Clone Girls

In front of Ticia, twelve clone girls were lined up with a somewhat tense atmosphere in the air...

After Null CG-12, or rather, Vinia, woke up, she had eclipsed herself for a bit to take a shower and change into new clothes. She did not want to leave a dirty impression of herself to the girls. Wanting to impress them, she decided to put on the brand new military uniform she just designed.

For the design, she was inspired by the Borkian military uniform she wore before. That uniform did not prevent any movement, something that she appreciated a lot. She also kept it low on useless decorations, instead opting to place multiple wide pockets to hold ammunition or equipment if needed. There was however one service ribbon present on her uniform. That ribbon was tricolored with deep blue on the left stripe, green in the center and orange on the right. There was a silver star on each stripe which complemented its design. This ribbon was made by A-4, and Ticia reluctantly agreed to wear it after the AI insisted for her to wear it. Its meaning was to show that she was the owner of Clone installation 3. But it wasn’t like there was anybody to see it… Until now that is… The ribbon was highly visible on her plain white uniform, which was also very visible. Ticia was not quite satisfied with the design yet, but it would do for now. To her, white was better than the dull gray color of the Borkian’s military uniforms, which she had complained about to Rika.

Besides that, she also had a military cap, she had adorned it with golden lines to amplify the white and black materials. Something missed in the center however, there was no emblem, leaving a blank space. Ticia also had two pistol holsters on her hips. Even though the design was a prototype, and whatever use she was gonna make of it, she wanted to have a weapon on herself, just in case something happened and she would need to defend herself.  A bad habit from her past experiences as an orphan as well as in the military… Not everybody was your comrade…

Meanwhile, A-4 had directed the clone girls to an empty room on the fourth floor, and she joined them after finishing changing.

Now there she was standing in front of the girls, who lined up by their number’s order without thinking. All of them looked the same, same height, same gray eyes, and same messy white hair with black tips that reached their waist. If a stranger came in, he wouldn’t be able to differentiate between them. Ticia wasn’t a stranger though. Even now, she could tell who was who. Maybe it has something to do with the cloning process? She did not know, but it was a happy discovery for her. She had been scared of confounding them.

Seeing their faces, which were beginning to show emotions such as curiosity, Ticia thought that it really was a good idea to put the uniform on. This would make this moment even more memorable for all of them. After all, Ticia was about to give names to each of them.

But first, there was something important she had to do.

"I haven’t presented myself, so, uhm, let’s begin from there." She said then put her right hand to her chest, straightened herself and looked at the clone girls. "My name is Ticia, and… Uhm… Agh, scratch that." She loosened up and scratched her head with her right hand.

"I am your… creator? No, that doesn’t sound right. Uhm, I am the person you were created after… You are my clones… My very first clones… But I don’t want to refer to you like that!"

She raised both hands toward them. "So, let’s be a family! You are human beings in your own rights, so you deserve one! Is it ok with you all?"

All the clone girls nodded their heads in unison. Ticia was happy, and the girls seemed to be happy too, albeit a bit confused. She could see small smiles starting to appear here and there. She thanked A-4 in her mind because the AI had reminded her that they should be able to speak right about now. They did not speak yet, but Ticia was impatiently waiting for the moment she could hear their voices.

Ticia then put her right hand to her chest again. "Since we are family, we should act and present ourselves like ones, right?"

They all nodded back, expectations in their eyes.

"Alright, then from now on, call me big sis! I’ll be your big sister and raise you all well!"

Ticia said that with excitement, however, the clone girls froze, they then stared at Ticia with various expressions. There was sadness, disappointment, reluctant faces and blank faces. All those expressions quickly disappeared Ticia felt those gazes, but carried on as if nothing happened.

"Now then, onto why you are all gathered here." Ticia took a serious tone, and all the clone girls returned to their expressionless faces, they were straight like soldiers.

"I will give you all a name."

The clone girls all tilted their head to the right, they did not understand what she meant! But this action dealt critical damage to Ticia. Guh. T-too cute, this is just too pure, they’re gonna kill me with cuteness! God, was I this cute when I was a kid? Nope, no way! They’re just special.

Ticia’s internal debate about the origin of the clone girls’ cuteness was interrupted when she heard a timid voice.

"Uh-Uhm" Null CG-09 raised her hand timidly.

"Yes!?" Ticia jumped out of her thoughts, and Null CG-09 rapidly lowered her hand, even averting her gaze. Oh no… I scared her… That’s kind of cute too…

"What is it, dear little sister?" She said in her most tender voice to reassure the clone girl. "I won’t be angry, you can speak out. What do you want to know?"

After a bit of hesitation, and an encouraging look coming from her clone sisters and Ticia’s warm gaze, Null CG-09 mustered some courage.

