Chapter 35 - Excited family

In the end the 'difficult decision' had been no decision at all for Riko. She needed to go down into the Abyss and who better to accompany her than her pen pal who was also an awesome delver herself? To be honest Riko was even a tiny bit jealous of Tanya's success. To get to see so much at a young age and already make a name for oneself was a tantalizing prospect that wouldn't leave her head no matter what.

'A dream come true...'

In one week they would depart and that felt simultaneously like way too short of a timeframe to say goodbye to her home and also like an eternity of waiting until she was allowed to step into the great unknown.

There was much to do, much to prepare and much to remember before she left the surface for what could be months or possibly years. Nothing was allowed to be amiss for her first actual descent beyond the shallow depths of the first layer! Everything was so nerve-wrackingly exciting!

Suddenly though she was ripped from her blissful daydream as she remembered the only problem that still stood between her and adventure.

Should she tell Tanya about him?

Riko really didn't want to leave Reg, her newfound friend, personal saviour and greatest discovery behind! But sharing him was also scary. Reg was a living, thinking being who could have passed off as a normal boy if not for his cool detachable metal hands. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him if word got out about this one of a kind, Special Grade Artefact.

On the other hand, Tanya had shared so much with her by now and there were certainly more fascinating insights to acquire once she got to talk with her father... Maybe they could even restore the lost boy's memories?

Yes, it would only be fair to let her new 'colleague' -and wasn't that a funny idea?- in on her biggest secret since stealing Director's pie three months ago. Hiding stuff from friends was bad and Tanya had nearly always been truthful with her as well.

"Oh, ehm, there is something you should know..."

"What is it, Riko? If you need more time then that is perfectly alright."

"No, no... It's, ehm... A friend? Who will come with us? You should really meet him by the way."

"Come with us? Ah. I know that you have friends here that you will have to leave behind for a while, but I can't really bring any more children with me. The Abyss is a dangerous place without having to escort any more... untrained personnel."

She groaned. Tanya could make things so difficult at times!

"Just come with me, okay?"

With a raised eyebrow her fellow blonde followed her up the stairs, staying mercifully silent as Riko wrung her hands in anticipation.

"Ta-daa!" she proudly exclaimed, slamming the door open where she had hid him.

Tanya seemed to struggle for words for a moment.

"That is a very nice room, Riko."

Ah, right.

"Reg, you can come out. It's safe."

Hesitatingly his head peeked out from beneath the sheets and eyed them uncertainly.

"Hi?"

It sounded more like a question than a greeting, but she knew how shy her robotic friend sometimes was. How silly.

"Reg, this is Tanya. She is the one who sent me the letters. Tanya, this is Reg. He saved my life!"

"Ah, in that case, I am very happy to meet you, Reg. Many thanks for saving my friend Riko. Any friend of Riko is a friend of mine." she smiled and strode over to shake his hand.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too."

They were getting along so well already! Yes, everything would be wonderful once they became all best friends!

∞•۞˂Tanya's point of view˃۞•∞

Man, this guy had a strong grip! Looking down she studied his bulky metal gloves more closely. These definitely had to be artefacts; no material that she knew from the surface world was so smooth and perfectly crafted. What did they do though?

"May I?" she inquired to be polite and brought his outstretched hand up to her face.

There was a lens of some sort inset into the palm and the fingers looked to be fully covered as if-

"These are prosthetics, aren't they?"

"Well, kinda? Actually no." he replied, obviously uncomfortable with the question.

Understandable, as the surgery must have been quite invasive.

"Those hands are a part of him!" Riko interjected.

Tanya fought the urge to touch her throat where the accursed medallion had fused to her skin, reminding her each day that Being X was a conniving bastard.

"That's why I wanted you to meet him. Reg needs to come with us, because he... Uhm, he isn't exactly human."

The last part was whispered, but to Tanya's ears it sounded as loud as the roar of an Angeltoad during mating season, freezing her in place as the implications of that statement sunk in.

What?!

"I found him down in the first layer, or I guess he found me, hehe... Reg is a real wonder. Like I said, I owe him my life! He totally destroyed that Crimson Splitjaw with his amazing fire beam and BAM! I wonder where he gets that energy from, ya know? I tried to feed him coal, but he much prefers human food. Uh, Tanya, are you alright?"

He killed a Crimson Splitjaw on his own? Obliterated it even?

Such power in the form of a little boy...

Now that she knew, more signs of Reg's abnormality were beginning to show, like his golden eyes or too perfect skin.

But an ancient relic, masquerading as a human was beyond ludicrous!

The repercussions of sentient, humanoid artefacts were simply staggering.

Father described strange unknown wanderers in the dark. Multiple times he offhandedly mentioned figures which eluded his vast array of sensors and that only traversed the edge of perception through the grey muddy wastelands of the fifth floor. Had those merely been anomalous cave raiders, or were they similar creatures, robots designed by whatever ancient civilization constructed the Abyss?

Tanya felt herself getting giddy with excitement just thinking about all the tests they could run.

"Hey, Tanya."

A small hand was shaking her shoulder.

"Yes? Oh, forgive me. I was lost in thought."

She involuntarily blushed in embarrassment for spacing out like that. How unprofessional!

"No problem. You are not... weirded out, I hope? Reg is wonderful and we will get many opportunities to hang out together!" her soon to be junior enthusiastically smiled.

"Indeed."

