Chapter Text
Red narrowly dodged the impact from a Clucker’s shell, throwing up an arm reflexively as a Snapshot strobed in her face. She blinked the stars from her eyes and hefted the Transistor upwards, releasing him to hover before her. A flick of her wrist sent him spinning on an invisible axis, motes of light rising from the ground and assembling into a canid shape.
Of course Sybil’s function summoned her pet Fetch. Of course.
Luna was graceful on the field, and, fortunately, still friendly. The amber-hued Process had hardly more than manifested before it surged forward, eating up the distance between itself and the Clucker in long strides.
“There’s our girl!” The man in the Transistor said. A smile flickered across Red’s face despite herself. She snatched the greatsword out of the air and swung him back to fire off a Crash() at the advancing Snapshot. Luna had already destroyed the Clucker and leapt over its dissipating remains towards another Snapshot.
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Luna rose to her feet expectantly as the doorway flashed open and Red stepped through. She did not have TRANSISTOR with her this time, but another companion. There was a visual similarity to TRANSISTOR, however. The eyespot of this one was glowing harshly, causing Luna to hesitate as it searched its memory, but it found no relevant data.
Luna re-scanned Red and found that the woman was indeed accompanied by TRANSISTOR. Its scan must be defective. The Fetch ran a self-diagnostic as it approached the pair.
“I… think I’m okay,” TRANSISTOR said. “Must be something the air back there…”
Red sighed and slumped, leaning on TRANSISTOR as she stifled a yawn. She patted the angular surface of Luna’s head absent-mindedly.
“Hey, get some rest. I’m okay,” the voice coaxed. Red ran a hand across the crossguard and trailed TRANSISTOR with her as she headed for the hammock. After a moment’s consideration, she shoved the tip of the greatsword into the sand, just far enough to stand him upright. She propped herself against him to slip her boots and stockings off, leaving them on the sand as she waded into the ankle-deep, balmy water and hauled herself onto the hammock.
Luna followed at Red’s heels, but the shallow water was a barrier the Fetch could not cross. It stopped in the sand alongside TRANSISTOR, watching Red. She perched on the edge of the hammock, swinging gently as she shrugged off her jacket.
“In Highrise,” TRANSISTOR started, “Don’t know what came over me out there. It was like…”
Luna paced in a circle next to the sword, trampling soft sand under her paws.
“Well, anyway, whatever it is, it’s passed.” He tried to force himself to sound cheerier. “Feels like I’m me again! More or less.”
Luna spun around twice more and laid down next to TRANSISTOR, one ear-flap cocked towards the door’s manifest point.
“Did you know, I always wanted a dog,” he said as Red laid back in the hammock, pulling the oversized coat over herself in lieu of a blanket.