//------------------------------//
// We Got Better 
// Story: The Rock in the Gulch 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

Simmons raced back and forth across the roof of Red Base, hands to his head as he struggled vainly to not panic.  "Oh god oh god we are all going to die!  We killed Maud's Mom and she's going to find new and inventive and physics defying ways to make us suffer as she kills us and oh why did I ever try to make a gun that worked on love I've read enough comics to know where that would go-"

"Simmons!" Sarge barked out.  "Atten-hut!"

Simmons snapped to attention.  "Sir, I-"

"Enough whining, Simmons!" Sarge snapped firmly.  "If Maud were going to kill us for killing her mother, then she would have already done so and at least one of us would already be in pieces as she harvested our organs for rock-themed confections!  But even Grif is still in one piece, so we can assume that we're okay for the time being!"

"Unless she's letting us stew in our fear until our meat's the right flavor for baking," Grif suggested thoughtfully.  "Or she's still trying to decide how best to kill us."

"Either way, that gives us time!" Sarge insisted.  "It is true that death no doubt comes for us all, and she is adorable...but we have time, and in time a chance to convince her that it wasn't our fault!  Simmons!  You said there were red lights on the MAUD before we fired.  What were they?"

Sarge's strict authority and determination helped calm Simmons' panic some what, and he was able to speak.  "Well, the auto-targeting system we hadn't tested yet was locked in active mode to target enemies, and the feed cables had been disengaged.  While we'd been able to store distilled love in the MAUD as fuel...somehow...snuggles had to be pumped in steadily."

"So the MAUD fired a beam of energy created from distilled, concentrated love," Sarge deduced thoughtfully.  "Like...some kind of MAUD-doken?"

"I am genuinely surprised you got that reference, sir," Simmons observed thoughtfully.  "But yes, in essence."

"Well, we're going to need weapons here if we're going to defend ourselves from an angry pony, and these MAUD-dokens seem to be the only one with a chance of working, given Agent Texas tossed her to the side to keep her from being hit!  Now get to work on those hand-held models!  Meanwhile, see if you can figure out who sabotaged the MAUD cannon, so we know who to blame if Maud is willing to talk!"

"Yes sir!" Simmons agreed as he saluted.  He turned to go, then turned back.  "Uh...which should I do first, sir?"

"MULTI-TASK, PRIVATE!"

"Sir yes sir!"





Maud sat calmly, ignoring her communications system as she left it on.  She could hear Caboose bawling about Mom being dead, which was oddly a relief in this case.  That brief moment when he hadn't sounded like himself had been concerning, and if he could still fully assert himself then that was all to the good.  Dad was shouting in despair in Spanish, which Maud also ignored.  Despite how she'd acted, she didn't speak a word of Spanish, and she had no idea what he would be saying about Mom being dead.  Tucker was trying - and failing - to establish some sort of order.  She could also hear the Reds arguing about what to do now.  They seemed to be under the impression that they'd killed Mom right in front of her, and that she would be coming to turn them all into Donuts...or something like that.  She had no idea why they would have that idea.

Finally, her armor called up an old message, along with a new message attached to it.



Error: A.I. Sys Error. Interface circuitry malfunction.
A.I. Fragment insertion may cause echo retention even upon removal.




Alert: Fragment insertion in process.



"Hello Mom," Maud murmured in her normal voice as she cut off her comms from everyone else for the private conversation.  "You're much faster at this than Dad."

An image of Texas appeared on Maud's shoulder, a faint dark-grey aura surrounding her.  "Okay, no," she said flatly.  "I let it slide since I could presume it had been a while since he was killed, but how the hell are you not even fazed by seeing me blasted to bits right in front of you?  You didn't even try to grieve!"

"Wrong lights," Maud replied flatly.

"...what?"

Maud used her HUD to create an image of herself for her Texas to see.  "This is me," she stated.  Her body shimmered in the living grey of stone.  "One light."  A second light of the same color bounced between her heart and head.  "Two lights."  A third light of the same color focused throughout her muscles and hooves, as well as stretching beyond her into the very fabric of space-time.  "Three lights.  All three the same color."  A new image appeared, this one of Agent Texas.  The body shimmered faintly with a pale light that was partially grayed out.  "One light."  A second light appeared only in the head, the same color surrounding the image of Texas on Maud's shoulder, and focused in one spot.  The energy of that light seemed to support the grayed out light of the body.  "Two lights, different colors.  No third light."

"And...you saw Church the same way," Texas observed thoughtfully.

"Yes," Maud confirmed.  "Only two lights, different colors.  Captain Flowers also only had two lights, but they were the same color.  Both went out together when he died, but your second light stayed when your first one went out.  Same with Dad's."

"Do you know what the lights are?" Texas asked curiously.

"Brother put terms to them when he built my armor, since it's designed to tap my third light."  The image of her reappeared, this time armored.  The third light flowed out of her to infuse the armor.  "He called the lights Life, Soul, Magic.  He has three lights, which is why he's my little brother."  An image of Caboose appeared, showing the three lights...though in his case, the third light was focused in his musculature, brain, and hands.  "He doesn't know he used it to make my armor.  He doesn't even know he has it."

Texas stared at the image and information being presented to her, trying to make sense of it.  "Does...anyone else in the canyon have three lights?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Everyone," Maud affirmed.  "Their third lights resonate with each other, on probability.  Simmons only taps his actively while drunk.  Grif taps his while mining.  He doesn't know the things he mines are made by his third light.  Sarge only tapped his once, after Dad beat him to a pulp and Doc put him back together.  Donut, Doc, and Uncle Tucker haven't used theirs actively yet."

"And suddenly this canyon makes sense," Texas observed thoughtfully.  "Captain Flowers brought together a group to hide and protect Church...and unwittingly created a hotbed of probability magic that summoned you here when Church needed you most, and now you're drawing out everyone's magic so they can use it actively.  No wonder Grif and Tucker can fight at the level of Freelancer Recruits."  She chuckled softly.  "I'm honestly looking forward to what happens when someone from Freelancer Command comes to investigate."

"If they do, you and Dad need bodies," Maud decided, getting to her hooves.  "The Reds are scared I'm going to brutally murder them for killing you.  I'm going to use that to make them build robot bodies for you both."

Texas chuckled indulgently.  "That's my girl."