Work Text:
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
It was supposed to be a celebratory time. Irontomb had been defeated and it seemed that the galaxy was at peace once again. And while it was true that back on the Astral Express everyone was celebrating their victory, back on the space station, Ruan Mei was feeling anything but celebratory. She was simply waiting.
Waiting for Herta to return.
It had already been a few days since the battle against Irontomb and Herta hadn’t exactly specified when she’d return afterwards. It could have been anytime from immediately after the fall of Irontomb to months from then. But the more the days passed by, the more dread began to stir at the bottom of Ruan Mei’s heart.
“What if Herta never returned?”
And so, unable to focus on her own work for the time being and in order to distract her from the worst case scenario, Ruan Mei busied herself in the best way she could.
By baking her favourite sweet pastries, of course.
For days, she had locked herself in her own quarters at the Herta Space Station, preparing cakes and other treats for herself and the multitude of her cat cake companions that roamed around, in order to keep the bad thoughts at bay and today was no different. This particular day, Ruan Mei had decided to prepare some muffins to go with the rest of the trays filled with other desserts that she and Herta would share once she returned. Though she had been debating on whether to make her famous “truth-revealing” muffins or “sleep serum infused” muffins (which she had appropriately named “Sleepy Russian-Roulette”).
It was when she was busy stirring the batter for the desserts when she heard a knock at her door.
…
“I wasn’t expecting anybody aside from Herta, was I?” Ruan Mei thought to herself.
Setting the mixing bowl onto her small kitchen island, she made her way over to her door, and opened it.
…
She looked around, but saw no one. Not even Herta...
Sighing, Ruan Mei was about to close the door when she heard someone clear their throat, and that’s when she finally looked down and saw one of Herta’s puppets gazing up at her with a large basket in hand, quite to her surprise.
Since from the moment Herta had left to face Irontomb, all of the Herta puppets had gone offline, leaving the space station noticeably more quiet without constant criticism and Madam Herta worshipping. So to see one of the puppets online again really did put Ruan Mei slightly at ease.
“Hello Ruan Mei.” The puppet replied in Herta’s same sarcastic tone.
“Oh, apologies. I didn’t see you there, since you’re just so short..” Ruan Mei began.
Unimpressed, the puppet merely stared back at her for a few long, silent seconds before it continued. “Madam Herta wanted this delivered directly to you.” As it spoke, the puppet lifted the basket for Ruan Mei to take. “And please read the attached letter written by Madam Herta herself.”
Ruan Mei took the basket, and immediately felt how delicate it really was. It felt as though each strand was perfectly and intricately threaded together with utmost care and precision, and something of very high standard for Herta. The contents of the basket were gently covered with a silk lilac blanket and with one of Herta’s signature purple flowers to top it all off.
But it was the letter that truly confused Ruan Mei.
If Herta was delivering something to her and couldn’t give it to her in person, what was stopping her from simply sending a message?
“Thank you for the delivery. But may I ask, where exactly is Herta?” Ruan Mei felt inclined to ask.
But instead of getting an answer, she simply got a silent, non-responsive stare and a few blinks back. Just then, one of the pastry cats, the wisteria purple one that Herta had always been fond of, slipped by from inside and over to the Herta puppet, purring and nuzzling itself on the puppet’s leg. But after a few moments of sniffing and failing to catch a scent of its favourite person, the disappointed cat padded its way back into Ruan Mei’s quarters.
“Right… never mind then.” Ruan Mei sighed. The puppet was clearly only there for the delivery and had no further information. It was pointless to ask.
With one last final automated stare, the Herta puppet gave a half-nod, a dramatic turn and was on its way. Ruan Mei simply watched the puppet until it turned a corner and was out of her sight.
“What a strange little thing..” She mumbled to herself as she closed her door once again.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
With her curiosity increasing by the second, Ruan Mei set the basket onto her kitchen island. She wasn’t too bothered about its contents as she was convinced it was just baking goods and other treats sent by Herta. But it was the letter that had her really interested.
She was almost completely sure the letter was just Herta explaining where she was and how she would be “taking a few detours” and visiting a few planets for fun before returning to the station (even though Herta was never one to announce her disappearances and often just came and went as she pleased). But despite that, Ruan Mei was still interested in what her colleague had to say. So, she took the white envelope which had simply been labeled “RM”, and inspected it for a few seconds before opening it.
