Hunters Moon...

Adell didn't feel the energy from the strange creatures anymore, but he was still cautious just in case.

Ameya had been scared most of the time, but she wanted to go to Ariana but wasn't sure if it was safe or not. However, Doc was nearby so she went over to the medical Reploid and gave her a hug but didn't say anything. Yulina came out of her space.

"..Are the bad guys gone?" Yulina said to no one in particular.

"I think so." Adell said to his little sister. Still..what were those things and why were they so adamant about getting Ameya?

* *

Samantha knew Ariana needed a moment to calm down, so she focused on on what Valvatorez's thoughts were.

The half vampire slowly stood up. "Golems. A bit more fine tuned to better fit into the normal world without drawing attention, but the concept is the same: constructs created for a variety of purposes. These ones were built for battle and they obviously were targeting Ameya. With a unsettlingly single-mindedness, they really wanted this done. However, I know why."

Kiena wanted him to continue, and Samantha prompted. "Which is?"

"Before we got here, we ran into hunters. Of the zealot kind. They were hell bent on getting Ameya, Blade and the others teleported us away before a conflict could break out. Before then, I made a mental note of what their energies felt like. In case we ran into each other again and they wouldn't catch us off guard."

Valvatorez gestured to the crushed remains. "Apparently, these things were made by them. It took me a moment, because I was too busy concentrating but I know what I felt. They even have the same symbol on them. More to the point, they infused these with their life energy. So, when the golems were destroyed, they were effect, too killed."

"..So they just threw their lives away." Samantha didn't feel a lot of pity for them, she was protecting her family and they were trying to murder a child in cold blood. It had been self defense after all. "I don't understand. Why throw your lives away, much less over something so heinous?"

"Fanatics don't think like normal people Samantha. At least you won't have to worry about that particular group anymore."

Ariana eventually sat down, closing her eyes and seemingly meditating. It was an effort to calm herself, but she'd manage. After a moment, she opened one eye, glancing over at Ameya. "...It's okay, the flames won't hurt you..." She closed that eye again, and the flames actually were already lessening.

Saber continued to look for Saori while the others gathered. Doc let Ameya go and started to gather her things. Blade after some thought spoke "So they used magic? The closest we've come to something like magic was Lord Phantom. We never really understood his power." She held herself remembering her experience with it. She shuddered slightly.

Desperado nodded "Yeah, that man's mind is like a bag of cats. All kinds of crazy."

Ameya hesitated a bit longer, then she went over to Ariana and surprisingly or not gave her a warm hug. Almost as if attempting to fully calm her down. "Are..you okay Ariana?"

"The styles, branches and differences between magic styles is astronomical. There are some that are merely elemental manipulation, and some is basically full out reality warping. The later luckily is almost unheard of. Your Lord Phantom may have some kind of magic, or it could be some other source."

Samantha was silent, thinking. "Do you think there will be more?"

Valvatroez actually shook his head. "I sincerely doubt it. The hunters lives were tied to the golems, thus their own were snuffed out. The one's we ran into were more or less independent, not part of the more..infamous underground groups. Like Isacroit."

Samantha was about to say more, when she noticed a Nobus vechile show up. "..I'll go talk to them then." She said and went over, already talking to one of the officers.

