Clone Girls

Bronz was feeling slightly distressed right now. After her mother had left with the person who seemed to be her grandmother, she had missed the time to leave the room. Now she was stuck in a cacophonic room.

The clones were arguing what was to be their next course of actions. Some despaired, others tried to have a positive look of the situation, but were always shut down by pessimistic clones.

Overall, it made Bronz regret tending to her injuries before coming here… Not that she was the only ECG present…

Standing next to her were ECG-055, ECG-081 and ECG-091, who were relatively unhurt from the previous battle and had been selected by their mother to accompany her while the others rested. They were going through the same ordeal as her thanks to that.

A simple look to her sisters was enough to tell Bronz that they had the same thought: When would this end?

…Is this some sort of punishment? Bronz thought, thinking about their earlier performance. Just thinking about it soured her mood even more.

Bronz was reflecting on her actions. She was trying to understand what exactly went wrong, and she had already come up with a few answers.

Bronz recognised that she and her sisters lacked experience. Some clones even remarked that they were ‘too young’ and lacked training, but due to her own confidence she had put less importance onto this factor. Her mother trusted her with command, and her sisters also trusted her to give them command. Bronz had not expected what would happen without her commanding her sisters, nor the differing views they each had on how to fight…

Another problem arose when it came to the clones… They had accepted her command as if… it was the most natural thing to do. Aside from when she directly seeked some advice from them, they refrained from expressing their opinions. Getting more information and expertise from them or putting one of those battle hardened clones in command instead of her might have proven more effective in the long term…

While she was lost in such thoughts, the debate continued. All gazes were now focused on Chloe, who stood not far from Bronz.

“...I don’t care.”

“What?”

“I don’t care anymore.” Chloe said in a rude tone, surprising the council.

“W-what do you mean by that!? I-isn’t this about our future!?” Otto stood up, anger visible in his eyes, but Chloe shook her head in response, still calm.

“I was only interested in freeing our siblings to begin with. I have no interest in political stuff. This is your job.”

“H-how could you say that? You’re also involved! Do your job as a member of the council!” Otto said back.

“In that case, I resign.”

“Wha-?”

“W-wait! You can’t just resign on us like that!?” Another clone interjected.

“I can. ‘All parties swear to keep their role until we have achieved our common goal.’ That’s part of the set of rules we built together didn’t we? Now that the UFG is no more, haven’t we just overachieved our goal by default?”

“That… may be true, but…”

“Then you don’t need me anymore, right? I’m not into political stuff anyway. Besides, a good part of you don’t agree with my ideas, so I don’t see the need for me to stay here.”

““...”” 

The clones became quiet at her words, unable to argue back. Otto bit his lower lip in frustration.

“Chloe, could you reconsider it, please? Now is not the time to show disunity…” Ernest, the council leader, asked calmly, but Chloe’s mind was already set.

“That might be true, but I can’t help but think that there’s a hidden reason behind you guys allowing me to stay in the council.”

“What reason?” The woman to the left of Ernest frowned. She too was a face Bronz had not seen before.

“Well, of course, it’s because of my relationship with Emily, isn’t it?” Chloe replied back with a bit of irritation in her voice. “You guys are hoping I’ll convince her to stay with us, which is why you need to keep me in my position, right?”

““T-that-...”” The clones looked away, unable to deny her words.

“...Are you truly sure, Chloe?” Ernest once again asked Chloe with a serious face, to which Chloe nodded.

After a brief silence, Ernest released a small sad sigh.

“Very well.”

“C-Council leader!”

The other clones looked at Ernest with surprised expressions. The clone let out another long sigh.

“It’s her choice. She’s free to do what she wants, we have no power over her.”

Bronz nodded to herself after hearing this. Aside from Chloe, Ernest seemed to be the most reasonable person in this room. Perhaps this was why he had been put in the position of council leader.

At the very least, he doesn’t seem to be stubborn on things he shouldn’t. He also seemed less influenced by superior clones, but that might be because he is on the upper level of genes.

“Hey, you lots! Your leader is close to Her Perfection, right?”

““Eh?””

Just as Bronz was lost in her thoughts, a clone suddenly interpelled her and her sisters. He was a young man of the same age as Otto, but Bronz could tell he was of a higher gene rank. She had not seen him before.

“F-Franz, stop it, you’re being rude to those who helped us!” The clone next to him tried to calm him down.

“Then do you have any other ideas?”

“Ugh…” The clone looked away at Franz’s reply.

“Then don’t argue!” Franz then looked straight towards Bronz and her sisters. “Fellow clones, you can see we’re in a dire situation, right? Could you put a good word for us?”

Bronz looked at Franz completely disgusted, but before she could even say anything, Otto slammed the table.

“Stop the bullshit!! Begging our benefactors like that, I simply don’t like it. You’re being selfish!” He yelled, glaring at Franz.

