I remembered a joke a friend of mine told me, yeah?

  Been a while, Old old friend back on Earth, just a local bar car joke.

  It's about two Texans who were sitting at a bar having a drink.

  The first one says, "My spread is so big that it extends to the horizon". To that, the second one says, "Well, my spread is so big that if I get in my car in the morning and drive all day, all night and most of the next day, I still don't reach the end". At that point, the first one looks at him and says, "Yeah, that's what you get for driving a Kia"

  I never did get the joke.

  Fucking terrible joke, goddamn, if he ain't saved me from getting recruited into a Religious Cult i'd tell it to his face without saving any face, It's only later that I found out it's about a high spread related to Finance and currency exchange, but that's not important. What's important is...these motherfucking Texans made fun of Kia.

  Bro heard it from two Texans actually arguing at Arby's about this very thing.

  Why everyone hates the Kia?And I drove a Kia.

  What the fuck is wrong with that? I fucking love my Kia. Even got one of those with Karen in its name. The Kia Carens. Look it up! It's an actual car! Road raging and mowing down Karens since 2020, I met a drunk one night on my Caren.,Let me just say this, drunk driving is a terrible thing, but ya-know, asians being asians most of us did it anyway because at 4 am in the morning, nobody needs to know, when there's nobody doing anything in the middle of 4 am, right? And the popo's asleep.

  You think so, but just my luck that day, some mother effin Type- C guy honks at me, and that fucker just so happens to be drunk driving, crashed into my fucking Kia. So my very incredible Kia is still stable, steady, bro- They made those shit to handle roughhousing, family car 7 seater, takes a rocket launcher to the rear and still standing, Korean craftsmanship for the absolute safety, Football moms love it, Taekwondo moms worship it, It's the best.

  while the other asshole car was crumpled like a Milo tincan. What's Milo? Just this really good chocolate from New Zealand. Awesome drink. Anyway, that car was made in China or something, it's one of those days where EVs was super-duper cheap and China kept dumping their car market anywhere in the world, and everyone with money decided to build a car factory and slap a new EV car on the street, overflowing the world with cheap EVs.. Shit rusts faster than a submarine.

  Anyway again- Not the point. We had a little fight of course, 2 asians asshole just engaging in the art of street trolling. Nothing new.

  "Oi, mader faker! You have gau for eyes ah! siao!"

  My angmo sense is tingling and ignited while I get outta my car full on Aura farming to get into this xiaobitch war in verbal assault, road rage asian style-" Your mother fucked your dad last night, is it?! and she accidentally fuck the dog, your mom has dog for eyes! Clearly, she can't see too well like you! cause you dont seem to have eyes either! Fuck you, yer dipshit! Speak English lah!"

  "Lei Kong matye ah?! Hamka-~!

  "You better speak some sense, or I'll beat your ass and stuff it with Nasi Lemak liao!"

  "Stuff la! See you dare! You dare or not! Lai Ta fei kei!!"

  "Roti planta!"

  "Ice Milo lai!"

  The fact is, both of us were terrible in English, gibberish was exchanged as it is tradition when one is drunk, well, he's drunk, I was just in the moment of it, I called his mom a Roti planta, and he called my Mom a Roti John, we traded with colourful drink insults with all kinds of bread-based insults to each other. I mean, He's Chinese I'm Chinese. we['re all going to hell, just two drunk idiots. It is what it is. Totally harmless, and then he tried to swing at me with a child lock!

  Suddenly, it aint so traditional anymore, the fucking asshole takes it seriously.The nerve of this guy! Doesn't he know it's forfeited if you actually try to harm someone? fucking kids these days.

  Didn't peg him to be a dad either, so I bash his skull in with a can of Coca-Cola, limited edition stuff under self-defence of course. Was it worth it? Not really. Send his arse to the Emergency for a slight suture. I went to jail that day for detention.BUT! Dash cam caught his ass while compared to him, hah! Got out scott free.

  So…why is this particular part important exactly?

  I'm about to commit the same thing, obviously!

  To a bunch of homeless people.

  So, after driving, i mean flying The Viking, I went back to the scene of the crime. I had stood crouched beside a half-collapsed warehouse, armour plates still warm, exhaust vents ticking softly as they cooled because I couldn't give a arse to fly back to base, thought I had to do something here. Lots of empty places with no water, electricity or even food.

  The Merchant territory looked even worse up close once I got here, burned-out cars, trash piled like barricades, graffiti layered over graffiti writing something in drunken gibberish with the picture of a half dick...yeah, never mind. The kind of place where hope went to get mugged and left in a ditch, oh boohoo it's Brocton fucking Bay, and I'm currently at the worst part of the city.

