Chapter 63: Long awaited meeting

  “The years could never have dulled my love for you, Classic Cherry Matcha Super Party Yeet420Meme SugaCola!”

  –AI generated ad for an entirely automated soda company, 2056.

  ***

  The landing pad was wet and had that rainbow sheen like most New-Montreal surfaces exposed to the outside. As we landed and opened the door, I extended my shield to protect the boy from rain. “Your mom’s going to be there inside, Caleb.” His eyes were big and filled with conflicting emotions. “It’ll be alright.” He looked at me, in my shining samurai armor, and I thought he believed me.

  It didn’t take long to arrive in the lobby area which was still being refurbished. It hadn’t been the first priority alright? I told him to sit and he did, in a little lobby chair that looked too big for him even with how small it was.

  I turned to the armored form of Lila and I could tell she was almost paralyzed. She wanted to embrace her son, to finally hug him after so long, but she was fucking terrified. I decided to send her a message.

  Pandemonium: The longer you wait, the harder and weirder it is. Do it in the next ten seconds or I’m going to make introductions and we both know how horrible that will be. Starting the countdown, I’m fucking serious.

  Violilance: Fuck you, Louis…

  Pandamonium: 10

  Pandamonium: 9

  Lila suddenly, for no reason whatsoever, walked towards her son! The boy looked up at her power armored form and Lila had the good sense to lower herself to his level. It took a few more moments of fumbling for her to raise her hands to her helmet and remove it. “Hey sweety… I… I don’t know if you remember me… b-but I… I gave birth to you and… I raised you for three years… and I’m… so sorry…” She was crying now.

  “I… I’m so sorry I… that I wasn’t… that I wasn’t strong enough, that… that I couldn’t take you away from him… that I couldn’t protect you, that I couldn’t… I’m… I’m so sorry…” I had no idea what the expression on the Caleb’s face meant. Lila was just crying with her head lowered in shame.

  “Can… can I hug you?” He asked, to our shared surprise.

  “W-what?” Lila’s head snapped up in surprise.

  “Father said hugs are for weak people… Georgia sometimes gave me one when I got hurt and cameras weren’t watching but…” He didn’t get to finish as Lila got out of her armor faster than I’d ever seen! The thing opened at the back but it looked like she just teleported. A moment later, I was more concerned about her suffocating the poor kid.

  “Yes, yes you can hug me, as much as you want sweety, everyday… No one’s going to hurt you anymore, never again…” She said while kissing the top of his head over and over. “I swear I’ll never hit you and your dad will never get the fucking chance as long as I’m alive… You’ll be alright, love…”

  It was a bit awkward, but Caleb hugged back after a few moments. Not sure he caught his mom’s shivering when it happened. They’d be alright.

  ***

  After quite a few tears and nice hugs, they got to talking a bit more. “So… why did you leave?” That question hurt Lila, but addressing it was sort of inevitable.

  “Hum… The short version is that… I couldn’t do anything. Protecting you was a pipe dream. Your father controlled everything. I owned nothing. See, I didn’t really marry your dad, or, well, legally so maybe. I was his property…” Her son’s eyes narrowed, not happy about what was clearly news to him.

  “The security focused more on keeping me than anything else. Your father was also… rougher with me than with you. I’m not sure how long I’d have survived.” She fidgeted with a candy wrapper, which helped. Alex’d been handing them out from her pocket to them.

  “I didn’t really leave, actually, since I couldn’t. I just… put myself in very dangerous situations until I got kidnapped.” Her son’s eyes went wide and she nodded. “Yeah, a bunch of very bad people killed and looted the security team and, well, took me. Those gangers hurt me, a lot, but I could take it. I… I had to find a way to… Anyway, that’s when I met your uncles.”

  “Uncles?” The little wonderful child asked. It brought a smile to her face.

  “With an ‘S’, yes. They took your uncle Robin, like me. That place… it hurt a lot. Then, one day, your uncle Louis, the one you met, freed us both. He helped us fight for ourselves. I fought with him, freed the people the gang stole. I didn’t have enough to get you though, not yet. I… I swear I wanted to, more than anything, but… I’m sorry. Your father was just… too powerful. No, it took your uncle Louis becoming a samurai for me to have the resources I needed.”

  “So, he’s not your brother?” He asked with a bit of confusion.

  Lila smiled at him. “Family… You know, if you marry someone, are they part of your family?”

  Caleb’s eyes went down in thought before coming back up. “I think so, yes?”

