And Then There was Two

I spent that night in bed rewatching the video I took of Tennis Ball. His little laughs and his pure smile brought me joy. I even ended up sending it to Teressa because I couldn't keep it to myself. She thought it was amazing and that she wanted one but of course, she couldn't. I also made them promise not to tell anyone about my project and they promised but I don't think she'll keep it.

The next morning I quickly got ready because I was so excited to see Tennis Ball. When I got there I quickly left my car and went into the building. Dr. Foster was standing with a clipboard against a wall.

"Oh, Dr. Foster! Good Morning!" I said happily. He looked at me plainly.

"Morning. I'm just taking notes right now. If the thing is upset it's because I took out one of it's teeth." My mood felt ruined immediately. Why would they do that to the poor baby?

"Why'd you take a tooth out?" I asked. They looked up from their clipboard.

"He's defective. I'm testing it for defections in his DNA." He explained to me, looking back down at his clipboard. I didn't know they had DNA. Of course, assuming they've killed other small living things, I'm not surprised THEY know. I sighed and walked over to his room and opened the small door. I leaned on the floor and peeked in. When the little ball saw me he smiled happily. I waved at him, noticing that his eyes were open. They were the same tall dark ovals that I saw yesterday when we put in the tracking chip.

"Dr. Xavier I hope you've got your notes ready. You'll need notes on his height, deformities, and his advancement." They said coldly. Poor baby being talked to so harshly.

I went to my office and grabbed paperwork Foster put on my desk. It had blank sections for his name, gender, defective/effective, and even a square for a picture. Cute. I brought it and my work files over to where Tennis Ball waited in his room. Dr. Foster was back in his office. I quickly write down his info. Today I had to teach him more speech and how to walk. Easy enough. But first I had to feed him.

I went back to my office and grabbed a small packet that contained the organic clump that was his food. Apparently, it was a mush of vegetables, fruits, and a small amount of raw meat. Probably healthy but absolutely gross looking. I brought it to Tennis Ball and he instinctively bit it and began eating, but as he ate the gross food it got pushed away from him. He seemed confused so I took it as a moment to help with his motor functions. I used my fingers to push his legs to grip the ball. And he eventually got the concept and used his legs to hold the food ball and finished it.

"Good job!" I said happily. He smiled.

"Good job!" He yelled happily. I smiled. I felt a presence behind me and turned quickly. Foster looked down at me as I lied on the floor.

"You'll also have to take notes on the other one." My eyes widened. Had I not noticed or something?

"Other one? What other one sir?" I asked as politely as I could. They kept a neutral expression.

"After you went home I put a golfball in the solution." They said calmly. I felt robbed not getting to help the small thing through its pain.

"She's in the room next to this one, don't take long with her." He said before turning and walking away. I looked at Tennis Ball and he smiled.

"I'll be right back, okay?" I said petting him. He smiled, showing his missing tooth.

"Okay!" He repeated back. Cute. I closed the small door to his room. I walked to the room next door. The small side door would be hard to reach since the space between the rooms was small so I used the "emergency" door on the front to see inside. The small golfball cowered when she heard someone nearby. Poor thing. I reached my hand in and pet the small thing as she shaked. Her eyes were closed and it showed her youth, as she was technically younger than Tennis Ball.

"It's okay," I said softly. She let her shaking slow.

"O-Okay." She said quietly. Already beginning to learn.

"See? I won't hurt you." I promised as I pet her. She quietly let it happen. I filled out my papers quickly.

"I have to go now, okay?" I said. She frowned.

"Okay..." she said quietly. I stood closed the door, making my way back over to Tennis Ball, because I still had work to do. I opened his emergency door as well. He sat near the doorway.

"Hi!" He said happily. I smiled.

"Hello!" I said.

"My names Doctor Xavier!" I said calmly.

"D-D-Doctor Z-Zavy." He tried to pronounce. I laughed. He looked at me confused.

"That's good!" I reassured him. For the next hour, I spent teaching him many phrases and sentences. I then had to teach him to walk. I learned the best process was to use my two index and middle fingers to hold the underside of his body and let him move his leg as I held him. I lowered my help little by little until he was basically walking on his own.

So I had a final test for him. I set him down a little away and backed up. He looked at me nervously.

"Come on Tennis Ball!" I said putting my hands out. He was so small his little walk was cute. I marked him down as 3 inches tall, including his legs. He walked with great confidence towards me. Once he reached me I picked him up and cheered.

"You did it Tennis Ball!" I said happily. He smiled.

"I did it!" He cheered.

"Now I have to put you in your room and go check on Golfball." He looked at me with confusion.

