The longer he had to stay in this area, the more Vent realized he hated being alone.
Guardian HQ had picked up a signal from a fragment of Model W, and being the more able bodied of him and Aile, Vent had gone to investigate with Model Z and Model X.
"How much further is the Model W fragment?" Vent asked into his headset to HQ.
"Not far from you." Aile declared from the other side. "According to the radar, it should be within five feet of you. You should be seeing it soon if you haven't seen it yet."
"Got it." Vent affirmed before closing the connection. Under his breath he added, "Not that it helps or anything..."
Vent…
"Did you hear that?" Vent asked to the Biometals. "I thought I heard something..."
'Ignore it.' Model Z immediately told him.
Vent…
"There it was again." the young man mumbled. He looked around for a moment before heading in the direction he thought he heard the voice.
Vent… I'm here Vent…
Vent had to dig around in some vines before uncovering what they had been looking for this entire time. A fragment of Model W sat there in the weeds and the mission said that it had to be destroyed immediately, but Vent hesitated.
'Vent, use the buster to destroy the fragment.' Model X gently reminded him. 'You know what our mission is, and you know how important it is.'
'We have no other business with this fragment anyway.' Model Z agreed. 'Get rid of it quickly before something bad happens.'
Ve-ent… Come closer…
To this day, Vent wasn't sure if he was following his own will as he moved closer to the Model W fragment. His hand reached out to it in curiosity and wonder.
'Vent, don't...!' Model X shouted a second too late as Vent touched the Model W fragment. A sudden shock of pain jolted through Vent's hand and to his heart, causing the young man to jump back screaming. The pain was too intense for him and without warning, Vent lost consciousness and hit the ground hard.
When he came to again, something seemed… off. Vent tried to move around to get a better understanding of where he was- it didn't take long for him to realize that he was clinging to something, like he was being carried.
"Are you up yet bug?" the voice of a female woman softly asked him as she put a hand on his back. "You have to walk when we get to Boss, you know?"
Vent, who had not quite registered that he was a lot smaller than usual, only nestled closer to the woman carrying him. Her clothes smelled a bit musty -like she had left them in the washer for too long before finally putting them in the dryer- but there was also a hint of a light lavender fragrance. Vent nuzzled even closer to catch a whiff of one other smell that hung on the woman's clothes. It was so familiar; it wasn't like motor oil, but it reminded him a bit of…
"Alrighty Vent, down you go." the woman said, moving him around so she could place him on the ground.
No! Vent bemoaned to himself as he resisted the motion. The woman was warm and the world was cold; pick me back up, pick me back up! But the woman insisted, and before he knew it Vent was standing on the ground looking up at the woman's lower torso. He only came up to her hips, after all.
"Mama..." Vent whined, trying to get the woman's attention to pick him up again. "Mama. Mama!"
"Oh come on Vent." the woman sighed despite letting out a small laugh. "You're a big kid now. You don't need me to carry you everywhere."
But Vent was insistent, still trying to climb back up the woman. With another laugh, the woman came down to his height and Vent was able to see the woman's face for the first time. The woman must have been in her late twenties, with light brown eyes that happily looked back at him. A few strands of her strawberry-pink hair covered her face, causing her to brush them out of the way to better look at the young child. She was so pretty that Vent absently placed his hands against her cheeks. This face… he knew it, didn't he? It was the face of… of…?
"Mama..." the child said with tears forming. He was pleading to her now, far more desperate than before. "Mama…!"
The woman only continued to smile at him. Oh how did he just now realize he needed to see that smile every day of his life?
"Come on Vent." Mama said to him. "Remember, we just need to see Boss and we'll get ice cream. We'll be done quickly. Promise."
Oh yes, that was right, maybe he could remember that. Yes, yes that was their promise because Mama had to see her Boss for… something. He couldn't remember that part, but he did remember the promise for ice cream. What kid wouldn't?
Finally, begrudgingly, Vent tried to gather himself up and when he was ready, gave Mama a small nod. With one last smile, Mama stood back up and offered her hand for Vent to take. Vent took her hand and together they walked forward to Mama's boss.