The entire letter had been handwritten in Herta’s disgustingly neat handwriting and it seemed that the witch had a lot to say. So Ruan Mei, standing idly in the middle of her living room began to read from the very start;
To Ruan Mei,
If you are receiving this letter, it means we have most likely defeated Irontomb and the cosmos are safe once again, and you have most likely baked a bakery’s worth of your pastries already…
Ruan Mei smiled. It was as if Herta could see all the baked goods she had filled her pantry with from wherever she was.
But if you are receiving this letter, it means I have yet to return from Irontomb’s domain. It means that the original plan failed and I have had no choice but to resort to plan-b…
The smile on Ruan Mei’s face vanished instantly and she felt her heart drop down to her stomach.
Wait- No.. it couldn’t be…
She kept reading.
I was left with no other option than to fuse with Irontomb itself in order to completely suspend the beginning of its reign of destruction. The only online Herta puppet that had come to send you this message had been programmed to only deliver this message to you when my life force was no longer detected in any and every form.
No. No, no, no this couldn’t be happening.
This means I have most certainly perished and will not be able to enjoy a well deserved victory along with everyone else. Nor will I be able to join you for celebratory pastries, which I’m sure will be much to your disappointment.
Furthermore, I have set up a complex seal around Irontomb’s domain to fully contain whatever monstrosities may arise from our fusion as best I am able. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES attempt to find this domain or break this seal. I do not know what power such a fusion could possibly hold, but I know that if this ‘new’ Irontomb were to ever be released, it would most definitely spell the end of the universe.
.
.
.
Ruan Mei had to stop reading right there and then. Her legs felt weak and she was overwhelmed with an emotion she didn’t know how to explain; rage, grief, shock..? But instead they all seemed to cancel each other out, leaving nothing but an empty void. Ruan Mei half-felt herself walk to her kitchen island and lean back on it as a sort of support. Behind her, the siamese cat cake she had named Ruan Meow had jumped onto the kitchen table and curiously sniffed at the woven gift basket.
“I see... So Herta is dead.” She whispered under her breath, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, it would be all too true. “Emanator of Erudition fallen to the hands of The Destruction…”
It was only the first paragraph of the letter and already Ruan Mei wasn’t sure if she could keep reading. But she ended up doing so anyways.
Now whether my untimely passing has come as a shock and you will promptly spend the next week mourning in your own little corner (as I am sure the entirety of the Herta Fan Club will react to the news of my death), or you simply do not care, I do ask that you continue reading this letter. Because yes, even if I am dead, I still have some important administrative responsibilities for you.
Firstly, written on a separate piece of paper I have give you the passcode to override my control of all my puppets. I give you full access to do as you please with them. If that means to bring them all back online to continue operations in the station, leave them permanently offline, modify them to make them look like you, or even dismantle them all and use their parts for your own projects, that is up to you now.
Ruan Mei found the tiny slip of paper in the envelope and sure enough, a simple 6 digit code had been hastily scribbled at the back. 768381. It was a combination of Screwllum, Herta and her own Genius Society numbers.
She wasn’t sure what she would end up doing with the puppets, so for now she simply kept the digits in the back of her mind and flipped the letter back to keep reading.
Next, regarding our project, the Simulated Universe. It is quite a shame that as a co-partner I will not be able to continue assisting with its development nor ever witness the completion of our digital universe. I am sure Stephen Lloyd will also be quite disappointed too. But despite this, I do ask that you do not abandon the project, even if I am not able to give my much valued and clearly much needed input. I hope that someday the Simulated Universe expands to become its own digital galaxy, just as we had all envisioned.
It was true that the Simulated Universe had been a massive-little passion project of the small group of them, but especially that of herself and Herta. Ruan Mei found it hard to think of continuing the project without her closest co-partner.
“But I won’t give up on it, for Herta.” she said to herself.
Ruan Mei kept on reading the rest of the paragraph and was skimming through a particularly lengthy instruction to “continue to force the Trailblazer to test Simulated Universe as their favourite guinea pig”, when an ear-splitting, shrill-like sound suddenly filled the room.
