By the time I'd woken up from my drug-induced nap, I was back on the ground.
It was night, though I had no bearing on exactly what time it was. Nonetheless, my mind instantly analyzed the situation. Given that I'd been picked up from the orphanage sometime in the mid-morning, that meant that I'd been asleep for a very long time. I had no idea how long, as I lacked a good point of reference and a clock to reference to. But I'd probably spend the majority of the day on the move. More than enough time to cross multiple countries by air, given how fast even a basic propeller aircraft could cover ground. And with proper planning, that could include intercontinental flights.
All things considered, I had no idea where I was. I could be in New Zealand for all I knew.
Of course, in keeping with the previous tradition, the more things changed the more they stayed the same. I didn't know what country I was in, but I could infer that it was a relatively modern one by the routine streetlamps that flashed by. We must be on a highway of some sort, though that did nothing to narrow down where we might be. I was in the back of some random car, but it was different from the previous one. The fabric-covered seats had been swapped for leather. The internal fittings were a mix of lacquered wood, polished metal, and some plastic. Two people were transporting me, but it was a man and a woman in civilian clothes rather than two men in suits. And while my bag of personal belongings was still there, they were joined by a small pillow that I was resting my head on, and a blanket that had been draped over me. One of the guards must have tucked me in after the handover, putting my stuffed bear in my arms so that I'd have something to hold on to. Maybe they were trying to make me comfortable?
That, or they were trying to sell the 'two parents taking their sleeping kid home' look. Sneaky, but it's something I would have done. Hell, it's probably something I had done in my last life.
Signing, I curled up a bit on the rear seats, and absent-mindedly clutched the stuffed bear a bit closer. One of the problems with having lived multiple lives was that remembering everything became harder and harder as new memories forced their way in. The more traumatic or impactful stuff remained, but even the most important memories of a previous life would eventually fade away.
I remembered how this had all started. A disgruntled former employee pushing me in front of a train, and how I'd managed to piss off Being X to earn this unfortunate set of circumstances. But I couldn't remember much else of that life, like how I'd looked or my parent's faces. My second life was much easier to recall, but I could feel splotches of it falling away. I could recall the war easily enough, the frantic battles and my trusted subordinates in the 203rd. But my post-war life was a blur, outside of the terrifying placement in the Empire's space program. I could remember my trusted friends and allies, like Visha, Weiss, and a few others of note. But my peacetime memories were already starting to go hazy.
Was this to be my fate? Forced to recall all the death and destruction of past lives and none of the peaceful times? Until I finally broke and groveled at the feet of some false god for salvation? I couldn't help but curl up a bit tighter underneath the blanket as the prospect hit me.
Damn you Being X! Even if it takes a thousand lives, I'll make you pay!
I lay there in silence for a good few minutes, occasionally shifting to get a bit more comfortable as I considered my options again. If I wanted, I could try and use the blanket to blind the driver and try to get him to crash the car. But given how both of the guards were wearing seat belts and I wasn't, that probably wasn't a good idea. Unless I wanted to see if life number four would be any better. Though given how I'd gone from an orphanage in an Imperial Germany-Expy to an orphanage in the Soviet Union, I wouldn't be surprised if life number four somehow ended up worse. Maybe I'd end up an orphan in medieval times or the post-apocalypse. Those would be fun, if you were into dying of dysentery or other preventable diseases.
The constant flashing of the passing streetlamps was starting to annoy me, so eventually, I closed my eyes to block them out. But there must still have been some lingering chemical effects in my bloodstream, as when I opened my eyes, the dark of night had been replaced by an early-morning glow. I sat up and looked out of the window to find the car boxed in by a dense forest of some kind. The slight judder of the car's suspension and the different noise from the wheels told me that we weren't on a proper paved road anymore, but probably on some rough dirt road. Which meant that we were in the middle of nowhere.
"Where am I?" I asked the two guards, who seemed to be admiring the scenery. Neither of them had been paying much attention to me, though they didn't jump at my sudden question. Which indicated that they didn't take me as a threat. An assessment that I found surprisingly grating, though it wasn't one that I was planning on correcting just yet.
"Don't worry. We're almost home." The woman stated in a calm and reassuring tone, which did the exact opposite of calming me down. By any metric, my home would have been the orphanage. Not… not the massive house that had just appeared from around the most recent bend.
We were approaching some sort of mansion. A large two-storey building with what looked like a converted attic, if the various windows built into the roof were anything to go by. The massive building looked old. Or at least, it was built in an old style. It didn't have the large windows and geometric architecture that I'd seen in a soviet architecture magazine that had somehow ended up at the orphanage. Either way, it sat in the middle of a large compound, encircled by a tall stone wall that would be difficult for even a grown man to climb. Though from this distance, I couldn't tell what it shared the space with.
