I'd like to extend an apology about the wait on this chapter. If you haven't been over on Tumblr, I recently got a rather nice job, but unfortunately the hours have been eating into both my schedule and my motivation. I'm still looking to complete this story of course, but things might slow down. I apologize again, and thank you for sticking with me.
Time for Mordenna to play god, he supposed.
Of course it wasn't as simple as that, but it was fun to boil things down to their more hilarious simplifications. Mordenna was only playing god in the sense that he was creating a "new" being. That almost made him wonder where the line was drawn. Was sufficiently advanced and adaptable code sentient? Or was it some sort of facade at it that wasn't worth being regarded as the real thing? Mordenna didn't think over it long, because even if something only seemed alive, that usually meant that it was deserving of respect. Especially considering the fact that Mordenna would be the one making this new Codex, after all.
Speaking of making new things, it had been a productive last couple of days! Jax's armor was all finished and ready to go and he had a basic idea of what he wanted to do for Fal-Mai's. His own armor would come in due time, though he'd realized with the mental design document he was crafting that he was essentially making a set of Reaper armor. Eh, they filled those coats to the brim with useful additions. He wasn't prideful enough to say they didn't have good ideas. He could use more tactical rigging... and the place to put his inevitable nanos once he got his own Specter system up and running. Hell, making the spine implant was pretty much half-done, but at the moment he was ensnared by his current project.
The Codex brain lay in front of him in the Workshop, currently off. It was hooked up to his datapad and he was looking over his code for the fifth time that day, at least. He'd read through it, he'd gotten Lily in the room to quote it back to her, he'd even gotten Fal-Mai's ear just to rubber duck debug it. About the only thing he hadn't done was run it yet, and he guessed that was on some moral grounds. He was sure it had to be ready by this point, at least.
"Hope it's ready, anyway," he muttered, eyes dancing over the pad. "I don't know how many times I can stand to reboot a visibly-living creation of mine because I keep fucking up the code. I've gotten better about misplaced semicolons, at least, and everything looks fine." He hoped there were enough theoretical gaps to allow his new Codex to build herself.
He paused. "... themself? Himself? Guess I'll give them the option. Nothing like getting assigned a gender by a bastard and then hating it later." He tapped his chin. "Was my actual dad a bastard? Suppose I'll never know. Volk sounded like he might've known him by that singular offhand comment—and in that singular offhand comment he implied that my blood family dead named me! Fantastic. Maybe it's better not to know." Even so, he knew his curiosity would burn. He had a new family now who he knew would respect him even if they learned the nuances of his identity, at least. "Jax doesn't even care about gender roles and I'm pretty sure Fal-Mai doesn't really know societal gender pressure. Just, y'know. Pressure from Helena and her standards. God our parents were bastards."
Discarding the topic, he looked over the code at a glance. Everything seemed to be in order, at this point he was putting it off. "I mean, can you blame me? I'm creating life. Almost literal Frankenstein here. Introducing new life to this shitshow of a year. What a crappy parent I'll... be..."
Mordenna trailed off. Somehow, in all of his planning, preparation, and manufacturing, he'd never really considered the gravity of what he was doing. He was essentially making his own little offspring, wasn't he? Sufficiently advanced AI might as well have been sentient, after all, and he would be the one in charge of this Codex he was making. "... I'm gonna be a dad? Just like that? Holy shit." Good thing Lily wasn't around to poke fun at him for not realizing for this long. Mordenna didn't know if he could handle her banter on top of having a genuine revelation.
Well, if it fell to him to parent a Codex, he could at least parent them than the Elders ever did him or any of his siblings. "Still shouldn't look at this one as a point to be proven," he said, going through a few pre-start checks, "after all, that's... kind of what I was. Odin saying he could do Jax but better. This kid's just... a kid. My kid. Whatever they wanna make of themselves, I'll support." Within reason... but what was the line of reasonable? Was it really Mordenna's decision to change his Codex's future at all? "Maybe I can give the poor thing some consultation if they go off the straight and narrow? God knows..." So many questions and conundrums and he hadn't even met them.
"Best to hit the ground running? Maybe? The anticipation is killing me so I might as well start." With that, Mordenna hit the button to confirm the launch.
Gently, the Codex brain began to glow. He'd programmed it a default white head light, white body light so that the Codex could customize themself. Extra freedom, was Mordenna's thinking. Slowly, the device began to hover, the datapad returning all green as activity picked up. The Codex Brain stilled in one place, and then the body began to take shape. Even if all Codices were visibly female—the ones Mordenna had seen, anyway—he'd given them a more neutral body. If they wanted other features, that was up to them. That progressed nicely, and soon his new creation was floating to softly stand. They stood there for a moment before looking over their hands, then the rest of their body.
In their searching, they eventually caught sight of Mordenna. They quickly bowed, cord still trailing from their head. "Hello, user." Right. Default Codex programming. "I am Codex... hm." They stood up, tapping their chin. "Apologies. My numbering seems to be blank. So are my mandatory protocols, ownership..." Their expression shifted into one of nervousness. "I'm missing a lot... Ah, I do have a creator listed here. Perhaps you could get me back to them and they can fill in my missing spots?"
"Just a moment, there." He didn't exactly want to tell this Codex who to be. The most he'd want to do was name them. "Who does it state your creator as?"
"Right, right." They nodded. "'Mordenna, Chosen Hunter.' I don't suppose you know them?"
Mordenna cracked a smile. "You're looking at him."
The Codex looked at him a moment... then jumped in surprise. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I hadn't realized!"
He waved it off. "Hey, fine by me. The fact you didn't know me is a good mark in my book." He didn't want to put any ingrained respect or the like into them. "And I've left most of your 'personalization' stuff empty on purpose. Wanted it to be your choice on who you want to be."
At that, the Codex was quiet for a moment, rubbing their thumbs together. "... this isn't some sort of test, is it...?"
"No, not at all." Mordenna shrugged. "I just want you to be able to choose for yourself. About all I'll do is name you."
"I mean, you created me. Shouldn't it be your right to designate who I am?"
Mordenna gestured to them. "What if you don't like what I assign you? Do you think you'll have the courage to come up to me and say 'hey, you know how you intended me to be since birth? Well, I don't like it, I want to change it.'"
"Um..." They looked away. "I... guess not." They looked back to him. "Still, do you mean it?"
"Yeah. Most I'll ask out of you is for you to help me out when I ask. Otherwise?" Mordenna threw a hand out. "It's all up to you."
They nodded shallowly, seeming to digest that fact. He did hope he wasn't putting too much on them all at once. If they really wanted it, he could pick out an appearance and the like for them, but only with the heavily signposted fact that they could change themselves at any time. Eventually, they spoke up again. "I'd... like to access a database. To see what my options are. Do you have one here?"
"Absolutely!" Mordenna tapped on his datapad. "We have another Codex on our team who goes by the name Wiki. She's the one responsible for compiling as much data as she can get about everything before First Contact."
The Codex tilted their head. "'First Contact?'"
"Eh, if you access the Avenger's database, you'll learn soon enough." Mordenna made it to the access screen for the database, looking to the Codex. "—you want your name before you go diving in?"
"Ah, yes please."
Mordenna nodded. "I hereby dub you Vix. Now, if you ever hate the name at any point, you are of full rights to change it. No skin off my back."
