ma gone
ma put me here
on my own
I do think
think things
am with the others
friends?
friends
in box
happy box
we play
I big
I strong
they same as me
baby
all baby
we play
I push
I strong
I carry
go under
on back
they laugh
laugh good
I like when laugh
laugh make me laugh
oh no
other fall
other cry
I try help
I touch other
touch on shoulder
that mean good
they okay
crying stop
the big one looks at us
…
Captain Liiti was the head nurse of Southern Phos Nursery 4, and their job was mostly to make sure all the other nurses were doing well and didn’t need any help. But Liiti also worked on the Freshly Hatched Section, which dealt with baby Rethans under the age of 3 months. The nursery wasn’t particularly busy lately, because this part of the city was filled with higher ranked Rethans, including a lot of Generals from territory protection Legions, as well as a few Below 200 Generals, and that meant that they only had four babies in the Freshly Hatched Section currently.
That was fine. Liiti liked having fewer babies in their nursery. It meant that they could take on extra kids from other nurseries if needed, and they could send staff to other nurseries too to make sure every kid was covered and properly looked after. It also meant that Liiti could get to know the babies and take lots of photos as they grew, which they could then give to the parents. Most kids remained in nurseries until the age of three or four, after which they would enter the 900th Legion, the Junior Stratos, and start their education. Of course, they would learn some basic skills while in nursery, mainly talking, reading and writing, but everything else was done in the 900th Legion.
The reason for this was rather simple: Rethans were prone to going Defensive Stance upon seeing their kids being hurt. While medical and psychological technologies had massively decreased those risks, it was deemed both safer and more convenient to have a Legion or three of specially trained Rethans to look after kids. This meant that every single Rethan was treated equally and looked after according to their needs.
Liiti however was distracted by something. As they were just walking away from checking the Fresh Hatchies, they had heard one of them crying. But as soon as Liiti had returned, the crying had stopped. Weirdly, the youngest of the hatchies, an oddly large baby called Retvik, was patting the second youngest baby, Tanii, on the shoulder. The other two babies, Nanik and Kayiil, were watching on, and Nanik had decided to copy Retvik and start patting Tanii on the shoulder as well.
These babies were… odd. Tanii was a strange two-tone blue with yellow eyes and quite skinny. Nanik was the oldest, and was a very bright green, despite both their parents being quite dark green, and was apparently named after the Goddess of Peace, because they were so quiet. Kayiil had an unusual combo of black and yellow plating, with matching yellow eyes, with more yellow than most, and they were very comfortable with being held and snuggling up with the other babies. Retvik though was the youngest, despite also being the biggest. Granted, they were all under three months old and Retvik had just turned one month old, but Retvik was… confusing. They seemed far too intelligent but they also seemed to be able to keep the other babies calm.
Right now, they were looking up at Liiti. Liiti smiled at Retvik, and Retvik seemed to smile back, before going back to patting Tanii.
Liiti watched the babies for a bit. They seemed to be completely fine and, after Tanii had settled down, they went back to playing. Playing mostly seemed to involve them crawling around chasing each other and rolling around, but they were babies, that was to be expected. Satisfied that the babies were fine, Liiti called over another nurse, then went off to deal with a visitor.
…
big one happy
I happy
others happy
is good
I like happy
big one go now
we play again
I chase
they run
it fun
big one go
other come
play time
play with friends
wee
happy
…
Liiti was surprised to see who had come in to visit. A literal deity! And they were asking to see one of the fresh hatchies?
“Hello, Kyr Captain Liiti…” Litvir muttered. “I was a bit late, I am sorry, may I see my little sibling, please?”
“Oh… of course!” Liiti smiled. “What is the name of the baby you wish to see?”
“My little sibling is Retvik. I… I was supposed to come here with mama Gath but I was caught up in my work.”
Liiti led Litvir over to the front desk. “I see. May I quickly see your ID, please?”
Litvir fiddles around with a pouch on their belt and pulled out a battered ID card. Liiti quickly read it, compared it to a list of approved visitors, then smiled some more.
“All good, Litvir. Please, follow me.”
They quickly headed back to the Fresh Hatchies Section. The babies were still playing, but one of them suddenly paused and looked up.
…
shadow?
oh
is other back?
two others!
no
other and
and
is ba!
big ba!
…
“BA!”
Liiti and Litvir both blinked in confusion as one of the babies suddenly stopped playing, looked up and pointed at Litvir.
“What?”
“BA!” baby Retvik repeated. They crawled over to the edge of the box to be closer to Litvir. “Ba! Ba!”
Litvir glanced at Liiti. “Has Retvik done that before?”
“Uh, no. First time.”
“May… May I pick up my little sibling?”
“Uh, of course.”
Litvir hesitated, then reached into the box and picked baby Retvik up. Retvik immediately started cooing and chirping, and snuggled up close as Litvir hugged them.
“Ba!”
“Yes, I am your big ba…” Litvir whispered, doing best to hide tears that they didn’t understand. “I love you very much.”
“Ba…” Retvik chirped back, before suddenly falling asleep in Litvir’s arms, happy, safe and content.