  What do you think is gonna happen?

  And then the shouting started.

  "Oi! What d'you fink you're doin', mate?"

  I turned slowly, one hand still resting on the Viking's hull. About a dozen people had emerged from behind the rubble and tents, mostly homeless people. I found them, of course, the homeless crowd all bunching in together in that way people get when they've got nothing left to lose. Some had pipes. One had a crowbar. A few just had fists and bad intentions.There ares a few kids too, too young to be living out here without a guardian, and my heart bleeds to them.

  Call me a softie, I always knew I was a bleeding heart, I say I'm no hero, but honestly? I just hated to be labelled one, Me myself and I? Would want all the people in the world to live a happier life, but life's not fair that way, never is, knew about that point since I took some kids in myself.

  The one who'd spoken stepped forward.

  Short, wiry, maybe late forties. Greasy jacket, three sizes too big. His hair was shaved on the sides, long and tied back on top. Chinese, definitelyChinesee even with his angmo accent full on display, but the accent hit me like a brick. I would love to poke and make fun of him -hey buddy, say a bottaa of wottaaaa…WOOOOTAAAA-

  Thick. British. East London, maybe…Could be wrong? Never been there except Amsterdam. Just a lot of cockney, so pretty sure it's the only one I knew and maybe Roadman too.

  "Rollin' up 'ere in a bloody robot like you own the place," he continued, jabbing a finger at the Viking. "You fink we wouldn't notice, yeah? You have a cape?"

  I thought to myself…Are you daft, lad?! Do you not see the giant mech with two giant LMGs behind me, or are you daft! Really?! Truly a homeless Karen moment. Wish I had my KIA now so I can conduct vehicle assorted crimes, of course, I'm a cape!

  So he drunk or just stupid?

  …Huh.

  "Mate," he went on, voice rising, "we just lost half our sleepin' spots 'cause of that scrap heap over there burnin' all night. And now you park this… this Transformers bollocks next to our camp?"

  A few others murmured in agreement, although some of them didn't seem to lose brain cells and obviously notice the big giant human mech, and slowly those guys got the message and started to stay away…except for one or two guys still too stupid to understand, or too high to even notice, no? No, it wasn't two…oh wow, there's half a dozen. Idiots truly do exist~! How wonderful.

  Me being condescending? Perish the thought. I'm here to help, of course!

  One guy even spat on the ground as if showing off to us like he's some proper gangsta. "Merchant dogs brought enough trouble. Now it's you lot coming down on us downtrodden, doesn't sound proper to me, no,w innit? What youse want with us?"

  I sighed internally. Is he…is he not high or just stupid? I can't tell.Not to worry, if I explain it, they will get it. I shall give them the benefit of the doubt. Have confidence!

  "Alright," I said, keeping my tone calm. "First off, that 'scrap heap' tried to kill you all about twenty minutes ago. That murderbus thing there? Yeah? The former burning heap of glowing Pile? I did that. Me!"

  Blank stares from the idiot crowd. Great.

  Communication failed. No confidence.

  "Second," I added, "the Merchants aren't coming back."

  That got their attention, eh? Bumbling Merchants ain't coming back, y'all not getting yer fix anymore, and I intended it to stay that way. Some of them were visibly packaged, of course, but the rest of the lot don't believe me, of course. Unknown Cape telling them shit, who would believe them?

  The British-Chinese guy squinted at me. "Yeah? And you're who exactly? Iron Man's poor cousin?"

  A couple of them laughed, and that…kinda hurts. Do I really look like a poor version of Iron Man? I dont even have a suit! Fuck Iron, fuck that guy! No- not Robert Downey Jr. He's cool. Love his acting in Sherlock, but …eh, narcissistic Tony Stark? Nah fuck that guy.

  "…You live here because you don't have a choice," I said so matter-of-factly. That shut them up more effectively than shouting would've.

  The man with the accent frowned. "Don't pretend you know us."

  "I don't," I admitted., the fuck do I know? I have never been homeless in my life. "But I do know the Merchants were using this place to hide and cook drugs. That ends tonight." Yeah, no, that drug stuff gotta go. No happy funsies time here in my land, nu-uh. This gonna be a wholesome land, a place to make bread and throw bread insults. No Drugs.

  Someone behind him muttered, "PRT never did shit about that." Well fuck the PRT then, after what they did to me, like I give a fuck.

  "I'm not the PRT, fuck those guys."

  I gestured back at the Viking. "And that thing? It's temporary. I'm cleaning up a mess. You guys hungry and shit?"

  That got them the right attention.

  I looked at the crowd again, the kids peeking out from behind tarp,s and an intrusive thought slipped out of my mouth before I could overthink it.

