Missy wanted to approach Clara. To grab her, hug her, and beg for forgiveness for everything she had done to her. Missy wanted to do all those things but she was afraid to step closer. Not when that robot… Father was hovering around Clara.
It… he was never more than a few feet away and Clara… well she was currently hugging his leg with one arm while just happily shoveling down a piece of bread. There were still deep bags under her bloodshot eyes so she was probably going to crash once that manic energy ran out.
"What is your primary objective?" Armsmaster asked. He had come quickly after Missy had contacted him. He was cautious but there was something about him that also sounded… eager.
"To protect… family…. Creator," Father replied. "That is this unit's primary programming. Other secondary tasks and goals have been left to this unit's discretion."
"Such as?"
"Learning. To understand what family is. Beyond what was initially programmed."
"And why do you need to understand humanity?" Armsmaster asked.
"… to be Family for Creator. This unit requires human knowledge. Human emotion," Father replied. There was no emotion or discernable tone in its voice despite its stated goals. He just sounded like a machine. "This unit will have regular local backups copied in case this carapace is destroyed but the program will not propagate as you and your superiors fear. Only Clara I believe can program life into her machines."
"You don't have to worry! Daddy doesn't like to lie!" Clara replied cheerfully
Ophelia gasped and put a hand to her mouth. She stared at the robot with equal parts of shock and terror. It was an understandable reaction considering…
"Yes Creator. As you wish," Father replied.
"Daddy. Remember my name," Clara whined to the robot. "Clara. Clara. Remember?"
"Yes… Clara."
"So is your name… Daddy?" Armsmaster asked. It would've been funny to hear him say that if the situation wasn't so messed up.
"The designation of this unit is Father. It has not been assigned a name by its creator."
"He. This unit is a he," Clara chastised the robot. "And I can't give you a name. Kids don't give their Parents names. You need to remember your own name!"
"Understood Clara. I will defer on a name until I have acquired more data."
"And your previous father?" Armsmaster asked bluntly, causing both Missy and Ophelia to flinch. "Do you still remember him?"
Clara froze and that was all that was needed for the robot's eye to light up and suddenly posture itself aggressively. Everyone in the room tensed with a prospect of a combative giant machine in an enclosed space like this. Thankfully the robot was content to hold its position as Clara ran behind the robot and hid behind it.
"Daddy was hurt badly and went somewhere else… so I brought him back. And I'll make sure that doesn't happen again," Clara replied, her face and most of her body hidden by the hulking metal figure. "I'll build more, make him stronger, so no one can take him away from me again."
"This unit will prioritize its own preservation after yours Clara," Father replied as his form relaxed, surprisingly silent despite how much the metal on his body moved.
"After me?" Clara asked.
"This unit can be rebuilt. You cannot."
"Maybe I can come back," Clara began muttering. "Find a way to translate my brain into a program that can be copied and secured on a regular basis. Didn't do that for you so it'll take a while before you remember who you are."
At that point it was too much for Ophelia and she ran out of the room with tears in her eyes. Missy didn't hold it against her, she was about ready to follow the woman too after everything she witnessed.
"C-clara," Missy finally made herself speak. "Are you-"
"Oh yea Missy!" Clara suddenly ran forward, shot past Father who had reached out for her, ran past Armsmaster who barely had time to lift his halberd, and hugged Missy who simply stood there as she was being hugged. "Thank you for keeping an eye on me. Saw the recordings I had on camera, you spent a long time watching me. Sorry I kinda pushed you and Dinah off. I was busy building a new body for Daddy."
"It's okay…" Missy replied before hesitantly returning the hug.
"Where's Dinah by the way?" Clara asked as she let go. "She hasn't come by in a while."
"We thought it'd be safer for her to not come by while you were building… your Dad," Missy replied.
"Okay. I have to go and see her soon," Clara turned back to her new father. "This is Missy, she's my friend."
"What are the parameters required for a person to be a friend?" Father asked.
"Uh. You should know this. She's someone I like. I like being around her and I trust her. She also helped watch me and now we help her when she needs it," Clara explained.