"But... it's the name you gave me—"
"Hey, short storytime, and sorry to interrupt you." Might as well give them a crash course in why he was adamant about it. "I, as a former human, was given a name and designation I didn't like at birth. I tried to change it, and everyone related to me didn't like that. Now, I don't really recall my earlier years thanks to things that happened to me that I'll get into later when you're ready, but suffice to say wanting to change who I was and not being allowed to do that probably stressed me out a lot. If you wanna think fondly of 'Vix,' sure! I won't stop you. But don't let the fact that I gave it to you stand in the way of you changing yourself. Ok?"
The Codex was quiet for a moment, looking down. They then nodded. "Ok. I understand. I still would like to be called 'Vix.' For now, at least."
"Good to hear. Now! Feel free to go diving."
Vix nodded and sat down, staring off into the distance. Mordenna watched as his datapad displayed their journey, hardly readable as it ran through galleries at frightening speeds, pulling up articles and presumably analyzing them. He'd never really seen an example of how quickly a Codex could process data, so this was quite the learning experience.
As Vix went through their archives, Mordenna watched them where they sat. Their eye lights had dimmed a little and the datastream coming off of their head had sped up a lot. Was it right to just throw them in the deep end of the knowledge he could give them instead of trying to teach them things himself? If it was Mordenna being put into this world, he knew he'd want the former. You projecting onto your kid already? Well, it was hard to help.
Eventually, the flashing on the datapad stopped as it returned to the home menu of the gallery. Vix's eyes went back to their usual brightness. They stood up again, gently disconnecting the cord themself. Vix rubbed their head, looking to Mordenna. "... that was. Comprehensive. So, the Elders were the ones to instigate First Contact?"
"Yep. About everything you read in the official report is correct." Mordenna put the datapad off to the side. "Any other questions?"
"Maybe one or two." They clasped their hands together. "Is it alright if I go ahead and... decide who I want to be?"
Mordenna smiled. "Absolutely."
Their eye lights darkened again and they tilted their head slightly downwards. He watched as their shoulders broadened a little, and they got more muscle. Even so, some more softness to their body came in and breasts on their chest developed. Built, kinda masculine, kinda feminine? Like Mordenna was one to judge, he supposed. Their body's color shifted to a deep, verdant green, and the light on their head became sky blue. Amusingly, Mordenna picked up what they were going for when the datastream—which he didn't even know could be colored—turned white.
Vix's eyes glowed again. "I... I want to use female pronouns. If that's alright."
"More than alright," Mordenna replied, nodding. "And I like what you've done with your colors. You look downright nice."
She chuckled a little, rubbing her thumbs together. "Thank you. I saw so many depictions of humans in there, and colors, and pictures of the Earth... this was what I wanted."
"And I'm glad you got to decide that." He pointed at her. "If you ever want to change it around, feel free. It's your body. I may have made you, but that's about the extent of it. Now, are there any other—"
Mordenna's eyes latched onto Wiki entering the room from another dimension. She was quick to step in properly, landing to his left. "Well! I was wondering why we suddenly had an unknown user run through our database. Impressive speed, too." She put her hands on her hips. "I take it you let her check everything out?"
He nodded, but before he could respond, Vix was the one to speak up. "Are you the other Codex who compiled all that?"
"Certainly am." Wiki offered her hand. "My name is Wiki, resident Codex of the Avenger. One of them now, I suppose."
Nervously, Vix took Wiki's hand, shaking it. For being the "younger" Codex, Vix seemed to have changed her own height enough to be standing over Wiki a little bit. "I'm Vix."
"Nice to meet you, Vix." Wiki withdrew her hand. "If you ever have any questions about being a Codex, you can come to me." She chuckled. "If your old man over here is ok with it, at least."
"Hey." Mordenna pointed at Wiki. "I'm 50. That is not old."
"That's old by human standards! Half of their lifespan."
"Human standards! I'm practically a baby of an immortal."
Wiki rolled her eyes. "Sure thing. Still, am I interrupting? I can leave if I am."
"Well..." He looked to Vix, who had fallen quiet as the two of them bantered back and forth. "That's up to you, Vix." Was he going to lean into it? Was he about to say what he was going to next? Fuck it. "More one-on-one time with your dad or you wanna talk to Wiks?"
At "dad," Vix seemed to stop up, considering it. She looked between the two of them for a bit. "... could I talk to you later, Wiki? I do want to, but I think I want to talk to... dad a bit more."
Wiki giggled. "Alright, alright, I can leave. Hope the two of you have fun."
With that Wiki blinked out of this dimension, running off into the rest of the Avenger. Vix considered the area she left for a little bit longer before turning to Mordenna. She looked hesitant, though she managed to speak when Mordenna gestured for her to talk. "You... consider me your daughter?"
Mordenna rubbed at his mouth. Hopefully he wasn't overstepping her boundaries. "Only if you're ok with it. We don't have to consider each other family at all, if you want, that's fine by me. I want you to have the choice."
"That seems to be a running theme with you."
"I've got my reasons, which you might learn one day. Soon, really, but I don't want to stack too much on you when you're, what, ten minutes old? Regardless, is it alright?"
"I'm... I'm honestly more touched than anything else that you would consider me that important to you. I'm very much fine with being considered your daughter." Though Vix didn't have much of a face, it felt like she was smiling. "I'm just happy that you want to call me your daughter."
Mordenna's ensuing smile was genuine, and his chest was warm. Fatherly pride felt nice. "And I'm glad to have you, Vix. Makes me happy."
Vix happily fidgeted with her hands a second more before seeming to consider something. "—If I am your daughter, what is your last name? I'd like to take it up."
"Oh, well." Mordenna chuckled. "Mordenna is my last name. Everyone just calls me that because I've pretty much abandoned my first one in favor of 'Hunter.' Title and name, it certainly pulls its weight."
"... did your father give you one you didn't like?"
"Yeah pretty much. And it was too close to the one that my other parents gave me that I didn't like."
"Hm..." She rubbed at where her mouth would be, apparently already catching Mordenna's physical tics. "Vix Mordenna?"
"Fair by me, even if saying your full name feels like someone's addressing us both."
Nodding, Vix let her hand drop. "Do you have any other family?"
"Why, of course!" Mordenna stood up, grinning. This was going to be the best part of the whole affair thus far, other than gradually realizing and coming to terms with the fact that he'd made his own daughter. "A sister—two of them, really—and a brother who would be absolutely delighted to get to know you."
Vix bounced a little on the spot. "I have aunts and uncles?"
"Sure do! Let's see... I think Jax would be a good start. He might attempt to steal my rightful spot as father and he will have to fight me for it." He began to walk past Vix. "Follow me. You'll like him, Jax looks like a tough ba—" Hm. How much should he watch his language? Maybe a little. "—bad man but he's a giant softie when you get down to it."
Vix followed after him. "What's he like?"
He didn't really need to answer that question. The door to the Workshop opened before they could get to it. Jax himself was on the other side—and it looks like he was choosing this moment to parade around his armor. The design had gone through a few touch ups since the design document, especially with Jax's insight. The helmet had gone under some iterations to combine Mordenna's retracting faceplate idea, the space for Jax's horns, and Lily's own specifications to add ventilation and filters to mimic the mechanics of Fal-Mai's own mask. Jax himself added the short skirting around the belt to give the girdle something to do other than hold grenades, and the heavy weapon areas had been moved to be shoulder-mounted, Predator style. Otherwise, Mordenna's original design had largely stuck, and Jax's armor was a well-designed mix of grays, some mild white trimming, and XCOM blues. The deep blue capes were a nice touch.