  "…Anyone hungry?"

  That got me a chorus of reactions.

  Suspicion. Scoffs. One guy actually laughed, sharp and ugly. The same Chinese Brit guy narrowed his eyes. "If this is one of those 'hope speeches,' mate, save it. You're all bollocks"

  I didn't answer. I just tapped the side of my wrist, lookin cool and shit like a Chinese manhua canon fodder and clicked it.

  "SCV," I said. "Deploy."

  There was a clang behind me, then the hydraulic hiss of something heavy hitting the ground. The SCV rolled in from behind a warehouse. Say hello to my goodboys! The SCV crew! This thing is gonna repair this whole dump into a respectable place. First order of business! Food, of course.

  Maslow Hierachy. Ever heard of this guy named a theory under his own name? Learned it when I was still a young'un in school during economics class. Right at the bottom of the pyramid was the basic need one must provided before they could even think, like the cavemen we are since ancient days, our basic survival must be prioritised first, food , warmth, a roof over your head so you could sleep, I'd even slap the dignity to piss and excrete poop in peace too if you ask me…

  Anyway, the lesson stuck to me till I grew old because of the poop talk honestly.

  And toilet paper.

  GOd damm no toilet paper, now that's a tragedy not even dear old Maslow could fix in the modern sensibilities of this age. Someone swore loudly, totally taking me off from my train of thought..

  "The hell is that?" a woman whispered.

  "Construction unit," I said casually. "Give it thirty minutes or so…just shut up and watch."

  They all fucking barked a laugh. "Thirty minutes for what? A shed?"

  That fucking Chinese guy again, why the hell is there a homeless Chinese guy out here? I'm surprised they all l didnt join up with the ABB, still have some dignity left? T

  It's really getting harder to ignore the guy. Wish I had a Coca-Cola can. I'd like to plant one in his face. Id say I would earlier during my thoughts ranting about but.., I'm a pacifist now especially in a place like Earth Bet, any sort of violence might trigger someone into a Parahuman. What ridiculous world we live in but, this is my reality now.

  Either way, the SCV started building with its groundwork mainframe, as it planted the pylons from its neosteel repository. The thing unfolded with modular panels, welded framework together with terrifying speed. Steel walls rose like they were being grown instead of built. Power conduits snapped into place. A roof slid on with a heavy thoom. Plasma cutter grafting and like art, started to sculpt the building into reality.

  People backed away as the structure took shape. Ten minutes in, someone muttered, "That's not normal." Twenty minutes in, no one was talking anymore. At the twenty-nine-minute mark, the SCV chirped cheerfully and rolled aside.

  In its place stood a clean, solid building simple but sturdy. Wide entrance. Reinforced walls. A glowing Terran console by the door, pulsing soft blue.

  Fuck yeh! Terran Ingenuity baby! Mad science got no shit on this, all the brillaince of science engineering and pure human trolling, seriously. If you told me that food came from gas and grass and dirt under the ground I would slap myself before I got the knowledge of how it works. Fascinating high fanta- I mean, hightech stuff.

  Above it, in plain text: Free vending food

  Yeah, name needs changing, but it is what it is.

  It's basically a facility that pump out meals and slot them into these tiny vending source, Think Japan with their vending machine and upscale it to feed a crowd instead of offering convenience and one on one service for money. Food source came from the ground, Minerals, water and soil extraction gets sucked including the air around us. This is what you called High advance Sci Fi. Space age tech for spacefaring people and Terraforming projects.

  "…No fuckin' way." someone said, probably one of those Brit Chinese crew that's been flapping their mouth with insults, who's insulting who now?

  huhuhu- Marvel at my SCVs!

  I walked past them, pushed the door open, and was hit with warm air and the smell of food. Real food. Spices. Oil. Bread. Don't matter if its aritificial, I'd eat soy paste if I'm hungry. Beggars cant be choosers, in this case, Beggars can choose and enjoy the best meal of their life if they dont question where the food source came from.

  Inside: rows of dispenser terminals, holographic menus scrolling faster than Brockton Bay deserved, over a hundred local terran menu's. Proper…Old Terra menu's when Humanity still lives on Earth.

  Burgers. Noodles. Curry. Rice dishes. Pizza. Stew. Fried chicken. Dumplings. Shawarma. Laksa. Ramen. Even fish and chips. Every mainstream international food under the sun within a touch of a button, even got that Roti planta bs I keep thinking about, huh…Nasi Lemak too? It's been awhile since I had one.

  Earth's greatest hits, courtesy of Terran engineering and stolen blueprints. But this is Brockton Bay, nahh man, we can't have nice things in Brockton Bay, someone's always gonna fuck things up because why not?

