"Ha?"
If one were to compare Callisto's level of confusion to a fortitude level, she would be a Daikaiju with a fortitude of 9.8. None of what Adela said just now made any sense to her.
Callisto was standing right in front of her mother. She was clearly alive and well.
"Mama, I-"
Not letting the young lady finish her sentence, Adela's cold glare felt like a sharp weapon threatening to pierce Callisto's throat the moment she dared to utter one more word.
"Don't you dare call me that."
Although she sounded as threatening as she could be, Adela's fear of the young lady before her was clear as day to Callisto.
"You may have taken her voice and her face, but you will never replace my daughter, you monster."
"Huh?"
At this point, Callisto was too confused to even make a retort. First, she was declared dead. Second, she was called a monster. And worse, it all came from her own mother's lips.
"Adela, that's crossing the line," Raymond expressed his thoughts. "Adela? Hey, where are you going?"
As if she had heard nothing, the brown-haired lady fixed her suit as she turned to face the door and walked towards it.
"Wait, Adela!"
Raymond's attempt to draw his wife's attention proved useless as she continued onward to the door, grabbing a smartphone to make a call.
"Karen, I need a new pair of clothes. Yeah. I'll be back soon."
The husband ran after his wife, grabbing her free arm. Adela refused to look at her husband.
"Adela, please. I know it's hard to believe, but our daughter's right in front of you. It's Callisto! She's not a monster!"
"Of course Callisto is not a monster!"
The mother shoved Raymond's grasp off her. Deep lines formed across Adela's forehead, looking straight at her husband.
"Callisto doesn't have a tail on her back, ears poking out of her head, or silver hair! Callisto is human. But now she's gone. My daughter is gone."
Callisto did not think her confusion would turn up a notch, but she was proven wrong by her mother.
Raymond knew it would be difficult to make Adela understand and accept what became of their daughter after the Mutated DNA Fusion. Wordlessly watching his significant other leaving the room, the husband could only wish for today to be about all of them celebrating Callisto's awakening rather than ending it on a bad note.
"Wait, Callisto!"
Phillip's voice drew Raymond's attention. In that instant, he caught the young lady running past him towards the door.
"Mama!"
Finding herself standing outside her private room, Callisto's sky-blue eyes locked on to her mother's silhouette as she walked along the hallway to the elevator.
"Mama, wait!"
An attempt to chase her mother was made. But before she could even close the distance separating her and Adela, a pair of arms wrapped around Callisto from behind.
"Don't, Calli. It's no use."
"No, let me go! Mama!"
Futile attempts at breaking herself free from her father's grasp led Callisto into pulling out a last ditch effort.
"Mama, don't go! I don't know what's going on, but it's me! Please don't go!"
All the words Callisto spouted echoed throughout the hallway, but none of them reached Adela. In the end, all the young girl could do was helplessly watch her mother disappear from her sight as the elevator closed shut.
"Mama..."
Callisto drew a neutral expression as she finally stopped her attempts to break free from Raymond's hold.
Having noticed it, Raymond let go of his daughter.
"Sorry," he said sincerely towards his daughter. "But right now, what Adela needs is some space, so that's what we'll give her. More importantly, I need to tell you something. Will you come with me, Calli?"
Raymond did not receive any response from Callisto. Not even a nod. She just stood there like a mannequin in a mall, staring at the elevator door in the distance.
"Phillip, can you deal with my appointments today for me?"
"Of course. Leave it to me."
"Thank you, Phillip."
After their exchange, Phillip went on his way. But before he could get far, the friend stopped for a moment to express his thoughts about the successful MDF to Raymond.
"Raymond. I'm truly glad it worked out."
The father smiled at his friend. "Yeah. Thanks a lot for helping me out. I really appreciate it."
As Phillip separated from them, Raymond led his daughter to a room. The silver-haired girl who wordlessly followed her father found herself standing before a big mirror.
For the first time in a very long time, Callisto laid eyes upon herself, an image completely different to the old Callisto.
Her long hair's color changed from black to silver. Cat ears were sticking out of her head and a tail was coming out of her drawstring pants from behind. Despite seeing all that, Callisto showed no emotion whatsoever.
"Phillip and I already explained to you the Mutated DNA Fusion before, but let me reiterate it for you, Calli."
The Mutated DNA Fusion is a medical procedure where a mutated DNA of an animal is introduced to the patient whose body underwent a harmful mutation. By doing so, the fusion of two mutated DNAs creates a brand new DNA that causes no harm to the patient at all.
This DNA is coined the Evolution Triggering DNA or ETD by Raymond and Phillip.
Though it sounds simple, you cannot just take a mutated animal out of nowhere to be used to perform the MDF on a patient.
The mutated animal they used on Callisto, which is a cat, has been deliberately exposed to an unknown type of radiation Phillip and Raymond discovered after a relentless pursuit to find a way to save the father's two daughters years ago.
This foreign radiation does not affect a human in any way whatsoever. But if another creature gets exposed to it, their entire DNA undergoes mutation. The mutation causes no harmful effects to the exposed animal, but it does turn an ordinary creature into one that makes the MDF work.
"The purpose of the MDF is to save your life," Raymond said to his daughter. "But since the operation involves mixing an animal DNA with your own to make a new and healthy one, it is unavoidable to have such physical effects."
"I see," Callisto replied, inspecting her cat ears using her hand. "So it's just like the liger and tigon you showed me and big sister twelve years ago."
"Correct."
Staring quietly at his daughter who was feeling her tail with one hand, Raymond could not help but be fixated at the fact that Callisto had been neutral ever since she watched her mother leave without even batting an eye. This wasn't what Raymond was expecting when he made Callisto stand in front of a big mirror to show her the result of the Mutated DNA Fusion, but he could see why she had such demeanor.
"What do you think, Calli?" the father asked. "Did I make a mistake?"
The daughter shook her head in response.
"I don't really mind how I look at all. If anything, I'm glad the operation worked and I get to live. But..."
"But...?"
"How can I convince Mama that it's me? That I am not a monster?"
The moment Callisto asked her father those questions, her cat ears and tail fell flat. That was when the father thought to himself he was right.
From the moment she woke up, Callisto had already been overwhelmed with emotions. But it was only when Adela left that Callisto's feelings really bottled up to the point she could no longer figure out what to feel.
Now that things settled down, being called a monster and ignored by your very own mother finally sink in for Callisto.
Yet again, she was overwhelmed with emotions that she started tearing up in front of her father. Only this time, it wasn't a mix of elation, confusion, and pain. It was all just pain.
The father who understood her daughter's feelings very well put her in a warm embrace and said, "It's fine. You can cry. Let it all out."
Raymond's touch and voice was like a key to opening the dam as Callisto, without holding back, released her cries of pain at her father.
"AAAAHHH!!"