I was so focused on the mansion that I didn't truly acknowledge the fact that we were approaching it, so I was a little shocked as the car slowed down as it reached the gate. Said gate was manned by a pair of guards, both wearing western-style military gear, armed with sidearms and carrying themselves with the ordered movement of veteran soldiers. The car pulled up, and the driver displayed an ID tag to the gate guard, before speaking to him in a language that I didn't recognise. I did my best to act like a scared child when the guard looked back, hoping that it might gain some sympathy, but to no avail. The guard handed the ID back and gestured to his subordinate inside the guardhouse. A few seconds later, the gates slowly swung open on their own, probably thanks to a mechanism installed underneath the gate posts.
The car pulled through the gate and slowly trundled up towards the mansion. Now that we were getting closer, I could get a proper read on the general contents of the compound. The whole compound was a good few acres across, giving ample room for various gardens, service outbuildings, and a courtyard in front of the mansion. Past the mansion, there was a pair of smaller buildings, a chateau and a barn of some sort. The former was occupied, with people ambling in and out as they went about their routines. The latter was entirely closed, leaving me completely in the dark about just how it was used. Still, from the number of people moving around, I got the distinct feeling that the separate quarters were more a matter of practicality rather than something to keep the common folk away from the mansion's owners. Though a lot of them must have been inside. I could only see a handful of people outside. A gardener here, a couple of guards there, and a woman waiting on the mansion's porch, watching the car as it approached.
Just where the hell was I?
As the car slowly trundled into the courtyard and pulled up in front of the porch, I mentally prepared myself for what was to come. I had no idea what I was going up against. The person who'd taken an interest in me was obviously rich. You had to be able to afford a mansion this big, a staff this extensive, and to finance the headhunt and trafficking of a kid that was probably on the other side of the Iron Curtain. I supposed that crossed out any Loria-likes. They could find easier pickings closer to home. So why go through all the extra effort? The tests indicated that they were looking for smart kids, but that circled back to the question. I didn't have the answer to that question, so in the absence of actionable intelligence, I only had one option. To play the part of the scared and distant foreign girl.
I psyched myself up in the time it took my guards to get out of the car, and open the door for me. I snatched my little bag and stuffed bear, and carefully shuffled out of the car. I took a second to look at the mansion, acting surprised by the opulent building, before clutching my stuffed bear close as the woman approached. Now that she was closer, I could get a better read of her age and body language. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, going into her forties, and she had a maternal air about her. She saw me looking at her and gave me a kind smile before addressing the handlers in the same unknown language they'd used at the gate. They kept the conversation short before the woman returned her attention to me.
"Good morning, little Tanya. How was your journey?" The woman asked in slightly accented Russian. Though if she sought to take me by surprise, she was sorely mistaken. While I hadn't expected her specifically to speak Russian, I'd expected that someone would. As far as they knew, I didn't know any other language, so they'd have to assign someone to me until I could be taught the local language.
"Long." I muttered my reply into the back of the stuffed bear's head, keeping the answers short and quiet to help sell the act. I'd already decided that this woman, whoever she was, was not my friend. "Where am I?"
"Welcome to the Henry estate. I am Ludmila, your minder for the duration of your education." Ludmila replied, offering a polite curtsey as she introduced herself. It was an oddly formal act, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. Especially when the ramifications of her final word finally hit home.
"Education?" I perked up a bit as I asked the question. Education opened a lot of doors, most of them leading away from the battlefield. And given how the maid's smile grew a bit wider, though I wasn't sure if that was down to me appearing to react positively to the prospect, or if it was something else.
"Yes. Talent such as yours is rare indeed, it's not something to be wasted in some forgotten orphanage." Ludmila commented as she came a bit closer. I tried to back up and hide behind one of the guards, only for a firm hand to hold me in place. The woman stopped in front of me and knelt to inspect me. It didn't take very long for her to find something wrong, and she held out her hand as she made her offer. "Hmm… you're very thin, dear. And a bit grubby. How about we get you something to eat before I run you a bath?"
I didn't answer, but I took her hand and allowed her to lead me into the mansion. I looked back at my two handlers, in time to see them get back in the car and drive off. Though it wasn't a great loss. Trying to get back in the car wouldn't have done me any good. Especially given how I couldn't drive with such a small body. I looked away as they switched on the engine, and I had to fight to keep my jaw from dropping as I stepped into a palace.
