M051
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Lilly had downtime at the moment. It felt unusual. She didn't get that. She'd never gotten that. There was always something to do. Now there wasn't. Even piloting would be just her playing around. It wouldn't be useful. She could still pilot of course, but she wouldn't get anything out of it until Dowry was updated. She couldn't even bother Bolt! The young man was extremely busy trying to cram as much information as possible into his head to update Dowry!
About the only thing she had in the near future was a small escort mission with Dowry to bring some mechs in, and that promised to be a cakewalk. Everyone on the planet was sort of laying low at the moment in an attempt to figure out what was going to change. Lilly wasn't ashamed to admit she was wondering the same thing. She couldn't even recruit or train people yet. Things were in too much flux.
For a person who's spent their life moving from action to action, this moment of stillness felt unpleasant.
Identifying and squashing that issue was therefore her first step to keeping occupied. Lilly was living life on her own terms. A flaw in her behavior was a blockage just as much as anything else. Fortunately the need for action was just the little girl in her wanting to go zoom zoom. She wasn't that anymore.
Some meditation came first. Spending a few hours focusing on herself and her newfound willpower would help her come to terms to her new existence. There was a distinct presence inside her that she needed to feel out and measure. Her willpower she assumed. It was likely going to be an ongoing process that she'd take her time with. Every day she'd spent some time identifying the feel of it.
After that she decided to roam around. The new fortress was big! And rather empty, as she'd found. There was a lot unused. It'd been designed as a small city, and they had enough for a small town. It'd fill out eventually, but for now roaming was just running through empty stone hallways. Pretty boring and something she gave up after exploring another empty room.
Piloting all of Bolt's mechs was the next attempt at keeping occupied. Lilly hadn't tried the Shining Shrine Maiden, or Cerberus. Both of them needed to be put through their paces!
It was only after she'd nearly caused the poor dog she was piloting to break that Lilly figured out she was being a bit too maniac. Cerberus hadn't deserved what she'd done with it. There was a difference between stress testing and just ruining the things. She'd gotten far closer to the latter than she was comfortable with. The dogs were fun though. They felt dependable. Sometimes you needed that in a mech. Not everything needed to be cutting edge impossible to pilot things.
Trying to squish bad impulses was harder than it sounded. Lacking any other ideas, she started to roam again and eventually found herself in one of the more protected areas. That was how she'd ended up in the nursery and helping to watch over the kids. It wasn't something most experts would do, but he she wasn't most experts.
The Wrench Rats practiced communal childcare. Their schedules were, put politely erratic. This combined with the fact that many people thought targeting their children was a valid tactic meant that they'd found it easiest to put the younger kids in the most fortified areas possible and assign a few minders to manage it all. The kids were frequently brought out to help with various chores in more trying times, but they had a nice central area to have their lessons and care done.
Lilly was very harshly reminded that this option wasn't available to her yet as she helped with a few minor things. She could not have children until she had money. She made a mental note to get back to researching later. Until then, dipper changing, burping, and helping the older children with lessons. (The caregivers had protested, but experts got what they wanted.)
Gadget was the oldest of the group at the moment. The older ones had started to migrate to their own rooms as they became able to do work. The girl seemed disinclined to. She was more concerned with her lessons, much like Bolt. Watching her go through them was mildly entertaining. The girl was just as focused as her brother. Lilly had ended up nearby the girl once she'd settled down and dealt with all the more obvious chores.
"Mom said you were an expert now." The words came in between lessons once she realized that Lilly was sticking around.
Lilly nodded slowly and gave the other kids a look. They were all on their best behavior at the moment amusingly enough. It wasn't even something she'd done. They were just playing nicely.
Gadget continued without looking up from her learning pad. "You gonna keep us safe?"
"That's something I'll certainly focus on." Lilly immediately tried to reassure the girl with a wide smile and a flex.
"Good, smash em." Gadget replied and started up another lesson. "Make their mechs junk."
"Ain't gotta worry about that." The expert pilot confirmed. "Anyone that'd think about hurting our family would get smashed." She promised easily. That was one promise she wanted to keep.
"Good. Less mechs the better." The little girl mumbled.
