#will dumblr finally show this in the tags or am i still marked as spam

[laindir]

[fic] ember dunes

Series: Tales of Zestiria Rating: T Genre: AU. Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction, Cyberpunk/Dieselpunk. Character(s): Sorey, Mikleo, Atakk, Lailah and Rose. Brief mentions of Michael, Muse and Zenrus. Warnings: Descriptions of minor violence (?? I think it’s minor-ish but YMMV), blood and injuries, pseudo-science terminology/technology. Also, slight hurt/comfort feels... kind of. I love to die in pain and feels. Summary:  In which Sorey treads in his mother’s footsteps and ventures out beyond the City Dome, only to stumble upon an injured young woman and her strange companion droid. Prequel one-shot to verdant green. A/N: And... of course, the first fic I share for 2018 is one  with more pain and feels. Of course. Anyway, this was an extremely self-indulgent excuse to write more sci-fi AUs and to experiment/go back to writing more descriptive action scenes set against a backdrop of introspection. Or something, lol. Inspired by many things, but mostly by this track playing on loop.

Fic can also be read on AO3.

The dunes were a burnished bronze, glowing embers under twin suns. Sorey could feel the scorching blaze through the blue-and-white layers of his tunic and cloak, his skin prickling with the heat and sweat. The tinted goggles and mask strapped over his face provided some relief from the harsh weather at least, shielding his eyes from the blinding glare as he gazed ahead.

The Dust storms have not yet begun this morning. He paused midway through his trek up a rise, allowing himself a brief respite to bask in the solitude of the golden landscape, to take in the sight of the horizon before him. Clear weather was a rare enough occurrence—he was more used to the feel of grit and sand lashing across his mask and clothing; to sullen, dreary grey and dusky yellow mist even within the City Dome.

But out here today, despite the relentless heat and the imperceptible glint of Dust all around him—today, the sky was boundless, a splash of brilliant azure, and Sorey felt strangely content.

The thin wisp of clouds above brought with it also a glimmer of memory—a conversation from years before, when he and Mikleo were still children and a weekly terror in the basement lab, much to Uncle Michael’s chagrin and to Aunt Muse’s amusement. Sorey smiled, the memory tempered with both fondness and a touch of embarrassment. Simpler days, remnants of what was and a lingering ache that never truly went away…

 “And that one there—that looks like a Klein bottle, doesn’t it, Mikleo?”

Twelve-year-old Sorey can barely contain his excitement as he peers through the eyepiece of Uncle Michael’s refurbished spyglass. He pushes the contraption closer to Mikleo, nudging his best friend for a better look.  Mikleo crinkles his nose doubtfully at first, but Sorey recognises the spark within those violet eyes; knows that Mikleo is as eager, as curious to see it for himself. He watches with hushed anticipation as Mikleo peeks cautiously through the eyepiece with pursed lips.

Then with a soft, almost begrudging huff—“You do realise it’s impossible for that phenomena to exist in 3D, don’t you?” Sorey frowns, then chuckles, arms crossed over his chest now. His tunic sleeves are still too long for him; only his small fingers are visible at the hems. “Well, yes, but imagine, Mikleo, if you will. Imagine if one end of the cloud dissipates fast enough just as the other end passes through the nexus point—and you’d get a Klein bottle! Don’t limit yourself to spatial constraints!” Mikleo, stubborn as ever, only grins smugly, even as his eyes are aglow with mirth. “And you have your head up in the clouds all the time. Besides, that’s non-Newtonian!”

The ghostly whispers of their shared laughter echoed still through his mind when there came a sudden electronic screech of surprise, followed by a muffled thud. Atakk’s shrill whistles quickly drew Sorey out of his reverie; he scanned the track marks snaking through the sand ahead of him. The droid had trudged along only to tumble off the edge of the slope.

Sorey carefully picked his way down the incline, sliding to a stop beside Atakk. The droid had tipped over its side, its domed head half-buried in the sand.

“It’s all right, I’ve got you now,” Sorey said gently, even as Atakk continued to complain loudly, wheels rolling about uselessly. He pulled the droid back upright with ease, brushing off the sand from its short torso.

A series of clicks and then a disgruntled bleep—

Sorey laughed. “I know you hate sand, yes. I mean, I’m not too fond of it either. It just gets everywhere. And don’t worry, I’ll watch my step around here too.”