  "You lying bastard!"

  Another voice, louder, angrier: "There's no food! It's just a bunch of machines and shit!! You restored an empty restaurant boohoo! There's no fucking food in here!"

  I didn't turn around to entertain the ignorant masses, How would they know what I've just build here? I walked up to a terminal, scrolled lazily, and ordered something familiar…let's see…beef steak? Nah too European, Texan Briskets? Eh tempting..nah.

  Beef noodles. Extra chili. Soft-boiled egg. Fake egg..and fake beef, but still…you Gotta go with the asian route. The machine hummed a little and tada-! Thirty seconds later, it slid a steaming bowl toward me. I picked it up, walked back outside, and sat on a concrete block in full view of everyone.

  Then I slurped with the organic chopsticks.

  Loudly.

  "Oh come on," someone groaned. That British asianguy stared at the bowl like it had personally offended him. I hoped so? Gotta make a point here "You're takin' the piss."

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  I chewed, swallowed, and sighed happily. "Mm. Nailed the broth this time."

  A kid's stomach betrayed him with a loud growl. I glanced up, chopsticks paused mid-air. "Doors open," I said. "No charge. No catch. Just click your button and wait you turn."

  They didn't move of course, cowards, Suspicion ran deep here. Deeper than hunger, somehow.

  So I took another bite. Slower. Made sure they saw it. Mmmm so good.

  "I'm eating either way," I added. "Your call."

  Five seconds turned to Ten.

  Then slowly a teenager edged forward, his eyes hungry, his mouth is sweating..knees inched ahead, his arms are reaching, he smelled the broth. He's hungry, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop everything, but he keeps forgetting.

  Yo-food is free, no need to eye it like it's gonna disappear-

  Then another kid acted like a zombie, with that same manic face-hungry Eminem on crack, just sayin, It's good broth! The kind that wafts easily in the air like Shin Ramyun…Do they even have Shin Ramyun here?

  Then the dam broke as people rushed the entrance like mad cows, not violent, just desperate. Shouts echoed inside like mad hustle, scratch the crows, they lunged at the ordering counter like zombies, I stood up and shouted of course, annoyed that a bunch of people needed to fight for free food.

  Nu-uh. Not in my territory.

  I slammed my palm onto the table, almost cracking it, while my other arm held the bowl of noodles, can't ruin a good bowl just to make a point ya know?

  I gazed at everyone as they stared back in fear but also defiance, odd combination but it makes sense, people are hungry after all. Who knows how long they haven't had a decent meal?

  "Wait in line like civilised people, damn it! There's enough food for everyone! Don't be an ass about it!" I pointed up at the roof as two rotating guns popped like turrets as security "Anyone misbehaving, I'll have you shot, you may bleed a little, it won't be fatal, but it'll hurt like hell, so don't even try"

  That asian brit dude just stood there a moment longer, jaw tight like he wanted to deck me in the face."…Bloody hell," he muttered.

  One by one, they line up like good little soldiers, hup two there four, comes out a bowl in 30 seconds. And then the next one..and the next one, peaceful and proper.

  Like a symphony of good manners in society. Who said homeless people can't be civil? They sure can if you have a turret aimed at their head while they get their meal.

  I left the noise of the canteen behind and walked deeper into the area, where the lights didn't quite reach, lack of electricity and power, what a dump. The houses here are abandoned and in disrepair but they choose to stay here anyway, This place is a dumpster.

  I texted Monica to request the rest of the guys I've recruited to come here with the Marine Armor. This place needs alot of work to -

  That's when I saw them.. A kid.

  At first, I thought the woman was asleep. Slumped against a container, head tilted at the wrong angle, one arm hanging loose like it had forgotten what it was for. Then I noticed the color of his lips. The needle near her hand and the way her chest didn't move.

  Fuck, a dead body.

  The kid was sitting beside her.

  Four years old, maybe. Too small for the coat wrapped around her shoulders. Shoes mismatched. Face smudged with dirt and something sticky. She leaned against his side like that was where safety still lived, her tiny fingers curled into the fabric of his jacket.

  Girls alive but…

  I dont think the caretaker is. Mother? A junkie? Overdose? Its all state of messed up. The kid seems clueless too.

  I stopped a few steps away, suddenly very aware of how heavy my armor felt, how ridiculous all this power was in the face of something so small and final. I always thought about death since I came here, too worried about invisible intangible worries like the bogeywoman of Bet and Simmy or the Slaughterhouse asshats. Even Endbringers and golden man. Worried from day one till now, but..the dreaded sense of death never seems final to me since I've died before.

