Raven stared at the sunset in his AC. It shined on his mech's shiny white surface along with the reflective black weaponry. For a moment, he took in just how much different it was in comparison to his very first AC's look.

However, just recently, he got a message from his broker's surviving friend, Cinder Carla.

Last he heard she was getting taken care of by the RaD. Despite all she'd call him "dog," or "hound," he wanted to try and see if he could somehow... he didn't know how to say it. But if only he could've saved Walter. Despite him being so cold, Raven just knew that deep down, he had a heart.

Especially when it came to that one thing he said...

"Undo the surgery... be normal again..."

It seemed like he was willing to finally cut her off, willing to fix her up or something. Was it that Raven wanted out of the AC? Not really, despite him being promised a "new life." It's been far too long. He had forgotten just about everything about that, being "normal."

Back to Walter, Cinder Carla revealed that she was going to help fix him up, however, he'll never get the chance now.

Raven then heard his com coming over, saying that he had one message. The sender was from Carla himself.

"They're all ready, tourist," Carla explained, "They're waiting for you. Take your time."

Raven let out a shaky breath and looked at his mech's arms. Would this be his very last time riding in it? He didn't know. Maybe Carla would have another job for him very soon. He'd practically still be Walte's hound, or Carla's in this case.

Why did he feel like he was going to miss this? Guess being under the manipulation of the mercenary corporation was now the only kind of, for lack of a better word, "routine" he was used to by now.

"Your friends will be waiting for you, Raven." said Ayre, "It would be best if we leave now."

Friends. Friends. For a long time, Raven was so sure that the only things he had to do as friends were 619, 620, and 617, his old squadmates. Oh how she missed them. He was surprised that he actually did. Then again, Gen Four pilots have been known to have some empathy left.

It was amazing that Ayre, that Coral Intelligence, or "C.I" as some dub it apparently, was able to bring even more of his human side back out again. She was...quite determined to....whatever.

Raven nodded in reply and engaged his boosters, heading towards his destination. He could hear over the coms from Rusty, saying he can't wait to see what his "Buddy" looks like.

Ayre can recall when she found out something through Rusty...she could materialize her body.

Rusty had theorized that apparently that it had turned out that she could most possibly be able to solidify herself, by shifting to specific frequencies.

She was so surprised that Rusty could actually be so smart. Ayre felt a bit embarrassed when she asked Rusty to not look at her. It wasn't that she was nervous about spawning in with close to nothing on, it was just that she wanted Raven to see her first if it's successful.

It would be just like when she became the first to hear Raven's thought to be a long forgotten voice.

...

Rusty stood proudly, his hands to his hips. "Very well, comrade. I think Raven deserves to see what the voice in his head looks like."

Ayre breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the fellow Rubiconian soldier respected her wishes and privacy and stepped into another room. Then again, he's always been so nice to Raven, so why did she think he wouldn't respect her.

"Okay, comrade," said Rusty, voice muffled through the door, "Ready?"

"Yes," answered Ayre, "here we go."

She tried the first time. Nothing. The second time. Nothing.

Rusty began to feel bad for her. He could hear her grunting. He bit his lower lip. He knew that it was a long shot, but it was always better to try than do just simply nothing.

The Coral Intelligence tried again.

She tried again.

Nothing.

Just nothing.

Why did she think it was possible anyway?

It was too hard. She couldn't feel anything. She was about to give up, this was pointless. This was all pointless. She'll just have to go on being that voice in Raven's head. Then again... maybe she should just end their connection?

Yeah. That doesn't sound so bad. She and Raven had completed their mission. They stopped the conflict. They could go their own ways now and-

"Hey, comrade," said Rusty, "Please, keep trying. If you give up now, you'd probably end up losing a lot more than just your contact with Raven. I can tell that you really want to be there for him. Poor kid's been through a lot. I'd like to see my little buddy happy again. Even though I never got the chance to see it."

Ayre's eyes teared up. No. Rusty was right. She couldn't give up now. Not right now. Raven needs her. And even if she really can't do it, then at least she'll always support Raven. No matter what.

She then began to try again. This time, she tried to bring all of her focus to this very last try. Before she was about to give out, she could feel something.

She gasped. "Oh!"

Until she was sent stumbling out of the stream. It occurred to her, suddenly, that she was capable of stumbling.

She had legs.

