Chapter 21: An Unlikely Partnership

A/N: The terrible truth of trying tasty tidbits when they've already been terminated continues.

Rex ignored the clamor of people as he and Azurda arrived back at the barracks, trying to figure out where and why Mòrag had taken him from off the base. He deflected them with a half-truth that it was just a debriefing on the "Jakolo Incident."

Unfortunately, only some of them seemed to accept it at face value, leaving a large curious crowd. It wasn't until Azurda parted the way for him, using his large frame to force their way through to the Driver recruits bunk room, which was mercifully empty.

Rex heaved a sigh of relief once they got in and closed the door. "Honestly, it's like they've got nothing else better to do than bother us."

He was thankful that the weekend started tomorrow, or him packing up to meet up with Mòrag tonight would be met with even more questions he didn't feel like answering at the moment.

"You have been making quite a name for yourself in a short amount of time," Azurda reminded him none too gently. "And what the Special Inquisitor is up to has always been a subject of great interest to them. Especially so with the return of the Aegis."

"Yeah, I get it," Rex admitted, "I wish they were more like the salvagers did. Once I proved myself there they let me get on with it and do my own thing."

"They are completely different organizations. And the matter of the Aegis has far more far reaching implications than someone who is simply an unusually young salvager."

"Doesn't make it any less stupid," Rex grumbled.

Azurda chuckled, and Rex huffed, before moving over to his bunk to the trunk at its base and unlocked it. "Come on, let's just pack."

The trunk itself didn't have a ton of stuff in it, since most of it was just stuff the Driver program had given him. The rest of what he had was lost in Gramps' flight from that ancient ship where they'd found Pyra. Honestly, he'd had more when he'd set off with Gramps at ten than what he had now.

It didn't matter much in the end, he supposed. Stuff was replaceable after all, and it had never been his goal anyways. But…it was the loss of Gramps that was the hard part. Still was.

Regardless of his thoughts, he started dutifully packing up the part of the small, yet comprehensive list that Aegaeon had given them that he could get from his trunk. The rest would come when he met up with Mòrag, or so the emperor's Blade had said.

It didn't take long for him to finish up, especially with Azurda's help. He glanced at Azurda as his massive hands zipped up their packs. The resemblance was still uncanny.

His Blade eyed him carefully. "You've been unusually quiet."

Rex sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for? I for one don't mind the peace and quiet, but it's unlike you."

"It's not that. It's just, well, I've been thinking."

Azurda's bushy green eyebrows shot up. "Architect helps us; I'll have to check to make sure the cloud sea hasn't frozen over at this new development."

"Hey!" Rex lightly punched Azurda's arm, which had all the effectiveness of punching a brick wall. "I'm trying to be serious here." Rex took a deep breath. "It's just, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been dragged into this mess. And I feel so bad about it."

"Rex…" Azurda sighed, eyes closing momentarily. "Don't ever feel bad about the gift of life that you gave me. I understand that it came at the cost of a dear friend, but I am right here. His living legacy, if you will."

"Yeah, I know. I still slip up here and there, but I understand that you're your own person. But it's kind of just been one thing after another since I awakened you, and you haven't really gotten a chance to just experience life without me dragging you along, have you?"

Azurda looked over him carefully. "I am content with protecting you, Rex. After all, my life is tied to yours. Besides, after our fight with Torna is over, we promised to go find Elysium."

"Huh?"

"Surely you haven't forgotten the promise we made already, have you?"

"No, I remember," Rex assured him, thinking back to that morning on the Ardainian battleship when they'd left Gormott. It hadn't been that long ago, but it sure felt like it now. "But that was just me convincing you about it, wasn't it?"

"I don't feel like I needed much convincing." He gained an almost wistful look in his eyes. "The thought of going up somewhere no one has set foot in centuries still intrigues me."

"But is it really fair if you have to do it just 'cause I'm going?" Rex asked. "I think you're amazing, Azurda, but…life should be about more than just duty." Rex paused, gathering his thoughts. "Back with Mòrag and the emperor, when you said you would use your connection to Gramps to try and talk with Lora and Pyra, it made me think. As much as I've been trying to treat you like your own person, I really haven't been."

"I am aware." He said without hesitation, and it almost made Rex feel worse, since Azurda was apparently getting used to it. "With my appearance as it is, connections are inevitable."

"But you're different!" Rex insisted, casting his thoughts around for something. "Like, Gramps never really got into salvaging like you did! Yeah, he was a Titan, so he couldn't really do that, but it always felt more like he was humoring me more than anything."

"I suppose I did enjoy our salvaging run, but what are you getting at, Rex?"

"I dunno. It's just…what do you like to do, Azurda?"

Azurda seemed almost caught off guard by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Like we just established that you like salvaging, which is awesome in my book! Same with exploring new lands, like you were telling me before. But it can't just be that, right? What kinds of foods do you like or don't like? Do you like cooking? If we went out to the market, what would catch your eye? What really gets under your skin, or, what's your favourite colour, and what would you do if you had free time? You know, that kind of stuff."

Azurda closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "I…suppose I don't really know. I haven't really given it much thought. Keeping a watch on you is practically a full time job."

Rex let out an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, that's what Gramps would always say. But… I want…no I need to be a better Driver. But how can I be, when I don't even really know my own Blade?"

"Rex…I appreciate this, but now isn't-"

"Nah, no getting out of this one," Rex insisted. "When we get back from this assignment, we're going to go and figure as much of this out as we can." Rex stuck out his hand. "Deal?"

Azurda looked over him for longer than Rex would have thought he would. For a moment Rex thought he might have done something wrong, but shortly after, Azurda nodded carefully. "Very well. I can see there's no changing your mind. I suppose it can't hurt to broaden my horizons."

His rocky hand dwarfed his own, clasping it in a handshake. Rex grinned. "It's a promise."

