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Chapter 16: First Winter
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"You know, I thought it would be great seeing our beloved baby grow up and learn how to walk. Now, however, I realize that it was simply a lie I told myself," 9S said with a sigh as he held a squirming toddler in his arms.
Alexander fussed and wiggled in a desperate attempt to escape his shota-uncle's grasp. It was no use, sadly, and Alex was forced to kick his tiny legs futilely in the air.
"Come on, now, Alexander. If you don't put your nice warm clothes on you can't go outside," 2B said, trying to tempt the Last Human into wearing the winter clothes they'd made for him.
It was a cute ensemble made of fur harvested from bears who had moved into the area during autumn. In fact, the coat even had little ears on top of the hood to simulate a bear's ears in a disturbingly morbid mockery of the clothing's source.
Devolva and Popola had shown they were quite talented when it came to sewing by hand, a long-lost handicraft among most androids since machines could just produce the fabric in any shape required. The pair of red-heads knew how to do so thanks to their time as inhabitants of a Replicant village. And with their ancient human skill, had sewn together several pairs of new clothes for Alexander, including his winter gear.
Which had been finished not a moment too soon. It was late December, and the snow had finally begun to fall from the sky. Great heaps of fluffy, frozen water decorated the landscape, and made the ruins of Relic City look quite lovely.
Some parts were lovelier than others. Smoke belched from the Resistance refinery and the Machine Cult's factory stained the snow around those areas black. The Great Pit that dominated the center of the city also looked rather lumpy as the ruined remnants of alien motherships poked through the rubble and snowdrifts.
Still, the rest of the world looked nice, and the cold kept the Machine Lifeforms indoors. Like the androids, the Machines were biomechanical constructs. 90% inorganic metal, 10% bio-material. And it was based on some alien form of flora. During the cold times, the Machines preferred to stay warm. Oh, they'd fight and rampage if provoked, but they chose to avoid confrontations during this time of year.
For YoRHa and the Resistance, winter was a time to build their forces and prepare for spring time offensives. Of course, in places without winter, like most of Africa, the Middle East, and Australia, the war never ended. Fresh troops were shipped in to keep the pressure up and allow the android's industrial centers in Antarctica to churn out weapons and other materials. It was a constant balancing act, and one that had been thrown out of order thanks to the fall of the Bunker, among other things.
Of course, for Alexander's caretakers, these thoughts did not matter. What did was making sure the Last Human was bundled up nice and warm while it snowed.
Sadly, Alexander didn't like wearing too many layers and kept trying to escape whenever he was forced to put on his cute little winter coat, pants, boots, and mittens. Now that he knew how to walk, his ability to flee from his family increased exponentially.
"No! Dun wanna!" Alexander cried, struggling against 9S's grasp.
"But Aunty Popola and Devolva made these for you. Do you want to make them sad?" 2B said, trying to guilt the toddler. After a moment of sulking Alexander reluctantly held out a foot so the pants could be put on. The short-haired gynoid smiled happily and with 9S's help put his clothes on.
"Now, let's go find mommy and show off!" 2B suggested, taking Alexander's hand. Alexander cheered and pulled 2B along, trying to find A2.
"Where's momma?" he asked after looking through the whole house and not finding her. She wasn't in Aunty Jaqueline's room with all the smelly glasses tubes, she wasn't in Uncle Hatchet's room with all the smelly machine bits and tools, she wasn't in Big Brother Sebastian's room where Chompy had been relocated to when the snow started falling, and she wasn't in Uncle Emil's room with all the scary faces.
"Hmm, I wonder where she is?" 2B mused, looking around. "Oh, I know! Why don't we look outside?"
"She's hiding in the snow?" Alexander inquired.
"She does have white hair and is rather pale skinned. Honestly, she could hide in the snow pretty well if she stripped naked…" 9S observed, only to be smacked upside the head by 2B.
"Don't teach Alexander stuff like that!" she scolded.
"What? I mean, we could do it too…" 9S was immediately smacked again.
