it was able to detect that the bone had been damaged. After that it moves to the damaged location and works to replace the damaged tissue or bone."

The video on the screen began to show up so that what would have normally taken hours could be seen in minutes. "After the eighth step fills in the damaged area it begins to take on the finer dimensions of the damaged tissue. It actually reads the body's genetic layout and uses that to determine its new dimensions. Once it has taken on the shape of the damage tissue the real event begins.

Instead of just acting as a substitute for the damage materials the eighth step works to truly replace it. The cells of the symbiot of the symbiot actually convert themselves into the same type of cells they are currently standing in for until finally you couldn't even tell that the symbiot had ever been there."

As she watched the show one of the audience members stood up. "What about the excess materials?"

Turning away from the screen Michael focused his attention on the woman. "Once the symbiot has begun to convert itself into the same type of cells as its host the excess material begins to break down. I can assure you the compounds the symbiot breaks down into are perfectly safe and many are beneficial to the body. The final stage of taking on the form of the host's cells takes the longest however there is no need to wait for this stage to end. A few hours after the symbiot has been introduced to the host's system it's safe for the host to become active again."

"Why is there a need to wait a few hours? It seemed to work within minutes."

"That was under direct application situations. When being applied to a living body the symbiot must be introduced more slowly and it takes it longer to work though the body. When dealing with damage skin it must first remove the damaged flesh. Allow me to show you. Well that is what we suspect we have yet to test the symbiot on a human being as you all know."

Once again the displays switched to a close up of the table as Michael took a moment to remove some of the symbiot from the bone. After placing the bone back within its container he proceeded to lay out a strip of flesh. "Okay as you can see the top layer of skin has been severally burned. This level of damage isn't actually repairable. The lower region however hasn't been touched by the flames."

"Now the eighth step symbiot I have remaining doesn't have nearly enough cells to engulf this entire mass. Fortunately it has to remove the damaged flesh as well as replace it." As Michael spoke he placed the symbiot on the burned flesh. Once again the creature stayed dormant for a few moments and then it began to move though this time it wasn't anywhere near capable of covering the entire area.

"Please direct your attention to the monitors once again. This process takes a little while so we conducted the same experiment earlier. Also it's hard to appreciate without a microscope." Turning back to the monitor Michael waited until the seen changed and began to play. "Now what is happening is the eighth step is identifying those cells that are dead or too heavily damaged for it to help. At this time it will actually begin consuming those cells. Now to optimize the recovery time the eighth step was designed to produce more of its own cells then begin the shift once the job was done.

It's quite possible to change the eighth so that it would only produce the cells of the host. However while this speeds up the replacement stage it slows down the treatment stage which is the primary concern."

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Michael had a smile on his face as David walked out of the demonstration area and back into the hallway. He could hear the guest filing out of the exits in the viewing area. "Well do you believe that we got the funding and the go ahead?"

For a few moments David was silent as he glanced over his shoulder back to the demonstration area then to Michael again. "I believe we made a good first impression which is important but this technology isn't going to set well with everyone. It also hurts that we don't have any tests with humans instead of just a few parts."

"I know but we can't get those until they give us the go ahead."

"What I believe we'll get from that conference is permission to begin searching for human tests subjects. Of course you've already begun that. How is it going?"

"It depends on what's happening week to week. Broken bones and burns don't last forever. What about the funding?"

"I don't see the funding that we are already receiving being cut thanks to that conference however I don't see any extra coming in either."

A sigh escaped Michael as he turned and began to make his way down the hallway. "I'm going to get back to the lab. Let me know whenever they give us permission to begin human testing. Once it has been granted we'll have to dive on it."

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"You've got to be kidding me."

It was easy for David to understand the frustration of the research and development team so he said nothing to the developer about his outburst as he continued. "No I'm not kidding. Whoever, you test this on must be in critical condition. If someone dies during the testing stage we want as little of it as possible to be our fault."

"So we have to wait until someone suffers a critical injury, rush out to the hospital while they are still in intensive care, get all the paper work taken care of and apply the eighth step. All before they're out of critical."

"Yes that is the situation."

Before the researcher could speak up once again Michael beat him to it. "Relax people are getting injured all the time. It's not nearly as difficult as you make it out to be. I take it the more severe the injury the better though."

"Right, in truth the board of directors would prefer if the person wasn't expected to live."

"I see their decision serves two purposes then. One if the person dies then we can hopefully redirect blame. It's true that the eighth step might be seen as a failure but it can't save everyone. The other reason is if it does succeed it'll seem all the more miraculous."

"I suspect that is their reasoning as well."

Michael gave a nod. "Okay here is what I want everyone to do. First start monitoring the hospitals for any ideal cases. Several broke bones, internal injuries, severe burns anything like that or any combination. I also want everyone to contact any friends they have in the medical business. Let them know what we're looking for. Be sure to think back to classmates you had in collage that were going into medicine we need a lot of eyes and ears if we're going to jump on this."

"So the first case we get we move on it?"

"Mm no I don't believe that is a good idea. This is supposed to be something of a show we need to go for something that would impress the audience. So let's think about what kind of candidate we're really searching for. I mean beyond the injuries."

"What do you mean?"

"Well we don't want to rush into save someone and find out we just saved some thug. That's hardly the type of spoke person we need. We need someone to save that the public will be glad to have around."

"I see."

As David listened to the conversation he couldn't help but chuckle slightly before he spoke. "Well I'm not sure we'll be able to find out a person's complete history in time."

Glancing over at David Michael couldn't help but ask. "What was that chuckle for?"

"Well it's just that you're looking for someone to miraculously heal and now were trying to take into account what kind of person they are. It just led to a funny thought."

Giving a slight shrug Michael returned to the conversation. "It is true that we probably won't be able to learn everything about the person in the time we have. So I want you to gather what information you can and make the best decision on whether or not this is the type of person we want representing us or not."

"You know most people in that sort of situation won't be in any condition to sign release forms allowing us to run the experiment."

"Mm that is true. We'd have to get someone with the legal authority to sign for them."

After a moment more of contemplation Michael spoke up. "Okay so far we've established that we need someone that people would be glad to see saved. They won't be able to sign the release forms themselves so we'll need someone to do it for them. We also need them to look nice for a camera. So the short of it is we're looking for a child and a young one most likely."

"A child would most likely fit all the criteria of the person we're trying to save."

"So should we just ignore every other case and focus on looking for a child that's been critically injured?"

After a moment of thought Michael shook his head. "No. Look for other cases as well but a child would be ideal."

"Does age have any affect on selection on candidates other then the fact that a child would be our prime choice?"

David gave a quick nod. "Of course it does. What's more dramatic? Letting someone live for five more years or letting someone live for seventy more years? Michael was right whenever he said the younger the better. Of course that is assuming the candidate doesn't die."

"I believe that it is worth the risk."

"So what should the cut off age be?"

"We'll leave that to the individual team member. Remember I don't care when it is but if you hear about a good candidate you call me. I'll make sure the others are contacted about it and we'll have a quick meeting to decide if we want to contact the family. There won't be much time to act so everyone needs to be ready until we've had a successful test on our first human subject."

"So you've already decided that the test would be successful?"

"Of course, let's face it if the kid dies the bored may be able to redirect blame and avoid any legal trouble or extremely negative press. However, we'll at least get a black eye that will slow the project down."

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As Michael walked through the hallways sipping the coffee he'd picked up at an all night shop he had to hate himself. He was the one that had announced that they should contact the entire team no matter what time it was. Now it was two fifteen in the morning and he was at work. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep for his liking and even if he were to go home right at that moment he wouldn't get enough sleep for that day. Still, this was important.

Brigit looked around the conference room. She'd been the first to arrive of course she'd also been the one to send out the call. One of her friends had faxed a file on a patient. This was of course a violation of patient confidentiality. Thankfully they had been and were still very good friends. In truth she'd been happy just knowing that someone had arrived she might be interested in and only ask for that favor. Her friend had been nice enough to take it a step further.

The sound of familiar muttering took her attention away from the file she held in her hands. A few moments later she watched as Michael walked by the window of the conference room and towards the door. She had often been left wondering if he realized what he muttered whenever one of his own ideas bit him in the buttocks. "I take it you weren't ready to be woken up?"

For a moment Michael was made to glair at Brigit as he resented her energy. "I swear at times I wonder if I should have you tested for drugs. Someone being so bright eyed and busy tailed all the time just isn't natural. Please tell me the others just stepped out for a moment."

"I can't do that."

"So we're the first ones here?"

"Oh quit pouting like that. Is your sleep that important to you?"

Walking over to Brigit Michael noted the file in her hands. "May I see that?"

"Sure."

Michael didn't dare set his coffee down as he took the file. Instead he placed the thin package on the table then opened it up. Of course Brigit's friend had only managed to send her the bare bones of the file. This consisted mostly of the child's current condition. Even this wasn't a professionally done report but a few hand scrawled notes. "Ouch that has to hurt."

"Yeah I would say I wished we had more information but honestly I don't. I doubt we have time to review much more with those injuries. She fits what we were looking for though."

"Mm yes I'd have to agree. Just eleven years old."

"Why'd you call me I'm not part of this?"

David's groaning drew Michael's and Brigit's attention away from the file as he stood in the doorway. Clearly he wasn't the type that enjoyed being woke up early either. "You're the project's financial director. We need you to grant permission for unusual expenses such as a sudden need to travel and quickly."

"Huh, I didn't think of that one. It must be the lack of sleep. So have you decided on a candidate?"

"No the rest of the team hasn't arrived yet. Still, here is some information about Brigit's find."

As David walked over to Michael he continued to rub the sleep out of his eye until he looked at it. "Damn, are these all her injuries?"

"I'm not entirely certain. Brigit didn't have much time to look the child over or gather much information from the examining doctor as he was going down the hall after all."

"Yeah they'd want to get her in as quick as possible I bet. Are you sure she won't be dead before we get there?"

Michael gave a slight shrug. "Honestly I don't know. It's quite possible with that list."

"Do you believe that the team will agree on this person? If so I'll go ahead and begin making travel arrangements. I know you'll want to move quickly."

Before Michael could respond the sound of a group running down the hallway got their attention. A few moments later three more members of the research and development project began to file into the room. "What do you have?"

Walking over to David Michael pushed the file until it was near the center of the table. "Just see for yourself. David you should go ahead and be making those travel arrangements. Brigit I assume you vote a yes on this person don't you?"

"You assumed correct."

"Okay. Then I want you to go down to the lab and get the eighth step ready to move."

As the three members read over the file they quickly realized why Michael was so confident they'd say yes. One reason was that the young girl was truly a great candidate if she lived long enough for them to get there. The other reason was that he was their boss and he had David on his side already.

"So what do you all think?"

"She looks fine to me." "I doubt that we'll be getting a better chance any time soon." "I'm not really sure that she's our best option but she'll do. I suppose. Though, I was hoping for someone that would have a better chance of being more energetic."

For a moment Michael just looked at the third new arrival as he gave his judgment. "So in other words you disapprove? What one of the criteria does she not meet?"

"Oh she meets everything we decided in the meeting. I was just hoping it'd be a boy sense they tend to be more active. We want our first success to be out showing how wonderful the treatment worked."

A slight chuckle escaped Michael as he shook his head. "You clearly have no kids of your own."

"Well no. I don't however it isn't hard to observe."

"Okay, does anyone else feel we should wait around for a male candidate?" After a few moments of silence Michael gave a shrug. "Okay that is five to one in favor of helping the little girl."

"Well I'm not opposed her being a test subject I was just saying she isn't what I was hoping for."

There wasn't really a chance for Michael to respond as he heard someone else coming down the hallway. As the seventh arrival entered the room he pushed the file towards him. "Read this and answer yes or no."

Giving a slight shrug the newest arrival walked over to the table and began to read the file. After a few moments he looked up. "I thought we were going to discuss whether or not we should use the eighth step on the person. Not vote as we came in."

"Well we need to move quickly."

"Alright, well then I say yes."

Michael gave a quick nod and turned to David. "Okay, hurry up with those arrangements we need to move as soon as Brigit gets back. We now have enough votes that even if the others all say no we can go ahead and with her as our choice."

It was impossible for David not to grin despite his lack of sleep. "How do you get that?"

"Because I'm the head of the team and my vote counts for more then the others. So that with the six yeses I already have the choice can't be over written."

"I see. Okay then. Well I believe if you take the stairs then by the time you get to the top floor the helicopter should be ready. That is once Brigit gets back. You can only take six passengers though so make your choice."

"Okay I'm going and Brigit as well. You're coming to. So who here wants to go home and get some sleep?" A slight chuckle escaped Michael when everyone in the room responded. "Come now it doesn't work if everyone wants to go home and get some sleep."

"Isn't three enough?"

"I suppose it is. Well okay. Once Brigit gets back we'll be on our way. I wonder if we should call those that haven't arrived yet and let them know they don't have to come."

"I'm sure they'd appreciate that."

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Tears had quit flowing from Karen's eyes an hour ago though her sobbing had yet to quit. The only reason the tears had even stopped is that she had no more left to cry as she looked through the window into the operating room. The doctors and machines that filled the room blocked her view of her daughter and in some ways that was a good thing. Still, she didn't turn whenever the door to the observation room was opened.

Claude sighed as he looked at his wife. As he walked over to her he had to move her right side and put his left arm around her. He couldn't use his right arm due to the cast it was currently in. "You did everything in your power to protect her."

For a moment Karen said nothing she just looked over at her husband. His right arm had been badly burned in the fire when he went in searching for their daughter. He hadn't put his good arm around her sense he didn't have one at the moment. His left arm had simply taken less damage whenever he had dug his little girl out. "Do you believe she'll pull through?"

"Of course, she's your daughter. She's too lively to die so soon." As Claude looked through the window he wished that his voice had sounded more convincing. In truth he had been astounded to realize that his little girl was still breathing whenever they had found her.

Reaching her hand up Karen went to take hold of Claude's hand as she began to take hold of it though she felt him wince and she quickly released. She'd forgotten that his hand was burned for a few moments despite the several layers of wrapping around it. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." It had taken Claude a while to get to the observation room as his injuries had to be treated as well. As he tried to comfort Karen he began to replay the events of the night in his head.

They'd gone out to dinner to celebrate a small but recent victory. Thanks to a powerful storm ripping through the area Claude had been getting a lot of overtime fixing downed power lines. This had allowed them to take care of a few credit card bills they'd been working on getting paid off. So when they both realized that the minor financial demons a few slips ups had born had been slain they went to celebrate.

Their little girl had been left with one of her cousins as a baby sitter. So they were more then a little surprised when they came back to find their home was on fire. While Claude did a quick search of the area Karen had called the fire department. A grimace was made to appear on Claude's face as he remembered one of the key reasons he'd chosen their homes location.

He wasn't fond of having too many neighbors so they'd chosen a fairly secluded spot. It was impossible for him not to be a little upset with himself for that decision as he wondered. If he hadn't been so concerned about privacy would the fire department been called in sooner?

After searching the area outside of the house and calling his little girl's name he'd finally heard something. It was hard for him to remember what happened beyond that point. He could remember throwing something through the window to break the glass and going through into the choking smoke. The next memory he had after that was one of the moments he wished he couldn't recall.

There wasn't time to reflect as one of the nurses entered the viewing area. "I'm sorry to disturb you but they'll be moving your daughter soon."

Karen quickly moved away from Claude accidentally brushing his burned hand away a bit more roughly then he would have liked. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Your daughter has several second and third degree burns, her lunges suffered damage from smoke inhalation and she has broken bones. Honestly we're all amazed that she's lasted this long. The doctors have done all they can do to stabilize her for the moment but we don't know if she'll make it through the night."

