"My babies! No! You dare kill my babies?!!" Tanya Clefsi spat blood through the gaps in her shattered jaw, writhing on the floor. Her body convulsed in pain, yet her voice still carried that same manic rage. "You're a monster! Not perfect at all! How can you kill your own siblings?!"
I tightened the ropes around her wrists, ignoring the venom in her words. 'Siblings? What the hell was she talking about? Whatever she meant, it definitely had Firefly. shook.'
The towering knight had barely moved since setting the freezer ablaze, standing motionless before the roaring inferno, the firelight flickering against his cold metal frame.
Jason re-entered the warehouse, his expression grim as he wiped a bit of blood off his sleeve. "Nicole, I contacted the police. They'll be here in a few minutes, ambulances too." He shot a glance at the rescued children, who stood outside beneath the fading sunlight, their exhausted eyes flickering between each other in quiet uncertainty. "See what you can find on her laptop. I'll take this one outside." He motioned toward Tanya with a nod. "Figure out what you want to do with the mind-jackers—quickly."
He hauled Tanya up from the ground, her right arm completely shattered, blood soaking through the torn remnants of her coat. She let out a raw, agonized wail as she thrashed in Jason's grip. "No! My children! Save them—save my children before there's nothing left of them!!"
Jason ignored her, shoving her forward without a second glance. I caught his subtle nod before he disappeared through the warehouse doors. He'd noticed it too—Firefly's disturbing stillness.
Pushing aside my unease for now, I sat at the laptop. Immediately, I regretted it. The keys and seat were sticky. Suppressing a grimace, I plugged in my infiltration drive, granting myself instant access to the device's files. Barely making it past the third document before I had to stop.
Tanya had been trying to recreate AKPs. And... she'd succeeded. But what she made—what she turned them into—was monstrous. Gagging slightly, I tore my gaze away from the screen and copied the remaining files onto my portable device instead. I wasn't about to stomach any more of that.
When I turned around, Andromeda's mechanical head had shifted toward me. The fire blazed behind him, reflected in his metallic plating, casting long shadows through the warehouse.
Then, on my datapad a single message appeared. [Pilot Firefly is experiencing shock. Please help her like she helped you today.]
I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair. Firefly wasn't going to move unless I did something... but how the hell do you console a war machine?
"Hey, uh... Firefly." I scratched the back of my head. "You wanna grab some food for the kids with me? You probably need a walk. Maybe some fresh air, y'know, to relax after sprinting across the city like that." I felt ridiculous even saying it. "Me and Jason are in shape," I added, "but even we took nearly half an hour to catch up to you."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then a turquoise light flickered from the cracks in Andromeda's armour. In the next instant, the towering machine vanished, and Firefly floated gently to the ground.
She approached me, her face turned away, her voice barely above a whisper. "Am I... a monster?" Her hands curled into fists. "If I was made by a monster... does that make me one too?"
I sighed trying to be comforting. "Well, my parents were idiots, but I'm not an idiot. So, by that logic? Probably not." Shrugging, I slung an arm around her shoulders and nudged her forward, leading her toward the exit. "Besides, I added, "she didn't actually make you, did she?"
"...No." Firefly hesitated, her voice uncertain. "Her name is Tanya Clefsi. Does that ring any bells?"
I frowned. "Not really."
"She said she created the eighth-generation AKPs. Probably worked on the seventh and ninth initial designs before the Empress chased her out." Firefly's fingers curled against her sleeves. "So some of my design is her work. Including... my sentience."
I let out a slow breath. "Well, it's already obvious you're nothing like that whacko."
Rubbing the back of my neck, I tried to think of something—anything—to reassure her. "I mean, come on." I motioned toward her. "The girl I see fussing over the base's garden, trying to make friends with the rest of us—that doesn't sound like someone capable of the kind of shit she did."
Firefly's gaze flickered toward me, a faint sliver of hope in her expression. "You think so?" Then, just as quickly, she shook her head. Denying what she desperately wanted to believe. "I'm a weapon of war," she murmured. "A Knight Pilot. Tens of times more dangerous than a tank. More effective than an entire army of a hundred thousand men." Her voice lowered. "If I'm not a monster... then I'm—"
"You're a defective soldier, then." I cut her off without hesitation.
Firefly blinked, startled.