The moment was broken as the bunk area's door opened. Rex quickly let go of Azurda's hand, glad he and Azurda were leaving shortly, since he didn't want to have to deal with some of his pettier bunk mates.

But it was just Jac and Yachik, the latter of which closed the door softly behind him.

"Hey, good to see you two!" Rex called over, hitching his pack over his shoulder.

Jac looked up, as if not expecting anyone else to be in there. "Oh, hey." He glanced at the packs slung over both their shoulders. "Heading out for the weekend?"

Rex nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"Something to do with the Special Inquisitor again, I'll bet," Yachik commented sourly.

"Well, yeah," Rex replied lamely, "but I'm not really allowed to say. Confidential or something. Sorry."

"Ah." Jac responded, but it felt…halfhearted almost? "Right."

Rex set a hand on his hip. "Something happen? The head officer didn't chew you out for something, did he?"

"No, it was nothing like that." Jac's ears drooped lightly. "It's about my family." He glanced at their packs again, and swallowed. "Do you…have a moment?" He asked carefully, "I don't want to keep you from your assignment from the Inquisitor."

"Nah, it's no big deal." Rex replied good naturedly. Whatever it was seemed like it was weighing on his friend, so it was only fair he took a second to listen. "It's only evening and I don't have to meet up until about sunset, so I've got time."

Jac meandered over to his bunk and sat down, with Yachik sitting down beside him. Rex sat down perched on the bunk's frame at the end, while Azurda stood close by.

"Did I ever tell you about why I signed up for the Driver program?" Jac began after wringing his hands together nervously for a few moments. "Why I took the risk to resonate with Yachik?"

Rex tapped his chin in thought. "You said you had your family back in Torigoth you're helping, right?"

"Yeah," Jac smiled, which made Rex proud to have remembered. "My ma, Zelen, Morca and Neel — those are my little siblings — I wanted to give them more than we could do on our own in Torigoth. Things were hard with just me and ma doing all the heavy lifting. I knew that being a Driver was way more stable than the odd jobs we were all doing to scrape by."

"Sounds pretty rough, so I get it."

"It's just how we lived, it was normal for me." Jac took a deep breath and let it out. "When I was younger, da joined the Ardainian Driver recruitment program. It was rough not seeing him at first, but he sent money and letters, and even got to visit a couple of times. But after a couple of years, the letters stopped coming and the money dried up. Before long, we got a notice that da was missing, presumed killed in action against a rogue terrorist force."

"Ma got sick a year after that," Jac continued. "It's been rough ever since, and the military's gratuity money dried up trying to diagnose her sickness. Even old Mabon's Blade Vess can't do much these days besides ease her suffering. So then it was just me, working odd jobs to help my little brother and sisters. It was Zelen — she's the next oldest one after me — who suggested I try the Driver program."

Jac looked him in the eyes, and Rex could practically see the pain there. "Morca and Neel were against it, but I was getting desperate, Rex. I've seen greater people than me die from trying to resonate. Success rates are supposedly a lot better than they were centuries ago, but it still happens."

Jac looked over to Yachik, smiling. "And it worked. It was probably the happiest I'd been in a while. Even if I wouldn't be able to see them a lot, at least they'd have a chance at a better life than we had. Maybe I could even save enough that if they wanted to, they could go to one of the schools in Indol."

Rex smiled back. "I get it. It's the same with me. When I became a salvager, I was hoping to send back enough for the village to not have to worry so much. Maybe like you, have some of the kids there like Kazuna go to the school in Indol, or even build one right there in Fonsett! Uh, not that I know who would teach, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah. You always do seem to dream big." Jac's smile slipped again. "But there was another reason I wanted to become an Ardainian Driver. I wanted to find out what happened to my da. I…needed closure. Even if he really had just died I felt like I would have been satisfied."

"It sounds like a noble goal to have," Azurda said cautiously.

But it sounded like it hadn't been that simple.

"That's what I thought, but…" Jac murmured, but then a look of anger crossed his face, and he suddenly pounded the bunk with his fist, and he let out a curse.

Yachik took over for him. "Jac's father was found."

Rex knew he could be a bit dense sometimes, but even he could tell that this wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"A few days ago," Yachik continued, "while they were cleaning up the aftermath of your battle in the Jakolo Inn's hot springs, they found the body of the Ardainian Senator, Saundra floating in the water. Dead."

Rex's brow furrowed. "But Mòrag had the whole inn cleared out before we sprung the trap. And there wasn't anyone up at the hot springs." Well, besides one of Mòrag's guards that had been swiftly dispatched before he and Azurda had gone in.

"I'm guessing the senator's body was dumped there after the fact?" Azurda deduced.

Oh, that would make sense.

Yachik nodded. "That's what they figured as well, and the empire didn't take it lying down. Probably couldn't stand the embarrassment of failing to capture the Aegis and Torna, so Lady Brighid was dispatched. Within the day she was able to quickly track down the culprit. A cell of the Brionac terrorist group, right here in the capital." Yachik glanced at Jac. "Jac's father was among them."

"As…a prisoner?" Rex ventured, though he was just trying to be optimistic.

"No, he was one of them." Jac suddenly rose and kicked his own trunk, yelling, "He left his family to join them! My ma, his wife, is dying while he's off playing terrorist! All these years I clung to a slim hope of him being alive, of returning to help, but…"

Jac's anger fizzled out, and his expression darkened. He went back over to his bunk and sat down, face planted in his hands, while Yachik stroked his back.

After a couple minutes, Rex dared to ask, "So, are you going to be able to talk to him?"

"I don't know," Jac bit out, hands falling into his lap. "The head officer just said this whole thing wouldn't affect my own position in the Driver program, so my family back home should be fine." Jac shook his head with a little laugh. "I just wanted to find out what happened to my da, Rex. I wanted to hope that he hadn't abandoned my family by choice, but I just…I don't know."

"Jac, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Rex. It's not your fault." Jac took a deep breath. "I'd…like to be alone for now, if that's alright. I need to do some thinking."

