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Labrys was bored, in the year since the incident in Inaba, the number of shadow attacks had gone down drastically, and no more shadow nests had been discovered, meaning that her and Aigis were not needed on Shadow Operative missions. While it was nice knowing that Shadows were not attacking people, Labrys did miss having something to do.
And as nice as their home on Yakushima was, she could only explore the beach or the forest so many times before even they got boring. And she didn’t like searching the labs if she didn’t have to, too many bad memories.
Labrys decided to see what Aigis was up to. Despite being the younger of the two sisters, Aigis had been online for longer than Labrys, so Labrys figured that she had some way of passing the time. Labrys opened the door to Aigis’s room. “Hey sis I’m bored do you...”
Aigis was at her desk, fiddling with some kind of device, probably a spare part or something, Labrys didn’t even pretend to know any mechanics past surface level self maintenance. Sitting on the desk, besides Aigis’s project was a laptop with Fukka on the screen.
“Do I...?” Replied Aigis.
“Uh, sorry was I interrupting?”
“No, Fukka-san was just helping me figure out a way to extract memories.”
“Hello.” Waved Fukka through the screen.
“Hey Yamagishi-san, how’r- wait. Extract memories?”
“Yes, Aigis wants to find a way to resurrect Metis by copying her memories and part of her personality into a new body.” Answered Fukka.
“Is that possible?”
“That's what I’m trying to figure out, if Aigis can isolate the data I need to find in her own mind, when I connect her to a computer, I should be able to copy it onto the computer, then move it into the mind of the new body.”
“Then we would have another sister.” Aigis smiled softly at Labrys.
“Wait, hold up, if ya can do that with Metis… does that mean we could, I dunno, do somethin’ similar with the others?” Asked Labrys, a hope filling her eyes.
“Well,” Fuuka said gently, “it’s… complicated. For Metis, it’s possible because, in a way, she’s already part of Aigis.” She glanced at Aigis for confirmation, who gave a small nod. “Metis was created from Aigis’s own emotions and personality, so it’s like retrieving something that was already inside her.”
“Yes,” Aigis continued. “It’s like… finding a piece of myself. The others, though…” She paused, searching for the right words. “They were built differently. They each had distinct personalities and memories, and their personalities weren’t made from ours. They’d need data we don’t have.”
Fuuka shook her head. “Even if we could recreate their personalities, it would take years to go through each memory and figure out which ones belonged to who.”
“And we don’t have the resources, building Metis’s new body alone is a challenge. The parts are rare, and very costly, even for Mitsuru-san. To make bodies for all of them, it just isn’t possible.”
Labrys pursed her lips, processing the weight of what they were saying. Her shoulders sagged slightly. “So, even if ya could bring ‘em back, it’s like… they’d be missin’ somethin’. Or we couldn’t do it anyway ‘cause we’d just run outta parts.” She fell silent, thinking, before a spark lit up her eyes. “But maybe we don’t have to just use new parts, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Labrys grinned. “I’m sayin’ I could go scavenge for some in the old lab! There’s gotta be somethin’ left in there we can use. It’s where they built us in the first place, right? Who knows what kinda parts they left lyin’ around!”
“It might be worth a look, it could at least help us find something. And it would give her something to do.” Said Fukka as she smiled through the screen.
~~~
Labrys stepped into a new area of the abandoned lab, she had barely explored it since moving here, but this was for one of her sisters, some bad memories weren’t going to stop her.
Her servos hummed softly as she moved cautiously. Vines tangled over rusted railings, and beams of light pierced the cracks in the ceiling, illuminating patches of moss and flowers that had taken root in the floor. She didn’t want to disturb the plants clinging to life in this forgotten place, so she skirted around them, only activating her jets when she needed to vault a rusted-out workstation or make her way over large piles of rubble.
Eventually, she came across a sealed door, its surface dented and corroded by years of exposure. With a shrug, she hefted her axe and brought it down hard, cleaving the door from its frame. It flew a few meters into the next room, bouncing and scraping across the floor, sending echoes through the empty corridors. She cringed a bit at the noise but quickly stepped inside, her gaze scanning the room beyond.
