Everyone was staring at Merga - apparently the notion that Ciel would create a brand new robot so soon was not remotely on anyone’s minds. And she looked fierce, to boot.

X was the first to speak up. “I wasn’t expecting you to develop a combat robot first, Ciel. We already have the six others.”

Ciel nodded, “I know that it’s unexpected, but I decided if you wanted to fully retire from fighting, someone needed to fill the void. I made Merga in case other threats showed up, whether they be expected or otherwise. I’d rather not see a repeat of what happened last weekend. Fortunately, we have Dr. Wily’s leftover machines to thank for allowing me to go from the design phase to completion so quickly - she was only just switched on this morning.”

“I am fully capable of handling any adversary you have fought so far, and in the future,” said Merga. “I am also fully amphibious and can perform search and rescue operations. I was designed to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“I suppose that’s somewhat reassuring, even if you do look kinda scary,” said Iris.

“See, Merga, I told you wearing your armour was unnecessary,” Ciel giggled. “You don’t need to make that kind of impression.”

Merga was immediately red in the face, “Mother, it’s much harder to look formidable in casual clothing…”

Artemis immediately fell off the couch, howling with laughter. Callie was giggling non-stop, “she calls you ‘Mom’?!”

“I keep insisting that she doesn’t, but she doesn’t listen,” said Ciel, now blushing as well.

“She is my creator and brought me into this world, I believe calling her ‘Mother’ is entirely reasonable,” said Merga with a huff. “I suggest that you respect that rather than react with mockery.”

It struck Ayane that Merga was the proud warrior type, defensive of herself and of her creator. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was going to add an interesting dynamic to the group.

Artemis got back up. “Geez, we didn’t mean to offend. Sorry. It’s just so surreal seeing a big dragon robot calling her creator (who isn’t even in her twenties) ‘Mother’. I mean, makes sense logically, but you gotta admit it’s a little odd from our perspective, don’t you think?”

Merga glanced at Ciel, who nodded to her, and sighed, nodding, “very well, I accept your apology and concede to your logic.”

“You can stand to be a bit less formal, we’re all friends here,” Zero said. “Come on, take off the armour and relax.”

Merga took a deep breath, and her armour teleported out, her casual clothes swapping in - a black polo shirt and a set of jeans that Ayane realised were both likely meant to fit crocodiles. She was surprisingly stacked for a reptile-based robot, and Ayane could see her honed physique under her shirt and on her arms. While Ciel found a place to sit fairly quickly, Merga looked over the entire group, before focusing her gaze on Ayane, walking over towards her. “I recognise all the faces here, but there’s one missing. Where is Agent 3?”

“He’s on a date with his new girlfriend,” Ayane said simply. She had no interest in further elaboration.

“I see,” Merga said, sitting down near Ayane and not saying anything more, though she did slouch some, so she wasn’t constantly and totally formal.

Koji said, “so, Merga, what kind of combat abilities do you have?”

“My capabilities are mainly focused around mastery of Ansatsuken and water attacks. Not only can I manipulate the moisture in the air around me, I can also efficiently convert my energy reserves into water,” said Merga as she held up a claw, a ball of water forming in it. “I can also form energy blades from my claws, and Mother is preparing multiple different wing gliders that allow me to augment my abilities to deal with different situations and opponents.”

A bunch of ‘oooh’s and ‘aaaahh’s echoed amongst the group. Hianta spoke for most of them when she said, “that’s really cool! Ciel really didn’t skimp on making you a real super fighting robot!”

Merga actually laughed briefly at the comment, looking rather pleased. “Thank you, thank you, but I’m not merely just a fighter. As I said, my abilities are also tailored for search and rescue, and I have a supply of Kamabo’s healing spray integrated into my systems for emergency on the spot treatment. It has its limitations, but it should do a lot for many situations where civilians are injured.”

“Of course, you don’t have to do either of those things, if you were based off Zero and I you’d entirely have a choice of what you want to do with your life,” X said.