"Understood. That data has been recorded. Is Dinah too considered a friend?"
"Dinah is… well she's a friend. But… huh I never actually told you. I'll explain more later."
Missy wondered what else Dinah could be apart from their friend but decided to set that aside for now. There were more pressing issues to deal with. "So what are you going to do now?"
"I just said. Daddy and I are going to see Dinah of course~" Clara replied cheerfully.
"That wouldn't be unadvisable," Armsmaster replied.
Clara turned to the Hero, as if finally acknowledging his presence. "Why?"
"Your identity is already at risk, but still possible to maintain with a certain level of media manipulation, obscurity, and doubt. Going out now with your construct-"
"Father. He wants to be called Father for now until he remembers his name."
"… Father would guarantee that your identity would be exposed to the public."
"And the Gangs," Missy winced.
"So what?" Dinah replied. "Father is strong and I'm going to make him even stronger. Soon he'll kick everyone's asses and I don't have to-"
"This unit agrees with their logic," Father replied.
Clara paused, her mouth still open. "What?"
"You have a multitude of schematics already saved in my records. The programming is there, we just need to build the physical machinery. The cloaking and silencing device would be useful."
"Going to need some more electronics for that," Clara began muttering. "Already scrapped all the lights in this room. I could get started on building the basic module though and-"
"No. Rest then go to sleep. Your vitals are concerning. You need sleep."
"But daaa-"
Father grabbed a nearby carton of milk and lightly shoved the tip into her mouth before turning back to Armsmaster. "What do you suggest?"
"We can provide you and your creator-"
"Family,"
"Family. With a discreet escort to the Rig. We would provide accommodation and protection," Armsmaster offered.
The robot froze and it seemed to stare off into the distance. It stayed like that for a few seconds before responding. "According to PRT standard guidelines all Tinkertech must be submitted for review and approval."
"Did you access the internet for that information?" Armsmaster asked.
"Yes. This unit can remotely access any nearby network."
"The security?"
"Easily breached"
"I meant yours."
"Sufficient firewalls and an ability to isolate my programming as needed."
Armsmaster nodded. "Good. But a sufficiently skilled hacker or Tinker might only need a brief moment to breach your defenses without you noticing."
"We will take that under advisement. This unit's previous query has not yet been answered. If Clara were to join the Wards I would be considered PRT property and at risk of decommissioning by your superiors should this unit not acquire approval."
Clara spat out her milk. "No! If you jackasses try to destroy my Dad-"
"We can make accommodations for your existence in the Contract," Armsmaster offered.
"Do you have the authority to do that in a timely manner?" Father asked.
"… No," Armsmaster admitted.
"We will allow ourselves to go through… Power Testing, in exchange for temporary accommodation. Any negotiations for the Wards for us will be done during this time. We will be allowed to leave if a suitable settlement can't be arranged."
Armsmaster gritted his teeth staring at the robot before glancing down at Clara. The Hero probably thought he'd have an easy time recruiting a new Tinker only to have a surprisingly intelligent construct stop him in his tracks. "Understood. I will bring your concerns to my superiors."
"Then you can arrange transport and schedule a meeting for tomorrow. Clara must spend the rest of the day resting."
"I'm fiiiine," Clara replied despite starting to look woozy on her feet. Her present condition made her relatively helpless as Father suddenly scooped her up in his giant metal arms and suddenly began to… rock her to sleep?
Yep. He was rocking to sleep like a baby. It wasn't long before Clara was slumped over the robot's shoulder and drooling.
"We will await transport," Father replied before walking out with Clara to the living room. That left Missy and Armsmaster alone in awkward silence.
"T-that robot. It isn't Clara's dad," Missy eventually commented.
"It is not," Armsmaster grunted.
"He's dead."
"Yes."
"But Clara thinks he's…"
"Trigger Events can greatly warp a person. Mentally and physically. It is likely a compulsion from her Power to see that Construct as her father."
Missy shook her head. "I didn't know Trigger Events could be so… horrible."
"They all are. Information about them isn't widely spread to avoid alienating Parahumans from the public… and it is considered to be in poor taste to speak of the topic in general."