Rows of tables cluttered with spare parts lay under a thick layer of dust, shelves sagged under the weight of disused metal, and bins overflowed with cables and rusted-out electronics. She moved down the aisles, gathering anything that looked remotely technical and tucking it into her bag. She didn't, know if any of it was salvageable, or even useful, but she figured Aigis or Fukka will figure it out.
Pushing through another door, Labrys entered a dimly lit storage room—and froze.
There, in the centre of the room, lay the still, silent forms of several Anti-Shadow Suppression Units. Their bodies were covered in dust, limbs twisted and frames damaged, but unmistakably familiar. She staggered back a step, her vision blurring slightly. Her siblings, dead and left behind for spare parts.
Her chest tightened, and a sharp ringing filled her ears. Her hands started shaking. ‘No, not here. Calm down. Get it together.’ She thought, trying to stop the rising tide of dread clawing at her. She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing in deep, slow breaths. One… two… three… four… She held each breath in for a few counts, then let it out slowly. ‘This isn’t the time, Labrys. Focus.’
She pressed her hand to her chest, feeling the quiet hum of her plume of dusk as she grounded herself in the sensation. Her mind latched onto her surroundings: the smell of rust, the faint creaks and clicks of old, damaged machinery, the cool touch of metal beneath her fingertips. Slowly, the world around her came back into focus.
Once her breathing steadied, Labrys looked up again, swallowing hard as her gaze passed over the remains of her siblings. She tried to tell herself they were just parts now - metal, circuits, and wiring - but her mind resisted, dredging up flickers of memory she barely recognized. Memories that weren’t even hers, possibly the memories of the units in front of her.
Metis was just the first step, one day they will figure out how to find their personalities and memories, how to give the others the lives they never had a chance to have. She'd come back here, restore these bodies and give them their lives back.
But for now she should leave them to rest in peace here.
Labrys turned and hurried out of the room, moving as quietly as she could. Her steps quickened until she was almost running, leaving the ghosts of her siblings behind as she made her way outside. She needed the air, the open sky, anything but these ruins.
~~~
Labrys had managed to find a surprising amount in the old lab. And, with Fuuka's help, Aigis had meticulously examined each piece, restoring what was needed, and combining them with some of her own spare parts. Now they had nearly everything they needed, except the most crucial component.
Aigis would have to ask Mitsuru for some Plumes of Dusk to create a Papillion Heart. And with it, Metis’s mind would become more than code copied from Aigis, she would be able to grow and develop on her own.
Which is why Aigis had arranged a meeting with Mitsuru, she knew she didn’t need to, but this would be about Shadow Operative resources, she should try to keep it semi official. Mitsuru looked up as Aigis entered her office, her composed demeanour softening when she saw her friend.
“Aigis, it’s good to see you. How is your project coming along?” Mitsuru asked, motioning for her to take a seat.
Aigis gave a small nod and sat down. “I’ve almost finished. Thanks to Fukka and Labrys’s efforts, we have acquired the parts required to build Metis a body on our own. But… there is one thing we are missing.”
Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“We need a Papillon Heart.”
Mitsuru’s expression tightened slightly, her fingers interlacing as she considered the request. “Aigis, Plumes of Dusk aren’t easy to come by. They’re an irreplaceable resource for us. We use them in nearly all of our equipment. You know we can’t produce any more.”
Aigis nodded solemnly. “I know it’s a lot to ask. But Metis…” she paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “...she was never really given a chance to live. She had so much curiosity and kindness, but never had a chance to share it with the world.” Tears began to form in her eyes, but we’re gone with a blink.
Mitsuru smiled gently, “I wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to you Aigis. I just wanted you to know what you were asking for.”
Aigis looked Mitsuru in the eyes, and the two shared a smile.
“I’ll let the lab know to prepare a Papillon Heart for you.” Mitsuru continued. “It will be nice to see Metis again, she was a good kid.”
“Thank you so much Mitsuru, I- I don’t know how to repay you.”
“They are a gift Aigis, you don’t have to repay me.”