"Of course." Rex hefted his pack, looked at Azurda and started to leave. He'd almost reached the door, when he turned back. "Hey Jac."

"Yeah?"

"Don't give up hope just yet. Besides, your mom and siblings are counting on you."

"I know."

Rex hesitated a moment longer. He couldn't just leave his friend here like this, but he had to meet up with Mòrag.

"Hey."

The Gormotti looked up.

"When Azurda and I get back, we can go out for something together, yeah? Games, food, whatever you like."

Jac smiled a little. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Heh, there's a smile! It'll all work out, you'll see."

"Rex-rex!"

Rex stopped and turned away from the entrance of the upper city capital at the sound of a familiar voice. It took a second to spot him — since even though Tora was pretty big for a Nopon, he was still…a Nopon. Eventually he popped out of the evening crowd, his fur highlighted by the setting sun, though oddly, Rex didn't see Poppi with him.

"Oh hey, Tora! How've you been?"

"Tora fine, but," Tora took a moment to catch his breath, before asking, "Where, Rex-Rex and Azurda going?"

Rex glanced at Azurda, who shook his head. They were still on their way to meet up with Mòrag and Brighid, but well, the whole 'confidential' bit was still in force.

"Sorry," Rex apologized, "can't really say. I'm not sure exactly when we'll be back, either."

"Oh, Tora sees. It probably has to do with Driver of Aegis again, yes?"

"Uh, well," Rex let out lamely, stumbling over his words, "what…makes you think that?"

"Tora have feeling Rex-rex deliberately trying to dodge question."

Rex crossed his arm defiantly. "Am not!" He lied. "I'm just not allowed to answer." He scrutinized the Nopon. He didn't look any different. "When did you get so observant?"

"Tora always observant to things interesting to Tora!" The Nopon replied simply. "And Bladiest of Blades and Driver very interesting."

"Really?" Rex asked. "Well, I mean they are, but I got the feeling that you were afraid of them before, especially Pyra."

"Yes, yes, Tora was afraid of Aegis and Driver before, but Rex-Rex survive encounter, so can't be that dangerous."

"Hold up," Rex's eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at?"

"That…Rex-rex and Azurda strong Driver and Blade to have survived encounter with Bladiest of Blades?" Tora replied nervously.

Nice save, Tora.

Thankfully, Azurda stepped in. "Unfortunately for you, our mission is classified either way. It's not something we could confirm or deny, if you catch my drift my young Nopon friend." Azurda glanced around. "On another note, where's Poppi gone to? I've barely seen the two of you separate."

"Oh!" Tora perked up some when Azurda asked that. "Poppi went looking for snack funds. Tora was too, but then see Rex-rex and have to dash over and say hello!"

Azurda leaned in close. "Dare I ask what these 'snack funds' will be purchasing?"

"Tora have no idea why Azurda sound so skeptical," Tora responded with a completely straight face. "Is for perfectly legitimate reason and have nothing to do with crippling debt Tora still owe."

"I'm sure it doesn't," Azurda replied with an equally straight face. "How is that completely separate conundrum coming along for you anyways?"

"Meh," Tora shrugged his little arms. "Tora sure it will work itself out soon." The Nopon did a little hop. "Hold on, Tora just have stroke of genius!"

Rex glanced at Azurda as Tora started digging through his bag. Azurda gave him a look that seemed to say just go on with it, as Tora thrust out something from his bag on his headwing up to Rex.

"Tah-dah! Gift for Rex-rex!"

"What's this?" Rex asked, taking the black little device. It had a lens of some sort on both sides, one of which had a light of some sort. He peered through the side with the light on it at Tora, making the Nopon look ever so slightly larger. "Doesn't seem like it would make a very good telescope."

"Is old camera! Though Rex-rex holding it backwards."

"Really?" He flipped it around and looked through the lens again, and this time Tora looked smaller, and he could see more of the surroundings, which Rex supposed would be more useful for taking pictures of more people. "Don't think I've ever had one of these before. I'm not putting you out a ton of money, am I?"

"Oh no," Tora seemed quick to reassure him, "is something Tora picked up nearly for free during end of salvage bulge sale. It type that print out picture very quick after you take it. But Rex-rex must know it only have three pictures left. Extra picture roll not included with bargain price."

"Gotcha." He waved the camera around a bit for emphasis. "Thanks!"

"But um, actually, Tora have request for Rex-rex in regards to camera." The Nopon fidgeted for a moment. "Can… Rex-rex take picture of Aegis and her Driver?"

Rex blinked at the request. "Uh, sure. Well, I mean, if I see them I guess. N-not that that's where we're headed, but if I happen to meet them and they aren't trying to kill me I guess I could ask?"

He saw Azurda's hand meet his forehead.

"Rex-rex the best!" Tora cheered.

Rex quickly stowed the camera in his pack and cleared his throat. "So why do you want a picture of them anyways?"

"Oh, Tora need it for inspiration."

"And what exactly are you using it to be inspiration for?" Azurda asked with a clear note of suspicion.

"For Poppi, of course! Tora been thinking about it ever since friends valiantly fight off Driver of Aegis-"

"Which we didn't do," Azurda quietly interjected.

"-and if Tora can get visual reference, Tora thinks Tora could make impressive upgrade for Poppi! After all, if Tora bases design off strongest Blade in Alrest, Poppi sure to be just as strong, yes?"

Rex and Azurda shared a glace. How would just a picture of a Blade and Driver pair — even a powerful one — help Tora upgrade Poppi?

"Would that even really help?" Rex asked.

"Sure it will!" Tora exclaimed. "Now go forth and get Tora inspiration! Friends take care on journey!"

And with that, he dashed off, quickly lost within the crowd once more.

"Always in his own world, that one." Azurda said, able to watch the Nopon go, for far longer than Rex could. "I almost envy it." He turned back to face Rex. "Should we really follow that request?"

