I got everything cleaned up and snuck back into Carnivac without anyone noticing. Shiro had prepared some breakfast from the leftovers along with a thick, black drink called caff that I assumed was like this world’s coffee. I didn’t bother to ask though.

When the parents were ready, Carnivac and Shiro adopted their running forms and were back on the road, such as it was. We stopped twice for breaks, but finally made it back to AutomaTown by lunch time. I don’t hold any ill will towards Shiro’s parents, I think they’re lovely, but I was determined to build an airship of some sort if it meant that I wouldn’t have to stretch a five hour trip into twenty-five. Especially if I wouldn’t have to carry people on my back that needed potty breaks every hour or less... or at all, really.

Shiro was delighted to be back in his inn and jumped right into making lunch for everyone. There weren’t any lodging rooms on the ground floor and no one, except for his parents, were comfortable with putting them in a room upstairs. The construction team was commissioned with building an addition to the inn that would bump out a small room for them near the kitchen. It was decided that part of the addition would include dorm rooms for the inn staff as well as a small office space for Shiro.

“Oh, it’s so lovely to meet you!” Shea said, giving the parents big hugs. “You must be exhausted from your trip. I can’t even imagine riding on the backs of Shiro or Carnivac, let alone for that long. Cyclone was bad enough, I was terrified the whole time!”

“Cyclone? Is that a horse?” Mom asked with curiosity.

“No, no. Cyclone is... well... how to describe it... He’s another Automata... and he can change like Shiro can... but not into an animal. He changes into this weird contraption thing with wheels like a carriage but you ride on top of it instead of inside. He goes so fast that everything around you just turns into a blur. We made it from Urd to here in about three hours and I thought I was going to die.”

Dad gave her a look that said he wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or messing with them.

“Must be another one of them special Automata that this Master Prime built,” Mom said as if she’d just pieced together an elaborate mystery and was just about to identify who the real murderer was all along.

“Yup,” Shea confirmed, “he’s another one of Prime’s proxy shells. Like Carnivac, here.”

“Proxy shell?” Dad repeated. “What’s that?” He turned his attention to Carnivac, who had been looking for an excuse to slip away this whole time.

Carnivac looked at Shea and slumped his shoulders a bit as if to say “are you kidding me?”

“Oh! Sorry! I... um... I believe I need to go check on what Devin is doing in the kitchen. Excuse me!” Shea fumbled before spinning on the spot and making a break for it.

Carnivac sighed audibly, “Cyclone and I are both proxies of Prime. There’s a couple others around too. We act on his behalf or handle things in his place.”

Dad narrowed his eyes but remained silent. Mom got excited and went to sit down when Shiro brought out a plate of some sort of steaming meat and set it onto the table.

“Eat and rest. I’ll fetch Prime so you can meet him,” Carnivac said.

Dad’s look of suspicion faded as he sniffed the air and his attention was drawn to the plate of meat. He then nodded to Carnivac and stuck out his hand. “Thanks for the ride Mister Carnivac, I know it wasn’t the most comfortable for either of us but I appreciate it just the same.”

Carnivac nodded back and clasped the old cat’s hand. He then turned and headed out of the inn and towards my workshop. It wasn’t that I felt like I needed to keep my proxy ability a secret from Shiro’s folks as much as I just got tired of having to keep explaining it all the time. I considered making up a pamphlet to hand out.

Once I was out of sight, I returned Carnivac back to storage and pulled Sentinel out. Once booted up, he wandered off to find Prowl or Jackie to let them know he was back on the job. I made a note for him to take a look around the shop for materials to craft a new stetson and duster. I headed back to the inn to meet Shiro’s parents again, this time as myself, of course. I got the usual looks of doubt and surprise regarding my height and looks. At this point I almost want to shout “Yes, I’m short and plain looking, can we get on with it?” I guess I’ll have to include that in the pamphlet as well.

The meeting went about as you would expect and afterwards we found a room for Saburo and Yatsude to stay in, until their new addition was completed. They were pretty wiped out, but the princess insisted on meeting them. I was afraid they might drop dead on the spot from the shock and excitement but they took it all in stride. It probably helped that the princess didn’t much look like a princess at the moment.

I followed the princess back up to her room to discuss what I’d seen at The Factory as well as my ideas for her new body.

“One moment Master Prime, I think my brother should be a part of this discussion.”

She had a travel sized mirror that was set on a desk in the room. It was ornate and covered with various glyphs and sigils. It looked expensive. I couldn’t read any of them but the princess touched different symbols in a pattern. Each one lit up as she touched it and pushed some mana into the device. The reflection in the mirror faded and was replaced with a swirling black smoke. Eventually the smoke began to condense and take shape.

I recognised the shape of the crown prince in the smoke. The mirror acted like a video phone of sorts and could call other mirrors though you didn’t get a proper video feed, just smoke particles faking the shape of the person in front of the other mirror. I’d love to be able to figure out how it worked though. Did the two mirrors need to be paired? Was the glyph interface a combination lock or a phone number?

“Ah, Lena, I was expecting your scry earlier than this,” came the disconnected voice of the prince. It sounded like someone whispering to you from the bottom of an elevator shaft.

“My apologies big brother, Master Prime only just returned this afternoon,” she said, giving the smoke prince a little bow.

The prince gave a dismissive wave. “Prime, my sister tells me you paid a visit to Trone. What have you found?”

I told him about the conversation I overheard with Lord Jhaix, something about a dragon, and test units called “Titans” that they were training with.

“Hmm,” the prince said, tapping his chin. “My spies in father’s service have heard a rumor that a large order of some sort of new weapon is due to arrive in a month’s time. I’m working on getting more information on it from General Greevus. He should be back from a deployment next week.”

“Oh, I remember the general,” Princess Relena spoke up.

“Yes, he had a soft spot for you when you were younger. He was ready to execute Captain Treize himself when he heard the news of your deathly encounter. He hasn't been told that you were killed, of course.”

“I’m not dead,” the princess said, huffing and folding her arms.

“No, but you might as well be as far as your position in the court. An Auto— I’m sorry, Automata, as anything more than a servant is unheard of right now. Hey, come on. Turn back around Lena, you know I don’t feel that way about you.”

“What about all the other Automata?” she asked, barely turning in his direction.

The prince sighed. “We’ll figure something out, we know the truth now, but not everyone does. It’s tricky. Actually, convincing the general would be a good start. Prime, I want the princess brought here. You have six days. You can split yourself or something, right? You need to go back to the factory and find out more about these Titans. I also haven’t heard anything at all about a dragon so get me something more... substantial.”

“As you command, your highness,” I said with a bit of an eyeroll and mock bow. Though, I doubt it translated via the smoke.

“Ha! You’ve never followed a command in your life, have you Prime?”

“Well... no... I suppose I haven’t.”

“I appreciate your frankness, it’s refreshing honestly. At least I know you aren’t scheming anything behind sweetened words.”

“Big brother has never had anyone talk to him like you do Master Prime. I think that anyone but you would have been killed on the spot.”

“Well... he tried..." I mumbled, "I just don’t know when to shut up... or back down.”

The smoke prince smirked. “You don’t have much time Prime. Won’t be a problem though, right?”

“You’re lucky I don’t need food or sleep,” I quipped.

“Oh, and Prime, make her presentable. A shabby Automata body isn’t a good look for a princess.”

“Shabby!?” Princess Relena yelled and stamped her foot.

“Shabby,” Prince Milliardo repeated. “Give me something fitting Prime, I’ll compensate you appropriately when you arrive. ”

“Hmmph!” the princess emoted as she forcefully flipped the mirror onto its face, dispersing the smoke and disconnecting the call.