A sharp sob escaped Karen and it seemed like she might break down for a moment but she held her ground. "Is there anything more that can be done?"

"We've done all that we can for the time being. Now it's up to her body."

"Can we see her?"

"Yes, but she's heavily sedated. So she won't be waking up for some time."

Walking up behind his wife Claude carefully put his hand on her shoulder. "We just want to see her."

"Okay, follow me and you can wait in her room. She'll be in shortly."

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As Claude looked at his little girl he noted a small bit of hair sticking out from her bandages. He couldn't see her face due to the bandages that concealed it. Most of her hair had been burned away by the fire even before he'd found her. He hadn't realized it at the time but his little girl had been following the escape plan incase of a fire when she was caught.

They'd rehearsed the escape rout with her on numerous occasions and in the choking smoke he had instinctively followed it. However, she'd been prevented from making it out when part of the wall had fallen in on her. That is where he believed the broken bones had came from it was also then that he'd received his burns.

There wasn't any real thinking to that moment. He hadn't even realized that he'd been burned until he'd dug his daughter out, carried her back through the window and over to his wife. She'd had to point it out to him before he even realized it.

"If only I had come up with a better escape route for her."

A sigh escaped Karen. She had been waiting for this. "Claude it isn't your fault. That was the best escape rout."

"Really, then why did it collapse on her?"

"You couldn't have known that would happen. It was the best escape rout. If not you wouldn't have found her in time."

As Claude took in a deep breath he realized how close he'd come to saying something that he'd regret. Still, he couldn't help but think that he'd only made it to her in time to see her die in the hospital.

The nock on the door was an odd moment for Claude and Karen. Despite the grave situation they were thankful for the distraction as a nurse stepped into the room. "Pardon me, but they are some people that wish to speak with you."

David and Brigit were both doing better thanks to a limited amount of the sleep on the flight over. Michael was as well though his sudden surge in energy was due more to adrenaline then rest. He just hoped the sudden rush of energy wouldn't make him jittery.

Claude didn't know what was going on as he followed the nurse. Karen had stayed behind to be with their daughter incase something should happen. He felt a little anxious when he saw that not one but three people were waiting for him. "What's going on?"

Instead of waiting for the nurse to respond Michael stood up and moved to address Claude. "Mr. Angeye me and my colleges here have come to speak to you about your daughter."

"What about her? Do you know something?"

"Please set down. First let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Guarsen and I'm part of a research project in a revolutionary new treatment. One that we believe can save your daughter's life."

"You mean she's going to die?"

"I don't know that. However, surely the staff here has told you how dire her situation is. You realize that they don't even expect her to last through the night."

Without his wife around Claude couldn't hold himself together nearly as well. "They haven't said so much but yes. I know they don't expect her to live. So are you here to tell me you have a solution?"

"We believe that we have but I can't make any guarantees. Please have a seat and I'll explain exactly what we're proposing to you."

Claude hadn't even noticed the first request to be seated however after mentioning his daughter Michael had his ear. So that now he seated himself without really thinking about it. "What are you talking about?"

"We've been developing a treatment to repair extremely heavy tissue damage with exceptional speed. We believe that it's capable of not only saving your daughter's life but also insuring she doesn't even have damage after words. Surely you realize that even if she pulls through this the damage to her lunges will hinder her for years to come. Your daughter's name is Lucy. Am I right?"

"Yes you are. Just what are you going to do?"

"Do you know what a symbiot is?"

"Yes it's a living organism that lives along side another."

"Well what we've done is develop a symbiot that we can inject inside of the human body. The symbiot responds to the body's own nervous system and seeks out the damaged tissue and replaces it. The symbiot is much more efficient then the body itself and can heal in hours what would normally take weeks or months."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Here let me show you this." Reaching into his coat pocket Michael brought out a small video viewer and placed it on the table in front of Claude. He then turned it so that he could see the TV screen. "This is a demonstration of the symbiot's abilities I put on a few weeks ago for our investors and executives. OH you don't need to see that." Reaching around the TV so Claude could see what was going on Michael fast forward it through David's speech.

While the recording was being fast forwarded Claude decided to keep questions. "What's the risk?"

"Honestly we don't know. You see we've only tested the symbiot on parts of the human body and not once on an entire human. Your daughter would be our first human test subject. However, all our tests say that it should function exactly as intended." As Michael pushed the play button he continued to speak. "The symbiot will go inside of your daughter and remove the damaged flesh while at the same time using itself to take its place. Then over time it will transform itself into the same cells as your daughter and begin to break down. I assure you the compounds the symbiot breaks down into are not harmful to the human body and many are quite helpful."

"I don't know."

"Claude I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name."

"I don't mind."

"Claude, there is a risk that this would be worse for your daughter. However, all our studies say that it will help her. Even if she survives this the physical scars may not be repairable and even if they are it will require extensive surgery. She shouldn't have to go through that and this is assuming that she lives. The odds of her living as they stand now are exceptionally bleak. I can assure you that the odds of the symbiot helping her are just as great if not more so then the odds of her dying just from her injuries."

Even though the recording wasn't finished playing Claude was aware that he couldn't waste time. "Can we go upstairs? I believe that her mother should see this as well."

"Sure, just remember that your daughter doesn't have much time."

Karen bit down on her lower lip as watched the video. As she watched the burn damage being repaired she turned to Michael, Brigit, David and Lucy's doctor. "What are the chances of my daughter surviving?"

"Without further treatment we don't expect her to last much longer. We were able to give her a chance but it's a slim one."

"How slim is slim?"

"If I had to assign a value to it I'd say her chances of living are one in fifty at best. Her pulse is still weakening."

"Could this eighth step really save her?"

A sigh escaped the doctor. "I've read some articles on it but it's still an experimental treatment. Everything that I've read is promising but you never know until at the very least the first human experiment. Even if she did die your daughter's and your sacrifice could lead to many others being saved."

Before Karen spoke she rewound the recording and proceeded to once again watch the burn damage being repaired. "Is that how the inside of my baby's lunges look right now?"

For a moment the doctor was silent but he finally gave a nod. "The smoke she inhaled did burn her lunges so yes. That is approximately how they'd look though that isn't lunge tissue in the video."

"Could you use me as a test subject? My hands and arm were burned."

Turning to Claude Michael shook his head. "No, by the time the experiment will be over your daughter will most likely be dead. She needs to be injected with the eighth step as quickly as possible and we don't have the legal ability to use you. Only someone that is in critical condition may undergo the treatment."

Nodding his hand Claude put his bandaged left hand on his wife's shoulder. "Can we have a few moments to talk this over?"

Giving his head a quick nod Michael turned to Brigit and David. "Sure, keep that video incase you want to review it."

"Don't go far this shouldn't take long."

************************************************************************

"Wait on the video didn't he use a lot more then that?"

Brigit smiled as she glanced up at Claude. "He did but we can't put that much of the eighth step into her system."

"Are you sure that'll be enough?"

Instead of continuing to talk Brigit pressed the needle into Lucy and began to slowly inject the eighth step. "This won't be enough to save her by itself but it'll get things rolling. After the symbiot has had time to work its way through her system and get to where it is needed will add in some additional injections."

While Brigit injected the symbiot David looked over the paper work Karen had signed. Thanks to his burned hands Claude hadn't actually been able to fill them out. He had actually watched as the paper work was being filled out and answered the couple's questions which were surprisingly limited. Now he was just reading through the paperwork to insure that he hadn't forgotten anything.

Turning around Brigit handed the now emptied syringe to Michael who placed it in a special container. They had no intention of leaving any of the eighth step cells at the hospital except in Lucy. "Okay so when do I add more?"

"It's now four thirty five so we'll give her another injection at four forty five."

"Are you sure that ten minutes is enough time?"

"I believe it's the optimum time in this situation. We not only have to inject it into her safely but we also have to get enough in quickly enough to make a difference."

After a moment Brigit nodded her agreement and walked back over to Lucy. "The poor little thing, would you mind telling me what happened?"

Claude gave a nod. "We had gone out to dinner just me and Karen that is. When we came home the house was on fire. After searching the outside and not finding anything I thought I heard something coming from the inside and went in through Lucy's window. I found her caught under a bit of the wall and roof that had given in."

As Brigit listened to the story and looked at Lucy she was sure she didn't want the details of that event. "That was rather brave of you to go into a burning house."

A slight chuckle escaped Claude and he gave his head a quick shake. "Na it's not bravery motivating you when that happens. It's a fear greater then the fear of losing your life."

"So where was the baby sitter during all this?"

"We don't know. I didn't see him whenever I went in and got Lucy. The cops haven't been by to tell us anything yet."

"I see."

"Come to think of it though" for several long moments Claude became completely silent though he could still hear something very well. The sound of his own heart beating as his adrenaline began to pump. "I didn't see the little bastard's truck whenever we arrived."

While Claude and Brigit had been talking Karen had been watching the monitors and listening to her little girl breath. As she heard the change in Claude's voice she quickly grew concerned. "Now Claude don't jump to conclusions he might have been going for help."

"I'm going to kill him." Apparently Claude didn't hear his wife as his anger kept building. Suddenly it didn't matter that he only had one arm that he could really move.

Realizing what might happen, Karen quickly worked to defuse her husband's anger if only for the time. "Claude, Lucy needs you with her here and now. We can look into this later."

There was no real sign that Claude had calmed down. Still, he slowly sank back into his seat. His wife words had reached him and his concern for his daughter did override his anger for the moment. "I swear he'd better be using every minute that I'm in this hospital to put distance between us."

When Claude looked away for a moment Brigit quickly glanced over at Karen and mouthed her apologies. Karen's response was to quickly wave her hand to show they weren't needed. In truth she was quite upset over the situation as well.

The four occupants of the room were distracted as David came back in. As he entered the room Brigit could have sworn that she heard him mumbling something about the cost of the hospital room. After David had entered the room it seemed to take him a moment to regain his composer then a grin formed on his face. "Okay people. We have this whole room to ourselves for at least the next five days. So Claude Karen if you want to use the extra bed you can go ahead.

Michael I managed to acquire some of the hospitals equipment to allow us to better monitor the symbiot. I'm also having some equipment brought in from the lab."

For a moment nothing was said then a slight chuckle escaped Claude. "Well I wasn't expecting that? You seem to be really concerned about our little girl."

David gave his head a quick nod. "Well I can't say that she's like a child to me but yes her well being is very important to me." Especially after what I just went through was the dominant thought in David's head as he continued. "Michael you did say that it'd be best if we didn't have to move her back to the lab didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Well that's good news. Brigit if you don't mind it's been eleven minutes now go ahead and give her the next injection of the eighth step."

Nodding her head as Brigit readied the syringe she took a moment to look at the monitors before she proceeded. "Okay, when will you want me to administer the next injection?"

"Let's keep it in ten minutes intervals of the same dosage until she's reached the maximum safe level for her body. If we notice any changes in her condition we'll adapt the dosage accordingly. Mm well I already see one thing that we're going to have to work on back at the lab." Upon seeing Claude's expression Michael quickly waved his hand. "I'm just talking about the administration process we need to speed it up."

Brigit didn't bother giving the syringe to Michael this time but took away the container. "You know we're going to have to start looking into accommodations ourselves and bringing in other team members to monitor her progress."

Michael gave a quick nod. "Agreed, David is any of the other team members coming in with that equipment?"

"Yeah and don't worry about accommodations I'll start looking into a hotel that is near by. After that I plan on getting some shut eye." Looking past Michael David addressed Claude and Karen. "Do you want me to set you two up with a room as well?"

For a moment Karen looked a bit surprised but she quickly waved her hand. "No, we have some relatives that we can stay with."

"Come on. It'll be on us."

"What? Why would you do that?"

A slight chuckle escaped David. "Did you even read the contracts I had you sign?"

"Well yes but" Karen didn't get to finish.

"But you didn't read them in enough detail. All well I can see why you had other things on your mind. The contract guarantees you quick and easy access to your daughter during testing. So as long as she's in my team's care it's up to me to insure that you have easy and quick access. So how far away does this family member of yours live?"

"They live a bit over an hour away."

"Well it's up to you if you want to go there but we can set you up in a hotel for at least the five days that she's going to be here for certain."

Karen didn't bother glancing up at her husband as she nodded her head. She already knew what his answer would be. "We'd be glad to."

"Okay then that makes five rooms for five nights at least and one room for one night."

Michael quickly turned to look at David. "What do you mean one room for one night?"

"I mean I've done what I needed to do here. You can call me if you need anything else. So I will be getting some rest then heading home." For a moment David grew silent then gave a shrug. "Well never mind that idea. I believe that I'll just hop on the helicopter after it drops off the team members and the equipment and head on back. It'd be a waste of money for me to get a hotel room."

A sigh escaped Michael as he realized there wouldn't be any talking David out of his plan. To do so after he planned his schedule out required an exceptionally good reason. "Well alright. Brigit I'm going to step out and make a quick phone call before my family starts worrying about me. Anne is not going to be happy about this."

For a moment Brigit was made to giggle but she quickly gave her head a nod. "Okay and yeah you're probably right. If I recall she doesn't like it when you take these sudden vacations from home."

"Yeah after this one I'll have to do something special for her if I don't want to end up sleeping on the couch." A sigh escaped Michael as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Before the door could swing shut David quickly caught it. "Brigit what do you want me to bring you back to eat? Some restraints should be opening up soon so I think I'll go and get something to eat. Claude, Karen I can bring you something if you want as well."

While she was speaking Brigit went about preparing another syringe. "An egg sausage, cheese and bacon biscuit would be fine. If you can't find that well I guess egg and sausage would do."

"Well someone's carnivorous in the morning. What about you two?"

By now both Claude and Karen knew that David probably wouldn't just let them say no. So they went along. "I'll take some eggs and pancakes what about you Claude?"

"I believe I'd like to have the same as Brigit."

"Okay, I'll be back in a little bit."

Standing up Claude gave a slight sigh and turned to his wife. "I believe I'll take them up on that offer to rest on the spare bed."

Reaching over Karen gave her husband's side a quick pat. "Yeah the doctors said that you needed to rest. Go ahead deer."

It had been less then fifteen minutes and despite her husbands first mutterings about the bed Karen could tell that he was asleep. Turning her attention to Brigit she had to ask. "So when will we be able to tell what is going on?"

A large smile was on Brigit's face when she looked at Karen. "Just listen to her breathing and think how it was a short while ago."

"You mean you believe she's already getting better?"

"That is what the signs are telling me."

Standing up Karen walked over to her daughter and knelt down beside the bed. She then carefully listened to her breathes. "Oh my, you're right. She's breathing easier."

A delighted giggle escaped Brigit. "The eighth step is really an amazing organism. It makes me feel a little sad that in the end it dies considering what it does for us."

"Is it aware?"

"No at least not as far as we can tell. Still, it's like getting attached to a vehicle I suppose."

"It must be wonderful to work on something so amazing."

"It's interesting though for a long time it felt like we were just trying to catch up with Michael. At times it still feels that way."

"What made you feel that way?"

"Early on we weren't so much researching with him rather we were taking notes. It was at least a few months before we understood fully what was going on and were able to help out. Then once in a while we'd hit a snag that none of us could figure out. Then Michael could come along with a solution and it'd take us a week just to understand how he'd done it." A slight chuckle escaped Brigit. "He often said we are all critical to the project. If that's the case I'd say he is as vital as heart is to a human."

