Hilargi held out a hand for him to high-five. “I’m excited! Let’s do it!” she grabbed a piece of paper and received feedback from Yair on what he wanted, and she sketched a fingered hand and then asked how he would like it painted.

“To be honest…” Yair said with a smile, “I really would like some flames on there. Could you make them blue? Maybe you could put some nymphs on there, too, as well as a few suns?”

Hilargi giggled as she sketched. “Should I throw in the kitchen sink, too?”

“Kitchen sink…?” Yair didn’t follow.

“Just teasing. You shall have everything you ask for, my prince.” Hilargi sketched the sun, flames, and nymphs on the arm, and Yair practically glowed with cheer when he saw the end result.

“It’s—it’s—!” he searched for the correct words to express how he felt about it, but couldn’t find them. Hilargi was flabbergasted by how human he was acting, and was in wonderment by how much growth she had programmed him for when she designed him to he could learn to exhibit the same emotions humans could.

“Wonderful? Awesome? Amazing?” Hilargi prompted him, clapping him on the back.

“All of the above! When do we start?” Yair was almost hopping from foot-to-foot in excitement.

“We can start—” Hilargi began, but was interrupted when the door to her lab was thrown open, and Ellia appeared in it, walking toward her. Hilargi squeaked like a mouse, wanting to hide from the much taller, stronger woman. She nervously gripped Yair’s hand for support as Ellia marched down the hallway toward her.

“Hilargi.” Ellia sped up her pace, stomping toward her angrily. “What were you thinking?” she demanded.

“What?” Hilargi nearly fainted with anxiety, standing up and backing away from the woman.

When she was close enough, Ellia loomed over the smaller woman with an angry scowl on her face, her fists clenching. “You jeopardized the Last Man’s life, didn’t you?”

Hilargi shook her head, crying in fear. “N-no! I just…” Hilargi backed up against her work table, having nowhere to go.

Ellia’s tanned and rugged face was twitching with anger. “I have reports from women who were in the fortress that you were going to dash outside to save that hunk of metal when the Last Man knocked you out and took your damned place! What the fuck were you thinking?”

Hilargi sank to the floor, weeping tears of fear. She blubbered, “P-please! I can’t control what the Last Man does!”

“You’re right, you can’t, but you can control what you do! And what you did was stupid, reckless, and inconsiderate. I—” Ellia raised a threatening hand.

Hilargi shrieked, and Yair caught Ellia’s hand. “Excuse me, Ellia. There is no need to threaten her. She understands what she did was reckless. It was my fault; she was worried about me and wanted to save me. There is no need for physical reprimand.”

Ellia ripped her hand away from Yair with a scowl. “I wasn’t going to slap her! Just threatening this pathetic little mouse is enough to get her to cower and agree to whatever I have to say! She has so little regard for her own life that she was willing to trade it for a moving hunk of metal! If I could remove your brain and put it into a sensible woman, I would! Don’t you know that we rely on that brain of yours? Don’t you know that you were almost responsible for the Last Man’s death!” Ellia rose her voice furiously.

Hilargi was panting in terror, weeping like a faucet. “I-I’m sorry… I just—I didn’t want to lose Yair—he’s like a son to me!”

Ellia slammed a fist upon her work table, making Hilargi jump. “You think this piece of junk has any other purpose than to serve us?” Ellia said, shaking Yair’s metal shoulder vigorously, “do you think you have any other purpose than to serve us? This is your grand purpose, Hilargi. You were born to help us protect the Last Man, therefore saving the human race. Without you, we are dead in the water! We need you focused, logical and alive! Why don’t you recognize your own worth?” Ellia’s voice became quieter at the end.

Hilargi suddenly realized a truth that had remained hidden from her in plain sight for all the years she had known Ellia.

Nikodemus was right. Ellia cared deeply about her, despite the fact that she was a mutant. Ellia scolded her and overworked her, but always took the time to praise her work, and always gave her a break when she clearly needed it.

Well, perhaps she doesn’t care deeply about me. Perhaps it is more that she knows I’m more valuable to her than almost anyone else. Realizing this fact somewhat buoyed her confidence, as it ensured her safety somewhat, but it didn’t change the fact that a woman twice her height had her cornered and was clenching her fists as if she wanted to punch her.

“I—I don’t have any worth other than making weapons to hurt other people…” Hilargi muttered, avoiding the gaze of Ellia like a scolded child. “That’s not a grand purpose at all.”

Ellia’s face twitched in annoyance. She seized Hilargi by the collar and lifted her into the air, eliciting a yelp of fear from the mutant girl. “You mumble and mope like a damned teenager; you’re content with mankind slowly vanishing into nothingness. You make me sick. Where is your passion for living? Are you just going to roll over and die or are you going to recognize your value and reach for Paradise and preservation like the rest of us?”

Hilargi struggled in her grasp; she was not being choked, but she was uncomfortable and terrified being bullied and thrown about like chattel.