Tennie

Rumors surrounding Tennie's background have grown increasingly fantastical over the years. Some claim her parents disappeared into the Turbulent Sea and never returned. Others insist that criminal blood runs through her family.

There are, however, a few accounts that can actually be substantiated. One of them is that Tennie was raised by a Chaos Remains researcher. Those familiar with the story usually add another detail: "A researcher who eats Chaos Remains!"

Anyone who has spent enough time reading research records on Chaos Remains specimens will eventually notice the unmistakable trail left by a certain researcher with an extraordinary appetite. Her tasting notes span an astonishing range of places and years, covering no fewer than two decades and well over a thousand different specimens. The reports themselves also make it abundantly clear that she repeatedly placed herself in mortal danger in pursuit of her work. One cannot help but wonder whether someone like that still qualifies as an ordinary human. And if that was the person who raised Tennie... could the child possibly have turned out completely normal?

Tennie herself, however, has never tried to hide where she came from. Ask about her family, and she will casually refer to that researcher as both "my aunt" and "my guardian," usually slipping in a few half-hearted complaints about her along the way.

"...My aunt? Why are you asking so many questions? What, do you want to try her Chaos Remains soup?"

Then look at Tennie's utterly sincere expression. Look at the "adorable" teddy bear in her arms, whose appearance somehow radiates violence. Then look around at the rows of heavy train-mounted artillery nearby...

Are you really sure you want to keep this conversation going?

The truth behind Tennie's past is nowhere near as fantastical as the rumors suggest. Yet in its own way, it is every bit as complicated... and far more bittersweet.

Before she was adopted, Tennie spent much of her childhood drifting from place to place with her older brother and sister-in-law. The rumble of trains and off-road vehicles became the backdrop of her earliest memories. As she grew older, however, her presence became "less convenient" for the two of them. Their way of raising her changed accordingly, and she was left alone at home for increasingly long stretches of time.

To keep her from getting bored, they would bring back little souvenirs after every "job." A dismantled train engine component from somewhere unknown. Assorted wrenches. Building blocks that never quite made a complete set. Well-thumbed mechanical encyclopedias with worn-out pages...

Even when they were home, the two were usually preoccupied with modifying vehicles or studying increasingly sophisticated machinery, leaving little time to keep Tennie company. It was in this unusually free and solitary environment that she grew up.

On the day her last remaining family members were finally captured by the BCRL, the headline of the "Train Morning Post" read: "Notorious Train Robber Couple Brought to Justice." Tennie herself knew nothing about it. She simply sat at home, quietly assembling her building blocks, waiting for the next "present" her guardians would bring back.

Not long afterward, she was taken in by a child welfare institution and was meant to be sent to an orphanage to await adoption.

Yet the memory that stayed with Tennie was of a certain afternoon, when a young woman with unforgettable crimson hair appeared before her, smiling with unrestrained warmth. Having completed the adoption process ahead of schedule, she officially became Tennie's guardian.

Chen Shuxian, the eccentric Chaos Remains researcher whom nearly everyone at Anita preferred to avoid for one reason or another, found herself feeling a depth of sympathy for the child that she could scarcely explain.

From that day on, under the care of the woman she would come to call her "Aunt," Tennie stepped into an entirely new chapter of her life.

Tennie once found herself hosting a group of children visiting the Train Weapon Factory. Although she had tried her best to avoid such a troublesome assignment, someone from Anita Headquarters eventually persuaded her by pointing out that the visit might inspire the children to discover interests beyond what they already knew. In the end, she gave in.

Her bright, easygoing personality quickly won the children over, and before long she had become the object of their wholehearted admiration. During a break, one little girl suddenly ran up to her, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"You're so cool, miss! Just like those free-spirited outlaw riders from the old movies!"

Tennie understood perfectly why they would think that. Her boldly individual style, together with the enormous custom workshop behind her, did bear a certain resemblance to the glamorous outlaws so often portrayed on the silver screen. Yet she had never imagined herself becoming any sort of criminal. Intrigue and lawlessness had never interested her. She had simply devoted herself to the craft she loved most, refining it day by day until it became the path she walks today.

The child's innocent admiration lingered with her as an unexpected source of unease. From time to time, those words would resurface in her thoughts, prompting her to wonder what kind of person she truly wished to become... and what kind of person she ought to become.

The workshop floor of the Train Weapon Factory is vast and open. It had once been a place that filled her with satisfaction, but whenever uncertainty clouded her mind, the same empty space only seemed to deepen her sense of solitude.

Fortunately, she knows she is no longer someone without a place to belong. She has already found companions she can rely on, people willing to listen patiently to every complaint and frustration she has, never put off by her blunt honesty.

These days, whenever those worries begin to weigh on her, Tennie simply leaves the factory for a while and heads to the Eternal instead. So if you happen to find a mountain of train parts scattered across the freight car, don't worry. It just means Tennie has decided to move her workbench again.