"I mean, it couldn't hurt to ask, right? What harm could one picture do?"

They were eventually directed to a military outpost just outside the city, which was bustling with activity despite it being early into the night. Considering the amount of munitions and military equipment being hauled around, Rex could put it together that this was going to be used for the potential assault on Brionac.

The sight of all of it made Rex's stomach curdle. Even if he knew the reason behind all of it, he still didn't like it.

After confirming their identity, the base personnel quickly directed to where Mòrag and Brighid awaited, and it wasn't much longer that they boarded a small titanship headed towards the Brionac occupied zone.

"This will cut down our travel time significantly," Mòrag shouted to be heard over the loud engine attached to the titan once they'd taken off. The machine helped propel them far faster than the titan's normal cruising over the wastes.

"Would they not notice a titanship like this approaching, Inquisitor?" Azurda asked.

"Of course," Mòrag replied easily, "Which is why we will be stopping outside of the known range of their scouts and walking the rest of the way."

"Wait, so we're just going to walk up and hope they let us in?" Rex shook his head. "And I thought I was the one who charged in headfirst without a plan."

"If you allowed Lady Mòrag to finish, "Brighid insisted, "then you would know."

Rex frowned at her. She was a ball of joy as usual.

"It is fine, Brighid." Mòrag waved it off. "Self-deprecating humour in small doses can be good for the soul."

"Self-what now?" Rex murmured quietly.

"In any case," Mòrag continued without elaborating on the fancy word, "you are correct that we will be walking up the front gates and hoping they will let us in."

"Seriously?"

"Quite. However, we will be doing so under disguise."

"Makes sense, but, uh, no offense intended." Rex glanced between the two women, eyes lingering on Mòrag's uniform and the flames that lit Brighid's hair. "Aren't you two pretty distinctive? Like world famous Driver and Blade or something? Especially in the empire?"

"Of course." He could almost hear pride oozing from Brighid's voice. "However Lady Mòrag and I have had to undertake undercover operations before. While my distinctive appearance makes it more difficult, there are ways around it."

"Brighid is right." Mòrag agreed. "We have exterminated other terrorist organizations before with such espionage, though that naturally isn't our primary goal. Diplomacy and extraction of the Aegis and her Driver if possible. And whether we succeed or fail, I will take command of our oncoming force to take care of the rest."

"If I may, Inquisitor," Azurda said, "There feels like there's a lot that could go wrong with this operation."

"There is," Mòrag nodded.

Well, at least she knew.

"However," Mòrag continued, "much like our last operation involving the Aegis and her Driver, time is of the essence. We will do what we can before the Ardainian army arrives, but our time will be limited."

Azurda nodded gravely. "I understand."

"It will have to be enough for now." Mòrag said. "I suggest that you get some rest while you can. We will likely be walking through a good portion of the night to reach our rendezvous with our infield agent. He'll update us on the current situation as best he can, and I will fill in with my own intelligence once we arrive."

"Gotcha."

"Not interested."

Jin turned away from the artificial Blade, and started down the undercity's main road. He had a lead to follow on another informant who was more knowledgeable about Brionac, and he didn't have time for the errands of a rogue artificial Blade.

He barely made it three steps before the artificial Blade grabbed his wrist, and with surprising strength — far more than the mass-produced ones Bana was producing would have — held him back.

He glanced around at the humans walking around them and then glared at her. "What?"

She looked sternly back at him. "Poppi knows that Jin is terrorist with Torna, but Poppi also knows that Jin has a heart."

Lora's heart chose that moment to quicken its beating in his chest. His brow furrowed. There were a select few that knew that he was a flesh eater Blade, and even less knew about the reminder of the process he carried around in his chest.

"And what would an artificial Blade know about a heart?" he asked.

"Poppi has no heart of her own to compare to, but Poppi's close friend say that all Torna members have pain they carry. Say it comes from here." She tapped her metal chest near the white flower pinned to her red cape where a human's heart would reside.

Ah. So that's what it was. He wasn't sure who this friend was, but he relaxed, minutely, and tried to free himself from her grasp. Her grip tightened on his wrist instead.

"Poppi cannot let Jin go until Jin hears what Poppi has to say."

"You believe I would listen? Considering you know who I am, what reason would I have to accept?"

Her bright orange eyes glanced back at the message board, to the wanted poster of Lora. "Jin is looking for Driver of the Aegis, yes?"

"Everyone on Alrest is looking for her," he reminded her.

She shook her head, sending the white cap on her head flopping back and forth. "But is different for Jin. When Poppi see Jin staring at poster, Jin is not looking at reward. Jin looks at picture of Driver of Aegis, like looking at long lost friend."

She was more perceptive than he thought.

"Is that so?" He asked.

"Yes." She bobbed her head in an affirmative. "And if Poppi had close friend she thought was in danger, Poppi would do whatever Poppi could to help." Her hand tightened even more around his wrist. "Is what Masterpon says friends do for each other."

"Maybe so," he acquiesced. The logic of the artificial Blade was simple, but there was truth to it. "However, I don't need your help or your information."

He turned his gaze away from the artificial Blade, tearing his wrist out of her grasp with surprising difficulty and moved to head on to the next informant. He didn't make it very far before, hearing the metallic clomp of the artificial Blade's metal feet on the street behind him as he went.

"Poppi knows who Lord of the Wastes is."

Jin stopped again, carefully turning and looking down at his little follower. "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously. The timing of this was too perfect.

"Exactly what Poppi said. Poppi can repeat information for Jin if necessary, but Poppi knows that Jin is looking for Aegis Driver Lora. Aegis Driver Lora is with Lord of the Wastes and Poppi has valuable information for Jin; therefore Jin cannot resist pull of Poppi's information. Very simple logic."

Was she…calling him stupid to say no?

He let out a grunt that could have been a laugh. "And I suppose you won't be giving this information away for free."

"Jin is correct. Masterpon say it customary to share information over tasty snacks in cute cafe."

