Marionette
by Meimi

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Disclaimer: Am not associated in any way with Namco, Monolith, et al. No profit, blahblahblah.

This is all lady tecuma's fault for egging me on in chat after I mentioned that I had gotten an idea while reading one of her fics.

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It wasn't uncommon for her daddy to have a visitor or two during the day. In fact, it was quite odd when he didn't have somebody over. Those days when it was just her and daddy were so quiet and lonely. She much preferred the days when he had his business associates, as he referred to them, over. The soft, constant drone of conversation in the living room was very soothing.

Today hadn't been any different. Mr. Nakamura, one of daddy's lawyers, had come over after breakfast and had talked 'business' with daddy up until lunch. He hadn't stayed for lunch though, which was just a little strange. After she had finished eating, daddy had asked her to please play in her room until dinner time. Shion hadn't minded really, Cathy, a pretty doll Febronia had given her, had been waiting for her in her room. They had been building something, she wasn't quite sure what yet, out of constructor materials when daddy had called her for lunch.

Cathy had watched patiently as Shion had gotten back to building. When she had thought they were halfway through, Cathy had informed her that it was a containment unit for something special, whatever that meant. Shion hadn't really care, it appeared as if it would probably function if it were real and it looked neat. Maybe she could show it to daddy later.

Things got quiet in the house after awhile, real quiet. An uneasy feeling shivered up Shion's spine, something was different about today. She looked over at Cathy, seeking reassurance that she was just imagining things, but the doll only stared back at her placidly, glass eyes empty of anything for once.

Biting her lip nervously, she darted a glance at her bedroom door. Something wasn't... right. Shion wrung her hands, bunching up the material of her skirt in agitation. What was it? What could it be? Shaking her head finally, Shion resolutely climbed to her feet, grabbing Cathy up off of the floor as she did so. She had to find out what this feeling was about and Cathy would help her to be brave. Daddy... surely daddy wouldn't mind if she just took a peek around the house, just to make sure everything was okay.

Gulping silently, Shion reached up and slowly turned the doorknob, doing her best to keep it from squeaking. Once she turned it as far as it could possibly go, she gently pulled back on the door, grinning proudly when she managed to open it completely without producing even the tiniest of squeaks. Glancing back and forth down the empty hallway, Shion began to tiptoe towards the living room. 'Quiet as a mouse, right Cathy?' she thought as she hugged the doll closer to her chest.

Stopping at the corner to the living room, Shion took a deep breath and prepared to take a quick peek. If she was fast enough, daddy might not even find out that she had gone out of her room. Now to just-

"Miss Shion, there really is no need to skulk about."

Shion gave a high pitched squeak of fright, not unlike a mouse, and grabbed ahold of the wall to keep from falling over. She had been found out! Daddy would be furious at her! And disappointed, which was worse.

A nice little heavy knot formed in her tummy as Shion steeled herself for the upcoming 'talking to' and stepped around the corner and into the living room. But daddy wasn't there. Shion blinked owlishly at the pale haired man who smiled at her from across the room. He was sitting in daddy's favorite chair. Daddy had never given up his chair before.

The strange man continued to smile at her as he clasped his hands together over his crossed knees. "Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Shion?"

"Daddy is...," Shion said hesitantly. Not here, she finished silently in her head as she eyed the 'business man' suspiciously.

"Ah yes," the strange man closed his eyes for a moment before leaning forward slightly, "Your father is taking a call."

"Are you sure?" Shion asked accusingly, sounding more like an "I don't believe you." statement than anything else. "Daddy never takes calls when he's having an important meeting."

"Is that so? How very professional of him." Shion bristled at the tone of his voice, he sounded awfully amused. Was he laughing at her? "Mr. Uzuki is taking this particular call because I asked it of him. Nothing more."

Shion blinked in surprise. Weird. Why would this weird man want to interrupt his own meeting? "Who are you?"