Ruan Mei felt herself jump out of her own skin and she flinched so hard, the letter nearly fluttered right out of her hands. Even Ruan Meow had staggered away from the basket just a bit from fright.
The sound seemed to be coming from behind her on the kitchen counter. Ruan Mei turned her head so fast, her golden DNA hair-clip came right out and fell to the floor with a clatter, instantly loosening her bun and unraveling her dark, teal streaked hair.
After picking up her hair-clip, tying it back into her hair and setting the letter on the table, she turned to the source of the horrific high-pitched noise. It sounded like a wail and it couldn’t be any of her cat cakes because it was coming from inside the basket Herta had given her.
“Alright, so whatever is in the basket, DEFINITELY isn’t baking supplies..” Ruan Mei noted.
Deciding she needed to stop the deafening sound from inside the basket, which was already echoing through her room, Ruan Mei went over to the where she had put the basket on the table. She shooed away Ruan Meow, who had been sticking its head into the basket, to get it away from whatever was inside. The siamese cat cake hissed at her before sinking back into its turquoise pastry shell, bouncing off the table, and knocking the whisk onto the floor as it left.
Underneath the purple silk blanket was whatever Herta had sent her in an attempt to burst her eardrums. So after just half a second of hesitation, Ruan Mei covered one ear with her hand and slowly pulled the blanket back with the other.
And what she saw inside the basket immediately made her want to put the blanket right back in its place.
Because inside the basket cushioned with fluffy pillows and softer blankets, was a baby.
More specifically a tiny, chubby-cheeked baby girl wearing a pastel lilac onesie with little stars on it and also wearing Herta’s black key necklace. She had wisps of ashy-brown hair- just like Herta’s, and striking violet purple eyes- just like Herta’s, and Herta’s same pale skin, and- oh god she was basically a mini-Herta. And right now this mini-Herta was currently bawling its eyes out.
Ruan Mei put her hand to her mouth as she gasped in horror. “Oh Herta. What have you done..”
In a panic, Ruan Mei lifted the crying baby out of the basket and into her arms. She gently cradled and rocked the child in an attempt to calm her down, but that was all in vain since the baby didn’t stop crying. In fact, it seemed like it had started crying even louder. As an expert in life sciences, Ruan Mei knew exactly how to handle infantile organisms… theoretically. But in a practical situation such as this one, she had completely zero idea what she was doing.
She found herself trying everything to get the baby to calm down. Rocking it to sleep? Didn’t work. Patting and rubbing its back? No effect at all. Humming a tune? Clearly the baby hated it since it cried even more afterwards. Diaper change? Thankfully not…
Desperate to end the wailing and to get ANY idea on what in Aeons’ name was going on, Ruan Mei snatched the letter from the table, completely skipped the rest of the Simulated Universe paragraph and kept on reading.
Right, and perhaps this should have been my first point.. but if she hasn’t already let her presence be known yet and completely shattered your eardrums, inside the basket I have given you isn’t baking supplies, but in fact my infant daughter, Theresa.
So it WAS Herta’s child, and her name was Theresa…
“So Theresa is your name is it, little one? How beautiful.” Ruan Mei said as she continued to gently sway the girl in her arms.
Theresa responded with an even more deafening cry.
If she has started crying and hasn’t ceased doing so, I’ll have you know that she is indeed quite the crier. In fact, I am confident enough to say that it might even be what she is best at.
Ruan Mei couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Indeed Theresa was “quite the crier” and she knew exactly where the tiny baby had gotten it from. Theresa’s lung capacity was almost perfectly comparable to Herta when she was addressing all the “incompetent” researchers on the station on a very slow and unproductive day.
But just in case you are seriously unable to keep reading or think straight with a little bit of “white noise” and you need Theresa to calm down, I would suggest you try the cat. She seems to like it quite a lot.
“The cat? What did Herta mean by a cat?? Surely she wouldn’t be speaking in riddles at a time like this.”
Ruan Mei thought for about a second before she remembered.
Oh right. The cat.
She turned back to the basket and sure enough inside was a purple-black stuffed cat. It had been next to Theresa when she had first opened up the basket, and Ruan Mei was sure she recognised the cat already.
