March 1967

"I think we're getting a little old for this." Emily said. She telepathically tossed the tennis ball back to Henry, seated in the opposite corner of the Rainbow Room. He caught the ball with his own mind and sent it back the same way.

"What do you mean? Playing catch is what every young adult is doing these days." Henry replied.

"Half of this stuff has been boring for almost three years. Maybe we should ask Papa if we can find some new things to do. I was reading more challenging books in the library before I came here." Emily caught the ball with her hand before standing up. She walked over to the rather small bookshelf and pulled one out, showing Henry. "I can only read "One Fish, Two Fish" so many times before my brain explodes."

"Well, what would you rather read? It doesn't get much more thrilling than "The Little Engine That Could." Who would have guessed that the Little Engine could by the end?" Henry tossed the ball away so that it landed perfectly back into its box.

"I don't know, Agatha Christie? Shakespeare? Something actually interesting."

"Bit of a big step up considering you just managed to get through "Goodnight Moon" last night."

"Okay, stop." Emily rolled her eyes, putting the book back on the shelf. "The least Papa could do is let the Rainbow Room grow with us."

"Maybe when we see him next, we can ask him." Henry shrugged. As if on cue, the door swung open. Papa walked inside the room with his hands in his pockets. He spotted Henry and Emily in the corner, waving for them to come over.

"One, Four, can I speak to you two in my office?" He asked. The pair shared a skeptical look. Papa hadn't ever let them into his office before. They didn't even know where in the building it was. Having no other choice, they followed him out of the room, trailing just two steps behind.

Emily didn't miss the extra guards around each corner, either. Ever since Two and Three had escaped, the security had almost tripled. She couldn't remember the last time she had genuinely had a moment alone by herself, let alone with Henry. There were always cameras watching, always guards patrolling.

Papa opened a door and gestured for Emily and Henry to sit down at a desk. The walls were white, the desk a steely grey. There wasn't much in the room in general. A few certificates in frames on the wall and a white shelving unit behind the desk. Papa took a seat in a large office chair, facing the two young adults.

"Now, I bet you're wondering why I've brought you two in here." He began.

"We're not in trouble, are we?" Henry asked.

"No, of course not, One. On the contrary, I think you'll both be pleased with what I'm going to tell you."

"Please tell me you're getting new books for the Rainbow Room. I can't handle any more Dr. Seuss." Emily said, her hands spread wide right next to her head, simulating a headache.

"Well, no, not exactly." Papa said. He slid a few pieces of paper towards the two. Four, to be exact. Each one had a picture of a baby on it with some basic information. Each one also had a number stamped in red in the corner. "This is Project MK-ULTRA. We used One's DNA for expecting mothers, resulting in essentially superpowered newborns. After some initial tests, we can already tell that they show promise."

"So these are new experiments? Like us?" Henry asked.

"Exactly. Born with your abilities just as you were. This is the next phase."

"Papa?" Emily spoke up, holding one of the papers. "You mislabeled this one. You're saying this is Experiment 004, but that's... that's me, isn't it?"

"Ah... right." Papa sighed, taking the paper back from Emily. "There isn't really an easy way to put this, but... well, as you've made very clear, Four, you both have grown out of the Rainbow Room. We're moving on to these children."

"So you're done with us?" Henry asked flatly. "No more tests, no more lessons?"

"Nope."

"Does that mean you're letting us out?" Emily asked. Her face remained neutral, but there was hope in her tone of voice.

"Well... no. It's not that I don't trust you both, but I can't have two psychic adults running loose, especially in a quickly evolving world they don't understand." Papa sounded sincere, but it was crushing to both Emily and Henry to process. No escape. Not yet.

"So what? You're just gonna lock us in our rooms with nothing to do?" Henry asked.

"No, and here's the good part." Papa reached into his desk, pulling out two blue ID badges like the one on his jacket pocket. There weren't any pictures in them yet. "The children will need someone to keep an eye on them. Especially as they get older. Think of it as like... orderlies."

"You're putting us on babysitting duty?" Emily asked. "Papa, we don't know the first thing about taking care of kids."

"We can teach you. The position comes with a few perks as well. You both are getting older and it wouldn't be right to keep treating you like you're twelve when you're taking care of the next generation."

"Perks? Like what?"

"Here's what I'm going to allow: No more monthly haircuts. You can let your hair do whatever it wants, grow out, whatever you so choose. It just has to look presentable. Once every few months, I will let you explore the town a little bit. You can purchase things, everything just needs to be approved when you return here. You will be given new rooms right next to each other with no cameras in them. Lights out is now eleven PM, but you may retire at any point before that, not after. We will get you uniforms and anything else you feel like you might need in the first few months."

"Can we take our ID pictures after we let our hair grow out a bit?"

"They get updated yearly anyways, but yes, whatever you so choose." Papa slid them the ID badges, continuing before they even had much of a chance to examine them. "Of course, there are still a few rules. No wandering the halls after lights out, no sloppy grooming, no workplace relationships, always be on your best behavior, and..."

Papa reached into his pocket and pulled out two tiny plastic baggies, each containing a small metal chip about the size and shape of a large pill.

"I call it Soteria. It's a safety precaution so that we can find you if you were to get lost somewhere and... restricts your abilities."

Emily and Henry's heads shot up, alarmed.

"Restricts them?" Henry asked.

"Yes. We don't want anyone to know about this. Moreso, we don't want you to accidentally let them loose when you're outside or around the children. You can still go into those mind voids for some peace and quiet and communicate with each other mentally, but nothing else. It could put others at risk."

"So you're telling us that we're losing our abilities after almost ten years of us spending our entire time and energy to learn how to use them?" Emily stood up out of her chair, furious.

