Clone Girls

“Ngh~ phua~”

Ticia stretched herself after waking up, tiredness still present on her face. That was normal, since she just slept in a chair. She would have loved to sleep longer, but she had things to do.

She turned her head to her left, Ticinia was asleep soundly, still unconscious. She then turned her head to the right, and saw Vinia in the same state.

“So they’ve yet to wake up, huh…” She mumbled to herself. Yesterday had been an emotional day, in good and bad ways, mostly bad…

Ticia had stayed by Ticinia and Vinia’s side all night, even though A-4 had made a detailed report about the current state of the two clone girls, Ticia was still scared something might happen to them.

The AI had notified her that the stabilization process had been a success, and the two clone girls were now out of danger. Still, the aftereffects of overreaching their limits had plunged the girls into small comas, and their awakening would only depend on themselves. Ticia hoped it would be quick, hence, she wanted to be present when the little girls woke up from their slumber.

Still, she could not stay with them forever, she had to check on the situation outside, as well as the other clone girls…

The situation with Licia and Willia worried her a lot, but her biggest priority was to make sure Clone installation 3 was not in danger of being invaded right now, hence why she asked A-4.

“A-4, status report.”

“Orders received.”

The AI diligently replied, sending the report to a tablet that Ticia had picked up. She analyzed the data in silence.

“Mmmmh… Looks like it’s calm…” She mumbled after a while, the report mentioned that  this time, neither the Ionian Republic nor the Borkian Confederation were attempting any search.

“I can understand for the republicans, but for the Borkians… It’s bothering me…” She continued her train of thought. After the incident yesterday with the Republican Comandos, Ticia was sure they were now planning ways to counter her before trying anything new… But for the confederation, their inaction was just weird. Ever since they had arrived at the site, they had relentlessly launched search parties to find the facility, and Ticia had each time exterminated them.

Could they have run out of manpower? She asked herself, the possibility was not impossible, but Ticia still felt it wasn’t right. After all, if the republicans had sent their elites, then the Borkians were most probably also in the know of the secrets held by this old facility…

“Might be a change in command…”

In the end, Ticia concluded that it had something to do with the political games of the higher ups, she just hoped that a certain unit wasn’t sent here… I’d feel bad for killing old comrades after all… Plus, I’d need to be extra careful against her… 

Ticia’s train of thought was then directed to her old superior, while she told herself that she would still fight her old brigade, battling against Rika sent shivers down her spine…

“I’d rather avoid that at all cost…” Ticia mumbled again, not wanting to engage into a war of attrition with the person that knew the most well how she operated, she wasn’t sure she would win in that case.

“Ngh~” Ticia suddenly heard a cute noise coming from the bed right next to Vinia’s, and when she looked that way, she was reminded of the presence of another clone girl.

“Oh, right, Nicia’s here.” Ticia said as her gaze softened. Nicia was stirring in a bed nearby, about to wake up. Yesterday, Nicia had stubbornly protested that she would stay in the infirmary and help. Ticia had seen the determination in her eyes, and she had yielded.

“That girl, really…” Ticia sighed, she had to recognise Nicia’s efforts. She was surprised when the small clone girl managed to follow the conversation she had with A-4 about the two unconscious clone girls, and had proven very helpful. “Seems like she’s taking this seriously.”

Ticia was not unaffected by the girl's effort, she was impressed in fact, and a strange sense of proudness filled her chest.

Still, Nicia was still a child, and she ended up falling asleep halfway through the night.

Finally, Nicia opened her eyes, releasing a yawn.

“Good morning,” Ticia said with a warm gaze, to which Nicia blinked several times, before a lazy voice full of tiredness answered.

“Mornin’”

Nicia then lazily raised her upper body, and at that moment, Ticia nearly bursted out in laughter, Nicia's usually neatly arranged hair, which the girl took great care of, was all messy, resembling Willia’s. Seems like Nicia had bad bed hair problems…

Nicia then proceeded to do some light stretching, but she still had a lazy, drowsy look that cried cuteness to Ticia. 