Merga nodded. “That’s entirely true. But I choose to do what I was designed for - because I enjoy it, and who else can do what I can?”

The last part spoke to Ayane, because that’s how she felt about being an agent. The first part, however, not so much. The last couple of years had left her questioning if she truly enjoyed ink battles to begin with, unlike Ethan, who was still very much a battle junkie. Fighting for her life had just drained her passion for fighting for the fun of it, and she hated that so much. “A word of advice - you might lose that passion for battle when you’ve spent years fighting for your life.”

Merga looked at her with an inquisitive gaze. “I suppose you would know from experience, Agent 4.”

“I’d rather be called by my name rather than my rank outside of missions, Merga. Sheesh, you’re way too formal.”

“Sorry. Is just ‘Ayane’ fine with you?” Merga asked. “I’m not used to social interactions, so I can’t help but fall back on professional courtesy. It’s just the way my AI was generated.”

Ayane shrugged. “Yeah, it’s cool with me.”

“Excell-uh, good. Very good.”

This girl needs to get out more, Ayane thought to herself. But that was a bit of a weird thought to have about someone who was literally only just born today.

“You said your personality was generated? Not completely programmed by Ciel?” Orion asked, eyebrow raised.

Ciel shook her head, “I didn’t want to completely determine her personality, so I used a generative process using a set of parameters to what I generally wanted her personality to be like.”

“So it’s sorta like being a parent, huh?” Marie chuckled.

“Kind of, yes,” Ciel blushed.

“And the best way to give her agency rather than determine every detail of who she is from the start. I approve,” X nodded.

“Agency… Hmph. You’re just a bunch of hypocrites,” snorted Octavio from his snowglobe, arms crossed.

“Nobody asked you,” Liam said. “You got locked up because you deserve it, don’t pin that on us.”

“That’s right, actions have consequences, pal, you can’t just do anything you want,” the Cap’n said, knocking on the glass with his Bamboozler.

“Emperor Octavio… How the mighty hath fallen,” Merga said with a snort. What she said seemed a bit too contemptuous in tone for Ayane’s liking, but it’s not like anyone could blame her.

Ciel cleared her throat, “uh, moving on from that… Merga is going to need a place to stay. I don’t have room at my apartment and I wouldn’t want her to live in the lab, either.”

“Even if she could stay at our dorm, there isn’t any room for her either,” Karlene said. “Pearl and Marina might have room, but they’re not here… Maybe Callie and Marie-”

“-nope! I’ve got a better idea!” Ayane saw Callie’s eyes fall on her, and with a familiar grin that made her want to groan. “Ayaneeeeee, you’ve got room at your apartment! And a spare futon!”

Yeah that made Ayane groan. “You’ve got spares too. Why are you suggesting my place?”

“Because you need a roommate. Having someone to regularly interact with daily at home would do a lot for your mental health,” said Marie.

Ayane knew at this point there was absolutely no arguing with the Squid Sisters, especially not with all eyes on her now. She figured it was likely going to be a disaster, but she sighed. “Fine, but she’s paying half the rent as soon as she’s able.”

“We’ll sign her on as an Arcadia Corp employee, so that’s no problem,” X said. “Might have her working security or on specific assignments. Is that fine with you, Merga?”

“I see no problem with that,” Merga nodded.

Ayane wasn’t sure how this would get any worse. And then Ethan arrived.

“Hey, everyone, the date went pretty well!” Ethan said as he walked towards Ayane and Merga. “Oh, hey, new person, cool! Sorry, one moment-” He came right up to Ayane, “hey, Ayane… Do you think of me as a brother?”

“What on Earth are you on ab-”

And then it hit Ayane like an Inkzooka. And her eyes widened. All this time and she hadn’t even considered this one possibility. “Oh you’ve got to be squitting me.”

That was the second time that Artemis fell off the couch, howling with laughter.

❖

Ayane turned on the light to her apartment as the pair went in. “Here it is. It ain’t much, but it’s home.”