"Wh-why sh-should we get a second name? W-we already have one…

"Oh dear…"  Ticia closed on Null CG-09, the young girl closed her eyes, as if scared to get hit. Instead, she felt a warm hand on her head. When she opened her eyes, Ticia was crouching in front of her so their gazes were at the same level.

"What you have is not a real name, it’s just numbers from a code used to classify you before your birth…"

Ticia rose up and then looked at all the clone girls.  "I don’t want to consider you as simple objects, hence why I will give you real names." She then walked over until she was just in front of Null CG-01. She crouched to meet her gaze and then warmly said. "From now on, you are Licia." She patted her head. "You are the eldest of the group, so please take care of your little sisters from now on."

Null CG-01, no, Licia, nodded back. Then Ticia repeated her actions with Null CG-02. "Your name is Ria, please help your eldest sister take care of the others."

"I will." Ria nodded. Ticia continued on, naming Null CG-03 Willia and Null CG-04 Nillia. She took her time for every clone girl, saying some words to each one of them.

Then came Null CG-05 and Null CG-06’s turns. Since the both of them always stuck together, Ticia named them both at the same time.

"Null CG-05’s name is Miria, and Null CG-06’s name is Tiria. Please continue to help each other in the future." She said as he patted Miria on the head with her left hand and Tiria’s head with her right hand. After that, Ticia named Null CG-07 Lidia and Null CG-08 Nicia.

And now there she was, back in front of Null CG-09. The young girl trembled as she waited to receive her name, not out of fear, but excitement. Ticia smiled. "Now, your real name is Mia. Do you like it?"

"Mia…" Null CG-09 repeated the name. "I… I like it! Thank you very much!"

"Hehe, I’m glad you like it~." She gave a short hug to Mia. Then she crouched in front of Null CG-10. "And you my dear, from now on your name is Nia. Do you like it?" She patted her head. But then something Ticia had not expected came back.

"Un, I like it. Please take care of us, ‘Mother’."

Ticia’s hand froze in place.  Wh-what did she just say!? She began to panic. No way no way! I-I’m not a mother! Absolutely not! Never! She denied it strongly in her mind, and as she did, she felt a strange emotion stir up in her chest.

"Ha-Hahaha… I think you misunderstood something… I’m your big sis, not your mother, understand?"

"...Is that so?..." Nia said, Ticia could again feel various emotions directed at her, only, they were a bit stronger this time. Still, just like the pain in her chest, she chose to ignore them. Nia changed her expression to a smile then said. “I’m Nia from now on, thanks, ‘big sister’!”

"...Hahaha…" Ticia forced herself to laugh, though, in her head, she was thinking about what Nia just said.  This girl, the way she said it, sounds like she might call me mother again in the future… I hope she doesn’t do that often. I’ll need to watch her carefully…

"Note: This is the reason why this unit was opposed to-"

"Not now A-4, can’t you see that we are bonding with each other right now?"

Ticia shot down A-4’s retort before he even had the time to finish. Now Ticia was in front of Null CG-11, who was also expecting her name. Ever since their first interaction, Ticia could not stop herself from wanting to spoil the girl. Her mannerism was just too cute.

"Your name is Ticinia. Let’s take care of each other, okay?"

"Un!" Ticinia hugged Ticia without warning, surprising her a bit before she returned the hug. "There, there~" She patted Ticinia’s back.

"Ah" Ticias’s eyes met Vinia’s, causing the latter to push a little exclamation and avert her eyes. Even though she already received her name, she was clearly waiting for her turn. This fact made Ticia smile at her. She finished her hug with Ticinia then crouched in front of Vinia.

"Let’s do it correctly this time, ok?"

"Un…" Vinia nodded back. And Ticia smiled before making a serious expression.

"Null CG-12, you will be known as Vinia from now on."

"Yes! I am Vinia!" Vinia answered energetically, which made Ticia laugh. Then, Ticinia suddenly hugged Vinia.

"Fueh?" Vinia let out a strange voice, then looked at Ticinia.

"I am Ticinia" The young clone girl pointed at herself, then she pointed at Vinia. "You are Vinia."

Vinia was bewildered, but seeing Ticinia’s smile, she smiled back, returned the hug, and answered.

"Yes, you are sister Ticinia, and I am Vinia!" The both of them began to giggle while repeating their names.

Ticia watched silently, a large smile on her face. Those two are really the cutest! Oh no, they’re gonna make me melt if they continue to smile like that! When she tried to look away, her eyes fell on Tiria and Miria who were just holding hands while smiling at each other. Gosh, that’s cute too! Everywhere she looked, the only thing she saw in her eyes was cute clone girls doing cute things. As her thoughts were going in a weird direction again, her stomach made a loud noise, and every clone girl stopped what they were doing and looked at her with big eyes.

"Uhm, Hahaha… It seems like I am hungry…" She said embarrassingly as her cheeks turned red. "Would you all like to eat?"

