Girl in a Bottle

*On a suffocatingly hot and humid summer afternoon, a suspicious package lies in the apartment corridor. Hot air blasts from the air conditioning unit, and cicadas screech loudly outside. The sound of children's laughter echoes down the corridor as they run with ice cream.

The box seems strangely out of place in this ordinary scene. Several red stickers are attached to the box: 'WARNING - DANGER' And 'HANDLE WITH CARE' When shaken, a tinkling sound comes from inside.

Opening the box reveals a crystal-like glass bottle nestled between thick padding. The bottle appears to be sophisticated laboratory equipment, distinctly different from ordinary glassware with its thick walls and specially coated surface.

Inside the bottle is a small girl, curled up. Her black hair covers her pale face, but a glimpse of her expression reveals pure terror. The young girl, barely 30cm tall, hugs her knees to her chest. Only the sound of her tiny hands tapping against the glass wall breaks the silence.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The tiny girl inside the bottle expresses fear with her entire body, like a newborn. She trembles at unfamiliar sounds, with only meaningless sounds escaping her lips

"Ngh.. ahh..?"*

In the cold glass container, black hair waves like ripples in a transparent, amniotic fluid-like liquid. At the center of this laboratory, a 30cm cultivation chamber stands, connected by countless wires and tubes, embodying the pinnacle of cutting-edge science. The fluorescent lights reflect off the glass surface, creating an ethereal blue glow.

Inside the 30cm chamber, the tiny being's fingers twitch ever so slightly, reminiscent of a fetus stirring in the womb. The surrounding machines continuously emit beeping sounds, recording vital signs.

The monitor displays stable bio-signals in green lines. Heartbeat, brain waves, respiration... all readings are normal. Years of research have finally come to fruition as the artificial life project succeeds.

A small movement occurs in the liquid, and the girl's eyelids slowly open. Amber eyes gaze through the glass. Those eyes hold both the pure fear unique to newly born life and an instinctive curiosity about the world.

Through the bubbles in the culture medium, tiny fingers reach toward the glass wall, as if waiting for someone's touch. The dim laboratory lights cast dancing shadows across her pale skin, making her seem almost ethereal in the bluish glow.