Father and his awakened daughter.

After a bit more not so relaxing massages from mother and myself we all realised it was time for tea and so mother went back into the kitchen leaving me alone with the old man. Needless to say the times he tensed up as if ready for combat became longer and more frequent after that and it was truly funny to watch so everyone in the house but him enjoyed the lead up to dinner.

After a few minutes dinner was done and mother needed help laying it out on the table. The old man was utterly exhausted by this point and apparently wanted to escape my vicinity immediately as he eagerly jumped out of his chair and went to help his wife carry in the plates from the kitchen.

I watched on humming a tune from my spot at the table. I would sway from side to side in tune with the music a little like a metronome. Even that comparison was enough to make me laugh at the moment and so I did. Of course laughing made me remember the old man's reactions and that made me laugh even harder.

When the loving couple came in and found their daughter laughing maniacally to herself alone at the table I imagine it stoked another measure of fear in the old man and another measure of bewilderment from mother.

Regardless they ignored me and set up the plates in their rightful places before sitting down themselves. Me and mother looked at father expectantly and for some reason he flinched back but he ate his food almost timidly and gave us the nod.

When he did I took a look at my food and once again found a fish based dish on my plate. This time though it was a local speciality. It was somewhat similar to salmon in that it's meat was pink and soft but the texture was entirely different. While salmon almost melts on your tongue with a bit of butter this fish did not so easily go into that good night.

It put up a fight and you really had to chew it before you put another mouthful in. Yet despite the chewiness it was also soft as though what you were chewing was nothing but air. It had a similar texture to chewing gum really. Though obviously it didn't last as long.

I don't actually know the name of this fish but I do know that it's found around the forests on the other side of the planet and is apparently their main export. Taste wise it was fairly sweet for a fish almost like it came honey glazed originally. That might have something to do with the water it was raised in though more than the characteristics of the fish itself.

"Oh right, Did you hear about the junklads?" Mother suddenly piped up with extra enthusiasm. Obviously I knew what she was talking about but I was rather surprised news travelled so quickly. Even in our society having your death reported the day it happened was a rare occurrence. Even locals knowing this kind of thing was impressive.

The old man appeared not to know however as he stared at her quizzically clearly not knowing what she was talking about. Also interested in the conversation though for entirely different reasons I perked up my own ears to listen in.

"Apparently the leader of the junklads was killed and no one knows how or why. Right in the middle of their headquarters as well. Knife through the heart supposedly, though the murderer and their weapon haven't been found." Mother explains still excited.

The old man's only reaction was to furrow his brow but mother seemed a lot more excited and actually happy about it. "Doesn't this mean the police can focus on actually doing their job now?" She asked hope clear in her eyes.

If the junklads were in disarray now would be a good time to get rid of them and once they do the police would be enough for anyone wanting to fill in the power vacuum. It'd take them a while to build up the kind of strength the junklads had and the only reason they were a threat at all was their powerful backing from selling fixed up stuff which only certain people can do anyway.

Theoretically now that their leader was gone the order would return to the area we live in. Unfortunately theory is not actually practical. The old man only shook his head at her and then explained.

"This doesn't actually do anything other than annoy their backers. The police are used to not having to assign manpower here and they are stretched thin as it is. They will likely continue to ignore us so long as the next group to fill the junklad's spot isn't totally tyranical. Though they may ignore that too if certain officers are given the right incentive." His explanation hit the heart of the matter rather well though I'm impressed he didn't just go into a tyrade about the injustice of it all and take his battalion to go and sweep up the corrupt cops himself.

His next statement however tells me why he didn't go and do that. "It's very difficult to tell the corrupt cops from the insubordinate ones in this area. Only the gangs know and they're not just going to spill that information. As such the good cops can only do their best in their assigned areas and no one from the outside can interfere without collateral damage. Best we can hope for is one of the good cops spotting something from the outside. Even if that were to happen though they would likely be silenced almost immediately so…" He trails off not wanting to finish his explanation but I get the gist.

Essentially not being able to tell who's good and who's bad is a real issue for anyone wanting to offer the good cops help. Anyone who could tell is immediately silenced and that's how they keep up this charade of being a proper police force.

Because we don't know if the cops will help or not there's no deterrent for anyone wanting to fill the power vacuum the junklads left and even if there was a deterrent there aren't enough good officers around any more to get a proper raid group together to sweep up the remains of the junklads. Hence our situation hasn't changed the only difference will be that the new leader will oppress us in a different way.

"Because of this I want you to stop going to wherever you're going ok sweetheart?" Asked the old man casually as though this was a matter of little importance. Even as good a mood as I'm currently in though I was having none of this request. So I spoke up saying as much.

"Nope. I have to go there every day and that's exactly what I'm doing. I won't stop for some conflict that's never going to end." I say firmly the smile still on my face. I don't care what he says about this one but I'm not budging here. My robot is almost complete and I finally have a proper use for it. I won't have you interfering in my plans this time old man.

The grimace on his face probably indicates his reluctance to fight me on this topic but he too wants to stay firm on this one so he continues and makes sure I heed his words this time. Not that I have any intention of doing so.

"I AM sorry sweetheart but this is non-negotiable. I won't have you out there in gang power struggles and with some unknown murderer on the loose. It's just not happening. As a parent and as a soldier, I can't accept that." He says just as firmly as I stated my opinion.