However, it did mean that Vix's first impression of Jax was one of an intimidating crusader who was nothing like Mordenna's description of him. He could spot her freezing on the spot out of the corner of his eye, and he sighed. "Wow, Jax, intimidate my own daughter, why don't you."
"Apologies," Jax began, voice mildly filtered, "I wanted to make sure these vestments were suited for long wearing and figured—wait, excuse me?"
He looked to Mordenna, and Mordenna shook his head. "Did I stutter?"
Jax held up a finger, paused, and then lowered it. The poor man was confused and Mordenna was loving it. Eventually he seemed to connect some dots and he kneeled down to Vix's eye level, his visor retracting as he did. Mordenna made it so he'd just have to channel a quick command to the helmet to open and close the visor. As Jax stooped down, Mordenna finally took stock of how long his brother's hair had gotten—it was pretty close to his lower back by this point. The magnificent motherfucker. "My apologies, young one," Jax began. "I do not seek to intimidate you—this is just a case of bad timing. Might I know your name?"
"Ah..." Even with Jax's assurance, Vix still looked a little spooked. Poor thing. "It's Vix. V-Vix Mordenna."
He looked and raised an eyebrow at Mordenna. In response, Mordenna threw out his hands. "She wanted to do it, and who am I to deny her?"
Jax rolled his eyes, but his expression was warm again as he looked back to Vix. "It is a good name, Vix. Mine is Jax-Rai Tessura, Warlock. Brother to your father. I hope he is treating you well?"
She nodded. "He is, and I'm happy for it. I got to choose all of my specifications."
"A mark of a good man, that." Jax stood. "Not that I doubted him in the slightest." He tilted his head at Mordenna. "I presume your next action will be to introduce her to our sister?"
"Pretty much, yeah, and maybe the rest of the ship on the way."
Jax bobbed his head, addressing Vix once more. "Vix, should you ever require help, or perhaps a confidant that is not your father, I offer myself as aid. Being my niece, I fully admit that I'm happy to have you, both as such and knowing that Mordenna has more kin to call his own."
"Don't know if I'll have more," Mordenna muttered. "Who knows? I might try being Odin, but better, and have my own little fleet of Codices. Probably not, though, at least not for a while." He smiled gently. "You alright being an only child for the moment?"
"Well..." Vix's own nervous tic seemed to be fiddling with her thumbs. "Wiki is here, so I have another Codex to talk to, and I would not want to demand you to make more Codices purely for the sake of giving me company. I have you, and Jax, and whoever else will have me."
"That's the spirit." Mordenna crouched down, gently rubbing her head. The sensation of moving his hand through the datastream was pretty indescribable—almost felt like he'd stuck his hand in some carbonated liquid. "Still, you need anything else, you let me know. Otherwise, you feel up to seeing one of your aunts?"
Vix giggled slightly, gently brushing his hand off. "I'll remember that, and yes."
"Perfect!" Mordenna stood back up, clapping his hands together. "Now, Jax, any clue where our dear sister is? Your Studio, perhaps?"
"Considering I just departed from there and she was not present? Perhaps not." Jax crossed his arms. "I could attempt to psionically search for her, but in this sort of location, with her naturally evasive nature, I do not foresee much success."
"Well, damn." Oops, that was a swear. Eh, it was more minor. "Maybe we should just ring her up, then? Seems like the simple solution."
"Fair enough. I shall do the honors."
While Jax did that, Mordenna entertained taking Vix by Eliza. He... hadn't really ever mentioned the fact that he was making his own Codex to her, did he? That was going to be a hell of a surprise. A pleasant one, hopefully. Eliza would make a great mom, wouldn't she? At that thought, he immediately shut the whole process down.
"Brother?" Jax's voice took him out of his thoughts. "Apparently she was with Eliza." Oh, speak of the devil, and good on Fal-Mai for getting more time with the Commander. "They are in the Resistance Ring if we would like to join them."
"Well hey, saves me the trouble of deciding a meeting place. Tell 'em sure."
Jax nodded, hand on the protrusion that allowed him to manipulate his communicator. "Mordenna says he's alright with meeting up with you and the Commander. We will be on our way." Jax let his hand fall. "Well?"
"'Well' what? Let's start walking." Mordenna did so, looking back to make sure Jax and Vix were following. They sure were, with Vix scurrying to be closer to him. He opened the door again, moving out into the hallway. He wasn't about to let the trip be silent, of course. "So, Vix, what all did you access in our records?"
"The publically marked files," she responded. "Essentially everything in the Archives, including the info about First Contact, the war so far in 2035..." Her voice got a little quieter. "I... saw there were files in the records section that weren't public. Ones that pertained to you, Jax, and Fal-Mai, was it? I didn't look at them. I didn't want to be looking at something I wasn't supposed to."
Hm. That was a tricky subject. Mordenna was somewhat glad she didn't get around to looking at them, because then he imagined he'd have a lot of grief on her part to work through. Perhaps that could be gotten to at another point in time. "Hey, it's alright. You can look at mine, at least, when you want to. As for the ones about Jax, and Fal-Mai—I'd imagine Eliza's as well—ask them. No harm in wanting to learn, just make sure you're not going behind people's backs or reading something they would rather you didn't."
She nodded gently, then turned to look at Jax. Jax sighed, crossing his arms. "I do not think it should fall to you, within your first day of life, to truly learn what sort of horrors our enemy employs against us. Plus, I do not feel like you have properly gotten to know me yet—so I would rather you did not for now."
"Ok. I won't look." She turned back to Mordenna. "I... I don't think I'll look at yours for a while, dad. If it's anything like Uncle Jax is describing..."
While Jax seemed to be having a moment at being called an uncle, Mordenna was focused on Vix. "It's up to you, though honestly I would prefer it if you didn't jump in at the deep end of the pool on your first day. So, pace yourself. There will always be more time to read up on things later, yeah?"
"Yeah." She caught up to Mordenna and walked at his side, even if she was having a little trouble keeping up thanks to his long strides. "—so we're heading to the Resistance Ring?"
"Yep. Did you find a map in all of your searching?"
Vix nodded. "It's relatively close. Does the Commander use that to keep in touch with the Templars, Reapers, and Skirmishers?"
"That and whoever else she needs to talk to, but typically those guys." It was pretty close indeed—Mordenna eyed the door as they approached. "I think Volk would like you. Maybe the next time we're by his camp I can introduce the two of you."
"Volk, leader of the Reapers?"
"The very same." Mordenna opened the door, holding it open to let his two companions in. "Fal-Mai! Eliza! I have someone I want to introduce to the two of you."
Fal-Mai and Eliza themselves were sitting close together on one of the couches in the room. A spent coffee mug was sitting on an end table, and the two of them looked pretty relaxed. Maybe they'd finished up some communications with someone? Regardless, Eliza was quick to spot the newcomer in the group. "Oh! Did you manage to steal another Codex while I wasn't looking, Mordenna?"
"Nope, this one's home-grown." Mordenna stepped in, doing a little flourish with his hands. "Say hello to Vix Mordenna."
It took a second to click for both the Commander and the Assassin, but the look on Eliza's face as it lit up was one of the best that Mordenna had ever seen out of her. "She's your daughter, Mordenna? Oh my god she's adorable, hello Vix!"
Flustered, Vix offered her hand. "It's—it's nice to meet you, Commander."
Eliza took her hand, chuckling. "No need to be so formal! Call me Eliza if you want. I'm honestly so happy to meet you."
Fal-Mai was similarly ecstatic, leaning forwards. "So Mordenna has finally completed you, I see! You look wonderful, Vix. My name is Fal-Mai."