Ticia smirked, this was a very different feeling to the usual neat and proper, lady-like appearance the clone girl usually had. She probably was the only one who knew of this side of Nicia, and this made her warm. Maybe I should collect some Nicium for today…

“Nicia, come here for a sec, let big sis arrange your hair.” Ticia said as she secretly thought about her plans to see Nicia more often in this state.

“Un” The clone girl only replied as she drowsily found her way towards Ticia, trying not to fall asleep on the way. When she arrived in front of Ticia, the latter had a comb in her hand, and nobody knew where it came from… She sat up on Ticia's lap immediately.

“Fufu” Ticia was amused at Nicia’s state while she was combing the girl’s hair, Nicia reminded her of the lazy cats she had so often seen on videos, lazing around in their master’s laps. She secretly hoped Nicia would stay in this state longer, but she knew the girl would die from embarrassment if this continued on. Fortunately, A-4 was recording everything, so she could just ask the AI to keep the footage in her secret folder, ‘Cute clone girls doing cute things’, which was increasing in size each passing day.

“There, you’re all set now.” Ticia said as she finished arranging Nicia’s braids, Nicia herself only nodded, still not out of her lazy state. 

“Now go change your clothes and have breakfast, ok?” She said to the clone girl who was still drowsy, now she felt fully charged to attack the problems of the day, which were great in number…

But Nicia’s answer froze her happy mood.

“Yes, mom.” The girl said as she left the infirmary, yawning, she had taken Ticia by surprise, and Ticia had yet again another complicated face.

“...Geez, that caught me off guard…” Ticia finally sighed after a while, she felt like she had been called like this more and more often by the clone girls. Nicia too? Do they all want to call me like that? She thought to herself, before shaking her head. No, that was probably just sleep talk, she probably didn’t mean it… Ticia denied it somewhat forcibly, and as if to flee from the subject, she got up.

“I should go check on the others… Most particularly on Licia and Willia…”

That was one of the most important problems she had to solve right now. She had seen the clone girls’ expressions as she left the training ground yesterday, but she was so worried about Ticinia and Vinia’s state that she had delayed talking to the clone girls.

After watching a record of the scene by A-4 yesterday, she understood that none of this was one of the clone girl’s fault, it was just an accident. Hence, she decided she wasn’t going to punish them, instead, she would have a private talk with each of them, one on one.

“Let’s begin with Willia.”

***

*knock knock*

“Willia, are you awake?”

Ticia knocked on Willia’s door, she had decided to begin with Willia.

“Willia?”

Ticia waited a moment, but there was still no answer. 

The door's not locked… She thought as she looked at the indicator next to the door. In that case, I'll excuse myself.

Ticia pushed a button, and the door opened. She looked around as she entered.

Still the same as always, I see… Ticia sighed, Willia's room was a mess. Clothes were left to lay down all around the room at random places. I should tell her to clean her room… Ah, there she is…

There was a bump covered in blankets on the bed, it moved from time to time, so Ticia had no doubt what, or rather, who that was…

She sat down right next to it. 

“Willia, can you come out?”

“...” No answer. Ticia sighed again.

“I'll have to use force then.”

“Eh? W-wait-Kyaa!?”

Ticia pulled the blanket, revealing a very disoriented clone girl.

Ah… Ticia noticed Willia’s state, it was worse than she thought.

Willia’s eyes were puffed out and red, it seems like the clone girl had been crying all night. The hair strand that was usually vividly standing straight and announcing the girl’s emotions, Willia’s ahoge, was lifeless.

“Willia…” Ticia's look became pained, she should have taken better care of the girl instead of leaving her like this for a whole night! Instincts overtook her and she hugged the girl without saying a word.

Willia was surprised at first, but soon enough, she began to tremble. She was about to cry again.

“I’m sorry! I… I didn’t want this to happen!” She said in a trembling voice.

“Shhh, it’s alright, your sisters are fine, it was just an accident…” Ticia consolled, caressing the girl’s back. 

They stayed like this for a while, Willia crying silently in Ticia’s warm embrace as Ticia gently caressed her back, humming a lullaby.

After a while, Willia stirred in Ticia’s embrace.

“Have you finally calmed down?”

“Yes…” Willia replied weakly.

“Good, because now we need to talk about your condition.” Ticia said as her face became serious, but she still held Willia warmly in her arms. “Since when has it appeared?”