"…You want me to buy you snacks for information other people would kill for the chance to have?"

Poppi nodded solemnly. "Jin is correct."

She seemed serious.

He mulled it over a few moments. On the one hand, this reeked of a trap. And yet, putting aside that he didn't think the Artificial Blade could even eat food, it had to be better than dealing with a chain of Nopon informants that was very likely scamming him out of every bit of gold they thought they could get out of him. He would at least humor her for now.

And if it was a trap, he had no doubt in his ability to run or cut his way out of it.

He sighed. "Very well."

Her serious expression changed almost immediately into a bright smile. "Poppi is pleased to be doing business! Come, take Poppi's hand and Poppi will lead the way." She extended her hand up to him, wiggling her metal fingers in an expectant way.

If Malos could see him now…

Well, the less he knew about this, the better.

He took the artificial Blade's hand and she started jauntily walking towards their destination, dragging him along by her iron grip as her arm swung back and forth in time with her steps.

They made for an odd duo as Poppi led them through the winding undercity of Alba Cavanich, and she drew more than a few second glances, mostly to her ether furnace window. After all, bringing a child to the undercity, especially this late at night would be frowned upon, but a Blade that looked like a child was something else.

Something about the situation stirred his memory. It was indistinct, but it was reminiscent of him walking with a much younger Lora through similarly shady places on the Tornan Titan. How she clung to his hand in those first years of their resonance.

Of course, this was an artificial Blade, and Poppi didn't look in the least bit shy as Lora did originally; she beamed at passersby, much to their confusion.

Eventually, Poppi led them to a back alley into a small tavern — definitely not a cafe, nor a "cute" one — blazon with the sign "Open Late!" that looked like it had seen better days. The owner, a plump, Ardainian woman with a mole on her cheek glanced up as the tavern's bell tingled as the duo entered. She looked first to him, frowning, — sizing him up for threats no doubt, a prudent action here in the capital's underbelly — before going down to Poppi.

She smiled warmly at the artificial Blade. "Well, well, look who's back."

"Poppi has returned!"

"Aye, you found the 'friend' you were lookin' for, lass?"

Was that what she had told the owner?

Poppi raised Jin's hand up high, enough to put it at chest height for him. "Poppi's mission was successful!"

"Good on you, then. Your Driver's hogging the whole corner booth as usual." She smiled. "Go on, I'll be with you shortly."

Poppi beamed as she dragged him further into the rowdy tavern. The occasional patron looked down at Poppi, then up at him as he passed, but a glare from Jin was enough to make them decide it wasn't worth their time to comment.

Before long, they found a rather large brown and cream coloured Nopon with brown stripes and overalls, squashed in the corner of the booth. A pencil grasped in his small hands as he leaned over the booth's table, scribbling intently on a piece of paper. Several more papers were scattered around filling up the whole of the table as well, showing the wear and tear of being folded and unfolded several times.

They looked to be blueprints of some kind, but the design was…humanoid?

Poppi knocked on the wood of the table with loud clunks. "Masterpon, Poppi has returned triumphant!"

"Poppi has acquired snack funds?" the Nopon asked without looking up, still adding a note to the side of one of the drawings.

This was her Driver? His resemblance to Bana's lead engineer was close enough that he could be a relative, though it could be a coincidence.

"No, Poppi has found snack provider! Poppi was even able to test hand-holding protocol for maximum effectiveness."

"Really? Protocol was successful?" The Nopon paused in his work, quickly looking up towards Jin's hand, clasped firmly in the death grip of the artificial Blade. He nodded approvingly, before looking up at Jin's hooded face, studying him.

The Nopon blinked owlishly. Jin glared back impassively.

The Nopon turned back to Poppi. "Poppi is sure he up for task? Aesthetic of dark green poncho over white and lilac armour combined with dour look is not very…hmmm… how Tora put? It not draw outfit together. It also make friend look homeless."

Jin couldn't think of anything else to say except, "Excuse me?"

"Mercenary friend is excused. Headband around forehead also clash with outfit. Tora thinks a white mask draw ensemble together and make friend feel more mysterious." The Nopon shook his head with a sigh. "Fashion crime is punishable by three laps around lower deck of Torigoth." The Nopon chuckled. "Friend is lucky rule not apply in Alba Cavanich!"

"Masterpon, rule was made by Tatazo to get Masterpon to exercise. To Poppi's databanks, rule has been broken fourteen times by Masterpon without due consequence."

"Tora did say would complete consequence at later date!"

"Poppi is aware, but will keep running tally." The artificial Blade looked up at Jin. "However, friend Jin is in very good shape, so breaking of fashion rule seem to have reaped much benefits. Masterpon should take Jin's example, even if poncho and headband combo is crime against fashion."

Jin let out a breath. The night's excess exposure to Nopon culture was starting to grate on him. "Are you finished?"

"Well, Tora suppose he can forgive fashion crime this once, especially since Tora desperately want, er…in desperate need of…cafe snackiness. Yes." The Nopon — Tora, he supposed — gestured with one of his headwings at the free part of the booth. "Come, come. Sit."

Jin did so, dragged to the seat by Poppi's crushing grip, sandwiching herself in between him and Tora. A moment later, the owner came out to them with a little notepad. Tora seemed to be practically vibrating in his seat as he ordered a 'super-ultra-deluxe flamii-egg omelet' and Poppi ordered rainbow dumplings with a side of fizz juice.

"And make sure it have-" Tora started.

"Don't worry little guy," the owner said with a smile. "I've seen you eying it for the past week. I'll bring it out after you're done eating."

"Friend Catriona the best!"

The owner — Catriona — winked and with a smile turned toward Jin, and with a loud, conspiratorial whisper said, "You're going to be his best friend at this rate."

"I'm sure," Jin replied dryly. "Nothing for me."

"Ooo, so surly!" She clapped her heads together, smiling brightly. "You've gotta tell me where you picked him up, Poppi."