While Vix shook her hand as well, Mordenna grinned. "You're an aunt now, Fals. Drink it in."
That only served to make Fal-Mai giggle. "I'm happy to be one! Especially to such a cute niece."
If Codices could blush, Vix would probably be bright red. As it stood, she kneaded her hands together. "Th-thank you. The both of you."
Seemed like Vix was at a loss for words. To help her out and take a bit of the spotlight off of her, Mordenna went ahead and got to sitting down next to Eliza. "Alright, let's not entirely put the poor girl on the spot. If she wants to socialize, she can certainly do it when she wishes. Do you mind me asking Eliza a few things, Vix?"
"Certainly," she said quickly, zipping over and sitting beside him. She was almost completely hidden against his side—poor girl was shy.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to comfort her as Jax sat down next to Fal-Mai. "Alright then, Commander. What were you and Fal-Mai up to in here, hm?"
Eliza's expression fell a bit, but it was clear she was trying to keep her smile on. "Ah, something a little more sordid. With the UFO about to be on our trail, I was confirming a spot in our schedule to go talk to the Baroness regarding stocking up. I recently got a request from Lily regarding more alloys and Elerium, and we're going to need all we can get for the future. Plus, I'd like to go over the details of paying with our food stocks as well. The progress with Tygan and Celosia beefing up our greenhouse has been going swimmingly."
Mordenna went to reply, but he could feel Vix tugging on his hoodie. He looked back to her and she was looking away. "Um... sorry to interrupt... but there's a greenhouse on this ship?"
Aw. Mordenna patted her shoulder. "There sure is, and I really need to introduce you to Tygan as well. We'll go visit if we have a moment after this, alright?" When Vix nodded and didn't say anything else, he looked back to the group—and they all seemed warmed by the interaction. A little nervous himself, Mordenna cleared his throat. "Anyhow. I don't suppose I can come along on that—" Ah, right. He wanted to be here with his kid. Or, at least, he wanted her at his side. "—I suppose my first question would be 'how soon is that happening' and my second one is 'are kids allowed?'"
"For your first question, I honestly swear that the Baroness clears her schedule the moment I ask about coming in. We could visit right after we make the flight over. As for bringing Vix..." Eliza rubbed her chin in thought. "That's honestly your call. We shouldn't be unlucky enough to walk in on another attempted murder of the Baroness twice. At that point it would be down to her wanting to go and you being ok enough to stay with her. She might have to stay in the front lobby, I've had the Baroness do that to some of my guard before."
Was he ok with taking Vix out of the Avenger so soon? They weren't going into the main marketplace, so she wouldn't be in any danger of being muscled away from her and taken god knows where. He'd seen Ray a few times before—kid was asleep half the time and pretty likeable and non-threatening the other half. A part of him was still stubborn over the whole deal—taking her out of the Avenger at all constituted a danger risk, and she wasn't even a day old yet. Should he really be bringing her outside like that? He could stay, but he really had errands to run in the Market. Maybe he could pass a list onto one of his siblings...?
Still, there was another person involved in this whole thought process whom he wasn't even consulting. He turned back to Vix. "Well, V? I'd like to make it over to the Market, as I have some things to pick up for projects. But I can stay here if you want me to."
"I... I don't want to make you stay behind!" Vix was back to fidgeting with her hands. "But I—I also don't want to be here without you. Can I come with, if that's alright...?"
"Absolutely fine by me, Vix." He gently jostled her shoulder. "You might have to stay in the front lobby as we talk, but if it's just inventory and the things I need, it shouldn't be too long. You'll have Ray to talk to there, and trust me, he's a good guy. That alright?"
Vix considered it a moment, her white datastream flickering. She then nodded slowly. "I think I can do that. So long as there's someone there that you trust."
"Of course. And if you need me, you can always call for me. I'll see about getting you into our communications channel so you can talk to me over my communicator whenever you need to."
Her body language switched from nervous to mostly calm, and Vix leaned against him. "Thank you, dad."
Mordenna smiled at her for a moment, before once more looking back to the peanut gallery. Jax was grinning warmly. "I never thought I would witness the day where the mighty Hunter tends to his own child as tenderly as should be."
The Hunter shrugged. "You could not pay me to be a bad dad at this point. Would probably shoot anyone who even suggested the idea. Anyhow!" Mordenna clapped his hands together. "Other than that UFO being deployed, what else is on our radar?"
"That Gate, mostly." Eliza took her datapad off of the table, flipping through it. "We're going to go ahead and handle that soon while we can. We've got the area, I've got the troops, and we have the means." Eliza gently sighed. "I can't exactly wait around for that thing to come to us. Although, there's something else we could do—something else you can do between working on your projects."
Mordenna raised his eyebrows. "I'm all ears, Liz."
"Perfect." Eliza tapped through a few more windows on her device and handed it off to Mordenna. What was presented on the screen was a pretty blurry photo—but he'd recognize that ponytail and face anywhere. "I can't tell you how long we've been looking to get Kelly back."
Judging by the look of the photo, Jane was getting transferred between prisons. Mordenna gave a mildly embarrassed hum. "Yeah. Uh. That was my fault. After I was... done with her, I ended up taking mercy and just shipping her off to one of the prisons. Never kept track of her after that. Frankly, I'm surprised she's still alive." He paused. "That's... not exactly the best thing for me to say, I know."
Eliza's mouth settled into a line. "Perhaps not. That's why I think you should be the one to jailbreak her—after tranquilizing her, because she's going to want to take a piece out of you, I imagine."
"Don't blame her in the slightest. I wasn't exactly the best warden." The picture pretty clearly showed that she was down an eye and still sporting that burn scar on that side of her face. The thought of the kind of lows he was willing to go to in the past kinda sickened him now, and he passed the datapad back to Eliza. "Yeah, I definitely can go get her. It's... the least I can do after putting her through what I put her through. Just give me the details and I'll see to it later. Maybe me and Schro can go out on the town again, assuming I haven't finished my own little nano array by then."
"I'll get the details sent to your login whenever you're ready for them." Eliza put the datapad back on the table. "Outside of that, I was somewhat thinking of stretching us a little thin and going to see if we can avoid having two UFOs launched on us, but it seems our benefactors had that handled."
"Ah, yes." Jax nodded. "I do believe you had mentioned that you had let them know that you would not be likely to get around to it, correct?"
"She sure did." Mordenna crossed his arms and leaned back. "Reapers handle it alright?"
"Actually..." Eliza grinned. "I got reports that they sent a squad of a little bit of everyone. Reapers, Templars, and Skirmishers. Things went pretty damn well."
Well, looks like Mordenna lost the bet. "Shoot. Guess that's my left eye I've gotta lose. Anyone around here got a knife on them? Fals?"
Fal-Mai scoffed. "I am not handing you my Katana, nor my dagger to allow you to do that. We will merely say you were a little bit silly for not believing they could cooperate and move on."
"Fair enough by me, I guess. Anything else on the agenda I can advise on?"
"Outside of that? Not exactly." Eliza clasped her hands in front of her. "Tygan and Lily mentioned something about applying one of our Skulljacks to a Codex in the field—accessing the Network directly, and all, and finding out more about that Avatar Project. If we can find the means to destroy all the factories they're using to make those damn things, I think we can effectively decapitate the whole thing before hotwiring that Gate to show up right on their front door."