And a body with which she could look down at herself. Though it looked as if it was not quite finished:

Her hands were bare lines of silvery wire-frame, and the rest of her remained firmly textureless. They did also seem to be glowing too as well. The glow was very bright, almost as if it was trying to cover the textureless features.

She didn't seem to be able to feeling anything so far. Nor could she feel the ground beneath her feet.

But nonetheless, Ayre's excited voice came. "I-I think I'm doing it!"

"Great job, comrade!" she could hear Rusty behind the door, "How's it going?"

She then looked at her unfinished hands. It seems that she's so far able to focus on satisfying herself, maybe. But she does most certainly need to get her features.

"T-Trying to get my looks, I think," she stammered.

"Try to remember what you used to look like." Rusty advised.

Now that was going to be hard. What did she look like? Being born from the Coral tide and now having been so busy for quite a while now, Ayre just seemingly never had the time to stop and think about what she may have looked like all this time very often.

She tried to think about what she would look like, trying to remember everything where she would on occasions take a look at herself whenever it was possible.

Then, it hit her.

She focused really hard. She began to feel clothes on her body beginning to form. She felt something soft, almost tickling her entire head, her hair. She opened her eyes and saw in a mirror. It was her, the true form of Ayre.

Her tears came down. She had done it. She actually did it.

"I did it!" she let out.

Ayre quickly shifted back into her Coral form and gave Rusty a short ghostly hug.

"Thank you, Rusty!" she said.

Rusty attempted to pat her back, guessing where she was, only to feel himself pat his very own chest instead. He then chuckled, forgetting about that.

"How can I ever repay you?" he heard Ayre asking.

"Just go make my bestest buddy, Raven's happy." was all he said, "Someone's got to make his life the best it could be. And you're just about the right gal for the job."

Thank goodness he couldn't see her when she blushed with embarrassment.

...

She hasn't told Raven like any of this, not yet anyway.

As far as she could guess it out currently of just how exactly she found out that she could connect with her new body was probably either due to the amount of time that she's been in contact with Raven, it could be because of her will to be human, just like her beloved partner.

Her thoughts were interrupted once hearing Raven landed the AC into the main ship where he'd always park him mech in. It was time. It was time to "be normal again." Ayre could sense her partner feeling uneasy.

Her voice, however, soothed his quickening pulse. "It's okay, Raven. Now go to sleep."

All the pilot could do was just simply nod. The AC was put into "sleep mode," along with Raven herself, where everything had gone black.

...

Ayre soon found a perfect spot to materialize. She soon felt her hands form and felt gravity take place. She landed on her feet just perfectly and had decided to take a trip to the waiting room. She could feel the presence of the slightly cool temperatures touching her skin

She then caught a mirror on her way and looked at herself.

She wore what seemed to be noble-themed clothes: A white dress with red designs at the chest area and red long sleeves. Red logos on her clothed shoulders and the center of her skirt where she could guess where her knees would be.

As for the body itself however, it did seem that due to being Coralfied, while her old skin stayed slightly pale like she could vaguely remember, there seem to be some kind of alterations to her body; Her hair was short and white and had a pale pink tint on the very bottom.

Her eyes glowed faintly with a red color, just like the Coral.

Like her family.

Family. That word, "Family." At first glance, the only family she had was the Coral, her brothers and sister, her siblings. They were connected through the waves and currents. Even when separated, they were ultimately still connected.

But Raven was different. Their connection was something unique. Symbiosis. A shared life. She saw that potential within him. And now, they can walk it together. Rubicon will no longer be one giant orphanage. It'll be a home for once. And the Fires of Rubicon shall be calmed.

Orphans. That's...almost a strange word to her.

Sometimes, Ayre thinks that Raven was some kind of orphan. Raven had been basically living in a giant suit. He had nowhere else to go.

The suit became a part of him. Quite literally too.

Ayre would also admit that she was quite an orphan herself; She'd been living as a C-Pulse Wave Mutation ever since she was Coralfied, nothing more.

She became one with the Coral, one with her family.

Now, speaking of all of that, it started to cause Ayre to then start thinking back to this, heart-to-heart connection she had with Raven. Probably one of the most heartfelt conversations she had ever had with him.

It was right before the Ice Worm mission.

...

"Raven?"

The voice is welcome, Raven thought, but unexpected. By this point, he and Ayre have grown to have an understanding; No talking during pre-operation checks.

Even if he is an augmented human, capable of processing battlefield data far faster than any normal person with enhanced reflexes and thoughts, some things are too crucial to be attended to with anything less than the utmost attention.

