Your Father is a Hero

by WizardlyWords

Forty years have passed, but the future has not changed. Jack no longer looks for the past, he no longer looks for hope in the future. He only travels, a poor means to escape his demons. But through a mountain pass, in a desolate land, he finds what he believed to be impossible. Children, filled with hope. [Cover Image by Inyuji]

11. Ashi and the Ruins of Science (1)

It has been seven years since Ashi had been saved from the mountain. Seven years since she and her sisters owed their lives to a man of legends and myths.

Seven years of learning of a world they were told was Aku's greatest blessing, but soon found him to be its true curse. Seven years of finding themselves outside of the thumb of their keepers, and instead following the steps of their father. Seven years of making just what was vile in the world, learning skills that their father lacked as they craved to understand what he taught.

Seven years they had followed their father, and seven years Ashi did everything she could to emulate him. The way he spoke, led, fought, taught, ate, read, and even slept. She watched and mimicked him whenever she could, seeing it as the only way to reach the level he had in the world, the prestige that was showered on him by friend and foe alike. No one was ignorant of her father, and all were in awe of both him and what he could do.

Ashi wanted to be like him, just like him, in every way she could imagine. It was her dream to one day hold herself in a way that others would look to for hope, to see her as the ray of light in this land cursed by a vile demon. That was what she trained for, what she waited for, and what she studied for.

But Ashi never expected she would be tested so quickly, so soon, and in the way she was now.

For seven years Ashi and her sisters had followed their father, always trusting him to keep them safe through every fight they endured and battle they pushed through. He had fought with his lance, his gun, his bow, his hands, his feet, and anything he could find lying on the ground. That was who her father was. The man who could win no matter the circumstance. That was what Ashi believed. It was what she thought was true.

All before her father had his arm cut off by a vile man tainting the title of samurai.

That was one week ago.

One week since their father had so nearly lost his life, so nearly the battle, and he had yet to rouse from his sleep. Yet to do more than offer labored breathing on the misshapen cot he was dragged on, his severed arm carried in a canister of Ami's making next to him.

One week of Ashi leading her siblings through and out of the forest, searching for a doctor they could trust, all while nursing their father's deteriorating position. A position staved off only by the genius of Ami, the care of Ahi and Adi, and the muscle of Aki and herself. They dragged him through the woods and over roots, dragged him as Ami checked the liquid of the canister secured about his severed arm and stump of a limb, as Ahi and Adi offered all tools and assistance necessary to stave off any fall in his condition. They wiped the sweat from his brow, gave him water to drink, filtered the mysterious coolant Ami used, and anything else necessary.

One week of this for their father, even as the condition spread to Ashi and her sisters. Mentally spread like the miasma they had sealed away in the coffins some years ago. A week of dealing with thoughts, ideas, and fears that Ashi never had before, but now wouldn't cease. No matter which of her sisters she slept next to, no matter the time of night she took for watch or position in which she slept, she could not stave off the thoughts that made her face grimace and soul burn. From the whimpers of her sisters, she knew she was not alone.

One week of nightmares of the vile blade striking a few inches higher, a few milliseconds faster, or a few times more. A week of waking and checking on her father, out of breath and nearly out of mind, fearing that she would find his chest no longer rose or his labored breathing was no more. And every time she had to put her head to his chest, to remind herself he was not gone. Not yet.

One week of that horror. One week of dealing with thoughts no child nor adult should be burdened with for so long. They had to find a doctor soon.

And thanks to Aki, they just might have.

"Now say it," her sister spoke to a decrepit robot, missing an arm and one of its eyes dangling by loose wires. Her messed haired sister chopped the air with her hands, eyes focused as she spoke. It would have been good to see, if the conditions for why weren't so horrid. "From the top, like I asked, tell me and my sis everything about why you're here and where you came from."

"B-B-But I-I-IIIIII c-c-cc-aaaAAAan't-t-t-t-t." Ashi rolled her eyes as the voice reached her ears. Apparently, the robots vocalization system or program was flawed, or something similar. Ashi knew Ami was preoccupied to fix it.

"Yes, you can," Aki spoke again, taking a step forward. Ashi watched the robot wheel away at the action, but she took none to stop her sister. Not while they were in a hurry. "You didn't have any trouble spoutin' off threats of what you were gonna do to me and my sisters when you beat us, so you shouldn't be strugglin' so bad to tell me what I want to hear. So, do it." Her voice seethed as her knuckles clenched. Ashi sighed at the actions and words.

"I believe you may have destroyed his communication module when you beat in his head, Aki," Ashi spoke easily to her sister. Though her sibling turned a scornful eye to her, Ashi did not shirk under it. Her father wouldn't and neither would she. Not when they were on the same side.

Not so long as they were family. And as her father would say, that wouldn't change. Instead, Ashi had to change, only a little. Just the way she was communicating to Aki, the same way their father would speak differently when one of them made a mistake.

"It's not my insinuation that you erred in this matter, far from it." Ashi continued, placating her sister. She didn't speak falsely at that. "I'm merely trying to tell you that telling a broken thing to speak is like asking a tired wolf to howl." Their father had once told them a story of a wolf that roared at the night, and couldn't bark during the day.

The snort of a response Aki made was enough for Ashi, enough to know she had dropped the first matter at least. Instead, their gazes turned back to the wheeled robot in a shattered body, his dented chassis still sporting the fist marks Aki had buried into him.

Ashi watched with crossed arms, watched as the robot's head twisted in a variety of directions. She knew he was looking for assistance from someone or something nearby, but none had approached them again. Not that she was surprised. There were numbers surrounding them, staring out from metallic houses rusted and untreated, looking with luminescent eyes behind the edges of broken walls. Though they were there none still approached. Ashi wondered little why.

The mountain of his similarly constructed units behind them was evidence enough. Not as highly populated as something their father would accomplish, granted, but she was proud in a sardonic manner, that she and Aki could best three digits worth of the robotic droids.

"Okay, let me ask this in another way," Aki spoke, her patience having clearly fallen away. Faster than their sisters, and still faster than usual. "You're gonna tell me and my sis exactly what you were doing here, or else I'm gonna start pulling apart your wires line by line till whatever's powering your brain goes lights out." Ashi sighed again. Ami would be preferred for this, but she wasn't here.

Ami, Adi, and Ahi were taking care of their father in a dilapidated building some few blocks away, Adi ensuring no harm would come to them. They were out looking for a doctor or someone with information on one, because Aki and herself were more than capable of handling any threats that came their way. The corpses of robots were evidence enough.

However, it would ultimately be for naught if they were unable to gather any information from this.

"I-I-I-I-I ccccCCCCCCCCCAAAa-a-a-a-a-anana," Ashi sighed as she heard Aki growl. She had disappointment, but her sister's anger was palpable. "Really really really reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally-"

BANG! Ashi watched the robot's head fly off in one direction, without its body.

When her gaze returned to her sibling, it was to see her fist extended towards her side, oil dribbling and smoke billowing from the back of her fist. Doubtlessly a strong back-hand, the kind of harsh tactics that Aki was more prone to use. Not as effective as manipulation of the opponent like she and her father did, but it worked well enough. Except for now.

"I suppose we won't be getting an answer now," Ashi noted. Aki grunted in response. "Though we may be able to take this evidence that there is something in this town that we may use." Ashi mused aloud, fully aware of the spectators observing them. From the way Aki looked about herself, short stray hairs whipping with the motion, she knew she did as well. She was blunt, but that didn't mean her sister's mind wasn't sharp.

"Think we should start askin' the audience?" Her sister's voice held no sense of sarcasm to it, nothing like was usual for her. "Bet one of them knows why the borge tried to ambush us." Tried was operative word. Failed was the correct conclusion.

"Perhaps," she spoke in return, just as her father. "But which one do we ask? I am confident that they will not wait for us should we attempt to… interview one of them." And if they were to gather a robot that was merely trapped in this dark metallic town, no different than any other civilization they found, they would have wasted time. Something they had precious little of.

Not while their father still had labored breathing. Not while their sisters were waiting for them to return. Not while they had to find someone to help their father. Not while Ashi continued to imagine the many ways this situation could worsen.

Her fists tightened, controlling herself. Long deep breaths, relaxing herself. As her father would say, a mind clouded by rage and hate was blind to peace and civility. Peace and civility were required to remove the evil and vile in the world. If one let anger rule them, they would never be able to rid the world of the darkness that held it.

Ashi needed to relax. Relax, breath, and think.

"Maybe… we can be more civil with this." Ashi started. "Perhaps the robots in these darkened huts are not watching for… morbid curiosity." Aki turned back towards her. The screwed look in her eyes was question enough. Her sister never was fond of hiding how she felt.

