'It seems he took my advice.'

Melissa smiled. Her manipulation had worked like a charm. Well, maybe it was wrong to call it manipulation, but that was besides the point.

Nearby, Cassidy was reading a book. Something related to those stories about The Boy Who Lived. Melissa had no real interest in the subject, though she couldn't deny her daughter these small indulgences. Despite what her 'associates' might assume, Melissa was actually a good parent...

'Well, at least better than mine were...'

Burying her sadness for a moment, Melissa returned to examining the Commander. As soon as he had broken his conversation with the orphan girl, he had gone back to testing out the fire arms he had acquired. 'Not that I blame him. Shooting guns IS fun.'

"Um, your highness," requested a voice over the intercom. Elling's, to be exact. "Your...um...I guess the best word is supervisor...has requested a meeting with you."

For a moment, Melissa went stiff, before calming herself. "Very well, tell him I'll be over in a moment."

"Of course."

As soon as Elling hung up, the R.O.B. turned to her daughter.

"Mommy has to go to a meeting right now, so-"

"Could I come with you?"

"What?! Why?!"

"I've never met your boss before. I just want to see what he's like."

"Um...well..."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeeeeeeeeeee?" pleaded the girl. Her eyes only further weakened her mother's willingness to argue.

"...uh...uh...okay," concede Melissa. "Just, don't speak to him unless he asks you, okay? He doesn't like being interrupted."

"Yay!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a grand hallway of sorts, a portal opened. Out of it came a woman dressed in white, followed by an girl with similar attire. Behind them, the portal collapsed in on itself, disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared.

Melissa was surprised that no guards had accosted them. Normally, at least one guard would already be upon her...

Some dust fell to the ground in front of her. Peering up, the R.O.B. saw a gargoyle-like being resting on a chandelier, watching her with its cold, unblinking eyes. 'Well, that's new.'

Upon noticing the entity on the chandelier, Cass hid behind her mother, shivering in fear. Melissa stared at the statue-like being, before turning around and hugging her daughter.

"Don't worry, it's just supposed to watch us. It won't hurt us."

"Are you sure, mom?"

"Yes, my little sunshine, I'm sure."

Slowly, Cassidy stopped shaking, before finally leaving her mother's embrace. Burying her fear, she hazarded a glance at the entity on the chandelier. As she did so, it's head turned, and for the briefest moment, the two stared at each other, eye to eye, before the gargoyle lost interest and looked away.

"Come on now, Cass, let's get going. I don't want to keep my boss waiting any longer," remarked Melissa, who offered her hand to her daughter.

A moment later, Cass accepted it and the duo began walking toward the end of the hallway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The hallway terminated in a large meeting room of sorts, filled with beings: some were busy cleaning the walls, others were bringing in engineering equipment. The one Melissa sought, though, was in the center, busy examining a machine. What it was, she couldn't tell-she was too far away to accurately observe the machine.

"Well, look who decided to show up."

Groaning internally, Melissa turned to her right. Leaning against a stylized stone pillar was a man dressed in a vibrant green suit and similarly colored pants. These matched quite well with his green eyes and, of all things, his green hair. Melissa knew that the hair wasn't dyed, but how he kept it that vibrantly colored naturally was beyond her.

"Hello, Operative Tau. May I ask why you are here?

"I heard that the boss man wanted to talk to you. Looks like you finally screwed up, doesn't it."

"Doubtable. He usually uses emails, letters or telepathy to request one's presence when he's angry."

"Touché. Still, I do believe you are in hot water."

"What for?"

"How about breaking our non-interference clause with the Commander," replied a sultry voice behind her.

Instantly, Melissa started to feel warm. 'How did they know about that?!'

Calming herself, the R.O.B. turned around and found herself facing a woman dressed in orange. Her hair was a mix of red and orange, with a line of yellow in one spot. 'Is she trying to look like a fire?' wondered Cass, while her mother just looked on in annoyance.

"Greeting, Operative Zeta. And what do you mean by breaking our non-interference clause? Sending him gifts for the holidays he would miss due to our actions is not a violation, according to our superior."

"Yes, but meeting with the Commander in person most definitely is," was Zeta's response, and it was loud enough that everyone could in the room could hear it.

"...well...I...um..."

Zeta smiled at this. It was good to see Melissa squirm. The ones who prided themselves on being calm and collected were the most amusing to break.

"Face it, Agent Omega, you crossed the line, and now the boss is gonna punish you." Then Zeta noticed Cassidy. A feral grin grew on the operative's face. "And you brought your daughter here, too? Oh man, he's gonna be pissed."

"No, I am not," came a sonorous voice from the center of the room. Flinching, the four by the end of the hallway turned and stared at the being at the center of the room, once again in his golden form. While Melissa managed to remain standing, Cass had sought shelter behind her mother, while Zeta and Tau were cowering on the ground.

"...You're...not...sir?"

"No. True," he began, advancing toward her, "you did violate the clause, but I believe it will be necessary to intervene with him directly in order to achieve our goals."

Then, he gestured toward the center of the room.

"Tell me, do you know what that machine is?"

Now that Melissa had a clear view of the machine, she could indeed identify it.

"It's an advanced fabrication robot."

"Precisely. This machine is one of the greatest achievements of the Progenitors, able to build titanic structures within minutes at least, days at most. Yet it is hardly all that they left behind."

"So you've said."

"Indeed. You are all well aware that I wish to study the Progenitors, and find out all of their secrets. Of course, even with a Commander Chassis, there are still many things we don't know about them. They never left designs for their civilian technology in those Commanders, so I've had to search for them personally. At least, I had to, until I discovered that Commanders can detect other Progenitor technology over astronomical distances. Through this, I discovered that the Progenitors once had an empire that spanned the multiverse. "

"Yes, yes, you've said this already, sir. You wanted to use the Commander to locate the rest of this tech, but you also wanted someone to pilot it, since those sort of Commanders tend to enjoy making life better for everyone, something you had no trouble with. My apologies, sir, but why are you repeating yourself? You've never done that before in our presence."

"Well, we have a guest here, don't we."

As he said this, the OverROB turned his attention to Cassidy.

"Hello, little girl. You may call me the OverROB. What is your name?"

"...Cassidy."

"A good name. You are Melissa's daughter, are you not?"

"...I am. She's said really nice things about you."

"I see. Well, I must thank her for that."

Then he turned back toward the fabber.

"As for the rest of you, know that I am modifying the non-interference clause. Also, please, stop arguing. I am not playing favorites. You are dismissed."

After an awkward moment of silence, three portals opened up, one for each R.O.B. Melissa was the first to leave, with Cass right behind her.

As she left, though, Zeta spoke to her one last time.

"Well, you may have avoided punishment this time, but don't get to comfy, Omega. If you slip up, one of us will be taking command of operations regarding the Commander."

Before she could speak any further, Zeta was suddenly thrown aside. When she recovered, she noticed that Melissa's left hand was glowing white. Then, the woman known as Operative Omega turned to face her, face full of malice.

"I am the only one allowed to mess with the Commander. So trust me when I say that, if that privilege is taken from me, Commander Flame will have a powerful ally. Now come, Cassidy. It's time to go home."

Then mother and daughter stepped through the portal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!