"Someone... important," the man murmured quietly, as if avoiding the subject. He gazed at her in silence for several moments, unblinking, while Shion waited impatiently for him to really answer her question. "Tell me Miss Shion, do you like dolls?"

Shion stared at him in abject confusion. What kind of question was that? He was supposed to tell her who he was, not be such a... weirdo. "Yes," she ground out finally, her manners dictating she answer him even if she'd rather yell at him to answer her first question already and quit beating around the bush.

"And do you like that doll there very much, the one that Febronia gave you?" he asked as he shifted in the chair, leaning an elbow on an armrest and resting his chin upon his palm.

"Ye-yes!" Shion squeaked out, startled by the question, and hugged the little doll closer to her. How did he know about how she had gotten Cathy? "You know- you know Febronia?"

"You could say that," he said softly and gestured for her to come closer.

Shion shyly shuffled forward. He couldn't be all that bad if he knew Febronia, even if he was still a weirdo. She stopped just beyond arm's reach, a sliver of caution still evident. There was no harm in being just a little careful. He was still weird after all... and she still didn't know who he was.

"May I see her?" he asked, holding out his free hand.

Shion wanted to say no. She really did. Cathy was hers and she didn't want a weirdo messing around with her. But... he wasn't being mean or anything, and he wasn't acting like he wanted to feed Cathy to a bunch of wolves either. Manners, Shion, manner. A little girl must be courteous. Shion grimaced, one of her mother's more coherent statements flitting through her mind. Sighing, she reluctantly handed the doll over. "Her name is Cathy."

"Oh?" he murmured as he gently took the doll from Shion's grasp and examined it, smiling at what he discovered. "My, she does look a bit like a Realian."

"One of Feb's sisters is named Cathe, so when Feb asked me what I wanted the doll she was making for me to look like, I told her to make it look like her sisters," Shion babbled, encouraged by his smile. She was being silly, he didn't seem bad at all. "I can't play with them, so I thought I could have the next best thing. Feb seemed to like the idea."

"Really? And if you were given another doll, would you like it to look the same?" he asked Shion as he returned the doll to her proud little owner.

"Oh no," Shion shook her head as she hugged her doll again, "I don't want another Cathy."

"What would you like it to look like then?"

"Oh, I don't know," Shion muttered as she looked down at Cathy. She brushed her fingers against the doll's fine silver hair in thought. "Maybe long hair this time? Would it look good purple? No, I think blue would be better. Blue goes well with silver and she would be Cathy's sister, wouldn't she?"

The CEO of Vector Industries, known simply as Wilhelm to the universe at large, nodded as the child, important in her own right, decided on the preferences for her future 'doll'. This was far easier than he had originally thought it would be, though he wasn't sure what to make of the 'weirdo' label he seemed to have now collected.

"Hey!"

Or perhaps not as easy as it had seemed, Wilhelm thought as he focused on the diminutive little girl who stood in front of him, one hand on her hip, the other wrapped around 'Cathy'. "Yes?"

"Are your eyes red?" Shion squinted, looking very hard up at them. She had never met anyone with red eyes before, but they looked sorta that color. Maybe a little orange-ish too. What a weird guy, white hair and red eyes.

"You could say that," Wilhelm congratulated himself for not stammering. The child truly had no shame once she got going.

"Okay, red then," Shion smiled brightly, "She should have red eyes."

"Ah, I see," Wilhelm smiled as an image of sorts began to construct itself in his mind, "So if you got another doll, you'd like her to have long blue hair and red eyes, correct?"

"Yeah, that would be neat," Shion beamed and twirled around, "I bet Cathy would love to have a sister just like that."

"I'm sure the cosmos will be more than happy to answer your request," Wilhelm said quietly, too quiet for the joyful girl to hear, but loud enough for his smile to take on a shade of embarrassment at his own bad pun.

With these specifications, the 'doll' in question should turn out to be aesthetically pleasing. At the very least, Miss Shion would be pleased by the results. Of course, it would be quite some time before she received her new doll, but he could wait. Waiting was something that he was very good at.