Words like that were quite unusual and made Lilly hone her senses in on the girl. "You don't like mechs?" She asked.
The emotions the child displayed were startling in their purity, if not in the intensity. Gadget had opinions and she wasn't shy about voicing them. "Don't like them." There was genuine hate there.
"And why not?" The expert prodded.
Gadget closed in on herself a bit and pulled her lesson pad closer as she looked away. "Just don't." She said softly.
Lilly nodded with cheer very obvious on her face. "That's perfectly fine. You don't have to like them." She encouraged in a similarly soft tone. "You're a smart girl. We can find other things to do."
Those words got her to look up to meet the older woman's eyes. Upon seeing that Lilly seemed sincere Gadget relaxed slightly and held up her current lesson. Lilly felt her eyebrows raise.
"Spaceships?" She asked back.
"We need some, daddy said. I'll build them!" The young girl nodded. "Not mechs." She continued with a nod.
For a brief moment Lilly blanked on what to say. There were issues with her desire. However, she was an expert. Thinking quickly was part of that. Using her newly found powers to figure out the best words to say to a child was probably not exactly what they were for, but they'd do it anyway!
"I look forward to seeing them then." Lilly praised the young girl. "Be sure to build the best ships ever!"
That got the girl to preen and she began to go over the ships she was learning on. Lilly was pretty sure that the lessons were CFA approved rather than MTA approved, but they weren't bad ones by any means. She just wasn't sure why the tiny tot had gotten into them.
A few discrete checks had her find out that the Wrench Rats had paid a premium for an early self-guided educational system. It was meant to ferret out and encourage specific talents in children. Gadget had apparently expressed a disdain for mechs and a liking for science and then gotten into the CFA programs. They weren't nearly as popular as the MTA things, and were kind of offensive to a pilot, but the little girl seemed to like them. Ship building was a respectable position, so it wasn't like Gadget was doing a bad thing. It was just sort of, well different.
Somehow Lilly was quite sure that Gadget was going to be just as large a terror as her brother, just in a different way. She had to wonder what the girl's parents had eaten? Whatever it was, she wanted some for her own children, when they could come about.
Still needed that money. Lilly admittedly didn't want children right this moment, but she had a goal. She wouldn't have her choices taken by anyone, including her own body.
About the only thing she had in the near future was a small escort mission with Dowry to bring some mechs in, and that promised to be a cakewalk. Everyone on the planet was sort of laying low at the moment in an attempt to figure out what was going to change. Lilly wasn't ashamed to admit she was wondering the same thing. She couldn't even recruit or train people yet. Things were in too much flux.
For a person who's spent their life moving from action to action, this moment of stillness felt unpleasant.
Identifying and squashing that issue was therefore her first step to keeping occupied. Lilly was living life on her own terms. A flaw in her behavior was a blockage just as much as anything else. Fortunately the need for action was just the little girl in her wanting to go zoom zoom. She wasn't that anymore.
Some meditation came first. Spending a few hours focusing on herself and her newfound willpower would help her come to terms to her new existence. There was a distinct presence inside her that she needed to feel out and measure. Her willpower she assumed. It was likely going to be an ongoing process that she'd take her time with. Every day she'd spent some time identifying the feel of it.
After that she decided to roam around. The new fortress was big! And rather empty, as she'd found. There was a lot unused. It'd been designed as a small city, and they had enough for a small town. It'd fill out eventually, but for now roaming was just running through empty stone hallways. Pretty boring and something she gave up after exploring another empty room.
Piloting all of Bolt's mechs was the next attempt at keeping occupied. Lilly hadn't tried the Shining Shrine Maiden, or Cerberus. Both of them needed to be put through their paces!
It was only after she'd nearly caused the poor dog she was piloting to break that Lilly figured out she was being a bit too maniac. Cerberus hadn't deserved what she'd done with it. There was a difference between stress testing and just ruining the things. She'd gotten far closer to the latter than she was comfortable with. The dogs were fun though. They felt dependable. Sometimes you needed that in a mech. Not everything needed to be cutting edge impossible to pilot things.