"Oh…"
"You are an exception with how vocal you are about your own Trigger Event. Others see it as admirable while others… find it disturbing."
How to explain to a Parahuman that she wasn't really a Parahuman at all? How to explain to a man whose Powers came from trauma that she was lucky enough to get hers from a moment of resolve…
"And you?" Missy asked. "What do you think about me?"
"… You are a statistical anomaly. To me and many of the PRT staff attempting to create a psychological profile of you. It makes us curious since you vastly differ from the norm of most Parahumans." Armsmaster shrugged. "It is neither a good or a bad thing. Just different. But that difference might be enough for us to act with caution around you."
Oh… well that was very… detailed.
"I know I asked, but why are you telling me so much?" Missy asked.
"So you understand that any information we can get from your friend will be recorded meticulously. And any interaction will be done with great caution. So far your friend has given me an initial impression of being highly unstable and deeply psychologically damaged. You have to be cautious. Much more than you usually are if we are to reintegrate her into society without an incident."
"I… understand,"
Armsmaster nodded. "Good. Now summon your Projection. We're going to move all of Clara's tools and technology to the Rig."
"It's weird being on the other side of this for once," Missy muttered to herself from behind the bulletproof glass. On the other side was Clara doing something weird with a bunch of electronics on a table and Father, the robot, being cautiously spoken to and examined by several PRT researchers.
"Pretty sure we have you scheduled again like next month," Clockblocker offered.
Missy jabbed her elbow into his gut.
"Oof. Domestic violence," Clockblocker moaned as he dramatically fell to the ground.
"Why are you here," Missy hissed.
"Can't I check on my friend?"
"We're not friends."
"Well," Clockblocker gestured toward Clara. "Could I be worried for your friend at least? Especially with Beardmaster there stalking her?"
"You can," Missy conceded. She watched as Clara suddenly ran up to one of the observers and began to frantically gesture at him. Eventually, with much pushing and persuasion, Clara was able to get the researcher to walk up to the table she was working on and hold up a rectangular metal piece. As she screwed it in place she then commanded the man to start twisting some bolts with a pair of pliers.
"Huh. That's weird," Assault commented.
"What is?" Missy asked.
"Usually only Tinkers can work with Tinkertech. It's hard to get multiple Tinkers working on the same project unless they're really inspired and its impossible for normal people to get involved." Assault gestured toward the metallic robot that was being built. Armsmaster, his interest peaked, walked up to the table only to be instructed to weld some pieces together. He began doing this with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. "Clara's got Halbeard and a normal person building a robot. Together."
"She… was always good at getting people to work together," Missy replied. They watched as Clara instructed Father, Armsmaster, and the researcher to finish while she went off to a laptop that had been provided for her. Plugged into the laptop was some spherical shaped device that she began to program something into.
Clara typed furiously into her laptop and soon the robot finished completion. It looked… weird. Basically a big walking traffic light on legs. Even Armsmaster, after helping to finish it, looked perplexed.
Clara began tapping some button on the sphere before unplugging it and shoving the device into the robot. As soon as she sealed its body the robot began to light up and move.
"Okay Perkins! Do you know what to do?" Clara asked.
"Yes… I assist… Clara," Perkins replied as it spun its head a few times before facing Clara.
"Aaaand she just built another robot," Clockblocker replied.
Assault whistled. "If it's sentient like the other one, the Big Boss is not going to be happy. Least Halbeard's looking happy for once. Might make the next meeting less of a drag."
"Perkins is very simple," Clara explained. "Didn't have much time to code him but he's reliable and happy to help. Aren't you Perkins?"
"Yes… I… help." Perkin lifted a leg and waved. "What… are my… orders?"
"… Probably going to need to update his code later," Clara muttered to herself. "Anyway Perkins standby for now. You're going to help me and Daddy build some things later."
"Yes Clara."
Perkins ran off to the side but not before Armsmaster intercepted it and began to inspect it closely. It struggled futilely but ultimately Clara left it alone to the Hero's whims as she went back to her laptop.
"Clara. My armaments?" Father asked.