"You should listen to him then. So do you have any family?"

"No, which is a good thing this current project has left me with quite a heavy work load."

************************************************************************

The beeping hadn't been a problem at first however as she lay there it began to become more and more annoying. In an attempt to stay asleep and resist her growing frustration Lucy's hands were made to clench the bed only to note the odd texture of it. The sudden realization only brought her further into consciousness and let to her noting how odd her body felt.

At first she wasn't sure where she was upon opening her eyes as they needed a moment to adjust to the light. As her vision became clearer she was rather alarmed to see a large machine setting beside her. After a moment she recognized the machine from various TV shows. "Daddy, Mommy?"

Claude had been looking out the window whenever he heard his daughter's voice. Quickly he turned in her direction and made his way over to her bed. He started to take hold of her hand whenever he remembered her burns and his own. "Daddy is right here sweaty."

For a moment Lucy did nothing as she looked at her father. The girl's mind was still a heavy fog due to the sedatives she'd been injected with and the traumatic events of the last few hours. As she looked at her father though the young girl's body was made to convulse, tears began to flow from her eyes and she began to cry.

Even though he was worried that he might hurt her Claude couldn't help himself. Reaching his left arm around her he leaned forward in a partial hug. A few moments later he felt his daughter's bandaged arms and hands reach up and wrapped around his neck. "It's alright Lucy. I'm right here."

For a long while Lucy was quiet and just let her father hold her. However, she finally looked behind him. "Who are they?"

Standing up a bit Claude kept his hand on his daughter as he turned to look at the men. "These are some special doctors. They came here to help you. Are you okay? You're not in any pain are you?"

Now that Lucy knew her father was there the young girl calmed down considerably. As she spoke and she relaxed she noticed there was another problem her arms, legs, stomach back and just about every part of her body was itching. So much that even as she spoke to her father she began to try to scratch herself through the bandages. "Where is mommy?"

"Mommy is at a hotel near the hospital. Do you want me to call and tell her to come over?"

Placing his hand on Claude's shoulder one of the researchers spoke up. "We'll take care of that. We need to call Michael now that she's awake anyway."

"Why is something strange about that?"

"She should have been out for another hour or two. We need to take a blood sample and see if perhaps the eighth step is neutralizing sedatives faster then it should be."

"What? She just woke up and you already want to take a blood sample?"

"Yes, if we're going to find out why she woke up so early. Don't worry. We only need a very small sample."

For a moment Claude was about to protest. However, he'd examine the contract Karen had signed sense she left. They might have easy access to their doctor but the researchers also had certain rights as well. "Lucy, the doctors need to take a blood sample from you. Okay?"

"Okay." Lucy watched her father as he walked around to the other side of her and placed his hand on her shoulder very lightly. "Daddy I'm hungry."

"I imagine you are. You've had a long night. What do you want and I'll have mommy pick it up for you?" Claude watched as one of the researchers prepared a syringe and walked over to his daughter. "Hold it."

"Is there a problem?"

"What are you doing sneaking up on her while I talk to her?"

"Well I was thinking to do it quickly before she noticed."

"No. You tell her what you're going to do then you do it. You may have the right to examine her but that is within the confines of what the family doctor says is safe. I will get him up here if you try to sneak up on her like that again. That or I'll just talk to your boss."

The researcher gave a slight sigh and bent down so that he was closer to Lucy. "Okay Lucy, I need you to keep your arm held strait for me while I stick this needle inside of you. You'll feel a bit of a pinch when I do. Then you just need to hold your arm still until I tell you that you can move. Okay?"

Lucy gave a slight nod. She'd had blood work before after all, though it wasn't her favorite thing in the world. Claude had actually had his blood work done the same day so that she could see how it was done. "Okay."

Nodding the researcher stood up and began to gently feel of Lucy's arm. He wasn't sure how far the eighth step had progressed and was now worried that he might hurt her. He knew that one little scream from the girl and he'd either have to hope the child's doctor gave the okay or Michael did. In either case it would delay their work. After finding the vein he removed the protective cap from the needle and pressed the needle into Lucy's arm.

As Claude watched the researcher he noted an odd expression on the man's face as if he'd been surprised. He held his tongue for the moment sense he didn't want to make his daughter nervous but he had to ask her. "Are you okay Lucy?"

"Yeah Daddy I'm fine. I've done this before."

For a moment the researcher was made to look at his college then back to Lucy's arm. He had been quite surprised by the resistance he had encountered. "So Lucy, do you like climbing trees?"

"Yeah I do! But daddy won't let me climb the really tall trees anymore at least not to the top."

It was impossible for Claude not to grin as he could have sworn his daughter was trying to make him feel bad. "There wouldn't have been a first time if you hadn't snuck out and done it."

************************************************************************

It was hard for Claude not to seem a little annoyed as Karen tore off a bit of his biscuit and used a fork to speed it to him. "Karen I can feed myself I know."

"No you can't. You know the doctor said to avoid irritating your burns."

"I've been using my left arm all this time."

"Claude, I took a look at your pain pills. Either you have an addiction or you've been in more pain then you've let on." Using her free hand Karen reached into her purse and brought out the bottle of white caplets. Indeed it was clear that Claude had taken more then he should have. They were still plenty left but sense it had been full when he first got the bottle it was clear he'd taken several.

Looking through the window at Lucy as sigh escaped him. "Fine, but that means you'll have to take care of more things."

"That's just fine.

"So I hear you wanted to speak to me?" Michael smiled as he walked over to the couple and pulled out a seat.

"Yeah, it's about Lucy. Some of your team said the sedatives had worn off more quickly then they should have. Is that true?"

"From what I saw of her blood work yeah it's true."

"Then how is she moving around like that? She acts like she's ready to claw those bandages off."

"I imagine she's already recovered enough that we could take off the bandages."

"How is that possible? You said that it would take several days."

"Well she's no where near healed yet though she is progressing far more quickly then I believed she would. Do you recall in the video how the symbiot first replaced her cells with its own?"

"Yes."

"I believe that is the stage she's currently at. We could remove the bandages but I'm not sure if you or she will like what she sees. As well we were never able to adjust the symbiot so that it would make itself look like human skin. How would your daughter respond to learning that a good deal of her body is albino?"

"Neat!"

Claude, Karen and Michael quickly looked back towards the window and noted that Lucy was both setting up and looking strait at them. For a moment nothing was said then Claude slowly stood up. He then turned his head so Lucy couldn't see his lips move. "Lucy, wave your hand if you can hear me." The moment Lucy responded a slight chuckle escaped Claude. "Well I'll be. I thought that glass was thicker then that."

It was very hard for Michael to repress the grin that was trying to spread across his face as he stood back up. "It is. She shouldn't be able to hear us at all. She also shouldn't have been able to yell quite that loud with damaged lunges." A slight chuckle escaped Michael when he noted the researchers in the room rubbing their ears. Clearly they hadn't enjoyed Lucy's little outburst.

After a moment of looking at her daughter Karen turned to Michael. "Has something gone wrong?"

Placing his hand on Claude's shoulder Michael gestured down to the seat. "Go ahead and finish your breakfast. We've never tested the symbiot inside of human after all perhaps its presence is beneficial to the sense of hearing. That little out burst could just be the result of it strengthening her lunges before it converts to her cells. Just enjoy your breakfast and I'll go check on her."

"I can't believe how tight these are. What were the doctors thinking?" Brigit openly grumbled as she worked on removing the bandage from Lucy's arm.

As the bandaging was removed Lucy let out a slight sigh. She hadn't noticed it herself but indeed the bandages were quite tight. The feeling of relief when they were cut away was welcome. It was almost as welcome as the sight of her skin which was at the moment as white as milk. "I bet I wouldn't even need a costume to dress up like a ghost now."

Despite the situation and the previous developments Claude just rolled his eyes. "Well she isn't in any pain that is for sure."

After walking over to her daughter Karen took old of her hand and began to examine it. "Well don't get too comfortable with it young lady. This should only last for a week tops."

"Ah." Lucy grew silent for a moment as she looked down at her arm. She then looked back at her mother. "Mommy I'm hungry."

"Oh so that wasn't enough to fill you up?"

"It did but I'm hungry again."

This time Michael didn't wait for either Claude or Karen to turn to him before speaking. "I guess the symbiot's energy needs contribute to the host's hunger." Before continuing Michael turned to the researchers that had been working with Lucy when she'd screamed. "Go down to the hospitals kitchen and get her something."

"I think we're going to need to call in a barber."

Claude and Karen were both rather surprised when they noticed their daughter's hair upon turning around. While Lucy's hair was far from growing back to its original length she still had a full head of hair. However, those strands that had remained from after the fire seemed to have grown as quickly as those that had recently grown leaving her with a mixture of very short and very long hair. The overall effect wasn't complementary.

A slight chuckle escaped Michael upon seeing Lucy's hair. "Yes I believe that we should. Though, I don't know of any in the area."

After a moment Brigit gave a shrug. "Okay all the men folk out and close those blinds."

************************************************************************

A slight giggle escaped Brigit as Lucy made her way around the room as she examined the various machines. "What does this one do?"

"That one let's us see inside of you and find out exactly where the eighth step is."

"That's what you put inside of me to fix me right?"

"Yes it is."

"So where is it now?"

"At the moment it's all over you. It is in your bones, on your skin and even in your lunges." Brigit didn't see a reason to tell Lucy that the eighth step wasn't just on her skin but at the moment it was actually serving as her skin.

For a few moments Lucy was quiet as she looked at her hands, arms, legs and feet. "Does it like being there?"

"I'm sure that it does."

After a moment of contemplation Lucy gave her head a quick nod and walked over to the basket that had been left in the room. She then retrieved another apple from it and began to snack on the fruit as she continued to look at the various wires and buttons. "I started out inside of my mommy. Does the eighth step feel the same way about me?"

For a moment Brigit grew silent as she considered the best way to answer Lucy's question. The child was clearly beginning to think of the symbiot as something of a friend and she wasn't sure how she should handle that. She didn't want to risk frightening her but at the same time she didn't want to make her worry about the symbiot. "Yes it does. However, much like you left your mommy the eighth step is going to leave you eventually. You see it can only stay just long enough to make you better then it needs to go."

There was a moment when Lucy didn't respond but looked herself over again once. After a short while though she looked back to Brigit, "like a fairy?"

"Sort of yeah like a fairy."

Nodding her head quickly Lucy made her way back over to the basket and tossed the apple core away. Reaching inside she took out an orange and began pilling it.

************************************************************************

"Are you sure that she's okay? I've never seen her eat like this."

"Yes it just seems that the symbiot is causing her body's metabolism to become a bit over active so she's staying hungry. Well she gets full and then she gets hungry quickly."

"Is eating so much healthy?"

"At this moment I believe the best thing to do is just to insure the basket of snacks stays full. We'll have to find out why the symbiot is causing this change in her metabolism and fix it before we can market it."

Karen couldn't help the concern in her voice as she took a step closer to Michael. "Do you believe this could be harming her?"

"Well I don't believe it'd be healthy if she ate like this all the time. However, at the moment the reason she feels hungry is because she is hungry. If she didn't have anything to eat her body would start burning its stored fat and begin using up its good protean or in other words her muscles once that was done. Trust me her body is using every bit of energy she's taking in."

"So you're saying that she's fine?"

"As long as she has plenty to eat she'll be just fine. Just make sure that its fruit, vegetables and protean. Come to think of it perhaps she hasn't been getting enough protean. I'll have some peanut butter sandwiches put in her room. Does she like those?"

"Sure."

"What type of peanut butter does she prefer?"

"Crunchy and she likes strawberry jelly. Are you sure that having her metabolism so over active won't hurt her?"

"I don't believe that it will when you consider her young age and health. However, even if there was some tissue damage the eighth step would automatically repair it."

"Could you give her something to slow her metabolism down?"

"I'm not willing to take the chance that it would harm her. The chances of her worked up metabolism harming her are far slimmer then the chances of introducing drugs into her system harming her while the eighth step is already misbehaving to an extent."

"So this isn't beyond anything you believe you can handle?"

"Karen, this is within safe parameters as long as Lucy is kept well feed. The only reason I believe we'll need to fix this problem before we can market the eighth step is incase someone isn't in such an ideal situation. We hope the eighth step can serve as an emergency rescue method on such arenas as a battle field or after a natural disaster."

For a moment Karen said nothing as she looked at Michael as if trying to figure out if he was as sure as he seemed to be. At last she relaxed. "So you have a family of your own?"

A grin formed on Michael's face. "Yes I do. A wife Anne and a son Albert, I'm afraid Anne isn't going to be too happy with me spending so much time away from home."

"Michael, I have to ask. You've seemed quite clam every time Lucy began to show an abnormality did you expect this?"

"In all honesty yes Karen. I expected that you're daughter would manifest some symptoms that we hadn't expected in the lab. The improved hear and her increased vocal strength didn't surprise me. Well the hearing did to an extent the vocal strength I understand. Her throat and lunges had some burns so the eighth step is standing in for those tissues for the time and it is stronger. The hearing I'm not quite sure how that happened."

"So how are you so calm?"

"The reason I'm so calm is so far none of the symptoms have been damaging though many of them are interesting. In most cases we spend great quantities of time, effort and money preparing for something bad to happen. Then even after that's none something manages to sneak up on you. So it's a nice change of pace when the unexpected is beneficial or at least easily managed."

"Would you mind telling me what some of your fears were?"

"Well I'll just tell you two of the worse case scenarios. The first is if the eighth step didn't stop at consuming the dead cells but began consuming the living. Even the eighth step can't repair brain damage or retain memory. The second is if it kept growing or stayed in a specific area it could end up stopping her blood from flowing. The first case is the worse of the two."

"So what would you have done?"

"We developed a solution that can easily kill the eighth step. If it had begun to behave in such a manner we would have injected her with it and it'd caused it to break down. It happened before with previous generations of the symbiot though not for the last twenty."

For a moment Karen was silent. "You mean the one inside my daughter is twenty generations removed from the problematic version?"

"Yeah and there is no need to worry. None of the previous twenty were seriously problematic. We basically spent that research time streamlining the symbiot's behavioral patterns. It used to take in upwards of a 270 seconds for it to even begin functioning."

"Is something the matter Lucy?" Claude bent down in front of his daughter as she kicked the shoes off her feet.

"They hurt my feet."

Reaching down Claude carefully pulled back the tongue of the shoes his daughter had been wearing. Sense Karen had started seeing to his pills he had to be more careful about irritating his burns. "Mm I could have sworn this is the right size. All well later on we'll all go shopping together and pick you up some new clothes."

Brigit smiled as she looked over at Claude and Lucy. "Well I would have been asking her to take off her shoes soon anyway. So how has the search for Lucy's cousin been going?"

"The police haven't found Kevin yet and please don't call him Lucy's cousin again."

"Ah so you've began the process of disowning him."

A slight chuckle escaped Claude and he gave his head a quick nod. "Yeah, though it looks like some of the family may disown us as well."

"This is one of those times that test the bonds of blood and speaking of blood. Lucy, would you mind if I took a blood sample from you?" Brigit didn't wait for Lucy to say anything but held up a candy bar so the child could see it.

Giving her head a quick nod Lucy quickly dashed over to the chair and took her seat. For a moment this stunned Claude until he noticed the candy bar. "Oh so that's how you do it."

"Well we have had to take quite a few blood samples from Lucy in the last three days. If we're going to cause her pain I figure she should got a reward and don't worry. This is a protean bar." As she prepared the syringe Brigit handed the candy bar over to Lucy who quickly bit into it.

