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Ion frowned when Luke made no move to answer Asch. If he were a betting person, he would bet that Luke had no idea what all was going on around him.
"How come he can't answer?" Asch made a move to rush towards the infantile Luke, but his mother grabbed his shoulder and restrained him.
Ion sighed, and gently shook his small charge off his back. Asch shrugged off his mother's firm grip and raced forward to support the teetering look-a-like. Ion assisted the young noble in the steadying of the Imposter, but Luke seemed more interested in Asch then the older boy who carried him here.
Lady Fabre quietly pushed open the doors to the audience chamber, and motioned for Ion to follow. Ion whispered for Anise to watch over the Imposter and his new brother, before disappearing behind the large double doors.
"How come… he acts like… he isn't as old as he looks? I thought you said two months as well! It's hardly been four hours!" Lady Fabre huffed, settling herself into her husband's chair. Her son had just begun to calm down from the excitement, and now Ion had dumped an obviously flawed Imposter in her entrance hall.
Ion sighed, noticing that the chair he had taken his notes in hadn't been moved since his departure. He took his seat, stretching his legs from the vast amount of standing he had been doing in the past four hours.
"He is a custom model, of the DFN 000 series. He had a previous… owner… and for some reason he was abandoned around the time he suffered substantial trauma to the head. There aren't any physical wounds left… But I'll have to take him back with me for reprogramming, he has no knowledge whatsoever, of anything for that matter." Ion reached into his robes and pulled out the gald he had saved the Fabre family (though he doubted they truly needed it) by purchasing a used model. Lady Fabre declined to accept the remaining money, attempting to lighten the mood with a joke about how skinny he and his caretaker looked.
"You can fix him… right?" Lady Fabre broke the silence, although it's blanket of discomfort still covered the two.
Ion then produced Luke's certificate of creation, and the change of ownership documents. "The Order was the place he was born and raised originally, I'm sure that even though he has matured some, the process will be successful, there is nothing to erase since he is a blank canvas as it stands."
The Lady accepted the ownership papers, much like adoption papers, and nodded her approval to Luke's retraining.
"We had better get going then; I have to report back to Daath soon. Would like to say your goodbyes to your future son?" Ion stood, and held open the door to the audience chamber for the Lady.
Asch hardly noticed the reemergence of his mother and Ion; he was too enthralled by the way the mirror image of himself had meekly tangled the sun-kissed ends of his long hair with Asch's blood red mane. Anise sat behind the small boy, making sure he didn't topple over, although she also preoccupied herself with playing with Luke's bright red hair.
"How did someone who looks like me already exist?" Asch asked nervously, glancing at the tag that hung around Luke's neck.
Ion frowned, afraid of what the real answer may be. "I'm sure that someone may have seen you one day, and decided that you were so handsome, they wanted an Imposter who looked just like you." Someone out there created this custom model for a reason, but the names… all of them are just blank…
"So how come he can't understand what I'm sayin'?" Asch gently unwound his hair from his doppelganger's, and stood to face the much older Imposter standing a crossed the room. "How come he is here now too? Can he stay? Or do you have to take him away?!"
Ion thought carefully about what she should tell the small boy, and what to leave out until he was older. Lady Fabre stepped forward and eased the burden from the Imposter, much to Asch's displeasure.
"He has to go away for awhile, something bad happened to him before Ion found him, and now he has to return to his birthplace. When he comes back, he will be able to play all the games you like, and talk about all the things you like to talk about, he will be just like you wanted Asch!"
The young noble took a step back, obviously unhappy with the response they had provided for him. "Can't he stay?"
It was Ion's turn to be shocked. Anise stood up, making sure to clasp Luke's hand in her own to prevent him from tumbling down.
To both her and Ion's surprise, Luke gently tugged free, and padded towards the one he was so interested in. Asch gently grabbed a hold of his brother's shoulders to steady him.
"Anise… Are there any regulations dictating that we must reprogram him?" Ion watched the display of affection between the two strangers. They were connected by their appearance only, and it was adequate to forge a strong enough bond.
Asch had just met his brother, for the first time, and he didn't want him to go away, and for them to erase all of the memories he had of their first encounter.
"It's not recommended, but in the rare cases of total reformatting, most Impostors' don't take well to reprogramming. It might be better to let him learn, that way he can retain his early memories with Asch." Ion scrunched his eyebrows together in thought. The chances of him leading a normal life, aside from his disposition as an Imposter were indeed higher, but also the risks were high. His behavior wouldn't be warranted by The Order, and the reoccurring thought of what Luke could have done to deserve the abuse he received before being recovered still weighed heavy in Ion's mind.
Anise reached into her pocket and revealed her pocket watch. She flipped it open and glanced at the time, trying her hardest to hide the shock.
"We have to make a decision Ion- and soon. It's going to be dark…" Anise snapped the watched closed and looked up to meet the distracted gaze of her Impostor partner.