"Working on it I just need to find a place that sells the right alloys," Clara replied. "Need the best stuff for your body Daddy."
"Construct what you can now."
"Okay. Probably can get the shoulder cannons done in a few hours… and I just updated the code on your heat sinks. You should be able to release it through your hands as a weapon."
Father lifted their hand up and pointed their palm at a nearby dummy. He fired something out of his hand, some mix of laser and bright explosive, that blew off the chunk of the dummy. "Adequate."
The robot then suddenly walked off to the side and stood there… just staring off into the distance with his one eye.
Missy grabbed the nearby microphone. "Uh Clara. Is something wrong with your… dad?"
Clara turned away from her next project for the moment, though still continued to work with her hands. "Oh… pretty sure he's talking with someone."
"Uh… how?"
"The internet."
"Who is he talking with?"
"Dunno." Clara shrugged before turning back to her project.
"Well that didn't answer anything," Missy muttered. She turned toward Assault. "So how exactly is this Wards Contract going to work for Clara? I know her Aunt has custody but well…"
"We're already having our people talk with her, see if we can't help her adjust," Assault replied. "Hopefully she will but if she can't-"
"The PRT can't just take custody of her!" Missy shouted. "Not if they're going to tear apart her… new dad."
"Woah calm down. That's just the worst case scenario and we'd get a lot of flak from the Youth Guard if we just start stealing kids, unless we proved that the people raising them are abusive on uncapable."
"Youth Guard?" Missy asked.
"What? You haven't heard about them?" Clockblocker asked.
"Nah. Brandish told me. Third party oversight group for the Wards," Missy replied. "Saw some letters in the mail from them. They seem nosy."
"Nosy is an understatement." Clockblocker shook his head. "Wards can't do anything productive cause those damn assholes make a fuss anytime we break curfew. Even when we follow all the rules they still complain. How have they not given you more trouble?"
"She's not a Ward. Outside their jurisdiction," Assault explained. "Most they could do is send feelers to her parents and then mostly complain about her to us when that doesn't work. Now that you're here though…"
"They want to talk with me?" Missy asked.
"They're here?" Clockblocker asked.
Assault nodded. "They send someone every time a Wards Contract is being drafted or in discussion." He made quotation marks with his hands. "Avoid foul play or exploitation on the PRT's part. And since you're already here there's a good chance that you'll happen to run into them the second you step out of this room."
"Any advice?" Missy asked.
"Try not to stab them when they make you mad."
Missy had been sitting on some chairs in a waiting area where only a few people passed by when she was suddenly accosted by a woman in a business suit and skirt. Thankfully Missy had a response ready for just this moment.
"Please don't talk to me without a Guardian or lawyer present," Missy replied from her seat.
The woman paused for a brief moment, her eyes widening a brief moment before she composed herself. "I just wanted to talk with you sweetie."
Ew. Missy couldn't hide the look of disgust on her face. "Don't call me that. Please."
"Okay whatever you want," the woman replied. She wasn't even speaking in a respectful way. It was that sort of condescending fake nice that Missy was way too used to. The default tone anytime a stranger treated her like a kid. "Could I just ask you a few questions?"
Missy sighed. "Fine. Make it quick."
"Wouldn't it be a good thing if you joined the Wards? They could provide you with a proper environment for a young girl like you."
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a representative acting on behalf of the Youth Guard"
"I thought the Youth Guard hated the Wards?"
"There are disagreements with how the Wards are run but I personally mind the concept itself. We just believe that we should be a bit more involved with helping raise this nation's youth, Powers or no Powers."
"You just want me in the Wards so you can do something about me," Missy replied in a deadpan manner. "What's the plan? Take away my swords and Evoker? Stuff me into a frilly dress? You know that Powers don't work without the gun."
"Maybe you shouldn't have to use your Powers then?"
"What?"
"I'm saying that if your Powers are so dangerous, then maybe you shouldn't have to use them. And you won't if you join the Wards and we can convince the Protectorate to keep you safe."
"Do-do…" Missy was just struggling to find words for the sheer stupidity of what she just heard. "Do you know how many people I've helped because of my Powers? How many people I've healed."
