Chapter Text
She was a proper citizen of City 42, her routine was as predictable as his patrol, which was why Captain EN42-23773 noticed her in the first place. Around 8:35 (and no later) she would cross his patrol to walk towards the transport station, which was, right now.
He glanced down the street as he spotted her. As per usual she was listening to music as she walked at a quick pace towards the station. Her brown hair kept back by a hairband and wearing a conventional office outfit. His gaze swept over the human, his connection to the ADVENT Network automatically supplying her identification;
Moiyer, Everly, born 25 September 2017, no known relatives, raised as a ward of ADVENT. Gene therapies undergone for myopia, preventive gene therapy for diabetes mellitus and dementia. No notable issues.
A perfectly average human, nothing special. And yet he kept watching her. She looked at him as she walked past and gave him a quick nod and a smile. He could not help but smile back. He could feel a warmth spreading in his torso and a heat flushing on his cheeks. Whenever he saw her he experienced emotions that were completely unknown to him. Was there something wrong with him? He pinged the Network for answers but came up empty.
Because of his role as Captain his genetic blueprint and psionic-chip had been given more autonomy than the rest of his squad. It was unlikely they had similar experiences. They had never questioned him lingering on that corner of the street everyday. As she disappeared into the station he turned away to continue his patrol with his brothers. He’d see her again, tomorrow.
Except he didn’t. She was late? She had not been late the other 260 workdays since he’d first noticed her. He was about to ping the Network for her last location but an emergency in his area popped up instead. He glanced at his brothers and nodded while they set off towards the emergency location.
Arriving at the scene at first glance it looked like an automobile had hit a civilian crossing the road. He almost startled when he recognized her, lying in the middle of the road unconscious and bleeding, but his training came through and he ordered his brothers to close the street, guide the ambulance and question the driver of the automobile (they should just ban the antique form of transportation, it was a wholly inefficient mode of transport). Only then did he approach her unconscious form. Using his basic first aid training he checked her heartbeat and breathing before rolling her into the left lateral recumbent position.
“Can you hear me? Can you give me a response?” She did not respond to any of his queries which made him worried. He scanned her face, she had a large scrape that went from her forehead to her cheek. Thankfully completely missing her eye, but her cheekbone had taken the most of the damage. It was bleeding profusely but it seemed superficial. He carefully stroked her other cheek in hopes of waking her up but she was still not responding. He’d never been this close to her before and he could feel his cheeks heat up and was grateful for his helmet hiding most of his face. Her legs seemed fine, but he could tell by the damage of her jeans that it must have taken quite a hit as well. One of her arms was definitely broken, just looking at the awkward angle. Humans were so fragile.
“Road is secure, the estimated time of arrival of the ambulance is 7 minutes, Captain.” reported his second. He nodded without taking his eyes off her.
“What of the driver?”
“Arrested, this was not the first incident this individual has caused.” his second transferred the file of the driver via their neural Network. Scanning the file he saw the multiple notes and sneered.
“Recommend him for rehabilitation and revoke any further access to automobiles.”
“Yes Captain” his second saluted and walked away to ensure his orders were followed.
“Nhhhg?” he looked back at her and saw that her eyes were open but unfocused.
“Can you hear me? You were in an accident, medics are on the way. It would be best for you to try not to move or to speak, your face took quite a hit.”
“Who…are you?” she whispered with wide eyes, ignoring his advice completely.
“I am Captain EN42-23773 part of the 12th trooper unit of City 42”
“Eeeian?” her eyes were unfocused as she tried to repeat his unit number. For a moment he was tempted to correct her but as he glanced at her he realized she had closed her eyes again.
“Sure, Ian will do.” he whispered to her unconscious form.
He stayed with her until the medics came to pick her up and load her into the ambulance.
His second returned and stood next to him as they looked at the ambulance drive away.
“Orders?”
“Is the road cleared of debris?”
“Yes sir”
“Good, open the road, we shall resume our patrol.”
With one last glance to the road he turned to his unit as they walked back to their usual patrol route.
Their patrols were dreadfully dull. While walking their usual route he could not help but reminisce.
She would be okay, right? Her wounds seemed superficial. But she did suffer a head wound, that could impede her recovery. Would she even remember the accident? The data he gathered via the Network suggested that it was unlikely she would remember anything of the collision.
Would she remember him? Very unlikely. Their uniforms made them intentionally anonymous and because most of them were cloned from the same template she would not be able to differentiate between him and his brothers anyway.
Emotions welled up in him. Sadness? At the idea that she would not remember him? He tried to rationalize the feelings within him. Any emotion or illusion of individuality was counterproductive. Their psionic-chip implants made sure that all ADVENT soldiers were connected to the Network and of the same mind. It was the epitome of efficiency. He sighed and put his feelings aside for the moment.
Still…Ian was a good name, right? She had given him a name! He could not help but smile a little. As he glanced at his brothers he quickly hid his smile. He let his mind wander while completing his patrols with his brothers.
She was back! It had taken two weeks but she was back! This time a smile remained on his face as he spotted her at 8:35 exactly on her usual route. He had not expected her to be back as of yet, he had checked her file on the Network yesterday and her notes mentioned her on sick leave for another two weeks. He didn’t even pretend not to stare as she changed her route and approached him directly.
“Good morning Captain, ah, do you happen to be the Captain that helped me at the car crash, two weeks ago?” Her gray eyes were wide and had a tinge of uncertainty in them. Surely she was not scared of them? Well. He supposed their unit did look very intimidating to a civilian.
“Yes miss, you are correct in your assessment. Our unit was close by and therefore the first to respond to your emergency.” He was suddenly very conscious of his ADVENT accent.
“I wanted to thank you for staying with me, I don’t remember much but I can recall you trying to keep me awake.” She smiled at him and he felt his affection for her well up in him. Her eyes flicked across his helmet. No doubt wondering where to look for his eyes. He smiled back.
“It is our duty to protect all civilians under our watch, miss. The Elders are invested in your safety.” He said sincerely. She looked pleased and nodded at him. "Still, I thought it was very kind of you to do so. Thanks again." With that she turned around, gave a nod to the rest of his team and started to walk back.
He tried to think of something to call her back, so that they could perhaps converse some more, but he could not think of anything. With a mournful look, carefully hidden by his helmet, he urged his team onward to complete their patrol. He'd see her again soon, perhaps then he'd be able to think of something then.