He knew better than to be too distracted when venturing out like this—besides the scorching heat and the blanket of toxic Dust in the air, unseen dangers lurked beneath the dunes as well. He paused, the corners of his lips twitched into a smile. Mikleo would no doubt be chiding him as well if he were here now, for dawdling instead of focusing on his routine checks on the moisture harvesters.

“Better hurry with the water rations before the weather turns and a storm comes your way. You know how fast they can hit you.” A digitized voice chimed abruptly from the comlink strapped over his wrist. A moment later, the small blue holo-screen of a young man’s profile was projected out in front of him.

Sorey let out an amused sigh—right on cue, as expected. Always like Mikleo to be reining his attention back to the task at hand. “Since when were you able to make the comlink do that?” he asked, glancing back at the holo-screen. He watched as another beam of light was projected out from the comlink, sweeping across the land before him. “I did some tinkering around and got Atakk’s help to do minor upgrades to all existing communicators.” Mikleo explained through the static as the image on the holo-screen rippled. The glitch only lasted mere seconds however, and his voice and features came in sharp clarity again once the signal stabilized.

“They now have a feature set to run automatically. So it’ll relay information back to the Vault in timed intervals, in case a scout is unable to do so themselves, or in the event of emergencies. It’s always best to be prepared for anything outside of Camlann, after all.”

“And you’d managed to program all that by yourself? That’s pretty awesome!”

“It’s just an added function to better monitor the surroundings,” Mikleo said, his tone modest, but Sorey didn’t miss the look of pride that flitted over his features. “To be honest, it was actually an idea I got from you.”

“Wha—wait, really? ” “Remember that incident with the prickleboar stampede? How they tossed and trampled all over the old hoverbike like it was synth-foam?”

Sorey flinched at the memory, one hand raised to tap at his cheek sheepishly. “Yeaahh… that was, uh, wild. What’s that got to do with our comlinks though?”

“The prickleboars smashed the bike up so badly we couldn’t even get the nav-scanners on its system to work. But remember how you had managed to salvage enough of the parts and attached it to your wrist brace?” Sorey nodded; he recalled how he’d hastily rewired all the components to his old communicator’s power core, then reconfigured it so it could work as a temporary nav-scanner. “This added feature works on the same principle, really,” Mikleo continued. “The comlinks are now all fitted with a scanning chip. So even if the main nav-scan system on the transport gets busted, you would still have a portable backup you can use to gather data that can still be transmitted and further analyzed by the techs back here at the Vault.”

“That definitely sounds handy. Guess I can inspire some really great ideas, too, huh, Mikleo?”

“Hmm. You’re admittedly pretty good when it comes to thinking on your feet—I’ll give you that much.”

Sorey grinned abashedly at the unexpected praise. He would’ve returned a teasing quip or two, but something had already caught Mikleo’s attention; he glanced away, long fingers brushing ash-brown hair back from his brow and securing it with a silver clasp to keep in place as he clicked at several keys before him.

“That said, are you just going to stand there all day, staring up at clouds? I know it’s a fairly good day but we have a schedule to keep.” “I was just appreciating the skyline. I mean, we don’t even get to see real clouds in Camlann anymore. Besides, it’s not like I can’t take in the sights and collect the water rations at the same time.” “Oh?” Mikleo’s voice was light, as though humoured. Even through the signal inference and static on the holo-screen, Sorey could make out the tiny smirk upon his lips. “I wasn’t aware that you’d finally mastered the art of multitasking, so colour me a little surprised.”

“Now you’re just teasing,” Sorey huffed, nose crinkled in mock-annoyance. He ignored Mikleo’s soft chuckle as the holo-screen winked out, and continued through the sand until he reached the sturdier, rocky path he knew would lead him to one of the many solar-powered moisture harvesters built around the edge of the City’s borders.

Setting his pack down on the ground, he pulled out a tool-kit and crouched beside the large, rusting machine before him. He easily popped the small hatch in its side open, flicking the touchscreen to life and keying in the codes to begin a sequence of standard calibration and maintenance checks. As the machine continued running its tests, Sorey straightened up and gave it a quick glance-over: the huge umbrella dish was pointed at the sky, the reflective mirrors glinting a piercing diamond-white, like the unfurled petals of an enormous sunflower hungrily soaking in the sunlight.

Atakk twittered as it wheeled towards the harvester’s collection tank, dragging a metal trolley stacked with empty silicone containers behind it. Sorey hurried to its side, and together with the droid’s help, began to fill the containers up with water from the tank dispensers.

