Ashen Wastes: The Road to Nowhere?

[Dr. McNinja]

"Well, you're right about a buncha stuff. Yeah, I like to get really close when I'm fighting. I uh..." Gaige sheepishly took a sip. "I actually have pretty bad aim."

The teenager gestured at DT with the other mug of cocoa. The previously stoic and menacing robot squealed with glee, then grabbed it and began to "drink" it. 

"But I had a bit of help. My dad. Like, when I cut my arm off-"

"You cut your arm off?"

Gaige rolled her eyes. "Calm down. It was an accident, gawd."

Dawn almost cracked a smile.

"Anyways," the teenager continued with her legs crossed, "he helped with the transfusion. There was... heh, there was a lot of blood. But hey, look at this awesome metal arm! I can punch through concrete! Look!"

She spun around in the chair and tried to punch through the wall. The metal arm simply bounced off the wall and Deathtrap's form glitched slightly. The husky crouched and began to growl at the robot. Gaige grunted and started tweaking at her shoulder with a screwdriver.

"Well, I used to, anyways."

Dawn eyed the robot suspiciously. Her dog was still growling at DT, who was helplessly scared of the hostile reaction.

"What was that?"

"Oh, like how he shook?" Gaige mumbled, "Yeah, the arm is the source of his signal. It's pretty complicated. See, the arm-"

Dawn stared at the arm. "The arm acts as an antenna that receives your neural signals and broadcasts it to your robot, right?"

Gaige blinked, then pouted in disappointment. "I mean, you know, that's the easy part..."

The two girls sat, staring at opposite corners of Dawn's room.

"Actually," Gaige said, clearing her throat, "I kinda needed a bit of a girl-talk too. I... I don't know, I'm remembering things... differently? Like, stuff that never really bothered me are like, really freaking me out now. A-a-and, like, where I come from? There was this-this-this dictator, and, like, he was about to kill, like, a LOT of people. He tried to kill me! ...sorta. A-and then I had to stop him, because he was about to burn the planet down, but then..."

Gaige shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"I had to kill a LOT of people."

She took a long drink from her mug.

"And, like, what really scares me is that it never used to bother me until I came here. And, like, now it's all coming at me at once, you know?"

"Little young for that kind of trouble," the vigilante commented.

"Yeah, well," the teenager puffed a breath at her hair. "Welcome to Pandora."

Dawn eyed her carefully. "I think you did what you needed to do. And if you need to change who you are, then do it. You've done it before."

Gaige squinted in confusion.

"From your tone, I'm guessing you grew up in a rich neighborhood. And this Pandora place... well, at the very least they have a terrible laundry service. So you must have fallen pretty hard before."

Deathtrap was trying to interact with the dog more. He reached a gentle arm towards the dog, as if he was about to pet her. Rouge was growling less now, but a little more open to the idea.

"Alright, Sherlock," Gaige chuckled, "You gonna tell me anything about yourself? I don't have your special observation powers."

"Maybe later, Gaige," the vigilante sighed, "Maybe later."

Gaige snorted. "Alrighty, then, 'Shadow'. Suit yourself." She took another sip of her cocoa. "You know, I sorta have an alias too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

Gaige raised her chin and closed her eyes triumphantly. "The Mechromancer."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "The Mechromancer?"

"I-" Gaige scowled. "It is a very respectable Vault Hunter title!"

"Whatever you say, Mechromancer."