ALL NOVEL Chapter 22
*beep beep beep*
An alarm was beeping within an occupied bedroom, the occupant in the bed had hidden herself within the covers, and was stirring as the alarm was slowly waking her up.
“A-4…” A drowsy voice called out. “Shut that alarm down…”
“Negatory, owner Ticia must wake up now.”
The AI answered, to its owner's frustration.
“Whatever, I’m gonna continue sleeping…” Ticia said, still hidden within the blankets.
But to her misfortune, the AI had other plans for her today. It made the alarm grow louder as time passed.
“Agh! Fine, I get it already!” Ticia annoyedly said as she came out from under the covers.
The alarm finally stopped, to Ticia’s relief.
“Phew, finally some calm…” She said as she sighed, only to be hit by a sudden headache.
Ugh, alright, I admit it… I might have drunk just a LITTLE bit too much… She reflected on herself as she slowly got up. After the sudden survey A-4 had thrown at her, Ticia had continued drinking until very late. Just glancing at the clock revealed to her how late she had woken up, and if not for the AI’s intervention, she would probably have woken up even later…
Today… I don’t want to do anything… Ticia thought lazily, after getting herself drunk, she would become a lazybum, to Rika’s frustration. She was reminded of all the times her superior had to take care of her once she was in this state…
“Notification: Owner Ticia has one urgent notification that should be read or listened to immediately.”
The AI announced, usually Ticia would request a status report immediately after she woke up, but this time, she wasn’t in the mood. I don’t think they’re gonna attack us right now… She thought so, but still, she needed to ask.
“A-4, does this notification you speak of has anything to do with the security of the facility?”
The AI took some time to answer, its drone’s light changing colors. It answered after a while.
“... No danger has been detected…”
“Then it can wait until my head hurts less.” Ticia settled the question there, if it wasn’t something that had anything to do with the outside, she had no reason to act immediately, she would read it once she felt better.
“...Notice: Owner Ticia should read or hear this notification, as it is important.”
The AI insisted for some reason, and this frustrated Ticia.
“Fine, I’ll read it if you give me some medication for my headache.” She declared.
“Owner Ticia should just go search for the medication herself within the infirmary.”
A-4 replied, the AI was definitely no friend of lazy people.
“How mean…” Ticia mumbled in frustration. “Fine, I'll go search them.” She immediately began to move towards the exit.
“... Advice: Owner Ticia should look at herself in the mirror first.”
“Huh?” The AI said this as Ticia was about to open the door, she tilted her head for a moment, not understanding, before getting a glance of herself within the mirror.
“Oh…” Ticia realized what was wrong, she… was not dressed up to go outside… Her pajamas were half removed, it seems like she had moved in her sleep. That wasn’t the only thing however, as Ticia’s hair was a mess. She made fun of Nicia for having bed hair, but in fact, she was the same as the clone girl in this domain… The worst however, was her pale face, with clearly visible dark circles under her eyes, anyone could tell she hadn’t slept much…
If she had gone out in this state, the clone girls would probably panic, moreso if the one who met her was Nicia…
“Yeaaah, I guess I should do some preparations before going to the infirmary…” Ticia decided as she was reminded of the fact Nicia was staying in the infirmary nowadays, if she didn’t want to be nagged by the clone girl, she better take care of this problem first.
***
After making sure to dress herself properly with her uniform, Ticia sneakily approached the infirmary, not wanting to be noticed by the clone girls. When she finally reached it, she sneakily glanced around the room.
“...Nicia’s not here, good…” Ticia sighed in relief, the little self proclaimed ‘overseeing nurse’ wasn’t there, only the sleeping Ticinia and Vinia were present. She would check on those two after taking the medication…
She entered the infirmary, glancing around here and there as she searched for the right medication.
“There it is…” She found what she searched on a dedicated shelf which had the name ‘Hangover’ fixed on it. It couldn’t be more obvious…
Ticia did not lose time, she took one capsule out of one of the boxes and immediately gulped it down.
“There you go, I already feel better.” Ticia said as she felt her energy flowing back. Those kinds of medications always had an immediate effect, something she felt grateful about. She wondered what life would be like if those did not have such an immediate effect…
“So, A-4,” Ticia asked the AI, finally ready to hear what it wanted to notify her about, but before she could ask…
“Ah big sis, good morning.” Nicia entered the infirmary, startling Ticia, who was still standing in front of the ‘Hangover’ shelf.