“...Five days…” Willia responded weakly again. They were talking about the battle frenzy mode.

“Five days, I see…” Ticia closed her eyes as she thought. That means she already had this when she trained in front of me with Nillia, but she didn't use it. Maybe she was hiding it, but why? She asked herself, she knew that Willia had a high chance of getting this, because A-4 had notified her of the possibility.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” That was the one thing Ticia didn’t understand.

“Because… I wanted to master it by myself before showing it to you… I wanted to surprise you…” Willia said.

“You wanted to surprise me? But why?” Ticia asked, not understanding, but this time she did not receive any answer.

Well, I guess this is fine, kids need to have some secret or two for themselves… She ended up thinking, not wanting to force Willia to answer.

“Well, now that I know, let me help you master it.” Ticia announced. She knew how to master it since she had done so long ago. Before she did master it, there were occasions where she entered battle frenzy mode, massacring everything in her way. This cost her dearly at the time.

However, Willia’s reaction was nothing like what Ticia expected.

“N-no! I don’t want to!” She exclaimed strongly.

“W-what? But it’s for your own good, Willia…” Ticia said worryingly. “So we’re going to train together for a while, alright?”

“No! I won’t do it!” Willia exclaimed, beginning to throw a tantrum. “I don’t want to hurt anybody else! I won’t train anymore!”

“Willia!?” Ticia was surprised, she knew how much Willia loved to train. For her to reject her one and only hobby, it would seem like she had underestimated how much of a trauma yesterday’s event caused on the girl.

But then again, what should I do… She asked herself, she wasn’t used to dealing with those sorts of things… She didn’t want to force Willia, so, in the end, she came to the only conclusion that made sense to her.

“...I understand Willia, I won’t force you to train anymore, so please calm down.” Ticia ended up saying as she hugged Willia yet again. She hoped that time would help Willia think again about her decision, and slowly heal her shaken little heart.

“Thank you… Big sis… I…” Willia did not finish her words, drowsiness overtook her tired body, and she fell asleep within Ticia’s warm embrace. Ticia, on the other hand, had a very complicated expression.

***

“Fuh~” Ticia exhaled a sigh as she left Willia’s room. She did not expect Willia to be so shaken up, which, in a sense, proved just how much she cared about Ticinia and Vinia.

“... I need to go see Licia…” She said to herself, searching for motivation. She was reminded of Licia’s face as she last saw her… “This is going to be hard…”

She didn’t know how she was going to proceed, and maybe that's why she had unconsciously avoided Licia’s room and began with Willia.

Now she stood in front of Licia’s room, a single glance at the indicator told her that there was an occupant in the room, but that the door was locked. Ticia steeled herself, and readied herself to knock on the door.

“...” A moment passed, as Ticia was left frozen, not able to even knock on the door.

Why… She asked herself. This isn’t like me, why can’t I make a move to see her… Ticia gritted her teeth. She wanted to talk to Licia, but for some reason, she… was not able to push herself to do so.

It was when she was in such a state that the door next to Licia’s room opened, and Ria came out of her own room.

“Ah, good morning, big sis.”

“...Good morning, Ria.” Ticia replied after placating a small smile on her face.

“How is our sisters’ state?” Ria asked worriedly.

“They’re fine, they just need to wake up…” Ticia said, leaving the coma part out, not wanting to worry Ria further. She should not forget that Ria was still a child, even though lately, she had a hard time considering the girl as a child because of her behavior.

“That’s a relief…” Ria sighed, releasing some of her tension.

““...”” A small, awkward silence planned between the two of them, until Ria asked.

“Are you going to talk with eldest sister?”

Ticia nodded, but then a thought caught her mind. 

“What about you, Ria, did you talk to your sister?” She asked hopefully, only for Ria to avoid her gaze with a sad expression. Ticia did not know what had happened between the two of them, but she guessed something bad had happened, dampening her mood further.

“... What about your other sisters, how are they?” Ticia asked, changing the subject that made the both of them only more down.

“Mia and Nia are still a bit shaken.”  Ria jumped on the ship, not wanting to talk about it too.

She answered as if she was making a report.