Like, for example, the state of OBSIDIAN WING, his second body, his armor and power and lifeline, which has seen him through so much, and must hold if he is to make it another day on God-forsaken Rubicon.

Then again, this is no normal operation, is it?

So Raven turns his attention away for a few moments from the checks and attunes his thoughts with Ayre's. As usual, the field of his vision turns slightly red; He relaxes in his cockpit seat, idly watching the figures and lines flashing across the displays as she switches off his retinal HUD.

<> he signaled.

"Sorry to intrude..." Ayre sounds bashful, but determined. "I know what you're doing is important; It's the first time anybody's used that stun launcher in live combat."

<>

Ayre sniffs at that.

"I'd rather we had nothing to do with Arquebus, after our run-in with Swinburne." she replied, "Nor 'Cinder' Carla."

<>

"All she does is flirt with you!"

<>

Raven quickly mentally noted the sudden emotion in Ayre's voice, and cocks his head in mock innocence.

<>

"Sorry, bad joke." Ayre apologized, "It's just, I'm worried, Raven. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Nobody will see Raven smile, despite he can't; The oxygen mask that has covered her mouth for years ensures that. Yet he's sure that Ayre can see it from her unique vantage point within his head. Just how does she manage to do that, come to think of it?

<>

Indeed. BALTEUS, just after their first meeting, spitting missiles and fire until all she could hear was the warning sirens within her battered cockpit; SEA SPIDER, stabbing with Coral-tipped legs like a beast alive; The sleek enforcers of the PCA in their huge modern HCs, lunging behind mighty shields.

OBSIDIAN WING endured their onslaught; Ayro held her firm; She overcame them.

"I suppose so," admits Ayre. "I should have more faith, apologies. I'll trust you. But please, make it through this. Because I reckon, once this is over, I have something to tell you."

<>

"Not the right time. Our Contact is strong, but it won't resist, well, the worst case scenario. You need to focus on the fight."

<>

"Good luck, Raven."

<>

Ayre withdraws, just as Walter opens the channel to check in. Raven goes back to doing what he has always done: Listening, like the hound he was trained to be.

...

The Central Ice Field is silent at last. The Ice Worm is felled, spilling the Coral inside out into the atmosphere. The red particles mix with the white snow, drifting down in a display of two-toned beauty.

Raven watches it, blinking, in the aftermath of Ayre's revelation.

<>

"That's why I'm so focused on reaching on the Coral convergence. Those you see right now..." Ayre sounds distraught. "They're orphans now. Rubicon has made far too many orphans."

<>

"Yes. I'd be scattered again in the Coral tide. Alone, drifting, helpless."

<>

"Yes. Yes, I am, Raven. I don't want to go."

<>

"At that time, I don't think I knew what life really was. Coral and humanity are so, so different, that it took meeting somebody special for me to learn."

Raven's heart skips a beat. And, although it really shouldn't, he swears he hears a change in the thrum of OBSIDIAN WING's reactor.

"Thank you, Raven," Ayre whispers. "For teaching me just how precious life is."

Instinctively, Raven moves his gloved hand to the chest of his flight-suit, placing it over his heart.

<>

"I'm asking so much of you every day, Raven, when for you, I'm just some... alien." said Ayro, then asking, "How can you?"

<>

"Don't say that."

<>

Raven almost laughs noiselessly, mirthlessly, tightening his grip on his armored chest. His eyes then went back to almost lifelessness again.

<>

The STRIDER, the Dafeng test pilot, the Wall's defenders...

<>

"Raven..." said Ayre, moved.

<>

"... Thank you."

A warm wave spreads through Raven's ravaged, altered, inhuman body, the equivalent of, what it's called? Raven hasn't had one for so long.

Ah.

A hug.

How nice it would be, to stay like this forever.

But the world won't let that happen. Walter's helicopter is descending now, the herald of war, the reminder of the jobs and missions that Rubicon still has to offer. Along with it, all over the Central Ice Field, come the dropships and carriers of brutal Balam and arrogant Arquebus and insane RaD, ready to continue the Coral War and trample each other into the snow. Their violence will stain the planet red, just like the Coral upon the drifts.

Still, let them come, Raven thinks. He's got a name to live up to, and a lady in need.

He reaches out a hand, and feels joyful tingling in his skin, as Ayre takes it and holds him firm.

https://youtu.be/WEsibVKPNA0

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