"In the Rogue Raven Battalion," I continued, "we're all defective outcasts who don't fit anywhere else. Kicked out of our units. Blamed for shit we may or may not have done. We're all 'monsters' in someone else's eyes." Unknowingly a smirk crept up my lips. "So why the hell does it bother you now? You're one of us. You should be grateful you only ended up a defect. Some of us weren't that lucky."
A breath hitched in Firefly's throat. Then—slowly— she laughed. A quiet, breathy sound at first, before breaking into something real. "Hahaha... you're right," she said, shaking her head. "How could I forget? I chose to surround myself with trash because I'm trash myself."
I grinned. "Damn right." Together, we stepped out of the warehouse, leaving its darkness behind as we walked into the golden light of the setting sun. "Don't think you're ever worth more than the golden trash bag I am, you hear?"
"Of course." Firefly smiled softly. "Yes. Thank you, Nicole."
"Alright," I stretched my arms over my head. "*Let's grab water for the kids, then some ice cream for ourselves. We earned it.* Might as well grab one for Jason too," I added. "Since he sort of helped."
***
By the time Nicole and I returned, the police had only just arrived. Jason stood among them, explaining everything. The two officers looked shaken when they saw the hundred or so starved children, their hollow eyes darting around as paramedics rushed to help.
As ambulances lined the street, their lights painting the night in red and blue, Nicole and I handed out bottled water to as many kids as we could.
While we worked, Jason and Nicole filled me in on what happened after I left. Apparently, the church had completely fallen to the mind-jackers, forcing them to chase after me—while being pursued by a horde of mind-hacked zombies.
Jason, of course, claimed he had saved Nicole several times. Which Nicole, of course, vehemently denied it. The way they bickered about it was almost amusing.
By the time the police finished taking statements and the last of the children had been taken away, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon, bleeding the sky into dusk.
Now, sitting on a bench outside the police station, Nicole and I ate ice cream, waiting.
Jason finally came down the steps, looking slightly less tense than before. "I got the signature confirming we completed the investigation," he said. "We can head back to the compound now."
I lifted the extra ice cream cone Nicole had gotten for him. "Here."
Jason shook his head. "*No thanks. You have it.*"
"Thank you!" Delighted, I eagerly dug into the second cone, savouring the cold, creamy sweetness. "Mmm! So cold and sweet!"
"Slow down or you'll get brain freeze," Nicole warned.
"Ack!" A sharp chill stabbed through my skull, making me clutch my forehead with a groan. "Why does something so good come with such pain?!"
"You could probably ask that about most things," Nicole mused. Then, shifting her gaze to Jason, she leaned back against the bench and smirked. "Speaking of pain... do you not have any words for our MVP? Perhaps for me as well?"
Jason let out a long, suffering sigh before droning in a flat, robotic voice, "Thank you both for helping me with the task imposed by Peter. Without you, I wouldn't have found anything."
Sitting down beside me, he turned to Nicole. "That good enough?"
"Lacked sincerity," she muttered, licking the last of the waffle crumbs off her fingers. "But since you gave Firefly your ice cream, I'll allow it." Stretching her arms, she leaned back. "Anyway, from the few files I managed to skim before copying the rest, I found out why the police never uncovered anything in their past investigations."
Jason raised a brow. "And?"
"The orphanage's security cameras had a built-in scanner that disabled the mind-jackers before any officers arrived." Nicole carried on.
Jason nodded, piecing it together. "So no kids would risk being hacked while the police were there."
"Exactly." Nicole tapped her chin. "Even if the police found the scratches on the walls or the ropes like we did, unless that boy happened to come by at the right moment, they never would've found her base of operations."
"And even if they realized mind-jackers were involved and tried trailing one of the kids," Jason added, "they would've lost them somewhere in the city. Those things push the human body beyond its limits after all."
"If it wasn't for Firefly chasing them," Nicole smirked, reaching up to pat my head, "they would've gotten away. Good girl."
The small, absent-minded gesture sent a strange warmth through me.
"Hopefully the rest of those kids end up where they belong," she continued. "Shame about the ones we were too late for."
Both of them looked at me then, waiting for me to say something. I swallowed the last bite of my ice cream and wiped my fingers clean. "I'm just glad we stopped her before there were more casualties."
"That's certainly a good enough ending," Nicole said, hopping up from the bench before extending a hand toward me. "Ready to go home, Firefly?"
I hesitated. Even as I reached for her hand, even as I stood, the questions still swirled in my mind. Who was the true creator of my generation? What kind of person were they? Were they anything like Tanya Clefsi? Or were they... worse? Maybe one day, I would find out.