“G-good morning, Nicia…” Ticia stuttered as cold sweat began going down her back…
“What are you doing over there, big sis?” Nicia asked innocently. After all, Ticia was on the other side of the room, not where the beds with their patients were…
“T-that, erm…” Ticia searched for her words as she avoided eye contact with Nicia.
“Eh?” Nicia seemed to finally notice what shelf was standing behind Ticia. “Big sis, don’t tell me you…” Her gaze suddenly became sharp. “You drank so much you had a hangover?”
“...” I’m screwed! Ticia internally thought as Nicia’s gaze seemed to judge her…
“Um, listen now, Nicia, it's actually common for adults to drink…”
“That’s not an excuse to drink too much, big sis.” Nicia retorted sharply, her gaze was so sharp Ticia felt guilty.
Oh come on! Don’t look at me like that, Nicia! My heart won’t support it! She pleaded in her heart, very well aware that saying those words out loud would only aggravate her situation. She even ended up having silly thoughts as she panicked. N-now that I think about it, they're all clones of myself, right? S-so if I make Nicia drink alcohol, she would understand, right? No, what am I thinking, making my kids drink at their age!? W-wait, 'my kids'?
“Big sis, it seems like we need to talk for a bit…” Ticia’s chaotic thoughts were interrupted by Nicia’s words, and when she glanced at the clone girl, she nearly let out a yelp in fright. Nicia was smiling, it was an angelic smile that would usually make Ticia melt, but this time however, Nicia gave an oppressing aura that Ticia had never felt before…
“W-wait, Nicia? Could you wait for a bit? A-A-4 has an urgent notification for me, so I’ll read that first, alright?” Ticia tried to escape, remembering A-4 had some business with her, she glanced hopefully at the AI.
“Affirmative: Another important notification has been added to the list just now.”
The AI sided with Ticia, to her surprise, it would seem it really wanted her to read those notifications…
“...Surely those notifications aren’t as important as big sis’s health, right, A-4?” Nicia’s terrifying aura was now directed at the drone. It seemed to not be affected at first, but then the drone trembled and began beeping, its light becoming red.
“... Notifications have been confirmed not as imperative as owner Ticia’s wellbeing…”
The AI ended up saying, with what seemed like a lot of reluctance. It could not refute Nicia’s claim.
A-4, why!? I trusted you, you traitorous tin can! Ticia despaired at this betrayal that was as sudden as her short lived alliance with the AI.
“Now then, big sis, let’s talk about this hangover of yours….” Nicia redirected her terrific smile towards Ticia, who flinched.
“P-please wait a bit N-”
“Nhggg~”
““!?!””
A sudden noise interrupted Nicia and Ticia, and they both froze before looking in the direction of the beds, Vinia was moving…
“Nicia,” Ticia’s tone became serious, “we’ll talk about this later, right now…”
“Yes,” Nicia agreed, wearing the same expression as Ticia, she had the same thought as her ‘big sis’. Right now, Ticiania and Vinia were probably about to wake up!
They both hurriedly came over to the beds, and true to what they thought, both girls seemed to be waking up.
“Th-this is great, finally!” Ticia was overwhelmed as tears began to form in her eyes, she was scared the girls would never wake up again.
“I-I’m going to tell the others!” Nicia declared as she ran out of the room, she had totally forgotten the fact that A-4 could have done it. Ticia did not bother to go after her, she was too focused on Vinia and Ticinia right now…
After what felt like hours to Ticia, Vinia finally opened her eyes.
“Nh? Big… Sis?” Vinia said as she saw Ticia watching over her.
“How do you feel, Vinia?” Ticia asked worriedly, she was scared of any possible sequels.
“...I feel like I’ve slept for a very long time…” Vinia said as if she was complaining.
“Pft.” This made Ticia laugh a little, she smiled relieved. Thank god she’s alright…
Those were not unusual symptoms after getting out of a comatose state, in fact, Ticia had experienced this state at least four times already…
Ticinia woke up soon after, she too answered the same thing, to Ticia’s relief.