“I see, I’ll check up on them later, anything else?” Ticia asked.

“Well…” Ria made a complicated look, glancing from time to time at Licia’s door. “Miria and Tiria… they…”

“... Don’t force yourself to say more, Ria, I understand what you’re trying to say, I’ve seen the video…” Ticia stopped Ria, she understood what the clone girl was about to say.

Through the video, she had seen the gazes Miria and Tiria directed at Licia and Willia. The worst was for Licia, that gaze… It wasn’t a gaze siblings would send one another, it was more like they were looking at their most hated enemy. I need to remediate this fast…

“Nillia seems to be alright.” Ria continued.

“...Really? Like, nothing at all?” Ticia asked, not believing it, but also not delving further.

“No, nothing.” Ria affirmed, before continuing on. “And for Lidia, she’s in a good mood.”

“Is that so?” Ticia sighed in relief, if Lidia was in a good mood, that meant she did not get any trauma from yesterday’s outing, at least that’s what she hoped for.

“Yes, of course, she was worried about the current situation, but it did not sap her mood.”

“That’s good.” Ticia’s mood was raised a bit, she would still check on Lidia, but it would seem that the worst case scenario had been avoided.

“... Did something good happen yesterday?” 

Seeing her like that Ria asked, curious.

“...Yes and no.” Ticia replied with a grimace, not wanting to develop further on yesterday’s outing. She had her lesson. Once was enough, she wasn’t going to agree to letting the girls out any time soon. “Thank you for taking care of your sisters, Ria.” Ticia said as she patted Ria on the head.

“It’s nothing. Anything that can help big sis.” Ria replied like a soldier, and Ticia did not know what to make of that answer. 

“Ahem, I’m going to see Nia now, you can go eat.”

“Yes.” Ria replied.

“Fufu, good girl, you’re so mature~.” Ticia said before departing to Nia’s room.

Before entering though, she heard a nearly inaudible mumble coming from where she came from.

“To be mature… Is that really a good thing? I…”

“Nn?” Ticia turned her head, but the hallway was already empty. “I must have imagined it, gosh, I’m too tired.” Ticia rubbed her eyes, before entering Nia’s room.

She found the clone girl lying on her stomach on her bed, happily humming as her legs were moving up and down. She had headphones on her head, visibly listening to something.

Well, she seems in a good mood. Ticia thought. She had expected the clone girl to be less happy. A devilish thought then crossed her mind as an impish smile appeared on her face. Ticia erased her presence, and slowly approached the unknowing clone girl who was just enjoying herself. Then, she rapidly removed Nia’s headphones from the girl's head before tickling the girl.

“Eh? Kyaaaah~!” Nia cried out as she became the victim of a relentless assault. The girl’s ahoge moved widely in protest.

“Hehe, Surprise attack!” Ticia exclaimed, feeling good about what she was doing as Nia couldn’ stop laughing.

“Ah! B-big sis! Wait! Time out! Kya~ I-I surrender, I surrender already! So please, stop!” Nia cried out, and Ticia finally stopped.

“Wha… What was that for?” Nia said as she caught her breath, having not expected what happened just now.

“Hehe, did I surprise you?”

“Of course you did! You stupid big sis!” Nia protested cutely as she launched a barrage of soft punches on Ticia, who only laughed more.

After calming down a bit, Ticia finally asked.

“Hey, Nia?”

“What is it?” Replied Nia as she pouted cutely.

“How are you?” Ticia asked seriously, and Nia felt it when she looked at Ticia’s face. The atmosphere changed as Nia replied seriously.

“... I’m worried about my sisters…” She said, “at that time, if I acted instead of joking around…”

“It’s alright.” Ticia suddenly hugged Nia. “Nobody expected what happened, that was just an accident, and Ticinia and Vinia are fine.”

“...Un, if you say so, I will believe you, big sis…” Nia said as she tightly hugged Ticia.

“Big sis?” Nia asked after a while, ending the hug.

“Yes, Nia?”

“I’m fine now, so please go see Mia.” Nia said in a serious tone, that was surprising from her part, since she was always joking around.

“Alright, I’ll go then. Tell me if you need anything.” Ticia simply said, choosing not to comment. She then got up, and left the room, going to the one right next to it.