"Isn't that what robots do?" Aki asked back. Perhaps Ashi was losing her touch. "Ami says it all the time. They record, analyze, and spit out whatever they think is right, 'less something orders them to do it. Bet they're watchin' us just to make sure they can tell their big boss who we are." Perhaps, perhaps. Aki's idea wasn't wrong. However…

"I don't think so," Ashi returned, her breathing still practiced and slow. "If they were, they would have weapons trained on us. Tools to help them if we were to… approach." Her eyes turned towards one hut, the meta of one of its walls bent as if something had blown through it. She could see a red pair of luminescent eyes staring out at them, red bulbs of light hidden behind thick grating. They shirked away as her gaze narrowed on them. "They are also too cautious to be that."

"That might have somethin' to do with the freaking pile of bodies we got over here!" Aki held up her arms at the pile of robots. Ashi looked at it for a moment, long enough to watch an unsteady eye fall from a tilted robot's head, clattering down the pile and running its twisted course on the ground. Dark oil trailed behind it. "And if that's not enough, maybe it's the fact we did it without breaking a freaking sweat here! I mean, it's like they think we're weak or something!" That was actually a fair point.

Over confidence was hardly something alien to most of their enemies. Foes who thought they stood a chance against them, trained by their father and having lived through the Red Mountain for ten years. No one could easily best them, and their father was truly unbeatable. Or at least he was…

Ashi took a slow breath, relaxing her breathing again. She had to be calm, doubly so if Aki refused to be.

"Perhaps it wasn't overconfidence that had them attacking us…" Ashi mused as she thought of serenity. Easy thoughts to ease her mind. The clouds in the sky, an ignorant ocean, birds in the forest. "They attacked us without stating who or what we are… they didn't know who we are…" It was likely, though not guaranteed.

"Really? They don't?" Aki chuckled at the question. Ashi did not. Her sister laughed often, but her chuckling while hatred stewed in her was not a thing she enjoyed. Neither her, her sisters, or their father.

It was made painfully clear why when she turned towards the buildings that surrounded them.

"Do none of you know who we ARE?!" She shouted up at them, voice echoing off of the twisted and chaffed metal, bouncing back to them and swimming through the array of homes. It was like a bomb in the ocean, sending the many eyes that watched them back into cover, ducking away from the furious woman who had dealt with so many of their kind.

Ashi could not blame them, but she could fault her sister's attitude.

"You start attacking us outta no where and basically were cheering when we took those hits, but you did it without a freaking clue?!" They likely had a clue now, if not for Aki's words, then for their actions. Aki could name few humans aside from their father who could handle the foes they did together. "Are you hiding away cause you're afraid we're gonna kick all your butts a second time, or are you just realizing that you're screwed against us?! If ya know who we are, just say it!"

The silence returned her echoing cry, one that Ashi let herself rest in for a blissful few seconds. Seconds she spent focusing on her breathing, calming her mind, letting her sister vent. She was worried for their father, after all. It wouldn't be fair or just for her to stop Aki from venting in some manner, no different than father assisting Ahi with a dish to cook when she was worried about the next town they would visit.

"You seriously don't us?!" She yelled again, arms out at her sides. Oil was still dripping off of them, the wires wrapped about her wrists where she had buried them into the chassis and frames of the robots that had attacked them. Ashi hadn't noticed them till now, unlike how her father would have. "None of you got a clue who our dad is? Ya'll though you could attack us, US, and think that we-"

"Enough! Aki," Ashi raised and dipped her voice, getting her sister to turn to her. The scowl was back. Ashi did not drop hers. Not now. Her father wouldn't either. "If they do not know of father, than it is not our job to tell them." It would be a very deadly mistake for them to do so regardless, something akin to painting a target on their back, as their father may relate.

"Why not?" Though Aki was showing her lack of forethought once more. The anger likely wasn't assisting her. "Wouldn't that get them ta at least apologize! Or how 'bout helping us! Cause in case you forgot Ashi, dad ain't exactly doin' too hot right now!" Ashi's teeth began to show.

How her father controlled his temper with Aki's outburst was a wonder in itself, worthy of the tales that the countless villagers whispered of him. It was a part of him Ashi had yet to master…

"Do not act like I have forgotten that," she hissed out at Aki. Her breathing was no longer calm. It was erratic, twisted as the metallic huts that surrounded them. "Don't. I'm worried for him, we both are, and we are here looking for someone to help him. But if there are people or beings here looking to hurt him, then telling them who our father is would be very poor judgement."

Ashi stalked closer to Aki with her words, stopping only when they were eye to eye. Her long head of hair stood tall above Aki's uncared for mane, matched by her poised posture against her sister's curled rage. Lips snarling at Ashi's thin line of a mouth, eyes focused with rage at Ashi's focused gaze. It was a contrast she was well aware she had with her sister. One that her father and many others had pointed out many times before.

But now was not the time for noticing the facets of their characters. Now was the time to help their father, and shouting at one another would do nothing for it.

The wind whipped past them as they continued to stare at one another. Ashi listened to it, as her father had instructed her to long ago. Aki was violent and prone to lash out, but she was not stupid. She would not attack Ashi if she believed they were in danger, not even if they were trying to help their father. Ashi trusted her for that. So, she listened to the wind as she stared at her sister.

A wind that was cut and beaten by the metallic huts that surrounded them, the harsh nature of the 'town' they were in turning the wind's gentle breeze into controlled passages of gusts. Wind tunnels was the term that Ami had used to describe it to them. Ashi forgot the more technical term, only that there was one. Ami wouldn't be focused on that though, even if she was here. She would be wondering if the town had anything they could use to assist their father.

Ashi shut her eyes, dipping her head as she turned from Aki. She didn't care what her sister thought of it, not for that. They were both angry, in their own ways. It was just that simple.

Simple, and horrifying.

"E-Excuse me."

Ashi opened her eyes again, twisting her head until she saw who spoke. Aki doubtlessly did the same, but she didn't check. Her time was better spent studying the robot that spoke to them, standing apart from buildings and peaking out from behind a wall of steel.

Her eyes, for the feminine features of her otherwise damaged face were clear, were looking between the pair of them, blue lights that shifted in hollow sockets, guarded by a glassy frame. Her rusted chassis held itself together, if only barely, leaving Ashi to wonder if her open jaw was due to her truly wondering what to say, or having an inability to close it.

"What? You want something?" Ashi shut her eyes at Aki's words. They were too back to take now.

"Ignore her," Ashi quickly followed. "But… do you need us for something? Some assistance or question?" Her father would ask that, but not approach. Not while they had to be careful. There was too much potential harm around them still to possibly let their guard down.

"No I-I'm… I'm okay," the robot girl spoke. She wasn't, in truth, and Ashi could tell that. The metallic 'wings' above her head looked ready to fall off, any blue that once coated them having been frayed off by time and pain. "Actually I though I… I think I might be able to help you." Ashi was more on edge now. She knew Aki would be the same, unfortunately.

"Oh? You can huh?" The dark humor was in her voice again, and Ashi was wary of it as she was the robot girl who spoke. "How you gonna do that? Tell us what I was asking the first guy about? Offer ta come train with us? Got some magic juice to fix up our dad?" Ashi would have sighed, if she weren't focused on the robot's response.

"N-No, nothing like… not like that." She stepped out from the corner of metal she hid behind. The rest of her body reaffirmed her feminine features, to Ashi at least. Thicker feet that were attached a thinner chassis, an expansion at the chest to simulate moderately sized and covered breasts, flared hips, all of which sported flaking blue pain, more covered in rust and ruined dents. "And I… I-I don't know what wrong, or bad, with… your dad but… but I do know someone who might, m-maybe help. Probably." That was more curious than anything else, but also a tad bit worrying.

"And why should we trust you?" Ashi asked before Aki could threaten her. "I mean not to say you are inherently unbelievable, but we are not in the greatest of circumstances right now to be accepting blind faith, especially when we had to deal with robotic foes only a moment ago." Her head leaned towards the ruined pile of robots. The oil from their broken forms was beginning to seep out from under the pile, coating the ground with the black sludge-like liquid.

The robotic girl, however, didn't appear overly concerned with it. Nervous she was, likely because of her broken form as she talked to a pair of girls who had just broken through hundreds of her kind, but that was it. No action she made spoke of concern for her fellow robots. Then again, it would be easy for a robot to hide.

As Ami would explain, all a robot has to do to hide something is be programmed to not expose it.

"You can trust me because… because I know who you are." But the robot exposed something regardless.

Ashi tightened her fists, flexing her legs a tad bit, not a lot, but enough to leap if necessary. Aki did far more, lurching towards the ground. Her favorite fighting style was the Ravenous Wolf, and she was already adopting the posture again. With a quick beat of her hand, the girl would fall apart, Ashi knew. Aki would probably presume as much, seeing as she still believed they were on equal fighting levels.

"Okay, that's not a reason for us to trust you." Ashi was thankful her sister spoke just words. "Especially now of all times." Everything had a limit.

"It is though!" The robotic girl took a step forward, a shaky one at that. Ashi wasn't fearful for what she could do, but she was cautious. "Because… because if I am right… your father saved me before." That, Ashi could believe, easily. It would be more difficult to believe if she was told their father had failed to save someone. "And if he's hurt then… then maybe I can help you, or f-find someone who can."

