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Sandrone's creation was an experiment and as per her nature (and that of her creator's), she loved to experiment. The only thing that could fail was herself. Her experiments were never failures. Failure wasn't an option to a woman of science. Alain never failed, so she mustn't either.
The latest experiment of the Experimental Design Bureau was to find a way to prevent information leaking from traitors, something known to be all to common in Snezhnaya. Every person, every Fatuus, every Harbinger had their own agenda. Some wanted to save themselves, save others; find family, be a part of a family; be loved, make enemies– ah, well, everyone has their reasons but the Tsarista, while not a pacifist, is merciful. She still has respect for those residing in her nation.
The mission is simple, find a way to bring justice to traitors. The Tsarista is not the Archon of justice, thus that is not why she does this. She wants to show her love by being merciful. Afterall, it is the Heavenly Principles she is opposing, not commoners.
Alas a bit of tinkering here, a bit of experimentation there and surely the solution would appear. "Damn it!" Sandrone burst out in a dumbfounded yell and banged the table with her fists causing a wrench to fall on her foot; causing her to wince in pain and hop around like a deer seeing Pulonia for the first time. "Pulonia, find texts relevant to mind psychology." She grumbled it out but the machine still heard her and obeyed her command.
A book appeared on her desk, "Now, where to begin..." She scanned the contents page and selected Short Term Memory as her chosen topic. "Page number 236... Okay." Sandrone flipped the corner of the book, fiddling with the thin, rippable pages to get to the exact number required. "Short Term Memory is a term used by scientists to describe memories only required in short periods of time. To Irmimsul this means nothing as the Ley Lines only record in the longer term with the exception of non-canon events. *Non-canon events refers to situations that are not important nor true to the Imaginary Tree. The concept of Imaginarium is only a theory and not to be taken lightly." Oh, this was going to take a while. Sandrone sighed extra dramatically and put her finger at her reading point, "Pulonia, prepare some tea. This will take a while."
°❀•.˚⋆｡𖦹 •:𖤓
After dozens of pages on Ley Line theory and memory, Sandrone found the page on non-canonical memories and events to be the most interesting. Surely, if it's not canonical, it can be erased with no consequences, thus leading to a clean slate. Or, well, as clean as it gets. Kind of like when you rub at a chalkboard to get the chalk off but it stained the board... And no matter how much you try. It. Just. Won't. BUDGE!
Heh... That was alot of excess reading.
Sandrone lifted her teacup, only to find there was no tea left. She then poured her teapot to discover she drank the whole pot! Ah, geez, what a mission. You can't just dump this on a girl and expect immediate results! Luckily, Sandrone is not a simple girl but a puppeteer who writes her own life. Solving a problem like this is a piece of cake. Speaking of, she deserved a piece of cake, maybe even two or more treats for the work she just slaved away on.
The Marionette gracefully waltzed over to the kitchen to cut herself a slice of some of that good stuff, angel cake.
"Sandrone."
"EEEK!" The said puppets back hunched up and jumped back a couple of feet at the new voice entering the chat. "Columbina. How many times have I told you? If I've told you once, I've told you a mil-li-on times. You can't just sneak up on me like that. It's impolite!"
"You just looked so... peaceful, is all. What are you doing outside your quarters, aren't you supposed to be studying for your big mission?" Columbina the curious simply stated it, but it felt like a jab at her hard work.
"Columbina, some of us are hard at work here and require a break every so often. I gotta keep my morale up, or I might end up like you, so move aside please!" With that, Sandrone pushed aside Columbina and started digging through stacks of rations, clearly looking for something.
"Like me? What are you looking for?"
"Snacks, even I have to refuel, you know."
Columbina let out a not-so-silent hum that led Sandrone to find the guilty party. She turned her head slowly, eye tweaking and furiously whispered, "Columbina..." A crazed smile, "What did you just come here to eat?"
"Cake."
Sandrone laughed. A crazy, insane, gone nuts kind of laugh. A hushed yell, "Columbina..." She raised her voice, "That was my cake!"
"Oops, sorry. It was just so... sweet. It reminded me of you. My little angel."