  “Exactly. In your life, you’ll find friends that are just… more. You feel for them just like you feel for your family, and that’s ok. In fact, sometimes you’ll love them more than your own family, and that’s ok too. The family you’re born with, it’s… a start, not the end of the road. If they don’t treat you right, you don’t have to love them.” Lila put her hand around Caleb's shoulders and gently pulled him into her side.

  “One day you might have children, and you might understand how much I love you… It… Hurt me so much to know your father wasn’t treating you right and that I…” The hand on her other side clenched into a white knuckled fist. “... Couldn’t do anything about it… What I said applies to me too, you know? If… if you hate me and decide I’m not worth it, that’s ok… I’ll always love you though. No matter what…”

  The only answer she got was a pair of little arms surrounding her midriff, squeezing with all the might an eleven year old could muster. They stayed like that for a few minutes before she wiped away a couple tears and continued. “So, yeah, your uncles are my brothers, unlike my birth parents or your father. You’ll always be my family, and they’re yours too, if you want them.”

  Caleb nodded hard with his face stuck to her ribs. “I want them…” After a bit more quiet mutual appreciation, her beautiful, perfect, amazing and wonderful child got back to asking questions. “So, I really have a samurai uncle?”

  “Yeah, he’s called Mad Panda, probably didn’t hear about him yet, did you?” To her surprise, her boy shook his head almost violently!

  “No no! I heard about him! The New-Montreal message boards talk about him! He’s supposed to be, like, this cool melee fighter, protector of the underground! Keeps all the gangs honest, fights corporations and protects the weak!” Lila saw said samurai shifting uncomfortably from the corner of her eye, it was cute!

  “You like samurais, eh?” She smiled with boundless contentment. Time to learn who her son was now. They had a lot of lost time to make up for.

  ***

  “Ready to meet your cousins?” I asked, which made the kid jump comically!

  “I have cousins!?” Oh, I loved this kid already!

  “Yeah, you have three! Rachael, Alice and Jack. Jack’s still a baby though.” He looked excited beyond belief! We entered the elevator and the question marathon continued.

  “So, they’re adopted?” He asked, curious.

  “Well, Alice and Rachael are, but Jack came from mixing my and your uncle Robin’s DNA. You mom carried him in her belly for nine months too!”

  “Really? So, is he kind of like… my half-brother, mom?” He probably didn’t see that simple last word hit Lila like a ton of brick! Her voice was a bit rough as she answered, a wide, relief filled smile on her face.

  “Not really, it’s something biohackers do. They mix two people’s DNA who can’t have children, then put the little egg in a friend they trust a whole lot who can carry it while it grows. I don’t share DNA with Jack, but I still carried him and I’ve been breastfeeding him too!”

  I smiled at her over the kid’s head. “Your mom’s a great aunt, really helps us protect and take care of our family. Hey, want to hear about the time she fought a pack of model threes with nothing but a knife to protect them?”

  I launched into an only somewhat exaggerated tale of the brave knight Lila who fought off dozens of antithesis until all her ammunition was spent, stood into the path of the aliens, no defenses between her and my children with nothing but a knife and valiantly refused to run! Hey, the audience loved it!

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  It even lasted until we got near the enforcer neighborhood! Lila, who’d been a bit uncomfortable with the praise, took revenge by sharing some of my own exploits –sanitized for children–. When we arrived, a dozen forms of scanning analyzed us down to the cellular level and permitted entry. She stopped the story after passing through the thick metal archway, which hid a massive Mole-Bear alloy bulkhead that could tank the most extreme of breaching equipment.

  As we arrived in the center, Caleb’s eyes went wide with wonder. The line of trees, which were meant to only produce flowers constantly, stole his entire focus. Lila kneeled and pulled him into a hug from the back, before kissing his head. “Welcome home, son…”

  It didn’t take long to arrive at her apartment, aka the one right next to mine. I knocked and almost instantly, Robin opened the door and beamed at his nephew. “Caleb! Oh god, I’m so glad you’re okay…” Said nephew looked a bit awkward and uncomfortable for only a second with the quick hug, but then melted into it. “Are you alright? Not too tired? Have you eaten? Do you want to wait to meet your cousins?”

  Caleb looked taken aback at getting so much attention and care, but he rallied! “No, no, I’m alright, I’d like to see them!” He said, all eager and cute.

  Robin smiled mischievously. “Careful what you wish for…” He then turned and shouted “He’s here!”

