Chapter: 578 – A Pleasure to Meet You

Tala and Rane hesitated only a moment before moving over and sitting near the automaton, both nodding. Rane immediately answered the girl’s question. “Yes. We are your parents.”

Tala was at a bit of a loss as to what to say. She’d known they needed to get here as quickly as possible. She’d felt like she had a clear path and direction that she needed to take… But facing the sitting being? She was at a loss.

She’d had years as an older sister interacting and helping to raise her siblings, and she leaned heavily on that experience—she’d even helped to watch the children of family acquaintances and friends on occasion—but mainly, she had her sibling’s mother’s actions, attitude, and mannerisms roiling through her head as she tried to figure out just how she should act in this unprecedented situation.

It didn’t help that the person before her didn’t look like a child, despite Tala’s own heart and soul seeming to reach out and yearn for connection with her.

The body was fully formed, especially when compared to Tala’s memories of Io’s under-developed form when they had fought. More than ten extra years in the growth-tank designed for her had clearly allowed everything to mature and settle into place.

Unlike Io—the automaton that Tala had killed to take this body—the girl had spoken with her lungs, throat, and mouth. Io had simply used sound magic, and while Tala could still see the magics for those workings, her daughter had used her body to communicate in a more mundane fashion.

Tala had been monitoring the process of the automaton’s maturation throughout, so she thought that she should be familiar with the physical form.

There had been some rather drastic alterations, however. True, the only entirely new thing was the odd conglomeration of material that made up the back of her head.

She remembered that Io had kept her vestige power source there along with the various control and decision making scripts meant to contain that trapped soul and provide power and direction as needed to the body.

All of that was gone, of course, but in its place, Tala felt a mostly mundane, human soul. It was gated, as Tala honestly expected, and something about it felt… heavier? More solid? It was hard to describe, but it seemed to echo her own in aspects that she hadn’t really taken note of before.

In addition, the soul was a bit… squished wasn’t the right word, but ‘differently formed’ seemed to fit. One large difference was its presence in a head rather than a chest, and another was that Tala could actively see the mental processes of the body taking place in tandem with—if not within—the soul.

More like Alat than like me in that regard.

Beyond the entirely new portion of her head, her body had shrunk. Io had been about Tala’s size, but as the body developed, it had grown until it should have towered over Tala, where now, the body seemed to be barely taller.

Alat?

The alternate interface clearly understood the question. -It happened when the soul came. Magics all over the body seemed to pull inward, compacting and strengthening the body. I think that this would have happened whenever a power source was supplied, but the exact way it happened seems to be connected to the consciousness in command, in this case, the soul.-

That’s… huh. So, Tala’s very soul caused her daughter to be short? She didn’t honestly know how to feel about that.

As to changes that were less substantive? Well, her eyes that matched Tala’s own were a large one, and the facial features of the automaton were quite a bit different than those that Io had shown. To be honest, the feminine face looked like a subtle combination of Rane and Tala’s features.

The body as a whole looked incredibly human; the only exception being the back of the head. The white steel, which was the skin of the physical form, was even mostly matte, so while she did have a bit of the ‘perfectly sculpted’ look, she didn’t look polished in the sense of being reflective or seeming fake.

Because of the nature of the material—and the body’s design—there were no seams to be seen anywhere, not even to Tala’s threefold sight.

-She asked what we looked like early on, as the body is seemingly designed to allow the growing consciousness to alter its appearance as needed. She wanted to know what to do with the inputs.-

How did she end up like this, then? She shrunk after that?

-No… Well, yes. The body compacted upon her arrival, but grew a bit shorter after she asked how she should look. We tried to explain that children often look like a combination of their parents.-

That’s a bit over simplified…

-Did you want me to take more time before getting you?-

…No. That’s fair.

The automaton seemed surprised as Tala and Rane sat down on either side of her, though not upset. She looked back and forth. “You are not scared? Your kind hates my kind.”

Tala didn’t know what to say to that, so she was unendingly grateful to Rane when he shook his head and smiled. “No. Not your kind. You are—and have—a human soul. You aren’t simply using one as a power source like many automata do. That is a rather large difference.”

She seemed to consider before nodding slowly in return.

Tala, though, sent a glare toward Alat. You already told her that humans hate those who look like her? Really? She’s only hours old.

-First of all, I was in panic mode.-

That’s… fair.

-Secondly, I did not say hate, I said that there are difficulties between those who look like her and those who don’t.-

That doesn’t seem like much of a distinction.

-Well, I wanted her to be prepared, alright? I was trying to tell her why there wasn’t anyone around, and why she was in this cave to begin with.-

So, you taught her everything else that will be needed?

-…I may have gotten my priorities mixed up.- Tala got the distinct impression of Alat shamefacedly kicking at the floor, refusing to meet Tala’s gaze.