"Yeah, probably because it was my cake." Once again, she dramatically sighed, "Well I suppose I could use your help reading these texts, come on. Let's go, Columbina. Make yourself useful, will you?"
They walked back to Sandrone's quarters together, but there was only one set of footsteps. Silently alone.
"Right, you. Book. Now."
Columbina nodded and took one of the heavy tomes over to Sandrone's bed and lay down on her stomach to read said book. She was like a child, waving her legs back and forth, how immature.
All the while, Sandrone tinkered away with her newfound knowledge to create the Mindbender v1.0. A device that could delete the recipient's memories and store them in Irminsul's far off non-canonical roots. It was simple, like trimming a bush. The dead roots will get trimmed off at some point just like how the non-canonical events will get deleted from the recipient now and Irminsul later.
"Ahh, I'm a genius, wouldn't you agree?"
... Silence.
"Columbina?"
She looked up from her book, "Hello, Columbina??"
On the woman's bed lay a sleeping princess using her reading material as a pillow and kuuvahki as a blanket, "Columbina! Wake up!" Sandrone then picked up her own pillow and hit Columbina over the head with it.
"Sandrone. I just had the most wonderful dream about you. You were a little Kuuhenki and you were so soft and cuddly."
"And is that what you were supposed to be doing?"
...
"Ugh! Anyway, I completed my device and I need a test subject. Get up, stand over there. I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before, and then use the device on you. This way we ensure it works as intended."
"Okay. Ready."
"Columbina, I... I.. I lo- You're kind of cute!"
"Wha-?" ZAP!!
Sandrone's face was redder than red. It was so red that she may as well have invented a new colour.
"Columbina? Do you... remember anything?" Sandrone asked this sounding confident, but her face was hiding behind her hands with her eyes closed shut.
"...Hello? Sonnet? A-Aria... Canon? Are you there? Anybody?"
"Columbina! What are you going on about?"
"Who... who are you?"
"Huh?! Columbina! It's me! Sandrone..." So many emotions were in Sandrone's core that it felt like it would overheat and explode.
"San..drone... That's a pretty name, can you give me a pretty name?" There was a look of innocence in her eyes that couldn't be faked.
"Shit..."
"Shit? What's Shit...? Is that my name?"
"No! Your name is Columbina. That word is... Nevermind. Don't say that word." She paused. "You really... Don't remember?"
"I think I'd remember meeting someone of your beauty... Hmmhehehemmm..." Columbina... is drunk?! On memory loss?
Well, atleast we can say mission partial-success! Ugh, I really don't want to have to go to Dottore for this. Dottore was a pain, however, atleast he was logical in science theory.
Most of the time.
No, Sandrone, no. You can solve this yourself. Anyway what's a minor memory loss to a genius like me? Hmm?
Sandrone sat on her bed and pondered for ages, reading the same chapters on memory and Ley Lines for hours on end.
Columbina, on the other hand, was easily entertained. She took out Sandrone's bun and brushed her hair. It was soft, despite being centuries old and didn't smell like machine oil. Columbina played with it a bit before splitting it into three sections and neatly braiding it into a long braid. For someone who always has her hair tied up, she had awfully long hair. Columbina decorated her hair, making certain sections shine with the Kuuvahki she discovered how to use and flowers some sweet Kuuhenki brought her. Sandrone looked like a princess, albeit, a tired princess.
"Useless!" Sandrone chucked the dictionary-sized book across the room causing an avalanche of her own goods across the floor. She put her hands in her head and wiped her eyes, "Columbina... How could you forget me?"
"I may not know you but, you're very pretty. Inside and out. I think you're a good friend."
Sandrone looked up and smiled at her friend. Some things truly cannot be forgotten.
"But now you're tired, go to sleep, Sandrone."
"Okay, but stay close, you hear? I don't want anyone finding out about this!"
Sandrone curled up on her bed, feeling like the baby she never was and closed her eyes for a recharge.
Suddenly, Columbina started singing, but for once, her singing wasn't irritating but calming.
La, la, laa, lalala.
It was like it was saying go to sleep, softly.
