Pentober 2026 - Day 22: Child

Ok so, what is Pentober? Promptober? It's a writing tradition that's been around the web for a while where you write up a short story every day in October based on prompts. Some go for pen and paper, some digital; everyone has their own style. I'll be posting here, and I'll be using the prompts from https://www.topinfiction.com/p/pentober-2026

House rules are that I vomit-write the story; no planning, just taka taka taka on the keys. I get ONE edit at the end of the draft (if I even have time, lol), then we post it. House rules also say that I get to play catch up and do multiple days separately on one day or combined if work gets wild and I can't write. Get it? Got it? Good! Here we go.

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There was something off about the kid. It was something in the way they moved, stiff and stuttering while somehow floaty. That's what made DAF, the Department of Accelerated Futures, oft referred to as "the Firm", pick the kid up off the streets and off the grip when he popped up around Issaquah at the end of a strange trail of aberant stories.

The kid wasn't moving now. They were sat to a chair, wired up to sensors, and staring directly at Agents Mike and Michael despite being concealed behind one-way glass. The kid had one eye on each of them. Mike figured it was painful. Mike was new here.

"What's this test for?" Mike asked Michael.

"Patience. Endurance. And for alterations in their biometrics," Michael responded.

"To seeeeeee...?"

"If it's human and, if not, maybe what it is."

"How long does the test go on for?"

"Long as it needs. We're on day 5."

"And...results?"

"No changes. Hasn't eaten or drank anything."

"Is that...normal?"

"Not even a little. Even a demon would have ticked a sulfur alarm by now."

"So weee..."

"Wait. More coffee?"