Song: "Welcome To The City" (Deltarune: Chapter 2) [Snowgrave Route] - Toby Fox

~Earlier~

Shortly after warning Sada, while she was running back inside the building, Kira panted lightly as she held her unconscious daughter close to her chest.

"Sara....Please be okay!" Kira thinks to herself as tears threaten to appear in her eyes, showing how much she was worried about her.

After hurrying down the hall and entering in the bedroom, her daughter and her friends were staying in, Kira jerked the blanket aside and gently laid Sara down on the bed.

Checking her over for any critical injuries, Kira gently tilted Sara's head to the right side, only to see it bruised.

"Oh thank god..." Kira sighs to herself in relief. "If it was bleeding, it would be impossible to restore any amount of blood that's been lost."

Knowing her daughter's gonna be okay now, Kira headed downstairs and grabbed a dry wash cloth along with an ice pack from the freezer, before returning and laying them down underneath Sara's head, where the bruise was.

Sitting herself down afterwards, Kira rested a hand to her forehead, immediately recalling what her original self's last words were, before her death.

"AI Kira? I have a very important objective to give you, now that Sara's born...You must never allow anything bad to happen to Sara.

I want her to be watched over by you. Even when I die, you must continue looking after her in my stead. She is my greatest treasure." Her original self's words echoed in the young AI's mind.

"Professor...Why did it all have to happen this way?" She sighs to herself next, as she shut her eyes for a moment, before opening them back up and looking over at Sara.

"If only you got to see your baby girl grow up and reach her teens right now..."

Thinking about what happened to her original self next, really broke the young AI's heart.

She may not know much about humanity and the emotions all humans share, but, she still feels like she's a human too, for her to understand what it means and what it feels like to lose someone you're really close to.

Like a friend or a sibling.

Sniffing a little, Kira wiped the tears from her eyes, keeping herself mindful about water being incompatible with electronics and machines.

While waiting for Sara to gain consciousness, Kira reached over and pressed a button that was hidden well behind the wall of her left ear, pulling up a hologram in front of her.

"Computer, scan Sara over. There's something else I want to check, other than her medical stats." Kira says, her voice changing to more of a robotic tone, as her irises glowed and changed to the color yellow again.

"Initiating scanning process..." Her computer speaks up.

In less than a second, Kira started to holographically scan Sara's body over, by slowly looking up and down at her.

"Scanning complete. Terastal phenomenon has been detected. Activity seems to be gradual but eventually overtime, will start to take effect." The computer announced, as Kira's eyes changed back to their normal ruby red color.

"How long?" Kira asked, feeling unsettled and worried.

"Calculating estimated time....." She heard her computer respond, before Kira waited.

Then a pinging sound was made.

"In the past, as of right now, the estimated time will be within 24 days. In the present, it's more than that." Her computer continues.

"And the future time?"

"Less than 15 days."

"Okay, thank you."

Then she relaxed and gazed over at Sara's pendant.

"Please...Continue to keep her safe, _________ , from that monster that took my original self's life. This is the only thing she ever wished for." Kira says, her voice growing very silent in the middle of her sentence for a moment to the point where even she couldn't hear it.

-  -  -

Pain.

That was the one thing Sada felt when she got bitten by one of his pokémon.

If this is what pain feels like to her, then it really hurts like a binch.

"Mom!" She heard her son, Arven, shout in alarm as his voice carrying worry at the same time. "Mabosstiff, come out of your ball and use Crunch!"

Immediately in response to his words once he was out of his pokéball, Mabosstiff lunged, his fangs glowing and bit down hard into the strange pokémon's wings, making it screech out in pain and let go of Sada without any hesitation, before it wobbled away, probably swearing it'll get revenge later.

"Thank you, Arven." Sada begins as she gazes up at him, as she attempts to stand up but falls back to the ground on her behind, feeling woozy from what that strange pokémon did to her, when it latched on and bit her arm.

"Mom, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, Arven. I just lost my balance for a moment."

But, that was a lie, and Sada already regrets it.

She really wasn't okay, and was terrible at lying to others. Especially to her own son.

No matter how convincing she tried to make her lie sound, it always backfires, unlike her assistant, Kira.

Even when Kira's original self was alive, she was a really good liar too.

It honestly made Sada feel...

Oh, what was it that humans called it, to express their emotion?

Right...

Jealous.

That was the word she was looking for to express her human emotion.

