Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To outside observers, the heads of Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Co. were enigmatic, terrifying forces of nature. Dr. Kal’tsit was a pioneer in the field of oripathy research, inventing and codifying several surgeries to bring the disease into remission, as well as inventing the Chimera Rings, that help patients live day to day with reduced symptoms. The former king of the sarkaz, Theresa, was a charismatic woman whose very visage gave the downtrodden sarkaz hope, stopping battles by simply appearing. The tactical genius, Doctor was their leader of search and rescue operations, gathering unlikely individuals under the RI banner, and preventing casualties with an ability that bordered on precognition. To Amiya however, all these figures were family she loved dearly, but knew all of them were about a step away from an early grave due to overwork. 

Dr. Kal’tsit would spend long hours after surgeries and appointments, keeping herself up to date on new medical journals, having once gone 72 hours without drinking anything more than a cup of strong coffee with a shot of vodka. Theresa was blessed with both a former life of luxury, and incredible strength, as Amiya watched her embed a vacuum cleaner into the wall of their living space upon the landship. A common occurrence in between her long trips to foreign mobile cities to delegate. Theresa was eager to learn anything and everything about living as a normal person, with an abnormal body that caused her to use her herculean strength to promptly destroy all their furniture and appliances, much to Amiya’s chagrin, and Closure’s delight. 

The Doctor was probably, on a day to day basis, the one Amiya could rely upon the most to be a functional person. They kept the kookier operators inline, even had them lend hands to ease the burden of their spouses, and was the one to cook dinner at the end of the day (granted half the time it was using dishes or ingredients gifted to them by their many, many allies). All that went out the window once the Doctor ran out of sanity however. Their prodigious tactical acumen came at the cost of their mental stamina, causing them to down stimulants such as a concoction they called a sanity potion, made with sugar, mustard, and loxic kohl to keep up their faculties while out on operations. When they run out of sanity, they end up craving the strangest things, Amiya once having watched them eat a box of packing peanuts, and what she hopes wasn’t an originium slug, with Kal’tsit remarking on the time they ate instant ramen by swallowing the noodles whole, and chugging boiling water afterwards. The worst part was that Theresa assumed that this was in fact, the normal way to consume ramen, with plenty of sarkaz ending up in the medical wing due to not wanting to hurt her feelings, with Theresa completely oblivious to the results due to her unstoppable physique. 

And so, Amiya found herself in the kitchen with her mother Theresa, staring at a counter full of raw ingredients, and a couple hours to turn them into something resembling food. Dr. Kal’tsit was busy all day teaching a seminar on originium MRI scanning, and the Doctor was out on an expedition in Kazdel to rescue some sarkaz attempting to cross the border. 

“Alright, we have two hours before they are expected to come home, that should be enough time to make a simple dinner, it can’t be that hard right?” Amiya said with unfounded optimism, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket. “I’ll handle the miso soup and tamagoyaki, mom, could you wash and prepare the rice? You just need to rinse it off and then press the button on the rice cooker, Doctor already set it at the right time. Operation, commencing!” 

“Oh! How interesting, I had always thought that it was a skill the Doctor picked up, the wonders of modern science.” Theresa said as they lifted up the giant sack of rice off the floor, and gently as they could, put it into the pot of the rice cooker. It was heavier than Amiya could manage, though she watched carefully, stepping in to make sure to dump back the excess as Theresa easily piled it above what would even fit in the cooker with worries that it wouldn't be enough to fill the Doctor's ravenous appetite. 

Amiya turned her attention to her own task at hand, having already memorized the steps to making miso soup and rolled omelets from her research online. She first prepared the stock as it’d take the longest, dropping in exactly 3 sheets of kombu and a handful of bonito flakes into the pot that should be big enough for 5 to have soup, with a bit extra for breakfast. The tofu was pressed in between two plates with a towel laden around it to wick excess moisture, before she diced it. Once the stock had boiled enough, Amiya would merely need to add in the miso and toppings. It was simple to perform, it made Amiya question why so many operators complained about their cooking skills, even if she understood that her level couldn’t reach that of experts like Matterhorn or Gummy. 

While waiting on the stock, Amiya cracked and whisked 10 eggs in total, 2 per person in their little family, though from what she’s seen, 4-5 was about the normal amount of people in a family. Also discounting the many, many honorary aunts and uncles the Doctor and Kal’tsit accrued like they were lost pets. 

“I pressed the button and now the machine is glowing red. Is that a bad thing? Closure typically says that red is the color of imminent failure.” Theresa says, hand hovering over the rice cooker, ready to send it into next week should it make a strange sound.  

“That just means it's cooking, so it's getting hot and you aren’t supposed to touch it.” Amiya said, taking a quick peek, happy to see that no part of the kitchen had been demolished while she wasn’t looking. Theresa had slowly been getting better at managing herself on a day to day basis, so long as she could focus and do things slowly. 

“Interesting, what should I do now? I want to help however I can.” Theresa said, thrilled at successfully completing a task, a smile exuding a radiance that would make one question if she was actually half Laterano. 

“Hmm, I’m almost about done here, could you cut the- oh!” Amiya was about to ask Theresa to dice the tofu and green onion, only to find they had been laid out on the cutting board, roughly chopped.  They were all uniform in size if irregular in shape, so it was good enough. “Did you already cut them for me? Thank you.” 

“Umm….I didn’t cut those. I’ve been washing the rice this entire time.” Theresa said with a mild expression of confusion, while Amiya was slightly unsettled as to who would be mysteriously entering their home to chop up vegetables. 

“Well, let’s not look a gift kuranta in the mouth, I’m sure it might have just been one of the many operators showing their appreciation.” Amiya tensed for a moment, flexing her fingers, attempting to detect any new emotions in the area, only to find just the two of them in the room. The food didn’t seem like it’d have been poisoned or altered in any way, and so the only thing to be done was accept it was probably Gravel. “They should be getting home soon, could you please set the table? Then we can take a break, once I finish the omelets.” Amiya said as she got to the delicate task of rolling omelets. Her hands were well used to fine movement, through a mixture of violin practice, and the medical training imparted to her whenever her guardians had free time. Gently using the chopsticks to curl the golden eggs, and a flick of the wrist to flip them. 

Eventually, the two of them had finished their work, setting out 5 bowls of miso soup, 5 tamagoyaki, and a pot full of fresh rice, with 5 minutes to spare as well. Amiya dusted off her hands, feeling the warm sensation of a completed job, “Alright, I think we did it! They’re gonna be so surprised once they get home.” 

“Yes, it has been a delight learning to cook with you Amiya, perhaps we might even show those two who the competent ones in the household really are.” Theresa joked with a conspiratorial smile. 

“Congratulations. It’s bland.” A third voice said plainly, causing Amiya to jump back in surprise, black crystals floating around her to defend herself, while Theresa flung the nearest object, which had happened to be a scented candle gifted to the Doctor sitting on the coffee table, promptly smashing through a cupboard door as Projekt Red stood next to the dining table, having taken a piece of tamagoyaki from her spot. 

“Red! When did you get here? I thought you were with the Doctor on their mission.” 

“They took Gravel, and I got bored at Dr. Kal’tsit’s talk.” Projekt Red said as they side-eyed the new mess in the kitchen they weren’t exactly keen on fixing. 

“We’re home early!” The Doctor’s chipper voice rang out as they walked through the front door, with Dr. Kal’tsit behind them as the two stood, staring at the new mess their apartment had become in their time away. The three guilty persons straightened up to welcome them back. 

“Welcome home Doctor! Kal’tsit!” 

“We made dinner!” 

“The cupboard’s broken.” 

“We leave for a day, and we somehow come home to what looks like a crime scene, how did that even happen?” Kal’tsit said with an irritable sigh, Doctor simply patting their shoulders with good humor. 

“We’ll fix that when we fix that, for now let’s just appreciate coming home to something other than instant food, or whatever the hell was sneaked into our place.” The Doctor said, a bit too used to one of their many stalkers fixing them a meal in their home, as they sat down at the table, with the others following suit. Kal’tsit took her place last as she attempted to clean up the bits of flour and pasta that had been knocked onto the floor, before giving up and joining the others. 

“Thank you for the meal, though the Doctor seems relatively sane after today’s operation, so you didn’t have to. Nevertheless, I’m excited to try your cooking, it looks good.” Kal’tsit said, a ghost of a smile on her face.

“Red helped chop the ingredients for miso soup.” Amiya said, having caught on once the lupo revealed herself. Although Red’s face remained blank, their tail gently swishing indicated that they were happy to be acknowledged. 

“Oh no, you two just spent all day working, let me handle it.” Theresa says, pushing down the Doctor with the gentle force of a meteor, who was moving to start scooping out rice. She happily lifted the lid, humming softly to herself as the room became filled with the rich fragrance of lavender and cucumber melon. 

“Uhh….why does it smell like the inside of Lena’s garden?” The Doctor asked with a feeling of dreaded certainty, knowing the answer to their particular question. 

“I suppose it would be from the soap would it not? I made sure to wash the rice with the nicest one we had in the house.” Theresa said, beaming with pride. 

“You only wash rice with water, dear, at least the soup and eggs look fine.” Kal’tsit said, already used to her family’s quirks, taking a sip of the soup, only to raise an eyebrow. She followed with a bite of the tamagoyaki, which was perfect texturally speaking, but the flavor profile was that of fluffy cardboard. 

“Said it was bland.” Red echoed as they watched the Doctor and Kal’tsit attempt to eat the food, though in the Doctor’s case they happily shoveled down whatever was put in front of them. 

“Amiya, did you season your food at all?” Kal’tsit asked. 

“I followed the recipe to the letter, I would expect it to taste like something.” Amiya said, disappointed to find that the soup might as well have been miso colored water. 

“Was the recipe for one person portions? They usually don’t scale up properly when it comes to seasoning.” 

“Ah. Sorry.” Amiya said, her ears becoming downcast, unaware of the tendency of online recipes to be much too reserved in terms of flavoring.  

“It was a good effort, give me a second and I can fix this.” The Doctor said, patting Amiya on the head fondly before moving into the kitchen to work their arts. They removed the scented candle given to them by Melantha, and pulled out several ramen packets from the cupboard. 

“We are not all eating ramen for dinner, you need to consider your health.” Amiya said indignantly, with the Doctor merely continuing on their business. They quickly ripped open the seasoning packets, adding them to the miso soup to give it flavor, before cooking the noodles with sesame oil and soy sauce to replace the rice. 

“Don't discredit ramen, Kal is a happy customer of my ramen cuisine, I'll teach it to you and Red when you're a bit older” Doctor said as their family hesitantly tried it, with Kal’tsit saying nothing, lest they inflate the Doctor's ego. The 5 of them ate their dinner, Amiya and Theresa apologizing and resolving to do better next time, with the Doctor giving gentle encouragement, and Kal'tsit offering practical advice, Red merely happy to rest in the company of the people she trusted most in the world.

Chapter Text

Hundreds upon hundreds of tentacles wormed their way across the sand, Purple venom seeped in between each grain of sand, soon to poison the beach, and potentially the village just a little bit ways away from the coastline, were it not for the presence of the sole being on Terra that could stop such a beast. Skadi stood on top of a dune, watching the monster that had the translucent purple head of a jellyfish, Its many tentacles full of cnidocytes probe the surrounding area, whether to find prey, or to merely protect itself, Skadi neither knew nor cared. 

