My name is Allison.

No, I'm not Agent Texas. I'm not the Beta AI.

I'm not even the original A2-Grey AI.

I'm Allison Grey, Allison Church: Special Operative of the Atlesian Military.

Declared KIA after a mission went sour, really sour, 'round thirteen or fourteen years back.

I was born in the village of Texas, Vacuo. My momma died when I was really small, so Dad and the other people in the village raised me and raised me right. The lessons they taught me and the skills they forged in me stayed with me and aided me every day of my life.

Wit.

Strength.

Accuracy.

Power.

Speed.

Calm.

No surrender.

No weakness.

No looking back.

No regrets.

And...

Don't fuck with Texas.

When I was young, my father and some men from around the town saw me take an old BB-gun and shoot a young Nevermore between the eyes, and from that day on: they were all training me to be a Huntress, to do our village proud. I became stronger, faster, and stubborn as Hell, and I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I would fight for what I thought was right, regardless of what people thought of me.

I was influenced by my favorite story: The Soldier.

When I was fifteen, I was visiting a larger town called Carolina near a large SDC mine (back when Nicholas was in charge and everyone was happy to have the mine there) with my father, and the Grimm attacked. No one knows how or why, just that they were trying to get to the mine but they were weak from crossing the desert.

But that didn't mean that they weren't dangerous.

Before anyone could stop me, I had my gun loaded and I blew a Gryphon's brains out. I reloaded and fired again, I kept firing and killing, right alongside the real Huntsmen and Huntresses who came to help. But it was I who shot first, it was I who bought time for them to get there, it was I who killed the most.

Word of what I had done spread, and one day when I was sixteen, I answered the door to find a man dressed in white, grey, silver, and red. It was General Winston Steel of the Atlesian Military, the headmaster of Atlas Academy. I just stared as he placed the acceptance letter into my hand, saying that the forges of Atlas would be at my disposal for me to forge my customized weapon and that I'd be expected at Atlas for initiation in the spring.

So, I said see you later to my Dad and the village, hopped on the general's airship, and flew to Atlas. I attended Atlas Academy for four years, graduating at age twenty, and I was given the option of joining the military as a special operative. I was a prodigy, General Steel said it himself. I didn't need the military to survive and thrive, I was a fully-fledged Huntress. But that day, I couldn't stop hearing Dad's voice when he told me my favorite fairytale.

The Soldier.

So, I agreed to join the Atlesian Military, and Special Operative Allison Grey was born.

I served Atlas for seven whole years before I walked into that bar. I'm not sure why I did it, maybe it was the stress of having a rookie who would someday be my partner and best friend placed under my wing, his life in my hands. But all the same, I walked into that bar, sat down, and ordered a drink.

The young man sitting next to me, due to the shirt I was wearing, noticed my star tattoo and said it was nice. The bartender tried to tell him off, saying that a woman who looked like me wouldn't give him the time of day. I guess I turned to the man to spite him, and... Well...

That's how I met Leonard Church.

He was a college man, a prodigy in his own world. Computer programming, technology, design. As he spoke to me, I found myself drawn in and fascinated by his passion and dreams of creating stable AI. Three years after that night, we were married. A year after that, I was a mother.

Carolina Charlotte Church.

I doted on my daughter. She was my moon, my sun, my stars. My beautiful little baby girl. I cherished every moment I spent with her and Leonard. But after maternity leave, I was back in the military, and I spent less and less time with them. They lived at my base, but I was sent all over the world. As Carolina got a little older, she began asking why I never said goodbye, and I answered her.

"Never say goodbye. If you never say goodbye, then you aren't really gone. You just... Aren't here, right now."

When Carolina was four, I was on a weeklong leave at base. I spent every minute with her, and Leonard, and my partner. But then, we recieved word of a strange gathering of Grimm outside of Mantle, and my partner and I were sent with the reinforcements to help eliminate the threat.

He and I somehow ended up alone in the middle of the Grimm horde, the other soldiers fighting on the outskirts to get to us. I don't remember much of the next to days of nonstop fighting, just that some strange instinct, the instinct to survive and protect, took over and shut out every lesson that I'd ever been taught. People who witnessed me that day would say that I fought like, or even became, an animal. Desperate to live, to escape, to win, to get home.

