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Eight months, four days, and roughly 300 minutes. That’s how long it had been since he’d had the love of his life in his arms. Perhaps phrasing it that way was a little dramatic… but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
In the wake of the war, calling the Republic a mess would be generous. They were barely a country anymore, and their sorry excuse for a military was in even worse shape. And so… Lena’s presence was needed, while Shin’s… would cause an even bigger mess.
And so… she was there, he was here, they were long distance. And it was agony. To top it off, he was on an extended mental health leave from military work. He found his ways to pass the time, he found a job at a bookstore that did wonders for his sanity, picked up the hobby of writing a novel which… helped at times, hurt at others, but he mostly enjoyed it. He finally stopped pretending he was okay with this to Lena, and had many times managed to swallow his pride and call her when he felt lonely.
So all in all, he was managing. But the worst of it… was moments like this.
Shin rolled onto his side in bed with a groan, pressing his hands over his eyes. It was the second night in a row he’d suffered from nightmares.
Not the normal ones he was used to, but the truly hellish ones that occasionally plagued him. The kind that persisted even when he woke up, calmed down, and went back to sleep… they just kept coming back.
The kind that, under normal circumstances, would have him knocking on Lena’s door. But of course, that wasn’t currently an option. He could call her, odds were high she’d answer… but he did that yesterday. She wouldn’t have any issues with that, but she worked hard, she needed sleep.
A sound at his door drew him out of his thoughts. As Shin went to answer it, his half sleeping mind hoped to see silver hair and eyes, but instead… The eyes were yellow, and did not belong to a human.
But still… it beat being alone, it beat the silence he still wasn’t accustomed to. Shin scooped up Tp and returned to his bed, turning on the radio Lena gave him on the way, meant to soothe his mind while he adjusted to the lack of voices screaming in his ears.
While he attempted to sleep, the cat curled up on his chest, and Shin smiled a little. Lena had left Tp here for the sake of the cat’s stability and safety, but he had to wonder if she also left him for the sake of giving Shin some comfort and companionship. Shin’s thoughts wandered to what must be going through the little creature's mind—did he miss his owner? Somehow, that led to him thinking of Fido… and then a different sort of missing weighed on his heart.
His current residence—Ernst home in Sankt Jadar, was too far away to visit the base and storage hangar where Fido resided, and naturally there was no room for him in the house. Ernst promised to find a solution to this soon, but in the meantime… Shin was left to cope with two absences.
He sighed, which apparently caused too much movement for TP’s liking, for the cat stood up (painfully), huffed, and moved from Shin’s chest to his pillow.
Shin laughed faintly, eyes fluttering. Even though his paws hurt (when did he get so heavy?). Having a companion helped him relax just enough to sleep.
~~~
The night terrors continued to be a problem. Annoying as they were, he was certain it would pass eventually. In the meantime… he’d just be tired, not like he wasn’t used to it. His friends did not seem to agree with this way of thinking—one by one as the days went by, they each pulled him aside, checking on him. Whether they were in on it together or not he wasn’t sure. They asked questions, suggested solutions, Shin even tried some, but they didn’t help.
On especially bad nights, he would call Lena (okay… maybe not all of them, he had a lot of bad nights) but most of the time, he didn’t want to wake her.
All of this he tried to get through, half worried about worrying the others… half knowing they’d worry no matter what he said or did.
And then a particularly difficult day came. His twentieth birthday. The nightmares from the previous night had been especially bad. And the other reason was…
“Happy Birthday Shin. I wish I could be there…”
Laying on his stomach in bed with the phone propped in front of him—Lena’s beautiful image on the video call, Shin shook his head.
“Thank you. It’s okay, this is enough. Not like I particularly care about my birthday.”
Lena frowned. Unfortunately… no trains were currently operating to run from the Republic to the Federacy. The one that brought Lena there a year ago had been for military purposes, and so… visits were unfortunately off the table at the moment.
But… it was in no way her fault. He wished she wouldn’t look so sad.
“Well I care! I’m making it up to you next year, I promise! I did send you a gift. And a care package! But the main gift should be arriving today.” A glint of mischief filled her eyes. Shin leaned on his hand and smiled.
Hearing her voice was enough of a gift, and here she was spoiling him more.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Well I did! And it should be there…” she seemed to check something on her phone, “right about now!”
And somehow… at that exact moment, there was a knock on the front door. Shin raised an eyebrow.
“How did you…?”
“Never mind that! Just go!”
And so, he took up the phone and headed downstairs, where everyone was gathered. Outside the door Raiden was signing for a very large box. How did she send something this big from the Republic?
“What… is this?” He tilted his head in the direction of Teresa, who was now holding his phone.
“Open it and find out!” Said Raiden, grinning widely. They all were. So everyone was in on this.
Shin examined the box, a large shipping crate barring a label stating that it came from Roa Gracia, which was odd, but what wasn’t odd about this mysterious box?