La, laa, la, lalala.
It was like she was cuddling up beside her.
Laa, la, la, lalala...
She drifted off slowly and soundly, forgetting her woes. Forgetting what she forgot.
°❀•.˚⋆｡𖦹 •:𖤓
When she awoke, she found herself very warm, even though she was not beneath any blankets. That was when she discovered she didn't go to bed alone.
"Columbina?! Did you sleep with me?!"
"Yes, is that not normal? I often see many creatures that come in packs..."
"No! You're meant to sleep in your own bed! What are you? A freak?!"
"Sandrone, what is a freak?" Once again, pure innocence and curiosity in her eyes, her eyes which never seemed to open... Except when she forgets her memory.
"Columbina just forget it. We have work to do, okay?"
"Mmm, okay."
They studied through the books once again, though, even with her memory erased, Columbina was still a bit... head in the clouds. An airhead. She's an airhead.
Columbina kicked her legs back and forth and asked the questions of life we all wonder, such as, "Sandrone, are all girls as pretty as you?"
Sandrone thus, turned bright red and told her to read her book.
"Sandrone, why do you smell nice?"
She just got redder with every question.
"Sandrone, are my eyes pretty like yours? I get lost in how deep they are."
"Stop! Columbina, stop or I might explode! Why are you asking me these absurd questions?!"
"I'm curious is all."
"Have you even read your book?" She was about to explode at her cuteness.
"Yeah. I think if you find the correct Ley Line outbreak my memories can be made canonical, using my Kuuvahki as a catalyst for both my spirit; Kuuvahki being natural to me and Nod Krai, and in lieu of elemental energy; to connect to the Ley Lines." She said it so matter-of-fact that Sandrone forgot that it was probably the smartest thing Columbina had ever said.
"And you didn't tell me?!" Fuming she spent hours researching in vain, Sandrone burst in explosion at the cutest girl she'd ever seen.
"I thought we were having fun."
She sighed "Let's go, I think I know where all your Ley Lines converge."
Upon reaching Hiisi Island, it was clear the two Harbingers presence wasn't exactly welcome, so Columbina played with some Kuuvahki and summoned a Moonlane before grabbing Sandrone and channelling themselves onto the Moonlane as a pair of winged Kuuhenki.
"Columbina! I think I'm starting to feel sick!!" Some people would be green in envy in being able to see the elusive Moon Maiden but Sandrone was green with travel sickness.
"Oh? Then I'll go faster so we reach our destination faster."
Fast? She went so fast she may as well have invented a new form of travel.
"Hold on a second..."
As they arrived outside the Silvermoon Hall Sandrone puked into a plant.
"Much better." How unladylike.
"Here, Sandrone?"
"Yes, this is where you came to be, right?"
"Mm."
Suddenly, a little Kuuhenki appeared out of the blue and urged the two to follow them.
"Sandrone, come."
They followed the blessed Kuuhenki to a corner of the Silvermoon Hall where the Ley Lines were strongest, where a part of Columbina's soul lay. Columbina channelled Kuuvahki onto it and suddenly, as the memories were made canonical, a bright light blinded everyone in the Hall and things were... normal.
"You love me, Sandrone."
"Huh?! What do you mean I love you, Columbina?"
"You confessed to me."
"Haa?! You remember that too?"
"Of course I do. You're my Sandrone. I could never forget you."
"I wish you forgot that part." Sandrone sounded confident but really her heart was trembling with the fear of being broken.
"You won't forget this."
With that, Columbina dashed forward and tackled Sandrone to the ground, hugging her and giving her a big smooch. Multiple smooches. Until eventually, working her way to her lips and not letting her up for air.
...
Sandrone was a bad kisser.
Columbina giggled, "Hehehh... Your mouth tastes like machine oil."
"Hey, what was that for?!"
"Hey, don't forget, we've already slept together~"
"YOU REMEMBER THAT TOO?!"
"Heheh, of course, little 'Drone. Who's the prettiest girl?"
"Hey! You better stop treating me like your Kuuhenki!"
"But you're so sweet, just like your lips."
"Ugh, you really are a freak."