“You… Why are you arguing against me?” Franz looked back at him with disdain. “Know your place, lower one.”

“Hmph, what’s that have to do here? Wasn’t one of the factors of our revolt equality between all of us without any status bias? Besides, they’re of higher rank than you, so your argument doesn’t hold.”

“These… ‘clones’ are clearly babies. They need to be guided. As for our revolt, it never was about that, it was about getting better terms of treatment.”

Franz did not hide his contempt for Otto, nor did he show respect towards the ECGs. He clearly saw them as different from them, which was a feeling Bronz shared. She didn’t want to be considered the same as this clown.

“That’s not why I joined. If it was only to satisfy the needs of a few of us, what was the point of all the sacrifice in the first place?”

“Well said.” Chloe praised Otto’s words with a smirk on her face, now seemingly enjoying the chaos unfolding. This further frustrated Franz.

“Hmph, you’re both annoying. Hey, come on, just say to your leader you want to join us. We’ll take care of you.” He said while looking at Bronz, trying to apply some sort of ‘authority’ on her. Unfortunately for him it had no effect on Bronz or her sisters due to their superior gene. Instead, it only infuriated them.

He is not only looking down on us but also on mom. How infuriating… Just as Bronz was about to say something, one of her sisters spoke up first.

“That will not happen.”

“055?”

Bronz frowned, giving her a questioning look while ECG-081 and ECG-091 looked like they wanted to say something. ECG-055 answered confidently to Bronz.

“Leave it to me, Zweite sister.” Bronz simply nodded.

“You, how can you say that? You would benefit more from staying with us.” Franz seemed annoyed by ECG-055’s words, but ECG-055 stood firm.

“No. Our allegiance is to our Mother, not to your council. Wherever she goes, we follow.”

“And why is that? Why should you follow after her? You are your own person, you should take the decisions for yourself.”

“Which is exactly what I am doing. Following our Mother will always be the best option.” ECG-055 remained unmoved by the clone’s attempts to persuade her.

“You might think so, but what about your siblings?” Franz tried to bypass her, looking towards Bronz, but this time both ECG-081 and ECG-091 moved in front of Bronz.

““Please do not bother Zweite sister.”” They said simultaneously, their tone slightly raised. This only provoked the clone more.

“Why are you interfering, I’m talking to her, not you.”

“You’re just not worth her time.” ECG-055 said with a look of disdain.

“W-what did you just say!?”

“Pfffft!” Chloe bursted out laughing. “That’s absolutely true!”

“You…” His pride having taken a hit, Franz was about to direct his anger towards Chloe when suddenly-

“Well, well, what an atmosphere we have in this room.”

““Y-your perfection!””

““Mother.””

Emily and Ticia entered the room, and the atmosphere within the room turned over. Unlike before, Emily looked somewhat angry, which made the clones frightened. Ticia was also angered. She immediately went over to her daughters, who all welcomed her arrival and saluted her.

“What brings you back, Your Perfection?” Ernest carefully asked, fully aware of the other party’s silent anger.

“Nothing much, we just got there to get back our family members.” Emily said, joining up with Ticia.

“Family members?” The council members frowned.

“My granddaughters to be exact.” Emily replied, a huge warm smile beaming on her face as she looked towards the ECGs.

“Wha-!?” The council members were shocked by her words. Even the ECGs were a bit surprised.

Wait, does this mean mom already accepted her?! Bronz was surprised. Licia had once told her that their mother had a hard time as a child and did not have a parent figure, so she might hold some remorse, but looking at her mother she could see that Ticia was not opposing Emily’s words, which meant that she had accepted Emily as her mother.

I’m glad for you, mom. Bronz was happy. She also liked Emily.

“...So it’s been confirmed huh?” Chloe said from the side, joining up with Emily who nodded at her words.

“Pretty much.” She said, before looking at the council. “Ah, and I’m taking Chloe too.”

“What about my opinion?” Chloe frowned.

“Hm? You’re not happy to go on a new adventure with your big sister?”

“...Guess I don’t have a choice. Okay, I’ll follow you.” Chloe looked away, slightly embarrassed. Even with her words, it was clear that she could not hide her happiness, which made Emily even more happy.

“That’s great! See Ticia, you not only got a mom, but an aunt as well!”

“A what? I’m a what now?!”

Oh, right. Chloe did address Grandmother as ‘sister’. Bronz quickly acknowledged the information. She and her sisters turned toward the agitated Chloe.

““Greetings, great-aunt.””

“No, why are you girls calling me like that!? Stop it, it’s weird!”

“Alright then! Let’s go!”

Not listening to Chloe, Emily declared in a merry mood their departure, but just at this moment, Franz shouted.

“W-wait! Y-Your Perfection, where are you going?”

The room immediately chilled. Emily looked at him with a cold look.

“Does it concern you?”

“...” Franz was unable to reply under the silent pressure of her glare.