But for now, I pushed the thoughts aside and focused on the present. "Let's go home."
Summoning Andromeda, my 25-foot mechanical knight, I teleported into his cockpit. He lifted Nicole and Jason into his arms, and we took to the skies, soaring beyond the city and across the forest in a victorious blaze.
The sun had long since set, leaving only the darkness of the encroaching night. By the time we landed outside the compound, most of the lights were on, and the front door stood open. Commander Peter was already waiting for us, arms crossed, his imposing figure backlit by the warm glow from inside.
"You guys are brave, coming back this early," he said, voice gruff. "Did you think you could sneak past me and slip straight to your rooms?" His sharp eyes flicked to Jason, narrowing at the blue file in his hand. "Wait—what's that?"
Jason didn't answer, but Peter's confusion was genuine.
"We did what you asked," Nicole cut in, strolling past the hulking man without a care. "Now can we eat? I'm starving after running around all day."
Jason, still silent, handed over the file. Peter barely flipped through the first few pages before his expression darkened. His grip tightened. The further he read, the more his jaw clenched. Then, without warning, he reached out, grabbed Jason by the top of his head, and lifted him off the ground with one hand. "You feeling proud, punk?" His voice rumbled with something unreadable—half irritation, half something else. "Considering the perp, it's quite the accomplishment."
Jason groaned, struggling in his grasp. "N-no, sir."
Peter's grip tightened. "You sure about that, punk?"
"I'm sure, sir."
With a grunt, Peter dropped him unceremoniously and gave him a rough shove toward the lodge. "Go cook something for five people, punk!"
Jason staggered but didn't protest. He simply dusted himself off and made his way inside.
Peter turned to me next, his sharp gaze making me instinctively straighten. His expression was stern, but his tone, surprisingly, was not. "You alright?" The unexpected concern made me falter. "Considering the criminal in this report," he continued, "I'd imagine she said something to you."
I hesitated, fidgeting slightly. "Yes, Commander Peter. She called me her granddaughter... and a big sister to her victims." The words still sat heavy in my chest. "Nicole helped cheer me up. Jason even gave me his ice cream." I swallowed. Even after everything, one thing still refused to leave my mind. "One of her victims thanked me for killing him." My fingers curled at my sides. "It was... vexing."
Peter exhaled deeply, staring up at the night sky for a moment. His face softened, if only slightly. "People have been searching for her for two decades," he murmured. "The fact that she's been right in our neighbour's backyard this whole time... That's a problem." His gaze flickered back to me. "But still, this will score you a lot of points. Any plans for what you'll use them for?"
I took a breath, steadying myself. "I... I'm hoping to rank up straight to Captain during the ordainment in three months. If I can do that, I'll start off as an Omega-grade Knight immediately. It'll let me take on more important missions."
Peter studied me, his gaze unwavering. Then, without warning, he leaned in, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath. I instinctively leaned back. "...So there's nothing else you want?" he asked, voice low.
I held his gaze. "There's nothing else I know to want, Commander Peter." Something flickered across his expression. "I'm an AKP," I continued. "Made to fight and die for the ruler of the galaxy as its sword. But rather than that..." My hands clenched at my sides. "I hope to die protecting all that is beautiful in this galaxy. Just like I've told you before."
Peter exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his head. "So you're not afraid to die?"
"Of course I'm afraid to die," I admitted. "That fear has been ingrained in me since my first memory." I lifted my hands, fingers trembling slightly before I clenched them into fists. "But I'm hopeful that the last thing I see before then will be a place full of beautiful things. I won't fall before that. No matter what it takes."
Peter scoffed, shaking his head. "Hmph. At least you're determined."
He turned and started toward the lodge, motioning for me to follow. "Go help Jason in the kitchen. You'll probably learn a thing or two from him." Then, as I stepped inside, he grumbled, "And shut the door for Empress' sake! You're letting all the heat out."
"Yes, sir." As I shut the door behind me, I found myself lingering for a second.
This feeling—someone genuinely being concerned about me—it was... strange. Outside of Traveler's training and Andromeda's ever-watchful care, had anyone ever truly worried about me before?
Just as the thought settled, Peter called over his shoulder. "Oh, and second-lieutenant?"
I looked up. "Yes, sir?"
"You'll be assisting me with the others' punishment tomorrow." He said with a sadistic smile.
I hesitated. "...Why?" But Peter didn't answer.
As I stood there, the question lingered in my mind. Was this a punishment? A whim? Or a reward?