He paid no heed to the faint cry at first, engrossed with his work. Desert skipper-rats were common in the area; he’d seen the rodents chittering and skimming across the sand nearby many times before. But the cry didn’t cease, growing into what was unmistakably a weak noise of pain. Sorey looked at Atakk, who had paused and swivelled its domed head at him as well.

“I’m not sure either,” Sorey replied as the droid beeped a query. “You stay here, Atakk. I’ll go check it out.”

The droid beeped anxiously at the same time as Mikleo’s voice buzzed sharply over the comlink, “Sorey, wait—”

Sorey was already bounding lightly over the path however, searching around for the source of the cry. He heard Mikleo’s grumbles of at least let me scan the area for any feral animals, and would have offered quick apology. But his foot caught on something then, and he was tumbling over the edge of the rocky outcrop into the sandy basin below.

Ow… He winced, rubbing dirt away from his face as he tried to sit up, only to brush his hand against something—something wet and slick. His heart twisted at the bloody sheen across his palm; turning, he saw the limp figure of a young woman sprawled on the ground just beside him. She seemed unconscious, but was groaning in pain, her short red hair plastered over her bruised face. Her clothes were in tatters and she was bleeding from several lacerations all over her arms and legs.

Sorey froze at the sight, a lump in his throat. It wasn’t the woman’s injuries that had unnerved him, but the network of black, spidery lines running steadily from a deep gash in her right calf. Even the skin under her eyes were mottled, tinged with sickly purple.

“Be careful—she’s been infected with Dust…! H-hey, what are you doing?”

Sorey had gestured at Atakk, who wheeled towards him through the sand, dragging his pack behind it with extended metal claw grips.

“We can’t just leave her out here like this, Mikleo. The heat will kill her!”

“Never mind the heat—she’s been infected, Sorey. You know as well as I do what that means.”

“I still have three more antigen vials left.” Sorey replied stubbornly, retrieving the med-kit and a spare gas mask from his pack. He quickly strapped the mask over the woman’s face and then slowly, gingerly, injected two vials of antigen into her left thigh.

“—ilah..?” She murmured, flinching slightly at the touch, eyes still closed.

“We don’t know if this will work…”

Sorey swallowed, but said nothing, studying the woman’s face instead for any signs of distress. For the antigen to be effective, two doses had to be administered within an hour of the infection—he had no idea how long she’d been lying here, injured and exposed to the deadly air.

“And… I hate to say this—because I want her injuries seen to as well—but we don’t know if the Council will even allow her to enter Camlann.” Mikleo’s tone was low, but Sorey knew there was no unkindness there, only concern mixed with unease.

Food and resources had always been scarce in these arid lands, but since the War began in earnest, every Domed City scattered across the Aroundight Flats guarded their rations fiercely. Many did not welcome strangers from beyond their borders, and were especially hostile toward neighbouring cities, the fear of invasion and siege attacks always looming at the back their thoughts, like a rising cloud of stinging gnats. The Council of Camlann would not be so keen to allow the woman through their gates. And yet… Sorey shook his head; he could not find it within himself to leave her in the desert to die.

“I’ll just have to take my chances. If it comes to it, she can have my food rations—I can always hunt while collecting water rations.”

It wasn’t the best of plans, he knew. Sorey steadied himself for Mikleo’s barrage of protests. But his friend only fell silent, ruminating for a long beat. Then finally, a deep sigh—

“In any case, we don’t have much time. You should really get her and yourself out of there now. The creature—hopefully it’s just one?—that had attacked her might still be stalking close by.”

“A-ah, right!” Sorey said; then in a gentler tone, “Thank you, Mikleo.”

With her arms slung over his shoulders, Sorey lifted the woman over his back. He glanced over at the droid. “Atakk, go on ahead to the hoverbike with the rations. I’ll be right with you.”

Atakk chirruped an affirmative, wheeling resolutely back up the path to where Sorey’s hoverbike was parked in the shade of a bare ironwood tree.

Sorey moved as fast as he could, but with the added weight upon his back, it was harder for him to keep his footing through sand and loose soil that easily gave way. He was only a several paces away from the ironwood when he caught sight of movement from the corner of his eyes. He paused his steps cautiously, straining his senses for any hint of a prowling animal.

“Mikleo, are you picking up on any life-forms in the area?”