"Don't people normally have to fast before you take blood samples? I know my doctor always tells me to."

"That depends entirely on what you're testing." While Lucy held the candy bar in her left hand Brigit prepared her right and began to feel around for the vein. "Of course blood sugar is one of the things we're testing. Unlike most cases though we're testing how the symbiot affects it."

"What have you found?"

"Even with her constant snacking Lucy's blood sugar is fine. The symbiot also seems to be working exceptionally fast far quicker then we anticipated. It seems that whenever it's inside of a living body the symbiot will not only handle repairs but it'll work together with the body to speed healing up further. The problem with that is it boosts the metabolism to a level that would be dangerous in some situations."

"What type of situations?"

"Any type where she didn't have enough to eat could be quite dangerous. Okay Lucy I'm going to need to get a skin sample from you. Now I won't lie to you this is going to hurt a bit. Is that okay?"

Before his daughter could speak Claude stepped forward. "Why can't you numb her?"

"Well the eighth step has acted up a bit as you know and we don't want to risk dangerous complications that may arise if we give her any sedatives. After all our previous experience tells us that for some reason the eighth step neutralizes sedatives until we know why we can't risk giving her more."

"Why do you need the skin sample?"

"We need to examine the eighth step and see how much progress it has made. Sense it replaced a lot of burned skin it's the easiest for us to get to and the least dangerous."

A sigh escaped Claude as he walked over to Lucy. "Lucy Brigit here needs to take a skin sample from you. What she's going to do is take a knife and cut you a bit. It's going to hurt but I need you to do this. It'll be sort of like when you fell of your bike and scraped your knee and arms really badly. Do you remember that?"

"It is okay daddy I'll be fine."

"Yeah you're a tough little girl."

Standing up Claude backed away and watched as Brigit moved in front of his daughter. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not as he noted the way Lucy watched Brigit taking the skin scraping. As Brigit removed a tiny sliver of Lucy's skin she couldn't help but be surprised. "That's odd."

"Yeah I'm surprised. You did really well Lucy."

A slight giggle escaped the girl. "It didn't really hurt."

"Well the way she handled herself was impressive but it wasn't what I was talking about. Your daughter's skin is tougher then I expected. It took quite a bit more force then I expected it would to remove the scraping."

"Well didn't you say that the symbiot was tougher then human skin?"

As she set the scraping to the side and took a moment to tend to Lucy's injuries Brigit spoke to Claude. "I did and it is but from the coloring of your daughter's skin it seemed that the symbiot's presence was diminishing. However, when I took the scraping it seemed to be fully present. Okay Lucy you can get down now."

Hopping down from the chair Lucy once again began to wonder around the room. She'd always been what some would call over active but as of late her energy had been even greater. It was nearly impossible to get her to stand still for very long.

"Perhaps it isn't progressing as quickly as it looked?"

"That is possible."

"Hey Daddy, Miss Bright! Look I used to only come up to here." While Lucy had been wondering around she'd made her way over to a scale.

"So you're growing like a weed are you? How many centimeters have you put on sense your last visit? I bet you've grown a whole ten centimeters."

"Nope, I've grown twenty."

For a moment Claude was silent he then made his way over to Lucy. He had been joking whenever he'd said that she'd probably grown ten centimeters sense her last check up. Now that she'd told him that she'd grown double his joking sum he couldn't help but take a look. As he examined the scale he noted Brigit move behind him and look at the number as well.

A sigh escaped Brigit as she noted the measurement. While she hadn't known Lucy before hand she did now have complete access to her medical records and she'd read over them. "I'm going to have to tell Michael about this."

"So how did the testing go?" Karen smiled as she noted her husband and child entering the room. Though that smile was somewhat tempered by the expression on Claude's face.

"Well it was interesting. Lucy, come here for a moment."

At first Karen wasn't sure what was going on whenever Lucy moved to stand in front of her father. However, a few moments after looking at and taking note of the buttons on Claude's shirt she quickly looked down at her daughter's feet. She was even more surprised to find that she wasn't wearing shoes.

Despite the situation Claude couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed the stunned look on his wife's face. "She's growing just like a vine wouldn't you say?"

Slowly Karen nodded her head and stood up. Walking over to her daughter she stood next to her as if preparing to take a picture to make sure what she saw was real. It only took her a second of standing next to Lucy to realize that her daughter had put on quite a few centimeters sense her last visit to the doctor. "Yes she is."

************************************************************************

"Didn't you say that you shouldn't worry whenever the unexpected events are beneficial?" Karen glanced across the table at Michael who had been silent for a while now.

"Yes I did and that is true but this is different. Her increased metabolism, hearing and vocal volume where unexpected side affects but she'd returned to normal once the eighth step began to break down. However, not only will she not return to her original height whenever the eighth step is finished but nothing in the previous testing indicated that this might even happen. We don't even know how the eighth step is causing her height to increase."

"Well at least we now know why her metabolism was so active. There was a lot of construction going on."

"If that's the case couldn't we stop her from growing by limiting how much food she takes in?"

The looks that Michael, Brigit, Claude, Karen and have the other staff told the researcher that was a stupid suggestion. It was Brigit that spoke up. "Given how the eighth step is behaving at the moment I don't believe we should risk starving the girl or it. Perhaps, we should just give her the injection and kill the remaining eighth step in her system."

A sigh escaped Michael. "We'll need to run a quick scan of her body and see what tissues the eighth step is still standing in for before we do that. If there still a great deal of tissue that needs repaired then it could be just as bad as when she was burned."

In truth Claude wasn't overly worried about his daughter's sudden increased in height. However, upon hearing that she might be returned to the same way she was after the fire he was very concerned. "Hold on a minute is these extra centimeters hurting her?"

"Honestly we don't know."

"Okay, but if you killed the symbiot that is currently standing in for the tissue it would hurt her for certain?"

"Well that would depend on how much tissue it is still standing in for."

"You will not return my daughter to the way she was whenever I pulled her out of that fire."

"Sir, understand your daughter has grown around twenty centimeters in just three days. We don't know what other affects the symbiot might be having."

"That's it you don't. You want to do something that will hurt her in an attempt to negate something that may or may not hurt her. That's an idiotic proposal if I ever heard one."

Before anyone else could speak up Michael responded. "Claude we will only give Lucy the compound to cause the eighth step to break down if at least fifty percent of the total damage had been already repaired."

Karen quickly shook her head. "I don't want you giving my baby that stuff until you know for sure that the symbiot is hurting her. If I have to choose between her becoming a young Valkyrie or her having server scarring all over her body and inside her lunges for the rest of her life I'd rather she be tall."

After a moment of silence Michael gave a nod. "I understand your feelings however you must understand that the human body isn't designed to grow much beyond eight hundred centimeters and even then there can be difficulties. Now even allowing for the time that has passed between Lucy's last checkup and the three days the eighth step has been in her system she has grown some fifteen centimeters. That isn't enough to warrant injecting her with the serum yet but we may have to if this keeps up."

After a moment Claude nodded his head. "Yes but that is not a potential risk that is a clear risk. How much more do you believe she could grow before she'd be in danger of outgrowing what her body was designed to handle?"

"I would say she could grow another fifty centimeters but letting her grow more then that would be dangerous."

Before her husband could agree Karen spoke up. "Fine if she grows another fifty centimeters or you can find clear proof that the eighth step is harming her beyond these changes you can give her the serum. However, until she reaches such a height or such evidence is found you're not to."

"That's reasonable we don't want to endanger your daughter either."

As she spoke Brigit leaned further over the table so she could better be seen. "Well now that we know how we're going to handle this. What should we do now?

Michael gave a sigh and rubbed his forehead for a moment. It was clear by the expression on his face he didn't like the next part. "The first thing that I'm going to do is write a report and send it to David. The bored of directions will want to know about this I'm also going to request a further release of funds."

Lowering his hand from his forehead the grin on his face told the others they weren't going to like the next part. "The first thing you're going to do though is gather up all the data that we've gathered about Lucy and the eighth step's interaction with her body. Now I want to write this report by this night so that means you have some five hours."

Instead of groaning Brigit stood up. "Well then we had better get to work."

"Don't worry about drawing conclusions just give me raw data. I'll also send in a report of Lucy's condition before we introduced the eighth step."

"Do you believe that will appease the bored?"

Turning to the researcher Michael gave a quick nod. "Of course it will. We took her back from the brink of death though the doctors had operated on her so it isn't as dramatic. She's been healthy and active for a bit more then forty eight hours though some unexpected complications have arisen. I have no doubt that with that information David will be able to easily secure a further release of funds and insure that none of us lose our jobs."

"What should we do about the; Lucy?" As the researcher looked at Michael and Brigit it was clear he'd nearly slipped up. Michael had already explained to everyone that Lucy was never to be referred to as the candidate or test subject. Of course after working in labs for so many years it had become a hard habit to brake especially on demand.

A sigh escaped Michael. "She's been really good when it comes to letting us test her for quite some time now. However, she is still a child and I'm sure that she'll grow tired of it eventually. I believe that the best thing we can do is tell her that we're going to have to do a lot of tests. We'll need to come up with some fun things for her to do to take her mind off that though."

For a moment Claude was made to chuckle. "Don't worry Lucy maybe energetic but she knows when something has to be done and how to behave. You don't have to worry about her screaming kicking or biting anyone. Even though they are times that if you take your eye off her for more then five seconds you'll turn around to see her shooting up a tree. I don't know if she's a little imp or a little angel at times. All you need to do is explain the situation to her."

"Oh I don't know about that. If she learns that the symbiot is helping her to grow she may not be willing to give it up." Karen couldn't help but smile as she placed her hand on her husband's left hand ever so gently.

After nodding his head Michael proceeded to stand up and take out his wallet. Reaching in he took a few moments to fish out a few hundreds which he held out towards Claude and Karen. "Even with just those extra twenty centimeters I imagine she's outgrown most of the clothing you have for her. It's kind of odd that she hasn't been complaining about them getting tighter."

For a moment Karen just looked at the money Michael held out towards her. Finally she has to ask. "What is that for?"

"For new clothes of course I doubt it'll replace all of them but it should start. Now I know that you don't want to wait until David convinces the bored to release the additional funds so just take this for now."

"Why would you be doing that though?"

"It's quite simple. Lucy's sudden increase in size is due to our symbiot. Now incase you're wondering. No we are not legally liable for this medical complication due to the contracts you signed. However, it is company procedure to help with such incidences especially during the treatment stages."

After a moment Karen gave her head a quick nod and took the money from Michael. "Thank you."

"After Lucy has some new clothes I want someone to gather up all the ones she's worn and bring them to me. I want to examine them and see why she wasn't complaining about how tight they felt."

"So when are we going to be begin our examinations again?"

A sigh escaped Michael as he put his walled back into his pocket and sat down. "As soon as possible is best. However, like I said we'll need to make a report for David to give to the directors. So we'll begin out studies tomorrow. Brigit you seem to get along with Lucy quite well. So you're in charge of the morning examinations I'll take over during the evening."

For a moment Brigit was made to giggle. "Well that is surprising. I felt certain you'd ask when she'd be the crankiest."

For a moment Michael was silent then he quickly snapped his fingers. "Darn it I should have. Well regardless of that over sight. Brigit, I'll need you to decide who you'll need for the day tests tonight as well."

************************************************************************

As David exited the meeting room he couldn't help but sigh. The directed had been quite happy to hear that the eighth step hadn't killed the young girl at least not at the moment. There had been some concern but that had been eclipsed by their excitement over the fact that the eighth step could make people grow alone. Michael had assumed this happening would be an area of worry instead it was an area of great hope to the bored.

With the positive results out weighing the negative by such a large margin at the moment it had been easy to secure the release of funds. However, there was enough concern caused by the negative that the release of funds had come at a price. The bored would want to know what had caused the negative and unforeseen side affects very soon.

They were excited about the prospect of marking a treatment that would allow people to grow several more centimeters quickly. On the downside though, they also realized that this might be a rare fluke, dangerous or fatal. So on par with their prospects for making a large profit was their desire to quickly find out just what the situation was.

This extra pressure that was going to be placed on them wasn't the only price to be paid though.

Karen and Claude set across from Michael as they ate their breakfast. This wasn't a purely social gathering though. He had spoken to David on the phone and now he had to hope that the couple would be cooperative. He thought about making small talk but quickly resolved to get strait to the point. "I spoke with the financial director of the eighth step project and he informed that they've given their go ahead for us to continue the research and have allotted some extra funds for further unforeseen expenses. However, before we can access them we have to move Lucy to one of our facilities."

After a few moments of silence Claude spoke up. "Where would you need to move her to?"

"We need to take her to our main lab in Anona. Of course we are prepared to provide you with housing for the duration that we keep her there and even give you some time after the studies are complete should you choose to accept. However, I also know that you have a lot going on here with your home being burned down."

A slight chuckle escaped Claude. "Yeah, we're waiting for the insurance to process everything and let us know what kind of check we'll be getting. Could we have a few hours to talk it over?"

"Sure. We have the hotel rooms and the hospital rooms paid up for around another forty eight hours after all."

Before Michael could speak up Karen had to ask. "What if we say no?"

"Then we'd have to remain here to conduct our studies as we are now. However, we wouldn't be able to assist you with Lucy beyond her health or after the testing was over with and the eighth step had vanished from her system."

************************************************************************

It was fortunate for Michael that he was alone as he looked over Lucy's clothing as it meant he didn't have to hide his smile. Currently he held up a pair of Lucy's pants he had been looking over the tortured waste band. The material had been stretched and in several threads had been broken. The interior of the legs followed a similar pattern and several tears could be seen forming.

The pants made it very clear how Lucy had managed to fit them on. She hadn't been able to. Instead she'd forced them on or had grown after they were put on. Had she continued wearing them he had no doubt that they would have burst if her rate of growth continued.

Knowing that Lucy hadn't been fitting the clothing on but rather had been forcing it on did answer one question however it didn't answer every question. The dominate question for most was why hadn't she complained about pain or even minor discomfort. A secondary was how she'd managed to damage the clothing so badly just by putting it on. The material wasn't exactly paper after all especially in regards to the waste band and yet it bore a striking resemblance to a cotton ball that had been plucked apart at the moment.

A knocking at his door took his attention away from the clothing. Even before he'd set the pants down he'd already managed to wipe the grin from his face and replace it with a look of curiosity. Standing up he made his way over to the door and checked through the peep hole. A moment later he opened the door. "Claude, Karen what brings you to here so late?" As Michael spoke he stepped aside and gestured for them to enter.

After taking a few steps inside and making enough room for Claude, Karen turned to Michael. "How long do you believe we would be set up? We're being asked to make quite a move and while our home burning down makes it easier that is still a lot to ask for."

"I fully agree. Well legally you would have at least two weeks. Sense if we grant you permission to stay in one of the accommodations we have to give you at least two weeks notice before eviction. So that would be two weeks even if the project was cancelled the moment you arrived. Of course I believe you'll have much longer then that. I imagine we'll need to observe Lucy very closely for at least six months after the eighth step has been removed from her system."

Once he realized that Karen wasn't going to comment Claude spoke up. "That's quite a lot of time away. I couldn't ask them to hold my job for six months."

A grin formed on Michael's face. "Surely you don't believe that we wouldn't compensate you financially as well as little Lucy."

"Well we felt a little awkward asking about that given how much you've done for us already."

While Michael didn't show it he was very happy with the Angeye's responses. It was always helpful when everyone involved cooperated with one another. "Come now you must be more willing to press your contract. We guaranteed you easy access to your daughter. How can you have easy access if you don't have the money to stay local to her?"