It was almost certainly the same stuffed cat that she had seen on the bed in Herta’s room at her Clock Tower multiple times before, the same cat she had also seen on Herta’s lab desk desk a few times, and the same cat Herta had once secretly kept hidden under her massive witch’s hat for a day.
“Felix” was the name she swore had once heard Herta call him. Although she had always denied having named something as simple and silly as a stuffed animal.
Ruan Mei took the cat from out of the woven basket and quickly brought it up to the wailing baby. Theresa stopped crying and stared watery-eyed at the stuffed animal for a few brief moments and it looked like she was about to quiet down and take the cat. But instead she knocked Felix right out of Ruan Mei’s hand and went right back to her squalling.
Well that was just great. Didn’t seem like Theresa liked the cat very much anymore..
“Come on now, Theresa. It would be much more beneficial to the both of us if you were able to simply just tell me what was wrong.” Ruan Mei sighed as she bent down to take the cat and put him back on the table. It was quite a terrible feeling, having a crying baby in her arms and not knowing how to assist.
As a desperate last resort, Ruan Mei looked into the basket once again in hopes of finding something, anything, to calm Theresa down. And aside from the pillows and blankets, she found Herta’s lab coat, pristine as ever and neatly folded on one side serving as its own makeshift pillow. She took it out and, praying that things would work out, held it out to Theresa.
To her relief, Theresa took the lab coat from her almost immediately, stopped crying, and hugged it as tightly as her chubby little baby hands could. Within a few minutes, the baby girl was out cold, with her face half-buried into her mother’s lab coat.
The coat still smelled faintly of Herta. Lavender, with the slightest hint of the antiseptic from the lab.
And perhaps Theresa had wanted it so badly because it was the only thing she had left of her mother’s familiar, comforting scent and made it seem like she was maybe still kind of actually there..
It was obvious that the poor baby girl really did just want her mom.
…
A long sigh of relief escaped Ruan Mei’s mouth. “That took way longer than it should have..”
But at least she could now focus on the main matter at hand…
SINCE WHEN DID THE HERTA HAVE A DAUGHTER?!
A flurry of questions raced in Ruan Mei’s mind that needed to be answered effective immediately. The child explained the frequent, extended disappearances… but why? Why had Herta kept Theresa a secret from her, the rest of the space station and everyone else she knew, and for how long exactly? Had she intentionally decided to become a mother or not? When did the genius decided that bringing a new life into the universe in her free time was something she could just do, simply because she felt like it?
And most importantly, why Theresa was admittedly quite adorable when she wasn’t bringing the roof down with her crying??
She didn’t know where she could go to get her questions answered, so she turned to the only thing she knew. The letter.
She kept reading once again.
I would imagine you have an endless amount of questions you are burning to get answers for regarding Theresa. So, let me help you answer one. If you can create your cat cakes and other weird little “lifeforms” whenever you please, what would be stopping me from making a “creation” of my own? Only one of the many differences is that unlike whatever you’d call your creations, my daughter is an actual human being.
Ruan Mei’s eyes narrowed in slight irritation. It seemed as if Herta’s new version of humour involved having a child, leaving said offspring at her colleague’s door and refusing to elaborate.
And yet another question I am willing to answer for you. “Why is Theresa so unbelievably adorable and cute in every way possible?” I can already imagine you asking. Well my dearest Ruan Mei, that would be because Theresa has somehow, and miraculously, inherited every single one of my most perfect traits. When I look at her, it’s like looking into a young mirror of myself. And perhaps it is as if biology agrees that my absolutely perfect DNA must be carried on.
Even in writing, Ruan Mei grew bored of Herta’s usual self-glazing very quickly and was about a sentence away from setting the letter aside and returning to her baking.
But alas, if this was a letter telling you all about how great both Theresa and I truly are, it would definitely not be only a page long…
Now jokes aside and on a much more serious note. The reason as to why I’ve left my daughter on your doorstep is because… well… Originally, I had Fourth Mirror and my puppet take care of Theresa back at Clock Tower until I returned, but since you have gotten this letter, I am obviously long gone and cannot not return to take care of her.