She wished that she had the medical expertise of Whisperain around, but she’d had lost contact with her over the years, all she could rely on was her ability to end the fight quickly, and hope that one of the many antidotes Blue Poison made all her friends ingest on a regular basis would cover whatever that thing expelled. Skadi only ever had a single gameplan in life, and that was to go forward with focus, launching herself fast enough to create a corona of sand behind her. Tentacles rose to form a net to ensnare and digest her before she could approach, layer upon layer of defenses that meant nothing to an idiot with a big enough sword. 

Her blade, blessed by the power of the waves themselves, tore through the tentacles like a tsunami, venom splashing and singeing her skin as she kept her momentum, on a direct pathway into the creature’s central unit. The second she touched down, she took the single page from the pamphlet that could be considered Specter’s battle tactics and hacked away at literally anything and everything within her giant sword’s reach. The bloblike flesh oozed and squirted in the chasms left behind by her swings, and so she continued, ignoring whatever defensive measure the creature employed to ensure its own survival, continued until she felt nothing move, and then slashed again for good measure. 

Blue Poison was rumored to have skin that shared her namesake, instantly melting and killing any that touched her, which was an absurd claim that caused her no end of annoyance and melancholy. Aegirians were rather touchy feely by nature, skinship between one another common among both friends and acquaintances. Touching one another was considered a standard greeting, but it was one that was heavily frowned upon in Rhodes Islands, with plenty of operators having their own understandable issues with touch, but it nevertheless made Blue Poison feel a tad lonelier. 

People figured that Skadi and Specter got close to her, as they were the only ones that could touch her freely, without fear of death or injury, but it was rather that they feared death without her. Skadi and Specter were incredible fighters, able to kill beasts that rivaled mobile cities in size by themselves, the doctor able to rely on them as single unit armies, defending zones by their lonesome. They also were completely incompetent at anything that wasn’t violence. 

Specter’s dementia and nerve damage did her no favors in the simple tasks of folding laundry, or wiping the windows in their shared abode on the landship, but she wasn’t exactly good at them originally either. She made up for her lack of skill and patience with excessive enthusiasm, only to find herself covered in dust and torn fabric once she came back to consciousness. Skadi could potentially learn how to do domestic chores, in the same way a turtle could potentially learn how to fly (they can learn baseball funnily enough), Blue Poison wasn’t going to wait around for the three of them to end up living in a room filled with takeout containers and  dirty clothing. 

She came home after a hard day at the workshop, frustrated at her lack of progress in synthesizing a more powerful anaesthetic to administer to patients with delicate livers, it being a problem that Specter faced only compounding the issues. She was greeted with nothing as she walked through the automatic doors, with Skadi having vanished without a word, and Specter being sound asleep in their bedroom, she sighed to herself and got to work pretending to be an adult after all she wanted to do was nap. 

She picked up the whirlwind of signs that Skadi wasn’t actually assigned to whatever task she put herself to, putting away her headphones in a spot that they wouldn’t accidentally be sat on, and storing the sheet music in their mother tongue that had been scattered about. The room was nowhere near Blue Poison’s level of standards, really it wasn’t even on the same planet.  Alas, she couldn’t spend all day on it, especially now since there was a fresh new monument that apparently, Skadi and Specter had torn out of some old temple. The ceremonial and probably immensely powerful weapon had been replaced with a plastic trident, the entire stone structure  parked next to the couch where they watched TV. Blue Poison was gifted in so many aspects, such as beauty, patience, and the ability to always fold her tongue, but strength was sadly, not one of them, and so she set to work on making dinner, knowing that at the very least, Skadi would come home to eat her cooking...probably. 

Blue Poison pulled out an assortment of seafood that was gifted to her by one of the members of the RI Cooking club, still fresh enough that they retained their ocean smell rather than the fishy smell that she found disgusting, setting it out as she chopped tomatoes, onions, and garlic to prepare a sofrito, having run out of peppers after Specter ended up eating every single one of them in a bid to see one of the old gods last week. Dr. Kal’tsit was surprisingly sympathetic when they had to take Specter to medical for that. Blue Poison put a heavy metal pot that she had custom made for various dishes, such as today’s dinner, arroz a la tumbada. Blue Poison wasn’t particularly fond of seafood one way or another, preferring sweets and pastries over any savory foods, and so the prominence of it in their fridge was purely for Skadi and Specter’s benefit.  

Blue Poison was getting into a rhythm, the aromatics becoming their best form in the shimmering oil of the pan, with rice and clams, mussels, and shrimp ready to soak up all the flavor of the broth she planned on adding, humming a tune she heard while shopping in downtown Lungmen when the door slammed open. 

“Shhh! Specter’s asleep right now.” Blue Poison hissed at Skadi walking in the door, what looked to be thin, white wispy tentacles draped over her shoulder, detached but still stinging her skin via reflex every now and then. 

“Sorry, smells good. I brought this for you, might be useful.” Skadi said, not even bothering to wipe off her feet, tracking sand into their apartment as she was about to put the tentacles on the couch, before a tense glare from their caretaker/girlfriend told them that anything that monsters in the deep could do, paled in comparison to what Blue would do to her in a moment. “I’ll just put this in the bathtub and ask R&D to pick it up in the morning.” Skadi said, narrowly averting finding one of the few toxins capable of hurting her in tonight’s dinner. 

Skadi was tasked with getting Specter up to eat dinner as penance/peace offering after tracking sand in, which was always a nerve-wracking point of her day, wondering what level of explanation would be needed today. The nun was currently laying on their bed with a look of serene peace, the turbidity of their mind flowing underneath the surface. Skadi gently put a finger to Specter’s shoulder to wake her up with as little chance of a freakout as possible. 

“Good day, please tell me where His Abyss has deigned to allow me to wake, kind stranger, for I am but a messenger.” Specter said, their deep red eyes piercing into Skadi, who for anyone else that spoke in such a highfalutin manner, would cause Skadi to smack them into pieces, but for Specter, she could only indulge. 

“You are in your home, on your bed. It’s evening, we’re going to eat dinner now.” Skadi said, speaking in short phrases slowly, letting the words dance in Specter’s brain till they settled into the uneasy trenches of recognition. 

“Hmm, you do seem familiar, the blood of the deep is radiating off of you, as is this smell, enticing as blood.” Specter says, getting up from bed, still in her nightgown, her habit in the wash after a particular incident, not that she remembered at the moment. 

“That’s just tomatoes, come on.” Skadi said as she led Specter by the hand to the kitchen table, which was rarely used unless Specter was in a mood that wasn’t conducive to the many trashy shows Blue and Skadi would normally watch with their meals. “This is Blue Poison, she’s safe, and made our food.” Skadi said, Blue Poison used to the routine, knowing that today was one where Specter was yet to have an episode, but didn’t remember anything. 

“Ah, thank you, it looks lovely, may you excuse me to say grace before we indulge in this bounty?” Specter said, sitting prim and proper in their apartment’s dingy kitchen table, equipped with 2 foldout chairs, being easier to replace when Skadi or Specter forgot themselves. On the table was a pot full of arroz a la tumbada, a sea of tomatoes, rice, and shellfish awaiting the hunt of apex predators to balance out the ecosystem. The rich smell of tomatoes and a splash of white wine permeated the dish reminding Skadi that she hadn’t eaten since yesterday. 

“Take your time.” Blue Poison said, as Skadi looked out the window, wishing to be anywhere but in the room at the moment as Specter mumble-spoke grace before the group commenced to eating. Skadi could acknowledge the food as amazing, the flavor of shrimp always being a favorite.  Blue Poison never made anything that wasn’t incredible, but it all tasted acrid in her mouth, missing when they could relax and joke with one another, 

“Were I not a holy woman, I’d have asked for your favor, your visage and temperament matches those of the angels, dear.” Specter said, unaware that she didn’t need to try to woo anyone, the two of them were already willing to sacrifice whatever it took to keep her by their side.

Chapter Text

Exusiai and Croissant were currently sitting in one of the many safehouses dotted around the city, having narrowly escaped a scenario with some wannabe gangsters, stopping themselves only because they’d gotten yelled at by Amiya and Doctor for public disturbances just last week. The safehouse was thankfully stocked with furniture, games, and as always, a mediocre bar full of cheap beer and liquor for the group to unwind. The two were competing in a friendly/brutal game of Super Marrow Party while waiting for the rest of the crew to get there so they could finally eat, having instead sated their growing hunger with beer, too lazy to go down the street to at least buy some snacks from the convenience store. 

“We’re back! Hope those guys didn’t give you too much trouble.” Sora said, as she waltzed through the door, spring in her step, Texas looking calm behind her as she had Emperor’s corpse hoisted over her shoulder. 

“Mission successful, one-ish casualty. We also managed to hand out all of Sora’s fliers too, unrelated.” Texas gave the trademark Penguin Logistics mission debrief, which was rarely useful for anyone who wasn’t already present. She plopped the penguin’s body onto a crate that was filled with old T-shirts, figuring it’d be softer than the ground, ignoring the fact she didn’t open the lid first, rendering the point moot. 

“Awesome, now we can get something to eat, what do y’all want to order? Dumplings? Pizza? Burgers?” Croissant said, having acquired the right of final say for dinner since she beat Exusiai, not mentioning such to the rest of the group as the dimness of the former’s halo gave it away. 

“I don’t care, anything’s fine.” Texas quickly replied, which was a lie. She was actually a fairly picky eater, but that ruined her tough persona. 

“Not noodles, let’s do something new, I heard a place just opened up that serves authentic Kjerag cuisine.” Exusiai said. 

“But whatever we get there isn’t gonna be as good as ol’ Uncle Matterhorn’s grub.” Croissant complained. 

“Oh true, maybe we do a street food crawl...wait a couple people want our heads, that’d be annoying.” Exusiai says with a sigh. 

“When’s the last time any of you ate anything that wasn’t deep fried or covered in cheese?” Sora said with a raised eyebrow, unlike the rest of them, she actually had to stick to a real meal plan to keep herself in shape. Not everyone could down a burger and proceed to gun down a heavy defender in the same breath. “For that matter, have ANY of you had something that didn’t come from a packet or restaurant recently?” 

“I mean...the ramen stall sometimes puts extra green onions, which should count for SOMETHING right?” Croissant asked, infuriatingly with zero hint of shame or self-awareness. Texas nodded, considering that close enough even though she takes hers without. 

“We gotta stick it to the man! Learn the ways of the oppressed, you’re all going to actually cook your own damn food today!” Emperor squawked, having appeared in the doorway to be suitably dramatic, their former body nowhere to be found. 

“But Baws, we don’t even got a kitchen. Or anyone who knows fancy knife skills,” Croissant said, scratching her horns in confusion, the rest were about to argue on the turn of events, but figured it’d save time and energy to just roll with it. 

“Don’t you worry about that, I got a Guy. He’s outta town so we can just borrow his shop, come on, we’re gonna make you all adults. Texas, you’re driving.” Emperor said, waddling away to the squad mini-van, with the others following suit.

It turns out, the guy was in fact someone who ran a chain family restaurant named “Guy’s Food Place” that was to be foreclosed in a month. Emperor let them in through the backroom to the kitchen, attempting to kick down the door, failing and then ordering Croissant to do it. Exusiai found a spare key through sheer dumb luck while poking around, a moment too late as Croissant busted the lock with a single kick. 