Before Mikleo could reply through the comlink, there was another flash of movement, to his right this time. Sorey fingered the hilt of the weapon at his belt, ready to snap the laser-blade to life and—

“Oh, my! How daring for a human to be venturing out here all alone!” An electronic, feminine voiced called out from somewhere behind him. The mechanical whine of an overworked engine signalled the approach of another, clunkier transport speeder. The pilot—another woman… no, droid..?—jumped off and landed before Sorey could move away, towering a full head over him. She was a little bit scratched up, much like the speeder, but there was an aura of measured grace in her stance; in her slender white-and-silver build, and in her red headpiece that glinted crown-like under the sun. Her metal fingers were clasped together, as if in concern.

“W-who are you?” Sorey asked warily, balking slightly under her luminous stare.

“You’re an explorer, aren’t you?” the droid said. “I was just wondering, if by any chance—oh! There you are, Rose.”

She pointed behind Sorey, at someone or something he could not see, only to let out a soft gasp. She immediately reached forward to squeeze his shoulder, fussing over the woman slumped over his back. “Oh, no. Dear Rose, what happened…Oh, please be all right! This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have left you—”

“Hey… hey, it’s okay,” Sorey found himself saying, feeling a sense of pity at the droid’s growing distress. “Rose—uh, that’s her name, right? I stumbled upon her just a while ago. She’s pretty beat up, and I’m not sure how long she’s been exposed to Dust, but I’ve given her two doses of antigen as a precaution. That should keep her stable while I get her to the nearest med-centre in Camlann. I could really use more help though, to be honest—my hoverbike isn’t big enough to hold us both and the water rations my city needs for the day.” He smiled gently. “You must be Rose’s… companion droid? May I ask what’s your name?”

The shaken droid tilted her elegant head, searching his face with her glowing teal eyes and then bowed graciously. “My designation code is CES-LAI05, but you may call me Lailah. It was given to me by Rose.”

“Lailah. Right.” Sorey nodded to where Atakk waited by the ironwood, gesturing her to follow him. “I’m Sorey. Come on, you can fill me in on details as we ride. Mikleo says it’s too dangerous to linger here, so—”

An eerie, menacing growl cut through the air then. The ground beneath them trembled, as though a large creature was charging towards them. Sorey felt a jolt of fear and apprehension rippling instinctively in his gut; it seemed the creature had been tracking their scent and had finally found them. He grabbed Lailah’s arm and ran, pulling the companion droid towards his hoverbike.

“Here, take my bike—it goes a lot faster,” he said, strapping Rose in just as Lailah slipped into the seat beside her and powered up the controls. “Get Rose away from here now. The nav system is already programmed to the route back to Camlann!”

Sorey whirled around before Lailah could speak, searching for his own droid. “Come on, Atakk, we need to go!” He leapt into the speeder’s pilot seat, and once he was sure Atakk was strapped in, he gunned the engines to life.

“It looks like a mantis antlion and it’s approaching way too quickly,” Mikleo said over the comlink, his voice tight with worry. “Hurry, Sorey.”

Just as both vehicles rose into the air and began to move, there was another roar—louder, closer this time—and suddenly, a monsterous black insect burst forth from the rise behind them.

Atakk let out a panicked whistle as Sorey banked sharply to the right, avoiding the long grasping claws. It did not seem to notice them however, its line of vision focused on the hoverbike speeding away before it. With a feral screech, the antlion leapt after it.

No! Sorey thought frantically, turning the speeder around to give chase. The antlion was fast and much larger than he had anticipated—four metres of waxy obsidian shell, raptorial claws hooked with serrated edges, and bone-crushing mandibles, it was an apex predator of the dunes. It would easily outrun the hoverbike.

He revved the engines as he approached the insect, and slammed the speeder into its side with as much as force as he could muster, throwing it off its pursuit of the hoverbike. The antlion staggered from the blow, whipping around furiously. Distracted from its initial quarry, it turned its attention now to Sorey, reaching out with those long claws.

Sorey tried to dodge the attack, but the insect lashed forward, claws catching the side of his speeder, the serrated edges grazing through fabric and flesh. His shoulder burning with pain, he heard Atakk’s wail of fear and the indistinct buzz of Mikleo’s voice through the comlink—right before the speeder skidded across the sand and crashed to a stop.

Though half-stunned, Sorey’s fingers were instinctively curled around the hilt of his laser-blade, snapping the weapon to life. The antlion was upon him in seconds and he struggled to keep the insect at bay, slicing away with the flashing orange blade.

But the antlion was driven by hunger and the scent of blood. It lunged forward, claws ripping off Sorey’s gas mask, before it pinned him down with its fearful jaws. The insect tightened its grip around him and Sorey retched, Dust burning through his lungs as he struggled to break free.

