Metempsychotic

A Slithering Serpent

Vent was at a bit of a loss on why he was so hesitant to open the package- he had already lived through a rather nasty can of worms this past week, so how was this one going to be any different?

'Just open the stupid thing already and get this over with!' Model F suddenly demanded, almost causing Vent to jump out of his skin for a moment. 'I'd like to see what is in this thing before Prairie decides her scanners are working again.'

'Model F...' Model H sighed, 'You can access Vent's memories just as well as the rest of us. You know exactly what's in the package whether Vent opens it or not.'

Model F then gave a rather miffed scoff. 'And you know full and damn well that I don't like waiting in suspense. Just get it over with Vent.'

The boy let out a heavy sigh. "Alright," he agreed. "Alright, alright." Then he started to work to open the package. In a few moments, he was pulling out the very object Sho had to break down Juno's door to get: a photograph. The photograph wasn't too old, if his memory served him right, as Juno had brought it back with her when she returned to Giro Express.

The picture in question was not a photograph of Juno- it was a Reploid with light green hair and blood red eyes. The Reploid was positioned so that her back was slightly facing the camera, and her head was turned just slightly as if someone had caught her doing something inappropriate. The cheeks on the Reploid was flushed and her expression looked just as flustered.

'I remember this photograph...' Model Z decided to announce. 'Girouette and Juno were discussing it when she was moving back in. She was quite fond of the picture because it was candid, and captured the (in her own words) 'natural adorableness' of that Reploid.'

"Did Juno ever give her a name?"

'Dora, I think. But I feel that it was implied as a nickname.'

Knowing this information, Vent looked back at the photograph with new thoughts. If this truly was Pandora before Model W took control of her and Prometheus, then Vent was starting to see why she would be more hostile toward him. But as he tried to rationalize his enemy's hatred of him based on shared relations, another nagging thought came to mind: This was what Model W did to innocent people...

If Vent wasn't terrified of Model W before, he was pretty certain that he would be now.

. . .

Meanwhile, Aile was spending her downtime playing with Rush in the control center- Prairie didn't particularly mind, and it was mostly a way for Aile to know exactly when they found Model W's signal. At a certain point, Prairie became distracted at Aile and Rush and turned to look at them. Instead of telling them to be more quiet, she just looked at them and smiled.

"Aile..." the commander spoke up, earning the girl's attention, "I'm sorry that I keep putting Vent and your lives at jeopardy. If there had been a way for you two to meet without this war around us, trust me when I say that we would have done it. Maybe if we had, Giro wouldn't be..."

Aile tilted her head at Prairie curiously; Rush seemed oblivious to this and started to lick Aile's face happily.

"Prairie," the girl then cautiously started, "Did you have feelings for him...?"

Suddenly, Prairie's face flushed a deep red as she gave Aile a flabbergasted look. "W-what?! No! Outside of the Guardians, I... I didn't even know him. And he was... happy with Juno. And Vent. They were his entire world, and he loved them more than anything."

"But...?"

"Sis... Sis had built him. She created him to look similar to-"

"Someone you cared about." Aile cut in. "Or someone that had cared about you, and your Sis."