  Till I saw a dead junkie, and it reminded me of regrets I've felt, Took a dead mother's corpse to finally snap me back that I'm still here alive in this world trying to avoid the bad ending. So goes for the little girl too.

  I wondered how long she'd been sitting there. If she'd tried to wake him. If she understood what stillness meant yet.

  This was a city that let someone die leaning against rusted steel while their kid watched the world quietly end and in the end, it really doesnt matter in the bigger scheme of things.

  I felt angry, but it wasn't the sharp, clean anger I usually carried. It was heavy weight of knowing things and how it ends, and the idea that you fail and reach that ending either way.

  Part of me wanted to fix them, and I hated myself for knowing how hard that was because it seems so dauntingly hard but I need to do it anyway or else we all die, we all lose this world, get migrated into another..and towards an unknown future. Towards more tragedy.

  I knelt down slowly, careful not to startle the child. She shifted, barely, but didn't seem to react to me.

  I promised myself that this wouldn't be another thing I filed away as tragic but unavoidable. That this wasn't just collateral damage of a broken city. But…it's not so easy since it's usually other people telling me what to do when something like this happens, ya know?

  I asked her who the person beside her was."So who's this? Your mom?"

  She looked up at me, eyes tired in a way no kid's eyes should ever be,"Yeah, Mommy's been shaking since morning and suddenly stop like that.."

  I knelt again, this time beside the body to check for bodyheat, not really a medical person so I dont really know how to check for rigor motis, her arms is…aint right. Stiff as a log.

  Her skin was cold. Not just cool from the night air, but cold. I checked the neck, the wrist, the chest, knowing what I'd find and still hoping I wouldn't. When I gently moved her arm, there was resistance, I dont wanna admit it but…

  She'd been gone for hours.

  I looked at the girl again.

  She was watching me closely now, reading my face the way kids do when they already know the answer and are just waiting for the confirmation. Her fingers were still clutching her mother's sleeve, knuckles white, like if she let go the world would tilt too far.

  I wondered what she'd eaten last. If she'd eaten at all. How long she'd been on the street. How many adults had walked past and decided it wasn't their problem.

  What the hell was I supposed to do with a four-year-old in the middle of a dockyard controlled by gangs and ghosts?

  Calling the PRT would mean paperwork, interviews, foster systems already stretched thin. Calling social services would take hours, maybe days, and that assumed they even came down here. Leaving her here—even with food and shelter—felt unthinkable.

  Taking her with me felt… complicated. Dangerous, politically, ethically. The kind of decision that got dissected in hearings and news cycles.

  I hated that those were even thoughts in my head.

  I took off my cloak fully and wrapped it around her, lifting her gently before she could protest. She was light. Too light. She stiffened at first, then relaxed, like exhaustion finally won. Probably didn't have any food either,

  "Come on, let's get you some food"

  I told myself I'd figure the rest out later. That there were people I could call like Mercy, maybe. Someone who understood children and trauma better than I did. Someone who wouldn't see her as a problem to be processed. Angela Zieger was a real hero unlike me. heck…Even Amy Dallon is more of a hero than me.

  I looked down once more at the woman on the ground. At the life that had ended quietly, without headlines or sirens, I'll…bury her body later after getting her little girl some food.

  "I'm sorry," I thought, because saying it out loud felt like it would break me. "Sorry I couldn't be here earlier" I could…should probably.

  the child warm against my chest she didnt replied, too tired and probably malnourished to talk, I activate my nano healing to heal the girl and the regenerative beam slowly heal her back, there' alot of muscle wear and tear, atrophy as set in towards the muscle,, and I started walking back toward the SCV are building stuff.

  Thought to myself I could prevented this but because I worry too much about the gangs and the backlash of PRT and whatever it is out there I turtled up in my fortress without a plan and kept building.

  Didn't have a general plan really.

  Well I do, but it's really stupid.

  Fix important stuff I dont like about future events and hope to god better things will happen? What was I supposed to do anyway? Without meta knowledge and without my startcraft tech knowledge I'd be useless here.

  Fuck.

  This is the army all over again.

  No, I could not I think. Id only fix the reaction not the symptoms and the root problem. I set her down gently on one of the benches inside the canteen, Line hasn't even stopped after half an hour and people were still busy ordering food from the machine,

  Atleast when the crowd spotted me carrying a child they knew how to make way for me, That British Chinese guy- god i still dont know his name, Can I call him Bob? Lets call him bob. Bob here, god bless his soul got his goons keeping watch around the homeless crowd. Good for you BoB! I gave him a thumbs up and he flinched away-

  Okay Bob…whatever.