Ariana actually put one arm around Ameya, taking slow, deep breath's as she attempted to calm herself. "...I'll be fine shortly. I have... anger issues, sometimes. I'm gettin' better about it."

~~~~~

Saori, after a bit, was found hiding in a dark corner of the house. When she spotted Saber, she immediately flew into his arm's, holding on. "Are you okay? Is everyone okay? N-nobody was hurt, right?"

Saber moved his sword back making sure no one was close to it as he caught Saori. "No, no one's hurt. We're all fine. Samantha is talking with someone called Nobus."

Blade checked in on everyone reploid and humanoid. Then she went to Saber. "Saber, when we get back to your place, we need to talk. Human's died as a result of our actions. There's something we need to discuss."

Saber nodded. He looked to Adell "Is there a room where my people and I can speak in privet?"

The rest of Saber's team gathered and waited.

(.....Accidentally deleted my post.)
_____________________________________________________________

Ameya hugged back the older girl tightly, she felt really warm she had noticed almost like mommy and daddy did. Slowly the little girl smiled at Ariana, looking just slightly older at the moment. "But we're family, okay? So that means if you ever need to talk, I'm here too, okay?"

Samantha seemed to finish up her talk with Nobus and came back, though she didn't say anything just yet letting Ameya and Ariana finish. Then she'd talk.

* *

Adell nodded. "Yeah, sure. You guys brought Ameya back and just helped out. Least we can do." He glanced to Kiena and Valvatorez. "You two can come in if you want."

Valvatorez shook his head slightly. "I'm just going to talk on the phone over here for now. I may or may not be in there for a time."

Kiena shrugged a bit. "I'll just be outside."

"Suit yourself." Adell went to go lead the others inside and into the spare room that was used for guest. "It's not much, but it should do what it has too for you guys to talk. I'll let you to it then."

Adell wondered why Saori looked familar but shrugged it aside. He figured he just saw someone that looked like her, he met plenty of people after all. For the moment he let the Reploids and one Erodroid be.

Saber looked to Saori. "Saori, you're more than welcome to join us. This discussion may just very well include you." Saber turned and gathered the others into the room. Doc sat in a chair and Shade was standing in a dark corner. Lug-Nut sat on the ground and Desperado leaned against the wall. Saber stood next to his sister. "Blade, if you will?"

Blade nodded and stepped forward. "Okay, um. Well I'll get right to the point. Since the Phantom Wars and more notably since we got here humans have died as a direct or indirect result of our actions. So, I'm struggling with our Prime Directive, The Three Laws." He looked at her hands and then to the rest of her teammates. "I... I don't know what to think. Are we Mavericks?" Her voice broke a little. She was visibly scared. A rare thing for Blade.

Saber looked down at his hands too. The thought weighed heavy on his mind too. He thought about the Prime Directives and what they meant to him. He's lived by those laws for all of his life. He looked to the others. "Law one: A Reploid may not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human to be injured."

Blade nodded her eyes closed. "Law two: A Reploid must obey the orders given to it by a human being, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law."

Everyone in the room said the third. "Law three: A Reploid must protect it's own existence as long as such protection doesn't conflict with the First or Second Law. So says the Light."

Blade opened her eyes. "Well there we are. We have a dilemma of biblical proportions." She paused to let her words sink in. "Are we Mavericks? Has the Light left us?"

After a long silence Shade stepped forward and walked over to Blade. She placed a hand on her shoulder. She simply shook her head.

Desperado nodded his hand cupped his chin in thought. He then pushed himself off the wall. "You know, Shade is right. We're not Mavericks. First and foremost, Mavericks kill indiscriminately while we if we can save at least one human life then we can. Even at the cost of our own lives. Ya know?"