"Poppi found him in front of notice board, looking at wanted poster of Driver of Aegis."

"I seee," she drawled out in a sing-sing tone, before once again leaning conspiratorially towards Jin. "Well maybe I should have awakened the Aegis if strong, mysterious men like you would come looking for me." She patted his shoulder and waggled her eyebrows, leaving with a giggle at the roll of his eyes.

Jin groaned. Truly an example of humans at their worst. He turned to look at Poppi who looked at him like she was trying to sort out a puzzle.

He looked away, though he saw her continue to stare out of the corner of his eye past the hood of the poncho. He ignored her in favour of keeping watch for anyone that might be on the lookout for Torna members.

After all, after the "Jakolo Incident," Torna was second behind the Aegis on Alrest's most wanted list. Ironically, not because they were a "terrorist" organization, but simply because Torna was who Lora and the Aegis had last been seen with.

But either his hasty disguise was good enough, or more likely, everyone was ironically too focused on looking for Lora to notice a member of Torna right in their midst. Throughout his time in the capital no one had even attempted to cash in on the bounty on his head.

It made him wonder, was the mask Lora had made for him really his most defining feature?

The drinks and snacks arrived — Catriona slipped what was obviously an alcoholic drink to him 'on the house' with another wink — and Tora hastily stuffed his sketches into his bag as she set down a massive steaming omelet in front of him, and rainbow colored dumplings and bubbling fizz juice in front of Poppi.

"Thanks for the food!" The Nopon said loudly to Catriona, clapping his hands together, and Poppi copied his actions. It vaguely reminded Jin of a tradition from the Tornan Titan, of giving thanks for food or a gift given.

"It's my pleasure, you two."

Jin cautiously took a sip of the drink — trusting that his healing factor would counteract any potential poison. Fruity, sweet, and thick with a mild bitter burn of alcohol as it went down his throat. Decent, but far too sweet for his own tastes. Malos might enjoy it though. He pushed the drink to the side.

Tora was tearing through the carefully crafted monster of an omelet, but as he thought, the artificial Blade wasn't eating the rainbow colored dumplings. She merely held them up to her nose and inhaled the scent of each one deeply, squishing them lightly between her fingers before setting them down and doing the same with the next one.

After finishing the bizarre ritual, she then observed the bubbles rising in the fizz juice with studious intensity, head resting on her hands on the table as she did so.

Some might have called it cute, but through it all, Jin didn't forget that this was an artificial Blade. This was a machine made to serve its master. So why go through the trouble of mimicking life like this?

At some point, after finishing the omelet and Poppi's dumplings, Tora excused himself to wash up, leaving just Jin and Poppi again. The tavern had filled with more people as the night wore on, filling the air with noise and the stench of humans and cheap booze.

He looked back over to Poppi, to find her staring intently at him again. He met her gaze evenly.

"Jin looks like he has question for Poppi."

He supposed it must be showing pretty clearly on his face if an artificial Blade could tell that. He nodded slightly, "I do."

"Poppi will do her best to answer."

"Can you resonate like a normal Blade?" He waited for an answer and got a nod from Poppi, and then dove into his next question. "Can you choose who you resonate with?"

"Poppi can."

"And if your master died, would you perish as well?"

"Poppi is not regular Blade, so Poppi would outlive Masterpon."

Though it was a declaration, there was a hint of somberness at the end. Jin could empathize with that feeling, that pain of having outlived Lora for centuries. But another question remained. "So even though you have full autonomy, why do you choose to shackle yourself to him?"

"Shackle?" Poppi seemed to taste the feel of the word for a moment, before shaking her head. "Is not a prison to be with people Poppi loves."

"Is that so?"

Jin knew that though it was rare, that there were Drivers who genuinely treated their Blades right. But people like Lora were the exception, not the rule. If this was a normal Blade and Driver relationship, Jin might be tempted to believe the conviction that was in her voice, but...

He glanced down at Poppi's ether furnace window glowing a steady orange. "How do you know your master didn't program you to feel that love? That your attachment to him is artificial?"

Poppi tilted her head lightly to the side, her hat flopping with the movement. "What does Jin mean?"

"Unlike a regular Blade, your core functions were directly put into you directly by your creator, designed to mimic human emotion. It would be simple to put in an underlying function that commands absolute loyalty."

After all, unlike machines like the Blade Bots, Poppi had shown facets of a budding emotional framework. It was complex, but when push came to shove, could she choose on her own?

"Poppi has no such function."

"And how could you possibly know that?"

"Because Poppi can examine all code that makes up Poppi's processes. But Poppi does not want to leave Masterpon, not because Masterpon is Masterpon, but because Masterpon is Poppi's friend." Her eyes flicked down. "Poppi knows Poppi will outlive Masterpon, so Poppi wants to spend as much time as possible to make treasured memories with Masterpon and friends."

"I…see." He conceded.

It seemed his words wouldn't make a difference here. She really believed it. If only every Blade could make that choice.

Part of it made Jin sick. Even if it was consensual on Poppi's part, it was a shadow of the shackle the Architect had placed on Blades. Something that would never change while Indol and the Architect's edict on their species remained.

"Does Jin have people he loves?" Poppi asked suddenly.

Jin was silent at that. Because he did. Does. He nodded after a moment.

"Then Jin knows what Poppi means. Is feeling it," she stood up on the bench of the booth, bracing one hand on the table and reached across to him, tapping where Lora's heart beat in his chest, "here."

"You're talking about connection."

She stood straight on the booth's bench. "Then Jin does understand. Good." She nodded decisively, hands on her hips. "Wisdom has been successfully dispensed!"

He supposed he did. But even though she talked about losing her Driver, she didn't really understand the pain that came from when that connection broke. He might have argued the point further, but with Lora's recent return, he let her have her moment.

Catriona dropped by, picking up the dirty dishes, and dropping off a wrapped package. "Masterpon's prize." Poppi explained simply to Jin, right before Tora came back.