It would be a terrible shame to lose out on such an incredible find.

"Uhm, Riko? What exactly are you talking about? Are we going somewhere?"

Slightly confused, the android was glancing meaningfully between them both. Of course he couldn't know the arrangement that they had formed a couple minutes ago on the first floor.

Deciding to build some positive rapport with the artificial boy, Tanya was quick to reassure him.

"Not right now. Riko graciously chose to accept my offer for employment and wants to accompany me into the Abyss for further training. Ideally that would happen next week, but we can also postpone that date if you want to bring your affairs in order. I assume you will be joining her, right? You seem very close already."

Playing on Reg's supposed bond with the girl to guilt trip him into following was apparently as simple as it was effective.

"Absolutely! I go wherever Riko goes!"

"Wonderful. Do you want a present? Sadly I previously promised most of them to Riko, but I think I have some pretty crystal shards left. Wanna see?"

Underneath the mistrust in his eyes, the tiniest amount of curiosity flared up like a spark in the darkness as he focused on her backpack behind her back.

Oh, this excursion was already paying dividends! Father would be so proud of her! And her sister was also going to love her new playmates. Prushka desperately needed more social interaction and undoubtedly this mission would boost her growth tremendously.

Tanya grinned gleefully.

∞•۞˂Bondrewd's point of view˃۞•∞

'Success!' echoed from half a dozen minds that were one and also not. Across his different bodies, the Lord of Dawn allowed himself to feel a small measure of satisfaction at a job well done.

His fractured mind grew hungry for knowledge often and there was nothing more intoxicating than wresting the deepest secrets of this world from the Abyss. Observing a piece of information from multiple eyes, to touch and understand something with clarity beyond a single human brain was so incredibly liberating.

Bondrewd's attention receded back to his main body, permitting his other extensions to roam independently, yet always at the edge of their shared consciousness. The experiment was most insightful and so he was content to spend some time with his third favourite activity:

Playing with his youngest daughter.

"Papa!" screeched his little girl the moment he entered her room.

Unheeding of the grime on his robes she threw himself at his leg and hugged it as if she had not seen him just a few hours ago. Rewarding her adorable obsession with a deep chuckle and plenty of headpats, Bondrewd lifted her up so that Prushka could properly cling to him as she was prone to do.

"I missed you."

"I know, darling. You have been very patient today."

"Uh-huh!" she instantly agreed, causing him to chuckle again.

Both of his daughters were so delightfully pure and sweet in their own ways, continuously reminding him of the humanity he had willingly given up in times long past. Although he certainly did not miss his early limitations, Bondrewd was nonetheless appreciative of the experiences and knowledge it had provided him.

"And I think that you deserve a treat for that, don't you think?"

"Yeah! Papa you are the best!"

It always filled his many hearts with joy to see her radiant expression be directed at him.

"Then let us go to the surgical lab. My men have captured a previously unheard of fish in the eastern ponds and after we vivisect it you get to name it. How does that sound, my dear?"

"Yayyy! Oh, how big is it? Is it beautiful? Does it have large teeth?"

"We will just have to find out. You'll be one of the first to ever lay eyes on such a creature."

"Awesome!" chirped the grey-haired girl, now riding on his shoulders.

Indeed, witnessing the sheer drive, the intense curiosity of his children that he had done his best to cultivate over the years, made him yearn even more to share his gift with them. Little Prushka was still too young to properly understand such a proposal and her fragile mind would most likely shatter under the strain of the Zoaholic.

Meanwhile Tanya had displayed a mature way of thinking since he adopted her from that frozen orphanage at the fringes of civilization. Her rational and receptive intellect made her often come across as an adult wearing the skin of a child, surprising him regularly with its inventiveness and discipline.

If there was anyone whom he trusted to appreciate the genius simplicity behind his immortality then it would be her. Of course he did plan to inaugurate her ages ago in some form, but raising two children had made the time fly by so fast that he honestly had never found the right moment to finally do it. There was constantly something novel and interesting to teach and learn, so much – dare he say – fun to be had that risking her adoration in a calculated gamble seemed to never be worth it.

Would Tanya, against all odds, feel disgusted by his greatest secret? Betrayed or scared perhaps?

Nobody could say, and that made him push back the important day of revelation farther and farther.

Not anymore!

As soon as she returned from Orth, he would show her. His eldest child deserved that much. How could he deny her such pleasure, when she proved herself capable and reliable without a doubt?

It was time to show her everything at last. Misguided fatherly protection should not interfere with the development of his precious daughter!

Resolve set, Bondrewd vowed to reveal the cipher to his thrice encoded notebooks to Tanya at the earliest opportunity.

Prushka audibly gasped as they crossed the threshold into the laboratory.

"Woooow! That is a big fishy!"

Despite the thick bindings fixating the beast in the water tank obscuring much of it, its over two meters of length were still quite impressive.

Setting her down the Lord of Dawn calmly asked: "Would you be a dear and bring me the dissection set from the cupboard? And the tranquilizers too. Can you tell me what else we need?"

She put a tiny finger on her chin, wracking her brain for the correct answer.

"Uhm, a bucket for waste, a notebook and the big clamps for keeping its belly open?"

"Very good. You are becoming just like your big sister."

His adorable daughter preened at the praise and went to fetch the discussed items.

Hopefully, in time she was going to be ready too. They all had a role to play and what hers would be, only the Abyss knew.