Log: Seeking Shelter

[ambitious_muse]

Who: Sigma Ai, the Ai twins, Agent Texas (native), and anyone else who passes by
What: hiding from a plague storm
Where: an antique shop between the twins' daycare and the shuttle stop
When: 15 April, around midday
Warnings: none yet

Day one of getting the twins from daycare, and Sigma has already run into trouble. A plague cloud collided with a storm front, causing a torrent of acid rain and liquid illness. Sigma grabbed the little ones and ran for the first cover he could find.

When they exit the airlock, he finds himself in a dusty but well-lit shop. Pieces of mismatched furniture take up nearly every available space on the floor. An antique shop, then? Sigma holds the little ones close. This isn't the place to let them run around. He'll have to hope this storm ends soon.

Comments

[soldierinblack]

"One of the many reasons why I don't have any of my own. Did your parents leave after they were born?" She's not much of an artist, but her doodle is slowly beginning to resemble a dog.

[ambitious_muse]

Sigma shakes his head. "Long before. I never knew them. The little ones just showed up on the doorstep with a nanny who only stuck around until we knew how to take care of them. You could doubt we're related, but for the eyes."

[soldierinblack]

"And the nanny didn't say anything? Just... showed up and took care of a couple of random kids without explaining?" What the hell was going on with this family?

[ambitious_muse]

"Yeah. They came for a few months but never answered any questions. The Counselor would shepherd us away from them if we got too demanding," Sigma says. "You know, it sounds like some freak experiment when I put it that way."

[soldierinblack]

"You sure it wasn't?" she asks carefully. "Is this Counselor still around and involved in your family?"

[ambitious_muse]

He sighs. "Could've been. But Meg threw the Counselor out the day he turned eighteen, so we'll never know."

Omega has always wanted to protect the family in case the Counselor came back. Maybe that's really where this mercenary business started.

[soldierinblack]

"And that's that? He never came back?" She's not sure how old Omega is, but he's definitely not eighteen anymore.

[ambitious_muse]

"Never," Sigma says. "Meg worries about it still. I don't think it'll happen, though."

He hopes not.

[soldierinblack]

"Never know, but it's promising if he's been gone for years. He wasn't your father?"

[ambitious_muse]

Sigma makes a face. "No. No, definitely not. He never seemed the father-ing type, let alone the fatherly type. Besides, he was the wrong ethnicity." None of his siblings have every shown the darker skin or more rounded features he remembers the Counselor having; statistically speaking, at least one of them should have if they were actually his offspring.

[soldierinblack]

"Then what was he doing with your family?" she asks. Something about all of this feels wrong. Very wrong. If the Counselor left their family alone, what has he been up to all these years?

[ambitious_muse]

"I don't know," he says. He finally realizes that he shouldn't tell her even if he did, but something about this woman puts him at ease. She may be a mercenary, possibly even an assassin, yet he feels fine watching her idly drawing with Eta and Iota. Maybe his judgment is impaired?

No. He trusts her. It's something about those eyes.

"Really, I don't remember. It's been seven years at least. I--I know he tried to make me forget someone. A brother, my oldest brother. The Counselor tried to convince us that he never existed."

[soldierinblack]

"Sounds like he failed," she remarks. She might be drawing, but she's glancing up at Sigma every so often. This is a mess she never imagined herself being drawn into, yet here she is. Something keeps pulling her in every piece she learns.

"Was he always there? Before your brother kicked him out."

[ambitious_muse]

"Thank goodness," Sigma whispers. Then he adds in a louder voice, "Always. Alpha always used to tell us, 'family comes first.' It's why Omega and Delta are the way they are. He--I don't think he ever would have left us if he'd had a choice."

Alpha would have adored the twins and Theta. He's sure of it. And they wouldn't be stuck in this mess, Omega forced into mercenary work instead of medical school and Delta throwing his life away for an accounting job.

[soldierinblack]

She finishes her doodle of dog that looks angrier than she intended and slides it over to the twins before setting her pencil down.

"Sorry to hear he's gone. You haven't heard anything from him since he left?"

[ambitious_muse]

Eta takes the picture and immediately starts embellishing the picture with her own pencil.

"Not a word," Sigma says. "For a long time, I thought the Counselor had been blocking our contacts. But I guess that's not true, is it?"

[soldierinblack]

"He might have long enough that Alpha gave up." Is Alpha even on Adaptive anymore? She doubts she'll find the man, but if she hears any rumors she's not sure she'd be able to resist the temptation to chase them down.

[ambitious_muse]

"Maybe we'll never know." Sigma looks up and sees sunlight filtering through the clouds. They shouldn't have to wait much longer.

"Thanks," he says, "for listening. Eta likes your dog." She has overtaken the page with her own additions and imitations.

[soldierinblack]

"She made it better than I could have," she replies and moves to stand. "I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of you around."

A likely guess given how much she's been seeing of his other brothers.

[ambitious_muse]

"Oh? Right. With Delta," he says. "Take care."

[soldierinblack]

"Get home safe, kid," she replies as she slips on her helmet. She waits a moment longer to ensure only the dregs are left, her helmet is equipped to handle far more, before heading out the airlock.

[ambitious_muse]

"Thanks," he says, not looking up. By the time he has helped the twins into their helmets and secured his own, the woman is long since gone.