“Big sis, what happened?” Vinia asked shortly after, to which Ticia smiled wryly.
“You both overdid yourself, so you fell into comas for five whole days, everybody was worried, you know?”
“I see… Everybody was worried…” Ticinia repeated, she gave a quick glance at Vinia who nodded to her, both had the same question. “How is eldest sister?”
“That-” Ticia froze, she wasn’t expecting this question, a sad expression appeared on her face, and Ticinia didn’t need to use her powers to understand something had happened, even Vinia understood the situation had taken a bad turn from Ticia’s expression. They had wanted to make things better, but it seemed they had failed…
“... Big sis, hug?” Ticinia proposed, and Ticia nodded. She hugged the clone girl, and reflexively extended one of her arms over to Vinia, including her into the hug…
Ah, this feels good. How long has it been since I hugged those two? Ticia felt healed by the clone girls, so much so that she ended up in another reflection after being reminded yet again of the words she had heard Vinia mumble in her sleep.
… What do I feel for them… She asked herself, she had continuously convinced herself that she was the clone girl’s ‘big sis’, their caretaker, just like in the orphanage. But, was that all? Obviously no, Ticia knew it, she felt an attachment that was stronger than what could be described as a ‘sibling affection’... And she thought she knew what it was… That’s right, for all of them, I probably feel… She did not mention the word, but she clearly thought so.
However, how can I be something that I myself never experienced… That was Ticia’s fear, and the main reason she had banned the word from her mind… To have a mother, one of the things she had the most yearned for, but never received. How could she be a good mother herself if she did not know what a mother does, or how they treat their children? And besides that, she had come to despise her own mother and father that she did not even know. She hated them for letting her live the life she had gone through… and she yearned for this missing warmth, the warmth of a family…
But not anymore, I already have it. Ticia became determined, a new flame rose in her eyes, born anew. No more lying to myself.
She had a family now, she did not want to make the clone girls feel the yearn for a parent she had felt, and she did not feel the hate for her parents anymore in fact. She also understood what this seventh sense she had blurted out to Mia was, it was a mother’s instinct, she… was the mother of those twelve clone girls… That’s how she truly felt.
Now that my two precious youngest ‘daughters’ are awake and well, l feel like everything is gonna go back to its rightful order. Ticia believed so, tightening her hug. Now that she had been honest with herself, she felt like she would be able to do the things she had done wrong as a ‘big sis’ rightfully as a ‘mother’... Right now, she even felt like she could defeat the damned door who blocked the way to Licia, her favorite ‘daughter’.
Speaking of which, isn’t Nicia taking too much time? She thought, by now, that daughter of hers should have told everyone else, and immediately come back to the infirmary. Well, I don’t think it’s anything urgent, let me hug Ticinia and Vinia for myself a bit longer… Ticia ended up giving up her train of thought. Right now, she just wanted to get all the Ticinium and Vinium she had missed for five days…
“Uhm, big sis…” Ticinia suddenly asked.
“Mh? What is it, Ticinia?” Ticia looked at her daughter with a warm smile. Somehow, she knew what Ticinia was about to ask her. She knew Ticinia had probably felt through her ability the change of mind Ticia just had, hence, Ticinia asked with expectant eyes…
“Can… Can I call you mom-”
“Big sis!” Ticinia was however interrupted by the sudden intrusion of Ria, who looked panicked.
“Ria? What’s wrong?” Ticia immediately turned to Ria. “Wait, what happened to Nicia?!” She exclaimed in worry.
Behind the panicked Ria stood Nillia, followed by Miria and Tiria, even Willia was there. All of them were in the same state as Ria however, but that wasn’t what was worrying Ticia. An unconscious Nicia was being carried on Nillia’s back.
“She’s fine! She’s just unconscious after Licia hit her!”
“Licia did what!?” Ticia was shook by this, she did not expect her favorite daughter to hurt her sisters willingly! “Where is she?” She asked seriously.
“That… She’s, She’s gone!” Ria said hesitantly, she was visibly shaken about this whole situation.
“Wha-what do you mean gone!? Where's your sister?!” Ticia was in the same state, she pressured Ria to give her answers.
“A-4 told me so!” Ria said as if to defend herself.
