Two weeks went by and news spread that Ms. Kerene and Lynn both were in police custody, and fired from their jobs for the way they mistreated Gambit; reflecting both the negative Nancy's that feel Gambit was totally deserving, and the backing Betsy's that felt the teachers deserved the punishment for mistreatment of a minor no matter WHAT the background. At work today, the room seemed tense- almost split in half between mixed atmospheres as I got shot glares, and looks of support. At least I was no longer alone on this matter! I returned to my office, setting up for the daily shift as I had somewhere to be tonight. Gambit's dance recital was today, and they were performing an adaptation of "Swan Lake", and guess who was the Swan Queen. Uzi and I were over the moon to find out that she got the lead dance, and we went to lengths to design her costume for the dance with V's expertise. Now all that was left to do was wait until tonight, and see how it looks on Gammy as she graces the stage with her skill! I heard a knock at my door, and I invited the person owning the knock into my office as I heard my father in law ask, "You requested the evening off?!" "Oh, hello dad! Yeah, Uzi and I scheduled someone else to hold our positions for tonight because it's Gambit's dance recital tonight. "Swan Queen", can you imagine?! Uzi and I are so proud of her for how far she's come since we both found her buried in snow!" "I can't afford to put new people in other positions, and I'm too underhanded as it is." "Excuse me, WHAT?! You took on thirty new hires this MORNING, and approximately two hundred and fifty two employees, INCLUDING myself and your daughter. "Underhanded", isn't what I would be using, Khan!" I replied, finding it a little outrageous that he would be short on staff for a night. "It's still not enough, N. We NEED hands on deck-you never know what other creatures are lurking in every corner and unlit space!" "And I'm sure Mitch will do excellent while I go see my little girl dance the night away. There's NO way you're going to make me miss out on one of Gambit's precious milestones!" I replied, continuing to set up for Mitchell before flipping through the cameras, and checking cords for any damage. "This isn't over, N." Khan said, turning on his heel as I whipped myself into the air, and landed ninja like in front of him as I inquired, "And what threat are you going to make to change my mind?" My father gulped before twiddling his thumbs in thought, and I took him by his collar before raising him in the air as I warned, "Do anything, and I mean ANYTHING that affects my performance as an Employee, Husband, OR Father and I'll see to it that this face will be the last one you see before Uzi rips you one. And dad? THAT is a promise. Crystal?" He quickly nodded to show he understood, and I gently set him back down before dusting him off, and replying, "Good. Nice talking to ya!" and I pushed his quivering little body out of my office. It was a rather slow work day, with not really as much action as I had hoped as I observed the daily lives of the other Workers. At about six o'clock, Uzi walked through my office door to collect me, and after clocking out, took Uzi's hand as we virtually ran home excitedly to get ready for Gambit's big night! "THERE you are! Hurry up and get dressed, Gambit's waiting for us." V instructed, running a curling iron through her silver hair. She was dressed in a fifties style, pink dress with black, floral lace, and she managed to put a pair of workout pants underneath as she continued to touch up on her lashes, which was a mod she programmed recently. I quickly ran to mine and my wife's room, and threw open the closet doors as I whispered ecstatically, "Dapper N returns!" and I pulled out a blue colored suit with khakis, and dress shoes. "Uzi? Could you help me with my tie?" I asked, walking back into the living room, and what stood there took my breath away. It was Uzi, but instead of the usual black attires she adored, what she chose was a lovely, lavender colored sequin dress, complimented by black heels. She had a gold clip in her deep purple hair, and her lashes were done as she asked, "So? What do you think?" She gave a little spin, and I could feel myself begin to heat up as I asked, "N-No black?" "Gambit and I were painting, and she painted me in a lavender pair of pants. She told me I ought to try the color sometime because it suited me, so I decided, heck, why not?" Gammy had a good eye for pairing colors, especially when it came to clothes, and I felt a little tongue tied as I replied sheepishly, "She's right. N-Not that you look bad in black or anything, b-but you do look nice in lavender." She blushed sheepishly, and turned her head with an adorable smile plastered to her face as she tucked her hair. I continued to admire Uzi a bit longer when V cleared her throat, and ushered us both out the door as she cried, "No time to be mushy. Let's go see "Swan Lake"!" We made our way to the Western side of the colony, where families and friends gathered around the theater door. Since we were a parent of one of the dancers, we were allowed to go backstage to see Gambit for a little bit before performing! "Break a leg out there Honey. You're gonna look amazing!" Uzi said, taking her into her embrace as she giggled, "Thanks Mhamaí." "We love you, our beautiful little Swan." I cooed, moving her hair out of her glowing, pale jewel eyes, and pecking her forehead. "I love you both too, papa." She replied, hugging me tightly. After we had wished Gambit luck, we left the changing room to make our way to the best seats that viewed the stage before V brought out a camera to record the recital. The chatter around us was light, and very lively until the lights dimmed, and