"Who's G-Golvfall?" He asked, desperately trying to pronounce her name.

"She's in that room there, I'll introduce you to her tomorrow." He nodded as I put him in his room and waved goodbye. I went back to where Golfball was and opened the door to see her. She flinched at the sound.

"It's me! It's Dr. Xavier. " I reassured her. She must've recognized my voice because she immediately calmed. I realized she's probably scared of Dr. Foster because they put in the chip by themself, instead of with my help. And from what I've seen the crying irritates them.

"I brought you food!" I said scooping her up in one of my hands. Since she wouldn't be able to use her legs properly yet, I used one hand to hold her and the other to hold the food ball to her mouth. She ate slowly. Taking little bites with her tiny teeth. That part freaked me out, the whole being born with teeth thing. But it's better than teething.

She finished after a couple of minutes and got comfy in my hand. I took the opportunity to take another picture. They're all just so cute. I let my thumb go over the red strip of tape in her face, in the same spot as Tennis Balls mark. Another "defective". I wonder what an "effective" will look like. Probably would have arms. I poked her lightly and she stirred, but she was asleep. I decided to put her in her room. But before I did I grabbed a ruler to measure her height. 2.4 inches tall. And she should grow over time.

I pushed the button and all the doors to the rooms opened. I read on my papers when there are more creatures I'd wake them and put them to bed at the same time but for now, she was younger so it's okay. I laid her in one of the rooms on the grass. I used the button to close all the doors and looked out at the rooms. It was three rows tall and 21 across against one wall. Which was 63 if I'm correct. Yeesh, that's a lot. Why does he need that many? How many would be defective? Poor things. I walked back to Tennis Balls room and opened his door. He smiled and walked to the entrance.

"Good job Tennis Ball!" I said clapping quietly. He smiled.

"Thank you!" He said back, remembering manners I taught him. I pet him and looked at my watch. It was almost time for me to go.

"I think it's time for you to go to sleep." He frowned slightly.

"Okay." He said quietly. I frowned.

"Hey, I'll be back tomorrow!" I reassured. He looked down sadly but nodded. I moved out of his way and stood up.

"You'll walk today since you know how!" I said and he looked nervously around the lab. Strange he's still so nervous to be in the main lab area since that's where he was taught to walk just earlier. He anxiously followed me to the rooms. I pushed the button to open all the doors. Tennis Ball walked but stopped near his door, probably seeing Golfball. He walked to her doorway.

"Who's that?" He asked quietly, staring at her inquisitively. I didn't want them to see each other yet but I guess I can't stop it now.

"That's Golfball, I told you about her earlier," I explained.

"Golfball." He said softly, pronouncing her name right. He must've been so intrigued by a new creature that looks similar to him. I kneeled down and used my hand to usher him to his room.

"Let's not wake her now. Goodnight." I said standing.

"Goodnight!" He said and I closed the door. I sighed and closed the room's door. Dr. Foster was waiting outside the door.

"O-Oh! Dr. Foster! Is something wrong?" I asked cautiously.

"I was just observing, you're very close aren't you?" I stood up straight.

"No, I'm just tending to them," I explained calmly. He looked down at the files I've been clutching for hours.

"Have you read page 14 of the overview?" He asked skeptically.

"Of course sir." I lied, I still haven't gotten to read all of it. They narrowed they're eyes.

"Strange choices with the defectives then. Anyways I came to assign you another workload," I groaned internally.

"What's the new work?" I asked, trying to keep a unannoyed voice.

"I have my own creative limitations. So I want you to find more inanimate objects to advance this project." I nodded.

"Will do!" I reassured him as if he expected me to object. And I wouldn't unless I wanted to lose my job. He nodded.

"Well, then I'll let you take your leave. Don't be late tomorrow." They said sternly as if I was late ever. They walked away before I could respond. I quickly packed and began home.

I sat comfortably on my couch, chips in one hand and overview in the other. I decided to skip to page 14 first to read whatever Foster was talking about. I read carefully.

-End of the project procedures-

With the end of the Living Object project, you will be given steps to end the project properly. Here is the cleaning procedure.

1. Use sleeping gas to knock out all objects.2. Take the defective objects out separately. 3. Terminate the defectives with the specified solution provided, this will be injected in the objects tongue with a needle.

I dropped the papers on the floor. I couldn't even read the rest. I stood with shaky legs and held my head. My vision felt clouded. I picked up the paper again. My hands were shaking so much I couldn't even read it. I sat down and tried to call myself with deep breaths. I read it over again. It could be true.

"Terminate the defectives."