“A-4?” Ticia turned to the AI’s drone, only for it to give Ticia an answer after a long beep.
“... Owner Ticia should read important notifications immediately.”
A tablet suddenly lit up near Ticia, who immediately grabbed it. She quickly read through the notifications, her face paling as she read what was in them…
“Oh no…” She nearly passed out after finishing reading, worrying the clone girls around her.
…It would seem four of her daughters had gone outside behind her back…
***
Going back a little bit in time…
“I’m going to pet a rabbit~, rabbit~, rabbit~♪.”
Nia was happily walking towards their destination, singing a strange song she had just made, while her ahoge was swinging happily from left to right. Mia, on the other hand, was following her sister with less confidence.
“N-Nia, are you sure it’s alright to go outside?” She asked hesitantly, her speaking disorder back.
It was the morning of the day following their discussion, and both clone girls, after having slept a bit, were now on their way to the first floor. Nia was still excited, and immediately set out after having breakfast. She was wearing her tracksuit for the occasion too. Meanwhile, Mia had followed her sister all the way, and she too, was wearing her tracksuit while holding her precious helmet in her arms.
A good night's sleep had, however, calmed the girl down, and while yesterday she had excitedly declared she would follow Nia, her courage had vanished in just a few hours…
“It’s gonna be fine~, Mia, don’t worry so much~.” Nia reassured her sister, making Mia wonder where all her sister’s confidence came from.
“B-but, mom didn’t allow us to go outside…”
“Big sis did not allow you to call her ‘mom’ either.” Nia stopped walking and retorted as a slight frown appeared on her face. She found it weird that her sister still called Ticia ‘mom’ right now. She thought at first it was because Mia was excited about the information she just had, but it didn’t seem so.
If she were to be honest, this annoyed her quite a bit, she was the first who used the term, and yet Ticia had so strongly rejected it right at her face on the first day! That day, she swore to herself that she wouldn’t use the term until her ‘big sis’ allowed her to do so, and she thought her sisters thought the same thing.
At the same time, she did not think Ticia allowed Mia to use this term. Even though she knew Ticia cared about Mia, as proven from the fact that Nia was always the only one to get punished, that was a step she was sure Ticia wasn’t ready to make yet.
“Th-that, there’s a reason for that…” Mia hesitantly said as she shied away from Nia’s gaze.
“Yeah, yeah~, tell me about it later, right now, I’m going outside~!” Nia said instead of investigating it further and began to walk again, she didn’t want to know more, and was not going to force her sister to tell her why she used the term.
“B-but it’s dangerous outside…” Mia warned as she catched up to her sister in a panic.
Of course Nia knew that, she wasn’t an idiot. Going outside wasn’t really her objective after all.
“Don’t worry, the baddies were chased away by big sis, weren’t they? That’s what Lidia told you, no?” She reassured her scared sister, like she always did when they went exploring.
“Y-yes, but…”
“Then it’s fine~, big sis didn’t even go out in a while, so that must mean the baddies have left!” She proudly declared to a doubting Mia, that was the conclusion she had come to after analyzing all the elements she knew about. Besides, even if it wasn’t true, she wasn’t going to go outside, she just wanted her sister to gain some confidence, as well as make her sister give up on the idea to go outside! That’s why she said the following words to her sister lightly.
“You know, you don’t have to follow me if you’re so scared of big sis’s punishment~.”
“N-no! I want to go outside too!” Mia replied strongly, her curiosity was stronger than her fear. Nia smiled at that, she liked it when her sister was like this. More of herself and less of a poor person who could not do anything out of a stupid speaking disorder.
“Let’s go then!” Nia declared as they reached the staircase to the first floor. “There’s nobody bloqu-”
Immediately as she said that, a warning siren rang, and A-4’s voice could be heard.
“Warning: Null CG-09 Mia and Null CG-10 Nia have entered an area owner Ticia has declared as inaccessible to Null class Clone Girls.”
“Oh… I forgot about A-4” Nia said, playing out like she had forgotten about this fact to Mia. She knew the AI would stop them, and that was for the best. Still, since Mia relied on her to do what she liked, she forced herself to negotiate. “Hey A-4, can’t we talk it out?”
“Notification: Null CG-10 Nia’s plea has been refused.”