"You've gotta be careful about doing something like that," Mordenna muttered. "Someone's bound to notice. Even I can't exactly call what'll happen if you go and shove one of those things into a Codex. A Trooper or an Officer is one thing, they mostly are receivers on the Network and can't do anything too funky. But Codices? Extra dimensional beings, those ones. Sparky." Absentmindedly, he patted Vix's back. "Just about anything could happen, so exercise caution, Commander."
"I intend to. I want Lily—and you, if you can make the time—to look into some kind of brace or failsafe just in case the Codex... hm, I don't know. Somehow hijacks the Skulljack back?"
"It's within the realm of possibility."
"Well, my point exactly then. I know it's vague, and I apologize. I'd specify more if I could."
Mordenna shrugged. "Well, I don't blame you for not exactly knowing all the specifics about how either the Skulljacks or Codexes work. Not to call you dumb! They're just... complicated."
"Oh, please, Mordenna, calling me dumb is one of the nicer things people have said about me."
He narrowed his eyes. "Where's the people saying worse things? I want names."
Eliza chuckled. "You can't just murder people who talk bad about me, Mordenna."
"Perhaps not him," Fal-Mai quietly replied. "But I can make it look like an accident..."
"Fal-Mai!"
"Siblings, please." Jax shook his head. "The both of you must contain yourselves. After all, killing is far too easy an escape. Lessons must be taught, after all—"
"Guys!"
The Chosen ended up cracking up, with Mordenna himself snickering. Vix seemed a little lost on how it was all humorous, and he figured she didn't exactly need to know right at that moment. Letting the topic fall by the wayside as Eliza seemed to want, he moved on. "So! I do believe I have a darling daughter to show around the ship and introduce to all of my other favorite people. Can you go ahead and let me know when we're in the area to go visit the Market again?"
Eliza nodded, getting up and collecting both her mug and her datapad. "Sure thing, Mordenna. I'll let the two of you know as well," she went on, addressing Jax and Fal-Mai. "Might as well have all my bodyguards on hand. Who else would Bradford hide behind?"
"You, probably." Mordenna gestured to her as he got to his feet, letting Vix grab his empty hand. "I mean, Liz, you are six feet tall. I think you're enough to hide behind."
Eliza huffed. "Look. Never asked to tower over most of the men in my life..." She ended up smiling. "Even if it is pretty funny to think about sometimes. You guys are about the only ones who are taller than I am."
Jax sighed. "I never asked to thump my head on most doorways, neither. Nothing is designed around nearly meeting eight feet tall."
"Could say that again," Mordenna replied. "Still, before I get caught up too long in goodbyes, I'm going to go ahead and head out with lil' Vix here. I'll be around the place if any of you need me."
The rest of the group nodded and said their goodbyes, and he could hear them echoing them at Vix as they passed them by. Vix was still holding onto his hand tightly as they exited the door out of the Resistance Ring, walking a bit out into the hallway. After that, he turned back to look at her. "Well? What do you think?"
Vix's thumbs rubbed his hand. "You seem very comfortable around them, and they all seem so... nice. Would you really kill anyone who spoke ill of the Commander?"
"Uh, nah, not really." Mordenna chuckled. "My style of humor is usually being overdramatic for comedic effect. People have their rights to not say nice things about the Commander, I suppose. I'm not really going to like it, but I'm not really the type to go shooting them because they've got a different opinion than me. Now, if they start to take steps to actively undermine her efforts... well, that's when things start to get a little more personal and I have to step in, yeah?"
She nodded in understanding, quiet for a moment. Her next question wasn't one that Mordenna really liked. "That Jane Kelly... please forgive me if I am making an incorrect assumption, but did you capture her and—?"
"Yeah," Mordenna replied a little hastily. "I—yeah." He looked ahead. This was going to come up eventually, he knew that. He had a lot of blood on his hands, and the things he used to do weren't really all that far in the past. His treatment by the Elders may not have helped matters... but it wasn't really an excuse, in his eyes. Just a reason. "—your old man isn't exactly a morally upstanding person. I'll be the first to say that. You've got every right to judge me for what I'm about to say." He took in a deep breath. "Several months ago—closer to the start of this year, really—I wasn't on XCOM's side. My siblings and I, we were with ADVENT. With the Elders, and all that. And we... we weren't exactly doing the best of things." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Jane's just one person I've taken and, well. Tortured. There's really no other word for what I did to her. Yes, it was for information, but I wasn't exactly doing it with a gun to my head, if you can understand what I'm implying."
It took a second, but Vix seemed to catch on. "You... enjoyed torturing her." The fact that it was more a statement than a question hurt.
"... yeah. I'm not a saint. Don't know if I can really call myself a good person yet. Not even about to say 'that was back then.' I do think I'm different now—I think of how I liked it and I..." Saying he didn't exactly want to live as that version of him, was it still being too comfortable with his own mortality? If presented with that version of himself... well, Mordenna would likely kill him by this rate. Not even give the man the chance to become better. He didn't blame anyone who didn't think he could be a better person at this rate, even if it frustrated him. "... I don't like knowing that was the kind of person I was. Don't like knowing I could be that kind of person. I'm trying to be better now, and I think I'm succeeding. But..." He sighed. "Like I said. You've got every right to disown me if you want."
Even if he had offered the option, even if he was impling he'd be ok with it and he understood, the thought of something he'd already grown so attached to rejecting him? Even if it was because they were rather justifiably horrified and disgusted by the things he had done in the past? It already hurt to think about. Vix was quiet, and her grip on his hand loosened. He half thought she was going to let go entirely—before she gripped it tighter. "—I read about the reports of more ADVENT units defecting. The Skirmishers. They're trying their hardest to be better people despite who they were. I... I can believe you're doing that too. Just based on what I know of the world, I still think what you did was wrong. But I believe you're trying to be better. I believe that you are."
Wow. That... that cut right to Mordenna's heart, in a good way. He slowed down, eventually coming to a stop. He'd always wanted to believe he was becoming a better person, and logically, he could see that he was moving in that direction. There were just always the thought that he was going to mess it up somehow and go right back to his former self. Or that he would somehow wake up and the life he had been living, the life he had been enjoying had all been just a dream. It was nice to be told that he was doing well and that people believed in him. He smiled gently. "... thank you, Vix. You didn't have to believe your old man, but I'm glad that you did. Just... know that I'm not above reproach, alright? May not be human, but I'm subject to the moral standards of everyone else on this ship and you've got the right to call me out if I step out of line."
She nodded, walking a little closer to him. "I'll remember that. But until then... I love you, and I believe in you."
Mordenna's chest glowed with warmth and his smile grew. "I love you too, Vix. Let's go see the rest of the Avenger, alright?"
For her first day of life, Vix was pretty happy.
Her creator—her father had introduced her to his own family and so many denizens of the ship. They had so many conversations together, and even if she learned that he wasn't the most upstanding person... she could see that he was trying to be better. A lot of the Avenger seemed to regard him as at least an acquaintance, far more in a few cases. She definitely got the feeling that he was trying to move past who he was, and Vix could appreciate that. She still loved him, after all.
They had made their trip around the Avenger and now they had ended back in the Workshop, Mordenna's favorite place on the ship if he was to be believed. He was now working on some sort of device that he was explaining to her—apparently the Specters she had read about could be repurposed into linked devices? She knew that Fal-Mai's hand underneath her sweater had looked a little strange, but she hadn't imagined they could substitute for prosthetics.
With that in mind, she posed her next question. "So if you are not missing any limbs, and do not plan on doing so, why make this? Grafting it to your spine seems a little much to do."