Trying to squish bad impulses was harder than it sounded. Lacking any other ideas, she started to roam again and eventually found herself in one of the more protected areas. That was how she'd ended up in the nursery and helping to watch over the kids. It wasn't something most experts would do, but he she wasn't most experts.
The Wrench Rats practiced communal childcare. Their schedules were, put politely erratic. This combined with the fact that many people thought targeting their children was a valid tactic meant that they'd found it easiest to put the younger kids in the most fortified areas possible and assign a few minders to manage it all. The kids were frequently brought out to help with various chores in more trying times, but they had a nice central area to have their lessons and care done.
Lilly was very harshly reminded that this option wasn't available to her yet as she helped with a few minor things. She could not have children until she had money. She made a mental note to get back to researching later. Until then, dipper changing, burping, and helping the older children with lessons. (The caregivers had protested, but experts got what they wanted.)
Gadget was the oldest of the group at the moment. The older ones had started to migrate to their own rooms as they became able to do work. The girl seemed disinclined to. She was more concerned with her lessons, much like Bolt. Watching her go through them was mildly entertaining. The girl was just as focused as her brother. Lilly had ended up nearby the girl once she'd settled down and dealt with all the more obvious chores.
"Mom said you were an expert now." The words came in between lessons once she realized that Lilly was sticking around.
Lilly nodded slowly and gave the other kids a look. They were all on their best behavior at the moment amusingly enough. It wasn't even something she'd done. They were just playing nicely.
Gadget continued without looking up from her learning pad. "You gonna keep us safe?"
"That's something I'll certainly focus on." Lilly immediately tried to reassure the girl with a wide smile and a flex.
"Good, smash em." Gadget replied and started up another lesson. "Make their mechs junk."
"Ain't gotta worry about that." The expert pilot confirmed. "Anyone that'd think about hurting our family would get smashed." She promised easily. That was one promise she wanted to keep.
"Good. Less mechs the better." The little girl mumbled.
Words like that were quite unusual and made Lilly hone her senses in on the girl. "You don't like mechs?" She asked.
The emotions the child displayed were startling in their purity, if not in the intensity. Gadget had opinions and she wasn't shy about voicing them. "Don't like them." There was genuine hate there.
"And why not?" The expert prodded.
Gadget closed in on herself a bit and pulled her lesson pad closer as she looked away. "Just don't." She said softly.
Lilly nodded with cheer very obvious on her face. "That's perfectly fine. You don't have to like them." She encouraged in a similarly soft tone. "You're a smart girl. We can find other things to do."
Those words got her to look up to meet the older woman's eyes. Upon seeing that Lilly seemed sincere Gadget relaxed slightly and held up her current lesson. Lilly felt her eyebrows raise.
"Spaceships?" She asked back.
"We need some, daddy said. I'll build them!" The young girl nodded. "Not mechs." She continued with a nod.
For a brief moment Lilly blanked on what to say. There were issues with her desire. However, she was an expert. Thinking quickly was part of that. Using her newly found powers to figure out the best words to say to a child was probably not exactly what they were for, but they'd do it anyway!
"I look forward to seeing them then." Lilly praised the young girl. "Be sure to build the best ships ever!"
That got the girl to preen and she began to go over the ships she was learning on. Lilly was pretty sure that the lessons were CFA approved rather than MTA approved, but they weren't bad ones by any means. She just wasn't sure why the tiny tot had gotten into them.
A few discrete checks had her find out that the Wrench Rats had paid a premium for an early self-guided educational system. It was meant to ferret out and encourage specific talents in children. Gadget had apparently expressed a disdain for mechs and a liking for science and then gotten into the CFA programs. They weren't nearly as popular as the MTA things, and were kind of offensive to a pilot, but the little girl seemed to like them. Ship building was a respectable position, so it wasn't like Gadget was doing a bad thing. It was just sort of, well different.
Somehow Lilly was quite sure that Gadget was going to be just as large a terror as her brother, just in a different way. She had to wonder what the girl's parents had eaten? Whatever it was, she wanted some for her own children, when they could come about.
Still needed that money. Lilly admittedly didn't want children right this moment, but she had a goal. She wouldn't have her choices taken by anyone, including her own body.