Irony of fate (Echo, open)

[Snow White]

"Faster, faster!"

A group of people aboard an old volkswagen automobile were desperately trying to reach their destination before some flying unknown beings from another planet managed to hit them with the very weapons they used to destroy even the man of steel.

In the once prosperous planet known as earth the laughter of the children no longer could be heard, most of the cities were nothing but ghost towns and large "factories" were permanently active, harvesting from humans who become mindless blobs of cancerous flesh for their organs and miscellaneous organic matter. Those lucky enough to survive the virus that degraded them to beings that no one could believe were once human struggled for survival, some of them simply living underground while other fought against the invaders that long ago destroyed all superhumans who once called themselves defenders of mankind.

"C'mon guys, move move move! The enemy is right behind us!"

The group had finally reached their destination, a building that once served as the headquarters of the justice league, and immediately scrambled looking for a certain device that could be the miracle they were looking for. The leader of the group, a battle hardened soldier who acquired the role of leader after the death of the previous one, soon found what they wanted: A dimensional gate with many monitors now activated which showed what happened in alternate versions of their very planet earth. Some of those images were of worlds barren of any life, others brimming with it while most of them simply were crime-ridden worlds where the endless struggle between good and evil continued.

The machine was still starting when the enemy finally reached the location, it was simply a pair of aliens. Those invaders were so sure of their victory that only two of them were considered enough to deal with the ragtag rebels who now were cornered in the building that once was the justice league HQ.

"Go away you freaks!"

One of the rebels, one man called Hildegard, somehow transformed into a figure almost identical to the one of the villanous alien attacking them and retaliated with powerful lasers of his own. Alas, the cunning and better equipped aliens simply dodged and injured him and another of the rebels who tried to fight back as well with gunfire from a rather outdated rifle that was as useless as the lasers against the alien goes.

"Goddamit, forget about fighting, just go inside, this junk is now working!"

The squad leader hurried the small group of only 5 rebels to jump into the machine to a random destination, none of them was smart enough to know how to control the complex machine and the destination that was already programmed was the only one they could jump into without risking to do something wrong.

"I ... I'm going to stay behind"

"You fool, who knows what awaits in the other world and you are the only one that can show the ones in the other world how our enemy looks like, go ahead along the rest of the troops!"

The courageous leader simply hurried the rebels as he pulled a submachinegun to rain death of the aliens and activated a few bombs he had strapped to him. He had planned since the beginning to stay behind and destroy the dimensional gate once all his men went through him, but never that he had to do it while screaming "eat more dakka!" to some aliens, he simply smiled as lasers pierced his organs, his limbs and eventually the very bombs he carried finished the duty, collapsing the building he was in.

An eternity, or a mere second? nobody could tell how much time passed since Hildegard jumped through the dimensional gate and the perception of time itself was distorted, if somebody told you that going to an alternate world was a nice experience, he was dead wrong, it felt really weird and it was unexplainable what one sensed being inside that strange anomaly in the fabric of time-space. Eventually the insane journey was over and the man-alien hybrid finally appeared within a building, an intense but short-lived flash of light along a loud noise signaling his arrival ... and the arrival of other bodies.

"Adolf, Rorschach, Schwarz ... we .."

What should've been a small glimpse of hope was replaced by pure despair as the hybrid creature looked around him only to see the lifeless bodies of his companions. They were covered with holes and the smell of burnt meat emanated from them, they fell victim to the rain of lasers when the aliens noticed what they were doing and unaware of his own pain, Hildegard was as well injured, his metallic-like skin greatly reducing the damage of those otherwise fatal laser beams.

"Goddamit! why ... we were so close ... why? WHY??"

The creature constantly changed shapes as it cursed its rotten luck, taking the form of its now deceased companions, his relatives, and at the end his very original shape, an ill-looking man who could barely bear the stress of living surrounded by death, and now he was all alone, without anyone he knew near and trapped in a world completely unknown to him.

"Why was I the only one to survive? Schwarz was the bombs expert .. Adolf was good with machines, Rorschach was the charismatic one, Rudolf was a good leader .... and I'm a good for nothing, this inhuman body is all I have. Sister .... mother and father ... I can't continue any longer"

And then he curled into fetal position, cursing the day the aliens arrived to his world wishing to simply die as the pain of the enemy attack finally got him. Then he changed into a form akin to the one of his sister as he strongly reminded her last words.