Upon seeing him, Vent decided that he did not like Mama's boss. He was an older guy that needed a cane to walk. His hair was graying and stringy, and his eyes were a weird color. It almost looked… red? Mama's boss immediately smiled after seeing her, seemingly not noticing Vent at all.
"Ah Aero," Mama's boss warmly greeted as he started to move away from his desk, "I've been expecting you!"
"How am I not surprised?" Mama teased with a little roll of her eyes. "Oh, I brought Vent with me. I think you've met before."
Mama's boss stopped short when he was just a few steps away from them, his eyes directly glaring at Vent with a hatred the child could certainly feel.
"Ah yes… Vent..." Mama's boss agreed. He all but spat Vent's name out like it disgusted him. This attitude seemed to disappear when Mama's boss turned to look at Mama. "There was another, isn't there?"
"Aile is safe." Mama agreed, giving her boss a charming smile but not going any further than that.
"We are not safe, Aero." Mama's boss argued. His voice was low and dark. "They are monsters; creatures to be abused for worse damage."
Mama's face darkened as well, her hand -still slipped into Vent's- held the child's hand tightly. "They are my children."
"They are monsters."
Mama was losing her patience with her boss. Oh how she hated him now. She was getting so mad that her body was radiating with a bright glow- her hand had gotten so hot that Vent had to pull his hand out of hers in fear of being burned. Vent backed away from Mama, looking up at her with a different fear now. Mama… wasn't Mama anymore, but she still was. The color on her body was gone and her outfit was now a long dress that disappeared into the air once it touched the ground. Mama was even prettier now, but at the same time she had become very, very dangerous.
"I will take care of them for you Aero." Mama's boss insisted. Any semblance he had to an old man was gone- Mama's boss looked like a monster that had been trapped in a robotic shell for years and he seemed almost more terrifying that Mama.
Vent was in so much shock that all he could do was start to back away.
"They will be mine Aero!" Mama's boss insisted.
"You will NEVER hurt MY children!" Mama screamed, her body glowing even brighter.
"Enough!" Mama's boss screamed. In a single motion he threw his hand out to Mama, a strange energy coming out from his hand that circled Mama. What made Vent turn around and run away was the sound of Mama's terrified scream as her boss took over her body.
Vent didn't know where he was running to, he just knew that he needed to get away from the sound of Mama's screams. But it didn't matter where he went or how far he thought he was from Mama, he could still hear her scream in pain and anger with each step he took. Mama was abused. Mama's body was never hers. Mama could never trust anyone after he betrayed her…
"Vent."
The boy immediately stopped running and looked around him. Mama's screams had seemed to stop, but in the distance was a figure in red armor. The figure didn't seem to go anywhere, instead standing there with his hands folded in front of him. The figure dressed in red had long blonde hair that seemed to blow in a breeze that didn't exist. It was waiting for him- it was helping to ground him from his fears.
"Vent." the figure called out again. "Come here."
Giving a small nod, Vent did as he was told and walked toward the red figure. This person was much taller than Mama and up close was even more intimidating. Perhaps in knowing this, the figure got down on one knee, closer to Vent's height. Vent stood meekly in front of this person. He knew this person too, didn't he?
"Do you know who I am?" the person asked him, as if reading his mind. Vent thought about it for a moment before giving a small shake of his head.
"I was afraid of that." the red armored person said with an annoyed sigh. He cleared his throat a bit before saying to Vent, "My name is Zero. And your name is Vent, right?"
Vent nodded. He knew his own name, at least. He wasn't that stupid.
"Do you know how old you are Vent?" Zero then asked. This made Vent recoil a bit. How old was he? Carefully and unsure of himself, Vent held up six fingers but reconsidered before holding up all ten.
Zero gave an amused snort. "Nice try kid." he mused. "Try sixteen."