"Will there be additional paper work?"

"Of course there will be. What type of agreement would this be without paper work? Claude, would you mind coming inside a bit more so that I can close the door?"

In response Claude quickly stepped further inside and behind his wife. "I didn't realize that the door was still open."

"That isn't a problem. I figured you'd ask about the paper work and additional stipulations tomorrow but fortunately I already had them fax the paper work. So I can go ahead and let you see it."

Karen gave a nod as she followed Michael. She knew that her husband still wasn't in any condition to be handling a pin. "That would be nice."

"Keep in mind this is negotiable but not with me you'd have to talk to David about it if there is something you want to change. That said I believe it's a pretty good offer. One question, have you told Lucy about it?"

"Yeah, she wanted to know if you'd give her a better bed then the ones she's been using in the hospital."

"I'll let her know that the answer is yes in the morning. That is unless you want to speak to David."

"Are these the papers?" As Karen spoke she indicated a small stack that was resting on Michael's desk.

"Yes they are. Feel free to read through them now if you want."

As Claude walked further into the room he caught sight of Lucy's old clothing. "Karen would you mind reading over those for me?"

A slight chuckle escaped Karen. "I suppose so. Just don't start thinking that this is all free. The moment those bandages come off you're going to be handling all the paper work for a while."

For a moment Claude was made to chuckle he then made his way over to Lucy's clothing that Michael had been examining. "So did you figure out how she was fitting her clothes on?"

"Yes I did. Well I did in a sense. All one has to do is look at the waste band and it becomes clear that she wasn't fitting the clothing on she was forcing it on." As he spoke Michael walked over to Claude and held up the waste band of Lucy's pants so that he could see the tears.

"They're shredded. She didn't mention being in pain though. Do you think that the symbiot is numbing her?"

Michael quickly shook his head. "No I'm certain that isn't the case. None of our tests have indicated that her sense of touch has been diminished in the least. Also there was no mention of markings on her skin or bruising. The fact that there was no bruising is the clincher really. As to be honest given the damage to the waste band of her pants there should have been bruising."

"So what do you believe happen?"

"Well at first I suspected that the material of the jeans might have been inferior but." Picking up the clothing Michael took hold of both sides of the jeans and gave them a few quick jerks. "I don't believe that is the case. Would you want to test to?"

A slight chuckle escaped Claude. "I'd like to but" instead of saying more Claude held up his left hand to remind Michael that he was burned.

Both of the men's attention was drawn to Karen as she giggled and turned to them. "Claude, you know you've been forgetting your burns as well every time you mention work. There is no way you'll be going back to work for at the very least a month. So let's see our home is burned down, you can't work and I really think it's best if we get away from here for a while."

For a moment Claude was silent then a slight chuckle escaped him. "So the only thing that is keeping us here is your job and well. I know she's putting up a brave front but don't you believe Lucy will miss her friends?"

"Yes but here let me show you this." As she spoke Karen made her way over to her husband and bent down to show him the paper. "Do you believe that we can really afford to pass up their offer?"

It only took Claude a few moments to respond. "It would make things a lot easier then they will be otherwise. I'm just not going to enjoy telling her she won't see all her friends whenever school starts back."

While the couple had talked Michael had remained silent but now he chose to speak up. "Pardon me, but it sounds like you're planning on moving. You know that isn't necessary. Just think of it as an extended vacation while you recuperate from your injuries and handle the financial and legal problems you're facing."

Claude gave his head a quick nod. "That's true but honestly. I don't know if it'd be a good idea for us to stay around here. Karen and I talked about it and with everything that's going on with Kevin we just want to get away from here."

"Ah I see. Well I'll keep my thoughts to myself on that subject as I don't know the finer details."

"Karen, why don't you let me read through those papers and I'll see what I think to."

As she nodded her head Karen set the paper work down in Claude's lap and moved to set next to him. "So you were going to tell us how Lucy got her clothes on?"

A grin once again appeared on Michael's face. "Well sense it doesn't seem to be shabby material I've come up with a few theories. Now the eighth step is actually more durable then human flesh and her body was pretty much covered in it. It could have increased her endurance so that the pressure wasn't enough to harm her. The problem is I don't believe there was a thick enough layer on her skin to increase her endurance that much. That or perhaps it did actually harm her however the eighth step healed her bruises but then she should have still complained about pain.

Of course this is all assuming that she had her clothes on while she was growing. That would mean that most of it would have had to happen in the final hours of the day we noticed."

After a moment Claude gave a nod. "Because otherwise endurance alone wouldn't have been enough she'd also had to force the clothing on. Hey wait a minute. Whenever Brigit was testing Lucy I tried to put some shoes on her and they wouldn't fit. I managed to get them on but she complained about them hurting her feet and quickly took them off."

"That would seem to indicate that she's been growing for a while now. In that case she'd have to be strong enough to force the clothing on. Then they are other possibilities. After all we're assuming that Lucy didn't know what the eighth step was doing to her at the moment."

Turning away from her husband Karen addressed Michael. "What do you mean?"

"Well let's say that Lucy realized that the eighth step was helping her grow. Perhaps, her clothing was hurting her but she didn't tell us about it because she was afraid we'd make it stop. In that cases the scenario in which her bruises simply healed becomes far more plausible."

"Our daughter" Karen was cut short when she noticed Claude looking at her.

"Remember the firecrackers? She hid the fact that she'd burnt herself despite the pain. If she figured out that the symbiot was helping her do what we say vegetables do. Help her grow up big and strong she might very well hide the pain to keep it."

For a moment it seemed like Karen would protest but at last she sighed. "She really can be a little scamp at times."

After a moment of silence Michael spoke up again. "Of course this is all just speculation. Tomorrow after we've conducted some tests we'll have a better idea of what is going on."

************************************************************************

"Okay Lucy, are you ready?"

"Yeah" Lucy smiled as she laid on the table a slight giggle escaped her whenever she felt Brigit press the metal pad to her stomach and began to move it over her body. The sensor was a horribly ticklish device so that Lucy had to struggle to keep from moving.

A grin formed on Brigit's face as she quickly moved the sensor over Lucy's belly far more times then was needed. The sudden movement was more then the young girl could handle and she soon burst into laughter while her body jerked slightly. As Lucy's body suddenly jerked to the side and pushed upward Brigit gave a slight yelp though her smile quickly returned.

The force with which Lucy's body had moved had been far more then she'd expected. While it wasn't enough to be painful it was enough to easily push Brigit's arm away and caught her off guard. Still, she didn't let Lucy see her concern as she turned to the screen. "Okay let's see just where that symbiot is now."

Once the ticklish sensation stopped and Lucy began to get control of her body again she looked to the screen. She had been through this before and knew that anywhere that was green the eighth step currently resided. Those areas that were blue it could no longer be found. "Did it leave already?" As Lucy looked at the monitor she couldn't help but feel somewhat saddened. The layout of her body was coming out entirely blue.

"That can't be right." As the monitor gave its reading Brigit found herself moving the sensor over the same body parts again and again. Despite her repeated test the result was always the same the layout of Lucy's body stayed blue meaning the machine wasn't detecting the symbiot. "Huh, something must be wrong. Well just give me a minute to call someone in here to fix this and we'll move onto some other tests while we wait for it to be fixed."

"You mean symbi hasn't left me yet?" As she spoke Lucy set up a smile returning to her face.

While the eighth step had been behaving in an unexpected manner there was no way that Brigit could believe it had already replaced Lucy's damaged flesh and broken down. "No symbi is still with you. The machine is just messing up so we can't see it." A slight giggle escaped Brigit as she used the nickname Lucy had given to the eighth step.

A delighted giggle escaped Lucy and a smile appeared on her face as she hopped off the table. While Brigit had told her that the symbiot would be leaving her it hadn't stopped her from hoping that it would stay with her for a long time. She'd even named the eighth step though the name wasn't exceptionally creative she liked the sound of it. The symbiot was her friend after all it had healed her though she had never really got to see it.

They hadn't realized it at the time but the researchers had also helped Lucy come to think of the symbiot as a unique friend. If they had only let her know that the symbiot had healed her she might have not become as attached. However, upon learning that the reason she was so hungry as of late was due to the symbiot being inside of her she'd come to believe that she could help it. While she hadn't made any mention of it she'd also began hoping that she could convince it to stay with her. The fact that she believed when she ate she was also taking care of the symbiot appealed to several aspects of Lucy's nature.

After getting off the table Lucy made her way over to the chair where they had taken a few skin scrapings and quite a bit of blood. While she didn't like giving the blood and hated the skin scrapings the young lady didn't hesitate whenever it came to climbing into the chair. "My mommy and daddy told me this morning that we'd be leaving soon. They said you were taking me to a special hospital."

Upon hanging up her phone Brigit made her way over to Lucy and began to prepare the syringe. "You know Lucy you're a really brave little girl." As Brigit prepared to continue Lucy didn't give her time.

"Not for long if symbi has anything to say about it! Mommy and Daddy said symbi is making me into a brave big girl." A delighted giggle escaped Lucy as she looked at the chair and noted how much smaller it seemed to be.

For a moment Brigit was a little stunned by Lucy's response soon though a grin returned to her face. "I see. So how do you feel about growing up so quickly?"

"It's neat I can reach things I couldn't before and it's easier to hug daddy and mommy. Daddy says that if I grow too much he won't be able to give me piggy back rides anymore. Then I told him that perhaps I'll grow enough that I can give him a piggy back ride!"

A slight chuckle escaped Brigit. "So you like growing then?"

"Yeah, I do! It is lots of fun. Things feel a lot lighter now to."

Upon pressing the needle against Lucy's arm Brigit was surprised when it didn't sink in right away. Carefully Brigit increased the pressure she was exerting on the needle until it finally began to push through into Lucy's skin. As Lucy's blood began to fill the vial she could hardly believe what she'd felt. It had felt like she was pushing the needle into an adult body builder's arm instead of a child's. "Wouldn't you prefer if your daddy gave you a piggy back ride?"

"No! I want to be able to give daddy a piggy back ride."

Despite the danger involved in the situation Brigit couldn't help but play along with Lucy. The child's enthusiasm was simply astounding. "So you'd like to grow big enough to give your father a piggy back ride, is that all?"

In response Lucy quickly shook her head. "No. I want to be even bigger."

"Now why is that?"

For a moment Lucy grew silent as she considered the question. After a short while though a delighted giggle escaped her. "It'd be fun!"

Brigit had been expecting an answer more along the lines of not having to listen to anyone anymore. So she was actually rather surprised when Lucy gave such a simple and strait forward answer. Once the shock had worn off she felt herself giggling and was forced to wait to take the skin scraping. "Wouldn't you miss climbing trees?"

"Nope, I like to climb them so that I can look around. If I was really big already I wouldn't need to climb them and that way daddy wouldn't have to worry about me falling and hurting myself."

"I see. Well it seems like this has all been positive for you."

"Yep it has!"

"Okay Lucy, I know you don't like this but I need to get that scraping now. Are you ready?"

While Lucy's response wasn't enthusiastic she still wore a smile on her face as she leaned back in the seat. "Yeah go ahead."

Carefully Brigit pressed the blade against Lucy's flesh. While she needed to get enough of a sample to be tested she didn't want to take anymore then she had to or make Lucy feel anymore pain then was absolutely necessary. As she drew the blade across Lucy's skin though she was a bit surprised when nothing happened. When no flesh came off the first time she made another pass and this time increased the pressure. Once again she didn't even get a sliver of skin. "Well that is odd. Is the blade dull?" Holding up the instrument Brigit gently touched her finger to it and quickly withdrew it. "Ouch, no it is not."

"Is something the matter?" Upon seeing Brigit jump slightly Lucy leaned forward. Her smile was still there but it was mixed with concern.

"No, I'm fine. I just cut myself being silly. Remember that never test to see if a blade is sharp by touching it. You'll either find out that it is or regret that it isn't." Standing up Brigit went and bandaged her finger while retrieving another scalpel. As she retrieved the instrument she couldn't help but wonder. Had she used that delicate of a touch while working with Lucy or was the girl's skin that durable?

Even though she didn't like the pain Lucy watched as Brigit pressed the new scalpel into her skin. She didn't think anything of how the woman's fingers visibly tensed as she drew the blade forward but she did grip her seat. "You said symbi was on my skin as well didn't you?"

While Brigit was focused on removing the sample without hurting Lucy too much she knew how careful she had to be with that question. "Yes however do you remember how pale you were whenever you first took off your bandages?"

"Yes."

"Well your skin returning to its normal color should mean that symbi is finished and moving on. So right now symbi should only be inside of you. We're just checking to make sure that is the case." Upon removing the skin sample Brigit carefully tucked it away in a small container and sealed the lid. "Now why don't you come with me and we'll drop these off at the lab? Then we can begin some other tests."

After giving her head a quick nod Lucy hopped of the chair. "What type of test are we going to do?"

"You'll see. Don't worry I'll do these tests along with you if you want."

Upon entering the hospitals rehabilitation room Lucy was delighted to see both her parents waiting for her. Her walk became a swift trot as she crossed the room. "Mommy, Daddy did you come to help with the tests?"

"Well we came to watch. I'm sorry that we didn't make it here in time for your blood work. We had a bit of a delay at the apartment."

"It's okay mommy."

Walking over to his daughter Claude bent down and gave her a half hug with his good arm. The delay had been due to Karen having to help him with his bandages something she still didn't have much experience in. "So are you ready to show us what you can do?"

A delighted giggle escaped Lucy as she hugged her father in return. "I sure am."

"I swear I haven't even told her what she is going to be tested on and she's already saying she's prepared for whatever it is." Brigit grinned she adjusted the equipment for Lucy.

As he straitened up Claude gave his little girl a few pats on the head. "Whatever challenge she's cooked up you're ready for it aren't you Lucy?"

Lucy gave her head a quick nod. "I sure am."

"Well then. You just come over here and lie down on this." Brigit couldn't help but grin as Lucy quickly dashed away from her parents and climbed onto the bench press. "Okay can you reach the bar?"

Instead of answering verbally Lucy reached up and wrapped her fingers around the bar. She didn't bother waiting for Brigit to tell her what to do next but proceeded to lift it off its mount. The ease with which Lucy lifted the bar was absolute making it clear the bar didn't have nearly enough mass to challenge her. "Hey, daddy does this one weigh as much as the one at home?"

It took Claude a few seconds to speak. "I'm not sure Lucy. How much does that bar way?"

"It weights twenty kilograms by itself." Despite having more time then Claude to get over her surprised it still took Brigit a moment to speak.

"Yeah Lucy that one weighs as much as the one we have at home."

"Neat! It feels so light now."

"Why don't you put it down and I'll add more mass?" After giving a quick nod Lucy set the bar down and Brigit began the task of adding an extra five kilograms to either side. "So Lucy you've done this before?"

"Yeah, I've done it several times with daddy." Once the extra ten kilograms had been added Lucy once again reached up and lifted the bar from its mount. Once again the bar didn't seem to offer any resistance. Instead of setting it down right away though Lucy proceeded to do a few quick repetitions.

"I take it you can handle more then that." Brigit grinned as Lucy set the bar back down.

"Yeah" a delighted smile adorned Lucy's face as she looked over at her father. "Isn't this neat daddy? I can handle more then just the bar now. I bet I can even handle some disks like you."

"You're doing great sweet. Do you believe that you could handle double?"

"Yeah I can." Before Brigit could add any extra mass to the bar Lucy once again reached up though this time with only one hand. While the bar's dimensions made it somewhat awkward for her to balance it was clear as she lifted it that she had no trouble handling the mass even with one arm.

