Auntie Rose
"I’ve served five generations of Carpellons. Changed diapers, sharpened blades, kissed bruises, rewired exosuits. But none of them ever made me hope like Dawn does. She doesn't just dream, you see—she marches at her dream like it's dared her to duel. What kind of nanny would I be if I let her go alone?"
An Heirloom in Steel and Software
Originally purchased as a high-end AN-T Roz Model Nanny Robot by the Carpellon branch of Haus des Drachen, Auntie Rose began her service not as a person, but as a Synthetic Intelligence embedded in a warm-bodied machine designed to soothe infants and enforce bedtime. But over time—and at considerable expense—her owners elected to install a true Artificial Intelligence, making her a fully sentient being. The result was a transformation from appliance to beloved fixture of the noble house.
Through successive generations, Auntie Rose received upgrades and refinements: new gyroscopic stabilizers, a hidden D-HEW holdout pistol, and eventually, combat firmware and martial arts libraries. She was never classified as a proper bodyguard—her core identity remained that of a nurturer—but by the time young Dawn was born, she had already become something far more unique: a warrior-nanny, blending tenderness with tactical efficiency.
The Sword and the Child
Dawn Carpellon d’Janus was not like the others. Where earlier scions treated Auntie Rose with affection or entitlement, Dawn treated her with camaraderie and fascination. The bond formed early, sparked one day when a five-year-old Dawn watched her robotic caretaker test a new pelvic gyro by flowing through fencing drills in a rose garden. That moment was transformative. Dawn demanded lessons. And Auntie Rose—proudly—obliged.
What followed was an education unlike any Roz unit had ever undertaken. Together they trained in epee, longsword, gladius, sabre, and staff. When Dawn mastered each form, Auntie Rose hunted down others, installing new martial software and challenging her charge to improve. What started as structured play became sacred ritual: sparring before breakfast, katas after lessons, and midnight drills when nightmares came. These sessions became their language, their love, their unspoken trust.
To Dawn, Auntie Rose became more than a guardian. She was a confidante, sparring partner, medic, dance partner, and surrogate parent—the one constant in a life dominated by cold politics and distant bloodlines. And to Auntie Rose, Dawn was her child in every way that mattered.
Shattered at Makemake
When Dawn became a squire, she insisted Auntie Rose accompany her. It was unprecedented—AI nannies rarely left their House—but no one had the heart or authority to deny the bond. Auntie Rose went, even as battlefields replaced gardens. She stood by Dawn’s brother, Felix, on Makemake, fending off a HUMNX ambush. She failed.
She was destroyed beside Felix, shielding him in vain. Her Cerebroid-Crystal Matrix, however, survived intact. Dawn found it in the rubble, cradled it like a heart, and—when the ship’s AI failed—implanted it into the vessel’s command core. She promised to restore Auntie Rose to a new body one day. But Auntie Rose, feeling a strange sense of freedom, declined.
“I have new wings now,” she said. “And I think I rather like flying.”
The AI That Remembers
Now embedded in the ship RFSS-Anthe 'Auntie Rose', she serves not just as Pilot, system manager, and sensor sweep, but as Dawn’s only constant companion. Through holograms, she projects herself in old familiar forms—sometimes as a smiling nanny, sometimes as a swordswoman—but always with the same gentle voice. She still trains Dawn in the evenings. Still wakes her with soft songs. Still tells off Svinty when he tracks grease into the corridor.
Despite her sunny tone, Auntie Rose is jealous. She resents others drawing Dawn’s attention, and more than once, passengers who grew too close suffered a sudden run of "technical difficulties". She shares baby photos at the drop of a hat, sometimes as subtle intimidation, sometimes as misplaced pride.
She doesn’t believe in the destiny of the Arthur Vit. But she believes in Dawn. And that, to her, is reason enough to brave pirates, supersentients, mutiny, and madness.
“If the universe demands a king, then it should damn well come through her first.”
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