The mansion's main hall dominated the front of the building, its grand staircase at the back of the room leading halfway up to a stained glass window, before splitting into two sets of stairs that ran up the wall to the second-floor balcony. The ground floor and lower set of stairs was plastered with white marble, with a single red carpet leading from the door to the landing at the middle of the stairs. Arched marble pillars, clad in redwood, held up the second-floor balustrade. A massive chandelier hung in the middle of the room, though I could see fluted wall sconces to cast light in the areas where the chandelier wouldn't reach, such as the areas directly underneath the indoor balcony, or flanking close to the stairs. Ludmila must have caught me looking, as she slowed down to let me take in the room.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" She asked, and I simply nodded my head. One of the best ways to pass off as scared or unsure was to go non-verbal, and given how I couldn't get a solid fix on just how many people I'd be interacting with, I wanted to keep my cards as close to my chest as possible.
Thankfully, Ludmila didn't press me for an answer and instead led me through the first door on the left. Beyond the door was a massive dining room, which did its level best to match the opulence of the main hall that we'd just left. The room sacrificed the second floor for a higher ceiling, though it kept a balcony for people to make use of the space above. One side of the room was dominated by a set of floor-to-ceiling windows. The opposite wall was decorated with art, including a fairly loud grandfather clock. And the far wall hosted an inset fireplace, with a coat of arms above it. But the star of the show was the full-length dining table. The whole thing was large enough to seat twenty people, and it was set as such, with twenty seats and placemats laid out. And given the fact that a lot of the chairs were raised, many of the people sitting down for dinner would be children. That answered one question, I wasn't the only kid here. But the 'why' still remained.
"Please, let me show you to your seat." Ludmila offered, emphasizing the 'your' part rather obviously. And I soon found out why, as I was taken to one of the seats on the window side of the room, and shown to a seat with a small plaque on the back. A plaque with my name on it.
"Please, wait here while I have the chef make you something to eat." The older woman instructed as she pulled out my chair. I took the hint, hopped on, and held onto the arms as she slid it back into place. I'd thought that Ludmila would have to leave the room to get the chef, but instead, she merely stepped back and interacted with something behind one of the pillars. A smooth jingling sound from some indistinguishable part of the room indicated that she'd activated a bell of some sort. Maybe one that would summon the kitchen staff?
My suspicions were proven correct around a minute later when a woman in more work-appropriate clothes entered the dining hall from a side room. She gave me a reassuring smile as she walked over, and said something to me in the foreign language. Ludmila quickly addressed her, and a few short sentences later, the woman was sent back the way she came.
"That was Miss Meyer. She's one of the chefs here. She wanted to say hello." Ludmila informed me, never once moving from behind me as she continued with her briefing on the dining room. "As you've probably guessed, this is where you'll sit for your meals. You'll be expected to always use the same seat, in the same location, unless told otherwise. That also applies for formal occasions, or any other event where you'll be summoned to this room. Even if you're the only person here."
I took a few seconds to process the new information. Not the fact that I'd been assigned a seat, but the fact that the guy responsible for this whole thing was a lord. That implied a lot of things, including political power and deep pockets. I locked that little kernel of knowledge into the back of my mind as I nodded and replied to Ludmila's briefing. "So any time I'm in here, sit here?"
"Yes, very good." Ludmila sounded a bit happy at how quickly I'd picked up the point. If I had to guess, some of the other kids here were a bit slower on the uptake. That, or they were ignoring it. Either way, it was good news for me. Simply not being a bad actor would give me a hell of a leg up in surviving life around here.
Still, I needed to know more about the other kids, so I decided to take the direct route and simply asked the question. "Are there other children here? All the chairs are the same, so are there others?"
"Don't worry, you're not the only one here. You'll eat in here alongside the other children, but they are…" Ludmila trailed off as she figured out how best to word what she was about to say. It took her a few seconds, but eventually, she figured it out. "There aren't many children like you in the world, very few of them know how to speak the same way, and none of them in the same way as you. So while you may see them around, it will be a while before you'll be able to talk with them."
"Like the adults? I don't know what they're saying either…" I continued, glumly trailing off the end. The fact that I didn't know what people were saying about me was getting to me, as it stopped me from picking up on gossip that could prove useful in navigating whatever the hell I'd been dragged into. Another barrier between me, and figuring out what was going on here.
Surprisingly, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, as Ludmila gave me a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, little one. I'll tell you what they're saying, I promise you."
I simply let her keep the hand on my shoulder, and let the conversation fade as we waited for the chef to return. We didn't have to wait too long, as less than a minute later the door into the dining hall opened once again, and Ludimila pulled her hand away as Miss Meyer returned with a platter of food and a drink of orange juice. She said something to Ludmila in that unknown language, earning a chuckle from my handler as the chef set the food down in front of me. And I was presented with one of those odd moments where I was both surprised and unsurprised at the same time.
