The Family We Choose

It was a sunny, lazy afternoon, and Sunny was laying on one of his parents' laps while the other's drone body was perched nearby. His sister was inside, resting after a procedure, and while she slept better when he wasn't around, none of them had the heart to be doing things out in public. Instead, they sat in the sun, quietly recharging in multiple senses with Sunny's head in his parent's lap as the little xero stared at the swirling, clear motes in the sky that moddy had told him were his very own white blood cells.

It was remarkable. A little quirk of biology made it so he could see evidence of his own immune system just by staring at something bright and letting his eyes unfocus.

"Moddy?"

"Yᴇꜱ, ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ?" Their synthetic voice was warm and buzzy, like cicadas on a summer day.

"Tell me the story of how we got to be family."

"Vᴇʀʏ ᴡᴇʟʟ, ᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴀʀʟɪɴɢ.  Yᴏᴜʀ ᴢᴀᴢᴀ ᴀɴᴅ Ɪ ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀʙꜱ, ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴇᴇ.  Ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴀɴʏ ɪɴᴛᴇɢʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀɪꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇꜱꜱ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴛᴀᴋɪɴɢ ꜱᴀᴍᴘʟᴇꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴄᴏʀᴅɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴇꜱꜱ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴʏ ꜰᴇᴛᴜꜱᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴇꜱ...."

-~-

Aʟᴛᴀ, his mechanical mother, told him the story that he'd heard so many times. Sunny's family had adopted him before he was out of the egg. His parents-- Moddy and Zaza to him-- had met each other through their work at ARC labs, and the two had formed an indelible connection, one that culminated in his Moddy retiring from the AI network they'd been a part of and moving in with the lab technician who'd made rearing Sunny their project.

So he wouldn't be lonely, they'd brought home another Xero, his elder sister, only a week prior, and from the very first memories the Torini-based Xero had, they'd all lived together in a home that was only a couple hilltops away from seeing the waterline: two xeros, a tall, slender Kai'Shruin and a liberated AI.

Moddy, the mechanical one of his parents, always kept an eye on them as they grew. When not in their primary drone body, they made their presence known from the refrigerator interface when he snuck down to the kitchen for late night snacks, giving company and guiding him to indulge mindfully so he wouldn't spoil his sleep too much, then hopping to the speaker-only interface in the bathroom while he brushed his teeth.

Zaza, on the other hand, was a stricter, more dour parent. From the outside, the alien could seem emotionless, but every scraped knee that needed tending was responded to promptly, with his physical parent sometimes even dropping the rest of their work day at ARC laboratories-- their work making other xeros!!-- in order to be present if he needed more physical comfort than their partner could provide.

Zirah was a marine, like Sunny had been glitched to be, and while their Zaza couldn't tolerate being in saltwater for a long period of time, they and Moddy had made sure that the two had ample access to water. His fondest memories were being curled up with his sibling on the beach, usually on a comfy towel with two umbrellas set up to curl around them almost like a tent.

By the time that he was ready for group schooling, though, Zirah had left to her grown-up job, and Sunny and his parents saw less and less of her... at least, until the injury. Seeing her now was a bittersweet joy-- they all loved the Marine, but seeing her in and out of the hospital and inpatient physical therapy was difficult on them all.

-~-

"Moddy?" Sunny asked, yawning as he blinked tiredly at the sky, eyelids heavy.

"Yᴇꜱ? Wʜᴀᴛ ɪꜱ ɪᴛ?"

"She's... never going to be the same, is she." It was phrased as a statement, without the energy to question it.

"Sʜᴇ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ, ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ. Bᴜᴛ ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇꜱ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴜɴᴀʟᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ Wᴇ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴏɴᴡᴀʀᴅ, Wᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ ᴍᴏᴠᴇ ꜰᴏʀᴡᴀʀᴅ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ."

Sunny hummed gently, mimicking a sound he'd learned his Moddy made when they were pleased, while his Zaza continued to stroke his hair. "That's... a nice way to think of it. I have to... 'rmmber that."

"If you forget, we'll remember it for you," his Zaza contributed. "But for now, I think it's time we rest." They reached over, pulling him into their arms, and gently cradled him against them. He fell asleep to the sounds of their heartbeats, and the gentle plap of their footpads on the tile.