[center][color=slateblue][b][u]12:19 PM; February 7th, 2026
CADMUS Facility; Beneath Metropolis, Delaware[/u][/b][/color][/center]
The young girl takes in a sharp breath, eyes shooting open. The pod containing her opens with a hiss, and she falls out and hits the cold, tile floor on her hands and knees with a wet thump, coughing violently in between bouts of vomiting up a frothy blue liquid. She falls backwards against the pod, not entirely sure what's happening. She hears excited shouting from beyond a door, [b]"It's Curie! It's Curie!"[/b] She doesn't know what that means, nor does she really care.

All she can focus on is the hand a few inches from her face. She flexes the fingers, clenching them into a fist. Is this her hand? She looks at the other one, and does the same with it, then relaxes them into open palms. They're attached to arms, and those are attached to her, so that means it's her hand right? Probably. She looks down at the feet, her feet, attached to her legs. It's her.

Slowly, she begins to push herself up off the ground. Knees trembling, she takes an uncertain step forward. Then another. One more, more confidently this time. Soon she finds herself standing in front of a locker. Huh, this walking thing isn't so hard... Why'd she choose to go to the locker though? As she ponders this, a cold breeze blows in from a nearby vent, causing her to shudder and look down. In that moment, she realizes she is... Distinctly naked, and the slightly open locker contains clothes.

She slides on the sweater and slips into the jeans, the overly large clothes barely clinging to her tiny form, though providing some protection against the cold. As soon as she's done, she begins to make her way to the door, through which she heard the voices. It takes her a moment, but she finally pushes it open once she's ready, and finds... Nothing. Just an empty hallway, as cold and sterile as the room she was just in.

She begins to wander through the facility with no destination in mind. It's mostly empty, which is strange considering how large it is, but she easily evades any people she runs into. She has no clue why she feels like she needs to keep away from them, but she does anyway out of fear for what they'd do. Again, she doesn't know what that is, but she has a feeling she doesn't want to find out.

Before long, she finds herself standing in front of a big metal door at the end of a hallway. A metal panel with a button is next to it. This must be an elevator, right? Where does it go? Figuring she'd find out, she presses the button. She doesn't feel like heading any deeper into this place, once she gets in there she'll need to head up... Wait, how does she know that up is the way out? This is really weird. Maybe she should just head back to the pod thing-y she was in, that'd be nice, right? But something in her head tells her that staying here will only lead to something really bad happening.

Her inner turmoil comes to a screeching halt at the sound of a ding as the metal door opens, revealing a smaller room. She steps inside, looking at the panel inside which has... A surprisingly large amount of buttons with numbers and letters on them. It's kind of overwhelming compared the single button on the panel outside. Taking in a deep breath, she presses the button labelled 'ground' and hopes that's the right way.

The elevator shoots upwards, so quickly she stumbles and nearly falls from the sudden speed. Not ten seconds later, the door opens with another ding, and she's nearly blinded by the sudden flash of light. Her eyes adjust, and she sees a lobby with glass walls that allow sunlight to filter through. Sunlight... Sunlight! She's outside! Well, almost.

Nervously, she steps out, and begins to walk towards the door. She makes it pretty far, at least halfway, before she hears a female voice behind her. [b]"Um, sweetie? Are you lost?"[/b] She freezes and turns around, looking up at the portly middle-aged woman with wide eyes. What is she supposed to say? [b]"Honey? What's wrong? Did I scare you?"[/b]

[b][color=slateblue]"U-um, no... No, I'm not lost."[/color][/b]

The woman crouches down to be at eye level with her. [b]"Are you sure? You look pretty confused."[/b]

[color=slateblue][b]"I just came in here to use the... The bathroom. I was just leaving."[/b][/color]

[b]"Okay... Are you okay? Do you have any parents?"[/b]

Well, she doesn't, so she might as well tell the woman the truth. [color=slateblue][b]"... No."[/b][/color]

[b]"Oh? Do you have a home?"[/b]

Again, she decides not to lie, and shakes her head.

