Metempsychotic

Chosen

Aile now knew that Over-1 had told her the stories of her own mother. Prairie didn't have all the details, leaving Aile to unintentionally interrupt the Reploid to fill in the blanks. It was all there, though. All of it. As Aile sat there, with Rush in her lap and hanging on every word Prairie said, she found herself more mystified of what had happened more than questioning the outcomes of those predicaments. She even had the name of the girl she had heard her whole life about, the name of her very mother: Aero. Aero Sephira.

Vent didn't say a word. He found his mind was slow to process the information that he felt he should have known. All these names and dates came into his thoughts and became abstract and worthless. They floated around, both meaningful and meaningless, before dissipating altogether. Ultimately, it made him feel numb. He wasn't even sure if he was still mad at Giro for lying to him anymore.

"Sis, she took over the operations toward your development." Prairie explained passively, taking on a syntax that she hoped they could keep up with. Not that it had been very hard- the two were very receptive so far. "It was years after the wars though; humans and Reploids were living in peace. Sis took advantage of the peace to relocate the chambers. But the sentient machines known as Mavericks continued to cause devastation. At one point, they found the chambers and started to attack the base. It dawned on us that having you two together was dangerous, so at that moment Sis made the decision for Girouette to take one of you and leave the other behind."

Vent's eyes widened at this news. "He... chose me?" he asked in awe. Prairie agreed with a nod.

"Sis disappeared not long after that, leaving Giro to blame me for the whole mess." she told him. "I think he always hated himself for not pushing to take the other. Not that he should be placed at fault for that- I never understood Sis's thought behind the whole idea of separating the two of you to begin with. Giro definitely had a harder time with it than I did."

"But what about me?" Aile quickly questioned. "Was I supposed to... to die?!"

"You were supposed to go to an orphanage in Outer Kirjath Arba." Prairie spat at the girl, becoming nearly appalled at Aile's thought. "After Girouette was cleared out, I took the other. Like I said, you were supposed to be in an orphanage, far enough away from the other that no one would have suspected your true nature."

"But someone did?" Vent inquired.

"I was told to keep tabs with the orphanage on her progress," Prairie informed the both of them, "But one day, I was told that Aile was missing."

"Missing?" Aile and Vent asked at the same time. The commander gave a nod before turning her attention to the computer console.

"Aile," Prairie then said as she entered several keyboard commands, "How much do you remember of Over-1?"

The girl opened her mouth to answer, but it wasn't needed as a video feed ran up on the overhead screen. A Reploid, completely dressed in an older designed armor colored white and blue with a fur collar trimming, took over the screen. Aile could nearly feel her jaw drop. As seeing he had never met this Reploid before, Vent became confused, but remained silent on Aile's behalf.

"Greetings Alouette, or Commander Prairie. Pardon my jargon, time keeps slipping and I can barely keep track." the Reploid spoke in a calm, sensible voice. "You should have discovered recently that the daughter of Aero Lillian Sephira was taken from the orphanage you planted her in. I have observed the scenario outside of time and found it quite ridiculous, therefore I have elected to adopt her for you. As with the guardian of Mega Man X's son, I too have a promise to keep. I can assure you madam that I will care for the child as I cared for Aero, until she reaches a certain age- approximately ten to eleven years, at the most. Thank you for your understanding, may we see each other in time." With that, the video feed ended, leaving Aile in a bit of shock.