"I know it seems like it's a bit much--"

"It's a lot bit much. You're taking away years of hard work just because you don't trust us! I mean, for God's sake, Henry's had these powers since before you even came along. It's a part of who he is and who I am. You can't just shut it off and make us glorified babysitters as if nothing's happened." Emily didn't even think to call Henry by his number, yet Papa gave no indication that he was upset by it.

"I know it's upsetting, but it's either this or never letting you outside of your rooms as you had thought was going to happen. I'd much rather give you more freedoms, but in order to do that, we need these safeguards in place. It's up to you, but I know I'd rather go outside." Emily opened her mouth to argue again. She paused, realizing he had a point. She sighed and sat back down, folding her arms. "It's a hard transition, but I still need you both."

Henry and Emily looked at each other for a long moment. They came to a silent consensus before turning back to Papa and nodding in sync.

"I refuse to clean up after the babies, though." Emily said. Papa smiled.

"The nurses will take care of that, Emily." He said. Emily's eyebrow quirked up.

"You used my name." She said.

"Well, I shouldn't keep calling my orderlies by numbers. Your names are on your badges. And from here on, you can just call me Doctor."

Emily could almost hear the 'oh thank god' from Henry with the way his shoulders sagged in relief. She looked at her new ID badge, citing her name as Emily Ripley. As far as she remembered, she hadn't had a last name to speak of.

"Pa-- Doctor, this isn't my name." Henry spoke up, showing the badge to Brenner.

"Henry Creel was pronounced dead almost a decade ago, you know this. Once I bring new staff in here, we don't want your survival getting out. It raises too many questions and might very well lead to you getting put away. So, your name now is Peter Ballard."

"Hasn't the statute of limitations expired by now?" Emily asked. Brenner seemed surprised at her knowledge of such laws.

"In Indiana, there isn't one for murder charges. Peter here could still be tried as an adult, even if he was a child when it happened. Two counts of pre-meditated, first degree murder... it wouldn't end well for him."

"So then just change my last name. Henry's a common name, I'm not the only one in the world. You let Emily keep her name." Henry protested.

"I'm sorry, Peter, it's already been done. Again, it's just a precaution." Brenner said. When Henry didn't give a response, Brenner stood back up. "I'll take you to your new rooms and then we can see to getting your uniforms fitted."

He got out from behind the desk to open the door for the pair. Unsure of how to feel, they followed him outside the office and down the halls.

This is bull. Emily thought.

Hey, we can count our blessings. New freedoms. Henry thought back.

At a stupid cost. At least we can still mentally visit each other all the time.

I despise him. Henry pursed his lips. Well, I know one rule I'm willing to bend.

What's that?

No workplace relationships.

Emily could practically feel Henry snicker. She flushed, wiping her nose on her wrist to clean the blood dripping from it.

Now's not the time to be admitting something like this to me.

So when's a good time?

Not now.

***

"Henry!" Emily called from inside the kitchen. "Both you and Elaine get cleaned up, dinner's almost ready."

Henry called back an affirmative, catching the giggling little girl in his arms with a laugh of his own. He couldn't place her face, but he still brought her to the front door with a smile. The big blue house seemed almost bluer in the late summer evening light, the reflection of the rocketship shaped play structure appearing in the windows.

"Go wash your hands, El." Henry told the girl once they got inside. The girl nodded, running in the direction of the bathroom. Henry went into the kitchen to see Emily telepathically balancing three plates of chicken and vegetables and three empty glasses to the table in the conjoining dining room. Emily sat the food down on the table as the radio flicked on by itself. A familiar song came from the radio, Emily laughing when Henry grabbed her by the waist and led her in a janky dance.

Her long brown hair bounced along with the movements, the tips brushing the pale green dress she wore. From the mouth of the dining room, Elaine rushed in, squeezing between the pair as they danced. Emily let go, allowing Henry to spin the girl around a few times. Emily wiped her nose on a tissue, a nosebleed from carrying the dishes.

Henry failed to notice the radio suddenly repeating the same line in the song over and over again, slower and slower.

"Dream a little dream of me."

"Dream a little dream of me..."

"Dream a little dream..."

"...of me."

***

Henry shot awake, suddenly caught off guard by the different room he was sleeping in. No longer stuck in a small cell with a single window, cot, and desk, now the room was twice as big with a slightly more comfortable bed with a slightly nicer desk and closet. The larger window streamed pale moonlight inside.

It was enough light for Henry to see the time on the clock across the room. 2:11 in the morning. He sighed, sitting up in the bed and staring at the small 001 on his wrist. Taunting him. He stretched his neck, once again being made uncomfortably aware of the chip that was planted inside. The stitches were still fresh.

No, he couldn't have been further from home.

In a burst of courage, he yanked open the door and slid outside into the hall. Lucky for him, no guards were in it at that moment. Knowing he had only a few seconds, he made a left turn and went right into the room next to his. Instead of a number, the door was labeled with a word. "Ripley."

At the noise, Emily shot awake as well. Immediately her instinct was to stick her arm out and push the intruder back. When nothing happened, she groaned, resting her hand on her neck where her own Soteria chip was planted.

"Henry, what are you doing here? It's way past curfew." She whispered, standing up to meet Henry. "We haven't even had these new rules for a full day and you've already broken one."

"Well, I'm about to break another." Henry replied. He gently grabbed either side of Emily's face and pulled her close, kissing her. Almost as if she were expecting it, Emily reached up and put her hands on Henry's neck, being mindful of the raw stitches. They pulled back, hearts beating from both the sensation and the anxiety.

"Now." Emily whispered.

"Now what?"

"Now you can admit it to me."