  Man, Alice could really book it when she wanted! “You’re here! Oh gosh it’s so nice to meet you I…” Robin turned and gave her a look. She blushed and calmed down a bit, mostly to make things easier on the poor boy. This’d be his first family meal!“I’m so glad you’re here. We have a welcome home little dinner! You like pizza?”

  They started chatting, the new member still hesitant but Alice’s excitement pulled him slowly out of his shell. It helped that she could talk non-stop for hours without stopping! He just listened with rapped attention and she handled most of the interaction. When we arrived at our dinner table, Rachael was there, already eating a slice. I softly glared at her. “Rach?”

  She blushed and sputtered with her mouth full. “J’avais faim! On savait pas quand y allait arriver… / I was hungry! We didn’t know when he’d arrive…” I didn’t care all that much, but still kept the parental glare for a few more seconds. She rolled her eyes and huffed like a teenager does so well. “J’vais faire le cleanup… / I’ll do the cleanup…” I smiled and casually pecked her on the forehead before going to the fridge.

  Caleb looked confused. He approached Rachael, who greeted him with a smile. “Heya little cousin, I’m real happy to meet you.” There was a bit of a chaotic dance of plates while people grabbed food and drinks.

  Soon after, during a stupid conversation between me and Lila about guns where she was totally wrong, my ears picked up a whispered conversation between them. “Est-ce que c’est tout? / Is that all?” Huh, he spoke french apparently!

  “Tout quoi? / All what?”

  “T’as désobéi, non? Il va pas te forcer à faire quelque chose ou te discipliner? / You disobeyed, right? He’s not going to force you to do something or discipline you?” My daughter blinked at him in surprise.

  For some reason, she decided to switch languages, maybe because the new cousin’s accent signified it wasn’t his primary tongue. “No, I’ll just do the dishes and clean the table. I’m guessing by discipline, you mean hurt me, right?” After receiving a hesitant nod, she continued. “No. He never, ever hurts me. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal in the building. Mostly, when I mess up or ignore some rule I just do the dishes or my dads create a funny punishment. One time, I did something really bad, so I had to play my favorite game, with the whole team, but I could only use sidearms!” She said, exasperated. “I deserved it a bit, but still, it was annoying! I swear, him and aunt Lila kept taking all the kills!”

  His eyes lit up with interest. “He plays videogames with you?”

  She smiled. “Yeah, him, aunt Lila, some of the other enforcers, not dad though, he sucks at that game! He spends as much time with us as possible, even with how hard he works at being a samurai and enforcer and all that. He’s a good dad.” My heart might have swelled three sizes…

  “What kind of games do you play, little cousin?” She asked with a grin, prompting a long discussion.

  We ate, talked, joked, shot the shit, and welcomed our newest member of the family.

  ***

  Georgia looked at the family, standing vigil as always. Her job had always been to protect people, but with Caleb, it’d turned into… more. Now? Well, she stood by and watched him be happier than ever! Her heart clenched with joy at seeing that boy away from his piece of shit father but…

  Was she necessary anymore? Her son’d died a while ago and she might’ve projected a lot, which she sure as shit believed was that asshole’s plan. Maybe a way to exploit her pain to get loyalty? Who knew.

  She had to admit, it’d worked… Like a big gorilla that adopts an abused kitten, she’d protected that boy from all threats for years, not quitting when she should, doing things for her boss that… Well, his happiness wasn’t the only positive part of this situation. For that analogy though, the ones abusing the kitten would’ve been the zookeepers.

  Late in the night, after Caleb fell asleep in his room, she quietly placed his plushie in his sleeping arms. That little bundle of cuteness instantly grabbed it and curled up. She’d mastered being quiet, making sure he wouldn’t wake up from her movements.

  The moment she left the room, Georgia noticed his mother looking at her appraisingly, having apparently approached and leaned on the wall without her notice. Pretty impressive given her job! “Mam’.”

  “You’ve spent time in a militia?”

  “Army, mam’.”

  “You have kids?”

  “I… Not anymore, mam…”

  The woman’s look softened and she invited her to the couch with a tilt of her head. They’d been speaking softly, but better make sure not to wake Caleb. Poor child needed good sleep, especially good sleep in a safe place. “So, you and I should talk.”

  “Yes mam’.” She said, sitting on the couch in front of Lila. The apartment was spacious, but pretty stock at the moment. New place, very modern design, not a ton of decoration except for some plants. Color scheme would be best described as ‘dark steel’. There were some red accents from a vase or something here and there, but it still looked like a kid could run in here and watch tv very comfortably. It didn’t look lived in, basically. Kitchen didn’t look massive but had an island with stools. Lots of black for cabinets and countertops.

