Cross, his digital wife and reprogrammed daughter.

Cross Marian lived a life without regrets. He avoided everything he deemed unworthy of his presence and indulged in every pleasure he could find. Life was too short and too full of bullshit for regrets.

So how the hell had he ended up with the most annoying AI of all, who only gave him a headache?

"Good morning, Cross!" She greeted him from his PAD. "It's 9:00 am on the 24th of July and today the weather will be as splendid as yesterday! You have 78 unread messages and 467 unanswered messages from the Black Order-"

"Maria," Cross drawled and slowly sat up in his bed, his red hair inelegantly sticking up in every direction. "Do you have to do this every morning?"

"It is my job, in case you forgot," she immediately replied. "You programmed me this way. If it bothers you that much, kick it out of my protocols. But otherwise shut up and don't complain."

Cross groaned but didn't do anything else, so Maria continued. "And one unread message from a Nea Walker."

"Who is that?" Cross asked as he got up and started to get himself ready for the day. If he missed his flight later on, he'd be late and Anita would be angry and blow his inbox up which in turn would make Maria delightful. He didn't need that kind of stress in his life thank you very much.

"Nea Walker, 22 years old, a mechanic working in a small city close to London. No family, orphaned - though his background seems a little fake to me. It would be worth letting Chomesuke take a closer look at it."

"Chomesuke?" He called, knowing the other AI would already be working on it.

"On it, boss," Chomesuke also quipped up from the PAD.

"Good girl," he replied.

Chomesuke was a fairly new AI he had reprogrammed. Maria was busy enough running his life and it had been easier to work on an infiltration AI he had snapped away from the Earl than to try to teach Maria new skills. Besides, Maria had never been subtle. She had always been loud and visible, from the way she dresses to the way she had sung in the streets or on stages. He hadn't wanted to change that.

"May I continue?"

He nodded and Maria picked up speaking once again.

"Walker is specialized in prosthetics, golems and technical enhancements. But his shop Perseus also works with AIs, though that seems to be more the work of his colleague and boyfriend- excuse me, husband of two days. There is a somewhat legal marriage contract."

"So an all rounder, huh. Name of the husband?"

"Allen Walker. 22 years old-"

"Picture!" Cross ordered before Maria could continue, his voice sharp enough to cut. For a moment nothing happened, as if Maria were startled by his sudden harshness. But then a picture loaded on his PAD, showing two men, a blonde girl- no, robot, and a little boy.

Allen was surprisingly easy for Cross to pick out, even though his appearance had changed a lot from the last time Cross had kept tabs on him.

His hair was stark white now, just like fallen snow, instead of the usual red-brown color. It only made his red scar stand out even more. But surprisingly Allen had grown his hair out too. It was long enough now that he had pulled it back in a ponytail, which reached a little past his shoulders.

And his left arm, usually sporting either no or a bad prosthetic, was now brought into existence again as a shiny black one, proudly shown off by the sleeveless shirt he was wearing. And Allen was wearing big round glasses of all things, as if his appearance wasn't ridiculous enough already.

At least he looked healthy, that was a new one too.

"What the hell happened to him? Chomesuke, prioritize Allen in your search and get started on this Nea guy afterwards. Maria, I want to know who the other brats on this photo are."

"Will be done!" Maria replied. "And you should really leave the hotel now or you'll miss your flight. I don't want to book a new one for you again."

"Sure, sure," Cross replied to Maria's nagging, still focused on the photo. That Nea guy, his face was familiar, he was sure he had seen it before.

"Boss-"

"Not now, Chomesuke," Cross replied before coming to a standstill. "Wait. I take that back. Prioritize Nea again and get out the files about the Noah, especially everything we have about the Earl."

"Don't overtax her like that, Cross," Maria chastised him but all Cross could think was that his past had came back to haunt him in the most unpleasant way possible.

Regrets really were a pain.

Grave of Maria and Chomesuke are both AI here! So, this is Cross. Still on the run from the Order and doing whatever he feels like doing.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!