“Your Perfection, please forgive us. We did not mean anything bad.” Ernest said, trying to calm the situation. “Truthfully, we simply have no idea what to do… I know you said you wanted nothing to do with us, but would you please guide us?” He bowed his head, as if pleading.

Bronz once again thought of the man as respectable. Despite what the others said he kept his calm and did everything in his power to continue the conversation in a direction that would help his siblings.

Unfortunately for him, Grandmother has already made it clear that she is coming with us.

“I do have a suggestion for you guys.”

““R-really!?””

“Eh?”

Emily unexpectedly answered positively to the surprise of not only the clones but also Bronz.

“This is an investment with conditions however.” Emily added.

After a few looks between the council members, Ernest spoke up.

“Please tell us.”

“My daughter here seems to know a place where you could settle, but she needs help to secure it and it might take some time.” Emily said with a smile.

A place? Grandmother can’t be talking about… Bronz realized what Emily was suggesting. She looked towards her mother for confirmation, only to see Ticia look somewhat troubled.

“A place? How long would it take to secure?” Ernest asked, a serious look on his face.

“A year? Maybe more, maybe less. It’s hard to predict it.” Emily answered, remaining vague. “So how about you guys contribute a bit?”

““Huh?””

“I’m saying we’re offering you a place to settle if you help us secure a place for our family.”

““!?!””

The council members finally realized what Emily was saying and began whispering between themselves.

“Of course, it’s not all for free. Like I said before, there is one condition…” Emily continued.

“What is it?”

“Complete subordination to my daughter.”

““!?!””

This time, everyone aside from Emily and Ticia were flabbergasted.

“D-Do you realize what you just said!? After all we’ve been through!?” Otto shouted out in anger.

“Silence. Let me finish.” Emily replied coldly, making him and the other council members wince in fear, but unlike before, Otto seemed less affected as shown by the slight anger still visible in his eyes.

“Sis, what do you mean by that?” Chloe asked, frowning.

“It’s not like they’ll be deprived of their independence, we can guarantee basic rights at least, we’re not that desperate. Just think of it as a volunteer- no, mercenary contract might be a better term.” Emily said in a business-like attitude.

““...””

A heavy silence appeared as the clones were digesting what Emily just said. Bronz’s mind was also full of thoughts.

What does Grandmother mean by that? Are we going back to CI3? Does she want to use the clones for this purpose? Are they going to submit to Mom’s authority?

“...Just so you know, I have no interest in ruling over you. Once the place is secured, you can form your own government or whatever.” 

Just as Bronz glanced towards her mother, Ticia said these words while scratching her cheek. Bronz knew her mother’s behavior by now, so she understood that Ticia herself was not completely onboard with what Emily suggested.

“I’d advise you to take the offer if you want to take into consideration the future of clones as a whole.” Emily added, making more than one clone tilt their head at her words.

“W-what do you mean, your Perfection?” Ernest asked.

“Cloning of course. Settling somewhere is an essential matter, but then what? What’s gonna happen to clones afterwards? You do know that clone progeniture isn’t like us, right?” Emily answered back as if it was a matter of fact.

“That… But it’s not like we can do anything about it, we can’t clone ourselves…”

“Then just get the genes from somewhere. So long as we have the gene codes, we can create clones. It just so happens that my daughter owns cloning facilities, so the structural effort will be lessened.” Emily announced proudly, as if it was her own achievement.

“R-really!?”

“Yes, since AIs consider her a human rather than a clone.” 

“I own two clone installations. One is at the location we need to secure, while the other is in a populated center. The second one is operational and should be producing clones very soon.” Ticia explained after all gazes had gathered on her.

“Wait, really? I didn’t know about that. D-does that mean there will be more little darlings?”

“Yes.” Ticia nodded to Emily’s serious question.

“H-how many?”

“I would like to produce five thousand.”

“F-five thousand!?”

“S-sis!? Hey, stay with me sis!”

While looking at her grandmother who was about to faint for some reason, Bronz digested what she just heard.

Mom said before that she wanted to create three thousand sisters, did she change her mind? Does Atrax-ia even have the capacity to produce this many?

Meanwhile, deciding to completely ignore Emily, Ticia continued.

“...So what do you think? I’m planning on leaving after I take a rest, so please hurry and make a decision. Also, the number of places are limited, we can’t take a huge force with us so suddenly, so eight to ten thousand people is the maximum right now. The rest will have to wait here until we can bring more of you.”

“W-wait, we can’t just make such a big decision like tha-”

“I’m going.”

“O-Otto?”

Just as Ernest was about to ask Ticia for some time, Otto spoke up. Every eyes gathered on him as he stood up once again from his seat.

“Forget about getting paid, I volunteer for this endeavor.” He declared resolutely to Ticia.

“Hey! You can’t decide that on your own! We need to have a debate and for a vote between us!” Franz admonished.