After Lucy set the bar down Brigit took a moment to step around behind Lucy. Reaching down she lifted the bar from its stand as if testing to make sure this wasn't a prank. After a moment she set it back down. "Well then, I guess we can take it up to sixty kilograms then. Now Lucy tell me when you're having trouble lifting it."

"Okay." As Lucy watched Brigit remove the two five kilogram weights and add on two twenty she spoke up again. "Hey those are like the ones daddy uses though he uses more."

As Claude listened to his daughter he couldn't help but grin. "Be careful Lucy but don't hold anything back. You've already lifted more then what I can now." For a moment Claude worried that he might have said something wrong as he noticed his daughter's expression change. So he was quite pleased when her smile returned a few moments later though he did make a mental note of the moment.

There had indeed been a moment whenever Claude had mentioned her lifting more then him in which Lucy had been saddened. It wasn't because she had lifted more then he could at the moment but rather because it made her think of his burns. Claude and Karen had both assured Lucy that it wasn't her fault but she still felt to blame at times. "Okay, I'll do my best."

Michael had been the one that told Brigit to test Lucy's current strength levels. This was in order to find out if she had the strength to force her clothing on as they had speculated. At the moment Brigit was fairly certain that the young girl did have such strength. Now she just needed to find out how much that truly was. "Okay Lucy, go ahead."

Reaching up Lucy once again took hold of the bar. This time as she pressed up on it though there was a moment of resistance however the lift was still smooth and easy. Once the bar was off the mount Lucy once again proceeded to do several repetitions to show the ease with which she could handle the mass.

"So what do you think Lucy?"

"It's light." Lifting the bar once again Lucy set it back on its mount. "Would you add some more mass now?"

"Sure, should I double it again?"

"Yeah" as Lucy eagerly nodded her head her father spoke up.

"I don't know if that is safe it looks like it took you a moment to lift it that time."

"I can handle it daddy." While Lucy contradicted her father her tone was far from spiteful or defiant. Rather it radiated energy and confidence.

For a moment Claude grew silent. "Lucy do you remember what you promised me back home?"

It took a moment but Lucy responded. "I promised that I would ever try to lift any of the weights unless you were there and watching me but daddy you are here. I can do it. Please let me try."

A sigh escaped Claude. He was very pleased to see his daughter's confidence but he was worried she might hurt herself. Even if his arms hadn't been burned handling one hundred and twenty kilograms would have been tough. As he was now he knew that he couldn't. Before he could speak up though, Karen walked by him and made her way over to the bench press. "Don't worry me and Brigit can lift it off of her if she gets into trouble."

Seeing his wife taking her position and helping Brigit exchange the weights Claude gave a sigh. "Okay, but be careful."

Nodding her head quickly the little girl reached up and took hold of the bar. Gritting her teeth she pressed up on the mass. A few clinks could be heard as the bar began to wobble about and Lucy's face began to turn red. Then slowly the bar lifted half a centimeter off the mount, not even enough to get it over the hooks that held it in place when a sharp gasp escaped Lucy. A slight clang went throughout the room as she released the bar and it landed back on the mounts.

For a while nothing happened until Claude made his way over to the bench press. A wide grin was on his face as he bent down and placed his left hand on his panting daughter's forehead. "You did great Lucy. There is no way I could have lifted that before."

There was a long moment in which Lucy just looked up at her father. Her failure to lift the mass was something of a blow to the young girl's ego and it did sadden her to an extent. It had effectively destroyed the high she'd been feeling after realizing how much stronger she was. The smile she had worn before hand hadn't vanished but it had been dented. "I believed I could lift it."

A slight chuckle escaped Claude and he bent down. "You nearly lifted six times your weight and you sure could have lifted five. I couldn't even come close to that. Still, if not being able to carry six of yourselves with your arms alone bothers you that much then we'll just have to start weight training. Of course we'll have to find a few people to help out."

Immediately Lucy's eyes lit up. "You really think that I can do it daddy?"

"Well I don't know for sure but if you're willing to try I'm willing to teach."

While Lucy hadn't gotten the answer she wanted she was still quite pleased with her father's response. "Then I'll do my best." Before Lucy could continue the young girl reached down and pressed her hands to her stomach as she felt a slight rumbling. She then looked up at her father and mother. "I'm hungry can we go eat first?"

Seeing his daughter perking up again Claude was made to grin. "Well I believe Brigit has more tests she needs to run first. I'll tell you what you stay here and I'll go and get your snack basket."

Okay, daddy could you also get me something to drink?"

"Sure what would you like?"

"I want some chocolate milk but if they don't have that some orange or grape juice."

************************************************************************

"So you didn't get to check for the eighth step?"

"I tried but the machine wasn't working. It didn't show the symbiot's presence at all."

After a moment Michael gave a quick nod as he looked at the report Brigit had brought him. "You chose to store the blood and skin samples?"

"Yes, we'll be returning to the lab soon after all. We can run more exact tests there and I really don't want to have to take more samples then what is absolutely necessary."

"That's good thinking." Michael took a moment to flip through more of the pages in the report Brigit had brought him. As he came to the weight lifting session a sharp whistle escaped him. "It seems that her strength is going up faster then her height."

"Yeah, I have to admit I was quite surprised but relieved as well."

"Indeed, now we know why she wasn't complaining about any feelings of weakness. Her bones and muscles are strengthening so fast they more then compensate for the additional mass that she has to carry around." A slight chuckle escaped Michael. "A child that could bench press most adults, that's really something else."

"Yeah it's a shame that we didn't have this data whenever we had David commission the bored of directors for more funding."

"To be honest I'm glad that we didn't. They're already going to put enough pressure on us to find out why Lucy grew so much so quickly. If they found out it had also made her stronger that would be a whole other question they'd been pressuring us to answer. Of course we still have to answer the question but this way we don't get pestered about it. That and incase it looks like they're about to pull the projects funding we can reveal it to them then."

"Ah I see. Yeah it would be quite hard for them to pass up a treatment that could make the body taller and stronger as well regardless of the projects cost. After all she's an eleven year old with strength surpassing many grown men. Can you imagine what it would do in an adult?"

"What it might do in an adult you mean. We don't know if the eighth step will affect grown ups the same was as children."

For a moment Brigit was quiet then a slight giggle escaped her. "What it might do to adults or boys. After all it may not have the same affect on a little boy. Oh wouldn't that upset some people?"

A slight chuckle escaped Michael. "That is true. Well that is impressive. You clocked her top running speed at thirty kilometers an hour?"

"Yeah and she nearly ran off the treadmill when she speed up too quickly. Apparently the machine couldn't accelerate as quickly as she could."

"Mm maybe we should have her participate in the Olympics for publicity. I don't believe she'd get any of the gold medals but with that type of acceleration she might have a chance in sprinting. I wonder if the bored would be willing to sponsor her. What are the age requirements for the Olympics?"

It would have been impossible for Brigit not to grin even if she hadn't wanted to. "I believe that she's too young and I'm not sure if the bored would be willing to go quite that far."

"I don't know. Perhaps, I'll just mention it to David."

A slight giggle escaped Brigit as she noted the thoughtful look on Michael's face. "I swear I wish I could tell if you're being serious or not."

Instead of responding right away Michael glanced over at the clock and set the report back down. "Brigit would you mind going over the finer details with me on our flight back to Anona?"

"Sure but what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to step out for a while. They're a few things that I need to get if I don't want to end up sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Huh, you think that Anne would be angry enough to put you on the couch just over five days?"

"Well probably not but honestly I just can't take that chance."

"Ah is the couch that uncomfortable?"

A huge grin appeared on Michael's face as he looked at Brigit. "No but I miss having Anne lying with me enough as is. To have her just a few rooms away and not be able to be with her is a torture that I can not stand."

************************************************************************

"I can get it daddy."

As Claude reached down for the suitcase he was a bit surprised when he felt Lucy's shoulder press into him. Whenever he didn't relent the force quickly increased until she'd managed to nudge him aside. It wasn't a violent shove though but rather a gradual push. He then watched as the young girl took hold of the luggage and lifted it smoothly out of the cab. "Now Lucy, I know you meant well but you shouldn't push people like that."

"Daddy your hand is burned and Mommy said that you are to use it as little as possible. I can carry the suitcase now." As if to illustrate her point Lucy shifted the suitcase around until she was holding it with one arm. She then reached into the trunk and proceeded to remove the second largest item of luggage that she could find.

It was impossible for Karen not to be concerned with her daughter's condition even as she lifted the suitcase. While all the outward appearances of her daughter's condition seemed beneficial she couldn't help but worry that there may be dangerous complications down the road. Still, she couldn't help but address her husband. "You know she is right."

For a moment Claude was silent he then gave a quick nod. Turning to his side he noted that there were only three small cases left now. "Well then I guess I'll leave the lifting to you ladies then."

"Go right ahead." Karen couldn't have carried the two cases that her daughter had lifted with such ease however the three remaining didn't even have the mass of one of those. So she had no problem in lifting the three remaining bags and closing the trunk.

As Brigit watched Lucy carry two suitcases that rivaled her in size she couldn't help but chuckle. The expression on the cab driver's face was priceless as far as she was concerned. Despite her amusement though she was glad that they'd realized such an event might occur so they had set the Angeyes up in a company home where the witnesses to the event would be extremely limited. The cab driver was the only pair of outside eyes. "Mm we should have used a company car. I'll have to make sure David knows better next time."

While the size of the suitcases forced Lucy to carry them in an awkward position her strength was more then enough to compensate for the lack of leverage. Once she reached Brigit the young girl quickly turned around to face her parents. "See Daddy, I can help out with the big stuff now."

At first Claude considered both praising his daughter but also scolding her for just pushing someone aside. The willpower needed and even the notion that he needed to scold her for being rude vanished the moment he looked at her. "You sure can. Just make sure that you don't try to carry too much and injure yourself."

"I'll be careful Daddy."

Walking over to his daughter Claude gave the young girl a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for the help."

What had been a slight smile became a huge grin as Lucy turned and quickly made her way up the steps. Brigit gave Claude a grin before following behind the young girl. "Well have one of the company cars brought by later. You can take today to get settled in you'll probably want to do some grocery shopping. Tomorrow we'll show you where Lucy will actually be being treated." After she unlocked the door and grasped the handle Brigit turned to face the group. "Now if you take Lucy out with you is up to you but you must keep her condition a secret."

In response to Brigit's reminder Karen quickly waved her hand. "Don't worry Claude hates shoppin. He and Lucy can stay here."

"Your cooperation is appreciated." Turning around Brigit quickly turned the doorknob and stepped inside. "Tomorrow while I show you around the lab if Lucy likes the park. I'll also show you around the recreational area and trails."

Once the door was open Lucy quickly dashed inside of the house ahead of her parents. Instantly the child was struck by an observation. "Ah this house is smaller then our old one."

"That is strange it didn't look like it from the outside." Upon stepping inside of the house Claude couldn't help but chuckle. "Um Lucy this house isn't smaller then our old one."

Lucy seemed to have forgotten the luggage or simply wasn't troubled enough by them to think to set them down as she turned to face her father. "Yes it is. Everything is smaller."

Walking over to Lucy Claude stood next to her so that she could see how much further she now came up on him. "No Lucy. It isn't that everything is smaller you're just bigger."

For a moment Lucy just stood there looking at her father. A moment later a slight giggle escaped her. A delighted grin came to adorn her face as if the young girl had just truly came to comprehended the fact that she'd grown quite a lot. "Whoops."

Walking over to Karen Brigit tapped her on the shoulder. Once the woman turned around she handed over the keys. "Okay, I'm going to get going now. I'll leave room arrangements up to you."

"So you're not going to keep Lucy in the lab?"

"Not unless it is absolutely necessary. At this moment we don't believe that such steps are needed." Reaching into her pocket Brigit brought out a card which she handed to Karen. "If you need anyone just call that number and ask for them. I also wrote down this buildings address so that you can inform them where to send your mail. You'll probably want to get in touch with your insurance in regards to your husbands injuries."

"Yeah, I'll need to get in touch with a hospital as well. We've been so busy with Lucy that we haven't begun planning for more extensive surgeries for Claude."

"Hey don't rush off to get surgery. Who knows, once we figure out what is happening with the eighth step we may be able to use it to treat your husband."

As Brigit and Karen spoke Claude whispered to Lucy. "Hey do you want to go and pick out your room?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay let's go take a look at the upstairs first." Standing up Claude watched as his daughter once again dashed ahead of him. Before she could get up the steps though he called out to her" Lucy you can put the bags down now."

A somewhat embarrassed though very happy looked formed on Lucy's face as she set the suitcases down. Apparently the young girl had forgotten that she was even carrying them despite their mass. "Come on hurry up Daddy."

Brigit had turned to see what was going on when Claude had called out to Lucy. Upon realizing that the young girl had forgotten that she was even carrying the suitcases she turned back to Karen who seemed fairly surprised by the event as well. "I'm beginning to think that we're going to have to do periodic strength tests on Lucy. Tomorrow when you come to the lab we'll discuss such things as buying her more clothing if she continues to grow."

************************************************************************

A sigh escaped Lucy as she gave her covers a swift kick. Her eyes jerked open suddenly and glanced to the wall as she heard a sudden impact. It took her a moment to realize that what she'd heard was the hefty comforter smacking into the wall. In her half asleep state she hadn't noticed how much force she had put into the kick.

For a moment Lucy just looked around her new room and listened. The current furnishing was quite Spartan. The only toys where three dolls that her parents had purchased for her when they took her clothes shopping. All her other toys were burnt to ashes. After a short while of listening she felt certain that she hadn't woke up her parents. Reaching up she then placed her hand on her chests.

"You know Symbi I might have lost all my toys but I would have traded them all for you. Even though you can only spend a little time with me. You're better then all of them put together."

Turning around Lucy glanced down at the clock that set next to her bed. She was actually surprised to see that the clock read five thirteen. After a moment of thought she realized that she had only slept for seven hours. In truth she had slept for even less then that. She'd woken up some time during the night and tried to get back to sleep but found that she couldn't so she'd lain in bed for a while. She normally slept for far longer easily nine or ten hours.

At the moment though she felt entirely rested so she wasn't certain what to do. A rumbling in her stomach moments later told her what she should do. Turning around she gently lowered her feet to the hardwood floor below. Her parents wouldn't be awake for another two hours and she had no desire to wake them up.

As Lucy crept throughout the house she didn't even stop to think to turn on any of the lights despite being in a strange house and having no real knowledge of the layout. While she could tell that it was still night she could see as well as most could during sunset. This didn't even register with the young lady though as she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Karen had gone shopping that day and Lucy had helped her put up the groceries and dishes she had bought. Lucy had been so eager to make use of her height that she'd insisted on putting up those food items that went on the shelves though she was still limited to the lower most shelves. So now she knew exactly where the bread and peanut butter was.

As she opened the fridge to retrieve the strawberry jelly she also grabbed an apple out and bit into the fruit. Holding the apple in her mouth she then closed the fridge and proceeded to twist the lid of the jelly jar off. Instantly the child's eyes lit up as she looked at the paper seal. She'd always had to ask her father to open jars for her if they hadn't already been opened or if he had sealed them too tightly.

Quickly she made her way back over to the table and set the jelly down. Picking up the peanut butter she eagerly removed the cap and was delighted to find that it too was still sealed. As Lucy was overcome with excitement she soon forgot what time it was.