“Err, if it’s gonna be closed in a month, should we really be using their kitchen?” Sora asked, hoping they weren’t gonna be arrested a week before a live. 

“Don’t worry, their food was fine, he just gambled away the deed to the place. To one of Rat King’s guys. They’re gonna turn it into a soup kitchen anyways, so they’re footing the bill for any property damage we enact tonight.” Emperor said as they swaggered into the place, which seemed like a standard restaurant kitchen, taking their place on a serving counter that let them see into the kitchen. “Use whatever you want, he’s gonna have to chuck it out anyways, also I’ve decided it’s now gonna be a cooking competition, whoever loses gets fired, and whoever wins gets a free coupon for me to bail you out of any duties at Rhodes Island once.” Emperor said, attempting to temple their flippers to look suitably judgey. 

“Rock n’ Roll!” 

“You got it Baws!” 

“Ok.” 

“What.” 

The crew responded, with three of them setting to work, Sora stepping out to call in some emergency help. She knew that Emperor legally couldn’t fire any of them, but she did at least want to make something that the crew would eat, and hopefully impress Texas. She had to contact one of the few people she knew that probably could cook for an ornery kid. 

“Who do you want me to kill?” The flat voice on the other end of the line said, not letting their phone ring more than twice. 

“Exe, please stop answering every single call with that, I don’t need anyone killed.” Sora said. 

“Were you or anyone in trouble, it would save time. What do you need? I have exactly 520 seconds of sanctioned free time.” Executor said. 

“You’ve been taking care of a kid recently right? How do you get her to eat her vegetables, please tell me you have a way to sneak them in.” Sora said, hopes on a thin prayer. 

“Yes, I have been the guardian of Vermeil recently, approximating the role of a parental unit as many others have said. Vermeil will consume vegetables without complaint, having a history of foraging to go along with their hunt.” Executor said. 

“Well, that’s not very helpful, but you’ve cooked for them before right? What do kids like?” Sora said, at the end of her rope. Wild game would be good for Lappland, but Texas actually ate regular people food….ok regular kid’s food. 

“From prior experience, candy and wild boar. Previous inquiry indicates you are actually asking for a way to add extra nutrition to a meal suitable for children’s palates. Spinach has no flavor, blending it up can maximize its stealth.” Executor said. 

“Oh really? That might actually work, thanks! Also I sent you a ticket for my upcoming live.” Sora said. 

“I have received it, I will be returning to the Laterano Notarial Hall that day, but I will endeavor to the best of my abilities to attend.” Executor said before hanging up, which practically guaranteed that they’d get there one way or another. Sora returned to the kitchen, with half a plan, which in the Penguin Logistics method, was basically three whole plans already. 

Inside, the rest were in various stages of cooking, Texas was currently staring at a plate of eggs frying in a pan, with absolutely nothing else in her work area. Exusiai was throwing in anything they considered to be tasty into a pot, from meats, cheeses, to some frozen chicken nuggets she found. Croissant had just taken to stealing anything that looked vaguely expensive, looting the place’s spice storage to resell for later, having been told that the kitchen ware was off-limits. 

Sora was thus in the lead, as presenting absolutely nothing might genuinely be a better dish, but she was no quitter, putting her heart and soul into everything. She set to work, there were plenty of pre-prepared ingredients such as ground beef that she could use to save some time, and with enough blending could easily sneak some vegetables in. 

“Alright Time’s up! We didn’t set a time or nothin, I’m just hungry. Present your dishes, and I hope you made enough for everybody.” Emperor squawked, Sora just finishing up the last of her preparations. “Texas, you’re up first! What do you got?” The Lupo moved forward to present her dish, everyone else taking one from the kitchen while Emperor was served at the counter, all of them grabbing whatever utensil, or in Croissant’s case, just eating it with their hands. 

“Eggs.” Succinctly put, Texas literally just fried an egg for everybody, it tasted fine, but wasn’t exactly good. 

“I gave you...however long I gave you, and you spent the ENTIRE time making a single egg? Mine’s cold!” Emperor said, about to pop a blood vessel as Texas merely popped a pocky into her mouth in reply. “Ugh, Croissant, you’re up next.” 

“Alright Baws, I got somethin’ real gud from my hometown, it’s Minosian classic I’ve made since I was a kid.” Croissant said smugly. 

“It’s a grilled cheese. And canned soup, I don’t think you even heated it up.” Emperor said flatly. 

“Used the cheapest cheese they got too! No sense wasting the fancy stuff.” Croissant said, with the sandwich being unbelievably dry, as Croissant forgot to put in any oil or butter, or most likely had it stashed away in their jacket. 

“I’m up next! I have for you today, a breaded chicken piccata on a bed of…” Exusiai trailed off as she had to look over her mess in the kitchen to remember what she even put in it, “bed of ravioli, lemon rice, and chocolate.” 

“These are chicken nuggets.” Emperor said, still taking a bite, with everyone nervously following suit. It was baffling, it actually tasted normal, nay good even, for half a second until the chocolate, and the fake crab Exusiai forgot she put in, hit the tongue. A moment was needed for everyone to recover their senses, and vigorously wash out their mouths by taking turns drinking from the soda machine with their mouths, having been unable to find cups anywhere. 

“Sora, please tell me you made something edible, if you do, I’m giving you a pay raise right here and now.” Emperor said, gasping for breath at the tragic plan they had. 

“I actually did, I have for you a classic hamburg steak set, with mashed potatoes.” Sora had even garnished the plate with two cherry tomatoes, to give it an appealing look. A tiny flag with the Penguin logo had been placed on top of the steak as well. 

“Oh, it’s not actually some weird health food, I’ll give it a taste.” Emperor cut off a piece of the hamburger patty, putting it in their beak, a shock of flavor going through their body. “What is this flavor!” 

“What? Impossible, it can’t be better than mine!” Exusiai cried out after stuffing the entire thing in one go. 

“Woah, this kid might have enough talent to take on the big 4!” Croissant yelled, easily following along everyone’s joke. 

“It’s good.” Texas said. 

“Heh, you actually all just ate a whole bunch of vegetables! The hamburg steak was mostly spinach, tofu, and soy! With the gravy being made from mushrooms. The mashed potatoes were in fact, mashed cauliflower!” Sora said triumphantly, giving a classic anime style smirk to cap it off. “Texas! You’re supposed to play along, at least have your clothes explode, like on that one show!” Sora cried at Texas’ lackluster reaction. At the very least, the crew finished their plates...though Texas left the cherry tomatoes behind. 

“I’m not getting naked, it’d just summon Lappland.” Texas said, “It was good, I’d like to eat it again sometime.” which was a high enough compliment Texas really gave, leaving Sora over the moon as Emperor declared them the winner. Everyone departed the dinner, Croissant hoisting Sora up single-handedly as she sang her victory song, Exusiai firing off a rubber gun into the air, and Texas moving along with them. Absolutely none of them remembering the most important part of cooking, washing the dishes as they left the diner with a mess of dirty plates, perishable goods on the counter, and the pantry being a lot more spacious. 

Chapter Text

7:00 AM \ Snowing. Ursus, Originium Mine Reserve 4 entrance

The mercenary known as Frostnova, Yelena to her friends, mulls over the fragility of her life as she coughs up a mixture of blood and originum, contrasting the snow around her with dark red and black spots, fingers clenched around her axe in defiance. It was meant to be a simple mission to free a group of children that went sour. Her squad was doing what they could to hold off the counter-offensive, with their main unit out of commission, life soon to be cut short via infection, she tried to utter the command to retreat if her throat would only let her. 

“Don’t worry big sis, we’ll get through this, we can get you patched up!” A brother in arms spoke, optimism quickly fading from their face as a bolt of black arts streaked towards their position, none of their casters able to erect a barrier fast enough before it impacted. Frostnova stared at the bolt, not ever wanting to avert her eyes from the truth for even a moment. The sound of an ice blade sliced through the air to intercept the arts in a plume of diamond dust, preventing her fate. She was intimately aware of the arts of everyone in the Yeti Squadron, but was unfamiliar with whatever just saved her. A figure clad in dark robes stood against the white backdrop next to a vulpo holding an axe, and a sarkaz artillerist. 

“Operation 4-10, START!” 

The cafeteria on Rhodes Island was truly a gamble in terms of experience, with the Doctor calling it food gacha to the understanding of exactly no one except a beleaguered Kal’tsit. The rotating variety of cooks, as well as the freedom Rhodes Islands gives to the chefs so long as they maintain proper hygiene, nutritional requirements, and allergen labels, means that some days the food is downright inedible. Hibiscus made lunch boxes that became punishments for those that skipped training, while her sister shared in Blue Poison’s trait of making food that  looked strange or unappetizing, only to be incredible.  The days when Matterhorn or Gummy are running the lines are days where there’s plenty of demand, with Dobermann having to instate new rules specifically to avoid people fighting one another for early spots in line. 

Despite her proficiency in cooking, and acclaim from friends and family alike, Gummy herself felt that she wasn’t particularly special. There were some dishes that she had failed to ever do properly, Once the lunch rush had ended, most members of the Rhodes Island Cooking Club were allowed to experiment with ingredients. The cost was easily offset by the morale boost in the staff when they landed on a new recipe. She was standing in the kitchen with Zima and Istina to rectify a failure in her culinary endeavors.

“I dunno what you need me here for, I mean not gonna say no to taste-testing but Istina’s got that book knowledge. Unless you want me to like, hack vegetables or something.” Zima said, cleaning her ear out with a pinky before being scolded by Istina to wash her hands again. 

“Istina is here for tactical support! And I like having you around, plus, you’ll be honest if it’s bad or not right.” Gummy said, Istina having to concede that she would probably say it was good no matter what. 

“Alright, a good soup starts with proper stock, we’ll just need to create a bone broth. Zima...would you?” Istina said, holding onto a dirty old cookbook, the pages having been rebound with tape, and scorch marks on the cover. Gummy was normally alright with cooking meat but...cutting bones was a sore point, the other cooks in the kitchen were usually happy to take over when the issue came up. 

“Ah, shit yeah, thanks for letting me be useful.” Zima said, taking the butcher’s cleaver to hack apart the ribs of some Ursin beast in front of her. Gummy was busy looking away, so Istina instructed Zima on the best way to cut it. “Alright, it’s in the pot.” Zima loudly declared, letting Gummy resume her spot as head cook of their small operation. 

Gummy followed a mix of scout’s intuition, Istina’s proper instruction, and Soni- sorry Zima’s recollection of watching how her mom had made borscht in the past to try and recreate the dish from her even younger youth. The bone broth was filtered of its particulates, before beets were added to give it the deep, wine red color, and aromatics such as onions and carrots. Cabbage and potatoes were added to give the meal its bite and substance. 

“We are not adding ham into the borscht, it’s not traditional at all.” Istina argued.

“My mom put it in her soup all the time, and she’s a great cook.” Zima said, Istina had accepted to never comment on Zima’s use of tense for these particular moments. 

“You could always just put it in your own bowl Zima, I’m not against it myself but I’d like to try it without first.” Gummy suggested. 

“Oh yeah, guess that’d make the most sense huh?” Their argument had been winding down already, but it was cut short as the kitchen experienced what felt like a miniature earthquake, thundurus bangs causing ripples to appear in the red soup. Everyone in the kitchen and cafeteria looked up to see a figure approaching them, a Sarkaz whose horns looked more like that of an Elafia’s instead, clad in a cloak that made them cast a shadow on all they approached. Each step carrying tremendous weight, echoing throughout the room. It was almost easy to overlook the stark white cautus who stood beside him, wearing a brand new Rhodes Island Jacket, and a pair of rings similar to the ones the leader to be Amiya wore. 