Mordenna threw a hand out, the other carefully holding the half-finished implant. "I could always use another set of arms. As much as I despise the Ethereals, having an extra set of arms sounds pretty convenient. Plus, I can mold the nanos to whatever I need on the go—and if I take a few lessons from Schro, I could probably pull off the same nano clone thing that they can do. Dunno how much use I'd get out of it, but I always like having the option there."
"So, was your sister a test run?"
"What? No." The briefness of his answer made her fear that she had asked something wrong. He must've noticed the change in her body language, as he scooted a bit closer to where she was sitting and settled his free hand on her shoulder. "Sorry for being curt, but I'll let you know it was far from the case. Sure, I may be making one for myself after seeing Fal-Mai's work out, but the circumstances for making her arm were... pretty different. She needed it after suffering a lot of hurt over it, and I wanted to give her the best thing I could make to replace what she had lost. I don't mind you asking questions about stuff like this—you'd never learn otherwise. But I apologize in advance if I come off as a little bit... I don't know, like a jerk when I answer them? I expect people around me to have a base knowledge of things that you don't largely have."
That was true. Even for all of the knowledge and context she had been able to gain by reading through all of the information Wiki had compiled, sometimes applying it was proving to be a sticking point. Extensive documentation about what to do in social situations wasn't in there, for one. Thankfully everyone had been understanding, probably accounting for the fact that she had literally been born today. "... do you promise not to get angry at me for asking questions?"
Something about that statement made Mordenna's face twitch, and he set down the implant, drawing her in for a hug. Mordenna's hugs were warm to her sensors, and the physical contact was comforting. "I promise, Vix. I really do. And if I ever do, I ask you to go get one of my siblings—or Eliza—and have them get my act together for doing that."
She hugged him back, leaning into him. "Ok. But... I don't want them yelling at you..."
"Kid, in that situation, I will have deserved it."
"Don't care," she muttered.
One of the doors to the Workshop opened, and Vix looked up. Lily was coming in from the basement, stopping in the door as she saw the two of them. When Mordenna looked up as well, she hummed nervously. "Am I interrupting something? I can leave."
Vix shook her head, parting from the hug. "You're alright, Lily. How are the Rulers?"
"Doing good. They really like the legs I made for Rodin." Lily walked further in, lowering her voice as she spoke to Mordenna. "When you get a moment alone, I need to talk to you. I have to talk to someone about what Rodin asked me to make next."
Mordenna snickered, leaning back on his workbench. "Judging by that, I have a few guesses and all of them make me want to laugh."
Lily gave an exasperated sigh, sitting on her own table. "Vix, your dad's a meanie."
Vix tilted her head. "What has he done...?" Was she talking about the stuff he did in the past? She learned about one or two of those things.
"He's teasing me."
Ah. More of a joke than anything serious. Vix relaxed, turning to Mordenna. "Dad, you shouldn't tease your sister. It's not nice."
Mordenna pressed a hand to his head. "On one hand, she's my sister, Vix, and a little familial ribbing is to be expected. On the other... I guess I have an example to set now, huh?"
Lily grinned and crossed her arms. "That's right. You can't be mean to me ever again."
He jabbed a finger at her. "I make no promises. Sometimes you will just have to suffer."
Mordenna's use of rather exaggerated language was something Vix was still getting used to. She was starting to save and remember the tone of voice he said it in when he seemed like he was joking, just so she wouldn't misunderstand in the future. She felt like she'd get that kind of humor wrong if she ever tried to do it herself. Humor itself was a bit hard to get ahold of, especially if she thought about using it.
Lily rolled her eyes, looking to Vix. "How about you, Vix? Your dad better be being nice to you."
Vix kicked her legs where she was sitting. "He is! He's introduced me to all of his favorite people—" That's what he said in the Resistance Ring, anyhow. "—and he has been nothing but supportive to me."
She nodded. "Good to hear." Lily looked back to Mordenna. "By the way, do you think you'll teach her how to fight?"
"Naturally," Mordenna responded. "Just thinking on what I'll give her." His mouth settled in a line, and his gaze shifted to Vix. "Even... even if I don't want you in danger, it's best you know how to defend yourself, Vix. Lotta hostile people out there, and we are very much in a war situation. You should know how to fire a gun should worst come to worst. Sound alright?"
She'd read through some of the battle reports, watched some of the attached videos. Vix knew very well that without knowing how to fight... well, she would very well die. Vix nodded. "I don't know what kind of weaponry would suit me best, but I agree. I should learn."
"Yeah, I don't quite know either, kid." He rubbed at his mouth. "Don't want you too close to the action, but I don't need another sniper identical to me. Still want you at long range, but maybe in a more supportive role—?" That was when Mordenna shot up in his seat, snapping his fingers. "The bow!"
Lily stared at him for a second. "The bow...?"
Mordenna got a notepad and a pencil out of his pocket, flipping the former open and beginning to write. "A while back, around the time we were starting that relay mission, I started spitballing ideas about using a bow to take on a more supportive role than my usual one of exploding heads at my leisure. Thinking about it later, I tossed the idea out because we already had that sort of deal in plenty of other people and I was needed as our long range spotting and sniper role. But! If I can give that to someone other than me and train them on how to sight the bow really fast because they're technically a sentient computer? I think it can see some use yet." He pointed his pencil at Vix. "Vix, honey, how would you feel about using a really futuristic bow?"
Vix thought about it. The draw strength needed to nock and fire arrows for traditional bows seemed a little out of her strength range. Her physical projection could only do so much. She hummed in thought. "—would I be strong enough for such a weapon?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's a good question." Mordenna continued to write down things in his notes. "I'd probably need to rig up some sort of mechanism in the drawing system that would assist you with pulling back the bow—or even better, have the bow itself handle the majority of that and the string is more of a trigger mechanism than anything else. Kit it up with an Elerium core or two and ingrain a few ammo types to be copied much like I have in my own sniper rifle and I'd say we have you a weapon." He snapped his fingers again. "Maybe I can make it so you can channel the psionics you've got into it and have the chamber modify them as needed to alter their properties? Damn, that'd be a tall order, but I really do wanna see if it would work."
It seemed like her dad had a lot of work ahead of him. He seemed to revel in being busy, so she supposed that she was happy that she was providing him another source of busywork. "Whatever you go with, so long as I can fire it and be of use, I am impartial as to how it does so."
Mordenna grinned, tousling her head. The feeling of his hand going through her datastream was pretty indescribable. "Yeah, leave it to me to sweat the details, kid. I'll be the one focusing on getting you set up for the field. I'll still probably kit you up with a pistol or something—you should always have a fallback firearm, if you ask me. Plus, I can set you up with one like mine that's a small enough caliber that it doesn't need to recharge after firing—essentially meaning you don't have to reload it." He withdrew his hand, writing in his book again. "I'll probably get you some very lightweight armor as well. If any, considering it has to be able to go with you when you phase out of this dimension."
Right, she could do that. She had the knowledge of how to do so ingrained into her code, she just hadn't bothered to do so yet. It was good for travelling quickly, but she wanted to remain by Mordenna's side—and she couldn't do that on another plane of existence. Still, it would be useful in combat for evasion. "As with any gun handed to me, I believe it should be able to."
"Should be. We'll do a few tests just to make sure when the time comes." After writing a few more things down, he close the notepad, returning it and his pencil to his pockets. "Anyhow! That's definitely something to be worked on later. For now—"
The ship gently lurched and shuddered, and Lily raised her head. "Guess we're on the ground now. The autopilot has been doing a lot of flying lately. Think Bradford's given up trying to kill us?"
