Aradia/Gamzee
Between her time powers and her electronic brain, when Aradia sees Gamzee, she does not see a troll, but a myriad of possibilities which need to be kept in check. He dooms her more times than she can count – he runs out of sopor, he dies, he steps in the wrong place at the wrong time. The others, they listen when she informs them what must happen to ensure a proper timeline. He requires a more hands on approach.
She isn't the alpha Aradia; hasn't been since the timeline where he killed Karkat and Terezi. It was an ugly sight, though she didn't particularly mind. Simply an annoyance – another loose thread to tie up. She warped back and made sure he got his sopor.
As such, she is well aware she's doomed, but as a robot, this is just a fact to her, not something to be lamented. Her programming attempts to pull her forward in time to meet her end in the final battle, but she hangs around him, managing his steps as best she can without drawing attention to herself. Paradox space allows this, she decides, since it would prefer fewer doomed timelines as well. So long as she babysits, she can continue to function.
And function she does. She destroys the enemies around him, leaving him only with piles of grist to collect. She keeps the sopor nearby so that he doesn't reach his highblood potential until it is the proper time for it. It is an orchestrated plan that goes perfectly for hours, even though she knows it is doomed to fail.
She can't stay this way forever.
It's one of the big imps that does it; he waves it over with one of his juggling clubs, and it waves back with a massive claw to his temple. Her first thought is to go back in time and stop it from happening, but timelines run through her circuits, and she knows what feels right.
She kills the imp, first. That takes no time. Then she lifts his broken body.
She takes pause, here, and she looks down at the mangled body of the troll she's spent her remaining hours protecting from himself. An odd feeling overcomes her, not unlike the sensation installed in that chip, and she's frozen in time for just that moment, overwhelmed with something she would almost label "fondness."
But the moment passes and duty possess her programming again. She carries him to his quest bed, and watches dutifully as his body rises in a pillar of light. And finally, that tug to the future takes hold, and she is watching the final battle.
He's there, too, still alive, and though he looks no different, she knows. She sees him swing his clubs with purpose before the Black King destroys her.
She almost feels proud.
Homestuck is property of Andrew Hussie.