"No .. I must continue living on, I promised her"

The weak-willed shapeshifter stood up and looked at the remains of those who were once precious comrades and friends, wondering what he/she should do now. It would be a lot more easy to simply waste away its life in that apparently abandoned building until death took its life, but that would render pointless their sacrifice .... and so, Hildergard simply looked and looked and looked at the corpses .... it had a lot of time to continue torturing itself with the image of the death that was denied to it XD

[Amazo]

Darkness... Darkness and quietness... No sound... No light... Nothing. Only walls... Gray, cold concrete walls. Metal doors... Old equipment that would not likely be used any time soon... Petri cans, bottles, burnt lightbulbs... Dust. That's all. But no, wait, there were also memories... Memories that made these objects less ... boring? Useless? You pick the term.

These things were the only ones surrounding life of a certain creature for a very long time now... Ever since the man who took care of this place, and it, vanished, this old underground laboratory was slowly decaying. But why was this ... creature left behind? Why not taken with the scientist? She didn't know, and did not want to find out. The scientist would return one day, and when he will, he'll find the place in perfect order, just like he left it. Only a few lightbulbs to change and yay! Everything's back to normal! Back to ... being a family again...

Echo kept this idea in her mind ever since "daddy" left several years ago. She did not understand why, or when he will be back, or what happened to her brothers... But she convinced herself he would return some day, he always did... And she waited for him every day, hoping... being a faithful ... daughter? Well, if the term could be used for such a creature. What was that thing that looked like a little girl in white? Well .... hard to say. Definitely not human...

Step, step... Sweep sweep, as she moved on through one of the dark corridors, sweeping it with a broom for a thousandth time already. She was a good girl, she kept it clean, when daddy and brothers will return, they will return to a tidy home! And she'll be happy again! She just needed to wait for a bit longer... Yes, just a little bit longer, surely...

Then ... she heard something. Finally a foreign sound pierced the darkness, finally something else than rhythmic sounds of her steps and broom sweeps! Someone was here, but ... who? Was it daddy? Must have been him, nobody else ever came to the laboratory! The girl stampeded through the corridor to the source of the sound...

The smile on her face disappeared as soon as she reached the site. It wasn't daddy, to her utter disappointment. It were some people she never saw before... They were lying on the floor in weird poses, and smelled ... burnt, weird... And one of them was looking at the bodies... That one ... looked very much like her, which would have surprised Echo if she weren't, you know, a robot. But yet, the resemblance was striking, almost as if they were ... twins...

- You made a mess. Messy mess. - a voice devoid of any emotion was heard as Echo made her way into the corridor, sweeping her broom slowly left and right, left and right. She approached, looking at the corpses with a cold, emotionless glare, before turning to the girl who looked so much like herself.

- Who are you? Are you daddy's friend? Nobody else knows about this place... And why are they sleeping? - a series of questions came out, as the girl looked on her counterpart curiously... She had so much yet to learn... About this world, and the people...

[Snow White]

The self-imposed psychological torture had to wait for later as a voice broke the silence reigning the ... not-so-abandoned building. Hildegard looked back and found a cute white haired child going towards her location. She was quite charming, although it was a bit odd that she was cleaning the ground with a broom and acted as if nothing happened despite there were dead people around.

"I .... "

Just exactly what could she say? There was dead people around, in the middle of a non abandoned building where a girl who apparently was oblivious to what death meant, and the sole survivor was still shaken by the death of the remaining members of the group,

"I'm leaving already, sorry for the inconveniences"

It was better if the girl didn't know what was going on, Hildegard could quietly retrieve the bodies of the fallen freedom fighters and give them a proper burial after stripping them of their ammo and weapons, they weren't going to need them in the afterlife.

Needless to say, talking with the girl wouldn't do any good, most likely she hardly knew anything about the world anyway and find a more knowledgeable adult would be more productive ... but wait, she did mention a "daddy", so a responsible adult was bound to be within the proximities, surely he would understand the situation, corpses included, were he to be informed about the tragic incidents in the other world, and help the lost traveler to discover what to do in this new world.

"Ehh ... I'm not a friend of your daddy, but I would like to meet him if he's here"

That's all Hildegard could say for now, no need to talk about the dead people behind, it was better to leave that for later.

