Meltdown ☿ Shaun Mason

two: shaun

There probably isn't an Irwin on the planet that doesn't know about Mia Fernandez. If you don't know her name, the chances are you know what she looks like. Voted sexiest Irwin alive two years running and the youngest trainee Irwin ever at the age of twelve. You see, training to be an Irwin usually starts at around eighteen after you finish high school while Mia had already been out in the field for three years by that point. Rather a genius thing to do, all things considering.

Looking at Mia, you'd think she would have no weaknesses but if you looked at her file and remember that she is human after all, you'd know that she has only one true weakness; her boss. Louis Palmer – whom she gave the loving nickname of Sparky somewhere along the line. If you didn't know that, it's not hard to believe that she doesn't have any feelings or weaknesses at all. Hell, she didn't even flinch when her boyfriend died live on camera. She didn't hesitate in putting a bullet in his brain when he was bitten.

And now she's going to be the fourth and final member of our team. From what I can tell, this is going to end one of two ways; one or all of us dying horribly or her doing her job and saving our asses while painting her nails.

I'm hoping for the latter.

--- Taken from Hail to the King,

the blog of Shaun Mason, April 29, 2039

I first became aware of the phenomenon that was Mia Fernandez three years ago, she'd already had a big following even then, but it wasn't until Buffy showed George and I clips of Mia's special and very specific skillset several months ago that I actually paid attention to her.

From watching her clips, and honestly, she was either the stupidest or the most insane Irwin I'd ever seen – perhaps a mixture of both. She'd always go out into the field alone with just cameras and a radio to tell her if the infected were around. Had to give her credit where it was due; she had some serious balls to do that. On top of that, she'd go out with no protective gear on. Decontamination must be one hell of a bitch for her.

Before we even considered to attempt to hire Mia, Buffy made sure to do a background check on her, searched everything we could to make sure that we would be hiring the right person and not an axe murderer.

Within twenty minutes, we discovered that Mia's own father – Archie Fernandez – was an Irwin, one of the first ones. He didn't blog much, only around fifty posts were ever found over an eight-year period that were officially made by him. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Mia's mother – Isabelle Fernandez – had a few posts, too but they were mostly about family life and her ranting about how hard it was to raise a new-born when the father was almost always busy. There were some pictures of the happy family and a series of videos that included Mia's first steps and birthdays.

From we could see, they really loved their daughter and were both completely devoted parents. Shame it had to all come to a bloody and gruesome end.

The last post we found was posted onto Archie's blog on June 15, 2022;

With deep regret and a heavy heart, I regret to inform all who follow this blog that Archie and his wife Isabelle passed away last night due to a car accident. It's believed that the car Archie was driving hit another car head-on at dangerous speeds; Archie died on impact and Isabelle was pronounced dead at the scene after she managed to escape the wreck but died from her injures.

Their beloved daughter Mia is safe and well; she was unharmed in the crash, thank god, and will soon be placed in foster care until we can find a more permanent home for her. Thank you for keeping us all in your prayers during this terrible time.