MD AU: Fractured Code Character Notes + Extras

Extras Chapter: Trial and Error

A/N: This takes place after Act 2, and before Act 3. I recommend you read act 2 first.

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One week after A's funeral.

V sat on her side of the bed, glancing over at the spot where A used to sleep. The void left in her heart made her core feel unbearably heavy.

She brushed her hand across A's pillow, refusing to forget him.

Suddenly, a cry from the cradle echoed through the room.

"Solace??" V stood immediately, rushing over to her daughter. Solace was crying, optics closed, tears flowing down her visor.

V picked her up gently. "Solace, shh, I'm here. No need to cry," she whispered as she rocked her, trying desperately to soothe her.

But Solace kept crying, leaving V in growing distress.

"Hey, come on now... I'm here for you." V booped Solace's visor softly, still rocking her.

The crying didn't stop.

"Come on... A just rocks you and you'd normally stop crying... Why haven't you stopped???" Tears streamed down V's visor as the absence of A became painfully undeniable.

"I don't know what to do... I-I never had parents. No memory of my days as a worker drone..." Her voice cracked.

"WHY ARE YOU CRYING!?" she shouted - panic and grief boiling over.

Solace cried even louder.

V's optics widened, realizing instantly that her outburst only frightened Solace more.

"Oh no, no, no, no. Don't cry," she said quickly, her voice heavy with regret.

Panicking, she looked left and right while holding Solace tighter. Then she sprinted out to the living room, rushing to the bookshelf.

"Come on, come on..." Her hand frantically searched through the assortment of books until she found it.

"Ah-ha!" She lifted the instruction manual like it was a priceless artifact.

'How to Take Care of Your Untrained Neural Network'

"A's dad wrote this. And after all the damage I caused... after killing him with my own hands... I'm still here, years later, needing something he wrote and left behind."

She flipped through the pages in rapid succession, Solace still crying in her arms.

"There... 'Rain usually cries when he's either in pain, threatened, lonely, or is hungry. Check for each possibility and act accordingly.'"

"Okay, Solace," she said softly, her voice gentler now. "You must be hungry. Let's get you something to eat."

---

V set Solace on her chair - the one A built by hand - and opened the counter to find oil. She grabbed a can and a spoon. Her claw extended, pierced the lid with a quick jab, and she pulled it open.

She hurried back and scooped a spoonful of oil. "Here you go-"

Then the thought hit her cold.

Solace didn't eat often. She didn't have a full body; her systems barely needed power. Her oil reserves lasted long. V's hand went to her visor in a facepalm as Solace's crying rose.

"That's what you get for relying on A to take care of the worker drone-related things," she muttered.

V lifted Solace, turning her gently to inspect where the drone even ate from. Frustration welled up; she darted to the shelf, grabbed the untrained neutral manual, and began flipping through it frantically.

---

Later evening.

Solace finally calmed down after V managed to figure out how to feed her. V let out a long sigh as she gently set Solace back down into her cradle, the little drone now peacefully asleep.

"She finally stopped crying..." V muttered, completely exhausted, her hair an absolute mess.

Her gaze lingered on Solace. She reached out, brushing her hand along her small frame with a soft, tired smile.

"I miss you, A... I know I'm not very good at this. But I'll try my best. For our daughter..."

V dragged herself onto the bed, collapsing onto the mattress with a small groan. The untrained neural network manual rested in her hands as she stared at it, drained yet determined.

"But first," she murmured, flipping it open, "I need to make an effort to learn how to care for her, properly."