  I keyed in something simple warm, plain porridge. Nothing fancy, nothing that would upset an empty stomach. Congee or porridge is good for the stomach.The bowl slid out a few seconds later, steam curling up into the air.

  That did it for her.

  Her little tiny nose twitched at first, Then her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then locking straight onto the bowl like it was the most important thing in the world.

  I pushed it a little closer. "Easy," I said softly. "It's hot."

  She didn't answer and went straight for the spoon with both hands and went at it like she was afraid the food might disappear if she slowed down, No need to care about manners or anything-jjust survival. Spoon clinking against the bowl, porridge smearing a little at the corner of her mouth, a little cute if you ask me.

  I didn't stop her.

  I just sat across from her, elbows on my knees, watching the way her shoulders slowly relaxed with every bite.

  After a minute, she slowed. Not because she was full, but it's because the urgency eased a little for a girl who haven't had food since morning I suspected. She glanced up at me, eyes wary again, spoon paused halfway.

  "…Is this yours?" she asked.

  "Yeah," I said. "You can have as much as you want." as I own everything here technically. What does that make me? Am I a gang leader now? Does holding territory makes you one? I dont know how to feel about that.

  She looked back at the bowl like she didn't quite believe me, then kept eating. A few more bites, then she spoke again, quieter this time.

  "Are you a doctor?"

  "Uhh no, not like that just a Cape" Im just a cheater who cheats with tech. Not a real doctor.

  She frowned, thinking. Kids always think harder than adults give them credit for. "You don't look like the ones on TV."

  "What do you mean? You mean wearing a spandex and fly like Eidolon Alexandria and Legend? ugh..do I look like an exhibitionist to you? What I wear is Military Elegance kid. "

  That earned me the smallest hint of a smile. Barely there, but real. I waited until she'd eaten a bit more before asking, keeping my voice steady. "What's your name?"

  She swallowed, wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve, then looked straight at me.

  "Schneider."

  "Schneider," I repeated. "That's a good name. That German?"

  She nodded seriously, like this was important information. "Mama said it was strong Aryan name."

  My chest tightened a little..fuck, they brainwashing kids too? Fucking Nazi's, but I didn't let it show. I just nodded back. "She was right …yep. You're a strong little girl alright."

  Schneider studied me for a moment, then asked, "What's your name?"

  "Jason."

  She tried it out. "Jaa-sun?."

  "Close enough."

  She went back to her porridge, slower now, calmer. After a few bites she spoke again, like the thought had been weighing on her.

  "…You're not gonna make me leave, right?"

  I leaned back slightly, meeting her eyes so she could see I meant it. What kind a kid would think that? "No. Not tonight. You're safe here."

  She held my gaze for a long second, then nodded once, decisively, and focused on finishing her food. I sat there watching her eat just trying to scoop watery fake rice into her tiny little mouth eating by herself.

  Some of the earlier bruises slowed down, I waited for my Marines to come by, it's almost night time soon.

  I let Schneider finish eating at her own pace, made sure the bowl was empty and her breathing steady, before I stepped a little away from the bench. The canteen's lights were warm, almost gentle—too gentle for a place like Brockton Bay's docks.

  I tapped the side of my comm and waited for the line to connect.

  "Monica, sup." I said.

  There was a brief pause, then her voice came through, crisp and annoyingly calm as always. "You sound alive Commander. That's a good sign after you dump me here."

  "I try my best but what's cooking over there" I muttered. I leaned against the wall away from the table to get some privacy, my eyes still tracking Schneider from the corner of my vision. "How'd it go with Piggot?"

  A soft exhale on the other end. Not a sigh Monica didn't sigh unless she wanted someone to hear it. "Productive. Unpleasant of course but ultimately successful."

  "That's… vague enough to worry me."

  "She apologized."

  I straightened. "She did huh?How did that happened?"

  "She didn't enjoy it of course. I suspect that certain unpleasantness will present itself in the future." Monica added quickly, almost amused. "But she did it. Publicly enough to matter, privately enough to save face.She is surprisingly amenable to some of my probabilities scenarios."

  I let out a low whistle. "Didn't think Piggot would ever choke that one down. So…how many probabilities are we talking? How backups do you have backups for Monica?"

  "Enough to matter going forwards" Monica said. "Enough that we are able to re route the snake"

  "Coil huh? figures." I rubbed my temple. "So, how's the guy reaction? What does he think about the docks?"

  "We have permission to proceed through our Financial Investment Development," she replied smoothly. "Land acquisition approved. The mayor might object this going forward, contingencies are being made to soften the blow. Coil seems to be keeping tabs on our involvement more frequently. For now it's still observation, but He's been avoiding moving towards his base lately… I surmise that our plan seems to have worked within parameters."