The AI quickly shot down Nia’s request, to her relief. She did not expect however the next step the AI took.
“Warning: Please go back to unrestricted areas before this unit has to use force.”
Drones suddenly surrounded both Mia and Nia, scaring them. Nia quickly glanced in Mia’s direction, her sister had frozen in place the moment the sirens had begun to ring. She then gave an expectant as well as scared look to Nia.
She didn’t give up yet? Nia thought internally, she just wanted her sister to realize it would be best to stay inside, and that there was nothing to be gained outside right now!
In truth, Nia was not that curious, in fact, she was rather lazy, and found happiness at lazing around and doing pranks from time to time, something Ticia had found out long ago from all the playtimes they had. She only had sudden peaks of interest that evaporated after a moment, and did all her explorations because her sister, Mia, had developed a strange sense of admiration for her after she had excitedly talked about that time, when she had seen their ‘big sis’ wearing the armored skinsuit for the first time.
If she were to be honest, she liked the feeling of being relied upon by her older sister, hence, she had put on an act of being a daring little explorer, always making sure not to put herself nor her sister into harm’s way. In a way, she hoped it would help her sister become more courageous and daring, even if it meant acting dumb and childish, and receiving Ticia’s punishments as a side effect. It was not like those punishments were bad anyway…
But going outside… was probably a step too far…
Alright, I’ll try one more time then. She said to herself, determined to change her sister’s mind. If Mia was shown how impossible it was to go outside, then surely she would give up, right?
“A-A-4? P-please calm down~? I just want to talk…” She mustered the courage to ask, knowing very well that the AI wouldn’t be as cooperative as it had been until then.
“Notification: Null CG-10 Nia’s plea has been refused.”
The AI gave the same response, and this time, the drones extended their mechanical arms to grab Nia.
“Agh! No fair, no fair!” Nia added a small tantrum to her play, before finally judging it was enough. “Fin-”
Before she could finish however, another voice interrupted her.
“A-4, Null Code 017, let us trough.”
“!?!”
“Mia!?”
The drones immediately stopped as Mia said those words, while Nia stared at her sister with a look of disbelief and shock. Mia had put on her helmet, the one object Nia was happy Mia possessed as backup just in case, but also hated, because Mia relied too much on it.
But that wasn’t what shocked Nia. Mia had just used one of the Null codes, something all the clone girls swore to never use except in case of great danger… Codes that were made not to be used in regular situations, and that were going against all the implanted knowledge and ideas the clone girls had received…
“... Null code has been accepted… Temporary access has been granted to both Null CG-09 Mia and Null CG-10 Nia…”
The AI said in a somewhat reluctant voice as its drones released Nia. It could not reject a Null code.
“Thank you, A-4.” Mia thanked the AI, putting her right hand to her heart and standing straight. A military sign of gratefulness that was part of the implanted knowledge.
“Notification: A message will be sent to owner Ticia about the use of the Null Code to overrule owner Ticia’s authority.”
“That’s fine, don’t forget to mention it was me, and not Nia, who used it.”
“This unit will do so.”
After this short , tense exchange, the drones left the place one after another, leaving only Mia and Nia. Mia released a sigh of relief, Nia on the other hand…
“H-hey, Mia…” Nia was in a panic state, her face pale, never had she thought her sister would go this far!
“What is it, Nia? We can go outside now, right?” Mia tilted her head, but Nia could not see her sister’s expression because of the helmet. It seemed to her that her sister was happy she would finally be able to be outside.
“Yes… But that’s not it! You… You just broke the promise!” She exclaimed, that was the most worrying thing to her…
What has she done!? She thought to herself as cold sweat ran down her back, going any further than this, if that wasn’t already enough, would have more severe consequences, not only with Ticia, but with all the clone girls as well! If Mia’s curiosity was so strong it made her use the Null codes to satiate it, then it was as good as declaring Mia as a ‘defective clone’! And that’s not all, Licia and Ria, on the very first week, the both of them had declared they would personally go after any clone girl who breaks that line! Even if they were sisters! The thought of having both of their eldest sisters going against them made chills run down Nia’s back. She did not have great relations with the both of them, but now… It could only become worse for her and Mia…
“Oh… It’s fine, Nia, thank you for worrying.” Mia said, trying to reassure Nia, she took both of her hands as she closed in. “But just like you, Nia, I can’t contain my curiosity anymore. Even if it means breaking the rules… and never being able to go back to how it was before… I can’t take this anymore, this curiosity... if not for the helmet, I might have died from it… That’s why, let’s go together, Nia.”