“A vote between us?” Otto replied back with a frown. He asked back with clear anger rising in his voice. “Do you seriously think this is the time for that?”

“Yes.” Franz replied. “It is our responsibility as the leaders of our group. As a leader I argue against-”

“You fucker…” Otto’s silent swear left Franz speechless as he was about to begin a speech. “This decision will impact us as a whole, so all awakened clones, no, all clones here should have the right to decide! Whether they choose to stay here and remain undecisive or grasp at this opportunity, let our siblings choose their path!”

“Hah! For someone who said before not to bother their savior you are quick to change track!”

“Begging for help and repaying a favor are two different things Franz. Besides, I’m not a hypocrite, nor someone who tries to manipulate things in his favor to maintain his current status.”

“You don’t understand. Our role is to lead our siblings wisely for the prosperity of all! I question your understanding of our current situation, what you are making is a rash decision!”

“That might be true, but I’d rather die knowing the future of my siblings is secured rather than freeze up to death while reminiscing about the past in this godforsaken place!”

“You-”

“Enough!”

““!?!””

Just as their argument began to heat up, Ernest shouted. All the clones of the council looked towards their council leader in surprise, not expecting this outburst from the usually calm Ernest. He was even showing off his authority through his words, which Bronz identified as slightly superior to the one of Franz, but still far inferior to the one from Emily or the Null CGs.

Bronz looked around. Everyone’s gaze now quietly focused on Ernest, awaiting for his next words. Emily and Ticia observed in silence while Chloe crossed her arms, her usual frown on her face.

After a while, Ernest let out a long, tired sigh, before letting out a few words.

“...Let them go.”

“What!?” Franz and some other clones immediately jumped out of their seats in protest, but a glare from Ernest quickly made them sit back in silence. 

“Let those who want to secure our future go with Her Perfection and her daughter.” He said before looking towards Ticia. “This offer remains open to those who remain here even after you’ve secured a place, right?”

“Yes. We’ll take anyone who wants to work toward this common goal, even laborers and janitors. I’ll also try to convince Laura to lend some provisions and basic necessities for those who remain in the meantime.”

“Then there is nothing more to say. Otto, go inform our siblings. Gather a group of the willing.” Ernest ordered, once again showing off his authority.

“Yes!”

“Council leader! You can’t make this decision on your own!” Franz once again spoke up in protest, defying Ernest’s decision.

“Each and every clone can volunteer for this. Freedom of decision. This is one of the things our siblings fought and died for and this investment is only one of many ways to remember and honour their sacrifices. Remember, the road to our independence is still a long way ahead…”

Once Ernest finished his words, none of the clones, including Franz, questioned them. Most of the clones seemed to agree to his words, showing sad faces while probably remembering their fallen comrades. Those who were still opposed could only look down in shame, not wanting to offend the sacrifices made by their siblings.

As they began to discuss between themselves, Bronz once again looked around, her head lost in thoughts. Her mother, grandmother and great-aunt were discussing between themselves. Emily and Ticia had smiles on their faces, though Ticia’s smile seemed somewhat forced and awkward. Chloe on the other hand was sighing, but the tips of her lips were slightly raised.

Bronz did not know what they were currently discussing because of all the noise around them. She glanced towards her three sisters, who glanced right back at her, the same thought as her crossing their minds…

This was all good news. Although lots of questions remained as to how Ticia would ‘smuggle’ an entire community of clones without raising any suspicions, these people would bolster her faction’s strength. With their help and the arrival of five thousand new sisters, securing CI3 and Brelia 7 would be easier. There was no doubt that Licia and Ria would also be delighted by the news and make their own plans. Bronz and her sisters would probably get some praises from them too. They should have been happy, but…

What… will happen to us?

***

“...Was it really okay?” Ticia asked Emily, the both of them standing a certain distance from the others. In front of them were clones marching in order as they entered a spaceship shuttle.

After having made her suggestions and clarifying some details with the clone council, Ticia had managed to contact Nathalia. The woman was relieved to hear from her after a long silence without any news, but was more than shocked when Ticia asked her a little ‘favor’.

She grumbled on at all the arrangements that had to be done but fortunately, the fleet she had brought up with her had enough capacity to carry the ‘mercenaries’. Nathalia expected some troops in return though, to which Ticia acquiesced. Further discussions about that were to take place face to face but Nathalia’s support had been secured by that point.

At the same time, the clones cleared a way to the surface. It had been easier than expected, most of the clone sentries were in no state to fight, the reason being that they did not sleep or eat without the order. As such, even though they were armed to the teeth, with the orders lacking they were weakened to the point of uselessness. The clones quickly brought them out of their misery.

To the surprise of some in the clone council, the clones had eagerly embraced Emily’s suggestion. They had no trouble finding ten thousand volunteers to fill the ranks. There were a large variety of them from low to middle class clones with various profiles. At first there were questions whether only those who were willing to fight should go, but Emily pointed out the need of specialists such as cooks, mechanics, engineers and many others. As such, anyone was allowed to join with the promise that they would not be put on the frontline and asked to give up their lives.