The Nopon's eyes shone as he carefully, almost reverently peeled off the outer layer of paper, revealing a…figurine.

"Tora can hardly believe eyes! Tora hardly expecting small venue to ever have treasure like this. Is three-of-a-kind statuette one to six size scale of Kirumi, ultimate maidiest of maids-"

Jin tuned out the rest as the Nopon continued to list off aspects of the toy's rarity, glancing around the tavern. There were still no a sign of anyone looking like they were laying down a trap, but his patience with the Nopon was running thin.

He looked back, Tora still admiring the toy, carefully turning it about, this way and that, when something caught his eye. He leaned in closer to look at the design of the charm hanging off the strap of the figurine's black apron.

"Hold on, that design…" Something stirred in Jin's memories. A campfire, Lora proudly displaying her newest creation. What had she called it again…?

"Oh?" Tora looked over to Jin with genuine curiosity now. "Friend Jin is figurine appreciator? Tora somewhat surprised, but Tora supposes it takes all types."

"No, not the toy," he pointed to the charm on the displayed proudly on the figurine's waist, "that charm's design."

"Oh, that Kirumi's Galaxy Charm! Is charm of protection passed down line of maids and into her hands when previous head maid die in horrible accident. It what seal upon her the essence of maidiness."

Jin pointedly ignored the backstory, latching on to the name. "Lora was the one who designed that charm."

The Nopon blinked slowly, confusion plain on his face.

"Meh? Driver of Aegis designed Galaxy Charm?" Tora regarded him skeptically. "Tora knows it not really Kirumi's, but Tora's grampypon was friends of author of Kirumi the Combat Maid, story where Kirumi from. Grampypon say author get design of charm from Nopon merchant in Pyrithium Trade Guild. Author see it there and know within heart of hearts that it shine with essence of maidiness."

"I'm sure they did," Jin replied flatly, "but Lora was the original designer."

"Is friend sure she not simply copy obscure design and not tell? Grampypon's friend say design is hundreds of years old, and Tora's friend say Driver of Aegis somewhere in young to mid-twenties, not centuries. Friend sure he not hear incorrectly? Tora knows there lots of rumours about Driver of Aegis."

"I was there when Lora made it," he growled out insistently.

Tora held his headwings up in surrender. "Fine, fine. Tora will allow it since friend let Tora acquire snacky goodness and figurine." He leaned in closer. "But between Tora and friend, Tora thinks friend needs to find different information hill to die on."

Jin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. There really wasn't much point in arguing this, was there? Especially to a Nopon.

Had he really just gotten heated about a toy using one of Lora's charm designs? If anything, she would be delighted that it was being used, though he wasn't sure how she would feel about the source material. She might think it was…cute?

This was making his head hurt.

He sat back in his seat. "I'll let her know that her design is being used and let her decide what to do about it."

"Wait," Tora tilted his head, "friend on talking terms with Driver of Aegis?"

"I'm a…close friend of hers. That's why I'm looking for her. I don't care about the bounty."

No point revealing the true nature of their relationship to this Nopon, not to mention the complication of Lora having died and been brought back by the Aegis.

"Oh, Tora sees! Friend must have had awkward conversation with Aegis Driver and want to clear up confusion with her, yes?" The Nopon chuckled. "This kind of thing happen to Tora all the time, so Tora understand."

Jin didn't care about the reason that the Nopon accepted it so easily, but Jin simply said, "Close enough."

"Well, Tora have bad news for friend. Aegis Driver last seen with terrorist group. Friend look strong, but will still be very difficult to get in contact unless friend think he can take on Torna without a Blade."

"That won't be an issue."

"Meh, really?"

Poppi jumped up in her seat again and raised her hand excitedly "Poppi knows this one! Friend Jin is member of Torna! Poppi saw wanted poster; drawing is ninety-two percent match for friend Jin. Other eight percent due to lack of mask."

Jin glanced around the tavern again at Poppi's outburst. Luckily, with the drunken din of the tavern no one had seemed to hear it.

"Oh, uh…Tora…not aware of that."

"Are you frightened?"

"Tora is…a little scared, but friend Jin not seem like bad person from what Tora sees." The Nopon cleared his throat. "Besides, Tora really only vaguely aware of what Torna do. Mostly Tora is not fan that Torna's activity that close down city's premiere hot springs."

"I had no part in that."

"Oh, that big relief. Friend like hot springs then?"

Jin vaguely remembered enjoying them, but he didn't let Tora know. He also hadn't been to one for a while, decades at least. He knew Lora and Haze had loved them and tried to stop at any they could when given the chance on jobs. Jin opened his mouth to ask why Tora was asking when Tora held up a headwing appendage to quiet him.

"Friend have no need to say anything." One of his headwing's finger-like appendages was held up like a teacher. "Tora can see it in friend Jin's eyes. Jin is hot-spring aficionado! A friend after Tora's own heart."

Jin closed his mouth and remained silent.

Eventually Poppi cleared her throat. "Please ignore masterpon; he has habit of putting foot in mouth when nervous." She turned to Tora. "Masterpon has information for Jin about Lord of the Wastes."

"Meh? Tora does?"

Poppi hastily leaned in, cupping Tora's ear with her hands, whispering. Tora then responded with his own whisper, and it went back and forth for over a minute. Jin got the feeling that there had been a communication breakdown somewhere along the way.

Tora did a little hop in his seat. "Ahem! Yes, Tora does." Had he really just forgotten or had only Poppi known? "But Tora cannot give it right away."

"Really now?" He let a bit of danger slip into his voice. "And why is that?"

"Tora has, um…slight problem that friend Jin might be able to solve."

"You want to hire me?" Jin scoffed. "Why?"

"Does friend Jin know about Bloody Lobsters?"

Memories, both centuries old and more recent, flashed to the surface of Jin's mind. "I've had dealings with them before."