  “I… I don’t really know how to handle this if I’m being honest. I’ve had Altany, that’s Panda’s AI, look into you pretty extensively. She combed footage, looked at your actions, your past, everything. My ex-husband hired you because, well, you’re a badass. He also hired you because, knowing him, he thought he could manipulate you, which he did.” All through the little speech, the woman looked at her, assessing, appraising, looking for tells and reactions.

  At the moment, Georgia wasn’t wearing any armor, just her usual under-armor wear, aka a tight tank top and yoga pants. Her blond hairs were buzzed on the sides and she’d braided them to fit in the armor better. Now in her mid-thirties, she’d put on just a bit more fat than in her army days, but hadn’t lost the muscle through rigorous training. She was bigger than the other woman, more muscled and taller, but even with her stature she didn’t feel stronger. Something about her… “You ‘been in the shit mam?”

  Lila didn’t look perturbed by the non-sequeter. “Yeah, a lot of it. So have you. Vancouver, Calgary, that’s some hardcore shit.”

  “Yes mam, it was.” No need to elaborate, for either of them.

  “So, what do you want?” Lila asked, probing for more information on her state of mind.

  “I uh…” She suddenly felt tongue tied, what the shit? It shouldn’t be that complicated a question. However… yeah, what the fuck did she want? Well, the details were a mess, completely in the air, but… “I believe I’d like to stay near Caleb, mam. I don’t know what that means, how I can, but that’s what I want. I know he’s your son, and I don’t want to get in the way of that, but I… I’m attached, you could say.”

  To her relief, Lila nodded in agreement. “That’s understandable.” Her look had softened, but sadness also crept back in. “I owe you, Georgia.”

  “What?” The bodyguard thought her job was toast, that she’d have to fend off a jealous mom but now… Huh?

  That got an arched eyebrow in answer. “The fuck you think I’d say? You took care of my son, Georgia. I wasn’t there and you were. I saw that footage, you did everything within your power to help him, every single fucking day. You hid his plushies for him, distracted his piece of shit father from discipline whenever possible, the list goes on. Fucking hell, I wish… fuck it, list is too long…” The mother took a few deep breaths before continuing.

  “I owe you, and I’d shower you with thanks and a new job but I also don’t know you, like, as a person. It’s hard for me to trust but at the same time, no matter how much Panda and Robin love to help, It’s still just me and him in this apartment. Sometimes, I go on missions, I have duties, a job, etc… So, I’ll make you a deal. It’s less than you deserve, but I just… I can’t blindly trust anybody when it comes to my son, even someone who did so much for him and, by proxy, for me.”

  Georgia put her elbows on her knees, leaning forward, very interested. “Alright, I’m listening mam’.”

  “Every enforcer has an augmentation in their head. It’s a direct connection to Altany, no matter the distance of any sort of interference. That means she’d have access to you and could observe every second of the day. I know, it’s… creepy, and distrustful of me, but we can set boundaries with the AI for privacy and shit. I’m putting all my cards on the table here, I don’t want you to feel I mislead you or something, but it’s not just a listening device. If you accept, you become a beacon to buy things if there’s, like, a medical emergency and a samurai is close enough. This whole thing is a job offer, basically. I need a nanny, but also… someone to protect him when I’m not there. You’d also babysit Panda and Robin’s kids from time to time.”

  “It’s… a lot, but also… Well, like I said, I owe you. I owe you more than I can ever repay, but I’ll sure as fuck try.” The offer hit Georgia at a weird angle. An AI in her head? Well… Why not? She was used to being constantly watched and a samurai’s AI was ten times less malevolent than the pricks who sometimes reported on her. She didn’t expect anything from her actions, except the affection of a child, which was payment enough…

  “As an enforcer of the Bear-Yakuza, I have access to points, which I can spend at my discretion. I have a few saved up and Panda wants to express his appreciation as well. So, you’d be a nanny, but also one with her augs upgraded to all fucking hell by protector tech. I think your legs are prosthetics, right? We can upgrade those too. I’ll upgrade your entire armament, power-armor included. I want to make absolutely fucking certain that if something comes for my son and I’m not there, he won’t even notice the threat before it’s put down with prejudice. I’d also expect you to help defend my nieces and nephew if the occasion came up.”

  “I’ll pay you double your old salary and there’s an empty room in this apartment that you won’t have to pay rent on. Caleb likes you, it’d make him happy to have you around. It would also help his transition. I have a few weeks off so we can, you know, test this out, see if there are problems. How does that sound?”