As if her words were a secret keyword, multiple growlings could be heard. The eyes of the clone girls had stars, and some even began to drool.

Ticia burst into a laugh. That’s a really funny reaction! Tears started to appear in her eyes.

"Everyone’s hungry huh? Alright then, let’s go eat! I’m sure something good is waiting for all of us at the cafeteria! I wonder what it’s gonna be~?"

"Recall: Owner Ticia should already know the menu since she was the one who insisted on choosing la-"

"S-stop! Don’t say more A-4! This is supposed to be a surprise!"

***

Night time, Ticia watched over a room with thirteen mats on the floor. Twelve of them were already occupied. The last one, of course, was for Ticia.

Ticia recalled the events that led to this scene as she watched the sleeping faces of the kids. After eating a delicious meal of lasagne at the cafeteria, Ticia led the clone girls around all Clone installation 3 except the first floor. She watched over them as their expressions changed depending on the rooms they were in. As time passed, the clone girls grew tired, since they were still young, Ticia judged they would need to go to sleep soon and, after having supper, she helped the girls change into newly made pajamas. But then, as she was going to affiliate rooms for the girls, Ticinia and Vinia begged her to sleep with them.

Ticia wanted to agree immediately, but after a quick look at the faces of the other clone girls, she decided it would be unfair for only those two to sleep with her.  In the end Ticia proposed a compromise. Since it would be their first night, they would all sleep together inside the same room like a big family. It was happily accepted by all clone girls. Right now, Ticia was the only one awake. All the clone girls had already gone to dreamland under her watchful eyes.

She eclipsed herself silently from her bed, and sneaked out without making any noise. A-4 stood in the hallway. He was waiting for her. When she was out of the room, the both of them silently walked away. They mounted up to the third floor, where they entered a room full of lighted up screens.

"So, how’s the situation outside?" Ticia asked, not losing a minute. Her tone was dead serious.

"Report: During the day, signs of activity have been detected yet again near the sector. Recon drones have reported an increasing presence of lifeforms within close perimeter of Clone installation 3. Displaying collected images on screens."

Ticia looked at the screens. "Hmm… As expected, it’s the republicans."

Ticia recognised the green uniforms of the Ionian republic. In one of the images, she saw them interacting with officers from the 608th infantry escort company. 

The following days after Ticia woke up, she had ordered A-4 to keep an eye on the situation outside. The soldiers of the 608th infantry escort company had received reinforcement, probably from their associated brigade. Soon after, A-4 intercepted one of their transmissions which was destined to the Ionian Republic.

"In the end, I just got caught up in something big by accident…" Ticia sighed.

It wasn’t like defection was a rare thing within the Borkian military. Since military units often had a backer which financed them or built the unit from scratch, like Brigadier-General Rika, it wasn’t something strange for them to follow their leader when he/she was defecting. When she first learned of this, Ticia wondered just how the Borkian Confederation had yet to be plunged into a civil war…

This time however, it seemed that the scale of the defection was bigger.

"...Seems like this will become a headache…" Ticia sighed again as she folded her arms under her chest and sat down on a nearby chair. Usually, the one dealing with those kinds of problems would be her direct superior, Rika Doesson. She would just follow the orders given to her, she wasn’t interested in those people’s squabbles at the time. But from now on however, she would need to pay attention to it.

Right now, she found herself in the middle of a brewing conflict between the Borkian Confederation and the Ionian Republic. At first she thought she should just stay quiet, since this didn’t concern her. But then she thought about the reasons why a conflict would appear here.

"They want to secure Clone installation 3 for themselves…"

Ticia knew that Brelia 7 was contested between the two powers, but she did not really know why. Now however, she could see where it was coming…

"...A-4, set all human beings within the perimeter  from neutral to enemy."

"Order received: All human forms within the perimeter and associated with the Borkian Confederation or the Ionian Republic have been recognised as enemies."

Ticia could already imagine what would happen if any of the two factions discovered Clone installation 3’s real power, that was why she ordered such a drastic move.

"If any of them attempts to enter the installation, don’t spare them, alright?"

"Orders received: Unaccepted tentative of entrance within the installation shall be met with security drones."

Ticia nodded her head. She thought about the clone girls. Now that she had decided to take care of them, she needed to keep them secret and assure their protection. If she had to, she would even come out herself.

"...Speaking of which, what’s the progress on my armored suit?"

"Notification: Armored suit’s fabrication progress is up to 85%. Estimating time until completion… 3 days."

"That’s good. If I come out, I wouldn’t want anyone recognising me."

She would take any measure necessary. She didn’t know if she would meet someone she knew, but even if she did, she would not spare them, even her old superior. Right now, she wasn’t second class Ticia of the 9th special assault brigade, nor an orphan soldier of the Borkian Confederation. She was Ticia, owner of Clone installation 3, and she had a family to protect.

"Whoever comes, I won’t spare you…"