"Come now, come now. Put those tears away," Jane said quietly, "your Aunty Rue will be here any moment to bring you back to the home. You don't want her to see your handsome face covered in snot, now, would you?"
--
In the three years of his life, the only other influence besides his parents that had some significance to August was that of Aunty Rue.
Aunty Rue was the protector that had been assigned to August. Most protectors are assigned directly by the Croft family, but those with significant influence in the family can choose to bring in their own. Rue had no last name, and was found by Jane drifting alone through the outreaches of space in a house-sized shuttle.
It had been determined that Rue had been a part of a Crate Ship that had been boarded by an unknown entity. The Crate Ship, though not as large as its Freight Ship superior, neared the size of a small state.
With the purpose of hauling material, the crew size did not quite reach the millions, but even then, the entity that had gotten aboard the Crate Ship exterminated every member of the crew one by one.
Having started by destroying the power to the thrusters and to the communications array, the crew was stranded, left to be eaten over years by the hunter that had targeted them.
It was only 5 years before half of the remaining population decided to kill themselves, lest they end up as food. The remaining crew was split between those who wanted one final showdown, and those who locked themselves away with friends and family simply waiting for the end to come.
Rue was among those who wanted to fight. She had already been the Chief of Security aboard the ship, and thus believed for all the deaths that had happened to be on her hands, blamed on her negligence.
Of course, there were those who tried to reason that this wasn't her fault, but a significant amount of those who committed suicide or locked themselves away cursed her in their final moments.
The story that Rue had told to Jane upon being found, was that they had succeeded in killing whatever it was that had hunted them, but by then there were only several hundred remaining alive.
By then, they had already ran out of food to eat and a new wave of cynicism hit the ship. Believing that at least one person should be able to leave the ship alive, the remaining crew ended their lives together while Rue slept.
Now being the only survivor, the food that could last maybe another month if stretched, would be able to last Rue a minimum of 15 years.
Rue did not spend that time idly, opting to put to practice some of the engineering skills she had picked up during her time aboard the ship in order to repair at least one of the escape pods that the creature had disabled.
Not being someone who learned the field of engineering, Rue destroyed all but 5 of the pods in her attempts to learn about the functions and working of the shuttles. With the intelligence boosted by A-Grade Enhancers provided by the company she worked for upon reaching her position, it was somewhat of a miracle that there was even 1 pod remaining.
The science and engineering behind deep space travel-- especially at the level that the Eden Federation had reached-- was not something that was meant to be learned by breaking apart and repairing Crate Ship escape pods. Of course, a deep understanding was not something that she had learned. Still, what she was able to understand and comprehend was enough to get the escape pods functioning once more.
By the time that Rue was found by Jane, she was all but dead from starvation, and the loneliness caused from floating helplessly and alone through deep space had driven to the brink of insanity.
Jane provided her with a new lease on life. It was now her turn to use that life to protect August's.
--
A helpless shake escaped from August. He had had the chance to witness his Aunty Rue practicing on several occasions. He knew how strong his own father was, but even he didn't scare August as much as Aunty Rue did.
Coupled with the fact that Rue never parts with the black and red mask adorned on her face, whenever she moves she appears as if she is some form of devil.
Even with high intelligence, such a thing leaves a nasty impression on young children like August.
"Look," Jane whispered into his ear, "there she is, now."
August looked over his shoulder and shuttered. He wasn't sure if it was her level of skill as a warrior or the sound of the shipyard, but he hadn't heard any sort of noise approaching before his mother pointed it out.
"Don't mind her, August. You know she will only ever protect you," Jane reassured him. "Instead, focus back here. You don't want me to leave just like that, do you? Let's watch the ships just a little longer."
Just like that, the mother and son began to soak in the view once more. The morning sun was peeking over the horizon, dozens of ships that made even the tallest building look small began to descend, and Jane and August prepared for their first parting in the last 3 years.
***************
At the same time, in the home of a prominent figure in the Croft family, a discussion was happening between another mother and son. This pair, however, was far older and far more crooked than that of August and Jane.
"Mother, how much longer must I wait?"
The first voice belonged to a man, the pitch it held was quite high when compared to others.
"Quit whining, boy! We have already done what we can for now," this voice was much more scratchy than the first, "you should think it good enough that we got that kiss ass Wayne out of the system for the next hundred years. Whether you have to wait one or two decades... It doesn't matter. By the time he returns I'll have gotten rid of that parasite wife of his and that lowborn child."
"What if he comes to realize it was us?"
"Even if he does, what can he do without evidence? All you have to worry about is capitalizing on his absence and making sure that you take advantage of all the mistakes he will come to make when he finds out he will return to an empty home," the voice of the mother held traces of contempt as she spoke about Wayne.
"You are right, mother. I'll have patience. You can count on me to put this opportunity that you have given me to use."
With that, the son walked out of the room. The mother sighed, speaking to herself.
"This child... For my son, he really seems quite dull at times."
With that, the woman began to input a series of commands onto the device around her wrist.
***************
The next morning, as Jane set off to begin her routine inspections, the position that Wayne had held before being sent to volunteer service was filled in by Jeffery Croft, one of Wayne's several cousins in the candidacy for the position of the next Patriarch.
August had returned to his home with Aunty Rue. Being far too young to begin any physical training with her, August was assigned a set of tutors, each being masters within their respective fields.
The intelligence of the young boy had long since been seen through by the higher ups of the Croft family. Wanting to ensure that the bright child is raised to give the family the highest returns, a top education was something that they deemed essential for August.