"That sounds great, it really does," Aki spoke with the dripping humor again. Ashi grit her teeth, ready to intervene at a moment's notice, at the first drop or sign she had to. "But you're gonna have to tell us who you think can help, if we need help. Cause you've said some great stuff, but I'm not in much of a trusting mood right now." If the robot could swallow, or had to, Ashi was sure that she would.

Instead, she fidgeted where she stood, the rusted parts of her body pushing themselves together, pushing off flakes of blue paint, leaving behind a new noticeable wear mark on her chassis. It explained where the markings came from. Unimportant for now, but her father always said no detail was truly useless. Now, she planned on exercising that.

"I…" the robot began and fell of speaking. "I can tell you who can help, b-but I can't say where. Not here…" Not here, huh?

Ashi had no confusion why that was, not with the many eyes on them. The statement, however, implied that there was likely to be some information that she didn't want the others to hear, which further meant they were not all in some united front. An interesting prospect, and one that made sense in a village of aliens or humans.

Robots, however, Ami would be curious as to why. And now, Ashi was, too.

"Please tell us who it is," Ashi began carefully. "Whisper if you have to, I will hear. Aki and I know our father's history well, so we may recognize the name." And if they didn't, Adi could confirm. In the same time that Ami could check for any rouge signals or processes being run by the robot should she join them. Ahi could watch father for a time while they-

"His name is Exdor." Ashi knew that name. "And he'll help your father… because he helped me and… a-a lot of other robots before."

---

Ami had a love for science. That was never up for debate or discussion. She had grown to love it for the curiosities it helped answer for her, for the wonders it helped to solve and aid it gave when applied. She loved it for being able to save lives, reduce the chance of taking them, and help her to find new homes and areas to stay safe. It was never a curiosity as to how it would be helpful for her family, far from it. There was only one curiosity for her love of science, and it didn't have to do with application or reason. The only curiosity about her love for science was how far it would go.

As was currently being shown, quite far. Far in both application in machines and ability to assist.

"So it's not dangerous to have her here?" Aki asked behind Ami, though she paid her sister no mind. She wasn't speaking to her anyways. Not while she was working. "She's not going to self-destruct like some pre-programmed bomber?"

"The Mad Bomber was the last robot we faced to have a tendency to favor explosives, Aki," Ashi returned evenly. "Most of them prefer to use artillery that they are unsusceptible to, such as medium velocity rounds. They'd work on us just fine, but will only slow them down."

"That's great, really, it is," Aki spoke dismissively. More so than usual, for a reason just as obvious to hear. "But you didn't answer my question. Is it safe to have a stranger here. NOW of all times, in case I'm not bein' clear enough for you." As was her agitation.

It made Ami bite her lip as she worked, looking up at the robotic girl as her sisters' voices emanated through the battle-worn home they called a refuge, temporary at that. The girl looked back down at her, offering a well-articulated smile for a robotic body. Ami took a moment to memorize the sight and the simplicity of it, remembering her father's advice to find beauty whenever it was possible. She looked for it between the low whines of her robotic wand working around the girl's frame.

To her, there was little more beautiful than seeing the magnificence of robotic engineering approaching human abilities and appearance closer and closer with every passing year. Where as a smile was so simple that babes were able to do it, a similar motion from a robot required a very detailed layering of servo joints, facial plates, non-separational aligned, and allowing for smooth glide across the surfaces of one another. It was a very difficult thing to design for.

Yet the robotic girl she worked on gave one effortlessly, flawlessly even. It was almost enough for Ami to forget where she was. Almost.

But Almost wasn't enough, and there was too much going on to forget it all.

"I have to agree with Aki. I don't think, bringing her here was the smartest move." Adi now, adding on to the conversation between Aki and Ashi. Perhaps she was reading, but Ami didn't know. She was still working on the robotic girl in front of her, waving her scanner over her damaged and peripherally marred body. She only noted the cosmetic damage of missing blue hues after the ruptured and high-impact loaded metal dents in her chassis.

"It was the most logical move we had, rather than speaking to her in public where anyone could have deduced enough to figure out where we were, or what is going on." Ashi returned calmly, and Ami agreed with her. Given what they wanted to talk about, it would be difficult to have a conversation in public without drawing suspicion, while simultaneously getting more information.

Rather kind of like scanning the robot in front of her for RF waveforms that were ping-able or other methods and forms of tracking or TX/RX systems while listening to her sisters talk. Her sisters may have whined, but at least she expected them to. Ami was waiting for her device to whine as well, though she hoped it didn't. Not louder than the low growl it gave at least.

"Your family doesn't trust me." The robot girl didn't move even as she spoke. Robots didn't have to, as they didn't need to create any movement of their diaphragm or expulsion of air to create noise. They only needed power and a vibrating plate. Aphi talked less than she did. "You don't trust me." Now Ami looked at her face.

It was clear that she had been hit, a lot, but not by anything that could do meaningful damage to her internal components. It was a human condition to put the motherboard, processors, and majority of the memory units in the head of a robot. Simulation of the human brain. The robot she was working on had no discernable puncture or ruptures to her head, only more cosmetic damage, high friction and wear, to her blue paint and once sleek shine.

The eyes didn't help though. They reminded Ami too much of the animals that she and her sisters saw on the sides of the road. Meek, timid, but reminded by their father to be capable of running faster than they were, and hunt more efficiently that them as well. Robots were physically superior. It was difficult for flesh to beat steel.

"It is not that I distrust you," Ami finally spoke, waving her wand over the robot again. No loud growls or moans. Just clicking. "We just have had a… debilitating past week. It has required far more stamina and mental exertion than any of us anticipated. Though… none of us prepared for this." Ami shut her eyes as she spoke.

She wasn't and wouldn't be aware of the robot's internal specifications unless she opened her up, but any android and synthetic lifeform capable of engaging in conversation had to have a reasonable CPU and algorithm drive for handling the extrapolation of data. Simply put, it wouldn't be hard to figure out something was wrong with them.

And Ami might have just spelled it out. Her sisters doubtlessly would have given her grief and anger for it. Thankfully, she didn't not yell when she spoke, and her sisters were not in the room.

The rest of her sisters were in the next room over, between Ami, the robotic girl, and their father in the room two rooms over. A veritable wall built by their bodies as it were. A strategic choice by Ashi, a safety precaution that Adi and Aki agreed to. None of them disagreed actually. Ami just volunteered to talk to the robotic girl.

"Sorry about that." The gravelly voice returned. Gravely, from something doubtlessly being dislodged now. It was too infrequent, lacking any clear pattern of appearance, to be much else. "I want to know what's wrong but, yeah, I understand asking that wouldn't be good. Not while you're checking me to, um… make sure I'm clean?" It was a question, but it shouldn't have been.

Ami was analyzing her to see if she was dirty. Dirty in the auditory and high-frequency signal sense. Aphi would have said nothing of it, but would have volunteered to increase the sweep speed. But she wasn't here anymore.

"What makes you think there is something to apologize for?" Ami instead asked. Her father had taught her to deflect and avoid blows that could not easily be countered. She did not want to speak about the robot, not in a way that could force her check her differently. She was to lead this, not the robot. Not her. "On conjecture, I'd say that Aki was more vocal about something being off than Ashi was."

"Aki is… the one with shorter hair, right?" The robot waved her hand above her head, where hair would be. It was only then that Ami realized those wings on her head weren't wings. They metallic constructs meant to resemble pigtails. Quant. "She was loud, yeah, yes, but… but I realized something was wrong before that." This was a conversation about more than just the check-up then.

"Before my sisters were assaulted by the other robots? Compatriots of yours?" The hum of her wand went off as she spoke, spiking the tension like her question. It was direct, a comment Aki might make or Adi the same without thought. But Ami was being intentional. She needed an answer, and a direct question meant a direct answer, or one at least verifiable.

"Before that," the robot returned. "You might know, actually, probably not, actually. No, sorry, you probably don't know." Ami felt her arm still over the girl's leg as she spoke, the wand buzzing as its motioned ceased. "You are your father have… you and your sisters are famous. Or at least close to it. Famous for what you have done, and he has done."

That gave Ami pause. It was a pause that the reasoning function within the robot must have taken as a sign to continue.

"Not just with us, with me, a-and the others." Her hand, probably the most damaged part of her chassis and system, waved off to some non-descript direction. Probably the ruined homes she had emerged from, according to Ashi. "You've been taking down members of Aku's head assassins, a-and your father, if I'm right about who he is, has been doing that for… for much longer." That one Ami could not rebute or refute.

"That's true," she returned, softly but not timidly. Just with an air of focus. "However, that does not explain how you know about us being here, or how you may know something is wrong." Then again, Ami knew it was a fool's question. Anyone who had heard Aki screaming could tell.

