Kessie's Short Stories

[Mega AU] I Am Not Your Father

Originally published 12/22/2017

Over-1 wanted the day off, that's why he allowed this to happen. Not that it was going to matter to Copy X any time soon, because next time the copy saw the time traveler, he was going to die.

This tiny child in front of him, separated only by the obnoxiously short table, was some freakish combination of the Mother Elf and Him. She looked more like Him than Mother, unfortunately, with her bright green eyes and short, unruly brown hair. The time traveler didn't put much emphasis on dressing the girl like, well, a girl- making due with a blue oversized t-shirt and knee length shorts. At the moment she was barefoot, making Copy X fleetingly wonder if she even had shoes. To be sure, if Copy X were to guess the gender of this child, his first choice would have been a boy.

The girl didn't seem to pay him any attention while she prepared tea in the child-sized tea kettle. Watching her also make the copy wonder how reliant she was alone when Over-1 disappeared on her. She was very careful with her judgements before deciding that the tea had seeped for long enough, then she held the tea kettle to him with a smile

"Would you like more tea, Daddy?"

"I am not your father, tiny child."

"Sure, sure. Would you like more tea, fake Daddy?"

Copy X grimaced before holding out the tiny tea cup to the child. "Yes Alia," he grudgingly complied, "I would."

"It's Aile, not Alia." the little girl huffed indignantly, her lips parting into a little pout to match. Regardless, Aile got up so she could safely hold the tea kettle over Copy X's cup to pour him some more tea. Copy X watched on dully as the child took small, precise movements to operate the tea kettle without needlessly spilling things everywhere. She even stuck her tongue out in concentration at one point: how cute, the copy dully thought in observing her. Is she doing that on purpose? I highly doubt she really needs to look like a pathetic dog when concentrating. The Mother Elf never did that... did she?

As he thought this, Aile finished pouring his tea and carefully sat back down. She smiled a little at herself in accomplishment as she got comfortable again. Once well adjusted, Aile made a reach for the pile of sushi rolls that had been placed at the center of the table. The girl was about to take one with her fingers before Copy X noticed what she was doing.

"Don't touch that with your filthy hands!" he immediately reprimanded. "We placed tongs there for a reason!"

Suddenly being corrected, Aile had paused for a moment before remembering the plastic tongs next to the sushi rolls. "Oh yeah..." she realized, "Thanks for reminding me Daddy."

"I am not your father."

Aile ignored him while she used her focus to place three sushi rolls on her plate. Copy X took the opportunity to take a sip of tea. Too bad he couldn't taste it- but keeping aesthetics was a custom that just couldn't leave him no matter how much he despised it.

"Do you think Mommy would like me?"

Copy X took a small look over his drink to stare at the girl. She had taken a bite out of one of the sushi rolls, and the other two had not moved.

"Sometimes I think... I think I remember her." the girl continued, drawing her thoughts out in front of her. "I remember... something. And when I always bring it up to Uncle Over, he just ignores me. He brings me other people, everyone but Mommy, to let me see what she was like. You are the closest to Mommy- I can feel it. So please Daddy, tell me, do you really think Mommy would have liked me?"

To this, the copy froze. Almost everything made sense now; she thought that he was Him.

"Listen to me, Aile," Copy X then addressed, "I am not your father. I am a copy of him, created to stand in his place while his body protected your mother's soul. I can never be the Reploid he was, and I don't particularly care if I can uphold those standards. I am not Him. At all."

Aile looked up at Copy X as if he had lost his marbles.

"I knew that." Aile declared with an annoyed roll of her eyes. "I'm only seven, I'm not stupid."

"Then why do you keep calling me your father?"

"Because you kinda are." the child dismissed. "I mean, you may be a copy and all, but if I didn't have this certain feeling about you, I would have assumed you were my real Daddy."

Copy X raised an eyebrow. This was the second time Aile had mentioned having a 'certain feeling' about something; was this due to her past life as a Cyber Elf? What insights did it give her, he wondered, was she aware that he retired several Reploids in his career by declaring them Maverick? Could she not see that the only thing he had in common with the original Mega Man X was name alone?

"And I know that you can't be the same as him," Aile went on, "No one can act like someone else the same way twice. If we could do that, we wouldn't be special. We wouldn't have those special things that make us special, you know? I think that's why I feel like my memories of Mommy sometimes belong to someone else; they might have been me at some point, but I'm not them anymore- I'm Aile now and I can make new memories. My own special memories. You know what I mean Daddy?"

The only answer the Reploid could give was silence. His tea cup now on the table, Copy X's finger traced the rim of the cup in deep concentration. Aile could do nothing but look on. Did she break him?

Eventually, Copy X spoke up, "From what I understand, she didn't want any children."

For a moment, the girl had no idea what he was talking about until it dawned on her. She shrunk, emitting a small "Oh..." in disappointment. Copy X knew this would happen and sat a bit straighter.

"But it was because she lost a child before he was even born." he continued, "It devastated her. It broke her. She never wanted to suffer the same heartbreak again if she couldn't help it. In that vein, however, I do think she would be amused by your little... quirks. You and her might have gotten along quite well."

Soaking in this information, Aile gave a nod of understanding before turning back to her meal.

"Yeah..." Copy X then mumbled to himself in disdain, "Aero would have loved all of you..."