“Ah, a familiar scent, one that I did not expect to find here, do you suppose it is to help acclimate the new refugees before relocation?” The sarkaz’s voice came out in a low grumble, almost like a machine, 

“Maybe. I’m going to investigate their spice collection. I'd like to make some candies to reward our brothers and sisters for their service, and new future.” The cautus spoke, entering the kitchen and giving a brief scan of the environment for any hostility. It paid to be cautious. 

“Err hello ma’am! I’m Gummy! You said you were looking for spices right? They’re over in that cabinet in the back, sugar should be there too.” Gummy said, ever the helpful one as Istina stood behind Zima, whose gaze lingered on the giant with a vague sense of recognition. 

“Thank you, I’m a new operator, Frostnova. Nice to meet you.” She said, before moving onto her task. 

“Do not mind Yelena’s wariness, it has been a long time since we have been among friends, and not enemies. I am operator Patriot.” Their voice was unlike their polite, agreeable tone. 

“You’re the guy on the flags! I heard you kicked all sorts of noble ass, which is pretty good in my book. Name’s Zima, and this here is Istina.” Zima said while Istina waved. Zima had heard rumors and complaints from other schools of when snot-nosed kids would have their parents harassed by the famed Patriot for their mistreatment of the infected, turning riots into organized activist efforts. 

“Yes, I suppose that is a way  to put it. There is still yet more I wish to do with the aid of Rhodes Island to cut away the corruption of the Ursus government.” 

“Oh, speaking of Ursus, the soup is just about done, would you like to try some Mr. Patriot, I can’t guarantee it’ll be good, but maybe a second opinion might be helpful.” Gummy said, handing tasting spoons to the group. 

“Oh, that is very kind of you, I shall be happy to taste a good borscht.” And it was quite good, lightly sweet yet savory, there had been a hint of strange syntheticness that came with most foods in Rhodes Island, but it didn’t take away from the flavor profile. 

“It doesn’t taste right. It’s not like...shit don’t get me the wrong way, it doesn’t taste warm. I mean obviously it’s still hot but…” Zima trailed off. 

“Hmm, while I wish I had a more verbose way of putting it, I would have to agree with Zima. There’s something missing. It lacks some, satiety to it.” Istina said. 

“Maybe we missed an ingredient, maybe the sour cream? Or even that ham Zima talked about.” Gummy said, distress coming in her voice, failing yet again to capture that comfort the dish normally brought her. 

They added ham, it became too salty. They added sour cream, it became too milky. They added any manner of spices, herbs, and toppings, none of them got them any closer to the form held dearly in their memories. The dish lacked a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment. It filled their stomachs but failed to satiate their imagination. 

Frostnova had come to stand behind Patriot, considering the spices to be too processed and synthesized to be useful for her purposes. She watched, Patriot’s face was difficult to concern for most, but not her, she could tell the turmoil washing over his skull. Too many children found themselves hoping to find the taste of family while being unable to wash the ashes out of their mouth. 

“I’m sorry guys, I guess i’m just not good enough.” Gummy said, eyes on the verge of tears as she tried to add a bay leaf, hoping that might be the missing piece. 

“Hey it’s not your fault, maybe all these ingredients are just crap. It’s whatever, don’t beat yourself up about it.” Zima gave Gummy a reassuring pat on the back, smiling to cheer the bear up. 

“Perhaps, I may be of some assistance. My...wife had many a secret ingredient to her recipes that drove my son to miss her cooking while on campaign. Give me a moment, and please, close your eyes.” Patriot said, the children were willing to try anything, and so obliged, closing their eyes. Patriot pretended to not notice Gummy peeking through her fingers.

Patriot drew a hand deep into their coat, a bag of spice mix to be added into the pot. Frostnova recognized it, having seen Patriot gift it to others in their squad before. 

“Hey! What’d you do? it’s not exactly the same, but it’s damn close!” Zima said as she grabbed another spoonful. 

“Wow, you’re right! I think there’s still something missing, I’ll get it right eventually!” Gummy said, reinvigorating her passion. 

“Hmm, it’s inexplicable, unreal really, something about it helps capture the essence.” Istina said, the most skeptical of the group. 

“It is a secret that one gets as a parent is all. I wish you luck on future attempts.” Patriot said, turning away to leave the cafeteria. Frostnova knew there was nothing to the spice that made the soup any tastier, it was just one of those little white lies that parents gave to their kids to give them a sense of hope. She couldn’t fault the old man for it, the fire in the children’s eyes were enough to keep them warm until they could face the cold reality of the world set in. 

Chapter Text

Official dinners were things that Ch’en dreaded the absolute most. She had to trade in her comfortable, combat ready clothing for some fancy outfit, this time she was wearing a Qipao because it at least let her run in case of an emergency. Swire was decked to the nines, even having her drone be decorated, easily chatting up the many business partners that Wei Yu had invited. Ch’en knew she put up a good front, but her feet tapping gave away at how irate she was at whatever they were discussing, probably something about how the prices for originium kept rising as slave rings in Ursus kept being destroyed.  Swire would be on her own, as Ch’en couldn’t pretend to not be incensed at the attitude the Lungmen elite had for more than 30 seconds at a time.  At the very least she was able to convince Chief Wei to have Hoshiguma be posted as a guard, who looked rather attractive in a suit all things considered. In truth, she knew that the place was still being guarded by Wei’s personal attack dogs, with him acquiescing merely to appease Ch’en from arguing any further, really she did it for her own sanity rather than politicking. 

A waiter came by to offer her a canape, some dainty little thing that wouldn’t ever fill you up, she had seen Hoshiguma take a couple purely for the novelty factor. The woman was already incredibly chummy with the catering staff, her ability to get friendly with workers was one of the most remarkable skills she had really. The dinner was being held in some hotel, because god forbid Wei invite anyone to his own home, no, no one would have a spot to store their coats with every single closet containing a dozen or so skeletons. 

Fumizuki was nowhere to be found, probably out trying to prevent Wei’s machinations from causing his head to be lopped off without an ounce of acknowledgement.  Ch’en was standing in the corner with some business executives gossiping about an affair some noble was having with an infected, she mumbled noises in agreement every now and then to avoid having to converse further, her own mind considering a case that had gone cold a year back. Swire stopped letting her bring files home, but she couldn't stop her from carrying them in her mind after all. 

“Hellooo? Terra to Superintendent Ch’en? I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last 30 seconds.” Swire said, fanning herself obnoxiously with a hand on her hip. 

“I’m sorry Swire, I must have mistaken you for a pet cat and ignored you. What do you want?” The people around her had dispersed when Swire showed up, her presence having the effect of getting people to go where they want them to. 

“I wanted to make sure you were...alright. That’s all.” Swire said, genuine concern lacing her voice, Ch’en supposed the unusual circumstances that led them to the dinner in the first place would have anyone cautious. 

“He’s yet to send any of his raincoats after me for this, so I don’t know. If I end up missing after the party, Hoshi is in charge of my will.” Ch’en said, fully expecting to get her punishment sometime soon. 

“Don’t be morbid, he’ll reprimand you, maybe strip you of some unnecessary title, and get back to it. You’re too valuable to.... Just let go.” Swire said, stopping herself from saying me. 

“Maybe, but we both know this won’t be the last time this incident occurs.” Ch’en said, which caused Swire to give a heavy sigh. Everyone’s attention was caught as a glass was struck with a knife, ringing out the hotel’s main lobby as the man of the hour himself had made his presence known. He stood on a raised podium, behind him was the portrait of a politician, Shen Yu, framed in chrysanthemums. He was surrounded by his guards and Hoshiguma. 

“We are here today, to honor the life and death of my dear friend, Shen Yu. He was an admirable soul, fighting for the rights of the downtrodden in Lungmen, ended too short by the infamous assassin Redao. Thanks to the efforts of officer Ch’en, he has been brought to justice, so that we may rest easy that my friend has been avenged.” Wei Yu said, Ch’en nor Swire couldn’t detect an ounce of deceit in his voice. Ch’en didn’t know what was worse, him being able to lie that well, or genuinely believing it. A spotlight had been put on her, with other guests giving polite claps and solemn thanks for doing her job. 

Ch’en only gave the usual spiel about upholding the justice of Lungmen no matter what, which appeased them enough to go on to testimonies from the widow who recounted meeting their husband for the first time. A server helpfully informed Ch’en that Wei would like to discuss something with her in a private room regarding the case, she knew what to expect. She never left home without Chi Xao after all. Hoshiguma was on high alert, barred from following Ch’en but trusting that she’d make it out on her own. 

“Congratulations once again on the brilliant solve Officer Ch’en, anyone else would have been happy with getting any culprit, the butler doing it? A fine twist and acceptable target, but you had to find the real culprit didn’t you?” Chief Wei Yu said, he was smoking a pipe, sitting in an office chair within the hotel management office, flanked by guards in black raincoats. 

“Just doing my job sir.” Ch’en replied stiffly. 

“So tell me, despite going against all of my orders to drop the case and let my men handle the murder of Shen Yu, why did you? I could have you fired for insubordination were it not for you getting such fine results.” Wei Yu said, Ch’en could almost swear he was referencing an old cop flick with that line. 

“I didn’t disobey any of your orders sir, I did not investigate the murder of Shen Yu, I was investigating the murder of Phi Zhang.” Ch’en said, defiantly. 

“Who?” This caught Wei a bit by surprise, the name wasn’t one that had been at all involved with the death of his riv- dear friend. 

“A homeless infected that was murdered on the same date as Shen Yu, had their clothes stolen, and were only found a couple blocks away. The fact that the killer had been the same for both crimes is nothing more than coincidence I will sadly, admit.” Ch’en said. 

“Now, since when has the homeless infected been your department, officer Ch’en?” Wei Yu said, their face didn’t show it, but the annoyance bubbled and left their fur standing on end, their assassin had been sloppy. 

“Since you had given away the Shen Yu case to someone else, I had a bit of extra free time to make sure we didn’t have a serial killer on the loose is all.” Ch’en said, the tension between the two was slowly building up, the pressure could cause the entire building to explode if either got serious. “They like to target those they think no one will miss.”

“Do not flout your authority, you still take orders from me, do you understand? I will ignore this insubordination this time, but I will not do so again. Especially not for you flagrantly disobeying me using a loophole.” Wei Yu said, barely a growl detectable. 

“There is no loophole, I signed an oath to serve the city of Lungmen, not you. Phi Zhang was a Lungmen citizen wrongfully murdered. I thus acted in my power to carry out the justice for that crime. He wasn’t just collateral damage to be checked off, though I doubt you acknowledged even that much. Thank you for the congratulations, if you’ll excuse me now, I’ll be leaving. Unless you had any other business, Sir.” Ch’en said, punctuating her sentence by gripping the hilt of Chi Xao. Both the raincoats primed their weapons, ready to strike, as Wei Yu waved a hand off. 