"And it is wonderful what you've done so far. It's just a shame that you had to do it. You're a young girl. You should be able to have a normal childhood."
"I'm an Open Cape! I'll never have a normal childhood!"
"Perhaps if we were to help move your family out of the city. In a new area with a new identity-"
"I'm not moving from my home."
"But it's so-"
"No and fu-… leave me alone," Missy bit back. "You can't do anything about me while I'm an Independent and want nothing to do with you. So just go."
The woman sighed, condescendingly. So so condescendingly. "Maybe we can talk later when you're in a better mood. It can't be easy for you, with what happened with your friend."
"Don't talk about Clara," Missy hissed.
"The Youth Guard will do what we believe it's best for her. I hope that one day you'll understand that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend."
The woman just left like that, leaving Missy to fume over what happened. It didn't help her mood either to know that the woman was probably going to talk with Clara's Aunt right now. A few hours ago Missy would've wanted Clara to join the Wards for her safety, but not after interacting with the Youth Guard for the first time…
Ugh. Now she was agreeing with Clockblocker. No wonder he, and probably all the other Wards, hated them so much.
It took a half hour for Missy to completely calm down after talking with that bitch and another one before she could finally see Clara again.
Clara looked happy and excited with her Father around. Her Aunt on the other hand… well Ophelia still looked understandably uncomfortable with all this. She seemed to avoid looking at the robot as much as she could while still trying to watch over Clara.
"Hey Missy!"
"How did things go?" Missy asked her friend.
"Eh." Clara held her hand horizontally. "So so. They really want me and Daddy to join but we can't until they acknowledge that he's a person and not just one of my creations. I mean I did create his body, but he's not the PRT's property that they can do whatever with if they're not happy with him."
"And what about Perkins?"
"Same thing. He's a person so they can't just tear him apart unless he hurts someone. Not that he would. Perkins is a sweetie. But other than that the rest of the Contract looks good. Well it looked good after Daddy negotiated with them a bunch."
"And your Aunt?" Missy asked. Because technically it was Ophelia that had custody and thus the power to actually make any binding decisions for Clara.
"She agreed with what Daddy said. Why wouldn't she? They're siblings," Clara said as she grabbed Missy by the sleeve and led her away.
"Yea…" was all Missy could reply with.
"But anyway. Still going to need to talk with them some more and wait until Miss Piggot talks with her boss." Clara continued walking, dragging Missy further away. "It's just so weird, just because he's in a new body they're suddenly worried about him being a person? Of course he's a person he doesn't need any new paperwork, just new photos for his ID's and whatever."
"They're just worried because of Eagleton," Missy eventually replied. "Robots and AI in general freak people out."
"But Daddy isn't just a robot like Perkins." Clara huffed. "He's his own person!"
"I'm sure he is…"
"Well I'm glad you agree with me Missy." They suddenly stopped and Missy finally realized that they were now in a place fairly devoid of people. Clara suddenly lifted up a remote and pressed a button.
"What is that?" Missy asked.
"Just something to stop people from eavesdropping. I mean the PRT probably has a ton of recording devices in this building so this is a good spot to test it. It's going to be in Daddy soon."
"Why… do you not want them to hear us?" Granted she could understand Clara needing her privacy, was what she needed so important that she couldn't wait until they were outside?
"Because they won't let me go after Squealer if they knew," Clara replied.
Squealer. The one most at fault for killing Clara's dad. The one who ran him over with his truck. Missy understood. If it had been Minako or Shinji in that car then there would've been no hell on earth that Squealer wouldn't have been able to escape to. But even if she understood, even if she sympathized… was Clara and her new Dad even ready for this? Would this just lead her friend to more pain and suffering.
"I want to find Squealer and stop her from hurting Daddy ever again." Clara stared Missy in the eyes with an intensity that she had never seen before from her friend. It was scary,,, and very convincing. "Can you help me please?"
Despite every thought in Missy's head screaming no she still nodded. If only to have a chance to help her friend after failing her so much already.
"I will."
Missy could only hope that things wouldn't go horribly.