She wasn't meant for interrogations. This was where Ashi excelled. But Ashi and her sisters were guards for her father at the moment, and if need be, Ami could dismantle any robot that came her way. Either with the little bit of martial arts she was able to master or with her scientific skills she continued to grow. A well placed EMP, perhaps one with more force behind it to crack any shielding, would do.

"I-I didn't know, not until your sister, Aki, I think, started yelling." Ami was right, but she didn't congratulate herself for an easy answer. "I only knew it was you after your sisters fought the Robo-Rumble Gang. They… they've been scrapping parts for a while now and I haven't… I-I lost the ability to fight them." Fight them?

"You fought them?" Ami finally questioned. She lowered her detection rod, dismissing it for now. Nearly 90% covered and not even a faint trace of Tx/Rx waves from the system. The robot was completely sealed, metaphorically beyond her chassis's torn segments. "Is that were you were injured from? Trying to defend others?"

"I've done it before, a-and I did it for a while." The robot girl responded. There was pride in her voice, the kind that Ahi had when she finished a good meal. Temporary, fleeting, but noticeable. "But… e-even for a robot like me, resources matter. And with how the world is, and with so much happening, I can only do so much with so little." Ami knew what resources those were.

Spare metals for damages, soldering tools for stripped or cut wires, welding equipment for chassis repair, basic fuel for performance and power. All of them were vital. But none of them told her which was needed the most. All were viable there.

"Then that means you were defending your town until this… Robo-Rumble gang took advantage of your low supplies?" The robot nodded her head, Ami listening to the servos beneath her metal chassis winding up and down with the action. A fixed rotation, as most servos had, when they wanted a strong resistance to force when not in motion. They were superior to DC in that regard. "Did they beat you too much?"

"No, they didn't. Well… yes they did." The difference in the answers was more telling that Ami would care to admit her sisters would understand. Contrary to popular logic, and Adi's testimony, there was more than one answer to a question. Aphi understood that. "I was able to fight them off, for a while. Well, too. I've been doing it for… for a really long time."

That, Ami could believe as well. The metal she had been scanning over was difficult to date specifically, without access to a wireless data network or carbon-dating system, but it appeared far older than it looked. Maintained, for sure, but also not. In fact, were it not for the expressive features of her metallic face, Ami would have though the robotic girl very old indeed.

"But the problem was… they eventually got the supplies." Ah, now Ami understood. Her head was already nodding. "They retrieved the supplies a-and I can't find them. My moth… my friend… I had help before, with tracking them, but they didn't last as long as I did." There was no double meaning to her words.

Robots and other synthetic lifeforms very commonly associated with the humans that built them as their parental figures. If she ever mastered AI, Ami was sure the same would be true for her. Aphi had once said they would. Of course… that would mean.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Ami repeated methodically. The same way she'd say to many others in their times with their father, the same way many would speak in the future to her. The same way she was sure she'd one day be spoken to about Aphi. "But I'm guessing the lack of control of the supplies led to…" Ami led on.

"… oh! Yeah, they… they got control of a lot of the fuel, a-and the spare parts." The last one appeared to be the bigger problem. "With those they… they were able to hold out a lot better than before, a-and keep themselves coming to no end. I think… I-I think they have a satellite hookup to upload their software once they are destroyed or… something like it."

Ami doubted it was that, not given the screaming that Aki and Ashi said happened when they were attacked. More than likely they were being mass-produced with the scrap material that they apparently has squandered from the town, something Ami could believe given its dilapidated state. More than anything, it meant there was a higher power at work than a gang. A leader of non-autonomous machines, or slaves. Neither were good, but..

"Why not look somewhere else for supplies?" Ami questioned. "This is not the only town with supplies available, I'm sure." She had much to back it up. The robot girl, however, only shook her head again. The action made it clear how metallic she was, and damaged as well.

"That shouldn't matter a lot, b-but this town doesn't have much else to trade, and we can't go very far without fuel. So… so we can't bargain with others outside of the Robo-Rumble Gang." Ami slowly began to understand. "Tried a few times, not me, others, but… not enough fuel to get very far, and not enough to trade if we get there."

"Trapped in an open cage." Ami repeated. Her father had told her something like that once, something about keeping a snake hostage by putting it up on a high hill it couldn't roll down from, before her father was hurt and Aphi took the blame for it, falsely. "Then that is why you came to my sisters."

"Yeah, yes," the robot girl returned. "I mean, I know who you are now, I'm pretty sure, and your sisters seem to agree that I know someone who can help, so I'm hoping he can, too." Yes, that name. It was a name that Ami knew fairly well.

Exdor. The scientist that her father had once related her to, given her desire to build and learn.

"That good enough for you, Aki?" Ami turned back to the wall separating her from her sisters with the question. IT was not that she didn't understand the question itself, that was straight forward.

What she couldn't understand is why Ashi, perhaps the most strategic of her siblings was intentionally talking loud enough to be heard. Then again, perhaps it was evidence that they were being won over.

"I still don't like it. I don't care how bad she's got it or who she says she knows from dad's past." Aki's dismissal and rebuttal were as obvious to Ami as her anger. It was something they all currently shared. "Hell, I'm willing to bet that with the number of people dad's met in the past, she could've named anyone and it would've been someone he's been involved with. Name any assassin from that damn list and you got a chance." Ironically, statistically, she was correct.

"I remember Exdor though," Ahi spoke. Not Ashi, that was key. "He was supposed to be one of the smartest men to help him before. Smart enough that Aku had to recruit him to help make super robots." Robots, of course. More likely to be called androids, as they were supposed to be autonomous and following a specific protocol.

"Super robots that were corrupted by Aku," Adi corrected. Reprogrammed, Ami amended as she heard her astute sibling rifling through pages. Perhaps it was something she documented, or a paper of the doctor she had found. Likely the former, as she had no interest in robotics or synthetic systems design.

Robots were Ami's specialty. As well as cyborgs, androids, and other mechanized automata creations fabricated from higher than average amounts of steel, aluminum, polymers, and other electrically conductive materials. She wanted to join her sister's conversation, but she had to focus.

"I… think I know what they are talking about." Ami looked up at the robot as she spoke again. The odd angular beams on her head moved as she spoke, damaged, but not exposing anything vital. Just a hollow chassis interior. "There were tales about robots who were more than just memory altered before… at least, insufficiently retained memories of them."

"Because synthetic lifeforms don't need stories when you can more efficiently exchange data at a high Baud Rate." It was one of the many things Ami marveled about machines as well. Superior cross-communication, far above humans at least. Instant recognition of poor data streams, one-to-one file transfers, lack of biasness or alteration in data, without malicious intent. "Meaning that you are either thinking of a story that was never witnessed by a fellow robot or… one that a human told you."

"The last one, the… the human one." The robotic girl didn't seem thrilled by the title. "From Exdor himself, actually. Before the gang came, a-and before he started to hide. Before a lot of things, actually." Time was a horrible thing to witness. And right now Ami and her sisters were racing it for their father.

She wasn't to forget her other sister either.

"Exdor designed several of the robots to placate Aku from destroying his village, making them specialized in niche forms of combat in order to create a platoon of soldiers that would be difficult to eliminate when they were congregated to a common unit." Adi read off of her notes, given her formal tone. A part of it was conjecture though, as Ami remembered nothing about her father's story being so specific. However, she was right, at least enough for Ami to agree. "However, Aku decided to-"

"Smoke the dude's village for being such an idiot for thinking that that would ever work." Ami could only sigh at Aki's usual voice. Her snide remarks had only hardened to a burdenable taint since their father was injured. It wasn't a grand excuse for her behavior, but it was one. "Same way things always go down with Aku, dealing with fire and evil and all that."

"You could be kinder, but you're not wrong." Ashi agreed with her sister. "That said, I do remember that father helped him destroy the robots, correct?"

"Bet it was after the bastards did a hell of a lot of damage to a lot of towns, right?" The leading statement proved she already had an answer. Ami knew it as well. Though judging by the way the robot girl next to her dipped her head, even she was aware of it. Exdor must not have spared details of his own failings. A good quality to be sure, though a bit too focused for the moment.

"… Yes, after they destroyed five towns, and dad was able to track them from the singular survivors they left alive, wounded enough to make the remainder of their lives debilitating… or short." Adis' voice was short as well.

"Two points!" Aki yelled out. Hers was not. If there was any compassion to be had, it was that she sounded no less disgusted by the fact. "Who would have ever figured the evillest thing to ever live would do something evil and messed up. Almost like it was obvious from the start!" Truly she was, but her volume lacked nothing before and only gained ground now.

"We get it. We get it, Aki." Ahi returned now. She sounded… tired. Ami could not blame her. She had been helping her take the place of Aphi with her supplies. It was not easy, given that she had much to carry herself, with food. "Just… Just can we focus on what we are going to do now?"

"That would be good to think about," Ashi agreed. "Especially if we are to decide on introducing father or not." They were, Ami already knew. The question was only how. Through a crack in the door, full exposure, or partial remittance of information. The latter would be difficult with a robot that had high memory banks and data disseminating features.

