Standing Up
Afternoon: February 27, 2190 AI
Virginia was crying all morning, burying her head in her father's lab coat. But when Werner had to go to work, he reluctantly let the child go. She understood, he had to continue onwards. So the girl went back to the place where Jet had met his end. Looking up at the capsule that held Adam's body, she could see his features were beginning to form, looking much like her friend's. 'I will make sure your death won't be in vain, Jet. I'll protect Adam, and I'll be his friend too. That way, he won't be lonely. All you ever wanted was a friend, and at least you had me in your final hours. May you rest in peace now, my older brother.'
"Well, well," a gruff male voice from behind her said, "What have we here? Werner's brat sitting in this chamber all alone. What happened to the Enduro boy, ran off and left you like everyone else?" There was no doubt in her mind that Leehalt was the one who owned that voice, only he could be so rotten to the girl like that. She turned around, confirming her hunch. The smirk on his face told her that he already had heard about the tragedy, and was just trying to make her mad. It seemed to be working, Virginia felt her anger and rage rise. How dare this man make fun of the death of another human being, especially the son of one of his coworkers? If Virginia wasn't a calm girl most of the time, she probably would have hit him.
"Leave me alone. You know very well that Jet isn't here anymore, and I need time to think about things. This place is the quietest in the whole building, and I want to just sit here for awhile," Virginia told Leehalt. She still had red in her eyes, from all her crying, but was trying her best to hold her rage in check.
Leehalt replied, "Of course I know what happened, Elliot came into the central lab bawling like a two year old. One of the most enjoyable sights I've ever beheld, after all both of them did to me. Now, if only you would just drop dead too, then my revenge against Werner would be complete without me even lifting a finger. I'm sure there's a few more experiments we can use your DNA for, just enough to kill you like this little project of Elliot's killed Jet. Maybe now they'll listen to me and destroy the creature before it's born."
Virginia felt her rage explode, how dare he talk about her, her father, Jet, Elliot, and Adam like that! Now he would pay, and pay dearly. So she rammed into him, knocking Leehalt off balance, and to the cold hard floor below. "You've got no right to say that! No matter how he is born, or what the circumstances are involved in his creation, Adam is a life. And life is sacred to the Guardians. If you killed another being with no traces of evil inside of it, who was never doing any harm intentionally, you will be cursed for the rest of your own life. I will protect him with my own life, if needed be, he deserves a chance to live and experience the joys of living like we all have." She put her self in front of the cylinder, making a wall to protect Adam.
"Foolish sentiment," Leehalt stated, "Just like that of the Baskars. Since when was Werner from that colony? I know Ekatrina, may her beauty never fade, came from Little Rock. So how in the heck did you learn to be such a sappy little brat with all of those stupid ideals about living things being sacred?"
"My mommy isn't from Baskar, but she has a big heart! She'd never turn any person away, even if they were not human. As long as it wouldn't harm herself or the rest of her family, she'd be willing to take in any person stuck in the rain, lost, or alone, and give them a place they could call home!" the girl yelled at the irate scientist. Her face shone with pure rage, there was no way in hell she'd let any harm come to him.
At that moment, Leehalt felt a large hand on his back. He turned to see both Werner and Elliot, who were most likely looking for Virginia, and they didn't look too happy. Werner threatened, "If I ever catch you picking on my daughter again, there's going to be a few bullet holes decorating your shoulder. You know I'm not the violent type, but my daughter means more to me than life itself, I would never let anyone try to hurt her either physically or mentally. And Elliot will back me up, you know that. Besides, everyone else will hear of this, and they won't be happy if they hear you're spending your free time picking on a little girl."
Now Leehalt was a realist enough to know that the odds were against him. Both men had some skill in firing ARMs, Werner's Duel Pistols and Elliot's submachine gun. And he also had a child who was pretty demanding when she was angry, and quite strong for a little girl. So he slinked away, vowing to go and finish this little conversation up later. Leehalt returned to the laboratory to work, scowling as he left. Werner gave him a scowl back, and tried to shield Virginia from him, in case he turned around suddenly.
Virginia looked at her father and Elliot, her eyes big and round, giving them the puppy dog face. "Are you gonna hurt Adam? Please, Jet wouldn't want you to do that, he gave his life in order to bring this boy into the world. I don't want to be friendless once again, so please don't kill him." She was quite good at begging, able to get away with so many things by making that face. It won over many a person before that, including some of the local bullies that were picking on her. They avoided her, but they weren't teasing her.
"Of course we wouldn't hurt him," Elliot replied, "I owe it to Jet, to make sure that he survives. Now, since I've lost my own son, I guess he can be my kid. I'd be honored if such a cute little girl as yourself will befriend him." This made Virginia giggle, she always loved it when adults would call her 'a cute little girl'.
"Virginia, I want you to come with me. We're having a funeral for Jet, and I know he'd want you to be there. You made him so happy on his last day alive, he had someone to protect as a sister, and he wasn't all alone. Dying with the knowledge that you cared enough to try to get help to save him, that must have made him feel like he was loved by someone besides those who took care of him. And the fact that you won't abandon Adam even though Jet died to create him, that shows true heart," Werner told her.
* * *
The only person missing from the procession was Leehalt, having no desire to go and pay his last respects to the boy. Not that it bothered Elliot or Werner, they didn't want him causing trouble anyway, and were hoping he'd just skip it. Though they did have to make Duran put down the copy of "Topless Women Monthly", with its annual issue of the ten hottest bar maids wearing no bras and sexy underwear. It wasn't an appropriate piece of reading material for a funeral, nor something to put on the grave of an innocent boy.
Over Jet's casket, Virginia whispered, "It'll be alright, I'll take good care of Adam. He'll never be alone in the world, I'll make sure he knows that I'm his friend. Your father doesn't hold it against him, he will treat the boy as his own child. But through all this, I'll never forget the boy who was my first ever real friend."
She began to silently chant a prayer to the Guardian of Death, Ge Ramtos, in order to guard the boy's soul on his journey to the afterlife. Then, with a last look at the casket, it was interred in the ground outside of Yggdrasil, in a patch of beautiful flowers that Jet had loved ever since they had come to the place.
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Yup, typical Leehalt, he's got no heart in him. He's always been a real jerk, I mean, he blamed Werner because the girl he liked was in love with Werner instead. Well, if he truly loved her, he would let her decide what she wanted and be happy.
