Clone Girls

*sigh*

Ticia let out a long, exhausted sigh as she looked at the beer bottle in her hand, before taking huge gulps from it.

She was already drunk, and depressed at that.

The night had been a very rough one and she did not get any sleep. Normally she would not complain about that. She was used to sleepless nights on the battlefield. The problem here was that she was not on the frontline. She had to stay awake to fix the mess her daughters had created.

The political situation was more than tense. While Rika dealt with outside pressure coming from the Senate and other factions, Ticia was left to explain the situation to members of their own faction.

The people she talked with were confused. Some even yelled at her. Ticia had to keep her calm and explain to each and everyone of them what exactly happened that night. She followed the excuse they had come up with : This was a secret operation done in order to avoid another war in the Pellian sector, with both the blessing of President Rollers and Field Marshal Barry Twill. 

She profusely apologized to their furious collaborators. Some listened to her, others just said what they wanted, then left angrily. Ticia bit her inner lower lip through all that. She had to endure.

The result of this night was not glorious, but there was less damage than she thought.  More than half of the people that had gathered around Rika had decided to stay and trust them. A small quarter left on the spot, while the rest remained evasive, putting their decision to later.

They had also received a call from Rowla, who told them Tyler Jackson was quite happy. Not only did they manage to ally themselves with the president, but they also gave a blow to the Senate faction. Ticia knew the truth though, he was just happy about the chaos.

There was also an unexpected positive effect from this night. The Pellian factions had all united under Henry Mayers, Evelyn’s father.

The Pellians had been essentially divided into two camps ever since their annexation into the Borkian Confederation. The “Peace Party”, led by Henry Mayers, collaborated with the Borkians with the objective of keeping a certain degree of autonomy from the central Borkian government. 

On the other side, the “Freedom Party” opposed such measures. They sold the idea of  revenge and resistance. This warhawk party often tried to commit terrorist attacks and other acts of defiance against Borkian authorities, which often resulted in repression from the Borkina side…

They had been opposed to Henry Mayers and his party, but the events at the Malaise tower changed things.

Following the actions of Ticia’s daughters, who saved one of the Pellian system’s most emblematic animals from Borkian poaching, the “Freedom Party” had contacted Henry Mayers. They apparently wanted to know more about Rika’s faction, who would lead such a daring assault on one of the symbols of Borkian opulence.

There were clearly some underlying hopes to plunge the Borkians into a civil war, but Henry Mayers ensured Ticia and Rika that he would deal with the most extreme elements.

For now, it meant that Ticia and Rika had just gained the support and cooperation of a whole system, and not a small one at that. Whether gaining the support of a newly integrated system that was still keen on gaining its independence back was a good thing or not, Ticia did not know, but by this point they had already put themselves in a hostile position against the Senate, so she did not care much. There would be talks later anyway.

For now though, all that mattered to Tica was the alcoholic fluid in her glass, and drinking as much as possible until the depressed thoughts in her head turned to merry ones.

“Still drinking at this hour?” Ticia heard a voice from behind her. She slowly turned her already tipsy head. It was Rika.

“Heh, you’re one to talk.” Ticia defiantly smirked back. Indeed, Rika had a glass of pink wine in her hand, and the bottle in the other. The bottle had just been opened. “Share the good stuff with me, will ya?”

“Sure, sure.” Rika smiled back. She sat next to Ticia, who finished her own drink before giving to Rika an empty glass. Rika obliged and filled the glass.

They clinked glass, before taking a sip of the wine.

“Nice one. It’s fruity and fresh, the perfect kind to begin a meal.”

“But we’re not beginning a meal here, plus, it’s breakfast time.”

“Who cares? I’m far too gone to even think about breakfast.” 

They chuckled. This kind of banter was the usual for them. There was a warm atmosphere as they both enjoyed their drinks.

“So, how was it on your side ?” Ticia asked Rika after taking another sip from her glass of wine.

“Take a guess.” Rika lightly smiled.

“I’m not giving my daughters away… Nor mom and the other clones, I suppose…” Ticia replied back seriously, though the second part came after a slight pause.

It’s not that she had hesitated. It was just that the thought slipped out of her mind. Ticia prioritized her daughters first.

Of course, Rika knew that, so she simply smiled back.

