Chapter Text
All Stanley could think of was 1, to get this ridiculously hot armour off him. 2, get a new cigarette because he's burnt out. 3, see Xeno again; it’s been a long day. That was all.
However he would need to stall on it because of a new complication.
***
Stanley stepped through the forest, sticks cracking under his feet. A golden light passed through the leaves above him which made the metal on him shine a bit more. There were a few scuttles of small critters on the ground or up the tall trees.
It smelled of dew and dirt, but that was the norm.
He currently felt at peace since his mission had gone smoothly, no bumps along the way; unlike that ridiculous science team that gave him a lot of trouble.
It had been two years since the whole debacle and Stanley was thankful that Xeno was back and he didn’t need to deal with those brats anymore.
He walked down the moderately created path in the bushes and trees, his feet falling into the same olf footprints. Yet this time, a little thing caught his eye like a red dot on a white canvas, small footprints off to the side into the bushes.
Light hair that reached close to hip length. The shirt she wore hung to her knees and swallowed her limbs. While she did have a belt made, it was clear the clothes were hanging off her too much despite the massive size.
Despite her crouch he could guess she was about 42 inches. Her features were light and still a bit round.
…. Why the hell was a kid here.
Not any of the squad had kids or recently created any.
The only others in the area were from the conference but kids weren’t there, and he doesn’t think they would be loitering at the gate since the adults there were both scary and boring to kids.
Where did she come from; there’s no way she was revived by the acid just from staying conscious. That’d be ridiculous for a tiny kid to do for 3700 years, biologically they can’t because of their attention spans. God he sounds like Xeno.
She ducked lower quietly after spotting him. He felt like nothing more than to pretend to not see her and leave her here, but he couldn’t. A certain someone’s malicious voice echoed in the depths of his mind that this was a missed opportunity, also his military rulebook still stared him down as he looked at her despite that book having turned to dirt now.
He sighed, wanting to pinch his nosebridge and leave, yet walked over. “Hey. Kid.”
The girl startled and whipped around to face him. As she took in Stanley, her eyes widened in terror. Her clothes were covered in dirt, and he could recognize the fabric articles. A little thief.
She pushed herself away, eyes darting at the nearby stones and sticks and the path.
“Jeez, calm down. Where are your parents?” He asked her, crouching down to her height.
“Uh-… mm,” the girl mumbled. She shook her head. This is going to be a long day.
He raised an eyebrow. “What? Like they’re not here, you don’t know where they are, or are they just gone?”
She opened then closed her mouth. She held up three fingers and firmly showed it.
“Third option?” He asked her. She nodded tentatively, a faint tremble never leaving her.
“Like you have none?” He clarified, making sure they were on the same page. She nodded.
Great. An orphan, could things get any better.
“Alright I’m going to need you to come back with me to the base,” he told her, standing up. If she throws a tantrum about it, he’ll just drag her there, no problems there.
The girl looked past the trees, then back at him. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly and pointed at the metal castle.
“Yeah that one,” he answered her silent question. She’s odd and weird, something about her.
He gestured to her to follow him and surprisingly she nodded and followed. Thank god she listened. Ok he can maybe work with this.
The pair walked through the corn fields; he did sometimes have to check if she was there since she was obscured by the corn unfortunately. They reached the giant steel doors after many pauses for her small feet to keep up. He would’ve just made her run but losing her in the cornfields beats the whole purpose of this. The guards glanced at each other in slight confusion at the tiny girl Stanley was willingly letting follow him.
“How… ahem, how was your mission?” one guard asked.
Stanley ignored him and his clear curiosity. “Successful. Open the gates.”
The guards nodded, never showing a second of hesitation again. They did as they were told and let him in.
The giant dark metal doors opened in front of them with a long shuffling creak. He waved the girl through. “Come on.”
She tried to look all the way up the castle but could only see as far as the doors. Her eyes drifted to the guards faces and then followed the blonde man in the armour.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
He knocked on Xeno’s office/lab.
“Come in,” said his husband’s voice from inside. Stanley opened the door. He put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, leading her inside. It was a bit forceful but it wouldn’t bruise.
Xeno turned his chair around to face them. “Hello, Stan. I’m sure everything went smoothly?” His eyes went down to the kid. “Stan?” He looked up at Stanley, folding his hands.
“Well this kid was just out in the wild, no parents, and won’t say a peep,” Stanley said. “Your choice on what to do with her, dear.”
Xeno hummed in response, resting his head against his hand. “Well this is quite the situation. Perhaps she survived through staying conscious? That’d be likely but quite a surprise… we do have a lot of space here and aren’t short on resources,” he mused. There was a look in his eyes that he had when he looked at map plans, a problem, or an equation.
He stood up and walked over, hands tucked in his pockets.