She entered after receiving authorization from Mia. The girl was fidgeting, avoiding eye contact since she did not have her helmet on.

“Are you alright?” She asked, a face full of worries.

“Y-yes” Mia responded, avoiding eye contact.

“That’s a relief…” Ticia smiled weakly. She then looked Mia in the eyes with a serious face. 

“Look, I’ve seen the record made by A-4 of what happened.”

Mia shuddered when she heard that, and some brands of her hair which formed hair antennas, trembled. But contrary to what she expected, Ticia did not blame her.

“It’s not your fault, you did nothing wrong. Rather, you did well.” She praised her, patting her head. “Instead of not saying anything, you told your sisters to stop, and this despite the fact that you have communication disorder.”

“B-but, because I didn’t stop them, Ticinia and Vinia! They got hurt!” Mia exclaimed loudly to Ticia, tears forming in her eyes.

“I know, but would your sisters blame you for this, Mia?” Ticia asked, to which Mia took some time to answer.

“I… I don’t know…” Mia ended up answering.

“Well, I don't think so.” Ticia said with a smile. “They would thank you for the encouragement instead, I think.”

“R-really?” Mia asked, forcing herself to look directly into Ticia’s eyes.

“Yes, dear, so don’t make this face, and stop worrying about small things.” Ticia ended the hug with a peck on Mia’s forehead.

“On a side note, it seems that wearing the helmet is showing some effects.” Ticia said with a smirk, she had found out something from this whole interaction.

“Eh?” Mia tilted her head to the left.

“Hehe, you might not have noticed, but you hesitate less on your words, and you can even look at me straight in the eyes for a short moment. Big sis is happy.”

“Ah” Mia finally noticed, she began to tremble as emotions surged, happy ones, Ticia guessed.

“Thank you, big sis!” Mia exclaimed as a new warmth filled her heart.

“No need to thank me.” Ticia replied with a warm smile. “You did all this on your own, Mia. Now then, I must go see your other sisters now, so take some rest.”

“Uhm, big sis!” Mia called out as Ticia was about to leave.

“Yes?”

“I-I always wonder, how do you know how I felt?”

“Well that’s very simple, dear Mia” Ticia said proudly as a big, confident smirk emerged on her face. “Since you’re all clones of me, your emotions and reactions are the same as mine! Of course I would know how you all feel!”

“...” Mia did not answer, just giving a deadpan look at Ticia for the first time. 

“Ahem” Seeing Mia’s reaction, Ticia coughed embarrassedly, her face reddening, it seems like her bragging didn’t work out. “How do I say… it’s kind of a seventh sense?” She ended up saying.

“Seventh?” Mia tilted her head, not understanding why Ticia said seventh and not sixth.

“Yes, seventh.” Ticia affirmed. “You’ll understand when you grow… Probably…” The hesitance Ticia showed sprinkled Mia’s curiosity, but before she could ask anything…

“W-well, I must go now!” Ticia left Mia’s bedroom in a hurry, full of embarrassment. Why did I say all this at the end!?

***

After a while, Ticia came out of Miria and Tiria’s room. This time, her negotiations weren’t a success, making her sad.

The two girls had rejected Ticia’s plea to reconcile with Licia, or even Willia. The both of them claimed that they would do so only if Ticinia and Vinia themselves asked them to do so, and that Ticia asking for it wasn’t going to make them move. Never had Ticia seen the twins so stubborn.

“Nothing will change for now…” She sighed. She would just have to wait until Ticinia and Vinia woke up. Knowing the characters of the two youngest, she was sure everything would be settled then.

“Now, only Nillia’s left.” Ticia said to herself. She had seen Lidia just after Mia, and she was surprised by the overwhelmingly happy and positive mood Lidia showed her. even asking to be spoiled. Ticia had to deny it though, now wasn’t the time, and Lidia understood it, hence why she let Ticia go. Lidia did not seem to have any sequels from her experience, and as such, Ticia had gone to Miria and Tiria next.

“Well, no time to lose now.” Ticia motivated herself, Ria had said Nillia was fine, but she didn’t think so, after all, she knew how she was.

