“I dunno why I came down here. I don’t wanna talk about it. This was probably a stupid idea.” Clauss’s voice did not sound like the other children, there was more of a resonating hum and deep inward echo, as if all his organs had been replaced with an endless vast chasm. He also had a slight accent, which he gained by spending too much time around Dallas Branch. Most of the natives gained either a European accent from Dr. Branch, who was half British, or an Asian accent from Shi Sing, who was Chinese. The children sold to IOTH all sounded generally American, and much more human in cadence.

　　The green-haired angel child with the splotchy dark gray facial markings was sitting on a large, flat rock outside of Allek’s little gray trailer. Unlike the other angel children, who wore white and yellow, Clauss wore all black, having an air of somberness about him.

　　Allek was still mulling over what his father had told him less than an hour ago, about how the angel children couldn't possibly lie without physically suffering, and that Clauss was the proof. Although his father told him that because of the amount of 'sins' Clauss was forced to commit, that Clauss could travel further down the mountain without losing his angel features, Allek was still shocked at the sight of an angel child beyond the IOTH property. He cautiously sat down beside the child, who immediately edged away and stared out at the ocean. “Clauss, I’m not here to mess with you,” Allek assured him.

　　“You’re just going to ask me questions I can’t answer,” Clauss groaned.

　　“I just want to know if I can trust you, buddy. I’m not here to antagonize you.”

　 　Clauss looked over his shoulder at his math teacher. “If you wanna know about where I came from, I don’t know. It’s been too long and all of us have lost our connection to the source. We forgot a long time ago. All we have left is some vague sense of fear of doing bad stuff. And we don't even know what the bad stuff is most of the time.”

　　Allek opened his mouth to ask a question but Clauss stopped him. “No, I don’t know what the source is. I just know that it was powerful enough to create us all on its own. Thousands of years ago. Before the humans came around. We’re all that’s left...”

　　“I’m not gonna drill you about that,” Allek said, smiling down at his pupil. “I just want to know one thing. And then, who knows...we can make a sand castle or something.” Clauss’s eyes lit up. Allek knew even the natives had a childlike essence about them. They didn’t want and enjoyed the simple things of life. “Can I trust you?”

　 　“I can tell you whatever I know to the best of my ability,” Clauss answered, though he still sounded somewhat unsure of himself.

　　Allek looked up the hillside to see if he was being monitored. His father did say that Clauss had previously been monitored similarly to a suicide watch. “...can you lie?” he quietly asked.

　　“Mr. Branch, you’d know if I was lying. Is this about that new girl?”

　　Allek nodded, looking pale. He’d know if Clauss was lying... He looked at the child out of the corner of his eye to check for any signs of distress. There were none.

　　“There’s something about her that creeps me out,” Clauss said, his shoulders tensing.

　 　“She said she was in heaven. You don’t know what that means, do you?” Allek asked, even though he was already beginning to accept that the situation was out of his control.

　　“No, sorry. But,” Clauss leaned back and stared up at the blue, cloudless sky, “we used to tell a story about the day our new leader would come and take us back home, wherever home really is... Once, the doctor told us a story about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and we all were looking at each other, because it reminded us of that story. A leader would be born among us and we would be taken home away from all the suffering. Nobody would have the chance to accidentally sin thanks to mankind's influence all around, misdirecting us. We were all hoping it was your daughter, since she was born from humans, but then...” Clauss looked back down at the sand. “I am so sorry, Mr. Branch.”

　　“Don’t be sorry, Clauss. You know,” Allek said with a knot in his throat. “If your story is true...”

　　“It is true, Mr. Branch. You would know if I was being dishonest with you. Sometimes when we aren't even aware that we're lying, we get punished, so let me make this perfectly clear: the story the natives told me is one-hundred percent true, and will happen one day.”

　　“Does that mean Trudy is really my kid though? She couldn’t have possibly died and come back from heaven, could she? That’s insane‒I mean...” he cleared his throat, knowing that it could be very offensive to call Clauss’s ‘true’ story insane. “It’s beyond my comprehension.”

　 　“Lots of things are,” Clauss said dryly. “I know, it’s hard to believe. But it’s true. Why else would she have let you discover her that night?” He paused to let Allek absorb the information. “Myself and the others like me all agreed the only way the girl could have come back knowing so much about life after death is if she had died and returned. As you know, none of us spoke to her before you did, she scares us.”

　　“So I’m just supposed to accept that the spiritual zombie savior of the angel children is my child come back to life?”

　　“You should feel honored,” Clauss said through gritted teeth. “Only two were supposed to have the chance and and it will never happen again.”

　　“Sorry, Clauss. It’s still making me uncomfortable. How am I supposed to get this story past the adoption agent?”