The apartment itself was actually fairly nice - it was meant for one or two people and had multiple rooms. Ayane was able to afford it due to her ink battling and salmon runs. It was the only reason she wasn’t living in a dorm, a studio apartment would’ve been too claustrophobic for her.

“So you live here? I suppose this will work well enough,” Merga said, as she looked around the apartment. “Thanks for letting me stay here.”

“You’re welcome, I guess.” Ayane sat down on the couch, with a sigh.

There was an awkward pause between them. Merga walked over to the couch, apparently having picked up on something. “Are you upset about what Ethan said?”

“Maybe,” Ayane admitted, closing her eyes as she slumped back. “I guess I should be relieved, since we finally have a decent explanation for why our relationship fell apart, but… Ugh. The only person I know other than my parents who really gets me and it turns out there’s no romance to be had because our relationship is too much like siblings.”

“I’m… Sure there’s plenty of other people who would be interested…”

“Maybe if Iris’ relationship with Artemis falls through? And I’m not even that close with her. Anyone who might’ve been interested because of my ink battling reputation is pretty quick to lose interest because they think I’m too scary and antisocial. I’ve pretty much given up on having any kind of love life.”

Merga sat down next to her. “I wish I had anything to say that might be at all helpful, but… I have no experience with dating or romance, so I can’t. All I can say is that I hope you do find someone.”

“Thanks.”

There was another period of silence between them. Ayane appreciated Merga’s attempt to help, but their mutual social awkwardness was not particularly helping things.

So she decided to just do something, opening her eyes, grabbing the TV remote and turning on said TV, “screw it, let’s just watch a movie or something. Something with lots of action, I’m sure you’ll like that.”

Merga actually looked excited. “Oh, yes, I haven’t seen one before! This will be a new experience!”

“You seem rather excited to experience things you haven’t physically experienced before. X and Zero don’t seem to be like that,” Ayane said as she began flicking through the selection of movies.

“It’s just how they are. I suppose Mother wanted me to experience the world with entirely fresh eyes rather than feeling like some of it was already familiar. I know about various things, of course, but seeing and experiencing them in person is another feeling entirely. I appreciate that she designed me as such.”

“Sounds nice to have not seen it all,” Ayane muttered, finding a good flick to start off with. “Hey, so Ethan and I are gonna start going through a crash course on martial arts with the junior agents. You wanna help out? You’re got in-built mastery of Ansatsuken, so having you as a third teacher would be helpful.”

Merga seemed to consider the proposal for a bit. “I don’t see why not. If it’ll help your team be more capable during missions, I’d be happy to assist.”

“Cool.”

The movie started, and the pair stopped with the small talk, though at times they’d occasionally comment on certain scenes. It wasn’t particularly social, but it was a good time for both of them.

❖

Ayane handed out sparring gloves to each of the junior agents. Ethan and Merga stood behind her, the latter wearing her casual clothes. The three of them already had sparring gloves on. “Alright, today we’re going to be doing proper martial arts practice. I want each of you to practice each move in succession until you’ve developed a good enough muscle memory, and then we’ll be splitting you off into pairs as sparring partners. Don’t be afraid to get rough, we’ve got respawn points. We’ll be here to give you pointers if you need them.”

Each of the junior agents had a punching bag they could use to practice on, and they wasted little time getting started, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. While the process of fully learning each move was accelerated, muscle memory still needed to be properly developed. It was only natural that Iris and Axl were the first to finish getting a proper handle on their moves, and moved on to helping Artemis and Orion.

“Shouldn’t the two of you need some practice as well?” Merga asked.

“Nah, we’ve already got martial arts experience, and we spent the first night practising ahead of time, along with sparring,” Ethan chuckled. “We’re good.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. I’d like to spar with either of you.”

Ayane immediately acted. If Ethan accepted the challenge the two of them would be sparring all evening. “Fine, I’ll humour you. Ethan, keep watch on the juniors.”

Ethan pouted, but nodded, “aw, fine.”

Ayane and Merga stepped away towards a more open space, took a few steps away from each other, and assumed proper martial stances. And then the match began.

