Work Text:
“Hmm…”
There’s no response, only the silence punctuated by the soft clicking of keys on a keyboard.
“Hmm hmm…”
This one earns a response - a soft sigh from the other party in the room as the typing stops briefly before resuming its rapid-fire pace. A sly smirk graces the woman’s lips. Her heels click softly against the cold tile as she walks around the operating table she’d been leaning on, facing the subject on the table the whole time.
“Hmmmm…”
“Oh my god, Kafka.” Silver Wolf finally cracks, hands slamming on either side of her keyboard. Her various figures and game paraphernalia jostle lightly. “Can you, like, not?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Kafka replies, her voice sickeningly sweet. Silver Wolf knows better than to trust that tone. She turns around in her office chair to face Kafka where she’s bent over the operating table, examining the specimen.
“If you have something to say, can’t you just say it?” Silver Wolf asks with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was totally in the zone and now I’ll lose my concentration buff.” Kafka finally looks over at her, face deep in thought.
“I was just thinking…” she starts.
“As if that wasn’t obvious,” the hacker mutters under her breath with a roll of her eyes. Kafka breezes past this comment.
“Isn’t it a shame to throw Unit 01 out? It’s rather cute.” She turns her gaze back to the specimen lying on the table. It was about her own height, slight build, grey hair with hints of pink peeking out (that was Silver Wolf’s idea), and perfectly humanoid. Nobody would ever know this creation wasn’t human. Silver Wolf cocks an eyebrow in disbelief.
“Are you for real?” she scoffs. “And what do you propose we do with it? It’s defective.”
“Well, I don’t know but we can figure it out. You’re the smartest person I know, surely you can find an alternative power source for this child?” Kafka’s attempt at flattery almost works, with Silver Wolf seeming to consider it for a moment before she turns her chair back to the computer to continue her calculations.
“Not gonna happen. We literally only need one vessel, and you know it’ll still have to eat and sleep like a human. Do you wanna become Universe’s Best Mom or something?” Her question is met with silence, and it stretches on longer than she’d like. “You intend to push this off on that navigator… don’t you?”
“Now, now, I didn’t say that.”
“Your silence says enough, Kafka.” Silver Wolf can feel her brain cells shriveling, just like they do every time Kafka comes up with some harebrained way to annoy her ex-wife. “Did you reroll your intelligence points? Why would you even think that was a good idea?”
“We both know I’m not exactly fit to be a mother,” Kafka replies simply. Silver Wolf groans in frustration.
“No. Emphatically. No.”
~~~
It’s only a few weeks before Kafka brings it up again, after Unit 02 is finished and has begun testing.
Kafka touches Unit 02’s face, letting her finger trace its jaw until she reaches its chin. She takes its chin in hand and tilts its head side to side, its yellow eyes trained on her the entire time.
“So far this unit looks really viable,” Silver Wolf concludes from behind her. “Do we seriously even need to test Unit 03?” Kafka clicks her tongue.
“Thorough work involves thorough testing, my dear,” she chides. “Don’t you think our little specimens are adorable?” Silver Wolf groans. Not this shit again.
“Not really.” Silver Wolf’s voice is flat, hoping her unenthusiastic response will shut this conversation down before it can start. Wishful thinking, as always, as Kafka goes ahead.
“How am I meant to only pick one of our specimens when we spent so much time and work on all three of them..?” That sickly sweet tone is back. Aeons, Silver Wolf hates when she uses that tone; it wears down her defenses like no other, her own personal DOT debuff.
“Look, Mom,” Silver Wolf starts, hoping using the familial term she avoids like the plague will get Kafka to really listen, “Herta Space Station has one Stellaron. Like. One. We have three whole ass vessels, one of which literally can’t house the freaking Stellaron, which is its entire purpose! It’s like if you built your mage in FFXIV with a melee focus and barely any magic!” Kafka hums thoughtfully, Silver Wolf’s MMO analogy going right over her head.
“I’ve considered this, and after talking it over with Bladie…” Silver Wolf imagines that conversation was more Kafka talking at Blade, as he has shown no interest thus far in this project, content to spend his time wallowing in sadness or whatever he does these days. “I have a proposal I think will interest you.”