Which is why I am asking, knowing how well you care for your own “children”, to take Theresa in and care for her as the mother I will never get to be for her. Since I am certain a limbless mirror assistant and a puppet won’t be the most effective caretakers in the long run, and I need someone I could trust deeply with my child. And out of everyone I know, I trust you the most, Ruan Mei.
Ruan Mei really had to think about this.. Becoming fully responsible for a whole other life was most certainly not a light matter and would become a massive responsibility for someone already as busy as herself.
But also, out of everyone Herta knew (and she knew a LOT of people), she trusted her the most..?
I have already listed both you and Screwy as Theresa’s guardians in case something like this were to have happened sooner. I know that with two geniuses such as you both raising my daughter, she will turn out just fine even without me. In fact, from the very moment I first held her in my arms and for the brief time of my life that I have gotten to spend with her, I am already certain she will someday surpass my academic achievements and intellect and will grow up to become a far better genius than I ever was. Perhaps she may even become the youngest member of the Genius Society in a few years if she so chooses.
…
Though most importantly, there is one thing I ask very deeply of you, Ruan Mei. Once Theresa is old enough to understand, please tell her how sorry I am for not ever getting the chance to see her grow up.
From never getting to hear her utter her first words, or seeing her take her first steps to watching her solve her first quadratic equation or prove her first abstract theory. I won’t be there to ever wipe her tears or comfort her when she cries or even spend my days arguing theoretical problems over pastries and tea with you and her. I won’t even be there to push her back up when she fails, because at the end of the day everyone (even us geniuses although very occasionally) make mistakes and Theresa will need someone to help her up as she grows. Which is why I need you to be there for her, Ruan Mei. Please.
Ruan Mei stared at the last sentence of the paragraph over and over again.
“I need you to be there for her… please.”
Seeing “sorry” and “please” in the same paragraph and from Herta of all people seemed very un-Herta-like. Herta wasn’t one to say sorry for anything, especially if it were even remotely research related. If Herta thought she was right on a matter, even if she was very wrong, she would defend it to the ends of the galaxy. And even if she was proven wrong, she wouldn’t apologise for wasting everybody’s time because that was just who The Herta was. So to see the witch apologising for something and writing in such an emotional, sentimental and unfamiliar way caused a strange unsettling feeling to stir deep in Ruan Mei’s heart.
And still sleeping in her arms, cradled closely to her chest was Theresa. She didn’t have a care in the cosmos as her tiny baby chest rose and fell rhythmically. It would have quite an adorable moment in time, but the harsh reality was that as Theresa slept, her mother had sacrificed herself to save the universe and those around her and the infant was still too young to understand that she wouldn’t have anybody there for her.
Anyone except Ruan Mei. And Screwllum. And the rest of the Herta Space Station. And the Astral Express. And maybe even the other members of the Genius Society.
“I promise you, little Theresa, that you will never be alone.” Ruan Mei whispered as she gently brushed back the baby’s soft brown hair. “There will be so many people that will be there looking out for you, every moment of your life and even more that will never stop loving and caring for you, I will make sure of that.”
Theresa replied with a dramatic huff in her sleep.
Ruan Mei chuckled softly. “You are quite the dramatic one… just like your mother.”
She then turned back to the letter.
Ugh. Now all that sentimental talk has made me feel all sick to my stomach. So I’ll move on from that as swiftly as possible. If there are any grammatical errors, please ignore them since I refuse to go back and reread all of that..
The handwriting of those first lines seemed just ever so slightly more rushed and untidy compared to the rest of letter.
Perhaps, Herta had shed a tear or two as she wrote the message for her daughter, and couldn’t write as well afterwards..? But in all her years of knowing her, Ruan Mei had NEVER seen or even imagined the idea of THE Herta emotional to the point of tears.
Besides if it were the case, Herta would rather die than ever admit she cried over writing a letter.
Anyways- I am sure you still have so many questions about Theresa. Well guess what: you can keep thinking about those questions for the rest of your life if you’d really like because I won’t be answering any of them. I am sure you know all the basic information you need to know about her already; human, female, infant daughter of the great Madam Herta, strikingly adorable in every way possible, will vomit all over you if you pat her back incorrectly. That about sums it all.
