(AKA mugging is one hell of a greeting)


Year ten altered everything, completely usurping all the truths Aile had ever known in her short life. Changed her world, caught her by surprise, and set her off on a journey that no one could ever have predicted.

Year ten was when a boy fell from the sky.

Oh sure, it started out as an innocent enough day. Birds in the trees, bright sunshine filtering in through the leaves, barely a cloud in the sky, and all that other scenic jazz. The perfect sort of day for a hike or picnic, which meant that it was the exact sort of day that Aile would have the best of luck at when it came to pilfering some dumb outdoor enthusiast's poorly guarded goods. You'd have thought people would have learned by now, but the Area A forest was internationally known as a beautiful destination, a famous and wonderful locale full of history and nature, so tourists always showed up to gawk at all the trees no matter how many times they'd probably been warned against it. Tourists were idiots. Easy targets with lots of food ripe for the taking. Heck, she sometimes wondered if they left stuff out on purpose for her! Oh well. Whatever the reason for their ineptitude and easily stolen items, it sure beat her usual foraging for fruits and whatnot.

What should have tipped her off about this day being unusual were the robots. There were more mavericks and security forces in the area than usual, and though occasional changes in population were nothing to be concerned about, they were often indicators of things. Important people visiting Cinq Ville, another "imp search party", whatever. Nothing she couldn't handle. Morning and afternoon came and went with little fuss, but little luck, either. She munched on a sour apple as she listened to the woods. So far, not much out of the ordinary was occurring, nothing unusual-wait. There. The sounds of a motorbike powering down. That was kind of new! The moment Aile heard the noise she hid herself in some foliage. Was someone just passing by, but had stopped for a break? Where was it coming from? As she expertly scanned the area, she was able to locate the general location of the sound's source. A cliff. Well, considering that the forest was right next to a mountain, no surprise there. This place was full of sheer rock walls and oversized boulders. Aile crept closer to investigate.

Voices filtered down from high above as she scoped out the region. A pair of transporters, from what she could tell from the masculine pair's discussion. Ooh, goodie! Some dumb delivery drivers. Maybe she could climb the cliff and nab a package or two. Just as she was surveying the rock face for handholds, a commotion started up above. Wanting no part in any sort of confrontation, not even ones she started herself, Aile ducked back down and waited for things to settle themselves out. Why put herself in harm's way when she could just wait for things to die down and loot the corpses? Wasn't the first time she'd come across an unfortunate victim with treasures to be taken, and it undoubtedly wouldn't be the last. One particularly noticeable explosion caught her ear; the next thing she knew there was a massive crash as something fell to the ground from above. Sweet! Delivery! How nice of them to drop their shit off the cliff so that she wouldn't have to climb it. Awesome

Aile trudged carefully over to the object, watching in case anything else decided to fall on her. It was good she'd been paying attention because something nearly did deck her in the skull, the smaller object bouncing off a tree to her left and arcing through the forest away from her in a blue blur. She would check it out later, of course, but it was going to have to wait its turn until after she'd gotten to the first find. That's when she saw just what had fallen. A teen male, with hair the same colour as her own, who was wearing a blue jacket and some cargo pants. The pants had a small rip in the side that was still smoldering in some places from the blast. Score! She instantly ducked down and checked his pockets, patting down a few embers so that there wouldn't be any inconvenient blazes. A communicator at his side started to chime. Aile ignored it. Half her attention was on checking out the contents of a change purse she'd snagged from his back pocket, while the other half of her awareness was focused on poking the body in front of her to make sure it was dead.

It wasn't.

The boy started to move. Aile threw herself into a nearby bush and held her breath. Part of her was worried that she'd nearly been spotted, wowza what a close call, and part of her was smugly laughing at the poor sunnuvabitch as he woke up to the sounds of his phone going off. He had no clue that his lunch money was long forfeit. She listened in as the conversees panicked about some sort of package, trying and failing to hear the exact words being said (who the hell named their kid Bent, she had to have misheard that right?) and that's when she noticed what else had fallen alongside the male teen.

A blue rock, or metallic effigy of some sort, was floating in the air a short distance away. Rocks from the surface didn't normally float. Or slowly rotate and glow, or look like they had a face. Damn. She should have nabbed that first, as it probably would have sold for a lot of money.

Then some Guardians showed up.

Oh boy. Aile knew a bad situation when she saw one. The Guardians were a much better defence force than anything Serpent could ever manage to scrounge up, if a lot smaller in number, and she was not keen on getting spotted by them today. They were one of the few organizations she didn't dare target specifically. Which wasn't to say she'd never fucked them over before, but she'd still rather avoid those self-justified mercenaries if at all possible. She began looking for a way out.

That's when the gigantic snake mechaniloid showed up.

Oh boy, again. Trouble heaped on trouble. One big problem after another kept appearing, and Aile recognized a pattern when she saw one. She wasn't an idiot and knew that a good time to scram had been yesterday, but as they say, better late than never. There was a short altercation in which a lady in pink was yelling about biometal (the same thing the maverick duo had once talked about holy fuck this was too much at once!), although Aile spent most of her time distracted by trying to form an escape plan. This was not the first Giga Aspis she'd ever seen, but damn, a massive robot like that was a bit out of her league right now. Why did life always throw her in the deep end when she was least expecting it? The boy, still blinking groggily from what was probably a concussion or two, then tried to protect everyone like some goodie two-shoes idiot. And then some other ludicrous shit happened, because of course it did. The floating rock talked. The boy transformed. The gigantic snake mechaniloid, the Giga Aspis, got its ass handed to it with a single blast and it ran away, causing the goodie-two-shoes boy who had just pulled a magical girl act to go running after it like some stereotypical hero.