[Amazo]

- Leave? - Echo sounded a bit quizzical. Leave? Why leave? She didn't say "leave" did she? Scrolling back through the dialogue, the little amazo did not find herself requesting that, so ... why did this strange person want to leave? She didn't know, and she did not want them to leave. She was alone here for so long, and was ready to latch to about any person within her sight. Well, not literally, but she would go great length to make them stay.

- I do not want you to leave. I want you to stay here. Please... - the last word was more of an implore, as the girl approached even closer, looking at the bodies again. She did not know what was wrong with those people. They looked to be sleeping, but ... why in such uncomfortable poses? They mush have been very tired, but still... It was not good for them to be sleeping like that. Body would hurt when they will wake up, wouldn't it? That would be bad for them!

Approaching the burned corpses as if they were still living people, Echo started dragging them to the wall, placing them in a sitting position against it. She felt no qualms, neither showed any fright or disgust, and was not hindered by the fact that these corpses are "supposedly" heavy for her - she was much, much stronger than she looked like. When that was done, she looked back at the place where they were lying. There were stains of blood and ashes there, lots of em. She swiped the broom across, but it did not do any good - the stains only got more scattered. Then the "child" looked at herself - she got some of the red liquid on her too from dragging the corpses - the red stains were highly visible on her kimono ... for a second. Next moment they vanished like in that advertisement of cleaning products.

- I'll need to get a mop to wash the stains from the floor... I need to keep this place clean and tidy upon my daddy's return... He left some time ago, but he will return soon. You and your friends can wait here with me if you wish to see him. I am sure he will be happy to have guests. - she replied serenely, not realizing how eerie what she said must have sounded. And she did not specify that "some time ago" was measured ... in years. But surely he would return for her soon, wouldn't he?

[Snow White]

"Stay here ..."

Yes ... why not? Sure, there was a mission to fulfill, but the orders were so vague that Hildergard didn't even know from where start. The german front's masterplan consisted in reaching another world and .... that's all, there was not a precise goal behind other than somehow find something or somebody that helped to take back their home world from the invaders, and even then they still needed to procure a way to return to the home world, and that was the hardest part of the poorly made plan.

Staying with this girl and her father was an alternative as good as any other, and maybe Hildergard could even start a new life here with that girl ... did she just carry dead grown up men as if they were dolls and placed them next to a wall? That should've made the shapeshifter wonder if there was something wrong with this girl, but what was more impressive and totally made the great feat of strength be only an afterthought was how she was completely unfazed by the corpses, the blood and the burns product of the fatal wounds cauterized by the intense heat of the alien lasers. The poor thing ... what kind of life she lead to ignore death even when it is in front of her and treat corpses as sleeping people? Her situation was so strange that Hildergard ignored the strength feats and the blood simply vanishing from her clothes and focused in wondering what to do with this strange girl that slightly resembled that so cherished and deceased sister .... thought, actually she bore no resemblance at all, it's just that albino people are rare and seeing a white haired girl was more than enough to remember about the original Hildegard.

"I can wait for him, I have all the time of the world ... and is there any shovel and a terrain with soil nearby? My friends would be better sleeping in a nice hole on the ground ..."

Those bodies simply couldn't be left like that, they would eventually rot and become a home for many bacteria and insects that enjoyed the flesh of the dead, things that would make people fell ill eventually. Under other circumstances a proper burial would be the given to them, but for now ... a mass grave would be enough, a nice and big hole where they could sleep forever. It was terrible to even think about doing that to close friends, but circumstances pushed Hildegard into giving an unworthy burial for them.

[Amazo]

Something akin to a sad smile appeared on Echo's face when the girl agreed to stay here. That was the best thing she had heard since ... since her father and brothers she loved so much left her, all alone, engulfing her with so much sadness it would have made anyone go insane. Except that she cannot go insane. She was a robot, she could not crack under any psychological pressure, thus fated to endure it forever. That faint smile was the best anyone would have been able to get out of her.

She returned a moment later with a mop in her hands and a bucket of water. Upon drenching the mop with water she began washing away the stains on the cold concrete floor. The expression on her face was unreadable, she looked completely unphased, as if it wasn't blood she was mopping off, but ... ketchup? Or something similar, which should not have scared anybody normal. Echo wasn't normal. Not at all...

Then the strange white haired girl asked about the soil. Soil? Hole in the ground? Why would all these people want to rest in a hole in the ground? She could find a place for them to stay! This place was big, there were not only laboratories, but also resting rooms etcetera etcetera. Echo was keeping all those in shape too, Echo was a good girl.

