att(pirated)

Valerie Bauer was afraid.

It wasn't the first time that the young German had been afraid. Ever since everything had fallen apart, she'd had no shortage of times when she'd been scared. There'd been the night she'd first arrived, her appointment with the doctor and his needles, and many other incidents since then. And Valerie knew that she wasn't alone in that fear. She'd seen other children clam up and cry, or run off to some quiet part of the massive mansion to get away from it all. Even now, a few months since she'd been brought to the mansion, she and a handful of other children still hadn't properly settled in. But in spite of that, there had never been an incident where almost everyone had been worried at the same time. Sure, some of the kids had been afraid of seeing the doctor. But others had been fine, and all of the adults hadn't been concerned at all. There was always some level of anxiety around the mansion, but today was the first day that she'd seen almost everyone, both the children and the adults, looking worried.

The reason for that concern was simple; the owner of the mansion, Sir Henry, was coming to visit. It was the first time Valerie, and any of the kids, would meet him since they were brought to this creepy mansion. And given that a lot of the adults had been worried about visit, she figured that something must be up. Things were so serious that all of the children were given strict instructions on how to talk and how to behave around Mr Henry. They were expected to not only look presentable, by wearing their best clothes and not being messy, but to also be on their best behavior.

Valerie and the other girls had been taught how to introduce themselves, including how to do a 'curtsey.' They'd been taught how to answer some of the questions that Sir Henry might ask them, and they'd been given a crash course on manners. Which mostly amounted to being polite at all times, and only speaking when spoken to. It wasn't anything too complicated, now that she thought about it, but the adults had been very serious about it. Miss Holtz, Valerie's carer, had made them rehearse everything, while the other carers went around cleaning the mansion and making everything look nice.

And that was what put Valerie on edge. If this was a normal visit, and not something to be worried about, then why were the adults so worried? Why were they putting so much effort into making the mansion look nice for someone who would, apparently, only be around for a short amount of time?

It's not like they hadn't been given a decent amount of time to prepare. They'd been told about the visit the day before, and they'd spent yesterday learning what to do. But maybe the adults hadn't been told earlier? Valerie figured that it would make a bit of sense if this was a surprise visit. But it didn't totally line up with what she knew either, as a surprise visit wouldn't be much of a surprise if they were told the day before. No, there had to be something else going on, and that was all the doubt her mind needed to start thinking up all manner of bad reasons.

Was Sir Henry unhappy with how things were going in the mansion? Was he here to punish the bad kids or those who weren't living up to whatever expectations he had? Had he heard some of the kids asking to go home, and was here to take them somewhere else? Maybe somewhere worse? All of these questions, and the bad scenarios they spawned, whizzed around Valerie's mind as she waited alongside the other children for lord Henry to arrive. The mental image of being separated from the last few people who cared about her, again, left her head spinning and her breath short.

At least, until a hand gripped hers, and a familiar voice brought her back to reality. "Meine Freundin? Geht es dir gut?" ("My friend? Are you all right?")

Valerie almost jumped as she was drawn out of her nightmarish daydreams, but that was quickly replaced by a feeling of relief as she realized who was talking to her. Val took a second to slow her breathing, before giving her best friend a thankful smile, and replying with a voice that was a lot dryer than she remembered. "Ja. Mir geht es gut. Danke, Tanya." ("Yes. I'm ok. Thank you, Tanya.")

Tanya, the Russian girl who she shared a room with, was the one person here that Valerie would consider to be a true friend. Oh sure, she had other friends. There was Anders and Christine in Tanya's group, there was Karl and his small group of friends, and she had a good relationship with Miss Holtz. But all of those relationships were either transactional or born out of convenience. She knew that Miss Holtz only cared about her because it was her job. Meanwhile, Christine and Anders only put up with her because they'd been friends with Tanya before she'd arrived. And Karl only interacted with her when his friends were off doing something else. But Tanya was the one person that Valerie felt truly cared about her. After all, why else would she have gifted Valerie her stuffed bear? Why else would she have put so much effort into learning German, and in turn teaching Valerie Russian? Hell, some of her best friends back home hadn't done that.

She'll go away eventually. Everyone else went away, and eventually, so will she. Trying to hide from that will only make it hurt more in the end.

Valerie shook her head and forced the bad thoughts out of her. She needed something to focus on, so she gave her friend her undivided attention.

If you didn't know Tanya, then you probably would have counted her as one of the most uncomfortable-looking children in the room. But Valerie knew that it wasn't down to any fear or worries on her part. Tanya was a nice girl, but she was also incredibly weird. Valerie didn't hold it against her. According to Miss Holtz, the Russian girl had grown up without all the nice stuff that Val and many of the other children enjoyed, and that left her a bit weirder than most. While the other kids liked playing games or watching TV, Tanya liked to read those boring and wordy books. But the weirdest thing was that she didn't like girl clothes. She still wore skirts and dresses and stuff like that, but it was obvious that she was only doing it to fit in. It was really obvious she was a lot more comfortable when wearing boy clothes. And when you accounted for that fact, the source of Tanya's discomfort became obvious.

