In the House of Upside-Down
Little Wonders Facility- 1959
“I have something to show you” Rachel whispered to Sarah, “but not here. Can we go to your room?” Sarah and Helena’s bedroom was one of the few rooms in the facility that wasn’t under constant surveillance, despite the presence of a camera. Tenenbaum had fixed the feed so it showed pre-recorded images of the twins innocently playing or reading to each other, or sleeping. Not only to give the girls some much needed privacy, but to help cover up all the times they were absent, on one of their little information-gathering adventures for her. Of course, it was set up so she could turn the feed back to live if she needed to check on the girls, hidden under layers of security codes
Helena frowned at Rachel, then remembered her silent promise and pressed her lips together, sighed, and asked “Is it a new book?” She had enjoyed Frankenstein last week - a monster who wasn’t really a monster, and a doctor who was. Rachel lifted her eyebrows. She had come prepared with cookies she’d filched from the small staff room where the doctors drank their coffees and complained about the Duncans. She didn’t care what they said about her parents. They had no idea about anything.
“No...something else. Can we?” She held out the cookies with a stiff arm, as if she didn’t dare come too close. Helena grinned and took them.
“Okay” she said around a mouthful of chocolate chips. Sarah smiled fondly at her sister and took the hand that wasn’t all crumby, then grabbed Rachel's hand as well, and the three of them headed for the twins bedroom. Rachel didn’t let it show but internally she was grinning as wide as Helena. Sarah had never held her hand before. Apart from the constant prodding and squeezing of the various doctors, no one else laid hands on her. She’d never wanted anyone too, before now. Sarah was special...like her. And their fingers intertwined like...like they belonged together. Rachel sensed Helena’s gaze on her, like the golden eyes could see right through her. She swallowed, then remembered she shouldn’t be scared of Helena anymore. She’d never be scared of anyone, ever. Not with what she could do now.
But when she turned her head to glare back at Helena, she was surprised to find the girls mouth turned up at the corner in a sympathetic manner, the glow in her eyes ebbing. Sarah stopped and freed her hands to operate the keypad that opened their door. Behind her, Helena reached out and patted Rachel’s shoulder in a wary manner, as if attempting to comfort her. Rachel edged away, still confused about the girl's sudden shift in attitude. Helena shrugged and entered the bedroom as Sarah opened the door. The interior was pink - pink striped wallpaper, a large round pink rug, matching beds with metal frames and pink covers. (Although the twins would usually end up sleeping in the same bed.) Toys, books, crayons and paper lay haphazardly around the room. Rachel couldn’t help her lips tightening at the sight, being an incredibly tidy child herself, she had no taste for the chaotic.
Sarah clapped her hands. “What’s the surprise, Rachel? It must be something good!” She dropped her voice. “Are you getting a new Daddy too?” Rachel opened her mouth. Then closed it. She’d never told the twins anything more than her parents were doctors, and worked in another area of DYAD. The twins seemed to understand that she didn’t want to talk about them, and didn’t pry. So how did Sarah know how Rachel felt about her father? That she sometimes wished for a new father, one who would read to her again and talk to her like he used to.
She shook her head indignantly. “Don’t be silly. I already have a daddy!” She clenched her fists by her side, feeling the power roiling away inside her. Breathing out, she unclenched her hands and smiled, the brief flash of anger gone.
“I wanted to show you...this.”
She held her left hand out, flexed her wrist, clicked her fingers...and small flames sprouted, flickering. Sarah gasped, and Helena grew wide-eyed, reaching her hand out to not-quite-touch the flames, laughing when she felt the heat.
“Does it hurt?” Sarah asked wonderingly..
“Only the first time.” Rachel answered loftily. “And look, I can do...this too.” She held her hands up and sent icy wisps into the air, not wanting to make the room too cold. The twins both ‘ooed’.
Then her hands snapped with electrical currents. Helena couldn’t help herself this time and poked her hand, crying out “Ow!” and snatching it away when she got zapped. Sucking on her finger, she glowered at Rachel’s hand.
“Oh ‘lena, be careful.” scolded Sarah, putting an arm around her sister. Helena snuggled into her shoulder, poking her tongue out at Rachel, but with no rancor behind it. Sarah put her head on the side, considering.
“Your mummy and daddy do this to you, didn’t they? Aren’t they worried you’ll get sick like the splicers outside?”