After getting permission to enter the room from Nillia, she entered. The first thing that struck the eyes when you entered her room wasn’t how clean the room was, but rather the giant plushies that were within the room. This was out of character from the tough Nillia, and her sisters would be surprised, but Ticia knew all about Nillia. After all, even though she acted tough and was essentially expressionless in front of everybody, when she was alone with Ticia…

“Big sis~ I wanted to see you~!” Just as the door closed behind Ticia, a crying Nillia immediately assaulted(?) Ticia.

“There, there, Nillia, I’m here, everything’s fine.” Ticia said warmly as she hugged the clone girl.

Ticia was used to this scene, because Nillia was actually a crybaby. She was the only one who knew Nillia’s true personality, not even Willia had found out.

“Uuuh~ Why did you take so long to come, big sis~, I thought you forgot about me~!” Nillia exclaimed, on the verge of crying.

“I would never, you are all important to me.” Ticia affirmed as she tightened her hug.

They then shifted to the bed, where Nillia added her favorite plushie, a fluffy, purple bunny, to the hug.

“You know, you could act more like yourself outside of your room, Nillia.” Ticia said to Nillia, implying that she could just go to Ticia herself.

“No! I don’t want the others to know I’m like this! This is our secret between the two of us!” Nillia strongly rejected it.

“Hehe, if you say so…” Ticia did not comment. They talked about a lot of things after that. About Ticinia and Vinia’s state, about Willia… and about Licia.

“Big sis?” Nillia asked.

“Yes?”

“Is eldest sister still your favorite?” Nillia asked, she was the only one who knew this secret about Ticia.

“Of course she is.” Ticia affirmed strongly. When Nillia was in this state, Ticia was more open about herself. Just like how Nillia stopped her emotions from coming out, it seems like she could also make people more honest with themselves… Her favorite wasn’t Ticinia, nor was it Vinia, or even Ria. No, it was Licia, the very first clone girl she laid eyes upon, and the one who resembled her the most.

Ticia loved Licia, and while the girl herself did not notice it, Ticia put a lot of attention on her, and her expectations were high, maybe a bit too high... Perhaps that was why she unconsciously just nodded at Licia’s actions, without praising her. Because for her, she knew Licia would be able to do anything.

Nillia had told her that Licia was jealous of her sisters, but she had overlooked it, thinking not much about it, and now…

Nillia tightened the hug as Ticia made a painful, sad face.

“I, I will continue to help big sis!” Nillia exclaimed. “I’ll continue to be close to Licia, just like you asked!”

“My~, as expected of my faithful knight~.” Ticia said, amused, she felt Nillia’s determination,  hence why she used the nickname Nillia liked as she patted her head.

“Hehehe~” Nillia was happy. “Leave it to me! I’ll protect all of my sisters from evil strangers!”

“Fufu.” Ticia could not help herself but to smile, influenced by Nillia, truly, each clone girl had their charm, and she loved each of them.

Her determination was reignited, she would talk to Licia, and make sure to tell her this was all a misunderstanding, and how much she loved her. Then she would stay the night with Licia, spoiling her, catching up on things she did with the others, but did not do so with Licia.

Ticia had such plans, and yet… Each time she was in front of Licia’s door, she stayed frozen, unable to move or even speak…

Chauchat

Author's monologe:
Hey there! Bonus chapter here!
Today on the menu: lots of heartwarming moments, and some, less heartwarming moments...
Well, what can I say, haha, Ticia tried her best, she not used to taking care of children... And Licia... That part was sad alright, again, Licia, I'm sorry T_T
Still, this chapter brought other quesions, as well as Nillia's hidden side! 
To be honest with you all, I had a blast writing this chapter (exept sad parts T_T), and I even had to cut some parts out as it was too long! I hope you all like it, really, and if not, don't hesitate to tell me why.

But now... Illustration time!
Today's illustration is... Ticinia!
Please prepare yourselves for the cute twintails before seeing it!

Spoiler

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Agh too cute, way too cute! Must protect!
Novel AI really had me on that one, hope she'll be back soon in the story... Oh wait, I'm the author.

Well anyway, that's it from me for today! I'll see you all in the next chapter on Monday!