“I’m giving you a 2 week mandatory vacation, if we see you holding a file you’ll be stripped of your rank. You deserve it after such good work.” The Chief said, as Ch’en exited the room with a bow. She’d have slammed the door, but that probably would cause more trouble than satisfaction. It was a slap on the wrist all things considered, but that’s because in the grand scheme, it meant nothing. Ch’en couldn’t really do much to reform the structure of the police, the laws and fines of the city were mostly there to give a price tag to any illegal activity the rich wanted to do. 

Still, she found that she couldn’t just let it go, neither could Hoshiguma and Swire when it came up. Doing it alone would have been impossible, she needed Hoshiguma’s ability to gather witness testimonies, and Swire to get the Rat King to fess up the assassin’s location, but she’d gladly take the full punishment alone. Even if the infected, or the destitute cannot rely on the police for help, maybe they’ll learn that someone cares, that someone is willing to stick their neck out, though it was a bit too optimistic for Ch’en to entertain for long. 

Once she got back out to the main hall, Swire and Hoshiguma looked relieved to see her all in one piece, Swire had been nervously fanning herself nonstop, while Hoshiguma couldn’t stop fidgeting with her tie. 

“So...how did it go Sir? You look..only slightly pissed.” Hoshiguma said. 

“I got 2 weeks suspension, the reality of our police work is draining me, I need to get hammered. Hoshiguma, you’re taking Swire and I to the greasiest bar you know, and I’ll finally get you that burger I owe you Swire.” Ch’en said, eager to get the hell out of this place surrounded by sycophants and soulless business execs. 

“Since when did I take orders from you? I never agreed to going anywhere.” Swire said with indignation. 

“Fine, we’ll go together and leave you here alone. Unlike you, I don’t have work tomorrow.” Ch’en said, a small smirk on her face as she could at least use the situation to tease Swire, who resisted the urge to stamp her feet at the cheekiness. 

“Absolutely not, I’m coming to make sure you don’t disgrace the Lungmen Police in your time off.” Swire said, chasing after the two who left the fancy party, several people staring at them as they walked away. 

The three ended up at some biker bar that Hoshiguma was a regular at, where Swire got drunk enough to sing karaoke horribly, Ch’en ended up being banned for chucking Chi Xao, sheathe and all, at a dart board when she got a millimeter off a bullseye. Hoshiguma was the most sober one there, and had to apologize for both of their behavior as Swire handed the bartender a wad of cash.

Chapter Text

“Ifrit, hold your fire until I say so, alright?” The Doctor spoke with measured patience, having slowly watched Ifrit become less and less of a loose cannon, wielding the tremendous power they contained with burgeoning precision and restraint. Their squad was currently fighting off a group of goons sicced on them by the Siesta government, preventing them from getting Ceylon to city hall. 

“Who do you think the great Ifrit is doc? I wouldn’t waste my flames on smallfry.” Ifrit said, aiming down the sight of her originium flamethrower. There were agents slipping past the defensive line held by Hellagur and Gummy, and entered Ifrit’s range, but she held off. 

They’re nothing before you, why bother holding back? It’d be easy, it’d be so easy to just incinerate them all. 

“Shut the hell up moron! I got my orders, I’ll leave the agents up to Amiya, I trust the Doc’s got a reason.” Ifrit said, her trigger finger just itching. She could probably just let loose a small puff of fire, a warning shot, but she reigned herself in. The agents had gone down a set of stairs, emerging on the other side of the pier where Amiya was able to suppress them with her Arts, but they were just there to soften their group, a wave of heavily armored Rockbreakers had shown up. 

“Alright, Gummy! Retreat, I’m deploying Matterhorn behind you. Ifrit, once you see them, let loose! Call to Shining and Ansel to support you.” The Doctor said, the operators swapping out to take a rest with precision that came from experience and absolute trust in their commander. 

Once the Rockbreakers got into Ifrit’s range, she called out, “Medics! I’m firing now! Let’s have a barbecue!” with glee, she pulled the trigger and used her arts to compress and expand the flame into an explosive stream, turning the landscape before her into an inferno. The pier was burned to hell, with the shallow water beneath them only allowing the sand to avoid its fate of becoming glass for but a brief moment. The pain in her nerves flared up from the effort as Shining used her arts to keep Ifrit from tearing herself apart due to the strain arts put on her body. 

The impressive arts resistant armor the Rockbreakers wore was only enough for them to have just enough time to retreat from the line of fire, falling into the sandbar and sinking so that the rest of the crew could capture them. 

Finish them, they’re helpless 

“Ifrit doesn’t need no ghost telling me who to kill! I only kill those I’ve decided to, I ain’t staining my hands on some nobodies” Ifrit snarled under her breath to the apparition, before moving to join the squad’s mission to get Ceylon to save her damn city. 

Silence was typing in some modifications to the coding of her drone array, to help see if she could potentially get it to be easy enough to use for someone without her expertise to deploy them, but it was a long way off. 

“Starting reboot process. Please reconfigure date and time.” Ptilopsis said, stirring from her impromptu nap, she was currently laying underneath her desk where the medic department had specially cushioned and carpeted to account for it. 

“It’s Thursday, and 2:20 A.M, so good morning. Ifrit came by earlier, she was excited about finally getting her promotion. The Doctor said they’ve had no further problems with her going out of control on any of their ops.” Silence said, a small smile and hint of pride lacing her normally reserved voice. 

“Operator Ifrit’s credentials has outstripped Silence’s, is Ifrit now the administrator?” Ptilopsis said, Silence gave her a strange look, “Just kidding. Will we be celebrating?” 

“Supposedly so yes, I’ll need you to schedule time off for a weekend and the three of us will go on a little trip, she wants to show us what we missed in Siesta.” Silence said, though Ptilopsis looked a bit doubtful, 

“Silence, potential deceit has been detected. The chances of falsehoods are approaching 0%, thus leaving absence of information, please confirm if true/false.” Ptilopsis said, being way too used to the absurdity of the owl who could speak normally having more trouble expressing her feelings.

“There’s nothing more, Ifrit just asked again if we could potentially invite Saria, which is an absurd suggestion so I didn’t feel the need to bring it up.” Silence said.

“Attempts by Operator Saria to contact Silence this week have been recorded to be 11 times. Ptilopsis suggests that perhaps, critical information will be shared.” Ptilopsis said, sitting up and giving Silence a look while putting her hands on her hips. 

“Why are you taking her side? I don’t trust that this isn’t some ploy for her to clean up some loose end of hers.” Silence said, 

“Ptilopsis is, and always has been, a neutral party. Rhine Lab will not remain idle, there is a 38% they will attempt to reclaim Ifrit within a 3 month time period.” Ptilopsis said, looking gravely serious. 

“If they come, we’ll just hide again, I don’t see why Saria factors into this at all.” Silence said, not even convincing to herself. “Rhodes Island isn’t the only place we can research away from Rhine Lab.” 

“Your decision will be respected, but Ptilopsis urges Silence to reconfigure options, Ifrit has had significant emotional growth here.” For all they could do to raise Ifrit properly, whatever little it was considering their responsibility in getting her to be the way she was in the first place, it wasn’t ever enough. 

Ifrit had been someone that a couple years ago, would have burned all of the doctors here in a second, only sedated if Saria was nearby...forcefully if need be. She didn’t hurt Ptilopsis or Silence, but it didn’t mean they were happy, just that the fire inside her was smoldering rather than a raging inferno. 

Ifrit had grown significantly. Silence had actually watched Ifrit do her homework and then do research afterwards of her own initiative. She talked to Eyjafjalla to get insight on how to direct her flames so as to leave her allies unscathed. She was still a nuisance to some of the personnel on the base, but she’d apologize, even if Silence had to discipline her first.  The fire inside Ifrit had become a lighter, one that could be turned off and on at the user’s will rather than be at the mercy of her emotions. 

Silence sighed, rubbing her temples with the headache forming, “Fine, we’ll see what Saria wants to talk to us about, but we’re leaving Ifrit out of this. I want answers myself. She’s probably in her room, let’s go right now.” it was at an ungodly hour in the morning, but Silence figured getting the jump on Saria was useful. 

The two night owls made their way out of the lab and down to the dormitories, passing by a couple of the other graveyard shift employees or nocturnal operators on the way there. Both were tense, feathers bristled in anticipation, Silence was prepping her lungs for a shouting match, while Ptilopsis knew she’d have to be the one to get the two to actually talk long enough to learn something. 

Once they were at her door, Silence hovered her hand over the buzzer, hesitating now that the reality of the situation dawned on her, “Actually on second thought, I’ve changed my mind, this is pointless.” she said as she turned on her heel, coming face to face with Saria who was looking at the two mouth agape and tail sticking straight up. She was in her workout clothes, a towel over her and had turned the corner to see Silence at her door. 

“Did you come here to talk?” Saria said, wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead. “I just got back from the gym.” 

“What, did you think I didn’t figure that out from context? I was just about to make a mistake was all, one that I’ll be correcting.`` Before Silence could stomp off, Ptilopsis made an expression before grabbing her shoulder. 

“Silence, for her sake.” Her brain was trying to get more of an emotional response through, only to be faced with a migraine from the other voice. 

“Ugh, fine. 2 minutes, and then we’re leaving. Saria, you wanted to talk, then let’s talk.” Silence said. 

“Let’s go in my room, this is going to be confidential.” Saria said, punching in her code to let the two in. It was a fairly spartan room, Saria didn’t really need much, and it was set up in a way that’d be easy to pack up and leave if need be. Ptilopsis took a seat at the small desk while Saria sat on her bed, Silence standing against the door to make a quick escape. 

“Your 2 minutes starts now, after this I don’t want to talk to you again.” Silence said with arms crossed. 

“Fine, I won’t begrudge you for hating me, but you deserve to know. The original project wasn’t funded by a government agency, it was funded by the Columbian military.” Saria said, swallowing thickly and wasting precious seconds to work up the nerve to continue, “Ifrit and the others were going to be bioweapons, by implanting modified Originium DNA agents into sarkaz children. The other subject’s bodies rejected the transformation, becoming what you saw in the incident. They were going to melt down and take out the entire landship if I didn’t suppress them.” Saria said, feeling the eyes of Silence bore into her unblinkingly as she recounted what she could quickly. 

“How do I know that you aren’t just justifying your actions by claiming they were just going to die anyways?” Silence said, it wasn’t outright yelling, but the venom that seemed into her voice might have been worse. 

“I can’t give you any of the files Silence, they were locked away in the Rhine Lab computers on a private network. I’m not proud of what I did, but it was the only way. We would have all died otherwise. You can hate me for that, but I won’t say I regret it. I only regret not realizing what was going on before it got to that point.” Saria said in an even, measured voice, her 2 minutes having already passed, a fact which Silence ignored, she needed answers. 

“Inputting query, reason for leaving.” Ptilopsis said. 

“I left because I needed to do something about it, find political safe havens, find a way to reverse the transformation Ifrit went through. Rhine Lab doesn’t openly declare it, but they want me killed for stumbling upon the original instructions. I didn’t find anything, only being able to hop from organization to try and make progress.” Saria said, 

“Clarification, reason for leaving unannounced.” Ptilopsis said, with Silence tapping her feet impatiently. Saria looked guilty, 

“I…” She tried speaking before clamming up, causing Silence to look in disgust. 

“That’s what I thought, Ptilopsis, let’s go. We didn’t learn anything useful, and this was a whole waste of time.” 

