Mech Pilot who has kept you alive, even if you begged to die, to the point that you are ready to live again.
The fight raged on. Bold pilots in mecha turn what was once verdant fields into awful wastes desolate. Memory screamed on. Context screamed on. A voice from the mech screamed [REACTOR CRITICAL] but neither paid it any heed. This body was going to be their tomb. They were ready for the final seconds to come with an immense cacophony of sound. There, another foeman cleaved, here another blown to bits. The fury of Memory and Context would forever be emblazoned with their callsign Forget Me Not. No one could forget the demon of steel and rage they were.
A bright flash of white light, then blessed silence.
Then the sound of humming.
Memory and Context blinked blearily. The sky was blue, they were at a camp somewhere, and something smelled amazing.
"Good to see you are awake." A voice said blithely. "I will be honest, you had me scared there Forget me Not." A post human fennec stirred a pan full of spicy smelling food, letting it burn gently. Next to the pot was a rice cooker, powered by a horrifying mech with razor sharp claws.
Memory sat up, head spinning before speaking. "Auteur..." The voice wasn't just Memory's, it was both Memory and Context. The pair scowled and covered their mouth. "Shit." they mumbled.
The fennec's ears twitched at that. "Please, call me Quinn, or Darling. We are not in our machines. Let us not just become those war engines fully." It turned around, removing the pan from the hot coals. "To that end, what should I refer to you as?"
"Dead for all we give a fuck." The gestalt said clearly. Quinn looked annoyed at the pair in one body. "Sorry, that was rude of us. If we're honest Quinn, we're still trying to figure that out."
"Given how far along you two are in your gestalt process, I am not surprised." Quinn examined the the meat.
Memory and Context gulped. "How—"
"Do I know that? You would be surprised to find out how much I have seen of the stars." Seemingly satisfied with the pan. "You have been out for about two days. I took the liberty of ordering a print of your mech. Also, I suggest you should eat. I have some fire chicken here" it tapped the pan with a metal spatula. "but I would not blame you if you would rather just have some plain rice. You have been through a lot."
The pair shivered a bit. "If I'm honest Quinn, I think I'd rather just starve." They laid back down and looked up at the sky.
The fennec grew still. Time passed uncomfortably silent between them.
"Why is that?"
"Because, I... we don't know if we can live like this."
The air grew deathly still. Quinn set the pan down before walking over and standing over the pair's vulpine body, and hauled them to their feet. There was a swift backhanded slap. "Fool that you are! Life is to be fucking lived, to be savored, to be changed. So what if you have stopped being who you once were." It spat. "We have all become changed throughout the course of our lives, those of us with lives worth living." It grabbed Memory by the lapels of their flight jacket. "And I will not have my fucking friend die on me like some buffoon."
"Get your fucking hands off me." The pair growled. "Let us fucking die Quinn. We're a freak." They tried to pry the small hands off their jacket.
But its hands held deadly firm. "Never! I would never let a work of art like you be destroyed without trying." Tears formed in its eyes. "You are too beautiful to be destroyed so easily."
A pause.
The rice cooker beeped. Rice is done.
"Do you really believe that?
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because if I do not, the universe would lose something wonderful like you." Quinn let go of Memory's jacket. "And I would rather it be strange and wild. I cannot stand the thought of being perfectly alone as I am in this universe."
"You're like—"
Quinn smiled. "When it finally happened, we decided to keep the name Quinn, and the callsign. We are beings of nostalgia after all." It pulled out two bowls from a cooler. "Now if you would, I would love to have your company my dear."
Memory chuckled, Context echoed. "Will I ever get used to how strange it is to eat?" Context asked through Memory's mouth.
"Do you really ever want to? Eating is rather strange and wonderful! So many strong tastes to try!"
For a while the pair of bodies ate in silence. Then Memory said. "Does it get any easier? The loneliness?"
Quinn set its bowl aside. "Darling, it gets easier when you realize you will never be alone again." It chuckled. "Though, I feel finding someone else outside of your body who gets it, also helps too."
"Thanks, and please, call us Memory."
"Only out of the earshot of superior officers and other soldiers. I expect that same treatment in return."