“Not at all. They’ve been following a very strict procedure,” Rachel recalled all the boring speeches her mother had given her, “...careful layering of the plasmids over an extended amount of time, along with a slow and gradual exposure to the ADAM…”
Sarah interrupted. “So, does that mean you’re a Little Sister, like us, now?” Before Rachel could answer, Helena said “No. She’s not like us.” She tilted her head. “We don’t have a connection, not like we do with the other girls.”
Sarah considered this, then nodded.
“But there is something. I get...a funny feeling sometimes. Like I can feel what you’re feeling. But I can’t talk to you in my head. Not like with ‘lena….and I felt something the other day...it must have been when they did this to you.” Sarah hadn’t listened very closely when they’d been spying through the vents - she’d been watching Rachel and wondering how she kept her face so inscrutable. If she’d had to sit and listen to Susan Duncan droning on, there’d be scowling and fidgeting, and Helena would be kicking at the chair legs. Now she felt like she’d missed something important.
Rachel’s mouth dropped open, just a little bit. She couldn’t feel anything like that. There was no ‘connection’ at all on her end...that wasn’t fair. She rallied immediately. “Yes! I feel it too!” she exclaimed. Helena got a funny look on her face, like she knew Rachel was lying, but she merely glanced sidelong at Sarah and said nothing. Rachel thought about the moment of timelessness and infinity she had experienced, and wondered if that had been what Sarah had felt. And why couldn’t she feel this connection? There was obviously something special about the twins and the way they reacted to the ADAM. Most of the other Little Sisters were living in a near-hallucinatory state, while Sarah and Helena remained completely rational...for the most part.
But all the Little Sisters were connected on a basic level; knowledge was passed along some kind of hive mind, and they knew when another girl was badly hurt, or harvested.
I have ADAM in me too, Rachel thought, why doesn’t it work for me? Why can’t I feel anything?
She suddenly felt more alone than she ever had. Swallowing the sudden bitterness, she smiled thinly and resumed speaking.
“I’m having training every day now, to learn how to use the plasmids properly...I don’t think it’s necessary, but mother insists. “ She noticed how Helena twisted her mouth when she mentioned her mother. What was going on with her today?
“They keep running all kinds of tests. It’s so boring…” Rachel rolled her eyes. Sarah smiled sympathetically and took her hand again. Rachel blinked, then smiled again with real warmth.
Suddenly Sarah jerked her hand away. “Ouch!” She exclaimed, cradling her hand.
“You zapped me!”
“I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry Sarah…” Rachel trailed off, aghast at herself. She lifted her hands and looked at them. When she looked up again, Helena was an inch away, her eyes burning gold and furious.
“Maybe you do need training, Rachel,” she said in a low voice. “Like...like a naughty puppy!”
Behind Helena, Sarah gave a snort.
Rachel stared into Helena’s eyes, and her fingers tingled. For a moment she was tempted to show her what she could really do. Her eyes flicked to Sarah, and then she lowered her gaze.
“Honestly, Helena, I didn’t mean it. I would never hurt Sarah on purpose. Maybe...you’re right about the training.” she paused, “...not about the puppy thing though.”
Sarah snorted laughter again, and Helena’s mouth twitched. Then she nodded, and stepped back, putting a protective arm around her sister's shoulders. Are you really ok Sarah she asked silently. I’m fine, really, ‘lena, then out loud Sarah continued “It was just like...when you smoosh your feet in the carpet then touch the doorknob. Just a shock, that’s all.”
Rachel tightened her lips and clasped her hands behind her back, annoyed with herself for losing control, even for a second. Stupid, stupid. She silently thanked Dr Tenenbaum for making sure the twins room wasn’t being watched. Her mother - and Suchong - would have a field day with this little incident.
“I had better go. My next session is at three o’clock.” Rachel said evenly, hiding her distress.
“Bye!” said Helena immediately. Sarah sighed and squeezed her hand, then stepped over to Rachel.
“Don’t feel bad,” she said, and Rachel remembered with dismay that the other girl could sense her feelings. “I know you didn’t mean it.” She leaned even closer, Rachel observing how pretty her golden-amber eyes looked, then Sarah clumsily pecked her on the cheek. She could hear Helena making gagging noises in the distance.
Rachel’s hands were still behind her back, so the twins couldn’t see the tiny flames that danced along her fingertips for the barest moment. She breathed, and the flames vanished as she pulled the power back in. She couldn’t stop the blush rising up her cheeks though.
Better, she thought. but…
She hated to admit her mother was right, but she needed greater control over these powers.
She needed to be perfect.