Don’t expect to get any further information about her from my stuff or any of my puppets because spoiler: you won’t find anything.
“Herta can honestly be so secretive at times.” Ruan Mei frowned. She would have no choice but to keep her questions buried in the back of her mind forever. (Or until she asked Screwllum to assist her with breaking into Herta’s tower and going through her stuff until she found something..)
And now regarding the space station. It had always been an important thing to me and so it is equally as important that I tell you what will happen to it since I am gone. As the sole owner of the Herta Space Station, I have decided to leave the entire station to my next of kin, which would be Theresa. But since she is still too young, I will be leaving the station in a temporary co-ownership between you and Screwllum until Theresa is of age to run the station herself.
I trust the two of you will take good care of my station. Don’t make me have to come back as a wubbaboo just to run things myself.
.
.
.
Well, I suppose that concludes all of the important points I needed to cover so there is nothing more that need be said. Except for my final farewell to you, Ruan Mei.
Oh..?
From the moment I first invited you to the space station all those years ago, I’d always thought you were such an… interesting character.
“Interesting?!” What was that supposed to mean?
I’d always known you were extremely gifted in your field but goodness, you were so quiet and reserved back then! Even more so than myself. It was near impossible to even talk to you. You always kept to yourself and did your research in your own little corner, and like a cat, we all knew you were still in the station, but you were constantly hiding off somewhere.
But it was that first day I’d found you in the lab and invited you for some tea with Screwy and I. You were so hesitant at first, but perhaps it was the moment you saw all the desserts at the table and we all started conversing about whatever theories, you changed almost instantly. You really opened up to us and no longer were you the “to herself” Ruan Mei I’d first met. And I knew I’d found a new partner for life.
I sure am going to miss you randomly showing up at my front door with a tray of muffins and a particularly disgusting theoretical problem that we both spend hours cracking our brains over (but mostly just eating the muffins). I’ll miss inserting the tiniest bugs into the simulated universe with you just to ragebait Stephen to the point the poor boy was ripping hair out because he couldn’t find them. I’ll miss “assisting” you with your research, even though you never really needed the help and I was just there to keep you company while you worked on making your very… interesting lifeforms.
And yes, I guess I will also miss you making fun of my perfectly normal bangs from time to time (I still don’t see what you ever found so funny about them).
I do hope that someday you will succeed in your research and find the true “origin” of life. You are intelligent enough, I’m sure you will be capable of doing it, if anyone.
…
It’s a shame my life as a beautiful, magnificent genius has had to have been cut so short all because of some stupid Irontomb that refused to die… A part of me hopes deep down that having this letter delivered to you will never be necessary. But alas, sometimes amazing things (such as myself) must come to an end. I hope that someday, perhaps in another life, we shall meet again and enjoy some of our favourite pastries together. I think I would enjoy that quite a lot.
Farewell, my dear Ruan Mei
~Herta
And that was the end of the letter.
A part of Ruan Mei wished the letter never had to come to an end... Her turquoise eyes lingered on Herta’s final sign off for well over a few moments, before she folded the letter back and slipped it back into the envelope.
Theresa, now half-awake, was softly tugging on the white pearls of Ruan Mei’s necklace while she nibbled on the key of Herta’s necklace with her gummy baby gums. Her vibrant violet eyes shimmered brightly with the same determination Ruan Mei had seen in Herta when she was about to do something groundbreaking.
She knew in that moment, Theresa was already destined for greatness, just like her mother. Maybe Aeon Nous would even cast THEIR gaze upon her someday just like THEY had done for them.
Putting the envelope back into Theresa’s basket for the last time, Ruan Mei noticed the mixing bowl left abandoned.
She knew that if Herta had written to Screwllum as well, it wouldn’t be long before he showed up at her door, so she had a bit of time to herself before the reality of the chaos settled in.
Why not continue her baking until then?
With one free hand, she grabbed the whisk and returned to making her muffins. Only when she returned to mixing this time, she was now a mother and her closest friend was gone. She wasn’t even sure why she was still making the muffins since the person she was making them for was dead.
But she would still make them.
.
.
.
Ruan Mei thought about Herta one last time and a soft smile grew on her face.
“Farewell to you, my dear Herta.”
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.