Sofia's pov

I was still in my dad's arms, trying to sleep of this nightmare. I knew what those walking dead particles were. I had to create a whole thesis on it. That also meant that my dad was going to die in less than a week , unless he either removed the shards or got a permanent way to keep them away from his body. Either way, it would have serious repurcussions on his body.

I was still deep in thought when the gang who kidnapped me and my dad, barged inside the dingy room.

"Get up! Get up! " Yinsen, the kind man who saved my dad , said. "Do as I say".

Then we put our hands behind our head, and looked at the assailants warily. The same man who had backhanded me, and made me forcefully go into a unconscious state for a whole ten minutes, the one who is responsible for all this torture to me and my dad and Yinsen. He was here, and he was the leader.

Obviously.

But he wasn't the one talking. Another man was, maybe a henchman of the bald man? He was asking dad to make the Jericho missile, the one I was so adamant against to be built.

Obie said it would keep our troops safe from the war, and I just wanted the war to end, so I ended up agreeing and helping in. Although dad would never admit it, the idea , the whole concept of the missile came from me, when I jokingly said why not hit them all whilst sitting inside out comfy homes?

That gave him the idea of self aiming missiles installed inside the big one, which could easily take down numerous threats without us even blinking an eye. But the idea that so many lives could be on my hands , that itself made me protest against it building.

But since i'm a child, I didn't have any power, same as in this cave. I could give as many ideas I want, but at the end of the day, as a mere child my ideas, my being could be exploited , and I couldn't raise my voice against it .

Dad smiled, looked at me for a second and said , "Well, I refuse."

That's when the real torture began..

-------------

The water. One thing I was so fond of earlier, became my new enemy in the next hour. In a row , my head, was pushed harshly inside the bucket of hot water, the water stinging the cuts already present from the fight before, and as soon as I was giving up due to lack of oxygen I was pulled back up. As I was greedily taking in a few breathes of oxygen, was when they again plunged me inside the water.

Water rushed inside my mouth, my ear, my nose. I didn't know when I started crying, and I didn't know when my body started shutting down due to lack of oxygen.

But the last thing I did hear was dad , defeated and surrendering.

"NO! Don't hurt her! I'll do whatever you ask, just don't hurt my daughter! Please!"

**********

Construction is the first thing that comes to mind as I wake up. I sleepily rub my eyes, and try to take in my surroundings. With a saddened heart, I realise that Dad was going to make the missile, probably even halfway done. The thinking part, the time taken to come up with the ideas is long, but the building of it is quite simple. Well, for dad and me that is.

It seems Yinsen and Dad had bonded over, as they were now in harmony as they constructed something. It wasn't a Jericho missile, that much I was sure of. He had taken out the Palladium from one of his other missiles, one of the elements most toxic to human body.

What I didn't understand was why though? He needed that element for making the missile, it was one of the key components of it, and he was taking it out from the component it was supposed to be put in? Suddenly as though my heart knew it, a sliver of hope grew in me, he was planning something.

"Daddy, why are you taking the Pd out?" I still voiced out.

"You know I'd be more productive if you included me in the planning process?" Yinsen asked just after me.

Apparently dad was so transfixed on taking the Palladium out that he didn't glance at him or even me.

"Uh huh."

"What's that?" Yinsen voiced out.

"Palladium." Both me and dad answered.

He looked at me with a tired smirk, as if trying to apologise for the situation at hand, but to show that it wasnt his fault I came up to him and hugged him from the back. He rubbed my head with his free hand as he explained it to our new friend.

"That's 0.15 gram . We need atleast 1.6 so you better go down and break the others. "

As Yinsen started his work, Dad gave me the instructions to create a container for the molten palladium. As soon as that was done, we started heating the palladium to its melting point, right where we wanted it.

"Careful, careful baby. We only get one shot at this." He looked at me worriedly as I handled the container with ease. After dissection of various gross species, this is a piece of cake .

"Relax daddy. I got steady hands. "

"Why do you think you are still alive huh?" Yinsen also supported me.

"Thanks Yinnie!" I called out as I carefully poured the substance in the new container.

Soon after Dad went to work. He slowly explained to me in pieces what he had in mind, so as per his instructions, I went on to draw out the designs. It was an impressive plan, and I'm pretty sure no one else in the world could have thought of it.

Soon, as the mini Arc reactor dad created came into existence, my plans were also complete.

I was soon peering into the arc reactor dad had created as Yinsen came on his other side.

"That doesn't look like a Jericho missile. " He commented.

"Thats because It's a miniature arc reactor, a big one is powering my factory at home."

"But what could it generate?"

"If my maths is right, which it usually is, it could generate 3 kilojoules per second. " I called out cheekily, knowing that dad was actually the one who did the whole calculations.

"Har har. Very funny honey." He called out.

"But that could run your heart for a fifty lifetimes." Yinsen pointed out, slightly concerned for his new friend, I hope.

"Or something big for about fifteen minutes."

That was my cue to present the beautiful plans I had made in half an hour.

"That is impressive. " Yinsen agreed as I smiled in pride. Dad patted me on the back as we started making the suit which would eventually free us from these tyrants.

*****