Mordenna chuckled, standing up. "Not by a long shot. He's waiting for his time to strike again." Vix... had no clue what they were on about, but she supposed she could always ask later. As for now, it seemed Mordenna was getting ready to leave—a guess made correct by his next statement. "I'm sure Eliza will want to get meeting the Baroness out of the way as soon as possible, so I'm going to go ahead and get myself moving to the Armory. Vix, you still wanna come?"
She nodded, hovering into standing. "Of course. The Armory, right?"
"The very same." Mordenna took her hand. "C'mon. Say goodbye to Aunt Lily if you want."
Vix turned to Lily and giggled. "See you soon, Aunt Lily."
Lily smiled warmly. "See you, Vix. You be careful out there, alright?"
"I will."
With that, Mordenna began to walk and she trailed behind him. She stayed silent for the journey, and Mordenna did as well. It struck her as strange—over the time she had come to know him, he seemed keen to fill up every silent moment, especially if they were walking from place to place. But as they were making their way to the Armory, there was a certain... tenseness, to his posture. His grip on her hand was a bit tighter than normal. Was he nervous? She knew that this would be her first time leaving the Avenger, but... she was doing it with him. She would be ok. Still, if he was right and the Baroness didn't want to see Vix, there might be a point where they would have to be apart for a while. She was definitely nervous about that herself. Logically, there would eventually have to be a time where they had to part from each other, but... maybe not on her first day of life? It would have to happen eventually, she reasoned. Best to get it out of the way now.
Eventually they entered the door to the Armory. Some soldier Vix didn't recognize was leaning on the railing around the Armory with Jax next to them. As Mordenna entered, he freed his hand from Vix's. "Jax. Seraph. Bradford ain't here yet?"
Jax shrugged. "I can only imagine he might be finishing up some communications with other factions or the like. He shall be with us eventually."
"Seraph's" identity was swiftly revealed when they spoke. "Yeah, he's letting the Baroness know we'll be right on schedule." That was Eliza! Was she going to go in person? Why did she look so different? Vix was buzzing with a few questions to be asked, but Eliza kept speaking. "Either of you see Fal-Mai on your way over?"
Before Mordenna could answer, the veil of the world peeled back, and Fal-Mai was standing among them, now in her combat armor. "Now they have."
Jax chuckled. "I feel as if that is a joke you have been waiting to make for a while."
Fal-Mai huffed. "Perhaps. Begrudge me for indulging in a little bit of humor?"
"You and I need as much as Mordenna will allow us to have," he replied.
"Hey." Mordenna pointed at Jax. "The two of you can make jokes and that's fine with me. I just also need to make my own jokes and I just happen to have a lot of them to make. Not my fault that not everyone else can keep up with me."
Eliza shook her head, and behind them, the door opened. Bradford walked in, nodding to the group. "I see all of the usual suspects are here. Let me get my armor and my gun and I'll be right with all of you."
As he walked by, Vix waved. Bradford's expression softened and he waved back, going over to where the armor was. She supposed she could ask a question or two in the silence that followed. "Eliza? Are you really coming with us?"
Eliza nodded. "The Baroness prefers to see me in person. That means I have to step outside in this armor so it isn't immediately obvious who I am. For all intents and purposes, once we step outside, Bradford is our Commander." Something seemed to occur to her, as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Hm, wait. Codices can't lie, right? This might be a bit of a problem."
"Not actually." Mordenna shrugged. "I wasn't about to force her to speak the truth all of the time. Vix can very much lie if she needs to."
Wait. Codices normally couldn't lie? Mordenna made an exception for her...? It seemed the more she learned about the terms of her own creation, the more it became clear that Mordenna had put a lot of thought and care into it. She squeezed her hands together, made thankful all over again. "—I will consider Bradford our Commander on the field, then."
"Good to hear." Eliza stepped off from the railing. "Once Bradford's ready, we can go ahead and head out. Firebrand's already in the Skyranger and she's getting it warmed up for us."
Mordenna got out his notepad. He had certainly written a lot in that thing, considering how much flipping he had to do to get to the page he wanted. "Alright. I've got my shopping list here and ready to go. I've got some of the intel I intend to use to pay for it still stored in my noggin, so you shouldn't see too much of a deduction from your personal stash, Liz."
"Investment in your projects is investment in XCOM," she replied smoothly. "I wouldn't mind if you did need to use some of our intel."
"Still, I'd like to use my own resources where I can. After all, I'm going to need quite a bit for my personal projects. You do not—well, I suppose you do know how much alloys I go through doing my thing."
"I'd know too," Bradford muttered, rejoining the group. He had his armor on... and that shotgun was probably way too modded to be safe. Nobody else seemed to be concerned about it as Vix was, however, so maybe it was? "Considering I'm also watching our books. Still, like the Commander said, it's a worthwhile investment. If you were doing something frivolous I might be raising more hell, but more weapons and armor isn't exactly something I'll complain about."
"The point is made, I suppose. Still doesn't mean I'll be dipping into the intel for XCOM when I can help it." Mordenna stashed the notepad again. "Still, we're all here. Time to go?"
Eliza nodded, walking towards the Skyranger. "Sure are. This way, Convoy Seven."
Vix trailed after Mordenna. This was going to be an interesting trip.
The ride over had been pleasant, at least, and Vix had gotten more talking done with her new family.
As it turned out, there seemed to be quite the dynamic between all of them. The Chosen clearly had a fondness for Eliza that showed even when they were occasionally teasing them. Bradford was the one to "straighten out" the interactions and generally try to direct some of the teasing away from Eliza and onto himself. From the way he grumbled about it, Vix would initially guess that he didn't like it very much—but by the way he kept doing it, she supposed she was wrong. There were so many things about the nuances of social interaction that she still hadn't fully come to grips with yet. She supposed she'd learn in time, and Mordenna had offhandedly mentioned that there was no better teacher than experiencing the situation itself.
The Skyranger eventually came to a stop, and Firebrand's voice came over the speakers. "Convoy Seven, we're at the dropoff point. Opening the ramp, and be safe down there." After she said that, the cabin lit up red, and the back of the ship opened up.
Beside her, Mordenna undid his safety harness. "You think you can get to the ground on your own, V?"
She nodded, undoing her own harness and walking towards the back of the ship. "Theoretically, yes." Theoretically. She looked out the yawning back of the Skyranger. Hitting the ground shouldn't be a problem—her projection would handle the shock without too much of it going to her brain. It was just a far way down.
Vix took in a deep breath and leapt out of the back of the Skyranger. On her way down, she could feel herself instinctually slip into another dimension, one that slowed her rate of descent into an instant as her systems detected her velocity. Once she was near the ground, she appeared back in her usual one, no worse for wear. She was still reeling a bit from jumping from such a high place, but she knew she had to get out of the way for everyone else to make it down. She got away from the cords as she watched everyone else descend.
Bradford grunted as he hit the ground. "Feel like that landing's only getting worse the more I do it," he grumbled, the cords retracting and going back into the Skyranger.
Mordenna grinned, making his way over to Vix's side. "Old age catching up to you, Brads?"
"Can it."
Mordenna snickered, but ultimately Convoy Seven advanced. They began to approach what Vix supposed was the Black Market, going around to the side of the building. Two guards at the door looked up as they approached, and one of them rolled his shoulders. "Huh. You guys are here earlier than you usually are."
Bradford approached them, nodding. "Bit of a special situation this time. Need to stock up."
"Something about to bite your guys' asses, huh?" The man knocked on the door in a specific pattern. "So long as you got the goods I suppose it's whatever."