"Tora wouldn't want to step on toes but-"

"They're scum. Speak freely."

"Tora agrees one-hundred percent!" Tora cleared his throat. "They trap Tora in debt spiral with ridiculous interest inflation."

"So you want me to deal with a loan shark because you fell into a debt you couldn't repay?"

"Tora admits it wasn't Tora's best idea, but Tora was desperate!"

Poppi leaned in. "Poppi would not be in operation nearly so soon if Masterpon had not taken out debts."

He could deal with that, but…"What promises do you have that your information on the Lord of the Wastes location is even accurate or up to date? How do I know I'm not being led on to solve your problems on false pretenses?"

"Oh, that one easy. As Poppi so helpfully remind Tora, Tora's information is primary source. Hear from friend that going on a diplomatic infiltration mission to talk to Driver of Aegis on behalf of Empire. Since Aegis Driver is with Lord of Wastes right now, is guarantee to be same place!"

Jin nearly pulled out his nodachi right there to threaten the information out of the Nopon just to get a move on, but…

Her heart beat loudly in his chest.

Lora should be fine. Malos and Mikhail were with her after all. He…he could wait a little longer. But as soon as he was done with this, he would be off.

Jin nodded. "Very well. I accept."

"Hooray! Three cheers for new bestest friend!"

Poppi echoed her Driver, standing and doing a short, stiff dance on the bench of the booth. It was impressive motor coordination for an artificial Blade, but Jin was ready to get down business.

Jin leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "So where are they?"

"Oh, Tora have no idea."

Jin's eye involuntarily twitched.

Just like the night before any big salvaging job, sleep didn't come easy to Rex, but he eventually got a couple hours before being woken up by Azurda. The crew of four disembarked from the titanship, and began their trek across the wastes.

Mòrag set a grueling pace, and not for the first time, Rex wished he'd have had another growth spurt already. He kept pace well enough, but he envied Azurda's longer strides. At least it wasn't the middle of the heat of the day, and the wind was only a mild breeze instead of a windstorm, or this would've been brutal.

He was thankful he had gotten a nap in, at least.

They stopped after a few hours to eat food that Mòrag said were prepared by Aegaeon; a mix of gromrice, some kind of seafood and root tubers he wasn't familiar with, all seasoned in a different way than he was used to. It was good, and filled him up, but he imagined if he asked, that the spices were probably way out of his own budget.

Very quickly, however, it was back to continuing the trek across the wastes, another few hours of that grueling pace before an old, abandoned mining camp came into view. According to Mòrag, many other mining camps like this one had been abandoned when more plentiful ether deposits were discovered, like the same area now occupied by Brionac.

"So, who is it that we're meeting up with anyways?" Rex asked as they neared the camp.

"He's a middle-aged Gormotti man named Rhodri," Brighid replied curtly. "Until recently, he was part of a Brionac cell inside the capital."

Didn't sound like she really liked him, but then Rex wasn't sure Brighid liked anyone, except maybe Mòrag.

"So we're really gonna put our trust in someone like that to get us inside?" Rex asked skeptically.

"Not all Brionac operatives are fanatics," Mòrag answered smoothly, though not particularly kindly. There seemed to be a history there, but Rex held his questions for now. "Some can be persuaded to switch sides given the right incentive."

"Bribing them, I'm guessing?" Rex said, unimpressed.

Mòrag nodded, seemingly unconcerned about the tactic. "Often, but Rhodri was persuaded to work for us if he got a lesser sentence, and got to return to Gormott to his family after serving it. It was far more simple than it sounds, as he has been looking for a way out ever since Brionac's most recent leadership change."

"Sounds a bit too convenient if you ask me."

"Unfortunately, we do not have any better options in our short timeframe," Mòrag continued with a sigh, "and our operatives already inside Brionac's camp are best suited to stay there continuing to gather vital intelligence for the potential upcoming assault. I suspect they will be helpful keeping our incursion under wraps."

Rex gave a grunt of acknowledgement, but he didn't like it. Trusting terrorists — even though he hadn't known Torna were — hadn't really led him well so far.

They finished approaching the camp, which didn't seem particularly large as far as mining camps went in Rex's estimation. Seemed pretty old too, what with the torn and old tents, and broken, rusty equipment lying around. His own salvager sensibilities got peeved with the wasted tools.

However they soon found that the camp was empty, with no middle-aged Gormotti man in sight.

"You don't think he made a break for it, did you?" Rex asked.

"Unlikely," Brighid responded bluntly. "He had two of our best men on him, Drivers of the Carraig special guard unit — the elite of the elite in the empire."

"But not impossible," Azurda [said, "especially if he had help."

"Indeed," Mòrag agreed.

Her head twisted slightly, listening to one side. Rex was about to ask something, but Mòrag held up a fist, and he quickly closed it. Her free hand went to one of Brighid's whipswords at her belt, and Rex's hand settled on Azurda's Greatsword on his back, ready to draw it. He glanced around, trying to see what had her cautious, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Until finally, the wind died down a moment, and he heard unconcerned footsteps. Two pairs of them, getting closer. Something came around the corner of one of the broken down machines, and though it was hard to see in the moonlight, the outline of the man had ears on top of his head. Was this that Rhodri guy they were meeting up with?

But a moment later, a low blue glow near the man's neck shone, mildly illuminating his face. Darker skinned, tired eyes.

And then the source of the illumination became clear.

Mòrag quickly drew her whipswords, and Rex quickly followed by drawing Azurda's Greatsword.

"You!" Rex called, with no shortness of anger.

"Ah, ah, ah." That infuriatingly familiar voice chided. "No sudden moves from any of you, or your ticket into Dagas' camp is toast."

The clouds uncovered the moon, shining just bright enough to see the source of that voice, an unfamiliar weapon at the Gormotti man's throat.

"Good to see you all again." The man smiled brightly, looking them over as casually as he held that weapon "You especially, Inquisitor. Really, you're lovely as always."

Mikhail.