The person who ran into the embrace of Janine and Martyshkina might have looked strange to some. Horrifying even. She was a metal skeleton with ribs fused together, an eternal grinning smile, the dim white forever smoldering in the lenses sunk deep into the cranium, often instilling fear in anyone who hadn't spoken to this petulant child. Janine tossed her axe to Impatient One, and, together with Marty, took Lyudochka into a spin.
There was no clever trick about that metal body; no brain case was hidden inside the chest or agile limbs, nor was she an AI. Born as a human, she had been uploaded into circuits and processors. She had 'grown' during their separation, if such a word could be applied to an ageless machine. Her thoracic cavity expanded; longer, multi-jointed limbs replaced the previous humanoid appendages. A cloak of woven chains and white cloth rustled; its upper ends seamlessly entered the smooth surface of the bones.
"I've missed you so much, Moms!" The girl, no, the woman, cried, hugging them. "Sorry so much for writing so rarely; a bunch of stuff happened, and then even more stuff happened, and then this and…"
"Beat it." Martyshkina patted her skull. "We also haven't been the exemplary parents lately."
"Then we all suck at communicating! Let's fix it." Her jaw closed, surprising Janine. She hadn't been able to when they found her in the underground laboratory. "How have you been doing?"
"Existing," Janine answered evasively and noticed ornate insignias welded into her cub's limbs. "You are an ambassador in Houstad?"
"Sorta." Lyudochka jumped back on the ground and proudly showed them her staff.
The top was made of gold, the bottom of platinum, while the shaft itself was of stainless steel. Letters of spiritual wisdom covered the golden part, while warnings to temper religious fervor and focus on fostering friendship covered the lower end.
"Well, to tell the truth, I worked as a clerk in the embassy." Lyudochka scratched her chin. "Gaining experience, meeting new people, filling out papers for immigration, but then the war broke in, half of our terminals exploded, wounding my colleagues, and Abel ventured on his murder spree, while Mister Wickedbreed was last seen at the Wall. It was scary and stressful when Lord Steward himself had promoted me, but!" She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the giant standing silently at her back. "Ur-Champion arrived after Abel had to be recalled before he joined the Reclaimers to wreak retribution."
"Is that bad?" Janine ruffled her hair. "Lyudochka, sorry if I sound like an ass, but you said your people were wounded. We wouldn't mind welcoming Abel into our ranks for a while."
"First for a while, then forever. At least such was the reasoning of the Commune's geezers," the woman dropped her voice volume to imitate hushing. "Please don't tell them I said it; they'll scream at me again. I am sure they have valid concerns; it's just that I don't get them. The Gilded Horde is an enemy to all; we should team up against it, not play politics."
"Our mouths are sealed," Martyshkina promised.
Lyudochka gestured, and the two women leaned in so she could whisper in their ears, "I'm sort of freaking out here and really want the real ambassador to return. I don't have the faintest idea if I am doing a good job, and I keep asking the military about the whereabouts of our people, and no one knows anything! Argh!" Her voice modulators conveyed the roaring frustration. "All I want is to do the job well, but I am not the right person to handle the situation well!"
"But you are doing your duty, regardless. Take pride in that," Janine advised her. "And let us lighten your burdens, daughter. Anissa!"
"Warlord?" Anissa closed in, watching Lyudochka warily from a distance. "Why does the machine call you mothers?"
"Because she is our daughter." Martyshkina slapped the Oathtaker across the back.
"But… you are women! A girl and a girl cannot produce offspring!" Anissa stammered. "Are you a mutant, Mom? Am I one? Was it an immaculate conception? Or did you eat a chunk of steel before copulating? Is that why she is like this? Or was it Warlord Martyshkina? How did this happen? What did you do?!"
"And you never deemed it fit to tell us, why?" asked Impatient One, stepping closer to Lyudochka.
"Shamans have their own secrets; we have ours." Martyshkina shrugged. "Lyudochka is not to be treated as a Wolfkin. She is gentler, less rigid than us…"
"She is literally made of metal," Anissa noted, baring her neck at Janine's snarl. "Observation, not an insult, Warlord!"
"…But neither is she an outsider, and her name will be added to the memorial stones."
"You are Anissa, right?" Lyudochka shoved herself past the warlords and shook paws with the wolf hag. "Mom told me a lot about you. Is it true that you used a spine to…"
"To club a bastard to death, not my proudest moment," Anissa finished the sentence, nervously examining the lifeless fingers that touched her and shuddering.
Lyudochka stopped; her head turned smoothly to look at Impatient One, who quickly rubbed her muzzle against the metallic limb and frowned. "What… what is she doing? Is this a ritual to ward me off?"
"I don't care that you are a soulless abomination and a foul affront to all that is natural; I care that it isn't possible to mark you as part of the Tribe," Impatient One answered, rubbing her muzzle again. "Why can't I scent-mark you?"
"My surface cleans itself, Impatient One." The ambassador regained her composure. "Mom, what about Ignacy, Bogdan, and Marco? Can I meet them?"
"Bogdan," Janine's voice almost broke, but she held on, accepting Marty's paw on her shoulder. "I failed him and many others. Ignacy is fine, but Marco is injured."
"Injured… But he is only a child!" The ambassador pressed a hand to her mouth.
"Happens in service. He'll be fine," Janine asked in a tone that left no room for argument. "Lyudochka, we brought several of your people back with us. Maybe they'll know about the ambassador's fate. Anissa, escort your sister to Ignacy and explain the situation, then report back to us."
"How can I explain when I don't even understand... I mean, yes, Warlord." The wolf hag saluted and rushed to the mobile fortress accompanied by the clanking of Lyudochka's legs. On the run, Anissa turned to the metal woman and asked, "Can I have your number, sis? Don't really have enough time to chat right now, not with the war happening."
"Sure thing!" Lyudochka slipped a hand into the bag around her waist.
"Brings back memories," chuckled Marty. "Mommies."
"Any other cubs you failed to mention?" Impatient One asked icily.
"None of your business, Shaman," Martyshkina said.
"It is a part of my business, as we are charged by the Blessed Mother herself to maintain a chronicle of each family in the Tribe." The shaman frowned. "Can you imagine the shame if we fail to mention her lineage?"
"I don't think you need to worry about it, Impatient One," Bertruda said. "It's unlikely the lady can reproduce."
"Didn't stop these two from ejecting her somehow, so anything's possible. I am just preparing for the worst."
"To the command center, at once!" Janine barked, not wanting to have this argument with the shaman right now. What wasn't forbidden was allowed, and adoptions were never added to the list of unworthy sins.