“Please, enlighten me,” Silver Wolf replies sarcastically, nonetheless turning her chair to face Kafka. The woman is leaning against the examination table Unit 02 is sitting on, rubbing its chin like a dog while it nuzzles into her hand, short grey hair flopping in its eyes occasionally. Silver Wolf’s face scrunches up in mild disgust, making a mental note to try and adjust Unit 02’s personality later.
“Herta.” Silver Wolf quirks an eyebrow up in question.
“Yeah? What about her?”
“Her dolls are all connected, are they not? Shared knowledge database, perhaps a shared power source…?” Silver Wolf can see where she’s going with this. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, any opportunity to prove Herta’s “magic” is no more than regular technology and science is one Silver Wolf wants to jump at. Kafka had her, hook, line, and sinker.
“Dammit,” Silver Wolf says quietly as Kafka lets out a light chuckle, fully aware she’s gotten her way. “Fine. If I can figure something out, we won’t scrap the extras. If.”
“Of course, dear. I have full faith in you,” Kafka coos.
“Is keeping all three part of Elio’s plan now?” Silver Wolf asks as she goes back to her computer, focus now shifting to finding out everything she can about Herta’s dolls.
“I spoke to him about it. He said as long as one of them has the Stellaron in their possession, there could be 20 more and it would make no difference.” Silver Wolf chokes on her gum. ‘Please don’t ask me to make 17 more of these things,’ she thinks.
Thankfully, that seems to be where Kafka chooses to leave it, and Silver Wolf feels the tension leave her shoulders. There’s a light pat and a soft whine (she seriously needs to recalibrate 02’s personality), before the soft click of Kafka’s heels approaches Silver Wolf’s desk from behind.
“Got another ridiculous request?” Silver Wolf scoffs, eyes never leaving the screen. A gentle hand lands on her head, rubbing it softly, and she freezes.
“I simply wanted to wish you luck, not that I think you need it.” Kafka retracts her hand and clicks out of the room, the door to the research lab closing quietly behind her. There’s another whine from Unit 02, and Silver Wolf groans.
“Will you shut the hell up?”
~~~~
She’s not really sure how long she’s been at this. She can’t remember the last time she left this room. Firefly chided her for it last time she brought some food by, but there’s a shower in here for when Silver Wolf can’t take it anymore and needs to scrub her brain (this is turning out to be much more frequent than she initially anticipated). Firefly’s concerns are normal, though, and frankly, she’s like this all the time, convinced that Silver Wolf will drive herself to an early grave. Silver Wolf agrees this is highly likely, not that she cares that much, as long as she can achieve her goals and get what Elio promised to her.
The door to the research lab opens and quickly shuts, signalling somebody’s entrance, but Silver Wolf doesn’t look up. All the Stellaron Hunters are allowed in here, and as long as they don’t pester her - which they won’t - she doesn’t care if they’re there.
“I ate yesterday, you coulda waited til tomorrow to bring something,” Silver Wolf says dismissively, her voice a drawl from exhaustion. “Seriously, Firefly, you’re bein-“
“When was the last time you slept?” Well. That was a voice she wasn’t expecting. She looks up and peeks over one of her monitors, and… yep. That’s definitely Blade. He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and a bag of energy drinks and protein bars dangling from one hand.
“I-“ Silver Wolf starts, but a yawn overtakes her. Blade rolls his eyes and pushes himself off the wall to walk over to her.
“These are courtesy of Firefly, but if I were you, I’d get some rest instead of relying on all this junk,” he scolds, deep voice making it sound less like a fatherly suggestion and more like a threat. Silver Wolf barks out a cold laugh as she opens one of the energy drinks.
“That’s rich coming from you.” Her voice is laced with sarcasm, truly the kind of sass you only get from a daughter speaking with her dad (or… father stand-in in Blade’s case). Blade flicks the side of her head. “OW!”
“Yeah well I wouldn’t die from this, and you have a script to fulfill.” With apparently nothing else to say, he turns on his heel and strides out of the room. Another yawn escapes Silver Wolf, but with a look at her data, she decides she can’t sleep yet. She’s so close to a breakthrough. If she rests now, she’ll lose her groove. She sets the bag aside after grabbing a protein bar to snack on, sticking it in her mouth without checking the flavor. She’s caught off guard - mung bean flavor? - but she can’t help but shake her head in exasperation. She’ll ask him about it later.