Doc nodded and then cocked her head to the side. "Yeah, but that was where we came from. In our time, in our dimension there were only humans. Here there are dragon people, demons, mutants and who knows what else. They are both good and evil. Young and old. Some like Ameya can't protect themselves even though they were born of a great power. Who are we to exclude them from our doctrine?"

Saber stood up. "Doc is right. We were given free will. We are all followers of the Light Continuum. That is the core of our belief. I don't think the Light would want us to exclude the other races. The Reploids as a race have evolved beyond the Three Laws. However we still use them as the base for our belief." He shrugged "Well, those of us who seek the Light."

Lug-Nut nodded "Yup, that's true. So what do we do about it? I mean it's not like we can re-write the Laws." He said and thought about it for a moment. "Actually, it's not an issue of re-writing them but, interpreting them. The word human. In many cultures it can refer to humanity. It's like me sayin' 'That's very human of you.' Not as a racial term but..."

Saber smiled "As an ideal. He has a point. I mean throughout history all religion has been subjected to interpretation and scrutiny." Saber smiled "The Light is with us." He looked to the others. 

Doc smile brightly. "Yeah, The Light is with us. Otherwise he wouldn't have guided us to this." 

Desperado took off his hat and held it over his chest. "So wut yer sayin' is as guide lines the Three Laws still hold but they encompass all races as long as they're good?"

Saber shook his head, "Yes and no. We protect the helpless and aid the side of good. That's what Light would have wanted."

Shade stepped forward again and pointed to Saber then to Blade and nodded again. Doc smiled and looked to Saber. "Shade's right, you two are the direct descendants of the Light. Who are we to question your interpretation of the Word of Light."

Blade shook her head "No that's the point. You have to question these things or we can't evolve. We're not base units following a command line. We're Reploids! We have the right just as any living being to question our beliefs. What's happened here goes against our beliefs. We may have been programmed with the Three Laws but we have the right to question them. They should guide us, not bind us."

Desperado nodded, "She has a point. While ah agree the three laws need to encompass all races, I don b'lieve we have to be completely bound bah them. We need the flexibility to grow and evolve."

Lug-Nut nodded "Yeah, I agree. Something's gotta be done. Knowing what I know now, until something done, I don't think I can bring myself to use my weapons. I do remember in the Phantom Wars there were casualties."

Saber shook his head. "Yeah Reploid casualties. The only Human casualties were the ones the Phantom Army caused."

Doc shook her head. "That's not true. That's what the higher ups wanted you to believe. I was in trauma centers. The rescue and relief camps. While you are focused on the battle at hand you just assume that the field has been cleared of civilians. Some people just didn't want to leave or couldn't because they didn't have time."

Saber looked shocked. "I... I didn't think of that. We need to sort this out. Now. I think much like any religion, Desperado is right. We shouldn't let our beliefs bind us, but guide us. We need to take care and be mindful of civilians. There are much more of them here then where we come from and their races are very diverse and we should include them all. Also, I believe Mavericks shouldn't be limited to our race. Anyone who seeks to harm those who can't protect themselves, or break the law should be considered Mavericks. We are in a new world. We need to adapt, not only our beliefs but how we view it."

Desperado and Lug-Nut smile. "I hear that!" Said the juggernaut. 

Blade nodded "I'll make the necessary adjustments to our doctrine and send them to you." She looked at the others and smiled. She felt a lot better and with the addition that Saber made she felt more confident. "Thank you all. I believe this is not only a big step for us, but for our race as well."

Saber looked to Saori and smiled "I know you weren't given much time to speak your mind, however I would like to hear your opinion on the matter."

Ariana smiled softly, and nodded. "Yeah... yeah, that's right Ameya. We're... family. If we need anything, we can't be afraid to talk to each other about it..."