"They're talking about me again, right?" Ami looked at the robot girl. "Like I said before, I don't think they trust me." They didn't, and for good reason. Ami would admit she had more reason now, but not enough to make that trust absolute.

Absolute trust was the invitation for danger, and danger had already taken not only their father's arm, but possibly her sister's companionship.

Ami bit her lip at the thought, shoving away the memories of her actions and how they had contributed to her father's state. She had to focus on what was before her, just like her father had told her. That was the key to gaining victory in defeat, and finding calm in a storm. Remaining focused. It was just as Ashi had been for the past few weeks, and it was just what she had to be.

Focused on the robotic girl in front of her, noting all that she could. Noting the aqua colored details to her likely once pristine frame. A frame that was now marred with obvious high impact shrapnel, exposing servo motors and DC components. No processor or motherboards were exposed, obviously, as those would be the equivalent of exposing vital organs. Still, exposing the human equivalent of muscle wasn't exactly fine logic either.

However, unlike her sisters, Ami could understand how difficult it would be to correctly repair a metallic frame such as the girls. Ignoring the obvious damage that would be caused to her little remaining by sparking metallic filaments, a poor welding job could easily melt what little of her exterior was left, possibly leaving it more exposed than before. That wasn't even to consider the idea of damaging the internal circuitry, something that was very likely to happen, unless she was able to find a TIG welder capable of 24+ Voltage with an appropriately equivalent federate. Only then would she be reasonably able to cover the hole without risking a high internal cavitation temperature. Ami grinned as she thought of fixing those issues.

Patching the robotic outer thigh there, covering the filament wiring within, patching up her torso from exposure, repairing her vocal processor to reduce the metallic drag, likely caused by a loose wire or debris in her speaker system, shaking from the high vibrational energy of her metallic body. If she was able to fix that, then the robotic girl could possibly sound natural, perhaps like one of them.

Then again, that was all work to be done with spare equipment she didn't have and tools that were too cumbersome to easily carry. Any chassis she usually had were pre-fabricated or easy to tie around each other. Welding tools were worthy of a vehicle alone, let alone a back pack complete with all the raw materials and coils necessary. Fixing the robot was out of the question, for now.

For now, aside from the damage, the trauma, and the desire to assist them, the robot girl appeared ot be just a relic that survived longer than most suspected. Now, despite her talk of fighting before, she was just a regular teenage ro-

"Ami."

The call of her name dragged the scientifically incline daughter of Jack from her work.

Her head turned, looking at Ashi. Her eldest sister, mentally alone, likely, was watching her with crossed arms. Aki was by her side, both watching closely. She didn't hear them enter the room, but that was all that was different. She had nothing to fear from her sisters, ever. The robot was the only outlying variable at the moment.

And in this moment, it had remained perfectly stationary as Ami continued to pull her sensor over her damaged form. A good balance center, leading to an efficient design but… it was unimportant.

"Is there is any progress?" Ashi continued, the pause likely being from anticipating have the question answered without it being asked. Aki didn't speak up either, telling Ami all she needed about there being a conversation before they came in.

There was no need for the dual assault though. Ami would never lie to her sisters. Ever. Perhaps they were just being careful, after Aphi.

"Everything is fine," Ami returned. It took her a second to realize her voice was harsher than it should have been, or needed to be. "No rogue signals detected," Ami noted further. "All current data transmissions across common frequencies represent no abnormal data transfer. No spike in abnormal frequencies either." Frequencies more common amongst higher end hardware or transmission techniques.

"Good, thank you," Ashi returned, short and more as a dismissal. She walked forward with only a light glance at her, almost as a direction to move out of the way, her equipment included. Aki waited at the door, watching with her arms still crossed. To all others, it would appear thy were dismissing her, but Ami wasn't insulted. Not when she knew why.

Ami was focused on her work before. Now, Ashi was focused on hers. Aki was just here to watch.

"I do not know your name," Ashi began. Almost immediately afterwards, she held up her hand. Namely to stop the robotic girl from speaking. "And you don't need to tell me. I know you and my sister heard a great deal of what we discussed before. I won't insult you to assume you didn't guess we did that intentionally." It was just as Ami thought, though she still was unsure why.

"I… suspected," the robotic girl spoke up. "But I thought it was to show that I understood where I was. That is around your home, your family, your… you all." Ami was sure it wasn't so simple. She was also sure Ashi would not readily give the answer.

"You are close enough." She was correct again. "What is more important, however, is that we were able to verify what little we could from what you discussed with Ami." Ah, so Adi was doing more than just reading up on Exdor then. That is more than merely looking at what they already knew.

It made sense. Her sibling was fond of reading many texts and housing a lot of information, past and present.

"She basically confirmed that there has been a lot of talk about gang activity, which isn't really that strange in this messed up timeline." Aki spoke up, using her own idioms. Future, as their father often called it. "Real clincher was when Ahi confirmed that the places you guys are housing the spare parts and your oil all wrong, least form the perspective of grub and other utilities. Thinking about it the same way, you're hoarding it in all the wrong spots." That was new information to Ami. When had Ahi learned that?

"When did you learn of that?" A curiosity shared, it sounded like.

"Before this conversation, discussed while you were in here." While they were… ah, now Ami saw it. "There were four of us talking, and not all of us were talking at once." It was another benefit that the robotic girl had such an expressive face. Because Ami could recall precious few times, she had seen a look of surprise or marvel on a synthetic face before, not without it being stuck in such a state.

"… oh. O-oh, that makes sense." The robot girl relented. "I didn't think that and… and that's impressive, really. You're strong, and smart, all of you, not just you." Ami preened herself at the comment directed towards her. Though she saw Aki adjust her shoulders as well. Ashi, however, did nothing. She kept herself neutral as the curtain of their conversation.

Ashi truly was the tactician of their group, at least until their father awoke. When he awoke, and possibly when Aphi returned.

"I'm glad you think highly of us, though we know only enough about you," Ashi continued on. "That isn't meant to be an insult or conversation to continue on. In case you have not already deduced it, we are in a rush for time and cannot afford to have a long conversation." Ami had not forgotten. None of her sisters had. Ashi least of all. "We have already wasted much simply vetting you for being a possible mole or assassin."

"Assa… oh! No! Never, I-I-I'd never do that!" Ami could only note that the synthetic girl, wearing marred aqua paint, was risking further harm to herself by waving her limbs as fast as she was. The steel of her arms, the bits that were exposed, were already bent and risking further fracture and damage. Metal was not as ductile as skin and bone. "But… you wouldn't know that, but now you do, right?"

"Correct," Ashi quickly returned. "What's more, I can tell you have also earned Ami's approval as well." She did not shirk or appear surprised when Ashi turned her gaze to her. It was something their father had often done in conversations, a method to get them involved, as Adi and he called it. Ami returned it with only a singular nod, one that Ashi gave back in turn. "That is enough for me, at the moment, to take a chance with what you know."

"You mean with Exdor, right?" The robot girl began the question, getting another firm nod from Ashi. "So that he can help your father, Samura-"

"I don't think saying that's a good idea." Aki's shout broke off the robot's voice. Ami couldn't help but jump at the sudden declaration either. "Call me paranoid or whatever you want, but in a town that controlled by, what are they called? Robo-Grumbles?" Incorrect, Ami noted.

"Robo-Rumbles." The girl corrected.

"Right, that," Aki spoke with a snap of her fingers. Her faux-ease was painfully obvious to Ami to see. Namely because her knuckles were still bone white where they were gripped at her forearm. "Point is, even if you can't sense anything goin' off, doesn't mean one of those robots with all the spare parts can't put together something impressive to listen to us with, right?" It was theoretical, but…

All they would need was a good conductor to be able to sense the vibration of their voices, and then amplify it to a reasonable level while putting it through a filter, like a band-pass with associated auditory levels, to be able to hear them and not other noise. Combine that with a fan to focus the area of desired information and… and it was possible.

Ami had to admit, she was impressed. She was not the only one.

"That… makes sense, yes," the robot girl added. "I'm sorry I didn't think, that's bad. I was too focused on helping you, so you might be able to help me." Ami never thought the deal would go any other way. Charity was grand, but rarely was it so free in this dark future, as their father would say. And he would say again.

"I won't fault you for that." Ashi continued. "That being said, perhaps now would be a good time for you to take us to Exdor." Ami was sure that was too fast.

"But, what about-" The girl began with the obvious question, but Ashi was quick to anticipate it.

"We will have to move our father, yes, but we had to move him here in the first place, and we will have to move him again regardless." Ashi swiftly spoke. "Better to move him now, with what little time we have, then risk inaction and jeopardize him. It will be all of us involved, anyways, far more than enough to handle any issues that may come up. We have demonstrated ourselves already, have we not?" She and Aki had, that was for sure.