~~~~
“KAFKA!!!!” Three heads look up from where they’re all lounging in the common area together.
“Yes, dear?” Kafka smiles gently as Silver Wolf runs towards them, nearly falling over from exhaustion before Firefly catches her.
“I DID IT!” Firefly helps Silver Wolf sit in the chair across from Kafka, and Silver Wolf sets up her laptop to show Kafka the data she’d spent the last…. Jeez, how long has it been? Two months? Whatever, the last however long it’s been working on.
“This is excellent~” Kafka croons. “Is this how Herta really achieves it?”
“Erm, no. Probably not even remotely. She’s an Emanator after all so I’m sure some of how she does it is just her uh…” Silver Wolf wracks her brain for words, coming up short in her sleep deprived state. “Her fancy powers. I don’t have big words right now, sorry. But, I started thinking about how I would build a system like that with a buncha automatons, and then worked my way from automatons to organic lifeforms. And uh, boom. Shared Stellaron capabilities.”
“Wow, that’s incredible!” Firefly hugs Silver Wolf around the neck as she praises the hacker. “And just in time for the operation!”
“I’ve already picked out names for our dear children,” Kafka informs the group. Silver Wolf rolls her eyes because of course Kafka did, but she finds she can’t really be mad. Blade stares daggers at her.
“Do you intend to sleep now?” The question doesn’t sound much like one. “You know Kafka can handle all the calibration of the units on her own.”
“Awww Bladie.” Kafka bats her eyelashes playfully, causing Blade to grimace in mild disgust. “He is right. Rest up and leave the final touches to me. I want you in top shape for tomorrow.” Kafka closes the laptop, gathering it under her arm as she stands up. “If you'll excuse me, I’m going to prep those cuties for tomorrow. I’m sure Caelus missed me.”
“Caelus?” Silver Wolf asks in confusion, trying to reach for her laptop as Kafka walls away.
“That’s Unit 02’s name.” Kafka says no more and heads off towards the research lab.
“Can I have my lapto- WAH!” Silver Wolf cuts herself off with a yelp as Firefly scoops her into a princess carry. “What are you doing?!”
“You won’t go to sleep unless someone makes you, so I’m taking you to your room,” the taller girl answers sternly. Silver Wolf pouts, but doesn’t argue. She knows better and it’s not like Firefly is wrong. She’ll probably crash immediately anyway…
Silver Wolf grunts softly, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. Wait. In bed? She doesn’t even remember getting to her room. A cursory glance around the room, and her eyes land on Firefly curled up in the lounge chair in the corner. Oh.
She grabs her phone to check the time; two system hours until she and Kafka leave. With a grumble, Silver Wolf crawls out of bed, recoiling slightly as her feet touch the cold floor. She wastes no time getting ready, efficient as always in that department, and before she leaves the room, she grabs the blanket off her bed and throws it over Firefly.
Kafka’s already up and checking diagnostics when Silver Wolf enters the lab. She waves to the hacker without looking up from her tablet.
“Are the vessels already ready for transport?” Silver Wolf asks, punctuating her question with a yawn. Kafka lets out a light chuckle, finally looking up and over her shoulder at Silver Wolf.
“I prepped them last night. They’re safe and sound. I take it you slept well?”
“Better than I expected. Feels like I’m recovering from a sleeping spell, if I’m honest.” Silver Wolf grabs an energy drink off her desk, one of the stragglers from Blade’s care package. After a quick swig, she can feel herself waking up. “I’ll be fine for the operation though.”
“I wasn’t worried about that,” Kafka assures. Coming from someone else, maybe that would sound dismissive or cold, but from Kafka, it’s the highest form of praise. Silver Wolf grins. “Once you finish that, get the map of the Space Station pulled up and we’ll go over the plan one last time.”
“Aye aye, Captain,” Silver Wolf chirps with a cheeky salute, before chugging the rest of her drink. Kafka shakes her head affectionately.
Preparation for the mission goes smoothly, their months of planning having paid off in spades. Not a single contingency has been left without an appropriate solution. Between Kafka and Silver Wolf, their possible actions and responses are innumerable and already accounted for.
