Chapter 76: Orcilla
The first few months after Milly died were difficult for Pardi. However, he was able to draw strength from being with Orcilla. Pardi decided to take a long break from his business. He left it in the hands of his top executives and scientists. At this point, they were all Linap. Sapiens no longer held high positions in the company. Pardi wanted to look after Orcilla personally. He did not want her to experience what he did as a child. He wanted to be there if she ever felt sick. Young Linap children often suffered from quite serious health complications.
Orcilla was different from other Linap children. She was much stronger and bigger. Her strength was even superior to that of Sapien children. Pardi was not only amazed by her incredible health and strength but also by her intelligence and beauty. She had her mother’s looks and his intelligence. She was like the perfect combination of the best aspects of Pardi’s life.
Eventually, when Pardi returned to work, he would bring Orcilla in with him. He would teach her how the business operated. He taught her about both the science and the management aspects of their family business. Most days, they would leave work at lunchtime. He would take her wherever she wanted to go and buy her anything she ever wanted.
A few more years passed. Orcilla continued to amaze Pardi. She was never ill and had become physically very strong. She learnt everything Pardi taught her, and she never seemed to forget anything. Pardi loved his daughter very much, but he also considered that she could be the future of their species. There must have been a reason why she was so different from all the other Linap.
Pardi took a sample of her DNA. What he found shocked him. Orcilla was part Sapien. Could his wife have betrayed him with a secret love affair? He accessed data from his own DNA. His DNA did not match Orcilla’s DNA. She was not his daughter.
Pardi went into a rage. He started smashing his laboratory equipment. He took some of the chemicals he had in the laboratory to induce hallucinations. Eventually, he passed out. One of his staff took him home.
The next morning, Orcilla wanted him to play with Pardi, but he refused to get out of bed. She poked him until he did. He went into the lounge. He wanted to have a serious conversation with Orcilla.
‘Sit down. We need to talk about something,’ Pardi said to Orcilla.
Orcilla jumped on the sofa next to him.
‘I have decided it is about time you went to school,’ said Pardi sternly. Orcilla giggled. ‘I’m serious,’ continued Pardi. ‘They can teach you things I can’t, and you need to be socialised.’
‘Okay, Daddy,’ replied Orcilla as she bounced around on the sofa. ‘I suppose it could be fun. I can show them I’m smarter, stronger, faster, and more beautiful than anyone.’
‘You will not attend as a girl. You will attend as a boy,’ said Pardi.
‘Why would I do that?’ asked Orcilla.
‘It’s for your own good. Girls aren’t given the same opportunities as boys,’ said Pardi.
‘It’s better that I go as a girl. I can show them that girls can do anything boys can and probably better,’ replied Orcilla confidently.
‘When you are older,’ said Pardi sternly. ‘For now, you will go as a boy. Do not argue with me.’
Orcilla was surprised to hear Pardi talk to her this way.
She quickly shapeshifted into a boy. ‘Hello, I’m a boy. I’m so smart I can count to ten,’ she said in a deep voice with her eyes crossed.
Pardi tried to look at her with a stern expression but could not help but chuckle a little at her antics. ‘That’s a good impression, but the voice doesn’t need to be so deep,’ he told her.
Orcilla attended school as a boy. She changed her name to Orcille. Every year, she was a star in every aspect. She topped every class. Even though she competed with the boys, she dominated every sport. The other boys idolised her as a hero and saw her as a true leader. The girls were attracted to her because she shapeshifted into a handsome boy and was incredibly articulate.
Orcilla was not attracted to girls. She liked boys, but that was difficult because everyone believed she was a boy. She briefly had a girlfriend, but that did not work out. She tried to date a boy she liked, but he was not interested. To attract him, she told him she could do a clever trick. She shapeshifted into herself. He was shocked but also delighted at what she looked like.
Meanwhile, Pardi had become deeply depressed and very conflicted about his feelings for Orcilla. He had grown to love her for her brilliance and personality. He also hated her because she was part Sapien, but more so because she reminded him of his wife and her betrayal. She looked so similar to Milly that he needed her to change her appearance. It was much easier to accept Orcilla as Orcille.
