Narrator's POV
"It's the incident that occurred in Los Angeles." Mabel had seen videos of this invasion but wasn't aware of the confidential information.
Dipper had left some tools behind, but Mabel wasn't on-site at the time to help against the "aliens".
[This incident opened up other horizons beyond the master's notes, but I couldn't act hastily.]
[Hence the need to take my time to increase the master's supporters' influence and obtain interesting technologies...]
AM didn't mention the interdimensional travel machine he had recovered and sealed, nor his observations of various supernatural organizations he had either destroyed or assimilated.
Mabel currently held unparalleled authority over him, since Dipper wasn't around.
This had pushed AM to limit his knowledge of the situation to guarantee his freedom of movement. He wanted to fulfill his missions perfectly.
Mabel's intellectual judgment had been considered a handicap for AM's mission: improving humanity, watching over them and himself.
As for Sienna?
AM had concluded that she, though often discontented, possessed enough intellectual capacity to understand his choices and actions.
"I understand, but then... I'm going back to Gravity Falls?"
[Affirmative. You must receive the master's gift and contribute to the Foundation's expansion, if possible.]
'If possible? So I can just take Dipper's gift and leave.' Mabel mentally concluded, observing the drone before her.
"Wait, I'll grab a few things," she said before quickly entering her apartment.
"You've been surprisingly gentle with her, unlike with Pacifica and the other Mystery Shack members," Sienna observed, frowning.
[I'm merely respecting the master's family.]
AM lied as a red glow shone in the drone's camera lens.
"AM, I've secured the company that created GIFfany," Pacifica declared, dressed in professional attire.
She wore a neutral expression while observing the "man" who had taken over the Northwest house and his fallen empire.
AM.
"Excellent. Did you find anything suspicious there or any unfinished projects?" the AI asked, taking the appearance of an older Dipper with golden eyes.
"N... Nothing... No, wait." She pulled out a game cartridge.
"I found several cartridges of a game called MiSide, but I'm not sure if it's important."
AM rose from his desk and approached Pacifica with a steady, measured step.
"Interesting. A game from one of GIFfany's creators..." His eyes gleamed, and a slight smile formed on his lips.
"Keep this information secret and bring me all the cartridges. No, I mean all versions of the game," he ordered, taking the cartridge marked V001Error (prototype).
"Understood."
Instead of leaving to execute the task, Pacifica remained motionless.
"A problem?" AM asked, looking at the Gravity Falls landscape through the mayor's office window.
The town was undergoing renovation. AM had recently engaged directly in politics, abandoning the human intermediaries he previously used as puppets.
"D... Did you bring Mabel back?" Her voice trembled slightly, but her emotion-laden tone didn't escape AM.
"Yes, she's currently at the Mystery Shack."
Pacifica nodded before calmly leaving the office. Yet, AM could hear her hurried footsteps echoing in the hallway.
"Sienna..." AM's voice wasn't loud, but audible enough.
"Don't call me that! I remind you that our relationship isn't that of a master and servant, but of a mentor and apprentice," she responded irritably before sitting down.
AM continued staring out the window, deliberately ignoring her complaint.
"Did you inform Pacifica about Mabel?" he asked, without any hint of reproach. Yet, Sienna could sense a subtle discontent hidden beneath his polite and cold tone.
"Yes. I find it logical that mother's friend be informed, given that she hasn't seen her friend in years," she said, shrugging.
"Mother? Friend?" AM murmured, barely audible. But Sienna heard him clearly.
"Indeed. Mabel talked a lot to me on the way back, and we've become closer, and she insists I call her that."
AM didn't respond.
A strange silence settled between the two individuals, weighted by an indefinable atmosphere.
'The Seraphim project is a failure,' AM concluded after five years of observing Seraphim 01, alias Sienna.
This situation didn't please him and had pushed him to consider another path.
'Wait... I could restart the O5 project,' he thought.
The O5 Council, supposedly composed of talented human individuals, was initially meant to be recruited or trained by Dipper. However, the latter had departed for the future before materializing this initiative.
AM glanced at Sienna, who was sitting casually. A "sweet" smile formed on his face, but Sienna immediately perceived it as "dangerous".
'Perhaps if the master's DNA were combined with other talented individuals, this kid would stop considering herself the master's child.'
Thus, the Seraphim project was abandoned after creating Seraphim 01, and the "O5 Council" project was conceived to replace its functions while preserving part of the initial idea.
...
"I'm finally back."
Mabel couldn't help but caress her U-watch while observing the Mystery Shack, which, despite the years, seemed identical.
Several emotions fluctuated in her eyes, but the strongest was nostalgia.
"Mabel?"
Soos's incredibly familiar voice caught her attention.
"S... Soos." She tried to stop herself from crying with joy, not wanting to worry her friend whom she hadn't seen in years.
After Dipper's disappearance incident, the twins' parents had prevented Mabel from approaching Gravity Falls or contacting Stan Pines.
They couldn't defy the financial power and influence of the Northwests, who had protected the old man and their reputation after the incident, but they had managed to cut all ties with him and obtain financial compensation.
*Energetic hug* from Soos.
"Even though I'm now a big girl, I can't push away this big teddy bear," Mabel thought as Soos shook her energetically, tears of joy flowing.
"I missed you, you've grown so much," he said after releasing her from his embrace.
'He's still so kind...' Although she smiled, Mabel tried not to throw up after the intense hug.
"Where's Wendy?" Mabel looked around, but there was no sign of her other vacation friend.
"She left Gravity Falls a few years ago. She's almost graduated from university now," he responded with a complex tone.
Soos seemed happy for Wendy but also sad about her absence. A situation perfectly understandable to Mabel.
'I experienced the same thing with my high school friends.'
"You've surely come to Gravity Falls to visit Mr. Pines's grave?"
At the mention of her uncle, Mabel's mood became morose, but she forced herself to nod at Soos.
'I don't know if I should tell Soos about AM or Dipper's daughter, but I also wanted to come to see my uncle Stan's grave.'
Although she knew her uncle's complicated situation, Mabel hadn't been able to help or visit him due to her minor status and angry parents.
Her uncle's criminal record hadn't helped either.
*Bam*. The Mystery Shack door suddenly opened as Soos was about to close the souvenir shop to accompany Mabel to Gravity Falls cemetery.
Both turned toward the sound of hurried footsteps approaching them.
"Mabel!!" Pacifica cried with joy, hugging Mabel.
She had finally found someone who could see her, not as a Northwest, but just as Pacifica.
"Pacifica!!" Mabel responded with the same enthusiasm, returning her friendly embrace.
"Soos!!" he said instinctively, before quickly closing his mouth under the girls' gaze.
"Sorry... I was caught up in the emotion... I think I'm needed by a client."