He lifted the lid, and the moment he did…
“PI!”
Shin jumped back—as something jumped out.
A… dog? But not a normal one, seeing as it had been in a sealed crate with no oxygen. Its eyes were red, and didn’t quite resemble the eyes of a living creature, it was covered in some kind of synthetic fur that had an orange tint to it.
But most importantly… that sound.
“Pi!”
The “dog” danced in front of him excitedly.
“…Fido?”
“Pi!”
The “dog” sat back on his hind legs, placing two paws that lacked the warmth of a living being in his hands…. But at that moment, Shin didn’t care.
“How…?” He glanced over at the phone, and the crowd watching him, his eyes wide.
“I know how much you missed Fido. So I asked Vika if there was a way we could make him more… portable. He and Annette worked together remotely to come up with the plans to make this body for him. And Vika is the one who ended up actually building it, Grethe did the transfer from his scavenger body. Are you happy?”
“Are you kidding?” His shocked expression was quickly changing—into one of pure delight, a rare sight to those who cared for him… and a warmly welcomed one.
“This is amazing! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top this gift. Lena… thank you, I love you so much!”
Lena smiled warmly.
“I love you too. Happy birthday Shin.”
The sentiment she felt was one shared by all as they watched the man and his dog chase each other about, the expression on his face unlike any they’d seen him make before.
~~~
There was no question, this Fido was the real thing. The way he moved, the way he acted. When Shin returned from work the next day, he found Fido pouting about being left behind. And he stuck by Shin’s side every moment he was in the house. Clearly, he’d missed him… and the feeling was mutual.
Yes it was truly him. But with the added benefits of fitting in the house and not being ten tons (although he was still quite heavy.) He adapted so quickly to his new body… It really made Shin think. But he chose not to dwell on it. He had no idea how he’d repay Lena for this gift, but damn it all he would try.
He was happy; every phone call with Lena in the days that followed came with a thank you. And every time, she would smile and say she was glad he liked his gift, which was a massive understatement.
Happy as he was… a few lingering problems. Missing Lena being one, and wishing to thank her in person… kiss her for giving him such a wonderful gift. And then there was….
Shin sat bolt upright in bed, heart pounding, shirt soaked through with sweat. His quick awakening dislodged an unfortunate Tp from his chest, causing the cat to fall onto the bed and immediately run for the closed door.
Running a hand through his hair, Shin stood up, moving to open the door for the cat. Then went to change his shirt. As he did so he spotted Fido in the corner of the room, laying in a dog bed Frederica picked for him. His optical sensors were dark, but they lit up when Shin looked at him.
“Pi?”
“I’m fine.”
Somehow… Fido didn’t look convinced.
Shin lay back down, trying for round two at sleep… but he woke up the same way less than an hour later, and then again.
The third time something changed. The bed creaked.
“What are you…?”
Fido had his front legs up on the bed, clumsily trying to climb into it. Shin had to laugh.
Perhaps he saw Tp doing it, and that gave him the idea, or perhaps he simply knew Shin was struggling and wanted to help. Either option and any other that might be going through his artificial brain was endearing, but…
“You’re bigger than Tp. If you sleep on my chest, you’ll kill me.”
“Pi!!”
He was insistent, and so with another chuckle Shin stood up and hefted his back legs into the bed before climbing in behind him.
Not like I planned on sleeping anymore tonight anyway.
They sorted themselves out. Fido pulled his legs in, making himself smaller, but he still took up quite a bit of space, Shin was half hanging off the bed. It was by no means comfortable. Fido's body was cold, his “fur” was soft, but it was obviously fake. But… all of that aside…
The way the mechanisms that made up his insides hummed was… comforting. And when he placed his head on Shin’s shoulder… he could sense affection no machine should be able to give.
And somehow… Shin felt his body relax, and his eyes fluttered. He was reminded of those lonely nights in the eighty-sixth sector when he was young. Sometimes, when he had a nightmare, or when his squadron got wiped out, he’d abandon the cold, empty barracks for Fido’s storage hangar. Sleeping in the presence of—at that time— his only friend… brought him peace.
His companion… his friend, big and clumsy and taking up half the bed… chased the nightmares away now, just as he did then.
~~~
Shin didn’t show up for breakfast the next day. And so Raiden went up to check on him, worried entourage close behind.
What they found was…
Shinei Nouzen, sound asleep, and Fido, his faithful friend beside him. The mechanical dog turned his head (more than a normal dog ever could) upon hearing Raiden open the door.
“Pi!”
And in spite of not understanding him the way Shin did, Raiden got the message.
“Don’t wake him up!”
The others came up behind him, peaking into the room, and Raiden followed Fido's lead in shushing and shooing them away.
After all… he had a lot of sleep to catch up on, with his oldest friend there to watch over him as he did.