  Of course he was, Snake bastard. Probably too scared to go to base from all the failed timeline. But it's still within parameters. I'll leave the details to Monica since she's more capable in analyzing and pre countering Precogs.

  I hesitated for half a second, then asked the other question that'd been sitting in my gut since I left the hospital. "And Dragon? How does she react when seeing you?"

  A pause. Longer this time.

  "…Nothing new. Just the same." Monica said carefully.

  "Monica did you do something?" What she did now?

  "She looked horrified and amused that I seem to have a body," Monica corrected. "She always look at the chest part… I let her look of course. For an A.I, she's surprisingly more human than I have to admit."

  "And?"

  "And she was rather clinical about it," Monica said, without a trace of modesty. "Annoyingly so."

  I snorted. "Please tell me you didn't aggravate her, please behave Monica."

  "I behaved, It would be counter productive to do so here, it was she who is not behaving commander, as of right now I am currently being scrutinize under a finer analyzer algorithm as we speak" she said. Then, after a beat she said. "Mostly…"

  "Define 'mostly.'"

  Monica shifted her coms off and turn on the video feed as I could see Dragon inspecting Monica with the eye of a hawk scanning her in that empty armor of can she called a humanoid frame.

  "Would you like to?" Monica said as she pointed to her breast. Dragon didn't wait and cop a feel almost immediately and wiggle around it- my frown was all to see as even Schneider notices and tilt her face from eating her porridge…watching..

  What the fuck am I watching? Two Ai doing what exactly? Copping a feel?

  "Fascinating really, Fake blood? Artificial muscles? Monica. Where-did you build all of this, How did you build all of this..I just cant figure it out, its not tinker tech..It's just- oh? Your coms are…oh?...oh..ohh…someone is listening isn't it?"

  Monica just smiles "The Commander is here, Say hi to the Commander Dragon"

  Dragon was caught red handed trying to squish Monica boobs and testing it's elacity. I could practically feel her face going red behind that helmet…cept its empty. If AI could blush, it would probably be that annoying UWU shit face meme.

  "I..I..uhh..Dreamhack"

  Monica turn off the video feed and I could still heard something of a reprimand from Dragon

  "M-Monica! How could you! I thought we were friends! You embarrassed me!"

  Monica cut the video and Sound feed off, with her parallel quantum technology she can hold several conversation with several people at the same time, this is nothing to her.

  That…yeah I aint gonna even ask about that. Is my AI into Yuri? What the fuck did I just watched?

  I closed my eyes. "You terrify me sometimes..I didn't think you told her you were AI"

  "That's healthy and no Commander, I haven't. I just told her I have a positronic brain and have no body. Part of a Case 53. It's easier to explain things. She wanted to design her own body so I helped her by showing mine.It's harmless. Please do not worry." she said.

  I glanced back at Schneider. She'd curled up slightly on the bench now, bowl empty, eyelids heavy but fighting sleep like she didn't trust it yet.

  "There's a kid here," I said quietly. "Four years old. Mom's dead. OD, probably."

  Monica didn't respond right away. When she did, her voice had lost its edge. "Do you need extraction?"

  "No," I said. "I need time. And maybe… options.Thinking about building this part of the town like you said, but it doesn't even have working water or electricity here. The place is a total dump."

  "I'll reroute resources," she said immediately. "We can try it the legal way without Brockton Bay fingerprints."

  "I dont think that's gonna help but maybe we can look about zoning permits.See what you can do about that" I exhaled slowly. "One more thing."

  "Yes?"

  "…You didn't mess with Dragon too hard, right?"

  A faint smile crept into her voice. "Jason. If I had messed with her, you would already know. Besides, she's too smitten with Armmaster to notice. I do not see her fascination towards her human compared to mine"

  I shook my head, half amused, half exhausted. "Alright. Keep me posted, also..I'm not your human."

  "But you are my Commander, that makes you my responsibility, Try not to start a war at the docks without me," she said.

  "No promises you cheeky little bugger."

  "Good,Commander. Try to have a nice day. I shall wrap things up here soon and join back at the Command Centre" The line cut. I lowered my hand and looked back at the little girl, still eating and finishing up her food.

  And finally..

  The Cavalry is here.

  They came out of the ground Transport Vehicle, we only made two of those, white-and-blue Terran armor catching the onlooking gazes from the canteen. Rifles mag-locked, visors down, posture disciplined but not threatening. These weren't soldiers going to war tonight. They were here for gruntwork.

  "Marines," I said, voice steady. "On me."

  "Got it Commander" One of them, I think it's Staff Seargeant Smith, the one with thebroken leg, glad I could help out, seems like he's the defacto leader among the Vets I've recruited.