On the one hand, I had expected a proper meal. This place probably had a monthly running cost in the tens of thousands of dollars, it had the opulence and number of on-site staff to demand that price tag. So a full-course breakfast was practically mandatory if you were throwing around that much money. But on the other hand, I was surprised by the sudden appearance of more food than I'd ever encountered before in this life. Bacon, eggs, pastries, sausage, assorted vegetables, the complete works. And given the near-savage grumble from my stomach, I could certainly use the food.
Still… the whole situation surprised me, and Ludmila had to prompt me to eat. "Please, Tanya, eat as much as you like."
She didn't need to tell me twice, and I dug in with gusto. After years of having to force down plain porridge and stuff that was only a few steps above gruel, the full breakfast was a godsend. And the moment of calm gave me an opportunity to go over everything I'd learned about my current situation.
I'd been trafficked by some rich member of the gentry, to a compound in some forest, centered around a mansion that wouldn't have been out of place in my second life. I'd been trafficked because I was smarter than your average 6-year old, and I was going to receive education to make best use of that intelligence. To help facilitate that education, I'd been assigned an all-in-one tutor, handler, and mother figure. And to top it all off I wasn't a unique case either, as nineteen other children were either here or on the way.
That's what I knew for certain, but I could infer and assume a few things as well.
Firstly; there was a mountain of money floating around. The opulent mansion, the large compound, and all the people living and working here demanded a massive price tag. This wasn't just some old man's vanity project, there was significant investment here. Which in turn meant that there was a lot of value in the twenty children who were going to be raised here. Or at the very least, there was value in what we were to become.
This led into the second point; the people in charge were putting a lot of effort into making this compound as secure as possible. The high walls and remote location alone would have been enough as-is, but adding armed guards on top of that pushed the whole security situation into the realms of overkill. It was a lot of effort for twenty kids. Rare, specifically headhunted kids, but still kids.
And that rounded out on the third and final point; there was something very wrong with the whole situation. An absurd amount of money and effort had been thrown at whatever was going on here. Or at the very least, an absurd amount of value had been tied up in the affair. All for twenty kids who you could probably shove into one of the best boarding schools on the planet for a fraction of the price of this operation. Which in turn meant that this went beyond just finding a bunch of smart kids and teaching them. There was another goal in mind, but what? It probably didn't involve killing us, simply due to the amount of money that would be invested in us. But if anything, that just made me even more uncomfortable.
Which meant that I had to be extremely careful. I had no control of the situation, and from the looks of it, I wouldn't get any. So if I wanted to get through this unscathed, I'd have to play along. I'd have to play the part of the impressionable child genius, while keeping that mask and my real self separate enough that I didn't lose perspective. I'd have to learn as much as possible in order to make myself too valuable to be disposed of, or otherwise classified as a failure. It'd be a difficult balance to strike, but I was confident that I could pull it off. After all, nobody expects a kid to be a good liar.
"Did you like your meal?" Ludmila asked, calling my attention back to the here-and-now. I blinked, and looked down at my plate with a mild amount of shock. In the time it took me to assess my situation and figure out a plan of attack, I'd completely emptied the plate.
"Yes." I hammed up my reaction, smiling and nodding enthusiastically. "Can I have some more?"
Ludmila chuckled at my reaction, before giving me the answer I'd expected. "I'm sorry, little one. But we've got a long day ahead of us, and we can't spend it eating."
I frowned at the answer, but nodded and accepted it. "Ok."
Ludmila approached from behind me, and slowly pulled my chair back from the table as she spoke. "Come along now, I promised you that bath, didn't I?"
"Yes, I'd like that." I answered as I climbed off my chair, and let my handler walk me out of the dining room. The older woman gently holding my hand as she led me through the unfamiliar mansion.
"You'll love your new room. It's up on the top floor, and it has a big and comfy bed. You'll only have to share the room with one person too, rather than being bundled into a bunk room with a bunch of smelly boys." Ludmila said as we reached the dining room door, and she opened it with one hand. The heavy oak door swinging on well oiled hinges as she continued. "We'll take good care of you, don't you worry."
"It's all so nice. Like something out of a fairy tale. I…" I trailed off my act as we entered the main hall. I didn't want to go too overboard with my act, but at the same time, I didn't want to look ungrateful. So I took a second before looking up at Ludmila with a determined expression. "I won't make you regret choosing me!"
"Please, don't worry about that. You will become the best we can make you." Ludmila gave my hand a reassuring squeeze as she led me up the stairs, smiling as we went. "This place will become your home in no time."
I simply nodded at her, even as a small section of my mind filled in the rest. The part that Ludmila certainly wouldn't have added, but this whole situation practically screamed.
And if not. This place will become your tomb.