Author's note: Content Warning in the description.

I was so tired. This was the seventh day in a row I had worked without a day off. Over the past week, I had gotten only a few hours of sleep, which only contributed to my exhaustion. I was finding it harder to get to sleep at night. All I could think about was Valory and the mistake I had made. I decided that when I got time off, I’d visit HQ’s resident psychologist.

When I reached the launch bay, I was greeted by a familiar face that made my heart leap.

“Suzuka!”

We raced over to each other and embraced. She smiled at me, her black bangs hanging over her eyes. From a glance, there was no way to tell which one was robotic. The only telling sign was the faint scars around her right eyebrow and cheekbone.

“I’m glad to see you again.” I said, my hands still on her waist.

When I realised what I was doing, I quickly pulled my arms away. Feeling my face grow hot, I avoided the rounder’s gaze and pretended to fix up my inner suit.

“Glad to see you back, Suzuka, but we really should head off.”

We turned around to see Mateo standing by his robot. Suzuka gave him a scowl before sprinting over to her aircraft. Even though I told her that Mateo was not a client killer, she still seemed wary of him.

Trying not to dwell on that thought for too long, I got into my exoskeleton and flew towards the recording studio.

“The client’s name is Eugina Amato. Female, 19 years old.” Suzuka explained over the intercom, clicking her tongue slightly. “Poor girl, she’s been on Vehemprine for two months already.”

“She must be immune to it,” Mateo muttered, “or she hasn’t been taking it properly.”

“I’ll try to find out more when we get there. What’s her status?” I asked.

“Melancholic, level two and waxing.”

I felt my hands grow clammy. The last time we faced a client of this strength, Suzuka had almost gotten killed. Images of dark pools of blood flashed in my mind and I had to physically shake my head to get rid of them. I was never going to put another life in danger again.

Propelling myself above a building, I came to a staggering halt. I had to right myself with my hand thrusters to avoid flipping around in the air.

We were a couple of dozen feet away from a small park covered in synthetic turf. Metal swings swayed gently in the breeze. In the centre of the playground was an extensive climbing frame. Floating above the steel bars was a giant baby curled in the foetal position. I could see thick veins pulsing around its enlarged cranium as it suckled on one of its chubby thumbs. From its stomach I saw a long thick rope drape down towards the climbing frame.

“Poor thing.” Suzuka cooed softly.

“It destroyed a studio,” Mateo grunted, “don’t let your guard down. Civilians lives are on the line.”

“I’ve checked the perimeter. It’s all been evacuated,” the rounder snapped back. “Don’t forget that ‘it’ is a teenaged girl.”

“Enough, we have a job to do.”

I was not in the mood for this today, and Mateo and Suzuka could tell. They both went silent immediately. Taking a deep breath, I continued.

“Suzuka, stay behind the client. Mateo, wait on the sideline. If either of you notice any aggression in the client, go for a non-lethal takedown.”

Without giving a single acknowledgement, the rounder and protector got into position. Convincing myself that I was being assertive but not domineering towards my peers, I approached the hovering infant. I had no information on the teenager within this form. All I had was basic data and a potential catalyst. From the picture I was given, I saw a young person with bags under her eyes.

“Eugina, can you hear me? My name is Maggie, I’m here to help you.”

The baby let out a sudden shriek and lashed one of its huge chubby arms at me. I flew back quickly to avoid the attack. Mateo flew closer to me, but I held an arm out to him.

“That’s an aggressive action, why was this client classed as melancholic?” Mateo hissed through the speakers.

In front of us, the newborn began to have a massive tantrum. It thrashed its arms and legs about as if it were struggling to stay afloat in water. The umbilical cord attached to its stomach began to swing about and it took me a few seconds to realise it was prehensile.

“Mateo, grab the cord!” I shouted.

The automaton held its arm out in front of me to catch the whipping rope of flesh but missed. The umbilical cord wrapped around the robotic limb and immediately crushed it.

“Ejecting arm!” Mateo yelled.

Mateo’s giant robot let out a loud hiss as it released its arm. The protector flew back as the baby continued to coil its life-giving cord around the now useless robot limb.