“What is your name?” Xeno leaned forward.
The girl opened her mouth, but only took a few breaths. She furrowed her eyebrows, glancing at the ground, then wrote in the air ‘D-a-i-s-y’. She would finish off each letter with force at the end of the line like a bold statement of each silent sound.
“Daisy?” Xeno tried the name, mentally noting she could at least write. She nodded in confirmation.
Stanley stayed back, watching the exchange.
“Well, having a child around can cause quite a few problems…” He thought aloud.
Daisy shook her head quickly, hands raising, staring him in the eyes.
“However, young minds aren’t a bad thing that are bright and can learn,” he added, glancing at Stanley. Yeah…. She can learn.
He looked up at Stanley. “Have someone escort her through the halls so that she doesn’t enter certain rooms. Oh, and bring her to the med room; have her get checked for illnesses and have a blood test brought to me. If she does anything or something happens, it will go back on you, questions?”
Stanley nodded once and left with the girl, Daisy.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Fortunately, she did not carry any weapons of war or any illnesses. All she had was a determined and quiet personality, also a rock in her pocket that was chipped on a side; they could not get a single word from her which made her hands clench and eyes narrow.
As told, she was escorted through the castle to not cause trouble or wind up at the exactly wrong spot. However, she did pop between them and would just watch someone do their job for a bit. She just sat there, watching and listening. All she did on a routinely basis..
One of her visits to Xeno, while he experimented, ended in a few mental notes to have her further away from tests.
She stood a few feet away from the invention, a few short moments away from testing.
Xeno was going back and forth between his notes and the machine.
“That should do it. Now, trial 4,” Xeno declared.
Stanley had his back against the wall, he was beside Daisy and kept an eye on the machine (and Xeno). “Fire away,” Stanley said.
Xeno changed the switches and pushed the command button. At first it whirred to life slowly, everything functioning properly.
The first phase was fine.
The inner gears rotated faster and the spring loaded.
Xeno pulled the lever.
The test bag flew out and was a little off mark, but it worked. Then it all went wrong of course, it’s still in the trial phase after all.
A piece of metal dislodged itself from the firing shaft. Then, an inside part shot out, fire blazing.
The flaming part flew over to where Daisy stood like a smoking comet. Her eyes widened, but it was already two feet away.
Stanley snapped into action as fast as it was shot. He snatched Daisy into his arms and pulled her aside, turning his back to the blast, shielding her.
Slam!
The part crashed into the wall, leaving a nasty scorch mark and dent that would’ve probably broken bones in a human and left a girl as small as her unconscious for a few days.
The three stared at the indentation in the wall and the scrap that stopped being in flames for a few long seconds of silence.
Daisy held onto Stanley, completely still, then a few blinks.
Xeno shut down the machine and retrieved the detached piece. “Well let’s see what went wrong.”
He began re observing the machine to see the flaws that caused the problem.
Stanley glanced at Daisy who was resting on his hip, holding onto his shoulder. “Any injuries?” He asked, his eyebrow ticking up a bit. She didn’t look it but you can never tell.
She pressed against him as if letting go would make her get hit by the blazing part. She opened her mouth, but after a few breaths, closed it. Daisy looked down at herself, then back up at him; she shook her head.
“Ok,” Stanley said. He began lowering her, but her hands briefly held onto him, gripping the fabric edges lightly, then her hands slipped down. He simply made a mental note of it while setting her to the ground.
Xeno’s eyes drifted to them then he turned away.
“Now. Time to fix this mess,” Xeno said, returning to the machine after one glance at Daisy and the dented wall.
A guard opened the door after a knock. He gave a firm nod to the hallway at the girl.
Stanley said, walking next to Xeno. She quickly nodded to the guard. Her eyes darted to the other two and she hesitated, but then walked over to the guard and followed him out.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
As time passed, seeing a young girl inside one of the scientific progression areas was a common sight. Sometimes she’d be sitting on a chair, fiddling with parts. Other times, she might be next to the adult, watching what they’re doing with wide curious eyes that seemed to soak in the world around her like an endless sponge.
During this time, she never spoke a single word.
Xeno sorted his materials while solving this curiosity.
Perhaps she simply didn’t like talking, however she would’ve maybe whispered a word once by now. What didn’t add was her always silently answering to the best of her ability. Daisy’s eyes always stayed on Maya while the woman was being loud, she simply watched with her eyes furrowing a little in concentration. She’d open her mouth, breathe, then go quiet again. That’s how it always was.
She did seem to want to communicate with them. Maybe it was trauma? But it’d be unlikely for her. She also made vague sounds occasionally like “oh”s, “mhm”, or “mn”.
It could also be biological, some are simply not able to. She didn’t show any signs of scarring in her mouth at least and she did have a tongue fortunately.