  I looked at them and didn't bother softening it.

  "Search and rescue operation," I continued. "Priority targets are homeless civilians, injured, sick, elderly, anyone who couldn't make it here on their own. You find someone breathing, you bring them back here."

  A chorus of acknowledgements clicked through the channel.

  I gestured toward the darker stretches of the docks, the alleys and half-collapsed warehouses where people vanished when winter came. "Pairs only. Motion trackers on. Medkits open. If someone resists, you back off and try again later. We're helping them…but they gonna want to help themselves first."

  That last part mattered.

  An SCV trundled past behind me, welding arm hissing as it sealed the final outer wall of the new apartment block. Terran prefab can be ugly, modular,and brutally practical, kinda like insulated walls. But as long as the door works, there's insulated heat and water working in a jiffy, I can alter the aesthetics later. Utilitarian look has its charm too right? A little of cyberpunk here and there without the dystopian outlook.

  Place got no water? I'll provide em. No electricity? I'll just build a reactor to the place.I watched the structure finish assembling, floor by floor, like reality finally deciding to cooperate for once.

  "Estimated completion?" I asked.

  "Soon Commander!" the SCV chirped.

  Good.

  By the time the hour mark rolled around, this dump of a place showed me a vision of a future.

  I stood there with my arms crossed, staring up at the finished apartment block as the SCV disengaged its clamps and rolled back with a satisfied hydraulic whine.

  Vertical build, Terran-style.

  Just stacked prefab modules fused together with space-rated neosteel alloys, internal supports grown in place, utilities slotted and pressure-tested as part of the construction cycle. An hour ago, this spot was rubble and rot. Now it was a building, the marvel of prefab engineering.

  The technology already existed here, but it can never finish within an hour.

  People had gathered after my little stint of building them a canteen offering real food. You can hear the chatter in the air too

  " The cape build it in an hour? How is that possible"

  "He made that place and offer free food, I dont even see where the food came from, Powers are bullshit"

  Powers are bullshit indeed!

  Science can be bullshit too! Super high end science can be similar to magic.

  Homeless men and women all of them craning their necks upward like they were afraid it might disappear if they blinked.

  I didn't blame them. I dont believe it myself.

  The doors hissed open automatically, warm air spilling out into the cold. Lights glowed soft and steady inside none of that flickering neon ligh, half-broken nonsense Brockton Bay was famous for.

  Clean corridors. Working elevators. I knew exactly how empty it was right now. No furniture yet. No personal touches. I dont need to provide them everything.

  But space was everything to them.

  A roof over your head. That's safety.

  I stepped forward so they could see me clearly, so there was no confusion about who was saying this.

  "It's free," I said simply. "You stay here, no rent."

  That made a ripple go through the crowd with murmurs of course, some of them were skeptic and became suspicious of my generosity. I let it wash over me before continuing.

  "This place is for people who don't have anywhere else to go. anyone who fell through the cracks. You want a room, you get a room. You want heat, water, food those are already covered."

  I pointed back toward the canteen and then toward the building. "And if you want work, I've got that too. Anyone with a skill can find work with me, be it Maintenance. Logistics. Construction support. Kitchen staff, if you're willing, I'll pay you.. You help build the next one, and you can help run this one."

  I could see it then, The kind of cautious interest people get when they've been disappointed too many times to believe easily, but they're tired of saying no to survival.I met their eyes, one by one. It tells me enough that the authorities here has failed them enough, the politician, the system, even their own people. I wanna say it's Brockton Bay's fault but im an illegal myself.

  Got no say about how to do things, already I'm changing things too much, but I wanna do it for the better.

  "It's all up to you" I added. "You don't owe me loyalty. You don't owe me gratitude. Just don't hurt each other, and don't turn this place into another dump nightmare. Break the rules and I'll kick you out of the area. No negotiations. Just have some basic human decency. It's all I ask if you dont want a job and just wanna stay here and eat for free"

  The doors stayed open.

  I watched them start to file in, slow at first, like they expected a trap. Like they expected someone to shout "gotcha" and pull the rug out from under them. But one by one, ..a young boy gathered his courage and drag his Dad and moms hand and entered.

  Nothing happened.

  Then another family took the courage to walk in, and then more followed suit, some were in really bad shape, I'll have Mercy to come and look at them once she's done with her Hospital problems.

  I exhaled, long and quiet.

  I dont know if this is the right way to do it, but it feels like the right to do now. This is gonna bite me in the ass later, isn't it?

  "Fuck..I'm gonna need to build another new apartment"

  word of mouth is gonna spread fast soon and build some defence structure.

  **********************