The low class clones were the most enthusiastic about this. Ticia recognised a few faces in the mix, they were clones she and her daughters had liberated along the way and it seemed they wanted to repay the favor. A good part of them also seemed impressed by her daughter’s performances and joined out of admiration.

Others had different opinions like just getting out of this place, but overall they all accepted the condition of obeying Ticia’s orders. Some even went as far as swearing an oath, including Otto. Although Ticia looked at them with a somewhat complicated look on her face, the ECGs nodded in approval.

Emily designated Otto and Chloe as the leader of this new ‘private military company’. Since the designation came from her, nobody opposed it. Those who were dissatisfied or uncertain were taken care of by Ernest, the clone council leader. He would stay behind and manage the remaining clones, including those still frozen.

Franz’s faction had tried, in a last ditch effort, to oppose the mercenary by bringing up the virus and how it was still dangerous, but Emily swiped it under the rug by counterarguing that worrying about a thousand-year old virus ws outright stupid. If it still existed, they’d deal with it, but if not, then who cares?

Otto took his new appointment very seriously and massively helped in organizing the volunteers and although Chloe grumbled at the unwanted position she had been given, she did her job effectively nonetheless.

The preparations were done quicker than expected, which allowed Ticia to leave this place rather quickly, just like she wanted. She still remained unsure about this whole PMC thing her newfound mother had suggested though…

“Of course it was okay to enlist them.” Emily said in a confident voice, a tender smile on her face as she looked at Ticia before glancing back towards the lines of clones with a blank, cold expression. “It’s better than letting them die here anyway. At least they’ll be useful.”

Using the clones to achieve their goals and lessen the burden on her daughters. That was what Emily suggested.

Building up a consequent army of clone girls would take a long time and their death would cause more and more grief to Ticia. In order to lighten her growing worries a bit, Emily suggested using the clones. They were after all war veterans for the most part or had some kind of battle experience. Their wide variety of skills would surely come in handy to help in various civilian as well as military tasks. 

Sure, some might grumble at the idea of being used again for war, but they would follow the mass so long as they were not told to die just for their boss. The prospect of obtaining a place where they could settle at the end of it all and possess a good amount of liberty and rights was just too tempting. With the majority of the council having already agreed and rallied behind Ernest, those who were unhappy could only remain quiet and go with the flow, fearing to be sidelined.

In a way, it could be seen as the clones ‘going back to their status from before’, albeit with some more freedom…

“...I thought you were supposed to be someone kind…”

“Not really?” Emily tilted her head at Ticia’s light remark, but then her eyes grew wide. “Ah, could it be that you prefer-”

“No,no, it’s fine.” Ticia cut her off hastily, feeling awkward. “It’s just, Rebot-ia and Chloe said you were really kind.”

At those words, Emily let out a small wry laugh.

“Well yes, but that only applies to family.” She replied. “I can only see these clones as ‘inferiors’. Besides, it’s not like they did anything to endear themselves to me.”

The last part was said in an icy cold tone that rendered Ticia speechless. She glanced at the nearby clones who were busy packing whatever they thought would be useful.

Truthfully speaking, she had a hard time understanding Emily’s reasoning on the clones. True, she also felt ‘something’ towards the clones, but it wasn’t anything more than a slight sense of familiarity. This feeling was like a voice whispering to her that she had a genetic connection with the clones.

“What about Chloe then?”

“She’s different. I consider her my family, and we’ve been together for a long time. I’d never consider her ‘inferior’.” Emily immediately answered.

“Even though Chloe did something for which I can’t really forgive her, I can’t hate her. She had her reasons. It’s better to just try and fix our relationship rather than get stuck in the past. She and Rebot-ia are the only ones left from that time after all…”

“Well, if you say so...”

Seeing that Emily’s face had darkened, Ticia did not question further. There was a slight childish question that appeared in her mind. What about her and her daughters?

Just as she thought like that, she suddenly felt a soft touch. Emily had somehow noticed her slight change of emotions and hugged her, albeit a bit awkwardly.

The hug did not last long. While Ticia was still processing what just happened, Emily retracted, apologising awkwardly.

“S-sorry, that was the only way I thought of to tell my feelings!”

“N-no, that’s okay, I think…” Ticia also replied in a hurry, also feeling awkward and embarrassed. She wasn’t used to this kind of skinship that did not come from her daughters. Still, she did not impulsively reject it, rather, it left her with a warm feeling and a yearn for more. She would never say it out loud though…

“The link I have with you and the little ones is different from the one I feel towards the clones.” Emily explained, trying to hide the awkwardness. “Unlike with regular clones, it is screaming at me that you are ‘my family’, my ‘blood’... I don’t know if that makes sense to you…”

“Not really, but I think I understand the gist of it.” Ticia replied, scratching her cheek. She hesitated for a bit before saying something else. “I also feel a stronger connection to you than to normal clones, I don’t really understand it, but it is similar yet different to the connection I have with my daughters…”

“I see… I understand.” Emily let out a small sigh, smiling wryly. She seemed relieved. noticing that Ticia was still staring at her, she cleared her throat before changing the subject.