- I do not know if there is soil outside. I never ventured outside of daddy's laboratory. There are many rooms you and they can stay in! We can wait for daddy there. I hope he will bring lightbulbs when he will return. He left, and all we had shortened out already, even spares... - Echo replied as she finished washing away the stains, and looked at the corpses quizzically - she wondered if she should wake them up and lead them to the dormitories, or just carry them there by herself - they looked dead tired. But there was one more thing to resolve before doing that.

- What is your name?

[Snow White]

The answer to the question remained unanswered, the white haired girl with the strangely exotic-looking kimono left and soon returned with a mop, proceeding to remove the bloodstains from the floor. The coldness of her expression was strange, whoever was her father didn't really make her clean up corpses lying on the ground, right? Because then that girl was very, very messed up.

Eventually she finished cleaning the floor and answered to Hildegard's questions with a little and slightly disturbing extra: she never left this place she mentioned was a laboratory and what's more, the absent father apparently was gone for many days ago judging for what she said about even the spare lightbulbs having outlived their usefulness, either that or those lightbulbs were of very poor quality.

"My name is ..."

Funny enough only then Hildegard realized that he had been all the time in the shape of his sister, he was so shocked by the latest series of unfortunate incidents that never noticed the many transformations he undergone while he was whining. Oh well, no reason to cry for the spilled milk, now that he made contact with this girl looking like that, he was going to remain in that shape for as long as it was needed, and he actually kinda liked looking like that, he could see the reflection in a mirror and imagine his sister was still alive.

"I'm Hildegard, and how many days passed since your dad left?"

That poor little girl ... if the theory of "dad has been gone for weeks" was true, that would explain why she insisted that Hildegard and even the corpses stayed in the laboratory, a little girl alone for so much time would invite even a complete stranger to stay with her ... or that's what the shapeshifter thought.

[Amazo]

Echo only glared when she heard the name of the girl, recording it and the image in her memory, so that she would never forget. Hildegard... That was a strange name, but she thought so mostly because she never ever heard other names before. Professor shielded her from the outer world, at first because he did not want his weapon to be discovered, and later, when she grew up on him - to protect her from the world's "corruptive influence". he did not want the purity of his pretty little white flower to be compromised... So she remained in blissful ignorance about anything outside of the laboratory...

- My name is ... Echo - she said, and her name actually made a long echo-...echo...cho...cho... in the empty long maze of corridors that were leading to various parts of underground research facility. It was unknown why the scientist chose such a name for the "child", but it was unsettlingly suiting for the surroundings and the current situation she was in. Well at least she weren't called a "Ghost", which would have been even more spooky - the girl in white kimono could have been mistaken for one, when seen in the darkness of this place.

- Its been exactly 3 years 4 month 12 days 3 hours and 56 minutes since I last saw daddy. I've been waiting for him and keeping this place tidy and nice ever since. So that when he will return he would see that I am a dutiful daughter he always wanted me to be. - she smiled a bit, eyes closed, after telling how much time passed since professor's departure with ... machine-like precision. It was one of fringe benefits of being one - you have an internal clock built-in, and you do not forget anything.

- But he's gonna come soon, don't worry. Then you and your friends will be able to talk to him. But I'd not disturb them, they look very tired. I'll carry them to the dormitories if they won't wake up soon. Maybe you would like me to show you around a bit. Or I can lead you to the resting quarters if you're tired. Unfortunately, I wouldn't offer you anything to eat, everything we had in the fridge expired long ago, so I had to dispose of them... So ... are you coming? - the little amazo said all this without as much as little shred of excitement in her voice, as she took the taller albino by the hand, but did not drag her anywhere ... yet.

[Snow White]

"Nice to meet you Echo"

Echo, it was a weird name for a girl, or at least it was in the Germany of the world from which Hildegard came, maybe it was a very normal in this new world and acting like it was weird would be pretty much the same as thinking Otto was a weird name in the Germany of the other world.

Introductions now done, the strange girl said with machine-like precision how much time have passed since her daddy left the house, the grand total of three years and a four months! It was a miracle such a little girl managed to live alone for so long, she looked like she was no older than 10-11 years old and she lived three of them all alone ... were Hildegard smarter or more genre savvy, she would've noticed something was wrong with that story, like the part where the girl survived without food but in her opinion she was simply a veeery devoted girl who lived alone for years and that explained the inability to recognize dead people, the lack of emotional development and the need for company. It didn't help at all that robots were only things of science fiction in the technologically backwards home world of hers, so nobody would ever imagine that something that looked like a human was actually an extremely advanced robot.