~~~
Aigis sat motionless in a maintenance chamber, her usually bright, lifelike presence reduced to a still, silent shell. In another chamber sat Metis’s newly constructed body, the culmination of months of effort. Most of her exterior parts had clearly come from Aigis’s spare parts, but they were modified to closer resemble her original self, paler skin, a black chassis and dark hair with a hint of blue. Her, currently lifeless, red eyes were taken from Labrys’s spares, and she had none of the armaments Aigis or Labrys had.
At a nearby console, Fuuka’s fingers flew across the keyboard, lines of code and diagnostic readouts scrolling rapidly on the screen. Beside her, Labrys sat on the edge of her chair, tapping her knee anxiously. Every so often, she glanced toward Aigis’s chamber, as though expecting her to suddenly wake up.
“Are ya sure she’s okay, Yamagishi-san?” Labrys asked, her voice betraying her unease. “I mean, she’s been in there a while now.”
“She’s fine, Labrys,” Fuuka said, calm and reassuring as she continued typing. “Aigis is in sleep mode right now. She needs to be offline so I can access her memory storage without interference.”
Labrys wrung her hands. “Yeah, but what if somethin’ goes wrong? What if we can’t bring her back or… or Metis? What if it’s all fer nothin’?”
Fuuka paused, glancing at her worried companion. “Nothing will go wrong,” A flicker of uncertainty crossed her face before she quickly masked it. “Aigis trusts me with this. I’ve done similar work before, admittedly on a smaller scale, but, I promise, we’ll make this work.”
Labrys leaned back slightly, though her fingers still drummed nervously on her leg. “Alright… if you say so. But, uh, what are ya doin’ exactly? Maybe if ya explain, it’ll, I dunno, help me relax?”
Fuuka offered a kind smile, knowing Labrys wouldn’t understand much of the technical jargon but appreciating her attempt to stay calm. “Right now, I’m decrypting and isolating the memories we need from Aigis’s mind. They’re stored deep in her memory core, protected by several layers of security—firewalls, encryption keys, and redundant backups.”
Labrys tilted her head, a blank expression on her face. “Uh-huh… so ya, like, diggin’ through her brain?”
“In a sense, yes.” Fuuka chuckled softly. “Aigis already isolated the files about Metis, and once I’ve found them, I’ll transfer them into her new body’s memory storage. It’s just like moving files from one computer to another.”
Labrys nodded slowly, though her brow furrowed in concentration. “Okay, so ya… takin’ stuff from Aigis and puttin’ it in Metis. Got it. I think.”
Fuuka smiled again and returned her focus to the computer, but just as she started the transfer process, an alert blared on the screen. A bright red message flashed: FIREWALL BREACH DETECTED.
“What the hell does that mean?!” Labrys shot to her feet, her voice rising in panic.
“Wait—hold on!” Fuuka’s calm demeanor wavered as her fingers darted over the keyboard. “Aigis’s firewall is interfering with the transfer. It thinks I’ve tampered with Metis’s data and is treating it as a potential threat and deleting it!”
“Can’t ya just shut it off?!” Labrys leaned over Fuuka’s shoulder, her hands gripping the edge of the console.
“No, I can’t—if I disable the firewall entirely, it might corrupt other data in Aigis, and who knows what that will do to her. I need to rewrite the permissions in real time.” Fuuka’s voice was steady but tense as she focused, typing faster than Labrys thought was possible.
“No, no, no!” Labrys’s hands flew to her head, her panic mounting. “We’re losin’ em’!”
“Labrys, calm down!” Fuuka said sharply, her voice cutting through the tension. “I need you to trust me, okay? I can fix this, but I need to concentrate.”
Labrys took a deep breath, her hands trembling as she clutched the back of the chair. “Okay… okay… I trust ya.”
Fuuka’s focus was absolute as she worked, rewriting code and redirecting the transfer path to bypass the firewall’s restrictions. After what felt like an eternity, the red alerts disappeared, replaced by a green notification: TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Fuuka exhaled deeply, leaning back in her chair as relief washed over her. “There… it’s done.”
Labrys slumped into her chair, her knees weak. “Holy crap… ya scared the hell outta me, Yamagishi-san. Don’t do that again.”
Fuuka managed a tired smile. “I’ll do my best.” She turned to check on the chambers, her gaze lingering on Metis’s new body. “The memories are intact. Now we just need to wait for them to format, and activate her.”