“...” Nia did not know how to answer her sister, she hid her expression by lowering her head.
How did it come to this? I just… Nia felt guilty, and a pain had emerged in her heart. All this time, she had just put a mask on her face, playing the reliable sister. She enjoyed those moments, and it helped Mia gain confidence. But perhaps she had gone too far this time…
She hoped showing Mia how it was impossible to go outside would make her stop, redirecting her interest to something else until Ticia allowed them to go outside, but instead, it seems like she had just made her sister rely on her too much. Now Mia’s curiosity had reached the limit thanks to Lidia unknowingly feeding it… Worse, Mia was persuaded that Nia's thoughts were the same as hers!
“What are you doing?” Mia asked, without Nia realizing, her sister had let go of her hands, and was already climbing the stairs. “Come on, let’s go catch a rabbit!”
“...” Nia understood, there was no going back now. Her sister would go outside, and she would not be able to change this fact. She closed her eyes. Now, she had to decide whether she would tell Mia the truth, and that she actually never wanted to go outside, or if she would continue to play the reliable sister.
That… There’s not really a choice, is there? She sighed, somehow, she felt like the first option would just lead to a worse outcome, where she would probably never see her sister again. Besides, she could not motivate herself to break Mia’s reality like this, hence she decided.
“Alright, time to catch a rabbit~!” Nia exclaimed happily as she climbed the stairs, going in front of Mia, to the other clone girl's delight as she giggled at the act. In the end, Nia did not want to abandon her sister.
I can’t let Mia go outside alone! I… I must protect her as the one who is responsible for making her break the promise! Nia walked ahead as they reached the end of the staircase, determined. She hoped her ‘big sis’ would catch up to them before something were to happen, and even if nothing happened in fact.
Now, she was an accomplice to the act, and, just like Mia, she would probably be categorized as a ‘defective clone’, but somehow, Nia had a feeling. She had a feeling Ticia would not be as angry as they feared, and that feeling came from the numerous punishments she had received from her ‘big sis’...
So please, she prayed in her mind. Please, come before it’s too late, ‘mother’...
Author's monologue:
Hey there! I'm back with a new chapter!
Oh man, uhm, the pace of the story is suddenly accelerating, isn't it? Well that chapter sure was a rollercoaster of emotions...
The most confusing to me, as the author, was what part should go first, the one with Ticia or the one with Mia and Nia... At first I wanted the latter to be first, but... I changed my mind, having all the pieces of Ticia's side from the start makes more tension build up I guess, so sorry dear readers? It seems that cliff-san has appeared again...
The struggling parts of this chapter for me were Ticia and Nia's true feelings, I struggled a bit to make those appear 'naturally' so I really hope I did this right... After all, both have amusing personnalities, and I don't think many of you had expected this twist from Nia...
So yes, writing aside, Ticia really has bad luck right now... But at least she finaly came to a conclusion about her internal debate... Cookies for the struggling mother?
And our two cuties are back! Now, if that isn't a consolation, I don't know what it is, because Nia and Mia just had to go outside on that very same day...
Nicia is scary when she gets angry too... better stay on her good side, right?
Mia... Well, I can only feel sorry for her, at least she will be able to satiate her curiosity, right?
As for Nia... Poor girl, she just wanted to be relied upon and help her sister...
Also, Licia, what does this mean? And Null codes? 'Defective clones'? What are those exactly!?
Well, everyone, you will get some answers in the next chapter! It'll come out on Thursday, because of recent changes in my schedule, posting on Wednesday became hard, so yeah, the second chapter of the week will be on Thursday, that's something I must update too, since I plan on officially releasing two chapters per weeks from now on...
Well, before we leave, here comes today's illustration! And as promised, here's an illustration of Vinia!
Wh-what's this? Low twintails?! How can she be so cute!? Vinium might be as strong as Ticinium, just like Tiria said...
Well, that's it from me for this chapter! I'll see you all in the next one!