Chapter 9- 'Genuine' Affection

10,008, or Tacioni, as she'd much rather be called… had sanitized train duty today. She always hated when she had to do this, it was so stressful compared to working on the normal train. Normally, mimicking people was fun, it felt like pretending to be a character in a book, or something. But not this disguise. She had to be cold, and snappy in this one. And that… that just wasn't her.

Today hadn't been too hard, thankfully ...it was abnormally quiet right now, which meant she could be lost in thought and not shouting at people for the majority of her shift. Shouting at people much like… that child, stepping on board.

-Wait, a child-?! What's a child doing here?

Trying not to cry, that's what. It's Mimi, after being harshly kicked out of her spot to play by some soldiers. She wants to just lay down on one of the seats, hug Butter, take a nap and forget it happened. And she goes to do just that.

But Tako gently taps her on the shoulder, first.

"Excuse me?"

"...?"

"Right this way, miss." She acts formal enough, but it's just until she can usher the child to a car with no one in it- then, drops her authoritative tone and behavior. She sits down, and pats her lap invitingly.

"Are you okay, sweetie? You look troubled..."

Mimi hesitates, and sniffles- this was a trap, wasn't it… But she looked nice, and she just wanted genuine affection so bad… So she sits down in her lap, hugging the lady.

"Shhh, shh, it's okay… Here, what's your name?"

"M...Mimi..."

"Well, Mimi, it's so nice to meet you. I'm Tacioni."

"Nice t-to meet you, Ms. Taci...Tacio... ...M-Ms. Taco?"

"Close enough." She smiles down at the cute kid, already gently twirling her tentacles.

The two sit quietly for a few minutes, Tako humming a small tune to Mimi to calm her down further, before the baby pipes up nervously. "...Ms. Taco?"

"Hm?"

"A-are you always here..?"

"Not always… I only come here once a week, on Thursdays."

"So you'll be here next week?"

"Very likely, yes."

"...Can I come here again next week?" Her eyes light up with hope.

"Of course, sweetie- The train might be a little more crowded, I might not be able to stay with you… I'll come sit with you on my break, though. That sound good?"

"Okay!" Yay! Someone to play with! Someone who gives hugs… she's definitely coming here next week, to see again. But, while she's still here… hugs. Mimi needs all the hugs she can get.

Sage held onto little Mimi's hand as she led her through the seemingly unending halls of Kamabo. Her clash blaster bounced on her hip, and she smiled in that way only Sage could.

"It's such a bright and beautiful day, isn't it~?" She was in a particularly good mood, couldn't pin down why- just the feeling that something interesting would happen today.

"..Yeah-" As if they could see the sky down here- maybe she just meant the hallway lights. They were a little brighter, she guesses… Kamabo didn't rely on zapfish, and harnessed energy the way their lovely Commander showed them how. So maybe it was a good day for that? Mimi didn't know.

Oh well. At least her 'mom' was in a good mood today, hopefully nobody would get hurt...They probably would, but lil Mims could hope! It'd all be okay… She just had to keep telling herself that, and maybe it would be.

But a good mood for Sage means somebody will get hurt. They move past a particularly ink-stained wall, various tentacle clippings laying across the ground. Probably from her followers, cutting their hair- or some intense torture happened here. Either way, lovely.

"What do you think about cutting your hair, Mimi?"

She nervously looks the scene over for a little bit, seemingly worried about either whether that was painful, or who it was painful to.

Only after her reflection does she respond. "D-does it hurt...?" She clutches one of her tentacles instinctually. She didn't really want to, and especially if it hurt…

"Oh no, not at all! And I think you'd look quite darling with a cut~" Sage takes the tentacle Mimi was holding, bouncing it lightly

"…Maybe when you're older." After all, she wasn't fully developed yet, so her tentacles couldn't grow and evolve the way they needed. And Sage didn't want to scare her too much. She saw the fear in her girl's eyes. No, not yet.

"Okay…. Do those need to be picked up-?" She points at the clippings- Didn't they need those for subjects? Wasn't that the point, or the example her mother set, or something?

Sage laughs fully, from deep inside her diaphragm. Her child could say the most amusing things. "That's not our job, dear! But I will get someone on that, Tartar wouldn't like this mess~"

She sighs at the quiet that sets in as they continue walking. "Mimi dear, you have to realize that you're above people, and take full control of situations. It's something that's in our blood-"

"Oh..." She felt bad doing that though, when she even could… It always meant someone got hurt, and she didn't like when people got hurt...

"Y-yes ma'am-" ...But she's gotten good at acting, especially when it came to stuff like this.

"That's a good girl!" She's awarded a pat on the head, but it just wasn't the same.

"Ah! Perfect time to show your stuff, dearie~" Here come two soldiers, the opposite way! But oh, wait, they're not just any soldiers… they're the Elites from before. The ones who tried to steal Butter. This can't end good-

"Lovely day, you two!" Sage calls out in greeting- making the Elites are just as freshly tense as Mimi. Maybe they should've picked a better target for their picking on, other than the child of the most dangerous woman in the Metro.

"Yes… it really is… lovely." One of them speaks through gritted teeth, an obedient smile plastered on.

"Dearie…" Sage rubs Mimi's head from its new comfortable (and frightened) place behind her, trying to smoothly step out of the way. "Don't be so shy! You're embarrassing us- come now, you can't just say hello? Hello dearie~?"

"I- um… H-hello..." She very quietly mumbles, only doing half of what Sage expected- she stays glued to her side.

The other Elite smiles anything but warmly. "Hello… sweetie..?"

"D-don't call me that-"

There it is, Sage beams with pride. In truth, that was more just out of the little girl not being in the mood. Ms. Taco called her that, and they're not Ms. Taco.

But Sage brings it back to business. "Where were you two headed, hm?"

"Uh-…" Damn, they really were just trouble makers.

"My, can't answer?" She shook her head, then her smile fell. "I want the hall behind me cleaner than when it was built. Understood? It's called sanitizer for a reason, so get to it."

"Yes ma'am-" Well, guess that solves that. The groups part ways, thank cod.

"That was so good, Mimsy! You've made me proud today~ I knew it was a good day."

"Thank you..." Validation felt good, at least. She liked it, even if acting the way to get it made her feel bad inside. But no one got killed… that's good enough for Mims.