No. Please. They don't deserve that! I decided to go to bed early that night. But I couldn't drown out the thought. I kept watching the video. The little laughs. He's already grown so much. How long do I have?! Days? Months? Years? I don't care. I'll get them out of here. I'll save them.

An upsetting morning when I woke to snow covering the grass outside my bedroom window. I got dressed and left the house quickly. I was anxious. He wanted to kill them. I didn't even trust him alone with them. That monster. When I got there I stopped on the small sidewalk leading from my parking spot to the lab. The fluffy snow was perfect and white. I picked some up and made a snowball. A snowball huh? That could work. I walked inside and made my way to Dr. Foster's office.

"Good morning!" I said cheerily as if they weren't entirely cruel.

"Morning Dr. Xavier, do you need something?" They asked coldly. I kept my spirits up and held up the snowball.

"I think this would be good for the project, right?" I said confidently. He raised a brow suspiciously.

"A snowball?" He asked again, waiting for me to say I was lying.

"Yup! I believe if we can make more prominent objects like this, it'll be revolutionary!" I said, marketing the ball melting in my hands. He stared at it blankly.

"Okay." They said taking the ball from my hand and going into the real lab area. He grabbed a container of the solution and dropped the snowball in. It miraculously kept its shape.

"That should do it, good job." He said walking out of the room. How distant. I walked through the main lab area to the sleeping room. I opened the door and used the button to open all the doors. Tennis Ball stood and walked out of the room. He looked taller. He turned towards Golfballs room again.

"You guys can talk later," I said walking in and ushering him away as Golfball stared back with her open eyes. They both seemed so mesmerized with each other. I guess I can't blame them since this is the third thing they've ever meet. Especially one so close looking to one and other. But I have stuff to do before I let them officially meet. I followed Tennis Ball as he walked to his room and then went back to carry Golfball to hers. So I started teaching.

Today Tennis Ball had to be educated. I sat him down with a little piece of paper and a mini pencil. The paper was cut to be his size, about 2 inches tall. It was quite fun. I taught him numbers, the alphabet, basic math, science, and then I gave him lunch. I even taught him to write! Which was very difficult without arms. But I want him to be as skilled as any "effective" object would be. It took about two to three hours but it was worth it.

"I'm gonna go see Golfball now, alright?" I said putting him back in his room.

"Okay, when do I get to meet her?" He asked. I smiled.

"Soon enough Tennis Ball. Promise." I said closing his door. I went over to open Golfball's door. She was confused at first until I talked. She must have not recognized me earlier.

"Hi Golfball!" I said smiling. Her eyes lit up.

"Docty Xavy!" She cheered, so she remembered my name. It was cute when they pronounced words so confidently.

"Yup! Let's talk some more." I said picking her up. I ended up holding her in my hands while sitting criss-cross on the floor and just talking to her. She caught on faster then Tennis Ball. In the end, she had learned quite a bit so I moved on to walking. It must be because she's smaller, but she learned to walk very fast. I did the test and she walked over to my hands, smiling confidently. I lifted her up.

"Good job!" I said holding her up.

"You ready to meet someone?" I asked excitedly. She smiled happily.

"Yeah!" She cheered so I opened Tennis Balls door and set her down on the fake grass. They both seemed incredibly intrigued by each other because all they did is stare at each other.

"Hi." Tennis Ball said quietly. Golfball stared intensely.

"Hello." She said back. It seemed awkward but it was more like they were too confused to know what to say. Tennis Ball day down and Golfball sat across from him.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked smiling. Golfball narrowed her eyes.

"My favorite what?" She asked. I cut them off.

"Golfball doesn't know what that is, why don't you tell her about it?" I instructed. I, of course, would teach her tomorrow but this could be nice. I closed the emergency door and opened their smaller door to hear they conversation.

"See, I'm green, and so is this grass." Said Tennis Ball.

"But they look different?" She responded.

"Because my green is more vibrant, so it's a brighter color." He explained.

"Oh, that's cool! What color am I?" She asked. He stayed silent a moment.

"You're a nice white and gray color." He said proudly.

"Is it bright?" She asked.

"I think so yes." She hummed in satisfaction.

"That's good!" She said proudly. Since they were the only two for now they'd probably be good friends. I just hope I can help them out of here in time.

Second chapter everybody!!

Pretty epic huh

Also, I'm really bad at size reference when I'm writing so I wasted like 15 pages of my sketchbook making size ref

So I used the not canon sizes Satomi posted and like converted them and then made paper ref

So here's full-grown Golfball and Tennis Ball next to a quarter

I hate writing too much down here 😔

:•)