[b]"Oh..."[/b] The woman looks saddened by that. [b]"... I was just getting off work. Do you want to come stay with me for a while? I can help find you a home."[/b]

She had no clue why this lady was offering a random child a place to stay, but she had nowhere else to go and this lady seemed nice. Wouldn't hurt to stay the night at least, right? Putting a smile, the girl says, [color=slateblue][b]"Sure."[/b][/color]

That was how she found herself in the backseat of a mid 2010s sedan, a bag of clothes from a store to her side and a Little Belly Meal in her lap as the nice lady pulled out of the drive thru of a Big Belly Burger. As she drove, the woman began to ask all sorts of questions. [b]"What's your name? Do you know?"[/b]

[color=slateblue][b]"I don't think I have a name. What's yours?"[/b][/color]

[b]"Marilyn... Do you really not have a name?"[/b]

In response, Stacy nodded her head. The woman sighed, as if in sadness. [b]"... Do you know how old you are?"[/b]

[color=slateblue][b]"... Thirteen, I think."[/b][/color]

[b]"Did you ever have parents?"[/b]

Now this question was a bit troublesome. She'd have to tell a little white lie, because she knew she'd be in big trouble if she told the lady where she really came from. [b][color=slateblue]"I don't think I ever did... I've been homeless as long as I can remember."[/color][/b] Marilyn seemed even more troubled by that. She didn't know why it was such a big deal, but then again she didn't really know what was up with people considering her entire existence consists of the last hour.

It wasn't long after that that the woman parked her car in front of an apartment complex. The young girl stepped out of the sedan with the woman, looking up at the facade with wide eyes. It was so... Nice looking! And clean! And not all cold and heartless like that other place! [b][color=slateblue]"This is where you live? It's so cool!"[/color][/b]

Marilyn just laughed and shook her head at that. [b]"It's not [i]that[/i] great, but I'm glad you like it."[/b] The two of them went into the building and up a few flights of stairs, before entering the woman's apartment, which was decorated with little nick-nacks and had a really cozy feel to it. The girl really liked it. [b]"You can go get dressed in the bathroom, it's that door right there,"[/b] Marilyn said, pointing towards a door on the right, which the girl entered.

It took her a moment to step out of the oversized clothes, occasionally tripping over herself, but once she was done putting the new clothes on was easy. Marilyn must really like the color purple, because most of the shirts and the one jacket are that color. Some were just plain color t-shirts and sweaters, others had little cartoon characters on it. One had a lightning bolt on it which sparked some level of recognition in the young girl, but she couldn't tell from where...

The girl stepped out of the bathroom in her new clothes, and walked over to the kitchen table where Marilyn was sitting. A radio was playing [url=https://youtu.be/sT_hnNDstnE?t=56]a song[/url], and Marilyn motioned for the girl to come over and sit in the chair across from her to eat, which she obliged. As she began to eat her burger, Marilyn began to talk about names. [b]"You really do need one in this world... How about Karen?"[/b]

That sparked more recognition in her, and she had a distinct feeling the name wouldn't fit her. [b][color=slateblue]"... I don't think that really fits me."[/color][/b]

[b]"Okay, how about Zoey?"[/b]

That was even more familiar... Where had she heard it before, and why did she feel like it didn't fit her either? She didn't know, and simply shook her head.

[b]"... Emma?"[/b]

This name didn't make her feel good. It wasn't right, not at all, not at all... [b][color=slateblue]"I... I don't think that one works either..."[/color][/b]

As if to answer their question, the song on the radio hit the chorus: [i]"Stacy can't you see, you're just not the girl for me!"[/i]

The girl looked at the radio, and smiled. [color=slateblue][b]"I like that name, Stacy! That can be my name."[/b][/color] Marilyn laughed loudly at that, causing the girl to frown. [color=slateblue][b]"What's so funny about it?"[/b][/color]

[b]"N-nothing... Nothing... That's a good name. Stacy it is, then."[/b]

Stacy. That works.