Pardi spent much more time at work and much less time with Orcilla. When he was at his workplace, he often did not work. He would drink intoxicating substances and sniff various chemicals that altered his state of mind.
Orcilla would often go to the laboratory to help bring her father home. She was very concerned about him and his health. In many ways, she was his caregiver. She looked after him whenever he abused himself. Earl’s old friend and former senior scientist would sometimes check in to see how they were doing. Despite Pardi’s disrespect for him, he cared about both Pardi and Orcilla.
Orcilla had completed every course possible at school. She wanted to become involved full-time in the business. She no longer wanted to shapeshift into a male. The thought of working full-time with Orcilla scared Pardi. He did not know if he could do it. The pain and anger still festered inside him. He told Orcilla he still wanted her to play the role of a male, even if she worked for him. Orcilla was furious, but she reluctantly agreed to continue to play the male role.
Around two months into her role under Pardi, the Carvaress Company hosted a special ball for the Sapey elites. Orcilla decided she would go as herself. She wanted to prove to her father that she would be accepted as a strong female leader. After all, her aunt Lily, whom she still had not met, was a governor.
Orcilla showed up at the ball dressed in a beautiful gown. She introduced herself as Yassmeay and did not reveal she was related to Pardi in any way. Pardi, who had arrived at the ball earlier, recognised Orcilla. He was furious that she had attended in her true form. He watched as Orcilla attracted the attention of everyone. They were mesmerised by her beauty, her elegance, her wit, and her dialogue. Pardi should have been proud of his daughter, but he knew that it was going to be impossible to convince her to maintain a male in public.
Halfway through the ball, Pardi excused himself. He could not handle seeing Orcilla. It triggered his anger and hatred towards Sapiens and his late wife. Pardi went up to his laboratory office, where he began to abuse various substances. He went in and out of hallucinating various things.
After the ball, Orcilla went up to Pardi’s office to find him. Pardi was in a bad state. Orcilla ran over to help him sit down. She put her arms around him. She began to cry.
‘I’m so sorry to have put you under so much stress,’ she said as she wiped the tears from her face.
Pardi hugged her back. He looked at Orcilla, but he did not see his daughter. He saw Milly.
‘Why did you do this to me?’ said Pardi as he wept. ‘I loved you so much. You were my “everything”.’
‘I can’t pretend forever,’ replied Orcilla. ‘I need to be me.’
Pardi began to remember his childhood and how much he hated being forced to be someone else. He desperately did not want that for his daughter. He could see that what he was doing to her was far worse than what his father did to him. ‘I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to pretend anymore,’ he told her.
Orcilla kissed Pardi on the cheek. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly.
‘Could you get me a glass of water?’ asked Pardi. ‘I need to clear my head.’
Orcilla got up to get him the water.
Pardi also got up. He went over to a drawer. He grabbed a syringe. He began to fill it with a sedative drug. Then he returned to the chair he was sitting in.
Orcilla returned with his glass of water. She bent forward to hand him the glass. Pardi quickly jabbed her in the neck with the syringe and pushed down hard.
Orcilla was caught by surprise. She dropped the glass as Pardi continued to push the sedative into her.
She then fell backward. She looked at Pardi in shock. ‘What did you just do to me?’ she asked.
‘It’s for your own good,’ Pardi replied.
Orcilla passed out.
Pardi dragged her into the next room, where he pulled her up onto an operating table.
‘You will never have to pretend to be a boy again,’ he said. ‘You will be a boy.’
Pardi began to operate on Orcilla. He attempted to give her a sex change.
In his current state, Pardi did a horrendous job of the operation. He badly mutilated Orcilla’s body. The more he did, the worse it got. Eventually, the effects of the chemicals he had taken began to wear off a little. Pardi started to gain a bit of understanding about what he had done. Pardi grabbed some more chemicals to numb himself. He took a bit too much. This caused him to collapse.
Earl’s old friend saw that the lights were still on in Pardi’s office and his personal laboratory in the next room. He went in to see if everything was fine. When he entered, he was shocked to see Orcilla lying badly mutilated on the operating table and Pardi lying convulsing on the floor. He quickly called the Carvaress medical team to attend to them. Both Pardi and Orcilla were rushed into the Carvaress section of the nearby medical centre.
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