The sedatives Claude took for his pain also tended to aid a great deal in sleeping. However, even he couldn't remain asleep when twenty eight kilograms of pure energy and excitement landed at the food of the bed. As he was jarred into the conscious world he felt as if his heart had skipped a beat and he quickly looked to face the bed's new occupant.

"Mommy, Daddy look, I opened it all on my own." As the young girl held the jar out towards her parents she seemed oblivious of the fact that they'd just be woken up very quickly and could not see in the dark.

A sigh escaped Karen as she felt her heart rate slowing down. She'd been just as surprised by the child's sudden appearance as her husband. Reaching to her side she fumbled around for the lamp for a few moments before turning on the light. The first thing she noticed though wasn't Lucy but rather the door behind her.

While Claude didn't care for the wake up call he wasn't angry once he felt his heart settling down though he was indeed wide awake. The rush of adrenaline that had come with the wake up call had scene to that. "Lucy what are you doing up so early?"

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep but look Daddy. I opened it on my own."

It took a moment but at last Claude's eyes adjusted to the light. He then noted the can of peanut butter his daughter was holding and a slight chuckle escaped him. "I see. You're toughening right up." Reaching out Claude took the can and turned to his wife. "I guess my little girl doesn't need me anymore."

A slight giggle escaped Lucy her father often teased her this way whenever she managed to do something for herself. "I'll always need you Daddy." With that Lucy proceeded to give her father a hug.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure."

While Karen didn't mean to interrupt her husband's and daughter's moment she had to speak up. "That isn't the only thing that she opened."

"What do you mean? Oh." Claude blinked as he looked past Lucy and at the door. They'd shut the door before bed and apparently Lucy hadn't thought to turn the door knob. In her excitement she'd torn off a chunk of the door frame whenever she'd forced the door open.

With her excitement settling down Lucy looked to see what her parents were looking at. The moment she saw the door frame her smile vanished, "oh no. I didn't mean to break the door!"

A slight chuckle escaped Claude as he patted his daughter on the head. "It's okay Lucy. It shouldn't be that hard to fix."

For a few moments Lucy was quiet she then looked up at her father. "I'm not in trouble?"

"Why would you be? It was an accident."

Now that she was assured that she wouldn't be punished Lucy's smile returned. Though she had calmed down considerably, "can I help you fix the door?"

Despite the wake up call and the broken door Claude couldn't help but grin. He was quite proud of his daughter. Even though she was quite young she'd learned that sorry wasn't always enough. If she broke something even on accident she'd help in whatever way she could. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the door though I don't believe I'll be fixing anything myself. Now what were you doing before you came in here?"

"I was making a sandwich."

"Well then. Let's go do that and then we'll get you back to bed."

"Daddy, I'm not sleepy. I tried to go back to bed already."

"Mm well then what do you want to do?"

As Lucy looked at her father she gave her head a quick shake. "You're still sleepy. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I know. Now that I'm awake though what do you want to do?"

"You should go back to sleep I won't wake you up again." As Lucy spoke she carefully made her way off the bed. She turned around again though when she heard her father getting out of bed. "Please go back to bed."

"Okay, let me get up and make sure you don't cut yourself while you make your sandwich then I'll go back to bed. Okay?"

At last Lucy gave her head a quick nod. "Okay, but after that you go back to bed."

"What are you going to do though? You don't have your toys."

"If I keep the volume down can I watch some TV?"

"Sure."

"So will you go back to bed then?"

"Yes I'll go back to bed."

Carefully Lucy turned up the volume on the television. It wasn't that she was having trouble hearing it but she wanted to create some background sound for herself. She'd just finished off the last of her sandwich and made her way back into the kitchen. Once again she retrieved the peanut butter, jelly and bread. As she placed the spoon she used to make the sandwich into the sink though she stopped and turned back to the cupboard where the peanut butter was.

An impish grin adorned Lucy's face as she removed the peanut butter. She'd tightened the lid before putting it back up however she'd only turned it as many times as she had when removing it. That way it wouldn't be too tight now she'd decided to change that. This time she tightened the lid several times over so that she'd be the only one in the house hold that could open the jar. Her father had done this a few times though it had been accidental.

After placing the peanut butter back Lucy quickly opened up the fridge and gave the jelly jar the same treatment. While she wasn't certain if she'd tightened them enough to prevent her mother from opening them she felt confident that she had. If not she'd just try against the next night. As she set the jar back she retrieved her sandwich as well as another apple and made her way back into the living room.

Now that she was alone and left entirely to her own devices Lucy couldn't help but let her mind wonder. While the experience with the weights had been a lot of fun she hadn't really gotten to experiment with her strength. After a few moments her eyes settled on the rocking chair. She wasn't sure if she should be moving furniture around but she'd never been told not to.

Quickly Lucy dashed back into the kitchen and retrieved one of the chairs. The light frame work was so light to her that she nearly slammed the seat into the sealing. Had her height been any greater she would have. This didn't really register with her though as she dashed back into the living room and set the chair down in the middle. She then quickly climbed up into the seat.

Despite her additional centimeters Lucy didn't feel that she was quite enough to get a full view of the room's layout without some help. As she took a few moments to look around though she couldn't help but forgot her plan for a few moments. "I wonder if I could really grow to be this tall." Turning her eyes upward Lucy reached up and placed her palm against the sealing for a few moments. This only held her interest for a few moments as she began to once again look around the room. The feeling of pressing her hand against the roof only prompted her to search for something even taller.

Hopping down Lucy quickly dashed over to the sofa and more leapt then climbed onto the back of the chair. As she stood atop the thickly cushioned chair Lucy didn't look up at the sealing. Rather she looked around the room as she felt the top of her head just barely brushing against it. After a few moments of looking around Lucy looked down at herself and spoke. "Symbi, could you make me this tall? Miss Brigit said you're the reason I started growing so quickly so will you be with me long enough?"

As she climbed down from the couch Lucy couldn't help but try one more thing. After hopping down from the couch Lucy quickly sprinted over to the front door. Fortunately she remembered to unlock the door and open it before forcing it open. Though, she did forget to put on her shoes. Stepping out onto the porch she took only a moment to examine the support beams before taking hold of them.

Even before she'd been strengthened Lucy had been quite a proficient climber. So that with her strength enhanced to the point that she could support herself easily with one arm she had no trouble quickly climbing up onto the porch. She then scurried up onto the roof of the building and began to look around.

While the eighth step had only caused Lucy to grow twenty additional centimeters that had been in a three day time period. After such a rapid increase in her height Lucy couldn't help but let her imagination wonder. Perhaps, she really could grow into a giant as she had at times pretended. Considering that the symbiot had made her grow so much within only a few days it seemed exceptionally possible to the young girl's mind.

After a few moments Lucy's eyes fell upon the car that had been brought by for them to use sense theirs was a few districts away. She then held her hands out in front of her so that they appeared to be able to grasp the vehicle like it was one of her doll cars. After a few moments she closed her eyes and just let her imagination play with the thought.

They had been living at their new home for a month now and Claude currently found himself in the garage when the sound of several soft impacts got his attention. Walking to the front of the building he looked up as his massive daughter stepped around the side of the house. "Good morning Lucy."

"Morning Daddy, whatcha doing?" As Lucy spoke she bent at the knees and leaned her head to the side so that she could better see inside of the garage.

"I'm looking for the jack. I don't know who is in charge of maintenance but the car really needs to have its oil changed."

Turning her head to the vehicle Lucy gave a quick nod. "Can I help?"

"Well sweaty you can't really fit in the garage anymore."

A slight giggle escaped Lucy. "I know but I can do this." Turning around Lucy reached down and took hold of both sides of the vehicle. She then easily lifted it from the ground and even above the garage door. "See Daddy, you don't need a jack."

For a moment Claude just looked on as his massive daughter held the car in her hands as if it was meant for large dolls. "So I see. Well then let me know if your arms start getting tired so I can get out from under it."

"Sure." Lucy watched as her father walked back into the garage and retrieved a screwdriver, wrench, pan and a new oil filter. As he came back out she made sure to hold the car up so that he wouldn't have to even slouch to get under the vehicle.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open as she felt warmth on her face. Upon turning her gaze from the car in the driveway she looked out towards the morning sun. Realizing that her father wouldn't be happy with her climb on top of the house the young girl quickly made her way down to the roof, onto the porch. She'd spent longer in up on the roof then she'd realized.

Now her day dream had come to an end as she made it down the support to find her father waiting for her. As she saw him she couldn't help but notice the bandages on his arms. In her dream he hadn't had burnt arms or even scars. In truth there was no way he'd be working on any vehicles in a month even when doing something as simple as changing an oil filter. His arms would take more time and many more treatments to heal that far.

"I thought I heard something up on the roof. Now Lucy we've talked about this." Claude grew silent when he noticed the expression on his daughter's face and realized she was looking at his bandages. Without really thinking he moved closer to the porch and started to use his left arm to help her down. "Come on down you naughty little imp."

After a moment more of looking at her father Lucy gave a nod though she didn't take his hand. Instead she proceeded to climb back down onto the porch by herself. "I'm sorry Daddy."

A sigh escaped Claude. "Lucy these burns aren't your fault. We've talked about this come on now." Claude could tell that Lucy wasn't apologizing about being on the roof. Whenever the young girl was caught doing something she knew she shouldn't she'd smile like an imp. The expression on her face now was of remorse. "Show me my little imp."

It took a few moments but slowly Lucy's expression changed. She still wasn't over the thoughts that she'd caused her father's burns but his assurance was helping to slowly banish such thoughts. "Okay daddy."

"That's my girl. Of course you do realize that you lost all TV privileges for day by climbing onto the roof."

"Daddy, that's mean."

"Now young lady, you knew better then to be up on the roof before you ever climbed up. That is why you turned up the TV so much." As Claude glanced down at his daughter he noticed the impish grin on her face. When that grin spread into a full blown smile he quickly realized that wasn't the only thing she'd done while the volume was up.

"So she was outside." Karen smiled as she moved the seat back into the kitchen.

"Yes she was and now she's not allowed to watch TV for the entire day."

After placing the seat in the kitchen Karen walked back into the living room. "Oh. Where was she?"

"She'd climbed up on the roof."

A sigh escaped Karen as she looked at her daughter. "Lucy, we've talked about this before. You could fall and hurt yourself."

There was no attempt on Lucy's part to defend herself. Like her mother said, this was a conversation they already had. "I know mommy."

"I know you know. That is why I don't think that losing the TV for a day is enough as clearly it's not working."

Now Lucy's eyes widened and her smile diminished. "I was only on the roof though and it isn't nearly as tall as the trees."

Despite the situation Karen couldn't help but smile. Most children would promise not to climb up on the roof again only to repeat the act later. Lucy had used the same tactics once before but learned after words that when she broke a promise the punishment was far worse especially when that promise was made to her mother. When that happened Karen made it very clear that the punishment was harsher then normal because she'd broke a promise. "Lucy, if taking the TV away from you for a day isn't going to keep you off the roof or out of the trees then we're going to have to do something else."

There was a moment when Claude considered helping his daughter but he knew that Karen was right. After a moment a sigh escaped him. "You're right honey. Okay Lucy, go take a seat in the kitchen. You can snack if you want but no talking for thirty minutes and you still don't get any TV for the entire day."

Lucy's grin turned into a slight pout as she made her way into the kitchen. Though, it wouldn't be long before it returned. One of the primary difficulties in really punishing Lucy was the rate at which she bounced back from the punishment.

As Brigit looked at the blood sample from Lucy she felt her heart rate speeding up. It was with trembling fingers that she turned to her computer and quickly brought up a genetic profile of the girl. After a moment of detailed examination she looked back at the sample and was made to chuckle. Looking at Lucy's genetic profile had been a complete waste of time and she'd known it already. It was just that what she currently found herself looking upon seemed so impossible.

Once again Brigit turned back to the computer and set the machine to save what the microscope was currently showing her. As the machine did its job she brought out her phone and dialed Michael's number. They had a lot to talk about.

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As the last member of the research team entered the meeting room David set up in his seat. "Okay Michael, you got us all here what is it?"

Standing up Michael walked to the head of the table and picked up the small remote that was resting there. He then quickly brought up a display. "What you see now is a fairly standard DNA pattern for a human." Pressing a button he brought up another image beside it. "Now this is the DNA pattern of the eighth step which you all know we introduced to Miss Lucy not even a week ago. Sense then the eighth step has begun to behave in an unpredicted though so far safe manner. Though, it has resulted in some unusual changes in the young Lady.

In order to better understand what was causing these changes we attempted to locate the eighth step in her system. However, every time we scanned her it came up negative for the presence of the eighth step. At first this was thought to be equipment error but that doesn't seem to be the case. You see the eighth step has changed while the equipment was designed to detect it in its displayed state."

After waiting a moment Michael pushed the controlled once again and switched to a view of Lucy's original DNA profile. "This is the DNA profile for Miss Lucy we received from the hospital." After a moment Michael clicked the button on more time and brought up the second image. "This is Miss Lucy's current genetic profile and the current profile of the symbiot that we introduced into her body."

Silence dominated the room as every research team member was made to examine the profile more carefully. Much like Brigit didn't need to look at it none of them needed to look at Lucy's original genetic structure to know that it had changed. Though, many of them did as if hoping it would give them some answer. What they currently found themselves looking at clearly wasn't the genetic makeup of a human. Even David who only had only studied genetics to a very limited extent in collage knew that what the display showed wasn't the genetic profile of a human.

After giving the team time to digest this information Michael continued. "It seems that the eighth step has integrated itself with the young lady to the point of becoming a part of her cells. So far we've only tested the skin and blood but we have to assume that it's integrated itself with every aspect of her being."

"How is that possible? The eighth step wasn't designed to join with the host cells and none of our test indicated it was possible. They all showed that it was impossible."

"I'm aware of this but regardless of what our tests showed this is what happened."

While David was the least trained of the group he couldn't help but speak up. "Don't you believe it would be faulty to assume that the symbiot was the one that merged with her cells? Perhaps, her cells interacted with the symbiot instead."

"I'd say that is impossible however it was also supposed to be impossible for the symbiot to merge with hers. So I don't believe that we can throw out any theory."

"So what are we going to do now? We can't inject her with the serum now or it would destroy her entire body."

After a moment Michael gave a nod. "That is assuming that the serum would even affect the symbiot now. With these changes I'm not certain what would happen. They're three things that we need to do. The first thing we need to do is find out why this happened. We still have several blood samples from when we first injected Lucy to this day.. I want each and every sample carefully dissected. You are to find out everything you can.

The second thing we need to do is find out how to prevent it from happening. However, that depends entirely on the first stage.

Now the final thing that we must do is find out exactly what this has done to Miss Lucy. This is going to be by far the most difficult of the three assignments. So I'm going to assign Brigit to work on this project exclusively. Lucy is the most comfortable with her so she's idea to conduct the research."

After a moment David spoke up. "What about returning the young lady to normal?"

A sigh escaped Michael. "Yes that is an objective. However, the likelihood of such a thing even being possible is beyond slim. I'll be amazed if we can even learn where the eighth step is going with these changes."

"So what are we going to tell the family?"

There was no hesitation on David's part. "We'll tell them the truth of course. The contracts have us covered in the case of a medical mishap like this one. What they don't have us covered for is withholding information from the family."

A slight chuckle escaped Michael. "That's our David, champion of honesty and morality."

"I do what I can."

"Okay, so where is the family now?"

"At the moment Brigit is showing them around the hiker's path."

"Well then I suppose I'll go and get them. I take it Brigit knows the situation." As David spoke he stood up.