Ayane opened with a Hadoken, which Merga sidestepped, attempting to close the distance between them and rush her down. Ayane blocked the incoming punch, but Merga suddenly swung her leg upwards, bringing it down with an overhead heel kick before Ayane could properly raise her arms to defend against it, hitting her over the head. Ayane wasn’t stunned for long, however, raising her fist and responding with an overhead punch that struck Merga’s ‘collarbone’.

The next several moves were a blur of quick strikes and blocks, the pair keeping fairly even until Merga managed to slip a roundhouse kick past Ayane’s guard, and followed up with a crescent kick that sent her into the air and knocked her down.

“Not bad,” Merga said as Ayane got back up, “but I think the first round is mine.”

“I’m just getting warmed up,” Ayane grunted, regaining her stance and throwing another Hadoken.

Merga smirked as she side-stepped again, moving to close the distance once more. Ayane realised she preferred to rush down and overwhelm her opponent, so Ayane needed to exploit that.

She put up her guard, blocking a few punches. When Merga raised her leg again, Ayane stepped forward and struck with a strong side kick before Merga could bring her foot down, sending her completely off balance and crashing to the floor.

Ayane chuckled, stretching on the spot, “well, good luck getting a winning streak, because I believe that’s one point to me.”

Merga huffed, and rushed Ayane again, with a flurry of blows that Ayane could barely keep up with defending. However, one body blow slipped through, sending Ayane stumbling back, and Merga followed with a Hurricane Kick, knocking Ayane down with multiple blows.

Ayane grit her teeth, getting back up, and stepped back, throwing another Hadoken.

“Really? These are too predicable,” Merga taunted as she side-stepped, and rushed Ayane. When Ayane performed the motion again, Merga just leaped into the air, anticipating the attack, “you’re mine!”

Ayane smirked, stopping the motion halfway as part of a feint, and instead performed a Shoryuken. She could see Merga’s eyes widen as the attack countered her flying kick, sending her crashing to the floor in one decisive blow.

“Two for two… Okay, then,” Merga grinned, as she got up, “I underestimated you. I think I might actually enjoy this.”

“Suit yourself. I’m just here to prove I’m not a pushover,” Ayane smirked. “Are you gonna gonna keep talking or you gonna shut your gob so we can keep going?”

Merga laughed. “If you insist…”

The next several rounds were intense, as they traded blows and knocked each other down. Ayane was fully immersed in the thrill of the fight, even if she didn’t realise it. Why did this feel so different than other fights? She wasn’t a fight-happy idiot like Ethan who just wanted a worthy foe. So why did she feel so alive?

Before long, they were both charging up their ki, for the strongest attacks they could muster. “Shinku…”

“HADOKEN!”

The two surges collided, erupting in a burst of energy that knocked them both down. And even then, they got back up to continue the fight.

“Um… Miss Ayane? Miss Merga? We’re ready to start sparring.”

Ayane blinked, turning to see everyone else just staring in awe. The Squid Sisters were there, having brought water bottles. Iris had been the one to speak up. Ayane shook her head, “how long have we been…?”

“Fifteen minutes, I think,” said Marie, tossing a bottle to her. “You two were so into it that we didn’t want to interrupt.”

Ayane caught the bottle, and cleared her throat, standing up straight, coming up with an excuse to save face, “right… And that is a demonstration of… The level of ability we want you to reach. I want all of you to be able to spar at that level of skill.”

Of course, nobody really bought it, and there were a few chuckles from the crowd. That stopped real quick when Ayane glared at them, though she noticed Merga was glaring as well.

Everyone started splitting off into pairs for sparring immediately, while Ayane and Merga just sat down and watched. Ayane felt exhausted as she took a big gulp of water, but… She also felt really good. The best she had ever felt after a fight in over a year.

“You know, if I had really been fighting at my strongest you would’ve been splatted in a single blow,” said Merga with a chuckle. “So don’t get too full of yourself just because you managed to keep up with me in a sparring match.”