~~~~~

Saori was a little overwhelmed by what she'd just witnessed. The radical change of people's core beliefs, it was something staggering, really. When Saber addressed her, she blinked, thinking over her answer. After a moment, she found it. "I don't really like humans. Until recently, all they ever did was hurt me or take advantage of me. I'm meeting good humans recently now, like Ms. Kronos, and Saber said his mother was human so I doubt she was a bad person... I know that all people are capable of good and evil, but I've seen mostly the evil side." She shifted a bit. "Your three laws... when I hear them, they sound to me like they hold you back from doing what is right. They basically say that, no matter what, you can't hurt a human, or allow them to be hurt, even if they are doing something you know is wrong..." Another pause, and she looked to Saber with sadness.

"When you saved me from... him, you took great care to not actually harm him, even when you knew he'd been happily causing me pain. You were gentle, even as you threatened him. I knew it was a bluff too, with how careful you'd been already... you knew he was in the wrong, but still you wouldn't have hurt him, because your laws forbid it. It makes me wonder what you would have done if the only way to save me, was to harm or even kill him... and honestly, I wish you had killed him..." Here, Saori took his hand, even as she looked to the other Reploids.

"I... I can't tell any of you what to do, I can only give my opinion... and my opinion is that protecting the innocent is far more important than just protecting 'life'. Some people... some people don't deserve to be alive... some people will do horrible things to others just because they can... and when someone has no power to fight back, either because of an electrocution device or your three laws, some people will take advantage of that. To hurt you, or to hurt others." Her eyes flashed briefly. "It's been said that 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' If your three laws permit you to do nothing in the face of evil... isn't that like just letting evil win? So... so I think you should change the way you view them... because... because there is no way to stop the kind of people who are out there without killing. And if they aren't stopped... people will suffer... that... that's all I have to say..."

Ameya just smiled and gave Ariana a hug. It felt nice having family nearby again..

(If stuck on the Ariana section, feel free to skip to keep things moving. Didn't have much to put)

Saber closed his eyes and nodded. He opened them and looked to the others. "She's right. Humanoid or not if there are people out there who wish to harm the innocent then we have no choice but to classify them as Mavericks." He paused looking at Saori. "If we're going to survive in this world we have to adapt."

Doc smiled and stood "Hey, we're Reploids. Adapting is what we do." She walked over to Saori and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, I just made a new friend here and I don't wanna lose her."

Desperado tipped his hat back with one finger. "Whelp. Y'all know my stance on this here situation. Ah'll foller you in ta the gates of hell if'n i gotta. Ah b'lieve we need to uphold tha spirit of tha Light."

Lug-Nut stood and walked over also. Clasping Blade and Saber on the shoulders. "You guys are my family. I'm with ya."

Blade nodded. There was still so much uncertainty about this bold new direction but she was on board. There was still so much more to do but at least they had a starting place. "Okay, let's do it."

Saber nodded, "Alright, let's join the others." He said and took Saori's hand. He turned towards the door and joined the others outside.

Doc looked around for Ameya and Saber looked for Valvatorez. He had some more questions about this Nobus outfit.

Saori smiled shyly at Saber and Doc, but of course stayed close to Saber. When they rejoined the others, Ariana seemed to have recovered, and was standing with Adell and Samantha, and surprisingly or not holding Ameya's hand, though she seemed unsure of how exactly to act around the girl. She'd do her best, however.

Ameya smiled when Doc came into view but it slowly faded. "..Are you leaving?" She knew the other Reploid would leave and had other things to do, but she was still going to miss being around her.

* *

As for Valvatorez, he had just finished up his conversation before Saber came into view. "You seem to have something on your mind. Did you want to talk about something?

Doc's voice caught in her throat. She swallowed thickly. "Yeah sweetheart. We are. But it's not forever. We'll be back before you know it." She smiled and held out her arms. "I'll call you as many times as I can."

Saber nodded. "Yeah there's been a lot going on. Mostly internal. I'm curious though about the group you call Nobus." He was used to being a part of a larger organization. He wanted to check them out and see what they were about.

Ariana frowned slightly. "...Feel free to visit, too. You two clearly care about each other, and if it wasn't for you, Ameya might not have ever gotten here."

Saori felt a bit out of place, admittedly. She was mostly just a 'tag along' in her mind. Of course, she didn't have much choice. At this point, she wasn't really eager to move to far from Saber's side. Too scared, really. Though, she noticed, briefly, that there was a strange... feeling. Seemed like something was odd within her body. She closed her eyes, searching her systems for what might have been causing it. She'd do that until she found whatever it was, or gave up. Until then, her body was on a sort of 'autopilot'. She'd hold on to Saber's hand, and would follow wherever he led.

Ameya gave Doc a hug before pulling away. "Just visit, okay? And.." She reached into her pockets and pulled out a piece of paper, unrolling it. It was a picture her and Doc--though it had the tell signs of a child's sloppy drawing but she put her heart into it. "You have to keep it. It's my treasure so its special, okay?"