"Why you hurt Unca Nines?" Alexander asked cutely, still holding onto 2B's hand.
"Because he said bad words. Don't say bad words, okay, Alexander?" 2B said firmly. He nodded quickly. 2B then smiled, and led Alexander downstairs.
She let him run around the ground floor for a bit and check the kitchen, dining room, and living room for signs of A2 before steering him towards the backdoor.
"Come along, Alexander. I think I see A2 outside," 2B piped up as the toddler looked under the couch for the third time.
"Okay!" he cheered and let himself be carried to the door. 9S opened it, and carefully guided the bundled-up human out for his first glimpse of snow in the new world.
"Pwetty!" Alexander cheered, bending down to pat some snow. He recoiled as he touched it. "Cold!"
"Yes, it is. This is called 'snow.' Can you say 'snow?'" 9S inquired. Alex took on a pensive look, squinting fiercely at the chilly white fluff.
"Snow!" he said at last, bending down and patted it some more. "Snow!"
He ran out into the backyard and kicked a small pile of snow. In doing so, he slipped and fell onto his butt. Inside of crying, though, he began to giggle.
"Oh, there you are! You look so adorable!" A2 suddenly appeared, swooping in and snatching up the cute bundle of baby.
"Oh, hey, A2," 9S said awkwardly as she nuzzled against Alexander. "Weren't you supposed to wait for us at the snowman? You know, the one you wanted us to build for you?"
"But he was just too cute to ignore!" A2 protested, and the Scanner model quickly backed down.
"Of course! Yes, I understand!" he said hastily. 2B rolled her eyes at 9S's cowardice, before striding over to the mother and son pair, an old, refurbished camera in hand.
"Say cheese!" she said, and A2 and Alexander both smiled for the camera. There was a 'click!' and then there was a nod sent their way from 2B after she confirmed the picture had come out alright.
"Excellent shot," 2B mused to herself as she checked the picture she'd taken. Ever since she'd done that quest for the Resistance android who'd needed help finding her memories, and all she had were old photos, 2B had become interested in the art of photography. When Emil had found and fixed an old digital camera for her, she'd been ecstatic and started making a scrap book of baby pictures. It was a project A2 whole-heartedly approved of.
The group began to frolic in earnest, playfully tossing snow at each other.
"Ha-ha! Take this!" 9S said, laughing as he hurled a snowball at 2B. She chuckled at him even as she dodged the clump of snow.
A snowball impacted the side of 9S's head, and he looked over to where Sebastian was, a pile of premade snow-based ammunition ready for combat.
The older Scanner model scoffed at his black-haired counterpart and reached down for some snow of his own, only to be pelted from behind by 2B.
"How could you?" he asked her as he turned to her, lower lip quivering. 2B jerked to a halt, arm raised halfway to hurl a snowball. A strangled sound escaped her throat, and the heat emanating from her red face began to melt the snow in her grasp.
She then immediately got blatted right in the kisser by a snowball the sneaky Scanner model threw, and after sputtering indignantly, she growled and hurled her slushball at the offender.
Alexander tried to join in as well. He gathered up a handful of snow and tried to throw it at 9S as well, whom everyone seemed to be ganging up on. However, when he tried to throw it, his puny, probably-two year old muscles couldn't do it, and the crude lump of snow landed barely even a foot away.
"There, there," A2 comforted him as the young human stared tearfully at his failed attempt to pelt his uncle. "Would you like me to hit 9S with a snowball for you?"
She held up a very large, densely packed snowball. On closer inspection, it turned out to be the head from the snowman she'd been making.
"No! I wanna!" Alexander cried, stomping his foot angrily. He bent back down to grab some snow and after gathering another clump of the stuff, waddled over to 9S and tried to hit him again. However, he still couldn't throw properly, and the attack failed.
"Wanna hit!" Alexander said, tears in his eyes.
"You know, you could ask POD 153 to help you?" 9S suggested, head poking out of the pile of snow he was under. 2B quickly buried him again with a flurry of snowballs that struck the shota's cranium.