"Asch?" Lady Fabre called out to her wavering son. The Impostor behind him peeked curiously over his shoulder at the three pairs of eyes all focused on the two red-headed twins. "We won't be ready to accept him for two months, unless you are willing to share what you have."
"Are you gonna hurt him?" Asch knew he couldn't argue that they simply weren't ready to accept another child into the family, but still, he was well taken care of, and sharing what he had surely wouldn't pose much of a problem.
"I told you bringing him here early wouldn't end well…" Anise muttered, taking a careful step forward towards the isolated pair. Asch glanced at her, but his interest lied with the answer to his question.
"It won't be… terrible…" Ion knew he was lying, but the pain of the electric current was forgotten shortly thereafter, as were all the memories of the Impostor. "He won't remember the pain, but unfortunately, he won't remember anything before that moment. We will never have a chance of discovering what his previous life was like."
Asch gave his mother the most desperate look he could muster, hoping to win her over in their argument.
"I want him to remember me! I want him to remember this as the first moment we met, not when he arrives after they take all of this away from him!" Asch stomped his foot, accidentally knocking Luke backwards from his hiding place.
The fragile Imposter whimpered and tried to call out for Asch's attention, but Ion's shocked expression was enough to catch the noble's notice. With a precision Asch wasn't aware he was able to muster, he swung around and gripped his twin's wrist, effectively steadying him, but something was amiss with Luke.
Ion grimaced, rushing over to assist the fallen Impostor. "I don't doubt your concern for your new brother, but I am concerned for his well-being. He was abused Asch, and the extent of that damage is unknown."
"Please…" Asch whispered, brushing the sun kissed hair out the blank green eyes of his twin. "Please let him stay here with us… I don't want him to think he is just an Impostor… Just my brother…"
Ion didn't believe the lines of his inner turmoil could be more apparent, his deep frowning and wrinkled brow would surely show for days as he mulled over what he was about to do.
"If I agree, and I let him stay with you, you have to promise me you won't expect more of him then he can give you. He isn't like you, and he can never be like you." Ion allowed his façade of concentration to slip when Luke returned for wherever his mind disappeared to. The child, although he appeared to be perfect, with no visible Impostor distinctions, reminded Ion greatly of himself, but even this perfection had it flaws.
"If he starts to remember, we might have to send him away for awhile, are you alright with that?" Ion helped the oblivious Impostor to his feet, and Asch was there in an instant to support his brother. Asch's eyes were glowing with excitement, he had gotten his brother two months early and he could keep him! Of course he knew Luke wasn't a plaything, but still, the ability to order a human being still slightly disturbed him, he only accepted the idea because he knew Luke would be happy here, he would never hurt him.
"Will he fit in around the house? Once he starts to learn a little more, I mean." Lady Fabre had moved closer to inspect her new son, his delicate yet clumsy hands reaching out to feel the texture of her dress. "It's like having a newborn baby!"
Lady Fabre's maternal instincts kicked in and she reached down to gather the much fussed over child into her arms. Luke smiled, but his inability to vocalize like the others around him seemed to distress him.
Asch glanced over to Anise, who was furiously filling out paperwork on a small end table. She had a small notebook open as well, occasionally scribbling something after finishing a sheet or two.
"Asch, if you will, please come over here with me and Anise. We would like to have a word with you before we go." Ion had moved to stand next to his caretaker, but offered no aid in her burden of paperwork. He only smiled at her grumbles of annoyance and waiting for the noble boy to join him.
"What is it Ion?" Asch tried to remain polite, but he found his vision kept slipping to the two tags Ion had around the leather collar, compared to the blank lone tag Luke had.
Ion noticed his curiosity, but didn't comment, sparing the boy the embarrassment. "Because you don't want your new brother to be reprogrammed, he is the exact same as a new baby in the house, do you understand?"
Asch didn't understand why Ion was reminding him of her new brother's child-like mentality, but he nodded anyway.
"He will mature very quickly, like all Impostors' do. It only takes two months from birth to reach the age he is at now, only with a different frame of mind. You don't have to raise him as an Impostor, he can be as human as you wish, but you can never remove his tags, and outside of the manor, he can not be as he is here."
Asch, although he prided himself on his intelligence, didn't understand Ion's latest sentiments.
"An Impostor can never be the same as you or Anise- don't forget that. Luke will always try his hardest to please you and your family, as will his caretaker. You can disguise him as you like, but please, for his sake, never try and deny what he truly is."
The voice of the Luke Asch only found in his dreams rung in his ears, but looking around, Asch couldn't tell if anyone else could hear it too.
"What am I Asch? Am I what you wanted?"
Lady Fabre was busy untangling her new son's hair to notice how his body had gone slightly rigid.
Only Asch saw how his emerald eyes flashed a warm gold, before he returned to his carefree and childish ways.
It's really you then… Luke. You really came…
"He is Luke, Impostor or not... He is my brother now!"
Ion smiled and stood up, his final evaluation of the young boy complete.