Ami observed the robot girl lift one of her damaged hands to her lips, the myriad of fluctuating plates twisting until they showed an expression of likely confusion. Confusion, or unease. Unease was unlikely, given the tendency for it to be an undesirable feeling or emotion. Then again, her model was older than Ami originally thought. Perhaps she was one of the early prototypes…

"… We can do it." The girl finally spoke again. "I know Exdor will be happy to see you, all of you. And it would be a waste to wait, I agree. The longer we take, the easier it would be to find him, or me." Or us, Ami amended.

Now she understood why Ashi wanted to leave so quickly. So there wasn't time for a possible exchange of information, not now that she confirmed the girl wasn't transmitting any information. Her sister truly was a lot like their father.

Close, but still not the same. Only their father could be their father.

And hopefully, they'd get him back soon.

"Aki, get Adi and Ahi ready," Ashi instructed over her shoulder. "Ami, tell them what you need help with. Aki will help carry father." She nodded, understanding how critical their move would be. The same as it was coming in. Ami had no doubt.

"Can I help?" The robot girl queried.

"For now? No," Ashi was quick to answer. "You only need to guide us to Exdor, so we can help our father. Is that alright?" The girl was just as quick to nod in return.

"Yes, yeah, that works, but… but are you sure you don't need help?" Ami was unsure if it was the same protocol that had her fighting the gang before that had her asking, or one of the three basic laws of robot morals that were requiring her to ask. "I… I know you don't trust me yet, but I want to help. Because then you can help us, all of us, right?" With that, Ami decided on the former with.

"Likely and probably, but not yet," Ashi spoke again. "For now, you only have to guide us. After that, it's our father's decision." Ami smiled at her words, and not because she e thought they were humorous alone. They merely had a mirthful purpose in context.

Injured or not, there was no way their father would ever turn down helping others.

Even the loss of an arm wouldn't stop that.

---

It was difficult to make Ashi feel uneasy. In the sense of discomfort or nervous. She felt a sense of unease when her father was injured and she was put in charge of her sisters. That was dread and terror, though quickly quashed under her honed focus. That did not matter much. She also felt distress when she realized how dependent they all were on her father's blessings and guidance, and her inability to control her sisters more extreme tendencies. That was alleviated by her mimicry of his tone and action.

Those were a type of unease, but they were not unease itself. It was not an odd feeling in an otherwise peaceful atmosphere, a sense of dread or imposing pain. What she had felt, and her sisters had experienced, was the terror of being in an already painful situation, and being forced to find a way out of it, without knowing where it was. Relying on what they knew, desperately clawing for a source of relief to latch onto.

The unease she was not used to was the sense of imposing pain while walking through the forest, the idea that something terrible was about to occur with little indication of what, aside from a pained feeling in her stomach. The kind of dread her father often described when one of her sisters wandered without telling of where. It was a kind of unease that Ashi was not familiar with.

Until, that is, she was being escorted through a rusted and dilapidated tunnel by an equally cared for robot, with her sisters and still unconscious father trailing after her. And truly the tunnel was run down and without care. If anything, were it not for the robot girl's eagerness to enter it, Ashi would have immediately thought of it as a trap.

The walls appeared to be ready to cave with a single swift kick, the pounds and tons of steel hung above them to cave with the motion. Just walking through it, she could hear the whistling of the wind and groan of weight grind above her. It was enough to make her fists clench, looking about herself carefully for any stray lights, and flickering doubt, any hint for a trap. But she saw none, and her unease only grew.

"It shouldn't be much further now," the robot girl spoke from just ahead of Ashi. Ahead, but not too far. Far enough that she would be alone in any traps she triggered, but not so far to escape if she ran. She as too injured to take off at such a pace as it were. "Exdor's lab is just hidden away so the Robo-Rumbles can't find it." It made sense to Ashi, hiding away rather than being easily exploitable. Never had she or her sisters had to worry of such a thing, but never were they without one of the strongest fighters in the world, until now. Ashi breathed to calm herself.

"Said that a while ago, like ten minutes back," Aki spoke from behind. Ashi was thankful her voice was subdued, at least. The usual volume to her chorus no longer there. "Really appreciate an accurate ETA now, so I'm not waiting for the jump." But her tact had still yet to repair itself. She forgave her sister though, under the circumstances.

"I-It really isn't far." The robot girl spoke without losing stride. An easier task for an autonomous creature, Ashi reasoned. Able to separate her mind more efficiently than any of them could, except perhaps Ami. "Before I just… I was talking about the tunnel, not Exdor. He's close now though, because I recognized these posts." Her hand, missing chunks of metal from the arm, indicated a set of pillars, rather unassuming to the rest of the mass of exposed steel. "Maybe another minute or two, th-then we'll see the door." That was something at least.

None of her sisters spoke in response, not even Ashi herself. They were all too focused, hardened, on what was happening. Perhaps hoping that something beneficial would come of this, as she was as well. It was their possible first chance to help their father more than staving off what was currently happening to him.

Turning around and looking at him, Ashi had to remind herself how critical their situation was.

Watching their father being carried on a stretcher between Adi and Aki. Watching the man who had saved them from the Red Mountain being carried around with a portion of his weight gone, and awake mind with it. A thought that made Ashi's mind race whenever she thought of the torture he could be enduring.

Said limb severed from his body being carried by Ahi in Ami's container, swimming in the same liquid that was being circulated over their father's stump. A stump that hurt Ashi's own arm to gaze on.

And Ami carried next to them, eyes always glancing at the contents of her digital scroll to ensure that their father was stable, that his arm was viable, and that there were no complications that could jeopardize his life. For anything else would likely be well and truly beyond repair.

Ashi took another calming breath, returning to the present as the robot girl turned a corner. Ashi leaned forward to gaze after the robot, searching the torn walls, scarred ceiling, and the steel supports behind them. Her beady eyes saw nothing concerning, nothing immediate. Nothing that her father's training had taught her. With a wave of her hand, her sisters quickly followed.

And as they continued to follow the robot, all silent as they did so, Ashi had to think of what Avi would do in this situation, of where Aphi was wherever she had escape to. Her sisters were smart, strong, and able to support themselves, but they had never been alone, at least not so long as Avi.

Avi was amongst monks and clerics who valued her ability to sense patterns and understand the need for nature and color. Her ability to see what the millennia old monk could not made her viable for them, though Ashi knew she belonged with them. Still, she did not argue.

Aphi was easily the second strongest amongst them, after Ashi herself. She was silent, but strong, who had made a mistake and now foolishly thought it was her sole duty to correct it. She no doubt had saved their lives by running, but she belonged with them. Still, she did not argue.

It wasn't her place to demand rules and actions from her siblings, only to guide them.

They weren't weak.

"We're here, now." Ashi looked up at the robot, her hand already on a flat metal wall. But it was just that, a wall.

Not a door, not a hangar, not even the corner to a new room. It was a wall, flat and square, surrounded by crushed metal and groaning steel all around them. It was a wall no different than any of the others Ashi had seen in Aku's dark cities, when she and her siblings were forced to venture into them with their father. Smooth, black, docile, and even a bit intimidating. But that was it.

"This is it?" Aki asked behind her. "You gotta be kidding me? Is this some kind of joke?!" Her voice was rising, but Ashi was well aware why. She was doing it before even she had the chance.

"The wall is sounder than the rest of the fallen beams and pillars," Adi noted next, her voice calmer than usual, lacking the pounce of energy she was so known for amongst her sisters, when it came to new knowledge. "But… I don't see anything like a mark or indicator on it for where to go or… anything." What Ashi could hear was the tightening of her grip on their father's gurney.

"So it is a trick," Aki growled. Were she not holding up their father, Ashi knew she would have attacked the robot girl. It was why she put her in charge of it with Adi.

But right now, she was having difficulty not doing the same. Her feeling of unease had been answered.

"N-No!" The robot girl nearly yelled out, backing into the wall. "It's a disguise, a fake, really!" She quickly waved over it, forcing Ashi to ignore the grating sound of steel on steel, one partially ruined the other sound and complete. It was as grating to hear as her nerves felt. "I promise! It is!"

"No screens or external monitoring devices," Ami noted calmly as well. A glance showed her eyes focusing from behind her own screen, eyes narrowed. That was a dangerous sight, more so for the robot. Afterall, Ami had the EMP to use. "No sensory data indicating external communication, no data transfer, nothing. Insulation at best, but that is it." Now she growled.

Ashi had to do something. That something had to be constructive, not cathartic. That could be saved for when they were in a place that didn't fill her gut with unease.

"You had best tell us of where Exdor is, quickly," Ashi spoke carefully with her arms folded behind her back. It was the only way she could keep herself from lashing out. Of all her sisters, she was in the best position to strike, for good reason. She was the most capable in taking down threats. "Or else you will have confirmed Aki's earlier suspicions, and mine." Now she growled as well.

Ashi couldn't tell if the robot girl's voice was an actual cry of distress or the whirl of gears that worked inside of her body. All she could be sure of was that it was not a normal sound she would make, not unless she was faced with something she truly regretted to face. That was good, as fear was often the mind killer, and it did her some good to know that this robot had the capability as well. Her father might be ashamed, but she could beg forgiveness once he had recovered.