Unfortunately, Arven wasn't convinced by Sada's lie, after asking if she was okay, because he gave her a stern look next.

"Mom, I know you're lying. You're not okay." He sighs.

"Dang it..." Sada muttered silently under her breath.

"Just sit still and let me look at your arm."

"No! I'm fine, Arven! Please don't touch me! Infrared - "

"No, you're not okay! You're clearly in pain! If you're bleeding out, I need to know so Penny or Kira can treat it for you!"

"Arven, please!"

But, he didn't listen.

After reaching over and moving Sada's hand out of the way, Arven's face paled as he fell back, also landing to the ground on his behind.

Oh god...Penny was right, when he had an argument with her earlier.

His mom truly is an AI!

Not a normal human being who's under a computer's control.

But, even though he now knows about this, he doesn't have the heart in him to leave her injured like this, unlike a cruel person who would abandon an injured Sprigatito.

AI or not, she's still his mom.

Recollecting himself by breathing in and out slowly and steadily, Arven looked back up and met his mother's gaze again.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry you had to find out this way." Sada whimpers as she shut her eyes and looked away, probably expecting him to be angry at her or something.

"It's okay mom..." He speaks up next, making her open her eyes back up and look at him directly in the face. "Let's head back and get you fixed up. Penny's good with machines, so, I know she can help."

"Thank you again, Arven." Sada replies as she smiles a tiny bit at him, feeling relieved now, as he stood to his feet and helped Sada stand up.

"No problem. Let's hurry back before you fall again." He says, as he gently takes her uninjured arm and drapes it over his shoulder.

"Yes." Sada nods, before she and Arven hurried back by speed walking, while Mabosstiff led the way for them.

Luckily, they managed to make it back inside the building just in time, before Sada collapsed on the couch nearby.

While Arven went to go get Penny, he wondered what his mother was talking about when she mentioned the word 'Infrared' during the small argument he had with her.

Maybe he could ask Penny about that too, while he's at it.

But, that'll have to wait for now.

His mother's injured and she needs help getting it treated.

As he hurried past the observatory room, and entered in the room that Sara and the other girls were staying in, his face paled again just after he noticed Sara laying on the bed, unconscious, while Kira was sitting on a chair, next to the bed, watching over her.

"Kira, what happened to her?" He asked, as he paused.

In response, Kira turned to look at Arven.

"She got knocked unconscious by that pokémon that attacked us." Kira answers. "Luckily, she's okay and didn't end up getting wounded or with a fractured skull. She only got a bruise, so, she should be fine when she comes to."

"I see..." Arven went, not sure what to say. "Then, I hope she gets better. And when she does gain consciousness, be sure to tell her to get well soon for me."

Hearing this, Arven could've sworn he saw Kira smile gently at him, just like how his mother does, before the knowledge of what happened to her was revealed.

"Thanks...I appreciate it. I'll be sure to tell her that." She replies. "You should go on ahead with your business. I can tell you have other things to deal with, that matters the most to you right now."

Hearing this made him wonder how did Kira know, but he decided to save that for later too.

Nodding, he left the room, seeing that Penny wasn't in there.

Once he finally found her and told her what happened, Penny left to see if she can do something with Sada's injury.

-  -  -

'It hurts....Why does my head hurt so badly?'

That was the first thing that came into Sara's mind, before she was blinded by something really bright for a second.

'Nnh...What happened?' Sara asks herself next. 'All I recall is being hit upside the head by something, before I blacked out.'

When her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, Sara noticed she was back inside the bedroom that she and her friends were staying in, before seeing a familiar tiny ball of red and white fur resting on her chest, sleeping away cutely.

"Aw~! Ouka, you cute lil' stinker..." Sara silently gushed in adore to herself while she couldn't help but smile over the sight of this, as she reached over and gently scratched her behind the ears.

"As soon as I return to the present with my friends, and am back inside my school's dorm, I'm gonna spoil you rotten again with hugs and kisses!"

After she said this, a soft chuckle was heard, before Sara looked over at her left and noticed her mother sitting on a chair, nearby the bed.

"There's no denial that Ouka's meant to be your first pokémon for you." Kira giggles. "You both get along and bond with each other so well, it would've been an easy breeze for you to mega evolve Ouka, in regions such as Kalos and Alola, if it was possible."

"Yeah, that's true, only my lucario can." Sara smiles and nods. "Too bad zoruas and zoroarks aren't eligible for it. I wish they were though."