"No! I wanna!" Alexander said petulantly. He stomped his foot. The snow around him quivered. "I wanna hit!"
2B, 9S, and Sebastian barely had time to react before a wall of snow exploded up from the ground and slammed into them, burying the trio of androids beneath a thick mound of snow.
A2 stared at Alexander, who was now giggling happily, a faint glow around his body that quickly faded.
"What did he just do?!" a frantic Emil demanded, bursting out the door only to slip and fall, his wheels no good on ice.
"It appears Alexander manipulated the snow," A2 said in awe, before quickly scooping up the young and adorable mage. "Yes, you did! You're so talented!"
"Argh! Someone help me up!" Emil cried, trapped on his side, the wheels of his scooter spinning madly while his tiny arms flailed futilely.
Instead of helping, Alexander giggled and pointed a hand at the downed skull-child. The next thing Emil knew, he was buried under snow that had surged over him.
"Now Alexander, we don't bury people without their permission!" A2 scolded, looking her son in the eye and giving him a stern talking to.
"Bury bad?"
"Very bad," she said. The two then giggled together at the sorta-kinda word play. "Now, why don't you free your uncles and aunt? It must be cold under all that snow!"
"Yes!" Alexander chirped, waving his hands wildly. White light wrapped around his pudgy toddler fists, and soon the snow was being pushed aside and manipulated by unseen forces.
2B and 9S got up quickly. Sebastian got up more sedately and walked over, helping Emil up.
"His telekinesis has improved," 2B said fondly, giving Alexander a fond smile.
"Actually, that was cryokinesis," Emil claimed as he wobbled unsteadily. He hurried back into the ice-free house, away from the treacherous ground. "It seems our little human has learned how to control ice and snow and the cold."
"Really? First pyrokinesis, now this? What's next? Controlling the wind and the earth?" 9S asked in disbelief.
"Yes, actually, that will be something I'll have to teach him," Emil revealed. When the androids all looked at him in shock, he bobbed his head.
"Alexander is the most powerful magic user I've ever seen! Stronger than me, or any of my 'siblings.' Plus, he has no clear affinity, meaning he can theoretically use any and all types of magic. Fire, ice, water wind, earth, metal… the possibilities are endless!"
"SNOW!" Everyone looked over at Alexander who had suddenly shouted it out. Then, they looked over in a mix of horror and awe as the headless snowman A2 had made came to life and shambled over towards them for a hug.
"Is animating the dead something we should be worried about in the future?" Sebastian asked Emil in a whisper.
"Probably," the skull-boy replied nervously.
"Oh." The two of them then watched as a shambling snow golem chased after 9S and 2B, trying to give the ex-YoRHa agents a big, icy embrace.
"For some reason, this reminds me of a movie I saw long ago," Emil said, ancient memories of a life long gone flickering in his memory banks.
"'Attack of the Killer Snow Zombies?'" Sebastian wondered.
"No, I think it was a kid's show…"
"…Humans were weird."
"Preaching to the choir."
When Hatchet finally exited the house after finishing a patch-up job on the heater, the first thing he saw was a legion of snowmen trying to hug everyone while 2B wielded her sword and cut them down before they could approach.
The second thing he noticed was Alexander's giggles that filled the frosty air which combined awkwardly with A2's maniacal laughter and her urging her son on with commands to "Hug them! Hug them all! Mwa-ha-ha-ha!"
The third thing he noticed was that his son was trapped by three snowmen, being hugged most tenderly, while Emil tried futilely to cancel whatever spell had risen the icy army. And 9S was buried beneath a dog pile of huggy snowmen, legs kicking desperately in a hopeless attempt to escape.
The fourth thing Hatchet noticed was that POD 153 was hovering over the 'battlefield,' taking pictures of the mayhem with undisguised glee, and commenting in her typical monotone voice about how 'cute' and 'precious' the playful carnage was.
The last thing the ex-Resistance android noticed was that he was so not interested in whatever this madness was, and turned right back around and returned to the inside of the house, where things made sense and didn't have ambulatory creatures of snow and ice animated by a toddler's magic.