And from its already blackened condition, the kid didn't have long.
"Stay right there…." Jessica13 said calmly and softly as she stretched down, caught the girl by the collar, and yanked her out of the shaft.
The dart detached as the lev fitted into her arm and retracted as she moved through the hole in the Argonaut, stepped outside, and jogged away from the elevator door with the girl cradled in her arms.
It was a delicate balance between holding her close enough to keep her from slipping from her grasp and trying not to crush her against the chest plate of the Minato. She was relieved when they were finally clear of the smoke, for the most part, and set her on her feet.
"Where's my mommy?" the girl asked and looked around.
She pushed the door open and clambered out of the mech. She coughed reflexively as the residual smoke tickled the back of her throat.
"Let's get that off you, for now, sweetie," she said and removed the mask.
"I knew you would come for me, Mommy!" the girl squealed and wound her arms around Jessica13's neck.
She scowled. "No, no, I'm not your… Okay. Fine."
"Wait," the girl said and pulled away. The rest of her body was covered in soot but her face was surprisingly clean and revealed a mess of red hair and freckles to go with it. She had never seen hair quite so red before. "You're not… Where's my mommy?"
"See now, I needed to get you out of danger," Jessica13 said and patted the girl on the head. "Now that you're safe, we can go ahead and try to find your mommy. Did she get out of the bunker?"
"I don't know," the girl whispered. "People ran all around me, someone put the mask on me, and then I fell. When I woke up, there was smoke and I started to walk away from the fire and up to the elevator."
"Shit," Jessica13 grumbled.
"Shit?" the girl asked.
The bulletfoot's eyes widened as she turned to look at the little girl. "No…no, not that. Don't say that. It's a bad word."
"Why is shit a bad word?" the little redhead asked, her head tilted curiously.
"It's meant to represent when we're in a bad situation," she explained and shrugged a little helplessly. "It means we're in a bad situation. The word means poop and the poop is the situation that we're in."
"Oh, okay," the girl said. "Why not say poop then? And why isn't poop a bad word?"
"Because…those are actually good questions. I'll get back to you on that," Jessica13 replied. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" The girl nodded. "What's your name?"
"Priscilla," she replied and extended her hand. "Mommy calls me Prissy but no one else does."
She smiled, took the girl's hand, and shook it gently. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Priscilla. My name is Jessica13. And this"—she patted the mech—“is Mini. He'll talk to you too."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Priscilla," Mini said through the external speakers. "Do not be confused by my voice. It should be noted that I was designated male upon production although they allocated me a female modulator in error. The distinction is not important, however, as I have no reproductive organs, but it is a distinction."
"What's reproductive organs?" Prissy asked and glanced at her rescuer.
Jessica13's eyes widened. "This is not the time for that question.” She smiled but she didn't like where the rest of the conversation was going. That aside, she still had no idea where the mother was or if she even made it out of the bunker alive. Now, it raised the question of how to break the news to the girl. She didn't even know where to start.
"This conversation is pleasant but I regret to inform you that there is movement on the edge of my sensors," Mini said, his voice still calm—likely for Prissy's benefit.
"Okay, Prissy, you get to ride inside the mech for a while." She helped the girl inside and squeezed herself in as well.
"It's a little tight," Prissy said as Jessica13 shifted beside her.
"Well, you are a tiny little thing and so am I, come to think of it," she replied. "There might be room for both of us. Mini, are there any weapons in the mechs we can use?"
The AI conducted a quick scan of the nearby mechs. "Twelve meters to the left, there is a detachable assault rifle on the Balthazar. You won't be able to access any of the reloads so what's in the gun will be all you have. When it runs out…well, there are a couple of chain swords nearby that you could use."
"It’s better than nothing," she said. "You'll need to manage the controls. It's a little tight in here for me."
"Understood. Taking control now," Mini replied and moved the Minato over to the assault rifle she mentioned.
The hand shape wasn't quite ideal, which forced Mini to keep control of it with one hand. There was the grappler on the other, however, which could also be used as a short-range weapon if they needed one.
"Okay, stay calm, Priscilla. Everything will be fine," Jessica13 whispered as Mini turned them to face the mechs that advanced on them.
"Are they pirate mechs?" she asked.
"My scans are inconclusive," the AI replied. "They're still in tree cover so all I can determine is that they are mechs—or perhaps a very large kind of lizard. The kind that aren't native to this part of the world."
"Is it weird to say I really hope they are mechs?" she asked. "Honestly, even pirates would be better."
"I don't want it to be big lizards either," Prissy shouted and made her companion duck instinctively.
"Well, it seems we have a consensus."
The movement in the trees drew closer and
