From Ashe to Flame

Girouette's Visit

The only thing Ashe knew about him was his name and what he did for a living. Mrs Bonne knew much more than that, but she wasn't going to tell Ashe any of it any time soon.

His name didn't help matters much either.

"Girouette, pleased to see you are doing well again." Mrs Bonne greeted the fellow Reploid, exchanging a rather rigid European kiss on the cheek. "How is the boy doing?"

"Growing." the long blonde haired and blue eyed Reploid replied in a naturally soft tone. "How is your changeling?"

"Volatile." the aged looking Reploid replied sourly.

"Oh?" Girouette asked curiously, looking over Ashe in a way that almost made her uncomfortable. "She still seems rather stable."

"Stable does not mean obedient."

Girouette openly laughed. Ashe looked at him with a rather hard stare. How dare he laugh at her...!

"Don't laugh." Mrs Bonne told Girouette in a tone that matched her daughter's face.

"I apologize," Girouette told her, "But... it was rather amusing."

"For you." Mrs Bonne hissed at him. "You've only had five years with your little beast."

Girouette laughed again, this time he did try to keep it contained- but the attempt failed rather miserably. Ashe did not see what was so funny for him. Then again, she almost felt like she was missing half of a rather important conversation. Why was she in the middle of this again?

"How old are you now, young lady?" Girouette then asked Ashe when he was done holding down his laughter.

"Twenty-one." Ashe replied in a small voice, feeling rather wary about the Reploid after he had laughed at her for a good three minutes. Girouette raised an eyebrow with genuine surprise.

"That's a 0.6% growing rate." he remarked, as he looked at Mrs Bonne in awe. "You weren't kidding when you said your freak was special."

"Hey...!" Ashe said in a sense of awareness. "Only Momma can call be a freak!"

"My apologizes if I upset you." Girouette told her rather genuinely. "It's just that... never mind. Ren would have told you the details if she wanted you to know."

Ashe raised an eyebrow. Maybe she was missing part of a rather important conversation after all...

Girouette gave her a rather mysterious smile then turned his attention to Mrs Bonne again.

"They're pushing the modification sooner than we thought." he told the Reploid woman. "The Trinity wants the limits finished on humans within the next few weeks. Days, if they had their way."

"You could always hide him here," Mrs Bonne told Girouette, "While you forge whatever paperwork you need to clear him out of it."

"Personally, I'd like to know what they're smoking. Must be some pretty heavy stuff for them to want to get that done so quickly."

Ashe looked at her mother, then at Girouette. She knew a little about this part of the conversation; the Sage Trinity passed a law movement wherein humans must have robotic parts and Reploids must have lifespans. It was an act to create equality between the two groups, but all it was doing at the moment was causing controversy.

"The world is going to hell," Mrs Bonne then said to no one in particular, "Blurring our lines is only going to push it further into chaos."

There was a silence as Mrs Bonne's words settled into everyone's mind, and unconsciously, they turned to look at Ashe. Ashe, herself, started to feel small and fearful at the idea. Her existence in whole didn't mean blurring the lines between human and Reploid- it meant tearing them down.

"I can't let them take him away." Girouette said to no one, perhaps more to himself than to the two ladies present. "They'll take away what made him special. They'll take away his heritage. They'll take away the only connection he has to..."

"I made a promise to her, and I'm going to keep it." Mrs Bonne told Girouette, snapping him out of his trance with her stern tone. "The pup and I will always be here for your freak. And I promise you, the same way I promised her, we will protect him with everything we have. Even if it's our own lives."

Girouette let out a hardened sigh as his mind wandered to his charge.

"I made a promise too." he said as he shook his head. "If all goes well, you won't see him any time soon."

Mrs Bonne looked Girouette over and gave him a solemn nod.

"I trust your judgment." she said in closing.