“I was scared. I was scared to confront you or Ifrit after the incident. I wasn’t ready to face you.” Saria said, looking at her shoes, unable to meet Silence’s eyes. “I hated the fact that I couldn’t tell you. I hated that I went along with it for so long. I was scared because I was supposed to protect us, but ultimately I was just there to make sure nothing got out. If I left, they’d have one fewer way of dealing with Ifrit, then maybe they’d pause the experiment to hunt me down, but I guess you found a way around that. I’m sorry.” 

“So why now? You leave without a word, and now all of a sudden, you want to explain that my life’s work is some military conspiracy to make living weapons. What, did your conscious finally get the better of you?” Silence said, exasperated and resisting the urge to punch Saria. 

“Ifrit is happy here. If Rhine Lab came to take her back only to find that Ifrit grew enough to be her own person, I wanted you two to be prepared. I don’t care if you never let me see her, but I will still do whatever I can to protect her. I cut all my connections on Dr. Kal’tsit’s behalf, I’ve given up my offensive abilities to aid the Doctor, because I believe this is where she’ll have the best chance of growing up. Don’t you agree?” Saria said, looking at Silence with a wistful gleam, her tail swishing ever so slightly on the bed. 

“Ptilopsis does not agree with Saria’s methodology, apology deemed unsatisfactory, however. It is agreed that Ifrit is happy presently. Were Rhine Lab to attempt to seize control, it might be beneficial to ask for the assistance of Rhodes Island.” Ptilopsis said, a hopeful glance to Silence. 

“We can’t fight them. The entire Columbian military would crush Rhodes Island in a heartbeat. Assuming everything you’ve said to be true, that doesn’t mean we need your help specifically. We can ask from anyone else.” 

“I don’t ask that you trust me, I’m not saying this because I want you to forgive me. I’m saying this because we need to do whatever it takes to care for Ifrit. I am willing to die if that buys you just another heartbeat to run.” Saria said, standing up and offering up her hand. 

Silence mulled it over, she couldn’t exactly claim that she was unaware of the...sketchy nature of Ifrit’s creation. Every researcher with any sort of decency had that problem when they worked with Columbia, you were either languishing in obscurity, scraping by to accomplish anything, or lavished with all the money you could want, so long as you ignored how blood-soaked it was. Saria was...Saria had never exactly been alright with the way things were going. Silence had just gotten good at ignoring everything for the sake of some vague sense of progress against oripathy, the plague originium brought upon the world. 

The thing was, she and everyone she cared about was already living on borrowed time. Ptilopsis managed her symptoms as best she could, but one day she might become too fragmented to maintain her personality or take care of Ifrit, while Silence herself was edging closer and closer. Ifrit had become stable, but the distinct possibility of the two of them dying early was becoming apparent. 

“I believe that Rhine Lab was making us create living weapons, that much was obvious, whether or not you’re telling the truth about anything else, it will have to be verified through the scientific method. I will...do my best to ATTEMPT, to coexist with you. I’m still angry, don’t get me wrong on that, I’ve not forgiven your actions back then, nor your disappearance, but. I will allow you to try and earn back your trust.” Silence said, putting her hand on top of Saria’s. She looked to Ptilopsis to see whether she had considered the matter objectively settled or not. 

“Allies are necessary to protect Ifrit’s happiness, Ptilopsis would like to re-engage connections integral to that function.” She cupped the two of their hands, unable to express how much she missed the feeling. It wasn’t the same, it wouldn’t really ever be, but they could at least try to make something different. 

“Thank you, for hearing me out. I’ll do what I can to make sure you believe me. I’ll stop trying to contact Ifrit, but please...when you think she’s ready, give the full truth to her. She must be confused about that thing she ended up hosting.” Saria said, as the three removed their hands. 

“Actually...that’s the reason we wanted to talk to you in the first place. Ifrit wanted to take us to Siesta, for a vacation. She invited you specifically...we wanted to try to at least make a compromise. She still asks for you all the time. I’ll...allow you to restart contact with Ifrit, on a couple conditions.” Silence said, holding up fingers as she counted them off, “1, you will not contact them without my or Ptilopsis’ conscious presence. 2, we will not discuss the details of this conversation, or any pertaining to the former incidents at Rhine Lab until it is a unanimous decision by all three of us, and 3, don’t tell the girl any promises, false hopes help no one. Do those seem fair?” 

“Yes, I agree to all three. Whatever it takes.” Saria said. 

Several Weeks of Negotiation Later 

Owls were not designed to bake in the sun, a cruel reality found out as Ifrit watched her guardians huddled under the umbrella’s meager protection from the deadly rays of the glowing orb of death in the sky. 

“We come all the way to the beach, and you just lay there? C’mon!” Ifrit said, laughing as she dug out a bottle of soda from the ice chest, or rather attempted to grab one of their wine coolers before having a glare thrown her way. “Technically, I could pull rank and drink these anyways.” Ifrit said. 

“Correction, rule 56 code G7 of Rhodes Island Chain of Command, superior officers may not abuse their position to extort, steal, or blackmail their subordinates.” Ptilopsis said, in between pants as the heat was getting to them. 

“Ifrit, we both haven’t seen the sun in literal days, and you bring us to the brightest spot on Terra, what did you expect? Besides, we figured there was someone else you could burn your energy on.” Silence said, as a figure jogged up to them, having recently changed into a swimsuit that did wonders to highlight their muscles, drawing looks as well as a low whistle from Ptilopsis. 

“Sorry I’m late, I was picking up some sports gear.” Saria said, having brought along a volleyball and some equipment to make a sand castle. 

“Saria! You’re here! You really came to see me! Silence? Did you two make up?!” Ifrit said before tackling Saria, who ended up dropping all the things she just carried into the sand, not that she cared much. She looked to Silence first, who just gave a small nod as she leaned into the hug, enveloping Ifrit and lifting her up. 

“No, we haven’t made up. I’m just allowed to see you again, so long as either of them are present, alright? I’m proud of you, you’ve come a long way in controlling your powers since then.” Saria said, as Ifrit’s face started hurting from how damn hard she was smiling.

“Cmon cmon, let’s go play some volleyball!” Ifrit said, dragging Saria by the hand to the net, even politely asking the current group that they’ll be using it next rather than just flaunting her power...well polite for Ifrit anyways. 

“I’m still wary of this whole arrangement, we could always slip and Saria ends up snatching her away somewhere.” Silence said, ever the optimist. 

“Current witnesses average around 634, accounting for foot traffic. Saria would not risk ruining relationships with Rhodes Island.” Ptilopsis said as she popped open her (1) allowed wine cooler, anymore and she’d face Gavial’s wrath the second she came back, watching as Ifrit and Saria caused a spectacle, playing volleyball in a way mortals were not meant to comprehend. The two mildly wished the giant sandstorms they created with every spike would get high enough to provide some more shade, but at that point the authorities would probably get called. 

“Man, how are you so fast? That was great! I rarely get to go all out, what should we do next, ooh, ooh, Silence, Ptilopsis, help us build a sand castle! Or we could bury Silence in the sand!” Ifrit said, speaking a couple hundred km/h, all but dragging the two Liberi into the hot sun. 

“Burying things has been known to keep them cooler, Ptilopsis, highly recommends Silence as the one buried.” She said cheekily. 

“You just don’t want to get sand in your feathers.” Silence grumbles, as she picks up a shovel, the group settling on a sand castle building competition. Silence’s was technically proficient, a fairly picture perfect sandcastle that everyone agreed was a bit too bland. 

“I see you aren’t making any waves today with that design.” Saria said, somehow Silence swore that being able to make the worst jokes with a str- serious face was a hiring requirement at Rhine Lab. 

“I regret ever letting you into my life again, and I hope you get eaten by a fish.” Silence said. 

Ptilopsis’ was half formed, as she fell asleep in the middle of the building, having managed to make a pillow out of seaweed before collapsing. Saria brought her back under the umbrella to wait for her to wake up again. 

“And thus we’ve seaweeded out the weak from the competition.” Saria said. Ifrit groaned before she showed off her creation, which incorporated sea shells and anything else she found and was much larger than the previous two, able to use her flames to partially bake the structure. Inside the walls of the sandcastle was a small pool formed from digging up sand till she hit water, with even a couple miniscule fishes and crabs hanging out. 

“Ifrit, don’t be so crabby when you compare yours to mine, it was a good effort, certainly worth shell-ebration.” Saria said. 

“SILENCE! I wanna go home now, this is the worst! Why did I miss you!” Ifrit said as the three of them looked at the most elaborate structure that wasn’t a tourist attraction the beach had ever seen. It was pretty much unfair to have someone whose main ability is to manipulate calcium when most beach sand is composed of calcium carbonate. The win was given to Ifrit due to none of them feeling satisfied giving it to Saria, also out of spite. 

“Alright, I’m getting hungry, lemme show you the place I did business while I was here with the Doc!” Ifrit said, her guardians, or at this point, enthusiasm hostages agreed  since the next activity only involved them relaxing and eating. The small snack shack she had run with Gummy had been replaced with some other person selling grilled kebabs and corn, next to a stand selling shaved ice. They had actually recognized Ifrit, chatting with her about various seasonings as the adults sat on the sand and munched on overpriced meat sticks. 

“I haven’t even done any exercise, yet somehow I’m exhausted. Saria, how the hell do you still have energy.” Silence said, huffing with laboured breathing trying to keep up Ifrit. She absolutely loathed to admit that neither her nor Ptilopsis could manage such a thing. 

“Unlike you two, I actually know that dumbbells aren’t going to make you any stupider.” Saria said, holding three different kebabs in one hand, patting Ptilopsis’ back with the other as she received a system freeze from the shaved ice. 

“Those guys were chumps, I coulda made this way better, but it’s important to help out the local ec...shop places.” Ifrit said, carrying a plate of grilled steak kebabs with her. 

“I’ll take your word for it, maybe you can make us dinner sometime.” Silence mused, it’d certainly let her have more time for research. 

“Hell yeah! Just you wait, I won’t even set off the fire alarm this time.” Ifrit said with a grin. 

As the sun was setting, the group packed up to head home for the day, with Silence allowing Saria to drive them back, seeing as Ifrit nor Ptilopsis could legally drive, and she herself was exhausted. 

“I hope you won’t take this opportunity to somehow drive us somewhere else the second I fall asleep.” Silence said as she tucked  the drained Ifrit into the backseat of the Rhodes Island vehicle, clicking her seatbelt as Saria lifted Ptilopsis who was way too tall for Silence to even try and do so. 

“I won’t, besides I have a training seminar I need to do this week. There’s something Dr. Kal’tsit needs me to investigate before she gets back too.” Saria said as Silence took shotgun, driving off into the setting sun. 

“Thank you, for letting me come today. I enjoyed it a lot.” Saria said, looking more content than she had since the incident. 

“Ifrit earned something nice, she’s been working hard, but I suppose you’ll have to do. I still don’t know what will happen when all the chips are down, but for now, I’ll accept you spending time with her, with proper supervision of course.” Silence said, giving Saria just that much as they drove home to the landship Rhodes Island. 

Chapter Text

Grani was having a blast, she was humming a song from one of Sora’s CDs along with her road-trip buddy, the two of them heading toward Big Bob’s farm to hang out. 

“Trail mix me!” Grani said, not worried about traffic considering the empty country roads meant there wasn’t anyone around for tens of kilometres, with the flat land making going off road more of an inconvenience to their tires than a genuine danger. 