It was the dress. Tanya had been stuffed into a frilly red dress and beret, combined with a white high-neck blouse and knee-socks, and rounded out with a number of bows and small accessories. All of the girls wore similar dresses, but in Tanya's case, the outfit made her look like a doll, thanks to her pale skin. The whole set looked nice, at least as far as Valerie was concerned, but Tanya looked like she would have been happier in anything else. Her shoulders were tense, and she kept absent-mindedly fidgeting with the large bow on the front of the dress. It had gotten so bad that every so often Tanya's minder, Miss Ludmila, would gently turn the girl around and correct the little defects and issues that the young Russian's fidgeting had caused.

And in a way, it was reassuring to see. The fact that Tanya looked so uncomfortable helped remind Valerie that she was just like her, at least in some ways. She too could feel uncomfortable, even if it meant stuffing her in a dress that any of her old friends would have fought each other to own.

"Geht es dir gut, Tanya?" ("Are you all right, Tanya?") Valerie asked with a smile, before reaching out and pinching the arm of Tanya's dress. She wanted to specifically mention how her friend looked uneasy in the expensive and girly clothes, but Tanya's understanding of German was too limited to get that across. So she hoped that bringing her attention to the dress would get the message across without needing to use their minders to translate across three languages.

"Nein, es ist…" ("No, it is…") Tanya started, before trailing off as she tried to find a good way to describe how she felt about her dress. It took her a few seconds before she finally settled on something. "Es gefällt mir nicht." ("I don't like it.")

"Ich finde es schön. Du siehst gut aus!" ("I think it's nice. You look nice!") Valerie smiled, before giving Tanya a reassuring pat on the shoulder. In the moment it felt weird, usually, Tanya was the one reassuring her. But this was one of the rare times when she was handling a situation better than her friend, it wouldn't be nice to not return the favour.

Tanya paused as she processed what Valerie had just said, and she was about to reply when a series of hushes and quiet words from the various carers in the room killed the few conversations that had sprung up during the wait. Within seconds, all the noise in the room died, and Valerie was able to hear the sound of a car rumbling over the gravel outside. She instantly realized what it meant. Lord Henry had arrived, and in a few minutes he'd walk through the front door, and the children would finally meet the man behind all of this. Valerie closed her eyes and focused on controlling her breathing. It was a trick that her mother had taught her, a way to keep calm when the scary men paid them a visit.

Breathe in and count to four, breathe out and count to four.

Valerie opened her eyes a few seconds later, just in time to see Tanya give her one last confident smile before the massive front doors opened. Valerie's eyes quickly adjusted to the new source of light and quickly picked out the individual walking through the doorway. The man stopped just after the doorway and took his time to track his gaze over the children, before taking off his hat and nodding at the crowd. "Good morning everyone!"

"Good morning sir Henry." Twenty assembled voices replied, welcoming the lord of the manor back into his former home. One of the adults approached lord Henry as the doors closed behind him, and took his coat and hat while he walked over to the closest child -one of the English boys- and was introduced to him. It would take him a few minutes before he reached Tanya, and that gave Valerie ample time to see what Sir Henry was like.

To start with, Sir Henry was old. Like, old old. His short hair and pencil mustache were both white, and his face was lined with deep wrinkles. But in spite of that, he didn't act like he was old. His voice was firm, he stood up straight and wasn't hunched over like most old people, and he moved just as well as the other adults. Sure, he had a walking stick, but he didn't use it to help him move. If anything, it seemed to be something he carried as part of his outfit, which reminded Valerie of the old pictures that her father had shown her. He wore a fairly normal-looking brown suit, outside of a few medals on his chest and the odd red-and-white lapel pins. Valerie couldn't tell what the medals were for, but he must have done something heroic to earn them. Only the heroes and winners got medals, after all.

Eventually, Sir Henry reached Tanya, and the young Russian introduced herself with a flawless curtsey that almost exactly mirrored Miss Ludmila's own display. "Hello sir, I am Tanya."

"Ah, so you're Tanya. I've heard a lot about you." The old man said, appraising Valerie's only friend with a critical eye that made the young German a bit uneasy. He was quiet for a couple of seconds, before continuing. "You're from Russia, yes? That's quite a long way from here."

"Yes sir." Tanya replied, answering him while keeping her head bowed and not looking the lord in the eye. Exactly as all of the children had been told to do.

"This mansion is much nicer than back in Russia, isn't it?" Henry asked. His tone remained light and friendly, but the question was obviously loaded. He expected Tanya to say yes, and nothing else.

And her friend did as expected, adding a sage nod and a smile to go along with the answer. "Yes sir."

"Good girl." The old man nodded, before suddenly moving on to Valerie, fixing her with a gaze that seemed to bore into her. "And you?"

"Ah, hallo sir! Mein name is Valerie!" Valerie confidently replied, before internally cursing herself at accidentally slipping back into German on a couple of the most similar words. It was an easy mistake for a novice, the words were used in the same way as their English equivalents. But it still irked Valerie, it was a bad start.