Pain flared through his body, but Sorey fought to angle his weapon closer, piercing the bright blade through that weak spot between the joint of the insect’s left limb and thorax. The antlion bellowed at the contact, clamping down harder. There was a grisly crunch, the splintering, snapping of a rib bone or two—Sorey cried out, writhing as he felt the pressure crushing against his chest, his strength fading rapidly.

And then, just as abruptly, the jaws around him went slack. The antlion collapsed to its side, jaws and legs quivering in death. Sorey tried to stand, but the pain was overwhelming, white spots dancing in his vision. The last thing he saw before sinking into darkness was Lailah balanced on the insect’s back, her left arm now transformed into a large saber that she’d driven straight through the antlion’s head, green ooze bubbling down the blade and staining the golden sand. *

Lailah had injected the last vial of antigen into his thigh when he blinked awake, his body already convulsing with pain. Atakk let out a relieved beep, wiggling close beside him.

“Sorey?” Lailah glanced over him anxiously, one hand pressed hard against the gash in his side. Blood was still seeping from his wounds. “Sorey, please, stay with me. You must stay awake.”

He could barely hear her voice over the throbbing in his head and the growing dizziness; over the sharp tightness in his chest. The droids continued to patch him up as best they could, but he knew, with only a single dose of antigen and without a mask, he was already running out of time.

Ignoring the pain and extreme weariness, he struggled to his feet. At his insistence, Lailah continued to ride with Rose in his hoverbike, while he and Atakk took the speeder. They hastened back to Camlann, racing across the dunes as fast the engines allowed. The comlink around his wrist had been smashed in the attack, but thankfully the hoverbike and speeder’s communicators and main nav systems were still functional.

Sorey tightened his grip on the controls, keeping his thoughts focused on reaching the Domed City, and—

Mikleo.

Fatigue was wearing him down rapidly, his limbs heavy like lead. But he struggled to keep his thoughts coherent, tried to speak anyway, his voice raw. “Atakk… can you get us through to the Vault? To Mikleo…?”

Atakk beeped, light flashing over its front panels as it worked diligently. The communicator quickly buzzed to life with the sound of a flustered, but familiar voice: “—rey, do you copy? Sorey, Atakk, please answer me!”

“W-We’re still here, Mikleo…“ Sorey managed, weakly. "We… we managed to get away somehow—” A wince and a painful gasp. “—I lost your comlink. In the attack—sorry.”

“Never mind that. Are you and Atakk all right? I’m tracking your location right now… You should be able reach in Camlann within an hour… Sorey? Sorey!”

It was difficult to focus through the haze of pain—though the bleeding had mostly stopped, his wounds still ached profoundly, his body convulsing harder now from shock. Breathing hurt the most; each ragged gasp he drew was agonizing, like fire surging through his lungs. The Dust infection had taken root within him—already he could feel the onset of nausea, a heavy chill settling deep within his bones.

Atakk’s flurry of replies drew Sorey’s thoughts back from the pain.

“—how badly is he injured, Atakk? Wha—Dust?? Okay… Just… R-Right, keep monitoring them and send me all the updates. I’m informing the med-centre right now to be ready to receive them both…”

Sorey had wanted to reassure Mikleo, that he was still fine, that he was still there. But it took all of his mental effort just to keep awake, his breath short and his vision edging precariously towards the darkness whenever the flashes of pain grew too much. He coughed again, the metallic tang of dust and blood heavy on his tongue.

Feverish, he held on stubbornly, the speeder and hoverbike blazing ahead towards home.

*

Only when Camlann’s gates were sealed shut behind them did the exhaustion finally bear its full weight down upon him. The hoverbike and speeder pulled to a stop before the waiting group of medics, Mikleo already rushing forward. Delirious, Sorey struggled down from the speeder and collapsed into Mikleo’s outstretched arms.

“Sorey!!”

Half-conscious from the pain, Sorey could hardly make out the look of raw anguish over his friend’s face. But he forced himself to reach out anyway, brushing a hand lightly over Mikleo’s cheek, and smiled gently.

“It’s okay, Mikleo… I’m here,” he whispered tiredly, eyes heavy as he leaned into Mikleo’s hold; falling deeper into the darkness. “Please… Help Rose…”

Everything thereafter was muted sensation; a kaleidoscopic rush of sound and movement, of blurred, frantic cacophony. He saw ash-brown streaks, and gleams of radiant violet; a patch of brilliant blue through the clear skylight of the city gates.