Sixteen? There was no way he was…
A sudden sharp pain to his head made Vent flinch and hold his head in self defense. It hurt… The pain just hurt so much…
"Vent." Zero softly said, putting a hand on Vent's shoulder, snapping the boy out of the moment of pain. Vent looked up at Zero confused and disoriented.
"Breathe." Zero then reminded the boy. With a nod, Vent did so and did clear a bit of his head in the process.
"Mama..." Vent muttered, not meaning to say that word in particular but seemed to be the only one he could say at the moment. Zero seemed to know what he was saying though.
"You're right. This is a dream." he affirmed. "A direct action of you touching that piece of Model W."
"Mama..."
"And I'm sure you've learned your lesson." Zero huffed. "Next time something calls out to you: Don't. Touch. It. Geez, you never do listen to anyone, do you?"
Vent looked down, ashamed. Zero let out a sigh.
"Look, you can get out of this nightmare." Zero told the boy. "But it'll take some effort. Model W likes to play mind games, and it's going to take more than a bit of brain power to beat it. You'll need to concentrate Vent: there are people calling out to you right now, but Model W has you so roped up that you can't hear them. I can open a very faint path for you, but it will be your effort to beat Model W. Got it?"
Vent looked back up at Zero and gave a small nod. Zero gave a stern nod of his own before getting up.
"Alright Vent. Concentrate, and listen."
The boy straightened his back and closed his eyes. He strained his ears to hear through the dead silence. It seemed to take forever, but he could hear it: voices, and familiar ones at that.
"Come on kid, you can do it!" one voice (Model F?) demanded.
"You can do it Vent!" another voice (definitely Model L) cheered on.
"You're stronger than this Vent," a third voice (oh, that was Model P!) chimed in. "Push past the illusions..."
"Vent," a fourth voice (big brother Model H, who else?) called out in a concerned but kind way, "Listen for Aile. She needs you far more than we do."
Aile? Where was Aile? Vent struggled as he tried to push past the darkness to hear her. It was faint, but she was there.
"Come on, wake up." Aile mumbled, too worried to let out anything more than a whisper. "You stupid idiot. Prairie hasn't even been gone for a year and you've done the most stupid thing you ever could have done. Urg, Vent, so help me if you don't die, I'm..."
"You're going to kill me?" Vent replied as he opened his eyes. He was greeted with the blinking white light of the infirmary room but a smile held proudly on his face.
"Get that smirk off your face!" Aile demanded, snatching a pillow from behind him and starting to rapidly hit him upside the head with it. "You nearly gave everyone a heart attack!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Vent hollered as Aile continued to whack him. "I won't touch another piece of Model W as long as I live, just stop hitting me! Ow! Ow!"
"Enough!" Muguet called out. "Enough!"
Aile slowly ceased hitting Vent- getting a good look at her now, Vent now realized that she had tears coming down her cheeks. He felt bad for her, he'd have to make this up somehow on a future date.
"If you've had enough whacking the stuffing out of my pillow," Muguet then declared, casting Aile an accusatory glare, "I need to take Vent's vitals to make sure there isn't any lasting damage from his contact with Model W. Now shoo."
"Fine." Aile grumbled, tossing the pillow back on the bed before gathering the Biometals.
"Wait!" Vent declared. Both Aile and the Biometals paused and looked at him.
"I, um, I wanted to tell Model Z thanks." Vent told them, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't know how he did it, but he helped bring me back."
A silence fell upon the room on hearing this, the humans in particular looking at the mentioned Biometal.
'Model Z…?' Model X finally spoke up. 'You…?'
'It was nothing the kid couldn't already handle.' the red Biometal huffed. 'I don't see what the big deal is.'
"Don't say that!" Vent declared, "You helped me see the truth when I was running around like a dumb kid!"
"You are a dumb kid." Aile snorted. But Vent shrugged her off; she didn't see what he had so she couldn't relate at the moment.
"And Model Z," Vent then asked, "I do have one question."
'And what would that be?' the Biometal replied.
Vent paused for a moment, phrasing his question in his head a few times before deciding on, "Did you mean to look so much like Giro?"