the dance begun- boys dressed in suit tops and tights, and the girls in flowy skirts over leotards. After a few minutes of watching was the big moment for the three of us: Gambit's entrance as the Swan Queen! The girls fanned themselves out to reveal Gam in her custom costume, which immediately invoked reactions of "oohs" and "ahhhs" from the audience as she posed; her top shimmering silver with an onyx, complex design stitched to it, and her slippers were silver while her tutu shimmered a glittery white. Her long, luscious blue hair was adorned with diamond drop hair ornaments, and the rest was tied up in a perfect bun behind her head, and for good measure the wings we designed to the lower back gave the grace and elegance she had. Overall she was absolutely beautiful, like a princess on a snow covered meadow in the moonlight, and everyone else seemed to agree as she flawlessly drifted across the stage! She executed her jumps precisely, and her kicks and twirls were pristine as my core filled with a proud joy within, making me shed a tiny tear which I quickly brushed away as I smiled. Everything was perfect.... The night was going according to plan.... I detected movement in the catwalk above, and I looked up to see a couple of shadows messing with something overhead- a vat of something? "Maybe just used for background effects. I hope it's not broken- everything is going so smoothly!" That, was the FIRST red flag I should've gotten as I watched the shadows dissappear, and I was quickly jostled by Uzi again as she whisper yelled, "Look at her! My beautiful baby girl." "I see her..." I replied, trying to think nothing of the vat as Gambit skipped her way across the stage, and began to spin when I noticed something on the stage floor.... a circle chalked onto the front center.... "Awww man! They forgot to clean the floor after practice! That's not gonna be embarrassing to Gammy one bit, is it?" red flag number two... Gambit spun, leapt, and kicked while her partner swayed her around, and I saw the shadows mess with the vat again as the act was ending, and the boy Gambit danced with released her from his grip- landing Gambit DEAD CENTER of the chalk circle as she took a bow. THAT'S when the realization hit, but it was too late to do anything as the figures dumped the vat, filled with purple wall paint from the catwalk above, which landed square onto Gambit after straightening her back again! The whole room seemed to gasp, even Gambit looked mortified by what had happened as I slowly set V's hand that held the camera down to avoid further embarrassing my sweetpea as nearly the entire room, and all of the dancers as well as the stand in instructor all laughed cruelly at her as she wiped the paint from her face. She was BEYOND embarrassed as she tearfully looked at me from the stage, and a rage like none other boiled within me as I quickly rushed from my seat, scooped her up, and roared, "QUIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT!" the laughter ceased while the ones who watched in terror reeled back in their seats as I spat in a disgusted tone, "You vile, uncivil- treating a little girl like this! This is the most evil, DIABOLICAL thing you could've EVER did to her when all she's done was do her best to fit in!" I tore a prop with my free hand, and cast it into the audience blindly in rage when a random lady asked, "And what's a disassembly spawn doing on our stage?" THERE it was.... that AWFUL insult that boiled my oil over as I saw Gambit's head droop in sadness... "SHUT UP!" I screamed again, making the crowd who was sensible jump in terror again as I continued, "Gambit WORKED her way to where she is now, REALLY hard mind you. She EARNED her way to the top, which is more than what I can say about these worker spawn behind me!" The parents began to become offended, outraged that I had called their children worker spawn as I hissed, "It's all fun and games to you until the heat is fired back, isn't it? You all seem to forget that THEY wouldn't BE here if it weren't for Uzi and the two Disassembly Drones in the colony. Maybe we should've ran and left Copper Nine while Cyn destroyed you ALL! Perhaps THEN you can learn to be thankful that you HAD your lives to bring THEM theirs! The ONLY one who has is the child that I didn't even conceive, and THAT is saying multitudes on how this "monster" before you is raising his quote on quote "Disassembly Spawn"." I felt Gambit set her head on me before saying weakly, "I want to go home..." and it killed me as I embraced my embarrassed daughter. Leaving now would mean they have won, and I'm absolutely POWERLESS to try and stop them without landing myself, and my family and friend in trouble! As Gam wished, I took her and Uzi, along with V, back to the housing unit where we cleaned her up, and sent her to bed. The once beautiful, princessy outfit was ruined to the point of no return, and so V burned it in a fit of rage herself as Uzi began to cry. She knew how it was to be an outcast, and it killed her that Gam had to learn the hard way as she changed, and went to cuddle her. Following in Uzi's footsteps, I cleaned myself up, changed, and met up in Gambit's room before taking the other side of her bed, sandwiching Gambit between us like we did the first night we had her. "N, I'm scared.... What are we going to do?" Uzi hicced, tears flowing like rivers as she drew our precious child closer. "I... I don't know, Uzi.... For the first time, I REALLY don't know..." I replied, disheartened by the fact that Gambit was roped into our problems involuntarily, and it wasn't fair. I brought them both closer to me, and I tried to comfort in an exhausted tone, "Just try to sleep for now... The sun comes up tomorrow, and we'll pray it's a good day..."