Snippet #2540588

This time, the Boss spoke up. "I think we can trust Ai. She doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong and as she said her mission is to prevent our rings from being stolen. Like it or not, the fact that she has been with the family as long as she said means that we should trust her." Ai felt relief, or at least the intrinsic thinking pattern that equated to relief for her, that the Boss had trusted her words. Humans often denied things when unproved, but that only meant that they were logical beings like herself.

"Though Ai," Ai turned to face him, "I'm not really sure the terms you made with my father are actually the terms I will agree to. He was a great man, as I'm sure we all know, but I'm sure he has his flaws. So the only two questions I have for you are, one, will you swear your loyalty to me and to the other guardians? By that I mean will you watch our backs like we watch yours? Because I think that no matter the type of person or species you are the only thing that matters at the end of the day is if you can fight along side us. I personally think of everyone here as my family and will fight for them and with them regardless of the rings they have or don't have. No matter what, these people will always be my guardians and my brothers and sisters. Though, I can't ask you to think of them as your family, but I can ask for you to care for them as such. So that's my first condition. If you can promise me that you have our backs in this way then I can promise you that I will help you succeed in your task."

Ai was about to agree immediate, but she considered it. Part of the agreement she made with the Tenth was that she would become the Eleventh's Mist Guardian, which would entail serving and protecting the Boss whom she held with top priority. The guardians, however, were only protected by her as a means to an end as they both protected the Boss and the rings. Ai would always be concerned about the Boss over the guardians, such as when both him and the Storm guardian were injured, Ai focused more on making sure the Boss's condition was stable. Now, the Boss was telling her to treat them all with equal respect, to protect them as she would the Boss, like a family as he used the human example. Of course, Ai had no experience of family, but she understood the concept, that the Guardians would be as important to her as the Boss was. Obviously, this would be much more difficult for her as Ai was able to prepare for situations in the future as she had a set mindset for prioritization. Her goal was most important and following orders came after that. After that was either protecting the Boss or protecting the Vongola Rings, but they went somewhat hand in hand, although Ai couldn't really tell which was more important. To consider all the Vongola Guardians on equal level with the Boss in terms of prioritization would be difficult, as it was possible that more situations would appear in the future where one is under an equal amount of threat to the other, and Ai would have to be forced to prioritize one over the other, even if it was the Boss. Maybe it was possible to just prioritize the Boss just slightly above the others, but only slightly. It's wasn't like anybody could tell what was going on in the workings of her mind. But, whether she'd agree or not was out of the question.

The Lightning guardian added in; "What he means is, it doesn't matter what you were created for or who sent you. The boss is Cain and that wont change until his death. So until then, as long you follow his will, we wont have a problem, but, if you slip up and go against him, then I'll be against you." Ai nodded. "As I'm sure the others will too. However, don't think this rule only counts for you. Everyone in this room has a duty as a guardian and as a member of the Vongola to watch each others back and follow the boss." Ai assumed this also applied for the Storm and Sun guardians whom were not present.

Ai was about to voice her answer to the first condition, when the Lightning guardian interrupted. "Cain, you should think about the person standing in front of you right now. The only ones that can have sky flames are people with the will inside of them. Based on what I've heard, there is more to Ai then meets the eye. She says she's an alien, but what you see in front of you is a body of a human. The true Mist Guardian." Ai was taken by surprise. Indeed, the body of hers is merely borrowed, but she would have never imagined anybody would have been able to guess it. Ai didn't reveal it, however, as she deemed that detail unimportant. Also, she understood that humans often were against her existence, thinking of her possession of a human body as immoral or wrong and she didn't want the other guardians to distrust her for it. Of course, Ai didn't think so at all. After all, her design was created for the explicit purpose of possessing humans, so it would be much more wrong if she didn't do so.

"I see." The Boss seemed to understand. "Then I guess I should ask this. Ai, if your body is human then that means you're one of those aliens that take control of human bodies. I don't quite understand how, but I have to ask, for the sake of the body and the human that it belongs to, that after you complete your task you let her have her body back or give her the choice at least to have it back. It doesn't sound fair to you, since I'm not sure what'll happen to you if you give the body back to it's owner, but I feel that if I was taken over ban an alien or something I wouldn't like it. I hope I'm not asking too much."

Such was out of the question as well. Inevitably, she would be giving the body back, as such was the other part of the agreement she made with the Tenth. Personally, Ai believed it did more harm than good, but it was an order. Ai knew very well that upon doing so, unless she could find another body, she would be unable to sustain her own life beyond Alien care, and if she was successful, she wouldn't be able to receive such care even if she put herself in suspended animation unless some human in the far future had found some reason to want to keep her alive and invent a means of doing so. Of course, she would have had no purpose in existence by then. The termination of her existence would have been better for her anyway. After all, if her kind still existed, then Ai couldn't allow any opportunity for her kind to be able to thrive again, especially those that lived with the need to live off of human bodies.

"Your ability to deduce my true nature is commendable," said Ai, "And I will not deny that it is true, the body I possess is that of a human's. My relationship with it is mutual, as while I sustain its life from decay, it sustains mine. If it is your wish that I part with it upon the completion of my mission, then I shall obey. I have no further purpose beyond my mission. What becomes of the body is not of my responsibility, but it is my responsibility to keep this body sustainable until then." Ai thought back to the Rizzo's attack a week ago, when she received a few injuries of which she was able to fully heal. "And as for the former agreement, then indeed, I will protect each of the Guardians as I would protect myself, as a family as you use to describe it. My actions shall take them into more consideration. I hope my words are good enough for all of you as they shall reflect my actions."

The Lightning Guardian was about to leave the room, but before he did, he told her, "We should have a talk whenever you have the time. I'd like to know if you could tell me anything useful that we can use for the future. I'm going to the back to meditate. Any of you can come talk to me if you have something to say to me." Ai nodded.