“Great, there goes my gun.” The protector muttered.

I attempted to speak with the client again as I raised my hands outwards to her.

“Eugina, I can see that you’re upset-”

The grey infant let out a gurgling scream of anger and gave the metal limb it was crushing one final squeeze. The robot arm exploded into hundreds of pieces of shrapnel which rained down onto the park below. Thankfully, the entire area had already been evacuated, but that didn’t seem to comfort Mateo.

“That could’ve killed someone. This client is incredibly dangerous.”

I expected Suzuka to protest, but instead I heard her let out a thoughtful hum.

“Maggie, look between the baby’s legs.”

I brought my eyes to the infant’s lower region and a lightbulb went off inside my head. The client had no genitals. Usually with human forms, clients wore clothing. When they were naked, they were almost always anatomically correct, or exaggerated. It all depended on the client and their catalyst.

I did not want to make any assumptions about the client, so I decided to be as careful as possible.

“What would you like me to call you?”

The sobbing baby paused. It rubbed its eyes with its balled-up fists and glanced at me with milky white eyes. I asked the question again in a gentle voice.

“River. I’m sorry, it’s a stupid name.”

The voice that replied to me was small and anxious. A far cry from the powerful force we had seen previously.

“What makes you think River is a stupid name?” I asked.

“My mum says it is. She says it doesn’t even sound like a real name.”

“Does it feel real to you?”

The baby nodded its head.

“I just wish I felt real too.”

“What do you mean by that, River?”

“My body doesn’t feel like my body. I feel like I’m piloting a piece of meat and I want to leave. I just want to get out of here, and nobody understands or cares!”

The distress in the client’s voice and their now brightly glowing exterior told me all I needed to hear. This was River’s catalyst. I gestured for Mateo to move away from the floating infant and he obeyed with no objection. I moved closer to River and spoke to them in a gentle tone as I stealthy turned on the afterglow absorber on my exoskeleton.

“I can’t help you leave your body, but I can help to make it more accommodating to you. How does that sound?”

The baby in front of me sniffled.

“I don’t want to be a girl, but I don’t want to be a boy either. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is.”

I watched as the massive newborn body suddenly cracked in two like a broken egg. The infant’s head split open, releasing a huge pillar of light into the afternoon sky. Within the pillar, I saw a human-shaped figure rise like an angelic being.

“I’m on it!”

Suzuka flew over to the form and I followed her. Together, we pulled River out of the light and helped them to get to the ground. Once our feet were both firmly touching the road, River wrapped their arms around me and hugged me tight. I held them back.

“Thank you.” River said in a voice filled with relief.

Within minutes, the van had arrived, along with guards in tactical vests and helmets. River gave me a frightened glance.

“It’s okay, they’re going to take you to the hospital.”

I gave the client removal force a glare, hoping they would be kinder to this teenager than they had been to previous clients. Thankfully, they appeared to get the message and gently coaxed River into the back of the van.

“Will you visit me?” River asked.

“Of course I will.”

River smiled happily. I returned the smile as the sliding door closed and the van drove off.

“Good job team!” Suzuka said in a bubbly voice.

“Yeah, no one got hurt, so good work.” Mateo added.

“Excellent, I’ll meet you all back at HQ.” I replied.

I turned off the intercom and paused. Watching the van turn at the end of the block, I took a moment to think. Before I could second guess myself, I turned on my private intercom to Suzuka.

“Hey, um, do you want to go get coffee later?”

“Oh, I can’t, sorry! You won’t believe this; I have a date with one of the nurses from the hospital!”

I winced so hard I nearly set off an SOS signal in my exoskeleton.

“Oh, right! Well, have fun!”

I barely had time to wallow for a single second in self-pity when a van pulled up beside me. Two men in tactical suits came out and glanced around.

“Where is the client?”

I blinked. “They were just taken by client removal team six.”

The two men glanced at each other before one spoke to me in a confused tone.

“We are client removal team six.”

A rapid chill enveloped my body and I snapped my head towards the road before us. It was empty. The van I had ushered River into was nowhere in sight.