Finally, the subject of their internal discussion responded, pulling Tala’s focus back outward. “Hmmm… Others will like me, then? Because I am me?”

Rane sighed. “We’ll have to work through it. Those who matter should be able to see past your exterior, to who you truly are, and we will be here to sort out any confusion.”

He was taking this rather well. Honestly, he was taking it like Rane always took unexpected things. Aside from when he put his own foot in his mouth, he was very careful and considered. Tala shouldn’t be surprised that he was taking this in stride.

She shifted closer, and the automaton seemed to respond to her proximity, leaning over and placing her head on Tala’s shoulder. It felt oddly real.

Tala had a flash of Illie doing the same so, so many years ago, and had to fight down tears. I’ll deal with you soon, grief. Right now, I need to focus on this little girl.

She used the humor of the situation to struggle free from her grief, before the memory could pull her down. As to why it was funny? Well, the automaton was a bit taller than her, even when both were sitting.

With Rane as the father, I knew any children I had would likely outgrow me, but this is a bit more rapid than I’d thought would be possible.

-Indeed.- Alat chuckled internally, clearly trying to help Tala stay focused on the current primary concern.

As she considered it, Tala realized that she didn’t like how she was internally framing the being leaning against her. She shouldn’t think of the soul that was unarguably her daughter as she had been. “Do you have a name?”

Her head pulled back, a confused expression washing over her features. “No… why?”

“Well,”—Tala considered—“we use names to address one another, and so that it is known who we are speaking to or about.”

The girl’s face made her confusion obvious, and Tala had a moment of fascinated wonder at just how impressive the manufactured body was. Still, her answer kept Tala on task. “We can talk with the Archive?”

“We could… I suppose? Though, that wouldn’t fix the ‘about’ utility of a name. Do you have a connection to the Archive?”

“Ummm… yes.” She nodded firmly. “I feel it…” Then, her face shifted, showing some uncertainty. “I feel it, somewhere. I cannot use it.”

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-We gave her a dump of linguistics and definitions. I think she’s progressing quite well.-

The girl pointed at Tala. “That! I see you are talking to you. I feel the… talk… the connection. Can we use that?”

Tala blinked a few times. “I will absolutely want to talk with you about that, as it seems like you are perceiving reality threads, but first, we really do need a name for you. You’ll just need to trust me for now. It will help to quantify and think about each other.”

“I am… Daughter?” It was asked with an oddly small voice.

Tala felt like she should feel some hesitancy, some trepidation, but in truth, she didn’t. She could see this little girl’s soul, and no matter her body, she was Tala and Rane’s daughter as surely as if Tala had carried her and birthed her. “Yes, we can and will call you that, but how then would we introduce you to others? Do you want them simply calling you ‘Tala’s daughter’ or ‘Rane’s daughter’?”

“Yes?” She clearly had a bit of confusion still around the whole idea.

Tala shook her head, smiling. “That could work, but humans tend to shorten things, especially terms of address. Soon, you’d just be called Tala, or Rane even.”

“No.” That elicited a titter from the girl. “Those are your names, not my name.”

Tala smiled. “Really? Then what is yours?”

The red eyes—so like Tala’s while being so different at the same time—widened. “Oh, yes! I need a name.”

Tala briefly had ‘Illie’ flash through her mind, but pushed that idea away immediately. It was still too raw, too soon. Even the very idea caused a shudder through her body. This girl was not a replacement for Illie. She was not a patch for Tala’s grief. They were separate, and needed to be handled as such.

Rane smiled, moving the discussion forward as he noticed Tala’s momentary disquiet. “It sounds like you don’t have one already. Do you have one that you would like?”

The girl’s eyes unfocused slightly. “Mother Alat? What are names? Because I need one.”

-Here you go, dear.-

Tala somehow felt Alat and Enar giving the girl what she asked for. After an instant of consideration, she realized that the two alternate interfaces had likely purposely conveyed that feeling to their physical selves as well as they attempted to keep the communication open and easy to follow.

“Oh… There are so many…” She looked a bit overwhelmed, clearly processing things slower than Enar or Alat could, despite her obviously prodigious capacities.

Tala stepped in. “We could do something simple. What about Rana? Tara? Alna or Alleen?”

The girl was nodding along. “Oh, I understand. Mix my parents’ names up.” She gave a light frown. “I have four parents. That is not often.” After another moment, so continued. “Rate? Or… Tear?”

Rane smiled and interjected. “What about Terra?”

Tala chuckled. “Slipping two ‘r’s in I see?”

He shrugged. “Entirely a coincidence, I assure you.”

“Sadly, it is very close to Terry. I think that would just cause you confusion.” Tala turned back to the girl. “You have an uncle named Terry.”

“Oh, then that is his name, not mine.” She seemed a bit disappointed.