The point of it all when you stop overthinking it was that she was mute. Either from choice or maybe it’s medical, but the same is the same. She was, and they were going to figure out their way around that. After all, it's not like there’s no research on it.
Perhaps testing it would be beneficial to know, and there’s still a few other things to test…
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Brody finished attaching a part to the new plane. He saw in the corner of his eye a small girl peeking over the table, straining to be higher by pushing the table while on her toes ontop a block.
“Well aren’t you a small curious one!” He said with a smile. “Come on over here, you can watch on my shoulder.”
Her eyebrows raised, eyes slightly widening at the suggestion. She pointed a finger at herself then him.
“You don’t need to, just an offer,” he said with a grin, not minding whatever the decision. Kids will be kids.
She shook her head and walked over to next to him, reaching up. He easily scooped her up onto his wide shoulders. She was a bit small for her age and rather light despite them giving her food. She settled after balancing.
“That better, Daisy?” He asked. She nodded. “Don’t fall,” he semi joked which gained a smile from her.
He continued to work with a youngster resting on his shoulder with watchful eyes. She rested her arms loosely around his neck and collarbone.
He continued doing his job, used to the routine. At some point he heard the door open and guessed it was the resident blonde sniper.
“Hey, Stanley,” he said, his voice still carrying its regular boom. “Checking on your plane?” Brody glanced at Daisy when he said plane. Daisy waved with a smile to the new person in the room.
“I am I guess,” Stanley stopped himself from taking another cigarette. “How is it coming along?”
“You should be able to fly it by next week!”
The two continued to talk and update each other. Daisy meanwhile listened, but her attention switched to the blueprints. While the two talked, the kid eyed the plane inside, then the blueprints, then the plane again.
She gently tapped and shoved Brody’s arm. He looked over to her. “What is it, kiddo?”
She pointed at a certain section inside the plane where some functions were. She shook her head and after a moment’s thought made a X with her fingers. “Mnm.”
Stanley and Brody glanced at each other. “Well… what do you suggest then?”
She tapped a few times to let her down. He set her onto the ground, still curious about what she had in mind. Daisy grabbed a blank piece of paper and a pen and began writing and drawing.
Stanley walked over, he rested a hand on his hip out of habit, watching too.
She worked away for a bit then confidently held up the diagram. “Mh.” she mumbled with force.
The paper showed her thought processes without the complex adult level sketches. She showed the problem and how it would be un-beneficial, then showed in a second drawing what idea she had on the solution. Arrows and numbers guided the eyes through the sections with little small notes. It was a bit messy but surprisingly readable.
Brody’s eyes actually widened. He had a small intake of breath and looked closer, understanding almost perfectly well what she was picturing. While the drawing lacked skill and professionalism, it made up for in explanation and ideas. Because here was the thing, she was right. This current model is only decent and changing the system for this section from magnetic to pistons would majorly change everything, and while he never used this method, it made sense. In fact, he thought he might have read it in some old records of tests planes a few years ago that got scrapped because of budget.
He looked up and saw the soldier looking back at him. Stanley’s eyebrows had a slight crease and he couldn’t mask his surprise, he looked at the design, Daisy, then Brody. The two adults shared the same thought, ‘who is this kid, and how did she learn this.’
Well, actually their first thought was, ‘yes’ simply, the rest came after.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Xeno sat down, papers laid out in front of him. He reviewed what Stan had told him, and while he was impressed by this five year old, he did have a slight feeling already.
He had always seen how her eyes were sponges, soaking up everything around her; and how she would pay attention, when she didn't she would be making her own little thing from parts. While kids do this a lot, she always picked up and acted on what she was told or saw which normally kids do after a few times hearing it, or rare instances they did it, but it was a consistant factor she did.
In truth, there was always some kind of potential in kids who had off upbringings. At least that's what the numbers and percentages told him.
If she did turn out to have a HPI (check end notes), then there’s a chance he could teach her more than he did for Senku, and she could do great things…
His thoughts were interrupted by the door being opened by Stanley with Daisy in tow with him. “Here ya are.”
His husband gave him a nod then left.
Daisy glanced at the closed door, then came to sit down in front of him. She picked up the top page with curiosity.
While the papers at first seem easy, it's actually a test for children he read up on in the old world. It doesn’t only give academic questions, it tests quick learning, attention to detail, and comprehension of ideas. But they just have less questions in a slightly larger font, it makes it feel like you’re breezing through. In theory, you can use the old questions to help you solve the future problems in the pages, other questions were created by him about things about the fortress you could mostly interpret.
“I’d like for you to answer a few questions if you don’t mind,” Xeno said, placing the rest of the papers on the table. Then he laced his hands together.