　 　“Don’t. Trudy knows you are her father. I heard Dr. Chariot discussing adoption plans with the nurse before. You just have to prove you would be a good parent...she likes you alright.”

　　“She’s obsessed with me. I’ve never gotten this much attention from anybody, unless you count Dr. Sing, and constant yelling as attention.” Allek said. “Dr. Sing...she’d probably have a cow if I tried to get custody of that kid...”

　　“Dr. Chariot said you didn’t even like her...”

　　“Yeah well, there’s overwhelming DNA evidence she’s mine, she looks like me, she looks like Trudy...she could grow on me.”

　 　“You never stopped being a father, Mr. Branch. Please keep her safe. We’re still scared she might come into the wrong hands; that somebody might hurt her like they did to me. She doesn’t know what sorts of things are out there and she shouldn’t have to find out.”

　　“I’ll do my best,” Allek promised, sliding off of the rock and into the sand. He didn't know for sure what he could possibly do, however. He had never done any actual parenting before, and never had plans to raise the zombie savior of angelkind. But he supposed now was as good a time as ever to start. Nothing else of such importance had happened to him in over a decade. “Let’s go build some sand dinosaurs.”

　　***

　 　The hospital staff, assuming that Trudy was just as perfect and angelic as the rest of the island's children, let her roam the hospital building for the day. It only took her two hours to get completely bored of the place, so, noticing that nobody was actually watching her, she wandered out the front doors and into the parking lot.

　　It was a large tree-less parking lot with three rows of parking spaces, directly facing what appeared to be the back side of the education building, which was equal in size to the hospital. Each building had its own entry pad and card swiper at the door. A ten-foot tall, thick white brick fence surrounded both of the buildings. From what Trudy could see, the only way out was through a wide gate on her left, made of thick steel reinforced bars, through which she could see a road leading down the mountainside.

　　Trudy began to walk toward the gate, but stopped when a bead of sweat trickled down her face. She attributed it to the sunlight, rubbed it away and kept walking, but had to turn back when she felt an intense heat stirring in her head. She returned to the hospital's sidewalk ramp and tried to think of a way out of the prison-like place.

　　Only a few minutes into her pondering, a fantastic sight, floating above the tall white wall, caught her eye. Balloons of all colors bloomed from behind the bricks, bobbing and waggling about. Trudy, who was still new to the wonders of Earth, had never seen anything so pretty. She reached out involuntarily but pulled back at once, knowing the consequences.

　　“Kathulla lives out there,” came a voice from behind her.

　 　Trudy spun around quickly, embarrassed she had been caught outside the hospital. Merrily Massman, the dark-haired, pale skinned seven-year-old girl who had greeted her during her first day at IOTH was standing outside the glass doors.

　　“She’s she’s different than us. She has magic powers.”

　　Trudy huffed and crossed her arms at such a silly statement. “Nothing is magic. Only heaven.”

　　“She can make fire come out of her hands!” Merrily insisted. “She’s my friend though, so she won’t hurt me.”

　 　Trudy looked back over her shoulder. The balloons were still there, and she had no time for stories of magical girls when there were balloons to be had. “Help me,” she said.

　　“We can’t leave, it’s against the rules. Plus it’ll hurt us,” Merrily responded, a hint of fear in her voice. “Look,” she pointed up at Trudy’s perspiring forehead. “You’re sweaty.”

　　“You can come out here...” a chiming voice came from over the fence. The two girls stared back through the vertical bars of the gate to the road. The road down went along the gate, and neither could see anybody standing out here. All they could see was the vine-covered railing on the side of the road, and the tropical greenery poking out from the cliff side beyond.

　　One of the bushes growing up over the rail rustled, instantly attracting the girls' attention. Then a figure stepped out. It was small, around the same size as Trudy, and close to the same shape. The shade from the trees outside of the gate made it very hard to see any features, though. Trudy squinted at it, trying to get a better view, but it was no use. The only thing she could make out for sure was the mass of colorful balloons hovering above the figure’s head.

　　“If you come out here, I will give you a balloon.”

　　Trudy’s eyes widened with excitement. Merrily, however, shrunk back. “That doesn’t sound like Kathulla...”

　 　When Trudy shot off toward the gate, Merrily grabbed her arm, saying, “even if you really want to go out there, you need a card!” Trudy huffed and glared down at her angel friend. "You can’t open the gate without the card,” Merrily re-emphasized.

　　Beside the bars was another plastic card slot with a number pad on it. Trudy raised her eyebrow at it and brought her fingers to her chin, pondering for a bit where to get the card. “Bring me the card,” she simply concluded to Merrily, without even facing the younger girl.

　　“Dean Sing has one,” Merrily suggested. “She keeps it in her pocket though. They never let us touch their stuff.”

　　“We will get it.”