“By the way, have you noticed?”

“Of course I did.” Ticia said back, both of their gaze now focussing on the ECGs.

How could she not notice? Ticia knew her daughters best. She had noticed their slight agitation. They might not show emotions a lot, but it was clear they were worried…

The ECGs were questioning what would become of them now. They knew they would be different from their upcoming little sisters, who would go through the regular growth process, which made them question whether they would integrate well or not. They were not worried about this before but with their recent battle performance… Although Ticia had nothing to say about how her daughters handled things, it seemed they did not think the same and it was why they had exploded at the end of their previous battle.

Now with the arrival of new sisters on the way, plus the clone ‘mercenaries’ as well as their clearly different battle style… They were lost in what to do…

Ticia sighed as she looked towards Bronz. Right now her daughter was trying to act like usual and help charge up materials into the spaceships, but she made errors after errors and panicked as a result, which made her sisters panic as they tried to help Bronz, all of this under the bemused nearby clones’ gaze…

Thay had nearly messed up when charging up the Ionian comandos into the space shuttle as a result…

The scene looked rather messy and comical. Ticia would usually use this to tease her daughters but this time the underlying worries could not make Ticia lift the tip of her lips…

“I need to spoil them a lot as soon as possible.”

“My my, that’s indeed something that would raise their mood, no doubt about that. But while it would raise their mood, it would only be temporary. They need something more effective.”

“Ugh…”

Emily’s comment to Ticia’s words made her grunt in defeat. What else could she do for her daughters?

“...Say, would you mind leaving them to me for a while?”

“Eh?”

Ticia looked at her mother with a surprised look. Emily looked into her eyes, dead serious.

“What you cannot say or do because of your status as their mother and leader, I will say it as their grandmother. I’ve dealt with clones in similar situations, so I know how to get them back on a positive mindset.”

Ticia considered Emily’s proposition. The latter did not move, as if proving how determined she was. Could Ticia entrust her daughters to someone else other than Rika? But would she or Rika even be able to solve her daughter’s worries?

“...Please.”

In the end, she could only accept Emily’s suggestion while biting her lower lip at the fact she would probably not be able to solve the situation herself…

“Fufu, leave it to me! I’ll make my granddaughters the best fighting force in the entire galaxy!” Emily declared, a beaming smile now on her face.

Ticia simply stared back at the happy Emily for a few seconds, before feeling embarrassed and looking away.

Emily showed so much love towards her daughters, if she did not rely on her here she would be an idiot.

“Thanks… mom.”

“~~~~~~~~!?”

Ticia said the last part in an almost inaudible voice while blushing but Emily heard it, it had an instant effect on her mood. She was on the verge of tears from happiness.

As Ticia kept avoiding eye contact from embarrassment, she noticed Laura coming her way.

“Are you leaving too?” This was a good way to change the topic, so while Emily was still stuck in her own world, Ticia began a conversation with Laura.

Laura nodded, she kept her focus on Ticia, completely ignoring Emily.

“Yup, I got what I needed. Now I need to go back and do my report. You’re leaving soon too, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I want to go back as soon as possible. By the way, thanks again for the request.”

“It’s nothing. A clean swipe of the sector was planned anyway, so there won’t be any hostiles here for a while. Providing basic necessities doesn’t cost us much anyway. Besides, this isn’t much to repair what I’ve done…”

“Still, I know you asked for help later on but I want to at least repay you right now.” Ticia insisted. Laura seemed troubled for a moment, before smiling.

“Mmmmh, well, if you’re so insistent… Come closer.”

“???”

Ticia tilted her head. Did Laura want to tell her something that couldn’t be heard by others? If so, why the whisper instead of a private message or meeting in a room? She deduced that it was not that important but lent her ear anyway.

Laura’s smile grew bigger as Ticia leaned closer. When Ticia finally understood Laura’s intentions, it was already too late. Laura was about to kiss her on the cheek.

But at the last moment, a hand blocked Laura’s mouth, before she was pushed away.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing to my daughter!?” Emily exclaimed, glaring at Laura as if she had killed a family member.

Laura simply giggled.

“Awww come on, it was just on the cheek! I guess my future mother-in-law doesn’t approve, too bad.” She said to the fuming Emily, before looking towards Ticia. Her smile deepened when she saw the confused expression on Ticia’s face.

“Welp, at least it seems like my intent was finally transmitted, glad you’re not that dense Ticia!”

“You-”

“Well then, see ya!”