“How long’ll that take?”
“I don’t know, maybe 10 minutes, maybe an hour.” Fukka stretched her arms. “It’s inconsistent with simple data, I can’t imagine what it’s like with something this complicated.”
“What about Aigis, whys she not wakin’ up?”
“Her firewall is just making sure I didn’t tamper with anything else, it should only take a few minutes. But like I said, its inconsistent.”
As if on cue, Aigis opened her eyes and smiled at the pair. “Did it work?”
Fuuka nodded, offering a warm smile. “The data transfer is complete. She should be up soon.”
Labrys leaned against Fukka’s console, her nerves only slightly eased. “So, uh… how ya feelin’ Ai?”
Aigis stood out of her maintenance chamber and did some small stretches. “I feel exactly as I did before. ‘Fit as a fiddle’ as they say.”
The smalltalk quickly died down, and the room fell into a quiet tension. Labrys leaned back and forth on the spot, her jets occasionally humming faintly as she adjusted her balance. Fuuka returned to monitoring the screen, her fingers hovering near the keyboard, ready for any unexpected issues. And Aigis stood in front of Metis’s maintenance chamber, simply waiting.
Finally, the chamber housing Metis’s body began to hum, and her crimson eyes flickered to life. The new body twitched as systems activated for the first time. Slowly, Metis’s gaze focused on the people in front of her, her expression dazed.
“Metis?” Aigis stepped closer, her voice gentle.
Metis blinked several times, her eyes scanning the room in confusion before locking onto Aigis. “Sister…?” Her voice was unsteady, laced with worry. “What’s happening? Are you… are you in danger?”
“No, Metis,” Aigis said softly, placing a hand on Metis’s shoulder. “You’re safe. We are safe.”
Metis hesitated, her crimson eyes filling with uncertainty. “But… the last time I was here, it was because you needed me. Because you were in pain.” Her voice cracked. “Did something happen again? Are you hurt?”
Aigis shook her head and smiled, though her own eyes glimmered with unshed tears. “No, Metis. I’m not hurt. This is different.”
Metis stood out of the chamber, her movements halting as she adjusted to the new body. She looked up at Aigis, her worry still evident. “Then why… why am I here?”
Instead of answering immediately, Aigis pulled Metis into a hug. The sudden gesture caused Metis to stiffen, but she quickly melted into the embrace, clinging to Aigis as though afraid she might disappear. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“You’re here because I missed you,” Aigis finally said, her voice trembling. “Because you’re my sister, and I couldn’t leave you behind.”
Metis’s arms tightened around Aigis’s, and she buried her face against her. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again…”
Labrys, watching from the side, rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Man, you two’re makin’ me tear up over here.”
Metis turned her head slightly, noticing Labrys for the first time. Her red eyes narrowed in confusion. “Who are you?”
“Oh! Uh…” Labrys stepped forward, raising a hand in greeting. “I’m Labrys. I’m, uh, one of your sisters too, I guess. Not that we’ve met before or anything.”
Metis tilted her head, her expression cautious but curious. “Sister…? I don’t remember you.”
“Yeah, well, ya wouldn’t. I was kinda outta commission when you were around.” Labrys scratched the back of her head, offering a sheepish smile. “But I’ve heard a lot about ya from Aigis. And, uh… it’s real nice to finally meetcha.”
Metis glanced at Aigis, who nodded in encouragement. Slowly, Metis extended a hand toward Labrys. “I see. Then… it’s nice to meet you too.”
Labrys grinned, taking Metis’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “See? We’re gonna get along just fine, kiddo.”
“Kiddo?” Metis blinked, looking arount the room, her eyes meeting Fukka, who had been quietly observing the reunion with a soft smile. Her crimson eyes widened slightly in recognition. “You’re… Fuuka? You look different.”
Fuuka nodded, a large smile crossing her face. “That’s right. It’s been a long time, Metis. Welcome back.”
Before, Metis’s life had been defined by loss, she was born because Aigis had lost someone she loved. Helped S.E.E.S go through the grief of their losses. Then she herself was lost once Aigis had found her answer. But now she was here, a life once lost had been regained, made anew. And she wasn’t going to waste it.