“If we are driving, would it not be road mix? The mix Carol gave us is quite nice, the ones you can buy skimp on the nuts.” Mudrock said with a hand to the chin strap of their mask. 

“Huh, I can roll with that, road mix me!” She opened up her mouth, as Mudrock tossed a handful of nuts, pretzels and candy in the general direction of Grani’s mouth, watching as about 80% went past her face and out of the open window. Mudrock mused on how strange it was, to consider that just a month ago they were struggling to survive day by day as a Sarkaz mercenary, now they were enjoying a trip to their friend’s place on a paid vacation, with snacks provided. They weren’t even worrying about their troops back at the base, with most of them currently undergoing training to learn domestic professions, though most are eager to become combat ops to follow their cherished leader into the battlefield. 

Fields of golden wheat started becoming visible to the pair, following the winding road to the large building that was presumably a farmhouse. There were even some livestock penned up, with various infected personnel tending to them, though as the roar of the tires alerted them, they looked at the intruders warily before recognition illuminated their faces. 

“Hey! It’s a friendly! Holdl your fire!” A guard yelled, with several others around the compound relaxing their grip on their crossbows as Grani’s car came to a stop, stepping out with a cheerful wave. 

“Hey guys! What’s up? We came to visit! Carol was gonna but she got tied up preparing for the harvest festival soon.” Grani said as Mudrock went to unload the medical supplies they brought. 

“Nice to see you again, boss is back at the farmhouse, I’ll take you to him.” The man said as he led them to the large farmhouse that oversaw the estate, giving friendly nods to the various former mercenaries that kept lookout. 

“Guess things still ain’t all that peaceful out here, you’d think they’d not bug you guys.” 

“Yeah, sometimes we get rude guests, but hey, we sleep in warm beds, drink enough to get drunk, and don’t fight more than once a week, so can’t complain too much.” The guard said, chatting amicably as the group walked up to the farmhouse. “So, big guy, why are you here? I’m just glad you didn’t bring Skadi.” saying her name with a shudder

“Big Bob is an old friend. “ Mudrock said, their voice sounding distant and low behind their mask. The guard vaguely remembered one of Big Bob’s old Sarkaz acquaintances, but she was a shorter woman so they dismissed the thought. 

“BOSS! We got visitors, Grani and some Sarkaz are here!” The guard said once they entered the house, with several infected lounging in the parlor chatting and playing board games when they came in, one of them being much larger than the others. Grani found it strange to see him without his blast armor and chainsaw, but she figured the farm clothes suited him better, he looked like how most old soldiers tended to, with arms and face a bit scarred from battle. 

“Grani! It’s good to see you again….Mudrock? What are you doing here?” Big Bob said as he stood up to greet the two, walking with a hint of a limp from the injury he sustained from bounty hunting. Surprise crossed his face as he eyed the Sarkaz with a bit of disbelief. He led them to take a seat in the parlor, having someone take the supplies to the group’s medic, “Hey you layabouts! We got some guests, go fetch some tea or something! Pipsqueak ain’t old enough for beer.” Big Bob said, with several of their former men who had been lounging giving back nonchalant replies, knowing Big Bob was a bit of a softie that tried sounding tougher than he was.

“I never asked when we met each other before, but is your first name Big?” Mudrock said as they sat on a couch, taking up most of the space on it while Grani just grabbed a cushion and sat on the floor, Big Bob having an old man rocking chair reserved for him. 

“What? No, of course my first name isn’t big, it’s Bob? What kind of question is that?” Bob said towards Mudrock. 

“My men asked whether they called you that cause you were really big, which you don’t seem to me. I wondered if your first name was actually just big.” Mudrock said, as if that was a completely normal line of logic. 

“Has she always been like this?” Grani asked, with Bob merely shrugging, several of their group looking at Mudrock with confusion at Grani’s pronoun choice. 

“They’ve always been an oddball yeah. So Mudrock, how’d you end up coming to visit me with Grani? I thought you were heading back to Kazdel to try and get a space for your squad.” Bob said as someone brought a pitcher of iced tea and a tray of cups, pouring out a glass for the two of them. Grani took a sip of the drink that had enough sugar to give an elephant hypertension, before instantly downing the glass. 

“My squad was involved in a pointless riot within Wolumonde, then we met up with Rhodes island rescuing us while en route to Kazdel. It’s been nice, Theresa can play with my colossus without needing medical treatment.” Mudrock said fondly, it was quite a headache for Kal’tsit that this was the case. The Sarkaz in Mudrock’s squadron were equally charmed and horrified as their leader had a giant stone golem wrestle with the king of the Sarkaz, exacerbated by the Doctor cheering on their wife and enabling the behavior. 

“Huh, sounds pretty nice. That Sarkaz king sounds like a real wild card if they’re playing with your friends like that. We’ve been doing pretty alright for ourselves out here, we got a couple of shitheads bothering us every now and then, but for the most part as long as we pay our taxes, Columbia doesn’t ask any questions. We’ve just recently started trying to brew beer with the hops we grow, they’re uhhh...not great.” Bob says with a bit of a laugh. Mudrock nodded, taking off their mask and hood to take a drink of the tea. 

Several of the mercenaries in the room had their jaw drop at the gorgeous face of Mudrock, having never heard much about her besides some anecdotes from Big Bob about her odd mannerisms. She paid it no mind, looking out at the rolling fields of crops. 

“So! We came to help out for the day, we had some free time and figure it’d be a good idea to check up and lend a hand.” Grani said, Big Bob rubbing his chin in thought. 

“I actually do need your help with something, if you’re gonna eat tonight than you’re working.” A grin spreading across his face. 

Grani was currently grinding wheat while chatting alongside several other members, who were already starting to get cramps in their hands while she was still full of energy. 

“Yeah, it’s hard to imagine it but Nearl’s group has gotten really good at making furniture of all things. Shining’s stuff is all black though so I haven’t really bought any.” Grani said, a hand crank going at lightning speed, with Bob loudly mocking his former men at how they were being beat. 

“The pipsqueak can’t even reach the top shelf, and she’s still beating your asses! The hell do I pay you for?” Bob said with a laugh, a couple of them grumbling about mutiny. 

Outside, Mudrock was flexing her muscles, stretching a bit before getting to work, all her physical movements being mirrored in the towering colossus beside her. It’s fingers had been replaced with sharpened rocks, used as makeshift scythes as the golem cleaved its way through the wheat field, with Mudrock miming the act of gripping to harvest the wheat. The astounding part to the workers was the fact that the colossus’ impressive weight wasn’t destroying the farmland underneath it’s feet, Mudrock returning it to it’s proper state once the golem’s where it walked.

“You’re doing great. Does the soil here feel nice on your feet? That’s good, I’m glad.” Mudrock said, whispering softly to her construct, feeling every sensation it felt in her bones, always happy to see how the various types of soil affected the disposition of the golems. The cold, hard permafrost coated ground in Leithania had made the golems hardy, suited for battle but little else. The loamy soil that had been cared for made a golem that was strong, but still malleable, happy to not be made for battle. 

Several hours of harvesting and grinding wheat was followed by turning the flour into a suitable dough, which meant a fair amount of kneading. Big Bob’s men had traded off, while Grani and Mudrock kept on going with enthusiasm and aplomb, their hands gripping and folding the dough to work the gluten structure. 

“This is my first time making bread! So like, do we gotta do that thing where we throw it in the air to spin it?” Grani says as she plays with a ball of dough, Mudrock tossing hers up in the air and watching it get caught on one of her horns with a look of distress. 

“I have no idea where you got that idea from, that’s pizza. Separate the dough into halves, we’re using half now to make a fry bread, and the other half we’ll let proof to get loaves for the week. Cmon, this is the basics. What, do you not cook cause you got fancy people cooking for you at Rhodes?” Bob teases as they help get the dough out of Mudrock’s horns. 

“I can cook! I make toast all the time! I tried learning how to bake apple pie, but when I asked Exusiai for the recipe, I couldn’t understand any of her instructions.” Grani says, rambling as she stretches the dough into flat discs, handing them over to Bob who was starting to get the giant cast iron skillet hot with oil. There weren’t exactly amazing cooks at the farm, but they could manage the basics from years living without support, with others prepping vegetables from the farm to be roasted in the oven. Several tiny golems had been created to help the other workers peel vegetables, but it was a terrible idea as they all got distracted playing with them, Mudrock cooing encouragement from the other room only causing even less work to get done if Big Bob didn't yell at them.  

“The texture of dough...is nice. I wonder if you made a fluffy enough bread you could make it a pillow. Wake up to a nice breakfast.” Mudrock wondered aloud,

“Oh that’s a great idea! Hey Bob, what if we made one really really big sheet of dough, we could also get a blanket.” Grani said, with Bob tossing a disc into the shimmering oil, boiling hot bubbles rising as the bread expanded slightly, and took on a golden brown color. 

“You can pull that crap at Rhodes Island, on my farm my word goes, and we’re making food, not upholstery!” Big Bob said, using a spider to fish out the bread and let it drip off excess oil on a drying rack as they made their way through the pile of discs Mudrock and Grani were making, enough to feed the entire farm for their lunch break. 

Once the preparations were done, Big Bob went out yelling in the fields for everyone to come in to eat, with Mudrock using her golems to help set the large table within the farmhouse dining room. Lunch was mostly roasted carrots, potatoes, and parsnips to go on top of the giant baskets of fry bread spread across the table, with another person having gone down to the basement to bring out a keg of beer since they were entertaining guests. 

“Hey! You skipped me!” Grani said, as instead of a mug of beer, she was handed a mug of apple juice.  

“You’re too young to be drinking.” Big Bob scolded, clacking the mug with Mudrock who easily downed the glass as the two participated in a mercenary’s favorite pastime. 

“Grani, you’re driving. You can’t drink. Since my golems cannot drink, I will do so in their place, 3 more cups...1 more for Grani too actually.” Mudrock says, not a hint of sarcasm as someone fills up her cup. The beer was actually fairly bad, it lacked the flavor of hops, being overly bitter and somewhat salty, showing the group’s relative newness to the process. Of course, with a mercenary’s palate, any alcohol that could get you drunk was good as any other. 

“Cheers.” Big Bob said, tapping his mug against Grani’s, while Mudrock didn’t join the rest of the former mercs rowdy cheers and cajoling, a small smile graced her face as she got to watch her friends relax. Even if the beer tasted like water.

Chapter Text

Dr. Kal’tsit was currently standing in the corner of a party that was being thrown specifically for her, arranged by one of her beloved kids, and she couldn’t help but feel out of place. She was sipping on a Siracusan white wine, extra dry, not having much appetite and only able to nibble at the various snacks and dishes that had been gladly supplied by the many operators with a predilection for cooking. Matterhorn had butchered some giant animal, and turned them into buttery mushroom and meat pot pies that were small enough to pick up. Bagpipe had done what she called Victorian Eggs, which were eggs that had been coated in sausage and then deep-fried, crusted with bread or grains, an instant hit with many of the operators hoping to milk their excellent healthcare for all its worth. 

“Congratulations again on your conference tour, it was a shame that Dr.Atro wasn’t able to come to them.” Folinic said, with Suzuran coming up behind her to give a polite bow as well, “Are you feeling alright?” Suzuran asked, always able to detect the subtle hints of emotions or in this case, the idle fidgeting of Dr. Kal’tsit’s feet. 