Everything was grey; dust and ember flickering, dancing between the void of white and black.

Then, Sorey saw nothing at all.

.

.

.

Seventeen human years isn’t too long—but it feels like he’s aged a lifetime within the last two seasons.

 Three days after the funeral, and Mikleo stands with him now among the wilting plants in Aunt Muse’s old greenhouse. The indigo urn sits empty in a corner, and they are kneeling on the ground, dirt and grass stains streaked upon their clothing.

 Sorey watches as Mikleo places the seeds within the ash, then covers them with handfuls of dark earth. The twinge of grief and loss still burned in his heart, but at least… at least Gramps is at peace now—finding his way back to Michael and Muse, and perhaps even to Selene, his mother, if death is where she had ventured of to all the while.

 At least his family’s whole now, together, while he and Mikleo gaze on, longing, yearning.

 There’s a brush at his hand, and Sorey turns, feeling Mikleo’s fingers gripping his hand tightly, like he’s holding a life-line.

Don’t you dare leave me too, is what Mikleo doesn’t say, but what Sorey hears anyway in the touch. He smiles, eyes red-rimmed, but still verdant and bright in the fading sunlight.

I’m always here, Mikleo—I promise.

—End—

Notes: Some tl;dr information about terminology, AU backstory/lore and the general timeline of events:

-In mathematics, a Klein bottle is an example of an abtract surface.

-Solar-powered moisture harvesters: relatively new(?) technology that can provide renewable energy, water, and heat, especially to remote, off-grid areas or communities.

-This events of this AU takes place in a post-apocalyptic future (think Nausicaa and Ergo Proxy) on a continent once called Greenwood (centuries ago, before the War). The War of the Dying Cities took a heavy toll on both the populace and the environment, rendering many areas inhabitable due to the nuclear fallout. Survivors now live within Domed Cities and rarely venture out due to high levels of radioactivity (called "Dust” in this world) that still lingered in the environment. Certain hardy plants and wildlife have slowly begun to return, but most of the land is still arid and harsh-hence why the continent is now called The Wasteland. The air outside the Domed City is also still too toxic for humans - the level varies depending on the exact area, but left untreated, even exposure to small doses can be detrimental to a person’s health. “Dust infection” is the term used for radioactive poisoning.

-Camlann is built over a deep groundwater (“fossil water”) aquifer that runs through the desert. For centuries the city had relied upon it as their main source of water. However, it was clear from recent studies that the groundwater was not renewable and was depleting at a much faster rate than expected.

- Selene and Muse were part of a research team that estimated the aquifer will dry up within their lifetimes. They had sought to construct other means to gather and store (renewable) water for the citizenry. The moisture harvesters that bordered the city were some of the technology they had invented for such use. The citizens need venture out several times a week to collect the water rations from the harvesters.

- Mikleo and Sorey are Bio-engineering research graduates. Their interest in the study of ecology and mechatronics was, in part, due to Michael, who is a well-known Robotics scientist within the Academy’s research circles and Muse, who worked as a conservationist. Sorey’s mother, Selene, was one of the few who dared brave the safety of the City Dome to explore the endless sand dunes outside. Shortly after giving birth to Sorey, she headed out on a scouting expedition, searching for the famed oases rumored to exist somewhere in the Elysium valleys. She never returned to Camlann.

- When the boys were 16, the Council of Camlann approached Michael to recruit his skills for Project War Machine. However, he refused to co-operate as he’d only wished to apply robotics for the betterment of their people, not to create weaponized droids in the War of the Dying Cities. He and Muse were punished severely for their refusal.

- Gramps became Mikleo and Sorey’s sole guardian after Michael and Muse’s deaths, but he was old and frail. He succumbed to the Dust Plague as well around the time the boys turned 17.

- Sorey’s light-blade was Selene’s first handcrafted weapon. She’d left it with Michael as a keepsake for her son before she left Camlann.

- Sorey and Mikleo are about 19-ish here.

TBH, I didn’t expect to be invested in this AU again (I’m not great at following-ups with my random one-shot AUs…), and I’ve got some ideas I’d like to play and experiment more with… I HAVE SOME HAPPY, CUTE IDEAS FOR THIS IDEA TOO DW LOL. So, there might be more episodic one-shots in this verse.

Thank you for reading! Comments and critique are welcomed for my fics - I’d like to hear what you think, if you’ve enjoyed this so far.

Also also: I’m so sorry, Sorey, for writing this aghsjfdhgsk. But well. You hurt/break the character you love the most LMAO.