"A German? I visited Germany once, it's a beautiful country." Lord Henry replied, and although he probably meant well, he didn't sound happy. He moved on before she could think about it any further. "Are you from the West, the East, or Berlin?"

"East, sir. I am from Rostock." Valerie answered his question, smiling a bit at the memory of her former home. Despite everything, Rostock had been her home. Whatever happened here wouldn't change that.

"Rostock? I went there once, it wasn't a very nice place. I can't imagine you'd ever want to go back to that awful place?" Henry asked, once again twisting the 'question' into one with only one answer.

"...no…" Valerie muttered, her earlier confidence blown out of her. Both from the fact that it was another loaded question and the fact that answering it forced her to admit to a truth that she'd tried hard to avoid. "There's nothing left for me."

If the lord noticed her discomfort, he ignored it and moved over to the next child in line. The boy introduced himself to the lord, and the lord said something back. But by that point, Valerie wasn't listening. Instead, she was busy trying to stop herself from breaking down, again. She missed Rostock. She missed her friends. Hell, she even missed school! She focused on the streets, the buildings, and the route she always took home. Along the old tram lines in the old city, through the park with the apple trees, past the checkpoint with the police dog that she'd always been tempted to pet, and then through the underpass.

And then she was there. Home.

It hadn't been much, a normal apartment in a normal building. And she was sure that it could probably fit within the massive west-wing library with room to spare. But it had been her home. She'd lived there her whole life, and she had to bite her tongue to distract herself from the memories that her mind so unhelpfully dredged up. Birthdays, and Christmases, were all spent within those four walls and in the presence of people who loved her.

"Good morning, boys and girls. May I have your attention?" Lord Henry announced, dragging Valerie's attention away from her old life, and back to the man responsible for her current situation. The Lord had finished with the other children and was now standing on the landing halfway up the main staircase, looking down on all of them. He waited until all eyes were on him before continuing. "I am proud to see that all of you are in good health and that you like how nice things are at this mansion. But, I know that some of you have had… trouble getting used to life here. And I can see the concern in your eyes, even now. So please, allow me to explain why you are all here."

Lord Henry paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "In you, we see the future. Not just myself, but the women taking care of you, and the rest of the staff at this mansion. You are not merely smart, you are the best of your generation, better than every other child in the world! All of you are special, with the right combination of genetics and potential that everyone else could only dream of being like you! You'll become the leaders, the kings and queens, of the world!"

"And here, you will not just learn, but you will be transformed into the people smart enough and brave enough to lead. Like the knight who saves the princess, or the wise king who leads his people, it's a journey that only the elite deserve to tread. You will learn everything that you need, from only the finest teachers we can find. And once you're done, you will be ready to steer the future itself, and you will make sure that the world is led by only the smartest and purest people in the world!" Lord Henry explained, his strong voice carrying across the main hall, and capturing everyone's attention. Valerie understood most of what he was saying right off the bat, but she still had trouble processing what he meant. What did he mean that they were the 'kings and queens' of the world? And what's a 'genetic' got to do with it?

"But I can see that it's not enough for some of you. Most of you came here from lonely places but some of you leave behind old families and friends. And to you, I ask that you look around. Please, look at the person to your left and to your right." The lord instructed, and the children did as they were told. The boy to Valerie's left looked just as enthralled as she was, but Tanya wore a carefully neutral expression that made it hard to understand what she was thinking.

A few seconds later, Henry continued. And what he said next shocked Valerie to her core. "I know that the most important gift in life is family, and that is the gift that I have given you all. The other boys and girls here are your new family, bound by a shared destiny and purpose. Together, you will become brothers and sisters, creating a new, superior lineage of excellence."

A new family? Valerie could feel her eyes widen at the news, she'd never had a brother or sister before, and now she had nearly twenty of them. It was… nice, great even! She wasn't alone anymore! And a glance around told her that the other kids were just as surprised. A few were smiling, a few had their mouths hanging open in shock, and a couple looked as if they wanted to cry. A brief look back even showed that Tanya, Tanya, was shocked. A sharp clap from the stairs called everyone's attention back to Lord Henry, who was also smiling at the news. "I can see that a lot of you are much happier now. So I won't keep you here much longer. But I hope that you are ready to treat your new brothers and sisters with the same respect and kindness that you would give yourself."

"Before I go, I want you all to remember something very important. You are special. You are the chosen few, who will rise above everyone else, and will lead humanity forward into a bright new future! But this greatness can only be achieved if you work hard for it. You must learn everything that we teach you, and you must help your brothers and sisters with reaching the same goals as you. A family only wins if everyone does, so you have to look out for each other." Henry continued, but Valerie and the other children were only half listening. Some were openly crying, others were practically shaking in their shoes as they waited for the moment when they could hug their new family members. Valerie knew that she was in that second group. As soon as she could, she would give Tanya all of the hugs that she'd been saving up over the past few months. She still missed her family, but she had a new one now, and she would make sure that none of them would ever go away.

And with that, Lord Henry finished his speech. "Welcome to the future, where only the superior are fit to lead."