A boy who was apparently named Vent.

Fuck. Shit. Fuck. That was just a coincidence, right? That some kid with the same hair colour as her had the same name as her long-dead sibling, right?

…Right?

No. She was being stupid. His name was a coincidence, dead was dead, and she totally hadn't just mugged her own brother while he was unconscious because this Vent wasn't her sibling because her precious Vent was long dead and fading in memory, and no one that stupid and heroically self-sacrificing could have been related to her anyways. All of this was just way too much though. Panicked screams, malicious mechaniloids appearing from nowhere, memories of her brother, and chaos all around. It was ruthlessly bringing up past traumas that she wanted nothing to do with. It made Aile want to cry. She couldn't cry yet though, because the Guardians hadn't quite left. So she quashed her breakdown until after they were long, long gone. And then she ran.

Biometals, like what Pandora and Prometheus had mentioned. Chosen ones. A boy named Vent. The Guardians, transforming talking stones, mavericks and memories and all too many things at once. She wanted her dad. NOW.

The first thing Aile did when Omega came into view was run crying into his arms. He reciprocated wordlessly, clearly taken aback, but offering the support his teenage daughter needed. They sat down as she bawled it out. When her outburst calmed down enough for her to talk, when she could finally breathe through the hiccups and he could gasp in air despite her vice grip, he sat them both down and asked, "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head.

He sighed in relief, then straightened himself out as he got down to business, "What happened?" She told him everything, of course, everything about nearly getting caught in the crossfire and seeing a boy that reminded her way too much of her departed sibling. She spilled her heart out to him, as she always did whenever she wanted guidance. Aile was, despite her growing independence, extremely reliant on him no matter how much she might deny it. Omega awkwardly patted her on the back, probably because the childcare books he'd once shown her had told him that such reassuring physical contact was important (she'd read as such herself). He correctly concluded, "So it brought up some bad memories, hmm?

Aile wiped away some tears, "...Yeah. I mean. I know it did! But, I don't… Why am I crying so much?! I got over it years ago! It's all done and over with, I shouldn't be freaking out over something so dumb!" She wailed in anger this time, dropping her face into Omega's chest. She squeezed him tight, and focused on the sound of his heartbeat. After so long, it was still the most soothing sound to her.

Her father had to look away, eyebrows furrowing as he pondered his response, "Trauma doesn't… I don't think it works like that, in humans. Not even in most reploids." He rubbed her back and hair, soothing her as he tucked her head under his chin, "It was a sudden reminder. You weren't expecting it. Just like an ambush. If you can prepare, it's not so bad, but if it hits you out of nowhere… "

Aile sniffled, and looked up at him, "Big ow?"

"Big ow," he agreed. Shades of the past flitted over his own face too. Aile wordlessly snuggled harder. Ages passed as they stayed like that, her father supporting her and calming her down with his mere presence. A comfortable silence reigned. Then he suddenly spoke up, "...It should be evening now, if I recall."

"Yeah."

"Did you have any plans that needed to get done today?"

"No."

"Very well. You should stay here. No point wandering out and risking yourself if you're not at the top of your game."

Aile hummed in agreement. His logic was sound, after all. Omega made to stand up, but she tugged on his hand, "...Daddy?"

"What is it?"

"Can I… can I sleep with you, tonight? J-just in case I get nightmares… I know, I know, I'm a big girl, I'm not a kid anymore! But-!"

Her dad didn't chastise her for being juvenile. Instead he simply interrupted her with a rare, fond smile, "Of course. It'll be just like old times." Though she barely saw it, a flash of sad nostalgia glinted in Omega's eyes.

He was right, of course, as always. It was just like old times. She woke up with a scream, trembling with sweat, distorted memories of fire and blood and the stench of burnt flesh making her nauseous and terrified. And just like old times her abnormal parent was right there, instantly hugging her, holding her, keeping her warm and safe in his indomitable grasp. Calming down didn't take all that long once she remembered that he was nearby. Aile simply placed her head back on her father's chest and closed her eyes, the lullaby of his heartbeat sending her straight back into the realm of slumber.

Elsewhere, the world moved on. A partnership with a biometal was solidified. A mentor and father-figure was found and reunited with, a mission was given as evening fell, and the would-be newest member of the Guardians watched the world outside as he prepared to pass his test once the next day began. Plans were hatched in the dead of night. The world continued to turn as always, but the fate of many things was set that day. Not in the whirl of gunfire and the chaos of action, no, but in silent convictions already made long ago. The leader of the Guardians, Prairie, made a risk, a bet, and gave a boy a chance to prove himself, sustaining the faith in the world that her sister had imparted to her in her youth. A leader in darkness, a traitor to his own people, grinned to himself at the realization that all the pieces of his plan were finally falling into place. Others planned too, hidden in shadows and deceit, ready to usurp the world and sow strife and disorder if that's what it took to get their way. And two fathers, the most determined of all, stayed true to the promise they'd set upon a bygone day of fire and slaughter.

They would protect their children, no matter the cost.