Mace

"I don't know why you keep going back to him." Mother sighed, I could tell she was angry. I wasn't sure if she was angry at me or him. But entangled with that anger was a hint of saddness. "Can you please just tell me what you see in him that makes him so great that you keep going back to him even though it hurts you?"

She was silent, she didn't know how to respond. Maybe that was because in all honesty she didn't understand why she kept going back him. Her mothers gaze softened as tears started to escape her eyes. Her mother hugged her shushing her in the process.

"You need to stop going back to things that hurt you Vida."

~

"Well that was fun." Ace sighed as he stretched out his back. Vida couldn't help but chuckle.

"If you think someone almost burning to death is fun then I don't want to know what you think something saddening is." Ace let out a small laugh before dusting off his jeans and looking up. The sky was grey with flashes of green. The air was thick with ash. Where the hell were they? And what had happened to this place?

A little robot quickly passed by them holding a bucket of green liquid, not minding itself or its surroundings it almost made Ace fall.

"Dude, you okay?" Vida asked, Ace huffed and watched the small robot run into the distance.

"Yeah just peachy." Ace pouted as he stood up. "Let's go exploring, shall we?" He smirked, Vida smiled and nodded in agreement.

The duo walked towards the land of ash and waste. They walked around barely dodging pools of green goo that made them feel nauseous. Night time came around and Vida and Ace stopped at a little hut wedged into a rock wall. They knocked and a girl with green hair and green eyes opened the door. She had grey metal skin and it looked like she had been through hell and back. Her dress was torn and she walked wonkily.

"C-Can I help you?" She asked looking at the duo.

"Hi, my name's Ace and this is Vida, we were wondering if we could stay the night." The girl smiled a bit.

"O-Oh of course, c'mon in." She moved aside letting them walk into her house. It was a small rock place with dim lights and lots of small animitronic parts. In one corner there was a dimly lit kitchen, in another stood a desk wedging in a small space, there was a door and a small living area. "P-please sit down, I'm going to make some tea." The unnamed girl smiled.

"Okay thank you very much." Vida went to go and sit down on the couch while she made tea. The girl came back a few minutes later with three mismatch cups.

"I hope you like it."

"Thank you, it means a lot." Vida smiled as she grabbed one of the cups. Vida took a sip of the tea, before looking up at the girl. "So, what's your name?"

"Oh yeah! My name is Mace."

"So, what's the deal with this place? Why does it look all post apocalyptic like?" Ace asked as he stirred his tea. Mace looked down with a sad expression before looking back up at the duo.

"Well you see those bots out there are my friends and family, they keep serving the mainframe not understanding that they're hurting themselves. I just wish they could see it, but no matter how much I tell them it never changes." Vida could pick up on the utter dispair Mace held, even though she tried her hardest to keep it hidden. Vida got up and sat next to Mace before catching her by surprise and enveloping her in a warm hug. Mace was in shock for a moment before she started crying.

"There there, just let it out." Vida said patting Mace's back, Mace let out her tears that she had been holding in for so long. Sobs echoed through the whole house.

"T-Thanks Vida." Mace smiled sheepishly as she broke away from Vida's hug.

"Anytime, now let us help." With that they came up with a plan to get rid of the mainframe.

~

Vida and Ace slowly snuck into the mainframe while Mace distracted her friends and family, she had to admit it was really good seeing them again. She hoped more than anything this would work and they'd all be free from this evil that held them hostage.

Vida held guard while Ace started to hack into the mainframe. It was thankfully a lot easier than expected. Almost to easy...

Yet it went out without a hitch, was this really it?