Returning her attention to the lady, she walked over and patted the young man's thin shoulder. "Let's bring her to a place to lay down and get cleaned up. This isn't a suitable place for her. Is this your mother?"
The young man kept his head down low as he nodded cautiously. Seeing that he had agreed, Aida had the guards bring over a cot and she helped the young man carefully place her onto it with minimal movement. Artie had helped her identify an empty room and she helped the young man carry his mother into the room.
Aida had no intention of playing the hero role, but she wouldn't go against her conscience either. Since fate would have her meet this duo, she would try to help them as long as it was within her means.
At that time, the guard had returned with the medicine before whispering in Aida's ear. Aida nodded before placing the medicine onto the table. "This should help with her condition. I have to go now."
The young man didn't respond but, instead, continued to fuss over his mother's arrangements.
Not minding his lack of response, Aida and the guards left and returned to the penthouse to resolve some urgent issues. They had mostly finished scanning the base anyway.
Artie responsibly loaded his 3D map with all the damage across the base onto a site so Aida could share it with the others. It not only contained the damage, but he even went as far as to triage the damage so they would know what to prioritize. When Aida opened up the map on her laptop, she couldn't help but praise her new son for his brilliance. He was truly capable.
Artie bounced around in her mind, clearly pleased by her praise. He really enjoyed this new dynamic that they had and treated everything they had to do as a fun game.
Aida had him directly send the data to the lackeys and passed the troubles onto them. Ultimately, they were the ones who would live on this base. She was simply helping them identify and resolve critical issues across the base. It was unknown when she would ever return to this place again.
Rubbing her temples, she looked at the time before walking down to the kitchen. Despite all the work she had, she just couldn't get rid of the image of the old lady on the streets. Something about the scene of the young man caring so meticulously for the lady tugged at her heartstrings. It had been a long time since she'd seen such a heartwarming scene.
In this apocalyptic scene, it was incredibly common to see parents sell their children, best friends backstabbing each other, siblings leaving each other behind because they were seen as deadweights. Clearly, in spite of all the setbacks he must have faced, this young man had chosen to stick by his beliefs and continue caring for his mother. This was worthy of respect.
Walking back to the room she had arranged for the mother and young man, she knocked gently on the door. Hearing some shuffling noises from the room, soon the door cracked open. Aida said in a gentle voice, "I've brought some porridge for your mother. She probably can't eat or digest the hard bread that's being provided by the kitchen."
The young man was still wearing the hat as he pushed the door open and bowed towards her in appreciation. Aida nodded as she walked into the room. The old lady looked towards her with a smile on her face. She looked much more alert than before and asked in a mischievous voice, "Boy, who is this?"
Aida stepped forward with a smile and answered, "Hi Auntie. I came to bring you some porridge."
"Oh my, such a sweet and beautiful lady. There's no need for an old bag of bones to have such fine food, why don't you share it with my son over there?"
"Ma! I'm fine!" The young man protested.
"Pah, you think I don't know you've been giving me all your food this entire time? You need to be strong to survive out here, don't let me weigh you down."
Aida smiled at their banter and she set the porridge on the table and purposely opened it, allowing the smell to permeate the room.
"No, I'm not hungry." Right then, the young man's stomach growled and betrayed his thoughts. His head was down so Aida couldn't see his expression, but she could see the tips of his ears were red.
Aida laughed and resolved the little family banter, "Don't worry Auntie, I brought enough for both of you."
She made two servings and handed one to the young man while feeding the old lady. The old lady's eyes seemed to glow with a liveliness that didn't match the condition of her body.
As they ate, the three of them continued to chat about life and the family of two would banter back and forth. During this time, Aida had shed her cold exterior and looked extremely warm and friendly. No one would have recognized her as the base leader but instead just a young lady enjoying a conversation.
Before long, it was the evening and she had to head back. Aida said goodbye to them before heading back to the penthouse.
Before she was out of earshot, she heard the old lady say, "Boy, if you ever find a woman worth giving your life up for like that girl who just left, you better keep a tight hold on her forever."
"Ma!" protested the young boy.
Aida almost tripped and fell when she heard this before quickly running away. She had a smile on her face.