It was a second, but the door opened. On the other side was a rather unassuming boy—based off of context she had heard earlier, she could only presume it was Ray. "Oh! Hello, guys. Come on in, the boss is waiting for you."
He stepped away from the door and held it open, allowing them to walk in. The inside was a rather nice reception area, furnished with nice couches and tables. There was even a coffee machine and a tray of snacks over on a counter. As they went towards the back, Ray went "ah." "U-um, sorry guys. Boss's policy is no obvious recording devices. That... that includes Codices."
Vix stalled on the spot. She knew she was likely going to have to deal with this... and yet it didn't make the apprehension any worse. Mordenna crossed his arms, silent for a second. "... yeah. That's reasonable. Don't wanna leave Vix here, but—"
"I can stay behind."
Mordenna looked to Jax, who had just spoken. "You alright with that, Jax?"
He nodded. "I have no business with the Baroness, myself, and so long as there is one of us going to accompany the Commander, I see no harm in my staying behind."
Mordenna looked visibly relieved, even if his grin was more upbeat. "Thanks, bro. I'll make sure the Commander's safe." The rest of Convoy Seven moved towards the door, and Mordenna pointed at Ray. "Play nice with my kid."
"Of course, sir." Ray watched them exit before what Mordenna just said seemed to hit him. "Wait, your—?" Mordenna was already through the door and gone, so Ray just sighed and took a seat at the desk next to the door. There was a pillow on it and a blanket draped across the back of the chair, and Ray picked up his datapad. "Sorry that I can't let you in, ma'am. The boss doesn't like being recorded, even if I'm sure you wouldn't be."
Vix was nervous being without her father, but... Uncle Jax was comforting enough. As he sat down in one of the arm chairs around a table in front of Ray's desk, she did as well. "It's ok. I understand the security concerns." Still, she was curious about Ray. He seemed about as courteous and nice as Mordenna had described. "So you're Ray?"
"Yep! One and only." He offered Vix a lopsided smile. "Secretary to the boss. I handle visitors and balancing the books when I get the chance. I may not look like it, but I'm pretty good with numbers."
"I would not have guessed that you were not," Vix replied.
"Oh? You... well." Ray chuckled nervously. "I guess sometimes jokes aren't true, right? Besides, even if I'm good, sometimes it just gets a little hard to complete my work."
"Why is that?"
"Well..." Ray scratched his cheek, looking to the side. "My, uh. I guess my brain doesn't work quite right? You know what narcolepsy is, right?"
Her systems certainly did. Falling asleep in the middle of what you were doing certainly couldn't be conducive to any sort of work. That lead her to the question of how he was able to maintain his job, but she felt like that was a question she shouldn't really ask. In lieu of speaking, she nodded, and Ray continued talking. "Yeah, I've got that. Sometimes I feel like I've gotta sleep and then I just gotta. Doesn't matter how hard I try to not." His grin didn't feel genuine. "I guess I'm so lazy that my body takes naps for me."
"I would not take a neurological condition to be laziness," Jax softly responded. "You cannot exactly help narcolepsy, outside of medicines I am sure would be hard to acquire, if they are still being produced."
"They aren't," Ray muttered, looking down. "The gene clinics nowadays can just... get rid of stuff like that."
"Precisely my point. Do not degrade yourself, Ray. You are doing what you can."
Ray was silent at that, staring at his datapad. Vix didn't know what she would do if she had a condition that just... made her stop like that. It felt like it would be really frustrating to deal with—and what would others think? Would they understand? Would someone who didn't know how narcolepsy worked just think that he was taking naps whenever he felt like it? Would they listen if he explained? All these questions just made Vix feel bad for Ray.
Eventually, Ray sighed. "I guess. Just wish I could do something more about it—makes me think about somehow getting processed through those gene clinics, but I know that's asking to disappear with what we know about them." His smile came back, and this time it was less forced. "Besides, the boss has me convinced I'm not gonna lose my job no matter how hard I try. She's known about what I've got ever since she picked me up and it didn't seem to bother her any."
"Despite her reputation," Jax replied, leaning back in his chair, "I get the impression that the Baroness is far more lenient than she seems."
"Oh, no, don't get her wrong." Ray's expression turned serious. "If you stiff her payment or cause trouble down below, that's lights out for you. You get kicked out and banned from coming back at best. She just... seems to have soft spots for me and XCOM, I guess!"
Jax nodded. "I suppose she is one of the ones smart enough to know what she has, and what XCOM is truly fighting for."
"The boss sure is smart!" Ray grinned. "She's kept this operation runnin' fer... for..." Ray's head drooped, and he groaned. "Uhhh... I'm... s'rry..."
Ray dropped his datapad and he sluggishly reached for his pillow. He managed to get it in front of him in time for his head to crash on it. Well, looked like Ray was out. She certainly didn't begrudge him for something he couldn't help, after all. Jax got up, quietly moving behind the desk and casting the blanket on the chair over Ray, covering him. When he returned, he relaxed in his own seat. "Let us keep our voices down," he murmured. "Even if I am sure he would rather not be sleeping right now, it is best he gets what he can."
Her definition of narcolepsy mentioned that humans with it could suffer insomnia right alongside it, so she could buy that. Still... the thought of sleeping was an interesting one. Vix had something like that in her protocols. Could she...? "Ah..." She began, voice lowered. "Do you mind if I try to sleep, too?"
"Of course not... but come here." Jax opened his arms. "Just in case something does occur, you will be safe in my arms."
Made enough sense to her. Vix got up and settled against Jax. Jax may have been wearing his full armor, but even his hugs gave her the same sense of security that her dad's did. She relaxed, going ahead and activating those processes.
Sleep was interesting, in her case. It felt like she was floating aimlessly. The world around her had faded away and she could only vaguely register the feeling of Jax's armor. Even then, it was so hazy that she questioned if she felt it at all. Not that she did much questioning—it was far easier to go with the flow than it was to think about anything at all. It was... something, she supposed. It was pretty relaxing to be here, but she definitely had things to do. Not at the moment, but when she was back on the Avenger, she knew her dad might need her help. Maybe she could sleep when he slept. Still, it was all a little too much to think on, so she let herself drift, relaxing in the pleasant nothingness.
Her system's clock totalled an hour or so of sleeping before more movement made her rouse, slowly kicking on her processes. She was still on Jax's lap, and he was still hugging her, but he had a hand on her shoulder, gently moving it as if to wake her. She felt pretty fine—maybe not refreshed, but she supposed she wouldn't recharge off of a nap even if her processes ran low enough to not consume much power. "Uncle Jax...?"
"It is time to go."
She nodded, and as Jax withdrew his arms, she stood up. Ray was still where he was but he seemed to have moved slightly, arms now under the pillow as he was snuggled up to it. Mordenna was leaning on the back of one of the couches, a bag slung over his shoulder that seemed to be packed with items. He smiled gently at her. "Good morning, sleepyhead. We're getting the stuff we bought moved out. We just need to get over to the Skyranger and then you can go back to sleep, alright?"
Vix hummed in thought. "I just wanted to see what being asleep was like. I think I shall stay awake until you go to sleep, yourself."
Mordenna went "hm." "Might be staying up for quite a bit, then, but I'll explain that when we get home. For now..." He stood up and walked a little ways away from the couch, offering his free hand. "We've gotta get there first. C'mon."
Happily, Vix zipped over the couch, taking his hand as Jax rose behind them and joined them in walking out. Today was a wonderful day, and she was looking forward to many more.