"Speak," Ashi lightly commanded, her single word carrying more weight than she was sure Ami was holding. Aki and Adi were already carrying the weight of their father. "Do you have nothing else to say?"

"W-Wait! I… I need to open… open… open…" Ashi stared curiously at the robot, her voice pattering off as she repeated the same word over and over. "open… open… open… … … …" Until there was nothing to hear at all.

The robot girl was just left looking at the ground, her dexterous mouth moving over soundless words.

Her limbs remained frozen as she did so, not a gear or system within her whirling to life as she spoke. Ashi watched, limbs stiff and ready to react, all while dreading the growing feeling of unease in her gut. She did not blink, however, nor did she look away. That was when an opponent would strike, and a synthetic lifeform had more patience than any average human. But she was trained by her father, and she wouldn't fail him when he needed her.

So Ashi watched, carefully and silently as her sisters, as the robot girl continued to move her mouth soundlessly, the rest of her body motionless as the black wall, and nothing else. The walk down the decrepit hall had given her a sense of unease that she was not used to. This sight did not help, especially when she was unsure of what was happening. However, there was someone who might.

"Ami," Ashi spoke carefully. "What is it she's doing?" Though she spoke, the leader of the daughters of Jack did not avert her eyes from the robot girl. She was more important than what her sister looked like. "Is it something you can scan or… stop?" She wasn't sure if they were the right words.

"I'm still sensing no large data-transfers or attempts to access wireless networks. No hosting, data acquisition, or activated network interfaces," Ami spoke, all the while her hands danced across her pad. "I cannot tell if she's been lost into a recursive loop due to her inability to defend herself whilst being threatened or if she is trying finish a set function with an unequal number of variables." It was gibberish to Ashi, but she believed her sister's underlying point was obvious.

"You mean you scarred her stiff?" Aki asked, not a trace of sarcasm in her voice. For disbelief, Ashi shared it. "You gotta be kidding me? Right? Tell me this is some kind of joke, seriously!?" Her aggravation was shared as well.

"This… this is bad then," Ahi now, speaking softly, doubtlessly as she held the canister tighter, the canister that carried their father's arm. "If that's the case then… what's going to happen next?" The implication was obvious, to Ashi at least.

Unfortunately, it was to Aki as well.

"You've gotta be kidding me! You mean this was just a trap! This was all just… just some stupid ploy to get dad out here?" Her voice echoed through the ruined hall, not nearly so much as if it were made of uniform parts and well-welded material, but still more than Ashi would have cared for. Far far more. "We brought dad out here with her and now we're in the middle of a freaking trap!" That was enough.

"Calm down, Aki," Ashi commanded. "Quiet down." It was the same way she had been told all her life. But this was not the same situation as any other point in their life. Admittance or not, they were desperate.

And it showed in Aki's volume.

"I will not be quiet while I'm holding still in some RUINED ASS METAL CAVE!" Ashi grit her teeth as her sister's voice echoed much louder this time. Perhaps Ami would explain, in another time, how the volume of her sister's voice helped it carry through the air. For now, she only held onto her aggravation. "The robot chick left us trapped. She checked out of her body and left us alone! Now we have dad here, knocked the hell out, and without a freaking WAY TO-

GONG! GRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr

Ashi buckled her knees and sent her arms out as the boom of doors and winding of gears filled the hall. Her sisters did much the same, putting precedence, obviously, to their father still carried on the stretcher. None of them screamed, none of them worried, but they were all prepared. But Ashi was the only one who could react.

Her eyes, hard and focused, scanned for the sound of the gears, flashing past Ami who was doing much the same with her digital scroll. The ruined hall, destroyed as it was, still concealed the whereabouts of the grinding gears well, their volume and echo, demonstrated by Aki, making their location almost impossible to find. It did not help that the sound was aggravating to hear as well.

rrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The volume picked up, an indication that they were increasing in power. It was a truth Ashi knew only because of how her sister played with her mechanics before, but this was on a much larger scale, and a much larger unknown. Winding gears could be preparing a trap to spring, funnel toxins into the tunnel, signal the rouge robots to attack them, or any other number of things. Ashi needed to do something, but she couldn't tell what.

"Ashi!" The leader of the girls looked to Adi, her head whipping towards the wall. She didn't wait to hear her speak again. Her own eyes turned towards the smooth black monstrosity-

-and saw light starting to shine from beneath it.

Ashi did not relax her legs as she watched the towering wall slowly rise from the floor, exposing more to the immense hallway than before, flooding the ruined cavernous tunnel with a foreign light. The gears ground louder as it traveled upwards, still making her ears ring, but she ignored it. All that mattered was the wall that still slowly rose, slowly exposing the secrets held behind it.

"G-Got it! Got it!" Ashi recognized the robotic girl's voice, but she did not turn to her. Not yet. "S-Sorry that took so long. I usually am faster, I used to be faster. But… I'm missing parts, and help. Sorry." She would not speak it now, but Ashi was sorry as well. She had falsely accused the girl of something she had not done, her sisters included. But not Ahi, Adi, Aki, or Ami spoke up an apology either. They were all transfixed on the slowly revealed hall.

A hall beyond the darkened door, that opened immediately into a towering room of technology and machines.

RRRRRRRRR BANG!

The grinding gears stopped with another impossibly loud bang, nearly making Ashi jump in preparation. But she controlled herself, focusing instead on what was behind the reveal of the door. It was the same as she saw while the door, not wall, was opening. A room of machines that towered over them in ways that she believed only the dark structures of Aku's cities were capable of doing, blinking with colors that told of things she couldn't recognize, and holding screens about them that contained data and information she couldn't follow.

Looking at the room that opened up to them, Ashi could hardly tell how much further in the hidden path went. Not with the machines, computers and devices she hardly recognized, taking up the room she believed was meant for foot traffic. And yet, they were held in the middle of the path like support posts under a rebellions tunnel, yet supporting nothing but digital information.

For her and her sisters, who had walked through the forests of giant redwoods and the

"S-Sorry about taking so long, again." The robot girl spoke, but Ashi still only glanced at her, long enough to see she was still not armed, not surrounded by droids or drones, and only walking into the room that she had exposed to them. "It takes a while to access the codes, find the right spot to stand, transfer information through NFC distance." Ashi didn't know what that meant. Ami might, however.

"Wow…" But from the awe in her voice, something told Ashi that her mind was elsewhere. "This is… I can hardly recognize some of these rigs. The power draw on them though, their number, I-I'm getting a spike wireless information transfer!" It was impossible to tell if the device shaking in her hands was doing so because it was shaking, or she was shaking it. "The wall… of course… a restrictive Faraday Cage, likely combined with some kind of A36 Steel shielding for damage protection. But the power and gear systems necessary to lift something like it…" It must have been impressive for Ami to gawk in awe over it, especially when she had made devices for them that others were willing to pay for.

"Yeah? Right? Exdor was very careful when he built this place, and I helped. Had to help, cause there was no where else to go." Ashi believed it, even if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. They had seen many places of secret and legend before, but always pockets hidden in the world, small things that persisted through their independence of the world around them. This was… something else. Something that was new, but in a place where it should be hunted, yet larger than she believed some buildings of Aku's dark cities could possibly hold.

The temple of the hidden Shaolin Monks was impressive enough, awe inspiring to know that their father had… their father!

"This is very impressive," Ashi finally admitted, speaking to jar herself out of her daze of amazement. "But we cannot stay out here, not with our father in his state." Her words had the desired effect, on everyone.

"O-Oh! Of course!" "Yeah, we gotta hurry!" "Here we go, dad." The robot girl and her siblings' voices rang together as they hustled, Ashi watching carefully as Adi and Aki lifted their father up again. He did not stir nor move as they did so, not even during the grating noise of the gears. It was as if he was dead to the world.

Ashi clenched her fists and breathed, stalling herself from hitting the thought away.

She waited for a moment, letting her sisters file in first. It was a dangerous notion, to be sure, letting their father being let it in his state, without being sure the place full of machines was a trap or not, but she didn't have a choice. Not when she had to be sure there was not a long gaze in the tunnel watching them. She couldn't be sure if there was or wasn't yet. Because her feeling of unease had been alleviated, but it had not been settled.

"Exdor will help your dad, I know he will." Ashi heard the robot girl speak, her voice already trailing. With a glance, seeing everyone was beyond the point where the wall stood, Ashi backed in as well, trailing behind her siblings. "He's amazing when it comes to science and stuff. He's been really helpful to a lot people, however he can, whenever he can." Ashi believed a part of that, but only a part.

Because there had to be a reason the robot girl was still in her state of discontent and unkemptness, despite the supposed helpfulness and ability to do so she swore Exdor could give. There had to be a reason, and a lack of supplies was not suitable enough, not for Ashi. There had to be a reason for all of this.

BANG GRRRRrrrrrrrr

Ashi looked up as the screeching metal chorused again, in time with the shutter of the black wall closing. She was already safe inside, surrounded by the monoliths of machines and space that was far more than purely desirable for any one space, but that was it. The wall closed slowly, and she would-

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR BANGBANG!

