It's been many days since Astral was first made. Astral spent his time learning how to write, and he even learned other languages when he mastered English. Languages like Japanese, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Chinese, Greek, Roman, and Korean. During his free time, he would go up to the top floor and look out at the world beyond, which is what he was doing at that moment.

"So close, yet so far away," he mumbled, reaching out to the window. "I'm sure Father will take me outside some day. I know he will." He smiled. "Father always keeps his word."

Suddenly, he heard an urgent knock at the bottom door. He flew down and saw his father running to him.

"It's the men in black! Hide, Astral!" John warned frantically.

Astral nodded and fled to the safety of his room. He locked the door and hid in the trap door behind the shelf. There, he heard all that was going on.

"Doctor Smith, we know you have an illegal experiment here. By order of the law, it must be destroyed," a gruff voice said.

"I have no idea what you mean," John said neutrally. "Why would we make an illegal experiment here?"

"Don't play dumb, Smith," another voice warned. "We have evidence, and we have access to all of your creations. Now, if you really don't have anything to hide, you won't mind if we look around."

"Go right ahead," Michelle said calmly.

Heavy footsteps sounded through the halls, and some stopped at Astral's door. They opened the door and started looking around.

"Doctor Smith, does anyone occupy this room? There's a notebook and pencil lying on this desk," the first one asked.

"Yes, my brother used to come by with his son, and his son started working on his writing," John explained. "He must have left the notebook."

A pause. "You know, I don't think I believe you." There was a sound of an impact, and then a thud. "Now, search everywhere! Do not leave anything unsearched!"

Astral started to panic, and his breathing got rapid. He covered his mouth to prevent any sound from coming out.

Suddenly, the trap door opened, and he was face to face with a man in black. The man grinned.

"Found it," he said, and he seized him by the arm. "Scrawny little one." He tied Astral's hands behind his back, and Astral started struggling.

"Let me go!" Astral protested as the hands tightened.

One of the other men came up to him with a wet rag, and he placed it over Astral's mouth. A strange feeling entered his system. It felt like his body was being forced to sleep. He tried to fight it, but everything went black.

******

Astral woke up in a tube similar to the one he was born in. He looked around and saw unfamiliar people in the same white coats as his father. He called to them for help, but they ignored him.

"It's awake," said a woman. She looked at Astral. "I wonder why this thing was made."

Thing? I am a thing? Astral thought to himself in dismay.

"Alright, start it up," a man said.

The woman nodded and started pressing buttons. Yellow strips of light started flashing around the inside if the tube, and Astral identified them as electric sparks. He started panicking again.

"No!" he screamed, but they didn't seem to hear him. "Please, do not do this! I'm begging you!"

They ignored him as if he was just a thing. The electricity in the tube was growing stronger, and it was getting hot in the small space. Soon, the electricity was so strong, it ran over everything.

Frightened, Astral backed away from them. He immediately felt a sharp jolt, and he knew it was the electricity.

Do not touch the edges. Do not touch the edges! he warned himself.

After a while, the scientists pushed another button, and Astral started to feel sleepy again. He sank to the ground, but the moment he did, the electricity entered his system, and he screamed in pain. The electric currents had plenty of time to charge, so they were strong enough to kill now.

Astral tried to get up away from the currents, but he couldn't move due to the extreme pain all over his body.

Just then, something black darted through the lab and bounced on each of the people's heads, killing them. It then bounced on the buttons, turning off the electricity and lowering the glass. Astral passed out before he could see who his savior was.

*********

Back in the lab, John had placed Astral back in his tube to both recover and gain an ability he felt was necessary. He sighed.

Now I have to take extra care that Astral isn't seen, he thought to himself. I'll have to take him home sooner or later too. I can't keep him here all his life.