“Thank you again, I just worry I’m not really cut out for this type of thing, I’m not really a party person, and this all feels a bit extravagant for my sake. I suppose it would be depressing to pass up a chance for levity. Folinic, I saw your paper on the effects of 2,4,5-T on Oripathy Patients finally got past review, you’ve gotten better at proper graph placement and information clarity,, I think Atro would be happy with how you’ve turned out.” Dr. Kal’tsit said, with Folinic being a bit flustered, 

“I wanted to surprise you with that...but thank you mom.” Folinic said, with Dr. Kal’tsit helpfully ignoring the Freudian slip as Suzuran pulled her away before she could get too embarrassed, not that calling Kal’tsit mom wasn’t a common occurrence among staff anyways. 

Dr. Kal’tsit started making her rounds, chatting with various operators who gave their congratulations, all the while not seeing hide nor hair of the two most troublesome people in her life, which was alarming. That meant they were either planning some big surprise for her, or have gotten into another scuffle with assassins. A more immediate danger was Blaze and Savage, the two were sharing stories of the old days with reserve team A6, with Ace helpfully providing missing details to further mollify the feline. 

“Oh it was sooo cute, when Amiya was about 4, she ate some industrial paste, and Dr. Kal’tsit just went crazy.” Savage cooed, 

“Yeah, she went straight ballistic, she nearly killed the Doctor right then and there for letting it happen, and had stormed into the medical wing to have them get it out. Amiya thought she was gonna die, started writing her will and everything as Dr. Kal’tsit fussed over her.” Blaze said, clutching her sides with laughter at the memory. “I don’t remember if we actually did anything, I only heard about it secondhand. All I know is the Doctor said kids are supposed to eat weird things, and Theresa talked about how she ate nails as a kid.” 

“Amiya was fine, we had to do some digging through the trash to find whatever it was she ate, turns out it was mostly just sugar and starch for binding.” Scout said, 

“Kal wouldn’t even let me babysit Amiya that night, she alternated between scolding the other two and doting on Amiya while warning her to not follow the Doctor’s eating habits.” Savage said with a giggle. 

“May I remind you, that I was merely following proper procedure in case she had in fact, ingested something dangerous.” Dr. Kal’tsit said, with Blaze jumping up in surprise, while her compatriots were taking their boss’ arrival with exactly the amount of respect that was the norm for Rhodes Island. 

“Heeey there Boss, what’s up. We were just talking about what a cool, and awesome mom you were.” 

“Hey, kids all gotta eat paste, it’s a rite of passage.” Ace said. 

“Speaking of my child, where is Amiya or Red? I thought I saw them slip out earlier.” Dr. Kal’tsit said, eying Blaze who looked away whistling, while Savage replied casually. 

“Man, great food amirite? I also wonder where Amiya or Red could possibly be.” 

“Oh, she wanted to go fetch her violin, and Red was bringing a plate of food to Rosmontis since the poor thing wasn’t feeling well enough to be around other people.” Savage said. Dr.Kal’tsit was wondering why the violin that had sat in the corner of the living room was no longer dusty. She appreciated Red being so thoughtful, but a small part of herself wondered why no one bothered asking her if she was well enough to be around other people .

“Ummm, miss Kal’tsit, congratulations.” Popukar had waddled her way towards Dr.Kal’tsit, still holding her stuffed animal but put in a nice white dress by Orchid, who was urging her along. 

“Good girl, thank you once again for putting up with my team’s constant antics, it’s been a real challenge but, we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us.” Orchid said, as Dr. Kal’tsit bent down to get eye level with Popukar. 

“Thank you Popukar, how have you been handling your episodes lately? Ansel and Perfumer told me you’ve been behaving very well recently.” Dr. Kal’tsit spoke in a low, calm voice, one she had perfected over the years it took to gain Red’s trust. 

“Good, I...I don’t go fuzzy and wake up with everyone bloody anymore.” She squeezed the rabbit in her arms with a force that would have shredded anything else. 

“She’s been doing well, especially once we’ve gotten better at identifying any overwhelming stimulus. I must ask, where did you buy that stuffed animal by the way? We’ve been looking for a new one in case that one ever got lost.” Orchid said as Dr. Kal’tsit gently ruffled Popukar’s hair before standing up again, 

“Oh, I didn’t buy that. It’s one of Theresa’s old childhood toys we had laying around. It was modified with D32 steel and special polymers in the fabric to handle her strength, I’ll ask her to see if she has any left in case you need it, none of my current kids have any use for them.” Dr. Kal’tsit said, with her old compatriots sighing as Orchid looked at Dr. Kal’tsit with a disbelieving look. 

“Wait, you mean to tell me, you just casually handed over what could easily be considered a Kazdel artifact, and one that any Sarkaz would kill to have, so Popukar would have something to cuddle.” Orchid said with disbelief, as Popukar herself looked confused. 

“Why not, it’s more useful in her hands than in some storage box or auctioned off somewhere. Don’t worry too much about it, your work taking care of Popukar and for HR more than make up for whatever value it probably had.” Dr. Kal’tsit said blithely, patting Popukar on the head before heading to the snack table to at least grab a couple of the blueberry sopapilla Blue Poison had baked, and maybe another glass of wine as she was interrupted by a blur of black and cloth. 

“Have I mentioned how smart, cool, and beautiful you are today?” The Doctor asked, having shown up as they usually do, out of nowhere, popping out from underneath the tablecloth of the snack table while the onlookers chalked it up to normal behaviour. 

“Yes, 15 times counting the 3 times you said it before I had my coffee, which is me being generous. Where’s Theresa?” Dr. Kal’tsit said, pushing the Doctor’s face away when they had tried going in for a kiss, already getting tired being around people, with the Doctor’s boundless charisma only calling forth more operators out of the woodworks to talk to her. 

“She’s been trying to wrap a present for you, I think she was gonna present it alongside Amiya’s thing. And yes, I tried to offer a hand, but both of them strictly denied it, so all the decorations are Amiya’s work.” The Doctor said, beaming with pride as they point to all the streamers, the banners, and balloons littering the dorm room they had hastily converted into a party space, having shoved various bits of furniture into the corner, or converting the pool table into a long snack table. 

“God, I want to be so grateful, but why must you exhaust me so.” Dr. Kal’tsit grumbled as the Doctor tried feeding her a dumpling Gummy had made, only relenting when they looked like a kicked perro at the rejection. 

“You know you love us, it’s what gives us our zany charm. Which you’ll appreciate with our upcoming surprise” The Doctor said, the two of them chatting while they waited for Amiya, or more accurately Doctor loudly flirting and proclaiming how amazing their wife was, while Dr. Kal’tsit suffered hearing Savage and Ace mock their pet names, and Blaze nearly choked trying to swallow an entire loaf of bread, all moments unknowingly memorialized by the cameras on Closure’s drones. 

It was strange, the day was getting late as the party was starting to wind down, and Kal’tsit still hadn’t seen much of Amiya besides a brief appearance to give a quick hug, yet no one else had much to say on the matter. It was clear that she was planning something that had the potential of backfiring immensely if the Doctor had any part of it. 

Her tail was poised, nervously as she sipped her wine, listening to the many conversations happening around her when her world went black, something grabbing her from behind. Normally, if a threat were to pop up behind her, MON3TER would have intervened, with the many highly trained operators surrounding her making it nigh impossible to get that far in the first place. 

“Theresa, what are you doing?” Kal’tsit asked, the woman replied with a happy tone, 

“Kidnapping you, that was the job Amiya gave me, don’t resist alright?” Theresa said as she dragged Kal’tsit to wherever, taking off a hand to wave to everyone while they left the room. 

“As if I could, is this part of the surprise you’ve all obviously been planning this entire time?” Kal’tsit said as the two walked down several corridors, the blindfolding being rather useless as she could tell where they were, having memorized the layout of the landship long ago. 

“Really? I was hoping you’d be more shocked, but I suppose we’re not exactly one for stealth, well, except Red.” Theresa mused, as they finally got to their destination, Kal’tsit looking at the big reveal. 

“Your surprise is a supply closet, please don’t tell me Ada made some mechanical robot that is now my responsibility.” Kal’tsit said dryly, as she opened the door, seeing that the interior had been completely converted. Behind the supply closet door was now a small room, with just enough space to fit a couch, a low lying table, and a flat screen T.V on the wall. Amiya was sitting on the edge of the couch, while Red and the Doctor were perched on the arms, like the gremlins they were, how the Doctor got there before her being a mystery for the ages. The table had what could possibly be the last thing Kal’tsit wanted anyone to know she ate, that being several trays of grocery store sushi, and a bottle of high proof vodka. 

“Tah-dah, welcome to your real party. No one knows the location, we’ve planted several fake spots, and the walls have been soundproofed.” Amiya said as Kal’tsit walked in, Theresa taking a spot on the couch as Kal’tsit closed the door behind her. 

“Then what was the point of the party?” Kal’tsit said with a sigh as she sat down in the middle, Red moving to lay across Amiya and her lap. 

“Well, everyone wanted something to really let loose for, so we compromised. Half the night would be a large event where they can show their appreciation for you, the second half you’d spend with as few people as you’d like. Closure has this TV hooked up to the security footage, so if you’re feeling nervous about what they’re doing back in Dorm 3, you can always check.” Amiya said, while Theresa giddily pulled out a wrapped present from between the couch cushions. It looked to be the size of a book, covered in patchwork wrapping paper with way too much tape, and slightly crumpled. Nevertheless, Kal’tsit removed it by peeling off the tape, minding to not just rip the paper apart. 

“This is your gift from Doctor and I, Amiya and Red were a big help here too.” Theresa said as Kal’tsit unwrapped her own spare data pad, though she figured what was on there was a lot more important. The first thing it opened up to was a revised employee schedule, which normally had Kal’tsit booked solid for most of the day, out of both necessity and personal preference. 

“We know you don’t like days off, so we did something close enough, everyone was happy to take on a couple extra duties.” The Doctor said, the schedule allowed for Kal’tsit to come in late and leave early several days for the next week, barring an emergency situation of course. 

“Thank you all, I love it. You’ve really outdone yourselves this year, though Amiya, please tell me how you acquired vodka.” Kal’tsit said, her spouses giving her a kiss on the cheek once she had put down the tablet on the table, always the much more physical pair compared to her. 

“Oh, Blaze told me you drank it a lot in your student days, and Doctor had Closure import some. But you’re welcome to get something else, Red can always just grab stuff from the kitchen or the apartment without anyone noticing.” Amiya said, having planned for damn near every contingency. 

“No, it’s fine, really. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me tonight, even if you could have just told me upfront what you were planning. Doctor, you made sure to record Amiya’s latest recital right? Mind pulling it up, Red and I would like to hear it.” Kal’tsit says as she takes the rare moment to simply relax, allowing the people around her to cuddle up to her in a way that she avoided during professional hours. 

“Please no, I’ve been rusty and I did poorly on that one.” Amiya said, holding her ears down as the Doctor turned on the TV and pulled up an online recording of it. The video quality was only alright, and the sound quality was a bit lacking due to the awkward position it was recorded from, but it didn’t matter much, Red just liked hearing Amiya play, and Kal’tsit liked seeing her children simply engage in things that weren’t fueled by their future roles. Doctor handed her a container of sushi that she cracked open, low grade in a way that she loathed to admit she enjoyed, feeding some to Theresa and Red who perked up at the sound of food being opened, as the family sat and watched for the night.