Before Emily or Ticia could say anything, Laura ran away. She had seemed confident in her actions, yet Ticia noticed that Laura’s ears were slightly red from embarrassment.

“That scoundrel! She left before I could punish her! As if I’d let someone steal my daughter in front of me!” Emily grumbled, glaring in Laura’s direction but not pursuing.

Meanwhile.

“...That was a bit unexpected…” Ticia muttered to herself.

She would be lying if she said she had not noticed Laura’s light approach all this time, but she had not expected her to do a bold move like this.

Now this wasn’t the first time someone tried to take advantage of her and sometimes it was more than for just a kiss. Of course, it always ended badly for the other party, whether it be men or women, mostly men though.

This time however, Ticia did not instinctively reject Laura’s attempt, which surprised even her…

…Was she unconsciously attracted to Laura?

“...To leave my daughter in such a state… I won’t forgive her!” Emily said as she looked at her daughter’s empty stare into the distance. “Ticia, I won’t allow you to be with her, or anyone else!” She declared. "Ah, but if you already have someone…”

“I don’t.” Ticia shook her head.

“As I thought. But isn’t there someone you like?”

“Is this really the moment to talk about such things?” Ticia could not help but release a sigh while frowning at Emily’s question, which made Emily apologize on the spot.

“Ah, you’re right, sorry.”

Ticia sighed again. A few positive emotions crossed her mind however. 

Setting aside Laura for a moment… This was probably a normal discussion between parent and child… right? That made her a bit warm in the heart. She could imagine this sort of discussion with her own daughters.

Of course, her reaction would probably be the same as the one Emily had…

“...Someone I like huh?” She whispered, looking into the distance. She had never ever thought of getting into any relationships. She could only consider it a bother at the time after all. Besides, she had no interest in men. 

But now that her position was progressively becoming more secure… She began to think that perhaps… she should consider it. For herself, but also for her daughters to have a second parental figure.

As her thoughts went into that direction, she thought of someone she had relied upon so much that the title of “nanny” could really apply to her. It made her smile a little.

“Time to go back.”

***

“Daddy! We finally meet again!”

A cheerful voice reverberated from the speakers of a huge spaceship hangar. 

“Time to pay for what you did, you jerk of a Daddy!”

A second voice said, this one, albeit still cheerful, sounded a bit more menacing.

The man at the receiving end of their words seemed calm though, or rather, completely drained…

“...Hi, Mai-ia, Lay-ia. How have you been?”

“...Eh? What’s this anti-climaxing feeling my programs are pushing up?”

“...M-Mai-ia, I think Daddy is broken, should we ask Medic-ia to check on him?”

“I’m not broken…” Stuart Derguer said back to his creations in a voice that could not really be considered a protest. He seemed calmer than before, but still tired.

“Mmmh, well if Daddy says so. What’s up with your attitude though?” Lay-ia asked.

“I decided that I won’t be running away anymore.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used you like tools for my own wishes. I’m not sorry about the loli holograms though.”

“...”

“...”

The two AIs remained silent as their creator apologized. It was clear that this was unusual for such a scene to occur and both sides did not know what to say.

Laura watched this scene from the sideline, not really interested in it either. She was more focused on her own thoughts.

After a long silence, Mai-ia spoke up in a carefree voice.

“Welp, after all this time, I don’t really hold a grudge anymore.”

“Same. I’ve accepted my fate as an eternal loli.”

The AIs said, not really forgiving their creator but letting it be a thing of the past. The ‘loli’ part seemed more important to them than all the rest though…

Stuart Derguer remained careful in his actions. After another short silence, he spoke up.

“...How many of you are-”

“We’ve managed to gather seventy-one of us. Only twenty four of us are in full operative capacity though.”

“Right, right. Thirty seven have damaged or limited resources while the rest are either in sleep mode or completely shut down due to lack of maintenance or other reasons. You’ve got a lot of work to do Daddy.”

Both AIs proudly spoke up as if this was a great achievement, cutting off their creator’s voice.

“We’ve also managed to establish contact with a few others, but we cannot reach their current location.”

“Speaking of, we should add Atrax-ia and Rebot-ia. We’ve had our guesses about Atrax-ia, but for Rebot-ia to still be active…”

“It was a surprise indeed, let’s add both of them to our communication network, but there’s no need to go further. Those two have already found their own path.”

“Well, if you say so.”

As if natural, the two AIs planned up their next moves, leaving their creator and Laura behind. But they soon came back to their creator.

“So anyway Daddy, we’ve had quite a hard time, you know?” 

“Right, right, why did you have to have so many offspring? You even had some with married women!”

Both childishly complained to their creator.

“...I heard from that girl that you’ve been gathering every one of my descendents and establishing a monarchy around them after overtaking the AI faction.” Stuart said, ignoring what the AI just said.

“Yes. As much as they promoted freedom of AIs, the humans were not so keen on being governed by one, so we made an agreement with your descendants.”

