Elsewhere...
A cork popped as the foam came spewing forth from the top of the bottle. A short, balding man in a long white labcoat smiled widely, bringing the bottle down to two flutes sitting on the stainless steel tabletop, filling them with sparkling champagne.
"Well, Charles," he said, "we've finally done it!"
"Indeed," Charles said, running his hand through his goatee, admiring the rather large bulb growing in a terrarium across the lab. "I never thought you and I would be able to collaborate on a project, Walter, what with your work in botany and mine in human genetics... but look at it!"
Charles gestured over to the bulb he'd been admiring. Walter followed his gaze, his grin widening in giddy anticipation. The bulb in the terrarium was indeed beautiful. The pinkish hue of the petals softened a bit toward the base as it faded into a deep indigo. Large indigo speckles decorated the exterior of the would-be flower, adding, Charles and Walter though, both character and dimension. This plant, doubtless, was their finest creation.
"To us," Walter said, handing a flute to his cohort. "And... to him!" The shorter man indicated the terrarium.
"Or her," Charles said, taking his flute gingerly by the stem.
Walter laughed. "Of course, of course... her!" The two men laughed, clinking their champagne glasses together.
For the next few hours, they talked excitedly, sipping champagne and reliving the process of the creation of such an extraordinary organism. As the time passed, neither man seemed to notice when the bulb in the terrarium began to twitch.
"...still amazed at how you were able to amalgamate the DNA like that. Truly, Charles, you are an artist of all things subcellular!"
Charles laughed greatfully. "Not hardly as much as you, cataloguing the various flora needed to augment the process! Your organizational skills are second to --"
Charles' words were cut short as he seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, he turned.
"What is it, Charles?" Walter asked, following his co-worker's gaze toward the terrarium.
There, behind the glass, their bulb had opened, revealing perhaps the most gloriously beautiful flower either man would have ever seen. Too bad, however, that they were not looking at the flower, but rather at the naked form of a young green-skinned girl standing in the middle of it.
"Sh-she's... perfect..." Walter breathed, gazing at the girl.
"Indeed," Charles said, setting down his champagne flute. "It's female... you owe me twenty dollars..." (Charles had thought it was easy money, especially since he had encoded her DNA to be female... but Walter didn't know that and Charles thought it unnecessary to tell him.)
The two men were in awe of the creature before them. Their creature. She stood, her green skin glinting underneath the terrarium's sunlamps. Her hair was the color of golden wheat, stretching down most of her back. Her eyes were large and frightened as she stared out at the two men before her.
"Magnificent..." Walter cooed, taking another sip of his champagne.
"Indeed," Charles said, walking up to a small intercom box on the side of the terrarium window. "Hello," he said after pushing the button.
The woman backed away a bit, her eyes widening in greater fear. A startled scream erupted from her mouth. Then, as though amazed that she could make such a noise, she made it again, alternately covering her hands to her mouth and making the noise.
Charles smiled and turned to Walter. "She's just like a child."
Turning back to the window, Charles addressed the girl. "Hello, my dear." Forgetting her ability to make noise, she backed away again. "No, no, don't be frightened. My name is Dr. Charles Walker. This is my co-worker, Dr. Walter Curie. We... well, we created you."
Her wide eyes darted from Charles to Walter and back again, as though attempting to understand what they were saying. Charles decided to simplify.
"Charles," he said, pointing to himself emphatically. "Char-les."
"Char-les," the woman said slowly, smiling wildly after she had done so, clapping her hands... and then becoming amazed with that.
"Her rate of learning is astounding," Walter said, nearing the glass. "She's only been out of her cocoon for a few minutes and already she can say, 'Da-da'!"
"Indeed," Charles said. "Now, let's see if she can say, 'Ma-ma,' eh?"
Walter rolled his eyes, then turned back to the terrarium. Swallowing the last of the champagne, he began patting his chest with his palms. "Walter!" he practically screamed. "Walter! Wal-ter!!!"
"Good Lord, Walter, she's simple, not deaf!" Charles said, rolling his eyes.
The girl pointed in Walter's direction and said, slowly, "Wal...ter?"
"Splendid!" Walter said, jumping about, obviously affected both by the champagne and the excitement of this new creation. "This is magnificent! What shall we call her, then, Charles?"
Charles ran his hand through his goatee, pondering that very question. "Audrey," he said finally. "Her name is Audrey."
Walter laughed. "Wonderful!" Then, he began pointing back at the woman crouched in the corner. "Audrey!" he said, pointing wildly. "Aud-rey!"
"Aud-rey," came her reply, placing a hand softly on her chest. "Aud-rey."
"I thnk she's got it, Charles!" Walter said giddily.
"Indeed."
Slowly, then... and without warning, the young girl rose and began to walk toward them. However, she did not seem to understand the concept of glass... and ran headlong into the pane that separated her from the doctors.
The two men laughed heartily, Walter being almost doubled over, holding his sides.
The woman's brow furrowed in anger and she began to pound on the glass with her fists. This only prompted Charles and Walter to laugh harder.
Then, almost imperceptibly, something happened. The plants that lined the window of the terrarium also began to sway against the glass. Slowly, the plants in the lab itself began to sway in the direction of the glass as well. Walter's collection of hanging ivy began to snake its way along the floor, creeping up the window.
Suddenly, a crack sounded in the glass. Everything stopped. The young woman looked curiously at the slight fissure in the window, then at her fist, then back at the crack. Smiling widely, she began pounding even more furiously on the glass. The crack began to widen, spreading slowly across the length of the window.
"What is she doing?!" Walter gasped, having been jerked out of his laughing fit.
"Sh-she's attempting to escape!" came Charles' reply. "But, she can't! She's not ready!"
Quickly, both men attempted to race to the other side of the room... only to trip on the assemblage of Ivy laying at their feet. Now, sprawled on the floor, both men were surprised to feel the ivy begin to creep around their legs, arms, and torsos.
"Wh-what is this?" Charles asked.
"The plants!" cried Walter. "Sh-she must be controlling them somehow!"
Soon, however, the men were completely bound by yards upon yards of tangling ivy. The entire floor of the laboratory was covered in green vines and leaves, making it look every bit as much like a rainforest as a lab.
Then... the sound of shattering glass.
Slowly, the woman who had just been named Audrey stepped slowly out and onto the floor of the lab, looking around curiously. As she walked, the ivy began to cover up her feet, protecting them from the glass. As she walked over the leaves, they became greener and fuller at her touch.
The vines and ivy began to elevate and the two scientists soon found themselves suspended in the air.
"Please!" cried Walter. "Let us down! We truly mean you no harm! W-we merely wish to study you! To teach you!"
"Indeed!" Charles croaked. "Do you honestly think you can survive out there? On your own?"
At that moment, the ivy that covered Charles began to jostle about. The scientist screamed as he flailed back and forth. After two moments, the man's slacks, belt, and overshirt dropped in front of the bewildered Audrey.
For a number of moments, Audrey knelt down, examining the individual pieces of clothing with obvious curiosity. Eventually, through some obnoxious coaxing from Charles and Walter, she had put the clothes on, though the white shirt was oddly buttoned and only half tucked into the khakis, which were too large for her, necessitating her to cinch the belt as tightly as she could around her waist.
Noticing her reflection in the mirror, she walked over to it. After awhile she realized that the reflection was not a new person, but, in fact, herself, she admired herself in the glass.
Turning, then, back toward her creators, she looked up at them, her eyes wide and innocent. "Char-les," she said. "Wal-ter."
Then, she placed her hand on her chest and uttered her name, with as much strength and dignity as she was able. "Aud-rey!"
And, with that... she was gone.
