00thunit – Back in the Game

00th-unit:

She felt a small moment of fretting as it became clear that Rebecca was far less… okay than she might have hoped, but there wasn’t really anything that Dakota could do. Was there? She was an absolute stranger to the girl, the face of the entity that was suddenly going to become her home. The blue-haired woman wanted Rebecca to feel at ease, but she also knew it was a bit of a hopeless desire.

“Ah- yes!” Dakota moved to step fully into the room, offering her the bundle of clothing. T-shirt and sweat pants, nothing fancy, but they were clean and free of tears and holes.

A step up from her old clothing.

Dakota stared at her for a moment before abruptly turning away to give her privacy. “U-um. We have a room set up for you and, ah… I can take you there if you want and…”

Leave you alone? Would that be what she… wanted?

“…Okay.”

She carefully took them and went over to the counter for a moment, putting the shirt down. She pulled the pants on as soon as she figured out which way was the front, and the t-shirt went right over it. She would be fine barefoot, she wasn’t a human after all. Shoes could probably come later.

Then Rebecca went back to the door, sapphire eyes blinking absently as she waited to follow behind the other.

A room set up for her. How long would it be until they threw her away too? It would be a waste of resources, but they did it anyway.

It was… nice, she supposed. She just wanted to make herself useful so they wouldn’t throw her away though.

00th-unit:

@deafenedchampion

It hadn’t been hard to learn about X’s plans. He was good at keeping secrets, yes, but Dakota had become equally good at digging them up, especially when they surrounded Zero.

Three key spots… One for his body, one for his blueprints… and one for his memory core.

The latter was the one that caught her interest. Located in one of the antarctic outposts, it was an area entirely uninhabitable by humans. Too harsh, too cold – but reploids could get there just fine. She could get there just fine, especially with her experience being an arctic guide.

She could go there and hunt out the core and be back before X was even done looking for Zero’s body. One thing less for him to do would help, right?

– Maybe, if someone hadn’t been blocking her path to the hangar, where the exploration vehicles were stored.

“Rebecca, aren’t you supposed to be training?”

Rebecca made a squeaking noise, looking back at Dakota like the other had caught her at something, and her face went a bit pink.

“U-Uh…”

“No? I, uh…”

Yes, yes she was. But she had been curious enough about where X was going to try and peek into the hangar. She looked a bit ashamed for trying to peek in, though she didn’t know if X even used this hangar.

“I, uh, wanted to see if I could help with what Dad’s doing…? Maybe take a bit of the burden off him…? He looked really stressed…”

She sounded unsure of that, like she decided on it not five seconds before Dakota found her.

00th-unit:

It didn’t take too long for the requested change of clothing to be delivered, and Dakota found herself standing outside of the shower with the clothing held tightly against her chest. She felt more than a little awkward being there and was glad that no one seemed to be planning on heading out into this section of the base. She hadn’t been lying when she said this was a fairly unused area, and just hope it continued to be that way.

– Even though she had told Rebecca to take her time, though, she couldn’t help but notice that a… lot of time was passing.

Five, ten, fifteen… twenty five… half an hour…

“Ah-” Dakota turned hesitantly, knuckles gently rapping against the door frame before she carefully cracked it. All she would be able to see from her vantage point was tiled walls and floor; the stalls were blocked off by a partition and each shower had its own divider as well. Still she hesitated going in, not wanting to intrude on Rebecca’s privacy.

“Are– Are you okay–?”

Rebecca rubbed at her eyes with her free hand when she heard Dakota again, softly speaking in response.

“I-I’m okay. I’m a-almost done.”

She rinsed off the rag under the water as well as herself, turning off the shower before peeking out. Then she pulled back the divider. She looked a lot like a drowned rat, but at the very least she was clean now.

Probably the least shocking thing now was that her hair was not ashy, but rather vibrant golden blonde. Her artificial skin was also quite thoroughly cleaned now. Rebecca quietly spoke again.

“I’m d-done. I’ll be a-another moment.”

She took one of the towels and bent over to wrap what was left of her hair in it when the strands obeyed gravity, twisting it and letting the end rest on her head. Then she wrapped the rest of herself in the larger one and looked kind of comical if it wasn’t for the serious situation.

She took a bit of time to dry her body off, probably dripping everywhere but it didn’t look like she cared much. The water would just dry after all, not a big deal.

It didn’t take long though, as her hair was already half dried by the time she was finished with herself and put the towels to the side, looking at the pile of ripped and filthy clothes. Then she went over to the door to speak to Dakota.

“Um… I-Is there anything I c-can wear? I d-don’t think mine are salvageable…”

00th-unit:

Ah-

“I think we can just stick with soap for now.” Step one was to get rid of any grime that was bogging the girl down. Step two could be to get her smelling pretty.

Dakota gestured for Rebecca to follow her inside before pointing at the counter. “There are some towels there, and you can use any stall you want. I’ll be outside making sure no one tries to enter while you’re in here, so you don’t have to worry about anyone else coming in, okay?”