* *

Valvatorez nodded. "Fair question. Nobus, short end of it is a police and part miltary organization. They are in charge keeping the peace and protecting the races of this world. Not everyone has to fight of course, since there's different things you can do there. Such as working behind the scenes and the like. However, to join you need more then just the ability to fight. One would actually need to go to school for it, since you need to learn the legal ins and outs no matter what field you go into. For those working on the field, they would have to learn about the different races and how to counter the various supernatural and meta human threats."

"I can't recall when it was formed," They shrugged. "But either way they do a fine job of protecting this place and represent the potential of this realm, along with this world's own miltary of course. It used to be fractured long ago but now its united. It's part of the reason that despite being relatively new power compared to many others, Earth Realm is being paid attention to by others for better or worse."

Doc couldn't hold back her tears. "Oh baby, come here." She gave Ameya another hug. Taking the picture she carefully folded it and placed it in her medi-pack. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She didn't want to go but knew she had to. 

***

Saber nodded. He knew all he had to do was download all the training courses from Nobus and he would be good to go. However he wasn't entirely sure if that was the direction he wanted to take his team. "Thanks man." He looked to the others. Mission complete. He looked to Saori, "Hey, is there some place we can talk? I want to know more about that guy on the bridge where we first met."

Saori tensed a bit, her self-diagnostic testing coming to a halt. "O-okay... um, anywhere is good, I guess..." She knew this was a conversation they needed to have. Saber needed to know what kind of person he was dealing with, and the danger that having her around might bring.

Valvatorez was more or less ready to go. "I think I'll stay with you a bit longer," He said to Saber. "Even when its time for me to leave, I'll be sure to have ways for you to contact me if need be."

Saori averted her eyes a bit. "Well... what would you like to know, exactly?" This was not going to be pretty, most likely.

Valvatorez crossed his arms, thinking. "Deepends on what you want to know. But basically, Nobus is just the police of this world but a bit more specialized to deal with the citzens of this world. While there are things I don't know, from the years I've visited earth the people generally regard them highly though of course there are bad apples. You mentioned Mavrick Hunters before. If you tell me a bit about them maybe I could find out how they are similar and how they differ."

Blade thought about it for a moment. "Well, basically what we do is hunt Maverick Reploids. A Maverick is a Reploid who's either been infected with a virus and turns against humans or they abandon their primary protocol." She moved to sit down. "When that happens, then we're sent in to assess the situation and if the situation requires it retire the rogue Reploid."

***

Saber really didn't want to hear all the details but if he was going to be effective then he needed to. "Just... Just start from the beginning."

Saori bit her lip, not looking forward to this. "I was created in a lab, along with my sisters... and with us as a basis, the entire Erodroid mass produced line was created. They are not sentient, but me and my sisters are. We were promised to the investors. That man on the bridge was the son of the man that purchased me... and he was... not very nice... or gentle..."

Valvatorez thought for a moment. "Hm..not quite then. I think the easiest way to explain what Nobus is basically just police only they're trained to deal with the current world they live in. You've already saw a bit of that there with that dragon and others. They mainly just handle the criminal elements just like any peace officer. However, with that it also means less then savory people can hide behind the law because there's no proof to go after them. I've seen it happen before but that's the consequence and side effect of any functional police force."

"You also have sub branches that speclaize more in different things. For example there's a division that's spefically for search and destroy." He held up a hand. "Not to people or animals mind you, but things you'd find in a horror movie. The Wendio for example is, or was a creature that ate people exclusively and never got full. Then there was the Boogeyman or men I should say. It's debated whether they were a type of spirit that could take physical form or something else, but they preyed excluseively on small children. I say 'was' because they are thought to be wiped out in this current time."

"Then again, they were thought to be wiped out centuries before for the later. The native races of this planet are quite good at killing threats even back then with all the infighting." He mused.