For Want of a...

We make our way through the access tunnels, every step taking us closer to the rendevouz point, and by extension, closer to Home. Closer to Mama Pain. Closer to Doctor Soren, to Sever, Stitch, and Malicious. I hope Moses and the others are safe. I shut my eyes and let myself drift for a moment, thinking back over the experiences of the last few weeks.

Pain. Invasion. An alien will sifting through my consciousness for the single piece of information that it seeks. Nero.

I open my eyes. Aimi is watching me. She keeps me out. I don't know what she's thinking.

What was Nero looking for in my memories? What did he find? Where did Amaterasu go after she left the mines?

We move on. "You were wrong, you know," I say.

Aimi seems startled, as if my voice had just taken her out of a fond memory. Anger flashes in her eyes for a moment, but only for a moment. "Wrong about what?" she asks. She is humoring me.

"You said we couldn't take on Goshi," I reply. "I think what happened tonight qualifies. That was just with one of us. What might have happened if it had been all of us?"

Aimi's anger burns through her mental shield, and the barrier sizzles as it boils away. She's angry. I knew that already. It angers her that a defective prototype dared to take on Goshi, and it rankles even more that said defective prototype had the audacity to succeed. I feel a stab of pain. Is this how she thinks of me? I'm not defective. I'm not defective. I'm not defective. I'm not defective. I won't believe I'm defective. She thinks of me as defective. They all think I'm defective. I hate it. I'm... The success of my group against Goshi riles her pride. It...

WHAT!?

My eyes widen. A moment later, her eyes widen, too. She knows what I saw. She considers attacking me. Then she sees herself being punished by Mama Pain, and the killing intent receeds. "Rei, I swear to the First Minds if you say ANYTHING about this to ANYONE..."

Say anything? Like what? He's eleven years older than you? That you're being an idiot? No. I'm not going to say anything. I don't need to tell anyone about this.

What I need is a shovel.