Daisy nodded and began writing. Her pencil would either fly with words, have to pause and think, or go back and redo things.
Xeno watched her expressions and made mental notes of the details on which she seemed to struggle with a bit more. He wanted to know if the plane was from just knowledge of planes, or if it truly was from her learning around her. His theory was either a, when she had parents one worked with planes, b, she read books at higher levels and could understand and compare, c, she was educated on higher topics early by a teacher.
***
“Thank you, you may leave,” he said when she finished. She hesitated then got up and walked out. She glanced once more and waved before exiting the room.
The scientist picked up the papers and began sifting through them, evaluating and assessing. It was as he had guessed of course. She had potential to be tapped into and already was intelligent for her young age.
He saw her little doodles of stars of flowers on the edges and swore he didn’t feel a softness color the dull walls and sprinkle in his chest. Illogical.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Daisy picked up the habit of sitting on Brody’s shoulders like a little elf. She seemed to be happy doing it and the others offered occasionally, which she accepted.
She would show them anything she put together, which tended to somehow be mobile, and other things she learnt how to do.
She did pick up a few of the more concerning things like watching Stanley doing target practice and mimic his stance. But, she slowly became part of the colony and learned wherever she could.
Xeno had taken it upon himself to teach her in his free time, and if you thought it was consonants, nouns and verbs, or how to paint then you're sorely mistaken.
It was ASL since she did seem to want to communicate, tons of science, history and geography, chemistry, Japanese because of a certain kingdom to be aware of, chess, and math.
When you say she’s a sponge, it's an understatement. He often needed to skip levels to challenge her since she understood it quite quickly.
Whenever she made something and it didn’t go right, she would huff and grunt at it but would go right back to work on it after a short tame tantrum.
Xeno knew that she was getting close to everyone but something stopped him from trying to change that. A small part of him liked seeing a kid with those wide curious eyes trying ASL she learnt with Stanley even if his mind knew it was wrong.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
When the sun fully set, Xeno wrapped up his work and after a quick distraction from Stanley, they left and began the walk through the Castle, checking the systems and guards before bed.
They crossed across an open door which normally was closed. Xeno looked inside.
The room was dimly lit, the only source of light being the door.
Daisy was sitting on the only comfy chair, fingers twitching back and fourth, mentally doing the abacus method.
Stanley stepped closer, making his presence known to her.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” He asked her. She looked up at him, startled because yes she wasn’t allowed to even be outside her room at late hours.
‘I can’t sleep’, she signed. Basic sentences, but still better than before.
“Well you should rest in your room instead. C’mon, you can stay awake there,” Stanley said. He offered a hand.
A small frown crossed her face, but regardless, she took his hand and walked away with them.
They walked in silence through the endless halls and stairs, and they arrived at her door.
She opened the door, she looked back at them. ‘Stay? Five minutes?’ She signed.
Stanley quietly sighed and Xeno tilted his head. “Can’t you… sleep alone?”
‘Please?’ She signed. Her eyes stayed on them, asking it over and over again, the want shining in her eyes.
“I’ll stay, you go on ahead to bed,” Xeno said to his husband. He could always learn new things about her or teach her some ideas.
“Yeah, see ya,” Stanley patted his shoulder then exited.
Daisy happily crawled into bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin. She kept her eyes open a little longer but her breathing slowed.
Xeno sat down, however not too sure what to do now. He rhymically drummed his metal claws on the armrest. Based on observations, she was most likely five so it was a miracle she could even stay awake.
The room was dead quiet other than the engine of the mechanics room still running in the distance.
Daisy thought by herself and embraced the warmth of the building, both a luxury to her.
Warmth in the night was only for the summer. Maybe a kind person gave her a sweater to wear, but once winter struck she’d be sick everyday because she never got to warm up in sleep.
The room was strange, different. Her own room. Not some half holed space where a hundred people would cram in and the only thing you could hear is snores and violent coughs or crying.
The room may be metal, but the stars shone through the window. The roof may be dull, but it was there for her. Her blankets were only pieces of leather stitched together, but she now didn’t shiver in the night.
People were big, mean, and confusing. They’d tower over her, saying things like ‘go home’ or ‘get outta here’. She didn’t understand why. She just wanted a roof.
Xeno, Stanley, Brody, Maya, Luna, Carlos and Max on occasion, the rest hadn’t told her their names. All these people were giants and some made her stand on edge. But they weren’t bad to her, they just talked, taught, and provided.
The two that took her in may have scared her at first. The giant armour was just metal and not a beast, the gun never pointed at her, and
Bonus:
After closer to ten minutes Xeno stood up, beginning to leave, he heard shifting in the blankets. He looked over and saw she got her hands out.
"Are there any monsters in here?’ she asked in sign.