Her stream of thought broke fell apart as the wall practically fell downwards.

Ashi was not ashamed to admit that she jumped as the colossal amount of steel, denoted by her sister to be something of significant weight and durability, fell from its hung position like a curtain of cloth. But it was not light nor air-resistance as cloth. Its landing was anything but soft.

If the way her feet left the floor was any indication, the force behind it was massive.

"WHOA! What the hell was that for?!" Her sister's yelling was a close second. "NO! Freaking seriously! The hell was that?!"

"Th-the door closing?" Though the robot girl was correct, and looking far more at home surrounded by machines that operated instead of ruined metal and steel, Ashi couldn't help but mourn her lack of tact. Her sister was right to ask the question, and the robot was wrong to expressive such an answer.

"Closing when we're this close!? With our dad?!" Ashi made sure to keep an eye on their father, even through Aki's protests. He still had not stirred. The fluid of Ami's device moved far more than he had in the past week, as he had done little more than sip water put to his mouth and rest. Like a dying man on his final bed… Ashi's breathing intensified again.

"It was a suspicious timing," Adi spoke up with her sister. Her protectiveness was obvious, as was all of theirs. Especially with their father in such as state, especially for her sisters who carried him. "Was it intentional? Meaning to separate us?" Ashi found that notion confusing. The timing was too awful to be even considered such.

"I-I know that wasn't the intention." The robot girl's mangled arms waved as she spoke. If she were human, such an action would have been likely impossible. The pain far too intense. "Exdor was probably-"

"So Exdor was the one who did it?" Aki asked again. "Ya mean this mega-super scientist who's supposed to help our dad slammed the door behind us?" A valid question, but one without purpose. "Cause if that's the case, that tells me he's watching us!" But that was a valid comment. One Ashi was ashamed to have not thought of.

Shame could come later. Answers were for now.

"Yes, yeah, he is." The robot girl quickly spoke up, perhaps to avoid the terror that she and her sisters gave her before outside the door. She could already see Ami working on something on her device, typing commands she couldn't follow, now, before, and likely ever. "This is where he lives, always, so he's got eyes everywhere. He can hear us too, definitely." The unease in Ashi's gut was bubbling again. This time, she knew why.

"We are being watched." Ami's confirmation was the same as Ashi's unspoken one. "Not surprising, not really, given the protective state of the bunker like command center, and the amount of tech here. Power supply alone, the draw being constant, would be worth any kind of raiding party's voucher. Constant observation is a necessary and understandable product of that." She was… far more compliant than Ashi expected.

"Wait, hold on, you're defending this guy?" Aki's voice, however, held onto her usual bite. Ashi had to watch her hands, making sure she didn't drop their father in the midst of her rage. If that was the case… there would be two in their family who would need assistance. "The creep's probably been watching us since we got here and you're thinking it's okay?!"

"Well… Ami's right that it makes sense." Ahi agreed with Ami, and Ashi did as well. With a sense of unease that put her on edge and prepared to act, unlike Ami, but agreement nonetheless. He was watching them in his home, just as they had done for their father in their camps. "But… I do want to see him soon, especially if he's still watching us." Her hands were tight against the case she carried, and Ashi was grateful for it, finding it impossible herself to ignore what was in it.

Just as she found it difficult to ignore her sister's words.

"I would also like to hope Exdor would come out soon," Adi spoke up. "I'll forgive the studying of us, cause it's gotta be that, if he comes out and promises to help our dad. As in, soon."

And once more, Ashi found it impossible to disagree with her sibling.

"He'll be here soon, I promise, like before." The robot girl spoke again, arms still raised as if to defend herself. She only needed to fear if shew as planning on something dastardly. She wouldn't survive for long if she did. "He's just… waiting for something again. Probably something silly." Silly? The very word was not what Ashi wanted to hear.

"I pray you can tell me just what this… silly thing is," she started carefully, legs still bent in preparation. "Because, and I apologize if I have not made this absolutely clear, but we are on a short timetable to help our father. If Exdor can help, I hope he is not too late to do so because of some poor requirement that is, what was it again? Silly?"

Her steps slowly approached the robot girl as she spoke. The girl, in kind stepped away as well.

"Because, and I'll state this once more as well, we are all on the very edge of our patience with our current predicament, having to find a way to save our father and his arm before any permanent damage is done, if not done already." She ignored the hiss from behind her, doubtlessly Ahi or Adi careful of her words. "Exdor was said by our father to be a brilliant scientist, and one who can help our father, I believe. It is why I was willing to risk coming here with you." Following the vetting from Ami.

"A-And he can! He will he… he just-" Still too slow.

"He just what?" Ashi asked again, standing before the robot girl with her arms crossed behind her. The girl, her steel limbs mangled and rest of her body falling into a state of dilapidation, knowingly stood little chance against her, so instead offered to cower under her sharp gaze. "Is just waiting for something silly?"

She kept her gaze sharp on the robot girl, ignoring the slight cheer she heard from Aki. Her sibling's fiery temper may have been rubbing off on her, but Ashi knew how to use it to heat the coals under the robot's feet, metaphorically. Enough to get Exdor out, to end this pitiful charade he was playing.

"I am already impressed by his home, impressed by his guard, and Ami is more than impressed by what is here." Her arms unclasped enough to whip out and indicate her sister, who shamelessly nodded, eyes still darting around the room as she lectured the robot girl. "But if Exdor does not show himself, and our father suffers further for it, then I will have something impressive to show you instead." The threat hung between beeping machines and whirling gears within them. All the while, the mute robot moved her mouth without a voice.

"Ashi, that's a bit… tough, isn't it?" Ahi's question was one she expected from Avi, where she still with them. She wasn't incorrect, but neither was she right.

"I'm as tough as I need to be, Ahi," Ashi spoke back, only glancing over her shoulder at her sibling. "Because tough will save our father, will keep us safe, will get Exdor to finally show himself for his-"

"DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!" Ashi jumped back with her arms raised.

The voice bellowed above them, echoing through the already impossible large structure and past all the machines that worked around them. Her eyes flew between them, looking for the giant who had to possess the voice that boomed around them. She saw nothing though, saw nothing even if she could still feel the power of the voice. Ami, working beside her, was doubtlessly doing the same.

"Too loud to be from a non-synthetic voice," Ami quickly spoke next to her. "Digitized, fixed frequency, has to be robotic. Coming from a speaker system with high decibel range." Ashi looked at her, then her sisters behind her. Everyone was okay, but there was still no sign of the voice's owner.

"Gahahah! Sorry sorry, got carried away there!" The voice spoke again… far more cheerily than Ashi liked. Her eyes kept darting about the room, looking for the speakers now that the voice had to be coming from. "Here we gooooodone!" And just like that, the tremor of the voice fell, all in the same conglomerated word.

The unease didn't leave Ashi though, her body still bent and looking around her, still finding nothing but her worried siblings and a robot girl who was looking up with a rather pleased expression. She'd be the first to die if this was a trap. Guaranteed.

"What?" Aki asked aloud. Ashi looked at her, only to see that she was looking up as well, holding on her father's stretched with pale white hands. "What the heck, hell, and damn?" That was… confusing as well.

"Oh… my… goodness…" Ami's trailing voice was followed soon after, another glance towards her seeing her eyes away from her screen, looking up at the ceiling, the same as the robot girl, and Aki, and… the rest of her siblings now, though they were all far more silent. All with jaws gawked and gripping their father's belongings tightly.

It didn't take her long to realize something was above her. So, carefully, prepared for whatever trap may be waiting for the whites of her eyes, Ashi carefully craned her neck and looked up.

Looking up into a massive screen. A screen that towered over the entire ceiling, entire room, and doubtlessly focused on all of them at once. A screen that glowed white like lights, faking the illumination of actual lights, taking the place of bulbs instead for screens. A screen that glowed without a hum, and stared back down at them.

With a face across it that Ashi didn't recognize.

"Ghaha, sorry about that. Poor attempt to shatter the otherwise recrystallized Hydrogen Dioxide in the room." The face on the monitor spoke, his voice, for it was a he, far higher in pitch than before, and speaking of something Ashi didn't understand. Something about water, maybe. "Sorry, sorry again, had to be extreme in some way. An unfortunate recursive element in my uploaded database that is too variably dependent upon other block processes to be removed."

Ashi just blinked. His words, its words… the words were something else. But in the end, they were just words that were implying fault, asking forgiveness, and coming from a face that looked to be far more that of a man who buried himself in books and knowledge than deceit or disagreement. From the many novels and texts that Adi had found of scientists and knowledge seekers in the past, the face on the screen looked the part. And it made the conclusion of who it was all the more obvious.

"The name is Exdor, uploaded Artificial Intelligence to the previous hosting bipedal system of Exdor the scientist. Now I'm hoping I can off you all assistance promptly and expediently?"

Ashi was sure he would, on both.