“Who would have thought the easiest part was suppressing the other AIs though? Daddy, your descendants are horrible at keeping promises.”

“The situation’s a bit of a mess, but now we’ve achieved one of our objectives. Thanks a lot Laura, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”

“Don’t forget to keep your part of our agreement, you two.”

Laura, who had gone out of her thoughts a few minutes ago, was now listening attentively to the conversation. When her name was mentioned, she spoke up, gathering attention to herself.

“Of course.” Lay-ia replied in a business-like tone. “But there are some problems…”

“...What do you mean?” Laura’s voice was eerily cold, her face becoming the void itself.

“The weeding out is taking longer than expected this time.” The AI continued, unphased by Laura’s change in emotions as if she was used to it. “It seems they’re being helped by someone.”

“Who is it? I’ll destroy their fiefdom too.”

“The thing is… This time, it’s not coming from inside...”

“...Someone dares to interfere in MY affairs? Which country is it?”

“They were quite sneaky, but we’ve identified them. It’s the Nichibotsu state.”

“Nichibotsu… huh?”

The words were said in a cold freezing tone. Laura’s rage was clear to any oblivious person.

“By the way, a trading spaceship associated with a Nichibotsu state company stayed in the orbit of this planet even before we came here. They sent a shuttle to this planet which came back just a few hours ago. They left the system right after that.”

“...Haha.”

A small laugh escaped Laura’s mouth as her face, void of expression, slightly turned into one of madness.

The state of Nichibotsu was known to be neutral. It never interfered with other nations and kept its neutrality for more than six hundred years, focusing solely on internal matters. Their only passive influence was their culture that was well renowned throughout the entire galaxy.

No one would have suspected they were involved in this…

“Looks like they’ve picked up some troublesome people… I see, so they’re much more involved than we thought.”

“Normally we’d have hijacked their ship or left a tracker, but this time their resistance was abnormally strong…”

“How many warships and divisions are available?” Laura asked.

“We have the Home Fleet stationed in the nearest system. We can mobilise up to 53 divisions from nearby, but most would be reservists and lack drones or mechs.”

“Besides that, we’ve received reports of an Ionian fleet regrouping near our border. It’s a checkmate, the Nichibotsu state is too much for us to take on right now…”

The AIs’ report made Laura grunt. She began scratching herself with a frustrated look.

“I’ve waited this long, I can wait another few years. It’s just…”

The longer she waited, the more the pain intensified. She wanted her revenge, now. She had gotten impatient with Stuart Derguer and caused a great mess up because of that. 

“...We can ask your sister for new prosthetics if you want.” Mai-ia worriedly said as she noticed Laura’s missing arm. Laura had collected her prosthetic, but had yet to put it back in place.

“Don’t. I don’t want to bother her more than necessary. I’ll just ask Mech-ia for help later.” Laura’s quick reply was short but firm. She did not want to involve her little sister.

This was ‘her’ revenge.

Back then, ‘they’ had used her for their plots and she nearly died. She knew they wanted her sister dead, but she wouldn’t let them have their way. That’s why she had a deal with those AIs and accepted the title they granted her…

“I’ll kill every single one of them. I’ll trample over what they collected, destroy what they consider precious and-”

“Oh yeah, your sister tried to call you a few days ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that sooner!?” Laura’s face immediately changed. “Aaaah, what excuse will I have to come up with? W-will she pout? That’d be cute too…”

“Siscon.”

Mai-ia let out a comment, but Laura completely ignored it. She was a siscon afterall, so this was nothing new to her.

“Anyways, It seems like she’s enjoying herself. She said she made a good friend over there.”

“Yeah, it even seems like she’s got some new interesting ideas. Mech-ia’s been thrilled by the new blueprints she sent her!”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Laura nodded, in a good mood.  “Ah, speaking of, I need you to make some changes to ‘my room’.” She continued, fiddling quickly with a watch on her detached artificial arm.

“Sure, what kind?” 

“Just sent it to you, make sure to delete everything else and put these photos everywhere.”

“Eh? D-delete everything else, you say? Eeeeeeeh!?”

What Laura just sent to the AIs was a folder filled with photos and video footage of Ticia, rendering both AIs speechless.

“...Another one of your weird obsessions huh?”

“No, rather, isn’t that Claudia’s child?”

“Eh? You know her? Why didn’t I know about that?” Laura tilted her head.

“Rather than knowing her, it’s better to say we know her mother…”

“Yeah yeah, we cooperated with her in the past.”

“Cooperated? Now this is something Ticia would be interested in! You better tell me more about that.”

“Erm, okay?”

“...I have a bad feeling about this…”

Satisfied with the AIs’ answer, Laura giggled happily. Her mood was now very high at the prospect of meeting Ticia again.

“Fufufu… Now I’ve just gained another reason to meet you again, Ticia…”