Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Epilogue

It was cold again on Rubicon. Then again. It was always cold on the planet.

Raven and Ayre both stood together, side by side, leaning against the railing at the very edge of the base. The room they stood within wasn't massive, but big enough to cause echoes. The window was open, letting in the cool air inside. The cold hardly bothered them. Or for a while anyway.

The cold hardly ever bothered the AC pilot. Even before the augmentation, he was pretty sure that certain temperatures were never too much a challenge for him.

But for his beloved partner, however, it wouldn't be too long before she-

He suddenly felt Ayre shiver slightly, the skin of her shoulder rubbing against the fabric on his black jacket. The young man then wrapped an arm around the young woman and pulled her in close.

She gasped lightly, surprised by his warmth. She then wrapped her own arm around his waist.

"Thank you, Raven," she said.

Raven nodded. His expressions had begun to lose their super-serious tone. Concern became an actual concern, rather than just a type of concern with a "business mode." It became real. Sadness, well, the burial site of his former teammates and handler showed that it too became a genuine sadness.

However, the more positive emotions, such as happiness or joy, the furthest Raven could get was just simply a cocky grin or a smirk with a hint of arrogance.

But Ayre was fine with that. He was getting better already. He was not letting all their hard work be in vain. He really, really wants to be human again, human, like all the way. The two had conversed about certain things such as... "future plans," or more like what would they start doing.

Raven didn't seem like he was willing to give up the usage of his AC nor his mercenary life just yet, wanting to keep living up to his callsign like the other Ravens who're out there. Rusty had explained this to the RLF and Flatwell offered to handle the more proper surgeries other than Gen Four augmentations, such as a possible Generation Eight perhaps. Raven took it. Ayre was hesitant, but she was okay with it in the end, wanting to continue being his operator as usual. It'd be a shame to just throw it all away.

She snuggled against his side, and Raven held her slightly tighter.

Raven blushed calmly and ran a hand through his hair, making the Coral red of his newly-grown roots more obvious. On a mission, he ended up getting exposed to even more Coral again. And Raven thought that Ayre seemed interested in him having red hair, so rather than just getting dialysis... He ended up blushed even harder as his instinct to look away fought his desire to see her surprised and blushy reaction.

By now, Ravenhad a two ministreaks on the right side of his head. One towards the top, and the other closer to the side in the middle.

His original red streak was still where it was.

The left side of his head was somewhat more red, stretching all the way to the back of his hair, where it started to somewhat slope downwards.

However, most of his hair was still clearly black. So at least "Raven" would still stick. Ayre smiled softly and leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes for a quiet and calm moment.

They gazed into the darkness of the night. The moon above in the sky shines dimly. It casted a small ray of light on them. They could hear the breezes wisp by, some parts of it kissing their faces. Raven's jacket and Ayre's dress both danced slightly in the weak wind.

All the lights were turned off, the only "lights" being the faint glow from Ayre's body and Raven's red streaks and eyes.

Ayre wiped a tear away from her eyes, for she had then found herself thinking this; She and Raven were both orphans alright, just raised by totally different families with totally different morals.