"Yes she's the one that discovered it."

"Then I'll let her know that she needs to inform the family about the recent complications in Lucy's condition."

As Karen looked around at the tall trees she couldn't help but give her thoughts voice. "I never imagined this would be part of a research complex."

Looking over her shoulder Brigit smiled at Karen. "Not many people do. It was built shortly after the facility itself was though. Researchers that feel strained or feel they need to get out of the lab will often walk this path. The layout of the trees and the path itself was actually designed that for at least thirty minutes one can't even see the lab."

"So how long does it take to walk the entire path?"

"On average it takes forty five minutes. Somehow Michael has been known to turn it into an hour and thirty minutes though."

"So at any time employees can take a forty five minute break. That seems awfully generous."

A slight giggle escaped Brigit. "Well it's the results that are important. If a forty five minute break every now and then improves productivity then the higher ups are fine with it. Of course such breaks are a privilege not a right. It's up to the head of each research team to decide whether or not an employee is abusing the privilege."

"So how often do you go on walks Brigit?"

"I tend to get to work early and go on a walk each morning. I find that a nice walk helps to wake me up."

The two women's conversation was interrupted for a moment when Claude's voice suddenly wrung out. "Don't even think about it young lady."

A delighted giggle escaped Lucy as she turned to face her parents and Brigit. "What? I wasn't doing anything."

Currently Lucy was standing in front of a massive tree. From her position Karen guessed that Claude had caught sight of her just before she could shoot up into the branches. "I guess you weren't kidding whenever you said that she was fond of climbing."

"You don't know the half of it. Yesterday she saw fit to climb up onto the roof of the house while Claude and I were still in bed. Those are some awfully tall trees though. How long has this trail been here?"

"Believe me no where near long enough to grow trees like that. They were actually brought here from other locations. You can tell how close you are to the end of the trail by the height of the trees."

"Oh why is that?"

"As you get closer to the facility you need taller and taller trees to block ones view of it. This actually had an unexpected affect on the workers. A while back a team decided to review the security footage. What they found was that as people enter this area they slow down even without realizing it. I guess even if one likes their job they are rarely eager to get back to it. So their subconscious mind causes them to slow down."

"Speaking of unexpected results we need to talk." David smiled as he made his way towards the group along the opposite direction of the trail.

A sigh escaped Claude as he looked at David then Brigit. In truth he'd expected something like this ever sense they hadn't taken Lucy into a lab first thing. "Lucy, come here. You'll need to here this to."

While the smile didn't fade from Lucy's face the tone of her father's voice told her this was important. So there was no hesitation on her part as she dashed back to her parents to stand between them. "Is it about Symbi?"

Despite not having spent enough time with Lucy to realize she'd nicknamed the eighth step the name gave David a pretty clear idea of what she was talking about. "I believe that it is. Brigit, please tell the Angeye's what you found out about the eighth step while examining Lucy's blood."

"I take it this means that whatever has caused her sudden increase in height and strength is more profound then you first believed." As she spoke Karen turned from David to face Brigit entirely.

"I hope you don't mind but I couldn't inform you of anything until the meeting this morning."

In response to Brigit's comment Claude gave a slight chuckle. "It's fine. So what is going on with the symbiot and Lucy?"

"It would be best stated what is going on with Lucy or the eighth step. There is a bench further up the path. Why don't we go a little further so you can all set down?"

"Sure."

As Bright looked at the seated family she first address Lucy. "Lucy, do you know how I said that Symbi would leave you one day?"

"Yeah I remember. Is Symbi going to be leaving me soon?"

"Lucy, how would you feel if Symbi never left you?"

Instantly Lucy's eyes lit up and she learned forward in the chair. "That'd be wonderful. Can you get Symbi to stay with me?"

"Well it seems that Symbi decided that. Mm is Symbi a he or a she?"

"Symbi is a she."

A slight giggle escaped Brigit as she realized how right Lucy was now that the symbiot had become part of her. "Well it seems that she decided that she was going to stay with you on her own. You know how Symbi was originally inside of you like you were inside of your mommy?"

""Yeah I do. Mommy told me about it a long time ago."

"Well now Symbi it actually become a part of you. Instead of being like you were with your mommy. Well now Symbi is like your blood or skin. Do you understand?"

"Yeah I think so. Does that mean Symbi will always be with me!?"

"Yes it does."

As Claude listened to Brigit explaining the situation to his daughter he was quite relieved to see that Lucy was happy with this turn of events. Now he just needed to find a way to voice his concerns without scaring his daughter. "So what do you believe is going to happen next?"

"Honestly we aren't certain. We don't even know why Symbi decided to join with Lucy on such a close level." Despite the situation Brigit turned to Lucy and gave the girl a quick poke in the stomach. "Maybe she just likes you."

A slight yelp escaped Lucy when Brigit suddenly poked her in the stomach. There was no pain but it caught her off guard. The teasing comment after words insured that the young girl was relaxed. "I hope so I like Symbi as well."

It took Claude a few moments to formulate his next question so it wouldn't offend his daughter. "Just how conscious is the symbiot?"

"The eighth step basically isn't conscious. At best you could say that it is half asleep." As Brigit spoke she pointed her finger downward so Claude could see it. The look on his face told her that he'd got her message. The eighth step wasn't meant to be self-aware at all.

"Well I know that the eighth step responds to injuries so it has to be able to sense the body's nerve impulses. Do you believe that Lucy's feelings for the eighth step might have resulted in its decision to stay?"

David had stayed behind to see how the conversation went. However, he was rather surprised by Claude's theory. So much so that he spoke up before Brigit could even respond. "Brigit I need to go. If you need me call me on my cell phone and I'll answer any questions that I can."

Even Brigit had been rather surprised by Claude's suggestion. Could the eighth step picked up on Lucy's feelings? It didn't seem possible but then again none of the other theories seemed anymore likely at the moment. Strong feelings of joy or fondness did cause chemical reactions in the brain after all. She was fairly certain that David's sudden need to depart was to tell Michael about the suggestion. "That's as possible as any of the other theories."

After watching David leave Karen turned to Brigit. "So what do you plan on doing now?"

"We're going to continue with our plan to examine Lucy in more detail. However, sense Symbi's decision to stay with Lucy we've been forced to give up our plans to separate them for the time being."

"You were going to take Symbi away from me!"

Brigit was made to noticeably jump in response to Lucy's sudden outburst. Despite the child's voice the tone she used had carried plenty of power in it. It was clear to Brigit that it wasn't the wining of a child but an angry exclamation of a young lady. The expression on Lucy's face told Brigit that she was very angry.

Realizing that Brigit wouldn't know how to handle her daughter Karen spoke up before she could. "Lucy, the only reason Brigit or any of us would have taken Symbi away from you is if we believed Symbi was hurting you. It's like when you climb up tall trees. We know you enjoy it but we can't just allow you to keep doing it as you might hurt yourself or even get killed."

It took a few moments but slowly the anger began to vanish from Lucy's face. "How could have Symbi hurt me?"

"Do you remember playing with your blocks?"

"Yes."

"Well you know that when you build a tower too tall it falls over. That is the way humans are in a sense. If we grow to be too tall it's very dangerous."

"But I want to be really tall."

"I know sweaty."

After a few moments of thought Lucy's anger finally seemed to fade though she wasn't done with her questions. "Does that mean Symbi could hurt me by making me grow?"

"We're not sure sweaty." Once again Karen fell back to the blocks metaphor. "You could only build a tower so tall with your blocks but well do you remember what happened whenever you got hold of your father's super glue?"

A delighted giggle escaped Lucy. "Yeah I managed to build a really big tower that time."

"Well that was because the glue strengthened the tower. Now it seems that Symbi is strengthening you almost like the glue did the tower." While Karen had been far from pleased whenever she'd found the numerous bottles of empty glue. She was grateful for the event as it allowed for an easy metaphor. Indeed it worked on many levels. "Of course do you remember what happened after you used the glue?"

"I got sent to the corner."

"Well yes but after that."

"Oh you had to get me knew blocks because the tower couldn't be taken apart."

"That's right. You seem Symbi was supposed to go inside of, fix your burns and then leave. However, like the super glue Symbi decided to stay and we don't know what might happen."

After a short while of contemplation Lucy gave a nod. "So what are you going to do to me now?"

For a moment Brigit was surprised. Lucy had listened very well it seems whenever they'd first explained the situation. She knew that if they were going to do something to the eighth step it would happen to her to. "At this moment we just want to run some tests. We need to find out why Symbi decided to stay with you for certain."

"Are you going to try to find a way to separate me and Symbi?"

"We're going to try to find out if Symbi is harming you. If Symbi is then yes we will try to find a way to separate the two of you."

"What if Symbi isn't harming me but keeps making me grow?"

"Then we'll have to talk about it with your Mommy, Daddy and you. Okay Lucy?"

It was clear that Lucy wasn't pleased with the situation or the answer. Still, she wasn't angry anymore. "Yeah that is okay."

After a moment Claude spoke up. "So what is going to happen now?"

"We had planned on Lucy staying with the two of you during her testing period. However, with these new developments we need to move her to the lab for closer observation."

Instead of responding to Brigit Claude spoke to Lucy. "Lucy, do you mind spending some time at the lab? It'll be like the hospital."

"I don't mind. I did like my room though."

Now Brigit risked smiling again. "Oh it won't be like the hospital. Here we're far better equipped to insure Lucy's comfort. Of course you're all welcome to give your feed back on the accommodations."

"Daddy, Mommy will you come and visit me like you did in the hospital?"

Reaching around Lucy Karen gave her daughter a hug. "We'll be by to visit you every day and if you need us you can just call and we'll come right over."

"Okay, but I don't know our new number."

Now that Lucy had calmed down and even began to smile again Brigit felt far more relaxed. Though, she now planned to inform everyone who would be dealing with Lucy that they must be careful with the words they use. "Don't worry. I'll write your Mommy and Daddy's phone number next to the phone in your room."

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As David stood before the bored of directors he did his best to keep a confident front. For the last two months the bored had been pressuring him and his department to find the answers they sought and now it was time to present them. As the doors to the bored room were closed and everyone was seated he began. "Two months and five days ago we had our first field test of the eighth step symbiot. As expected there were some complications.

What wasn't expected was the level of those complications. The first complication of note was when the host one Miss Lucy Angeye showed a very notable increase to her hearing and vocal strength. It was believed that the increased vocal strength was due to the symbiot that had begun work inside of her lunges and throat. The improved hearing was far more difficult to explain.

These complications were minor though and while they were looked into it didn't seem to reflect badly on the project. The first sign that there might be some trouble came whenever Lucy was found to have suddenly increased several centimeters in height. This was profound as unlike the other two anomalies this one wouldn't be repaired when the eighth step was removed from her system.

Shortly after the sudden increase in height the young Lady also showed a great increase in strength. Her strength went from being that of a healthy eleven year old girl to an exceptionally fit adult.

At this time an attempt was made to locate the symbiot and see why these changes had occurred. However, all attempts to locate the eighth step symbiot came up negative. This wasn't because of the symbiot was no longer present but because the equipment used was meant to locate the symbiot in its pre-injection form and along a predicted path. However, the symbiot hadn't followed this path and changed in ways that we had not expected and had no way to anticipate.

A few days later the symbiot was found to still be inside of Miss Lucy however it was no longer a separate organism. While previously thought to be impossible the symbiot had managed to integrate itself with Lucy on a cellular level. Instead of being two separate organisms they had become the same organism.

Fortunately during the days after the symbiot was injected into Lucy several blood and skin samples had been taken. What we were able to find is that the symbiot began to change roughly twenty seven hours after being introduced into Miss Lucy's body.

By examining the previous blood samples we were able to find out what happened. The eighth step had been designed to seek out injuries to the body and repair them and had been made highly adaptable to do so. Well apparently the symbiot was more responsive and adaptable then we realized. It seems that the eighth step responded Lucy's feelings that she needed the symbiot.

At least that is our best guess at this moment as to why it behaved the way it did. You see instead of replacing her cells or even remaining inside of her as a separate being the symbiot began to merge with the young lady's cells. We're not sure how long this took however it is believed that after just three hours it would have been impossible to separate the symbiot from the girl.

Once the symbiot's cells and Miss Lucy's cells had merged they began to replace both the eighth steps cells and her old cells."

At last one of the bored members spoke up. "So have you found a way to prevent this?"

"Yes we have. Despite believing that it was Miss Lucy's feeling a need for the symbiot that triggered its joining with her we aren't sure of that. However, even without that knowledge we know that it couldn't have merged with her cells if it wasn't so adaptable. So all we had to do was decrease the symbiot's adaptability.

Of course this means that its overall effectiveness has been diminished as well. While it can still stand in for nearly any damaged tissue except brain tissue it can only shift forms into certain types of tissue. Based on the version of the eighth step used, this is the only way we've found to reliably insure that the symbiot doesn't merge with the host.

This poses another problem though. Sense the symbiot can only replace certain tissues we had to make it last longer incase the proper symbiot isn't at hand. In order to do this we had to make the symbiot capable of surviving in the hosts for longer periods of time and remove the feature where it would break down once it was finished.

Now the eighth step acts more like a part of that person's body then ever before. Then to trigger the break down you need only inject the person with the serum meant for that specific symbiot."

"What is the cost of having the symbiot remain within the host?"

"The main change is an increased metabolism. As now they must sustain themselves and the symbiot. However, we believe that it may be possible to adjust the symbiot to give some benefits other then healing if it is going to be remaining in them for extend periods of time."

"David, from the way you've been talking. Are these symbiot's already prepared?"

"For the most basic of testing yes but it will be some time before they're ready for a human test."

"I see. Well the progress with the eighth steps development has been staggering to be honest. It's disappointing that it must be diminished to be safe but it seems that can't be helped. Such set backs must be expected. It still stands to revolutionize medicine. I have no trouble giving the project my support."

As the notion went around the bored room David felt a wave of relief. While not everyone said it the same way everyone did back the project. However, one person finally brought up the inevitable question. "What about the young Miss Lucy? How is she doing?"

"She's still growing Sir and has even become stronger. As of yet we have no idea how far this is going to go."

"I see. How tall is she now?"

"The last time I checked she was one hundred and fifty four centimeters tall. Sense her initial increase of twenty centimeters the rate of growth she's shown has been quite constant."

"So she's grown somewhere around thirty centimeters in a bit more then two months. That's quite impressive. David, what would you propose we do about the young lady?"

"I believe that it would be in our best interest to assist the family in meeting her basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. At the very least until we know how far this is going to go."

"If I remember you originally chose Miss Lucy to be something of a good first impression for the project."

"That is correct."

"I believe that she can still fulfill that roll. Also, we don't want it getting out that after our project made her body into something other then a human's we abandoned her. So I have to agree. It's in our best interest as well as the young lady's if we assist the family."

After a moment David had to ask. "How do you believe she could still fulfill her roll?"

"Simple, she's alive and healthy when she would have been dead and buried other wise. Despite the side affects the treatment was a success. After all, was it not meant to save her life?"

David knew that the symbiot was meant to save Lucy's life and restore her to the way she was before. However, that wasn't a point he was willing to argue with one of his bosses. "That is very true."

"As long as she is healthy and happy as is the family I believe her condition could still work out quite well for us. If we're careful, after all how many ladies would like to have a few extra centimeters and mean be able to lift a few more kilos?"

"Sir what are you proposing?"

"In addition to the medicinal uses I want the team to see if they can find a way for the symbiot to help with height and strength. At least the new generations of the eighth step you're working."

End chapter 1

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