A Brass Night Ballet

Envogue

In the heart of Envogue, France. Amidst the chaos of World War I, the legendary Hotel Rita stood tall on the grand Palace Vendome. It was a remarkable sanctuary where the whispers of the past mingled with the uncertainties of the present. Among the distinguished guests was Coco La'More, a mesmerizing French automatron known for her impeccable vogue style, brass colour and unwavering determination.

Coco had arrived at the Rita seeking solace from the tumultuous world outside. Little did she know, fate had other plans in store for her.

Once a city of innovation, tragedy destroyed the Belle Epoque city of Evogue following the automatron uprising and outbreak of the Petri Disease. Dozens of men, women, and children lost their lives, and the city remains a ruin of its former glory.

Coco came... well, face to face was an inaccurate term to describe dueling with a headless giant automatron. Same model as the one on the rooftops from before. She sustained plenty of damage fighting it the first time, but she learned more in that battle than this automatron knew about her. Add that with its missing head, and she had a much better advantage. Stealth it seemed, wasn't to be one of them as the automatron turned itself around the moment she neared. The young automatron took a step back, and frowned at the sound of her own brass footsteps. That caused the hulking automatron in front of her to pick up the pace in her direction, and it immediately confused the smaller Coco.

Were its audio receptors not built into its head? Coco swiftly ducked under a wild swing aimed at her brass head before raising her arm blade to deflect the second swing. The blow did not damage her, but she was sent backwards. It likely would've knocked her to the floor had Coco not dug her brass heels into the ground to steady herself. The automatron had not lost track of her, and charged with the intent to pulverize Coco along with the other human corpses that littered the part of the alley she was situated in. That reminder alone caused Coco to stand tall with her arm blade out in front of herself.

Father wanted her to stop the automatron uprising. To protect as many humans as possible. That started with clearing out each automatron at City Hall. Including this headless one that was smashing bodies to pieces. A wild swing came at her, and Coco parried the blow before thrusting her arm blade into a particularly loose joint. With a twist, the automatron's arm came loose and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Undeterred, the automatron came back around for another swing and she parried the blow with slightly more difficulty. That didn't stop her blade from thrusting into another loose joint in the automatron's last arm, sending it clattering to the floor with the other one. One of many reasons why Coco was ever remiss to allow damage to her brass frame ever go unbothered for long.

With nothing available to the automatron in order to fight her off, Coco jumped onto the it's shoulders and threw her arm blade straight down into the open hole where its head used to be. There was a loud spark and bang, presumably from the automatron's G-Organ, and Coco absorbed the Eluce it contained into her body before its body hit the ground. With some effort, Coco pried her arm blade free from the inside of the automatron after its body landed.

"Nicely done!" A small, robotic, male sounding voice complimented. Coco glanced at the green spherical object hanging from her torn blue dress, around her hip, but quickly turning her eyes around to survey the alleyway in order to check for survivors. "That was a lot better than your first time with one of these things."

"That one had a head," Coco said plainly, her voice mixed with robotic and human tones. "That should not be that surprising."
"It had a bead on you like it still did," the male voice reminded her. "True. But it made it easier to reach its G-Organ," Coco said, kneeling next to a pile of corpses. All of them either had blank stares or faces that were smashed into something unrecognizable from any human face she'd ever seen.

Something caught her attention, however. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an automatron of a baby. A rather well made one, at that. The material was finer than that of the many broken automatron's that littered the street. Likely the possession of a child the automatron smashed to pieces.

"No survivors here," The male robotic voice said in a despondent tone. Though there was no trace of surprise in his tone. "What do we do? Just... give her that baby automatron?"

"It seems like the only course of action," Coco told him. Then, with a clip Génie gave her to help keep smaller items on her person without using space in her built in storage, she kept the small automatron attached to her hip before backtracking the way she came. Though not without looking back at the entrance to City Hall. It was only guarded by two automatrons with large swords. No real challenge to her - not unless she was careless. And she refused to be careless. But Father told her to be a good girl. And part of that entailed to ensure that you kept your promises. Even if Coco felt like she hadn't succeeded. But this was the only trace of a baby that she found. So off she went.

When she reached the Quarantine Zone, her brass feet jostled the remains of the police automatrons that she slayed passing through this area. Coco had to do some small maintenance on her parts after that fight in particular, due to her depleted Luce Cell charges when entering this area. So it was quite good that this automatron was decommissioned before it could do further harm. Though her arrival was far too late to prevent most of its inflicted damage.

"I have returned," Coco said plainly.
"Kind one?" A human woman's voice sounded faint, but hopeful. "Please, let me hold her." Coco unclipped the baby at her side and handed it to the sickly looking woman. If the Petri Disease hadn't taken most of her eyesight, she was quite certain that she would not be able to get away with this. Through the window, the woman handled the baby tenderly. As if she was afraid the slightest out of place movement would injure her child. Coco doubted that, but she wouldn't truly know.

"There, there, my baby. I missed you so much..." the woman said before glancing upward, and Coco caught a proper glimpse of the woman's face. The navy blue veins had nearly reached the entirety of her eyes. "What do you think? Is my baby adorable?"
Coco paused. She could tell her the truth. Tell her that her child perished along with the rest of the humans. But that would defeat the entire purpose of this little task. She wanted to see her child one last time. Maybe the woman couldn't see the child, and merely made do with the sensation of holding it.

Additionally, she was likely going to die within the next few hours. Telling her the truth seemed pointless. "Yes. Very cute," she told the woman. "That's right, kind one. You've granted me my only wish. My sweet Lena," the woman said, her voice hitched by some emotion that Coco didn't recognize. "Please, accept my heartfelt gratitude."

"You are welcome," Coco said with a nod. But before she moved to turn away, the window opened. She held a record in her hand, and Coco put a hand on it. But before taking it, Coco made sure to double check. "Did you intend to give me this?" "Of course. I do not have much to express my gratitude, but it would not be right of me," the woman told her. "Do you like music?"
Music. Coco had no knowledge of music. It was not something Father designed her to have knowledge on. It was merely something humans would spend money on order to listen to - whether from the comfort of their own homes or in a theater.

"I cannot say that I do," Coco told her honestly. "Perhaps this will change your mind," the woman told her in an earnest voice. "Perhaps. Farewell," Coco told the woman. "Farewell, kind one," the woman told her gently.