"There isn't a day that goes by where I don't, at some point, think of you.
The war was over, for now… It had been near over a century since the last Guardian had fallen in such a battle, the Fallen were weakened by forces of the light and retreated. Banshee had returned to The Last City, he was awarded for his active duty and left the war zone behind him, settling with his new bride, Lakshmi. They had a beautiful wedding, even if it was small, they were surrounded by close friends and said their vows before the glorious sight of the Traveler. There was no strife between this couple, their bond was everlasting as ink to paper. The night of their wedding was very slow, the newly wedded couple stood before each other without their normal sleeping attire, nude for the first time.
"You equipped a newer model?" Banshee commented on his bride's chest.
"Y-yes, I thought you'd like it more than my previous model…" Lakshmi covered herself, feeling a strong heat in her face.
Banshee stood a bit closer, his hand on her arm. "You don't ever have to change for me, I didn't marry you for your body now, did I?" He moved his hand to her face.
Lakshmi held onto his hand that touched her face, she was pleased by this. "I guess you didn't." If she could smile at that time she would have, she would always smile for him. He made her feel special, more than an Exo… Human is what he made her.
"So uh… How do we do this?" Banshee asked.
"I don't know, I suppose we just hug and lay down?"
"I'm down for anything if it's with you babe."
Without doing intercourse properly, the couple was caught in a series of questions with each other, "Who would get a job?" "What days could be considered 'date' night?" "Joining the Future war cult?"
"Absolutely not." Banshee said abrupt.
"Why not?"
"I will not send you off to be part of those freaks!"
Banshee knew well what the Future War Cult was all about, slaves to the inner circle, a faction dedicated to war, believing war is the only constant… Brainwashed they all were. He didn't want Lakshmi apart of it.
Lakshmi was dismayed by his words and quickly decided to drop the subject by replacing it with a new one.
"How about a child?"
"A child?" Banshee asked. "We can't procreate."
"Who says we need to procreate?" She replied. "We could adopt, could we?"
"I suppose, or we could build our own?"
"That sounds like a plan right?" Lakshmi was glowing with excitement. "We can build our own child!"
"─But first, we have to get Glimmer and where do we get Glimmer?"
"…Jobs."
"Yep, so why don't we just focus on being married before we have little Exos running around?"
"Alright then…" Lakshmi went into Banshee and hugged him tight.
A short while after their marriage, Banshee had gotten a job offer in the North Tower of the Last city as a Gunsmith, he took it and set up shop immediately. There was a cozy dorm in the Tower for both Banshee and Lakshmi, since Guardians are the only ones who have available transport to the Tower it was only fair that the Tower's workers were given dorms to rest in at the end of each day.
Working as a Gunsmith was no stress to Banshee, he knew guns inside and out, he knew which guns would suit Guardians best and he was often praised for it. On some occasions, Lakshmi would assist Banshee with handling some weapons and their parts.
The Future War Cult had just been recently granted access to the Tower, this gave Lakshmi the chance to do what she pleased. Slipping away during a coffee break, Lakshmi made her way to the Tower Hangar; the Exo was nervous about straying away from her beloved but the magnetic pull towards the Cult was stronger than her love for Banshee. The closer to the newly refurbished clubhouse the less mental function Lakshmi had, it was almost as if she were under a spell that could not be broken, only to be free from its shackles once accomplished.
"Hello, Exo." The representative of the War Cult greeted.
Lakshmi broke from her trance. "Oh, yes, hello." She extended a hand out towards the person in the War Cult colors, but did not receive such a generous gesture in return.
"You wish to join the Future War Cult, or are you here to waste my time?"
"N-no, I want to join." Lakshmi did not present herself in the way that she wished. "How do I apply?"
"I need your name and place of residence, we send you a letter notifying you of our next orientation, which you must attend to become a member."
"My name is…" She paused for a moment to catch her bearings. "My name is Lakshmi-1 and I live in the Tower dorms, apartment 463."
"Lakshmi-1?" The person asked. "Purpose of the wipe, if I may ask?"
"They wiped us Exos after the Battle of Twilight Gap, my husband had to receive multiple wipes since he was in active duty."
"Hm, interesting." The Cult representative stood there recording Lakshmi's information.
As the representative was finishing up, the sound of stomping broke their small conversation. "Lakshmi!" Banshee yelled, stomping over to her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the stairs, marching down with her in hand.
"What the hell, Lakshmi?" Banshee scolded his wife at the bottom of the stairs. "I told you not to go near the War Cult!"
Lakshmi had no words to give to the Exo, she was too embarrassed and upset to say much.
"I don't want you to be a part of them, understand?"
Lakshmi nodded then kept her head down in a shame-like manner. Banshee looked down at his wife and felt a bit of regret for yelling. "Look babe," he said. "I'm sorry for yelling, I just… Don't want you to be like them…" He received no response from the female Exo, who continued to keep her head down. Banshee leaned in to hug her, he did so tightly. "I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you to them or anything else."
Lakshmi wrapped her arms around her husband, leaning her head against his shoulder, she continued to stay silent as they walked back to the Gunsmith stand.
Over time, Lakshmi's obsession with the War Cult grew, her anxiousness to be a part of it. She waited every day for the letter, to tear it open to see it read 'Official Cult Member', it was then would she be happy… But Banshee must never know.
One day however, a letter addressed to Lakshmi had come to their apartment; could this be it? Was she a member after the long weeks? Lakshmi took the letter to the bedroom, locked the door and landed on the bed. She tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter.
"Congratulations, you have been selected by Dr. Shim, owner of the Exo manufacture co. To be given parts to assemble a model Exo─"
What was this? A message from Dr. Shim, the creator, to construct an Exo… This had to be some joke, she rushed out of the bedroom to find Banshee, who was at work at that moment. She couldn't wait for him to return home, she rushed out of the apartment and to the Tower Plaza.
Banshee, at his work station, had no idea of the excited Exo that awaited him. "Banshee!" A woman's voice called out. "Banshee!" The male Exo heard the voice in the distance and saw his wife running at him. "Look at this letter we got in the mail today!" She said when she reached the stand.
Banshee read over the letter. "Hm, well I'd be damned."
"We're going to get our own child?" Lakshmi asked.
"Yes, yes we are."
"How did Dr. Shim"
"I wrote him a letter the day after you said you wanted a child, Doctor returned a letter quick."
Lakshmi had no words to describe the joy; she threw her arms around Banshee and hugged him tightly. It was this that made her forget about the war driven faction, there was no talk about the Future War Cult after that day from Lakshmi, she had much more important things to worry about now.