"You're not wrong at all, Sara. You're not wrong..."

After Kira says that, her face then changes to seriousness for a moment.

"On the other hand, how's your head?" She asks, worriedly next, clearly showing concern for Sara and her health.

"It hurts like heck, but I'm okay. I think..." Sara answers as she massages the back of her head a little, in an attempt to ease the pain up.

"That's good." Kira sighs, relieved. "I would only recommend taking ibuprofen for a bit, since the only aftermath effect will be headaches."

"How long?" Sara could only ask next as she looks at her mother.

"Probably a few hours. If not, then maybe a day..." Kira answered simply.

"Great...Thanks for giving me a heads-up." A groan from Sara was heard, clearly not looking forward to it. "I'll feel like a million pokédollars in no time."

"No problem."

"I was being sarcastic..." Sara rolled her eyes next, even though it was to be expected anyways, since her mother's an AI.

And most AIs definitely can't seem to pick up when someone's being sarcastic or not.

"Oh...My bad." She heard her mother say next.

"It's fine. I expected this anyways. I mean...You are an AI after all." A weary sigh was heard from Sara next.

"Sadly, that's true. Like Sada, I really wish more than anything that I was a human like you. I would be able to understand human emotions and everything else a lot more if I was." Kira nods.

"You and Sada can be human too, Mom. You don't have to do anything scientifically at all to become one." Sara pouts as she sits up on the bed a little, while she picks Ouka up and lifts her off her chest before gently setting the sleeping fox down on the bed.

"How?" Kira inquires. "Sada and I can't eat food or drink anything like a normal being like you. And we definitely can't jump in and swim in a lake or an ocean either."

"That's not what I meant at all, silly...I was referring to things like picking up items, cutting a piece of paper in half with a pair of scissors and things of that sort." Sara lightly chuckled.

"Oh..." Kira realized as she got the better message of what her daughter was talking about.

"The basic stuff you were talking about before earlier?"

"Bingo." Sara nodded. "Lemme teach you."

"Yes. Please do. But, after you get better first..." Kira smiles as she gently pushed her daughter back in the bed, making her lie back down.

"Okay." Sara replies as she gives her another smile, before she continues to rest.

At least she's getting somewhere a bit with her mother.

-  -  -

"Mm...There's something about that pendant I still can't seem to shake off. I could've sworn up and down that crack on Sara's pendant wasn't there before."

The memory of that pendant Sara had shown to her, back in the present, continued to replay in Penny's mind as she thought about it.

"It's giving off the same energy as the Tera crystals in Area Zero was, but, this kind of energy feels really different in comparison to it. Almost like...the pendant's alive."

As she was thinking about it, Penny stared at her rotom phone, while lightly tapping on the desk with her pointer finger.

"Wait...Could the pendant be a pokémon in disguise? This seems crazy to me, but, it makes a lot of sense when I think about it."

As she was lost in her thoughts, a knock from the door snapped her out of it, before she turned to look, seeing Arven standing at the entrance and avoiding eye contact with her.

"What?" She asked.

"Uhm...My mom needs fixed. An unfamiliar pokémon damaged her arm and I'm not good at machines." Arven answered, clearly humble, now that he pretty much ate his own words earlier when he said didn't believe Penny a single word she uttered about his mom until he found out himself.

"Where is she?" Penny sighed as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Downstairs. Mabosstiff is with her, keeping an eye out."

"Alright...Just go. I'll follow shortly."

Nodding, Arven silently left without saying another word.

Shaking her head, Penny gazed over at some of the materials she had inside her eevee backpack.

Honestly, she wasn't in any mood to interact with Arven, since she's still upset with him over what happened earlier.

The hard part's gonna be, is figuring out how to fix AI Sada up, without the usual necessities to repair her, since they're all back at the present, except for what she's brought along with her.

One way or the other, AI Sada's gotta get repaired temporarily, until further notice.

"Let's see..." Penny begins as she looks through her bag.

Picking up and looking over at some of the materials, she picked out what she felt would be the best to help repair AI Sada temporarily, before putting them away.

And of course, she had a few spare cloths with her that can be used to cover up the damage, depending on how big it is.

After she was finished, Penny got up and left the room to find and repair Sada, while she still continued to think and wonder about Sara's pendant that her mother gifted her.

She still felt like something was up with it, and she's still continuing to dig deeper to find out more.

But, for now...Her main focus is to repair Sada, so Arven can leave her be.