-The Answer: Rebuild-
italics: thoughts
regular font: dialogue
Day 1
The idea of bringing back the boy sent a chill down Aigis' mechanical equivalent of a spine. On one hand, he would be able to witness the peace that everyone had fought so hard for. On the other hand, things would be much different from the time when he was alive as a human. Aigis was also afraid, what if she would go too far, would he look at her in disgust? Would the others hate her for something so unnatural?
"I don't have the time to waste thinking about it," Aigis thought, "even if I were to be cast aside by our friends, I would find solace in knowing that he lives."
The thought made the mechanical maiden pause a little.
"Yes, just like before," the blonde recalled the beginning of her time with SEES, holding a hand to her ribbon, "I will stand at the sidelines once more if need be."
"Aigis!" Yukari's voice echoed a little from the lobby of the dorm, "We're gonna be late!"
"I'm coming," the Anti-Shadow Weapon replied as she did a mental double check of everything she needed.
Aigis quickly shuffled through the clutter that was her room, reaching for her schoolbag.
"End log," the girl said briefly as a small light blinked on her HUD.
Aigis decided that it was best to keep a personal record that she would review from time to time, in order to keep herself in check, as well as inform the others of what was going on in case the worst happened.
"I wonder if they would stop me should they find out," the blonde thought, "it would be best that I keep it a secret, at least until the project nears completion."
The mechanical maiden descended the stairwell and was greeted by her two friends.
"Morning Aigis," Fuuka said with a smile.
"It isn't like you to be up late," Yukari spoke with concern, "anything wrong?"
"No, I am alright," Aigis said sincerely, "though I am bothered a little by what I plan to do."
"If you say so," the brunette didn't push her friend further, but she shot her a look of concern.
"Do you guys have any exams coming up today?" the petite girl asked the other two.
"Ugh, don't remind me," Yukari groaned, "it's for my worst class too."
"No," the blonde said calmly, "but I do have a class presentation later."
"Yikes," Fuuka cringed, "school is starting to look worse than the Dark Hour."
The three shared a hearty laugh before they traveled towards their college.
-Later that Day-
The mechanical maiden had successfully given her presentation on the fine motor actions in robotics, although such a thing wasn't so difficult when she was in a class of seven students. Public speaking was not one of her strong suits and as such, she was grateful for the low population with an interest in mechanics. Most of her peers envied her dedication and a fair number of boys and some girls from other courses had taken notice of the foreign looking girl.
"I should continue with the 'project' now," Aigis thought as she headed to her workshop, "I wonder if Elizabeth needs additional preparations as well."
"Hey Aigis-san!" an unfamiliar boy struggled for air as he stopped in front of the girl.
"Do I know you?" the blonde raised an eyebrow.
"I-I'm one of Takeba-san's classmates, Anji", the boy fixed his round glasses.
"I see," Aigis said, giving a clueless tilt with her head, though she'd heard enough in the past to know what was coming next.
"Um, I was wondering..." Anji said rubbing the back of his head, "maybe you'd like to hang out sometime, y'know, j-just you and me."
"No,"the blonde said coldly.
The sound of breaking glass comically projected from the boy's chest as he fell to his knees.
"Gah," Anji was shocked at the heartless rejection.
"Thank you for offering though," Aigis smiled before leaving.
"Uh," the boy was dumbstruck before he could reply.
Aigis recalled how Yukari taught her to reject unwanted advances without totally crushing the spirit of men...and some women.
"Where do these keep men coming from?" the mechanical maiden pinched the bridge of her nose before walking away from the scene, "Would they still act the same if they knew what I really am?"
Making sure that she remained unseen, the blonde quickly arrived at a secluded area in the forest with an inconspicuous shed. This was the workshop, Kirijo sponsored of course, where Aigis could store her spare parts as well as make any modifications that needed to be made for her to act inconspicuously in her day to day life. Thinking back to what felt like a distant memory, Aigis stared at the feet she had constructed for herself, recalling when Yukari, Fuuka and Mitsuru had to teach her how human women walked when they fitted her with feet that had toes.
"I'll get started with these," the girl motioned for some spare hands and began making the necessary adjustments to ensure that they were his size, "his hands were always in those pockets so it would be hard to tell what they should look like if I were to plot growth for around three to four years."
A long time passed in the secluded storehouse.
-Later that evening-
"You're home late," Yukari raised an eyebrow, setting her book down, "you sure there's nothing you wanna talk about? We've all been through a lot together so don't forget we're still here to support you."
"I was at the workshop," Aigis replied honestly, just deciding to omit a few details, "I had a little free time so I decided to make a few adjustments. I'm overdue for a tune-up at the main lab after all."
Aigis knew that Fuuka was a big technophile based on what the green-haired girl did with Minato during their time together, so the blonde did allocate some of her efforts earlier that day to make her statement believable, in short, Aigis did not enjoy lying to her friends. Yukari simply studied Fuuka's response and once satisfied that Aigis wasn't really hiding anything, decided to drop her interrogation.
"I see," Takeba mentally scolded herself, sometimes she forgot that Aigis wasn't biologically human, "don't overwork yourself then, we're still heading off to Tokyo next month when Mitsuru-senpai has time off from the University."
"I'm looking forward to it, too," Fuuka's eyes shone like a child in a candy store, "I can hardly imagine heading out to a place bigger than Port Island, but I'm sure there's a lot of interesting things for us to do over there. I'm sure Akihiko-senpai and Ken, oh, and Koro-chan would be happy to see us too."
*Clink*
"Just some mobility issues I've been having," the blonde blurted out, a little embarrassed, as she flexed her arm with improved dexterity, "and I've managed to suppress some of the noise my movements make...most of the time. But, I'll have it sorted out before Tokyo."
"Wow, you're practically indistinguishable from humans now," the petite girl complimented.
Yukari threw a deathly glare at the girl, but Fuuka was far too engrossed in her conversation with the mechanical maiden, and Aigis hardly had the sense of self to take offense to that.
"Yes," Aigis smiled, "I guess this is what I could have accomplished if I were to shift my efforts for more peaceful purposes."
Aigis and Fuuka spent the next few hours talking about technology while Yukari lulled herself to sleep on the sofa...
"Hey, Yukari-chan is asleep," the technophile slowly looked at her wristwatch, "I can't believe we stayed up this late!"
"Your schedule tomorrow shows that you have an 8:00 class," Aigis scanned her records, "it would be best if we called it a night now."
"Right, could you help me bring Yukari-chan to the room Aigis?" Fuuka requested.
"Understood," the blonde carried her sleeping friend, bridal style and deposited her in her room on the second floor.
"G'night Aigis," the petite girl said sleepily.
"Good night you two," the mechanical maiden walked to her recharging station on the other end of the spacious dorm room.
"I have to thank Mitsuru-senpai for having R&D update my maintenance equipment to a more manageable size," Aigis thought as she gazed at her 'bed' which was considerably smaller than what she had back when the team was exploring Tartarus.
"I wonder if I'll see him in my dreams tonight," the blonde wondered before closing her eyes.
-End-
