The Untold Story of Texas and Lappland (Arknights)

Danger on the Horizon

A/N: I figured I should make a note of this, even though I suppose you would probably know about this regardless of where you are in the main story if you are actively interested in the lore. Basically, there are some minor spoilers coming up for chapter 4. Nothing groundbreaking by any means, but I thought I'd let y'all know (even if it does involve my creative take on a few things). And with that let's get to the story. Enjoy!

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The previous night . . .

You have an Incoming Message.

The answering machine was chirping again, the tone more urgent then normal. Emperor pressed the call button. It was the late hours of the night, but the business world rested for no one. Though, this wasn't exactly a usual business call per say. Only one group would contact him this late.

"Ah. If it isn't Rhodes Island. Is something amiss?"

The other side of the line crackled with static briefly. Emperor was just beginning to consider hanging up when a terse voice made its appearance. The sharpness of the woman's tone reminded him of broken glass. He'd dealt with people like this before but Kal'tsit never failed to make things interesting.

He supposed her line of work only added to the allure Rhodes Island had to offer.

Or maybe he just liked rooting for the underdog.

It was hard to tell.

"No, not anything out of the normal. How's Lappland?"

He clicked his tongue, swaying his plush chair side to side. Being an upstanding citizen came with several perks. A huge, private office was one of them. The heat of the fireplace radiated over to him even from his place at the desk. The flames were by no means real —that wouldn't make sense with the buildings infrastructure— but he liked to imagine they were. Fiery tongues licked at the fake wood. They would never burn it completely, just keep it ablaze. Like life that so often was ablaze so would the stack of wood remain. Too bad there was no off switch on life when things became overly hectic.

"Lappland's fine. She fits in here quite well." Though there admittedly were some ups and downs. Normally he would give the full report, but this matter was more than just business. This was for Texas's sake and he was not going to let it go to waste.

"Good. We were expecting such results."

"Oh. Were you? Didn't realize you knew so much about her?" Emperor couldn't help being curious. It was in his nature to want to be in the know.

There was a rustle on the other end of the line, a whir of machinery. "I don't. Make no mistake, I've only seen what's on her file. It was believed she would be a good candidate do to her previous connection to operator Texas."

He considered this. "Ya know, I don't care for this operator business. Makes 'me seem less human then they are." No one should be treated like a tool.

Another rustle. "Perhaps our opinions differ."

If he could've frowned he would have. "From what I've heard your Doctor Y/N used to think the same way."

"Hmm. I think you should remember the term is "used to". Doctor Y/N and I have been on . . . different terms for a long time now. It's better this way." Kal'tsit muttered. She sounded tired, like this whole conversation weighed heavily on her mind.

"I've heard good things about the Doctor so I think that's true." Emperor agreed. While the Doctor had brought Lappland back into Texas's life —an action with some mixed reactions— he had to believe it was for the best. His friend finally had a chance to truly deal with all the past grievances bothering her. Strangely enough the white wolf was Texas's gateway to healing.