“But you didn’t fight at your strongest. And I don’t care. I would’ve taken you on anyway,” Ayane said, without thinking.

Merga seemed to scrutinise her expression for a moment, before throwing back her head and laughing, but not out of mockery. “You’re not actually bluffing! You honestly would fight one of the three strongest robots on the planet hand to hand purely to make a point!”

“Yeah. I would. What of it?”

“Nothing. It’s just a fascinating observation,” Merga chuckled. “I think I like you, Ayane. You’re such an interesting person, even if you don’t outwardly show it.”

“Well, good to know my new roommate thinks I’m interesting. I definitely don’t dislike you, at least.”

“Good to know. I do think we’ll get along quite well.”

Ayane wasn’t one to socialise a lot with people. But at the same time… She couldn’t really bring herself to disagree with that statement.

❖

Ayane and Merga were walking home after the training session. Fortunately, Merga didn’t raise too many eyebrows - perhaps she was mistaken for a regular organic reptile by most people.

Despite a few odd moments, Ayane had certainly felt the afternoon had been productive. All of the juniors had shown a reasonable level of competence for their first proper martial arts training session. And that put Ayane in a good mood.

Unfortunately that mood was quickly ruined when she saw a familiar Octoling on the footpath ahead of her, walking with an Inkling girl.

Marino was quick to recognise her as well. “Oh, Ayane, what a surprise. And who’s this with you?”

“I am Hydro Dragoon, also known as Merga,” Merga said, “you must be Marino.”

“That’s right. And this is my roommate, Cinnamon,” Marino chuckled, gesturing to said roommate.

“Wasn’t expecting to meet you two out here at this hour, but it’s nice to meet you both!” Cinnamon smiled. She certainly had a pleasant feel to her.

“Likewise, I guess,” Ayane said, before refocusing on Marino, walking up to her. Time to have an overdue conversation. “Look, I’m not jealous of you and Ethan. But I want to make this perfectly clear - you break Ethan’s heart and I’ll make you wish you never wanted to date him.”

Cinnamon winced, and tried to intervene, “hold on, let’s not-”

“I’m not a heartbreaker, Ayane, despite how I like to dress,” said Marino with a slight smirk. “And it wouldn’t be my fault if our relationship just doesn’t work out.”

Ayane’s eyes narrowed, “don’t try to argue your way out of this. Ethan’s my friend, and I won’t let you-”

“-Ayane. That’s enough,” Merga said, putting a hand on Ayane’s shoulder. “You’re overreacting.”

Cinnamon nodded, “I know you care about Ethan, but anything can happen. You know a lot of relationships just… Don’t work out. You should know, you used to date him first.”

Damn it this girl had a solid point. Ayane grit her teeth, trying to come up with any kind of retort, but none entered her mind.

“If you want an assurance, Ayane, then I swear I won’t just toy with him. I’ll do my best to try and take it as far as we can go. If it still doesn’t work out, then it can’t be helped,” Marino sighed. She stared Ayane in the eyes, “I really do like Ethan, and I want this to work out as much as you do. I can’t promise it’ll work out, but I do promise I’ll try my hardest.”

Cod damn it. She wasn’t lying. Either that, or she was very, very good at lying. And that tore at Ayane even more.

Ayane took a deep breath. She couldn’t just spend her time arguing with these two. “Fine, okay. I’ll hold you to that, at least.”

“Thanks. Now, Cinnamon and I have places to be. Next time you see Ethan, let him know I’m eagerly waiting for our next date,” Marino smiled, as she and Cinnamon moved on, the latter happily waving goodbye.

“You certainly are protective of Ethan,” Merga observed.

“Call it ‘being a responsible sister figure’, I guess,” Ayane said, watching the pair walk away. “I… I just want her to make him happy in the way I couldn’t.”

“I’ll call it simply ‘being a good friend’ and leave it at that,” Merga chuckled. “Let’s get going.”

Ayane nodded, and they continued on their way. She didn’t want to think about it for the rest of the evening.