Emotional Support…Xenos? - Chapter 4

"Colony, do you know why Slick is able to alter her own drag coefficient?" Armsmaster asked. He leaned closer trying to get a better view of the underside of the talon of the newest member of Taylor's retinue. Slick obliged him and pushed her leg closer to his helmet letting the zoom adjust itself. "There is a slight shimmer here…I can't quite determine the cause though."

"Mhm, I think it's from those adaptations introduced from the mutations when they go from Hugger to Larva."

He let the xenomorph's talon go and the creature stepped back as Armsmaster stood from the floor, dusting himself off. "And you still aren't sure how that mutation is introduced?"

"…Nope. Not a clue."

Armsmaster heard a scoff and he glanced to the side to see Amy Dallon burrow deeper into her armchair, cradling a mug. Carol was sitting in the chair next to her with a mug of her own and a half empty brandy bottle was on the table between them. Frowning, he turned up the level of the audio receivers in his helmet. "My family is sheltering a lying psycho and Armsy just grins and enables her. How is this my life now?"

"Welcome to adulthood sweetheart," Carol murmured.

"I miss healing. I hate healing. Now I miss hating it. Can I go back to the simple life when I just hated myself and hated that I hated healing?"

Carol let out a long suffering sigh. "Just drink your tea."

Armsmaster's frown deepened and he started to head towards them when Taylor latched onto his arm, grinning wide. "Hey, I heard that the Merchants were breaking up! Did you have anything to do with that?!"

He shook his head and let Taylor lead him to the table, sitting down as Gloomy dropped down out of the shadows over the refrigerator, a mug of coffee in her hands. Accepting the drink with a nod, he sighed. "Unfortunately, no. Battery and I apprehended Mush, but he informed us that they were already beginning to fracture. Skidmark had vanished several days prior and the group was starting to splinter with the infighting. While Mush denied it, I am nearly certain that Skidmark died of an overdose and it was being covered up in a poor attempt to keep what remained of the gang together."

"Ah. Well at least you got him," Taylor said. She sipped from her own mug before she scowled and turned to glare towards the xenomorph. Gloomy hissed, bowing her head to her Mistress. "I said two sugars and a pinch of honey. I swear you do this on purpose." Gloomy's inner mouth extended halfway, hinging open, then pulling back inside as the inky-black creature practically melted back into the shadows. It returned a moment later with another mug.

Taylor took it and after a quick taste nodded. "Much better. Thank you." As the xenomorph retreated, Taylor turned back to Armsmaster with a large smile back on her face. He took off his helmet and returned the expression.

"I never did thank you for sending Gloomy and Grumpy to take down Squealer. Grumpy was a great help getting into the tank."

"Happy to help." She paused, her eyes dropping as she sighed. "I'm…glad that Velocity showed up to arrest her after they got her out of the tank."

"Yes, we don't need her running around on the streets. And while your xenomorphs are incredibly intelligent, I'm not certain they would have been able to hold her for long enough for the PRT to arrive if he had not been close." And no one would be coming after Squealer this time. Not with the capes in the gang gone and most of the unpowered individuals gone to the wind. The new - unmutated - members of Colony's Hive were doing a fantastic job of scaring the remaining gang members out of the city.

"You guys caught Oni Lee right?" Taylor asked, stirring the liquid in her mug.

"We did, yes. Glory Girl brought him in the other day."

Amy, having abandoned her chair, came to stand at the wall separating the kitchen from the living room, her full glare leveled at Taylor. "Vicky totally cockblocked you. Now you can't use the teleporter for more genetic material for your monster brood!"

"Amelia!" Carol hissed. Her arm appeared over Amy's shoulder and dragged her away, back into the other room. Armsmaster just stared after her, his eye twitching. Why did everyone keep thinking that?! He had proof that Taylor's creatures weren't able to do something like that!

Pointless fear. That was all it was. Stupid, pointless fear. It was just lucky that Taylor didn't let it get to her.

He would never be able to collaborate with her if she fell headfirst into depression.

"I heard my name!" Victoria shouted. Shot through the hallway and hovered over the floor looking between the two. "Hi, Colin. Someone call for me?"

"Colin was just saying how you brought in Oni Lee," Taylor said, sighing.

"Oh yeah! I was out with Spike and…ugh, I don't the new guy's name, built like a bull -"

"Matador."

"Right, so I was out with Spike and Matador, and we ran across him and I kind of punted him and he ashed, like always, but he made the mistake of appearing behind Spike and trying to shank the guy. Didn't realize Spike's tail was prehensile. That was hilarious. I have never laughed so hard as I did after I watched Oni get tail-slapped through a wall and knocked out."

"Spike did that?" Taylor asked, frowning as she looked up. "Hmm, so the drones are good at basic tasks but not so good at reporting unless asked…good to know. I'll have to talk with the Praetorians to make sure they know to get the full details of any excursions."

Armsmaster made a mental note to write that down. He was regretting removing his helmet already. He needed his notes! He was going to forget and he - oh, he had already forgotten the primary reason for his visit.

"Taylor, I apologize. I was initially here to advise you there are still no leads in the whereabouts of your father. We've tried expanding the search area again, but it's not looking promising."

She shook her head. "I told you it's pointless. He wouldn't have lived long after the poison Sophia hit him with."

He laid a gauntleted hand on her arm. "You don't know that for sure."

She just smiled and patted his arm as Zeno wandered into the kitchen and bumped up against her back. "I do. The Huggers could tell."

He frowned, opening his mouth to ask a question about what she meant by that before she immediately continued on, her cheer back in full force.

"Oh, I forgot! Now that the ABB and the Merchants are pretty much gone, do we have to worry about the Empire?"

Armsmaster reluctantly made a mental note to follow the inquiry about her creatures sensing terminal illness later. That was an incredibly useful ability if possible. Maybe that was why Amy disliked her so much, she felt Taylor was muscling in on her job?

"We are concerned that the Empire will increase their presence, yes. You shouldn't be worried though. That's what the Protectorate is for, Taylor. We'll handle it. Now I really must be going. I have to get back to my patrol. Have a pleasant evening both of you."

As he stood, and to the door, Slick walked him out. He nodded politely to the xenomorph and straddled his motorcycle. It was only as he peeled away that he saw the new creature slip away from him towards downtown.

Ah well, it probably just wanted to explore a bit. All of the others had gone for short excursions their first few nights as well. He smiled to himself as the bike vibrated beneath him. Taylor's xenomorphs were such good beings.

They were so much more pleasant to deal with than his coworkers.