Their preparation is nothing more than a preface for the real mission, which goes just as smoothly, not that either woman is surprised. If Elio’s script says they’ll succeed, then they will, but it’s always nice when they can fulfill it without interference. The Stellaron is exactly where they expected it to be, and as they approach, Silver Wolf looks over to Kafka.
“Decided which one’s getting the Stellaron?” She sets her briefcase on a nearby pedestal and opens it up to begin her work.
“I have. We’ll be leaving Stelle in charge of it,” Kafka smoothly replies. “Despite your tweaks to his personality, Caelus appears to still be a bit prone to recklessness. And of course, Astra would explode.” Kafka gives a quiet laugh at that, like the idea of them fucking up and letting the defect have the Stellaron - causing their certain death - is funny to her.
“‘Kay. That works for me.” Silver Wolf pops her gum and presses the enter key, the final phase of the operation beginning. The cube in Kafka’s hand glows as the three subjects are expulsed from the condensed space inside it. Kafka grins, stepping around them to grab the Stellaron with her bare hand. “Be careful, Kaf.”
“You know I always am.” Silver Wolf’s pretty sure her definition of “careful” and Kafka’s are wildly different, but she leaves it for now as Kafka takes her hand with the Stellaron and shoves it into Stelle’s chest. The vessel jolts like it’s been shocked with electricity as Kafka brings her hand back.
The air crackles, like the feeling of ozone after a strike of lightning. Silver Wolf gets goosebumps, and she’s about to tell Kafka to back away before she sees the manic grin on Kafka’s face. Stelle’s body jerks, invisible defibrillators bringing her chest up dramatically every time. As she finally starts to stabilize, gasping and choking for air, the other two vessels jolt to life as well, following her same routine. The pressure in the air thickens, like the Stellaron has multiplied.
And then, just as quickly as it all started, it’s over. Astra and Caelus begin to gasp for breath and the pressure in the room drops back to normal, the smell of ozone gone entirely. Silver Wolf’s breathing evens out, though upon reflection, she’s not sure when she started struggling to breathe in the first place. Stelle’s eyes blink open slowly.
“Hello, dear,” Kafka croons, voice dripping in honey. “How are you feeling?”
“W-who are you?” Stelle manages, voice raspy from disuse. Kafka clicks her tongue.
“Let’s not dwell on unimportant things. Right now, you need to know three things.”
“Three..?” Silver Wolf can see the confusion on Stelle’s face, brain working overtime trying to figure out why she knows what that is when she feels like she knows nothing at all. Hopefully these three won’t question it when they wake up again.
“Yes, dear. Three. First, your name is Stelle.”
“Stelle…” She repeats it back, seeming to taste the word in her mouth so she can remember how it feels to say it.
“Very good. Second, your siblings are named Astra and Caelus. Astra has the pink streaks in their hair, and Caelus is the other one.” Stelle nods, looking to her left and right while mouthing their names to herself.
“And third, you never saw us here.” Kafka doesn’t wait for an answer this time, reaching forward to caress Stelle’s face as Stelle careens back into darkness.
~~~~
“Dan Heeeeng… Are you sure we need to check back here?”
“We need to check every room, March.”
“But how would anyone even find this room?! It’s totally out of the way!”
“Well… looks like somebody did.” The distant footsteps suddenly get much louder before stopping in front of Astra, slowly gaining consciousness again. Hands slap onto their shoulders before shaking them… Well their owner probably thinks they’re being gentle.
Astra lets out a groan as they’re jostled into waking. They look around, but their surroundings are unfamiliar, and the girl with her hands on their shoulders even more so. Next to them, Stelle is helping this pink-haired girl’s companion (Astra thinks that’s who that is) wake Caelus.
“Are you all alright?!” The pink-haired girl is panicking, pressing her face too close to Astra’s.
“March, give them some room to breathe.” The girl, March, leans back, hands still firmly on Astra’s shoulders. “How did you find this room?”
“I don’t know,” Stelle says honestly. March and the dark-haired boy exchange a concerned look.
“Hmm, we should talk to Himeko about it,” the boy decides. March nods in agreement before standing up and extending a hand and a smile to Astra.
“I’m March 7th, and this is Dan Heng! We’re from the Astral Express. Pleased to meetcha☆ !”