But this story doesn't have a happy ending.

Did I ever assure you of one?

I remember seeing that Emperor Taijitu slither up. It was huge, and my partner tried to fight it alone to protect me, since at that point, I was exhausted. I could barely stand, the terror alone nearly toppled me...

But my knees stopped shaking as I watched that monster bite my partner, and infect his right side with its venom. He fell, and I already knew that we didn't have much time. There were still dozens of smaller Grimm, and that monster. The other soldiers were close, but they weren't close enough.

Someone needed to buy time.

I raised my gun, then removed all of the Dust-cartridges and placed them on my belt. I had a pack of matches in my back pocket, and the monster had noticed me as I walked to stand between it and my partner.

"A-Allie, what are you-?"

"You get out of this, kid. You get out of this, and you take care of Carolina and Leonard! Promise me!"

"A-Allie..? Allison, no!"

I remember my life flashing before my eyes as I ran forward, dodging the beast as it lunged before jumping onto its coils as it reared its head back, fueled by adrenaline as it willingly lunged at its own body just so that it could get to me. I drew a match and lit it, lowering it to my belt just as the beast's jaws snapped around me..

I saw a burst of color, every color in the rainbow, then everything went black.

I always liked black more than color, the darkness was sweet and soothing.

I drifted off to sleep...

And I never woke up.

They never found my body.

They had nothing left of me, save my dogtags. My partner gave them to Carolina, who was still wearing my last gift to her: my grey military cap.

Leonard lost it. He created that horrible experiment, Project Freelancer, to try and bring me back. He even used Carolina, our baby, in his coverup. All of those fifty children, the Alpha AI and his many fragments, A2-Grey, Beta: they all suffered. Because of me.

Does that mean that I regret what I did? No, not at all. My partner... He has become a great man despite the many burdens of his past. And with the knowledge he has from his mistakes, not to mention an alliance he has joined, he is going to change the world for the better. And when he finally learns the truth of Project Freelancer, I know that he will find Carolina and protect her.

After all, he promised. He's her godfather, after all...

What's that, now?

What do I think of A2-Grey and Beta? Of Alpha, Epsilon, and the rest?

Alpha was, by all definitions, the Leonard Church I married. Youthful, naïve, optimistic, intelligent. Maybe a little too snarky and sarcastic, but hey: it's what made him Church... He suffered needlessly. I will never forgive Leonard for what he did to me, and more so: what he did to himself.

As for Eta, Iota, Omega, Delta, Gamma, Theta, Epsilon, and any other AI fragments that may have been created, I don't blame them for what happened to Alpha. They, like Alpha, were like little children. Terrified, thrown into a world of pain and confusion to be used, like Carolina...

A2-Grey was a collection of data, all of Church's memories and knowledge of me given form and the ability to think. Church typed out the details in a computer and pulled the Frankenstein switch, and she came to life and panicked. It wasn't her fault, it was his, and he just locked her away. She must have been so frightened... I hope that, someday, someone rescues her and either gives her permenant rest or a purpose. If she's like me, she's driven. Being trapped and weak would be torture.

Beta intrigues me, in all honesty. Her time in Project Freelancer, her time on the run as Agent Texas, her time at Beacon, and her current state have all captivated my attention. Somehow, the Alpha made her in such a way that she embodies me and remembers our old life, but she's her own person. She lives, she fights, she loves, she desires... I feel as though I have two daughters, her and Carolina.

Oh, Carolina. Your life with Project Freelancer, trying to make a broken man appreciate what he hadn't lost yet and protect those around you, has worn you down. But, at least, you're not alone, anymore. Epsilon, the Simulation Troopers, and that cute little Agent Washington boy (*wink*) will look out for you, and through them, you will find Beta. Your family will grow and grow...

Just promise me this one thing, baby.

I wasn't much of a mother, so I know I have no right to ask anything do you. But please, my star: listen to this one bit of advice that this old soldier has left to offer.

Once you find them, hold them close. Protect them, never let go, and...

Never say 'goodbye'.

...

Goodbye.