I just smile at him and he appears to lose his gusto for a moment. Once he does I continue. "I'm sorry father dearest but I am going outside. You do not disagree yes?" I ask putting emphasis on my words. I know what comes next but this time I have goals and I can't wait to train again.

My smile increases in both size and intensity as I think about the possibility and the old man flinches once more. However he still holds his ground. Perhaps out of a sense of duty or pride. He stands up having finished his food and is about to walk up to me.

I however get out of my seat before he could and smile at him. Having also finished my food early because of this exact reason I couldn't wait to get started. "Do you really want to old man?" I say with a huge grin. Gone was my usual timidity at the thought of 'training'. Today I had something to test and he was not going to scare me and beat me until I was black and blue. Today is a day of red, not blue.

As I got up I grabbed something on the table and rolled up my sleeve to hide it while still smiling at the old man. He didn't flinch this time or back down in any way. Instead he got into a combat posture and stared at me from across the room.

Mother started to panic once again but this time she can see that both of us want to do this and she doesn't really have any choice in the matter. So just like she always does, she just ignored us and pretended nothing's happening while going up to her room.

Once we stopped hearing mother's footsteps and started hearing her sobbing a little we were finally ready to get started. The first to make a move was me this time, I walked up to within striking distance of the man and as soon as I was just out of the range of his fists I suddenly sweeped my leg towards his shins.

He jumped over it and landed fairly nimbly on his feet but that wouldn't be enough to deter me so while he was jumping I got in closer and before he even hit the ground my fist was flying at his face with the backing of all the muscles in my body.

Unfortunately even all the muscles in my body aren't a match for the old man's log like arms. This was proven fairly quickly as even just after landing he was able to deflect my fist to the side of his face and even throw a quick jab in return.

I heard a whooshing sound right next to my ear and I could feel the air entering my ear cannal as his fist whizzed through the area my face was just in. I did manage to dodge it however and that gave me some relief. For all of a few seconds.

His follow up attacks however allowed me no such relief as I was constantly feeling wind against my face and impacts on my palms as I dodged and parried a number of quick jabs towards my face and torso.

He likely thought he needed to control the pacing of this fight and so he put me on the defensive and since his stamina is a fair bit more than mine he doesn't really mind wasting energy on attacks like this. I on the other hand couldn't even get an attack in because I can't waste the little stamina I do have lest I need it to defend and dodge.

Having enough of this exchange I grabbed one of the fists flying my way as I deflected it. Then I pulled on it with my full body weight trying to mess with the old man's balance. I didn't manage to pull him over but he did stumble for a moment and that was all the break I needed to plant my knee in his solar plexus.

This staggered the old man for another moment. Using that moment where he was slightly hunched over I brought my elbow down on the back of his head and seemingly hurt myself more than him in the process. While my elbow now felt like it was aching and would make my arm significantly less useful for the rest of the fight his head only seems to have a light wound and he didn't even stagger.

Instead as soon as he recovered himself he wrapping his arms around my thighs and lifted. Suddenly I felt the wind rushing past my face and from the corner of my eye I saw the ground approaching at an astonishing speed.

Realising the fight would be over if I didn't do something I quickly abandoned the idea of avoiding hitting the ground and changed my trajectory. I quickly tucked my knees before spreading them out behind me.

Instead of falling backwards I was now falling forwards and right on top of the old man. A loud thump! Was heard as we both hit the floor. While only my knees were touching the floor the old man had his hands out in front of him and his knees bent in a position similar to crawling on the ground.

My upper half was slightly more occupied as I was wrapping my arms around the old man's torso to keep him in that position. My domination of the man made me smile for a moment only to quickly disappear in the next second as I suddenly found myself speeding through the air once more.

Once again seeing the floor approaching I rolled to bleed off my momentum and immediately spun on my heel once I was standing again to face the old man in a combat stance. He appeared to have just spun on his own heels having had his back facing me previously.

While I was holding on to him he appeared to have lifted me using core strength alone and essentially just flung me across the room with his torso. Luckily I bled off my momentum with a roll but I still hit the ground hard when I wrestled with the old man and my knees are now buckling under the strain of keeping my body standing upright.

My breathing is also rough by this point as I've been contesting with the old man's strength this whole time. Being a 15 year old girl I really don't have the kind of stamina needed to win fights like this. It took a lot for me to just hang on to the old man as we fell and now I'm feeling the affects.

Regardless however the fight wasn't over as the old man is currently demonstrating as he cautiously approaches me before firing off a hook punch aimed directly for my cheek. I watch it as it flies just a few inches away from my nose and once I think it's a safe distance away I throw a high kick at the old man's head.

In stead of dodging or catching it however he just brings his arm up to the side of his head and tanks it on his arm. This leaves his other hand free and seeing me off balance while kicking him he grabs one of my arms and pulls.

I stagger towards him off balance and he takes that same arm slings it over his shoulder and throws. The same as last time, I was never good at judo. So instead of countering this while I'm flying or trying to roll of the momentum I take the arm that I hid something in my sleeve and place it behind his neck.

The thing hiding in my sleeve then appears in my hand and I stab the object towards the old man's neck with a huge smile on my face. A glint of something metallic streaks through the air like a shooting star and heads straight for the exposed skin on the back of the old man's neck. Completely in his blind spot.

He doesn't see it coming and doesn't have any way to avoid it so I start imagining the result and even though I'm currently being thrown to the floor I start to smile with blushing cheeks. My fantasies are suddenly halted by a strange sound.