"You are like me ... I'm going to stay with you for all the time needed until your daddy returns, we could form a happy, little family and wait together for him forever, ever"

Hildegard blushed a little thinking about what she said, she was going completely against what the original goal was, but she didn't care, that child was like her, alone in the world and completely faithful to a person that no longer existed because it was clear her daddy died as he never returned after departing for three years. They could live together and she could embrace a new identity and live a peaceful life in this new world along echo as sisters, leaving behind all those bad memories about the past, forget his former life as a sad and stressed man and maybe, just maybe, find some happiness. It was something extremely selfish, after all many died to let him reach this new world and now he was betraying them, but why bother? There was nothing that guaranteed he could return to his world and living as the sister of this girl couldn't be bad, after all what could be the worse thing that could happen? It's not like they would be involved with super beings, aliens or robots in the nearby future and surely that decision wasn't going to hit back hard for choosing the coward way to deal with that situation.

And then "she" as she decided to abandon the old identity and live as a normal girl in the new world, accepted holding hands with the little kimono-clad girl and said:

"Show me everything about this place, it's going to be out home from now on"

That would've been really creepy, like pedobear creepy were Hildegard still attached to his old identity as a disheveled and plain looking guy in his latter 20's, but it was ... almost heartwarming that he decided to permanently live as a girl and be like a sister for the lonely Echo, AND THERE WAS TOTALLY NOTHING CREEPY ABOUT THAT XD

[Amazo]

The weird girl that appeared in the lab out of nowhere sure was very strange. Any person with eyes could have seen it, and could have heard those ... almost obsessive tones in her voice when she agreed to stay, and wait ... forever and ever and ever... And ever. It would have raised many suspicions... but yet, Echo did not know these words. She only assumed the person in front of her agreed whole-heartedly, and a small smile appeared on the robot's face once more. She won't be alone again!

- Family would be nice. - Echo replied solemnly. She was a machine, so this word did not trigger any flashbacks so common to organics who suffered much stress or psychological anguish, but this word had some appeal to the amazo. It was encrypted in her core by the professor and later supported by her memories and experiences - both fake and real - that family is the most treasured and important thing in the world. She had none now ... and wanted to fill that emptiness.

- Come then. I will show you around. My home is quite big... There is much to see... - she added and pulled the taller white-haired girl my the hand, leading her deeper into the darkness of the corridors, away from the corpses, to show her things that made up her existence - the laboratories, experiment rooms, abandoned machines, walls, posters, petri cans... All this was what she was. She was embodiment of this place, its soul, its incarnation. And if anyone would know this place a little like she did, maybe, just maybe, it would bring better understanding of the amazo itself. Who knows?

[Snow White]

"Then from now on we are family ... a nice, comfortable and happy family .."

A happy life in family ... that's all Hildegard wanted now. Back in the old world when she was still Otto, he only managed as much to finish high school and worked for countless hours in part-time jobs to bring something to eat to the house and offer proper education to his younger sister. His dad was handicapped after an accident in the work and his mom was working until fainting of tiredness as a tailor, so he had to abandon any interest in pursuing superior studies and take the place of his handicapped father, it was a hard life but at least they had each other, and seeing the smile of his sister made it worth it. Alas, the arrival of aliens put an end to all and the dreams for a happy family were gone until now ...

"Thanks, it will be my home from now on, and it would be nice to know every single place within it"

She gave a brief look at the corpses and was disgusted by their presence, once they might've been precious friends whom she made an oath of comradeship and a promise to fight for mankind until the bitter end, but now they were now just "things", objects that could put at risk the new life she planned to start. They had to disappear, those eyesores simply had no place in that new episode in her life and once she learned everything about this place Echo called home, she would sneak at midnight and get rid of those undesirable ugly thing, all to remove anything related with her past life ...

"This is a nice place ... and today will be the beginning of a brand, new life, for both of us ..."

There was no going back, the plan to betray all the expectations the rest of the team put on her was on march, from now on Otto Hartmann, member of the german front of the anti-alien resistance was dead and only Hildegard Hartmann, a normal civilian remained. What a nice day to become a new person ....