Giving her what she hoped was a comforting smile, Dakota pointed back at the door. “I’ll be right out there so if you need anything you can just call for me. It’s Dakota, in case you forgot.” Because lords knew that Dakota wouldn’t have been able to remember a stranger’s name if her whole world had just been turned upside down.

“I’ve sent for someone to bring a change of clothing for you. It might not fit… perfectly, but when you’re done you don’t have to put your dirty clothing back on.”

A nod, coupled with “take as much time as you like” were her final words before stepping back outside.

“Dakota…”

She tested out the name before nodding a bit before actually placing her dirty clothes to the side. She absently stood there for a moment before going over to one of the stalls, with a rag to clean herself with the soap.

Her mind stumbled a moment as she looked at the knobs and tried to figure out how to turn the damn thing on. That took a moment or so before the water came on and startled her before the water streamed down.

It was warm.

She took the soap off the little shelf and made suds with the rag, not seeming to care that there were clumps of sand already falling from her choppy hair and off her back.

Then she started to wash herself, taking her time so she could get all the crap off of her. The water here was just as warm as home-

…

The hand holding the rag trembled before she crouched down, burying her face in her knees as she whimpered. She could never go home now.

“…I’m sorry that I couldn’t be good…”

She couldn’t be what he wanted. She could never go home, it was no longer her home. She couldn’t cry right now though, she cried herself out on X and Zero earlier that day.

00th-unit:

“……..”

And there was a horrendous metallic shrieking as the blade of a laser dagger stabbed through the duct, inches in front of Rebecca’s face.

“I CAN CHANGE THAT FOR YOU-!”

And then there was more conventional shrieking as that simply got her to move further into the duct.

She wondered if she could simply hide in the air ducts for the rest of the day.

00th-unit:

“COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHITHEAD AND TAKE YOUR BEATING LIKE A MAN!”

Muffled, from inside the duct.

“It’s a good thing I’m a girl then!”

Rebecca, why are you being a smartass now of all times.

00th-unit:

Dakota smiled while making a mental note to have someone go out and get clothing for a pre-teen girl. She was an extra small for sure, and if they needed to they could just buy a few sets in different sizes.

“You can follow me, alright?” The fingers of her left hand twitched as Dakota fought against the urge to reach out to take Rebecca’s hand. Even just offering it seemed like it would be crossing a line and she just nodded lightly. Taking care not to stride away too forcefully, the blue-haired girl turned slightly before starting to walk down the hall.

While some of the quarters were equipped with showers (mostly those for Commanders and Lieutenants), most Hunters had to use the communal ones. It wasn’t like they had to clean themselves daily like humans did, but after missions it was generally advised to wash the grime off.

Heading to one of the smaller ones, Dakota made sure there were towels before pausing. “Ah– do you use shampoo or anything?” It wasn’t common at all, but considering her unorthodox build it might have been something she had grown used to.

Dulled, blue eyes blinked absently as she followed behind Dakota quietly, shoes tapping on the floor. She looked around, her eyes taking in the surroundings and logging them into memory.

When she got into the shower room, she looked around once more before looking up to softly answer her.

“…Not often, but yes.”

From the looks of her hair right now though, she definitely needed it. Mostly to get out whatever she missed while haphazardly chopping it all off, and to clean it thoroughly. A bit of sand drifted down from her hair as she pulled off her ripped, dirty clothes to put them to the side.

No joint lines like normal reploids, though her movement was a little stiff due to recent events. On the surface, she looked quite human, though her scans proved otherwise.

If Dakota had to run off and find shampoo, Rebecca would wait here for her to come back for as long as it took.

00th-unit:

It was obvious that she was distressed. Dakota could feel her core aching for the child and had to fight the urge to pull her into a hug. It was likely the gesture wouldn’t be welcomed considering Rebecca’s behavior; getting too close would probably cause more anxiety for her.

“Uh-huh.” Dakota nodded, smiling warmly. “He’s my Unit Commander, so I get to work very closely with him. And I know that he wanted to be here, but he’s unfortunately gets pretty busy.”

She straightened as she pressed her lips together into a thin line. Ah… “Do you want to… get cleaned up? I’m… we can find you something to wear that’s in your size. I’m sure you’d feel better with some clean clothing.”

“Ah.”

It was such a soft noise in response, acknowledging that she understood that. No one would yell at her if she was quiet, right?

Rebecca visibly debated on deciding that, much like the human she was taught to act as, before softly answering.

“…y-yes. Th-That would be fine…”

00th-unit:

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I had no idea that you had ‘dibs’ on dealing with that trash pile.” Sarcasm, coupled with Satori clasping her hands over where her heart would have been, had she been human.

And if she had a heart.

“You honestly have another thing coming if you think I’m going to take orders from a reject toddler.”