“Well, that’s what I said. You should have seen their faces, it was actually quite entertaining.”

“Hah, I’m sure it was.” Ticia had a malevolent smile at Rika’s words. Just imagining the twisted faces of the senators and other people who wanted to take advantage of her made her forget all the hardships.

“So, have you decided on their fate?” Rika asked this time, and Ticia, who knew what this was about, lost her smile.

“...I suppose I have.” She said, finishing her glass in one bit.

Ticia had visited each and everyone of her daughters after sending them to their room. She had forced herself to face them with a cold face as she delivered punishment. 

She had visited each of them in order, aside from Ticinia, whom she visited last.

Each and every one of them received additional punishments. Willia was restrained from training and meeting her gang and was given exercises in scholarship matters she disliked, such as language and history. Nillia had most of her plushes and books confiscated and was made to revise her own ‘code of rules’. The twins were not allowed to play games and do other activities they enjoyed as entertainment. Lidia was restrained from entering Rika’s workroom and help there. Nillia was not allowed to pursue her volunteer medical work at the hospital and saw her own pocket money confiscated. Nia was forbidden from touching any technical gear. Mia saw her personal research being taken away. Ticinia was not allowed to pursue music until the punishment was raised, and Vinia was not allowed any outing until she finished writing ‘I should not obey my oldest sister blindly’ ten thousand times.

These punishments were rather light and would not last more than a week or two, but such punishments could not be given to Ticia’s two most eldest daughters…

Both Licia and Ria had taken command of this whole operation. Licia was the instigator, but Ticia had expected the reasonable Ria to stop her sister. Instead she actively took part in the mission and brought the excuse of ‘damage control’.

Ria probably did not expect her eldest sister to blow up the opera in the Malaise tower, but this was not enough of an excuse to Ticia.

Simply leaving a message to Atrax-ia telling the poor ai to ‘tell their mother’ right before the operation was NOT the way to plan an operation, nor do damage control. The poor ai could not contact Ticia at the time.

This led to Atrax-ia entering a panic mode. When she finally managed to reach Ticia, her state gave Rebot-ia a fright.

Atrax-ia had become so anxious and guilt-tripped that her main computers were overheating and her programs filled with errors.

Had she continued like that, Atrax-ia risked a shutdown, which was akin to death in AI terms.

Rebot-ia had to manually put her sister ai into ‘sleep mode’ and reboot her. Now the AI was working in ‘slow mode’, with Rebot-ia taking most of her tasks. She grumbled about it, saying her sister had too much work. But this was a result of years without proper maintenance rather than an exceeding amount of workload. Had Atrax-ia been in her prime years, these calculations would not have been a problem.

Atrax-ia’s situation was one more reason Ticia had to harden the punishment on Licia and Ria.

She knew the both of them had ambitions, that they wanted to involve themselves more on the decision side. Ticia had already decided to slowly let them take more responsibilities. She trusted her obedient daughters to make the right choices for the future while still being guided by Rika.

Which is why what happened that night was such a shock. Ticia had trusted them too much. She had nearly forgotten they were still kids, way too immature and oblivious to the world around them. Which is why she could only feel disappointment towards the girls and herself.

She hated the fact that she felt like that towards her beloved daughters, which was one of the main reasons she decided to drink.

In the end, Ticia banned the both of them from any decision making. She clearly told them she was disappointed and expected better from them.

Additionally, Ticia banned them from partaking in any hobbies and confiscated their games, books, and access to the web. She ordered Licia to write ‘I should not blow up stuff and put my sisters in danger just for cats’ ten thousand times, while Ria was ordered to write ‘I must stop my stupid idiot older sister when she is about to do something stupid’ two thousand times. Both had two days to write these lines and give them back to Ticia.

The both of them resignedly accepted their punishment. Licia only protested when Ticia also prohibited her from seeing the Manuls, but that was part of the punishment and seeing her mother’s clear disappointment, she did not offer much resistance.

The others had various reactions. Most of them resignedly accepted their fate. Nillia had tears in her eyes as Ticia confiscated her plushies, while Willia and Nia begged their mother to change their punishment but to no avail.

The hardest for Ticia was Ticinia.

The reason she visited Ticinia last was obvious. Ticia’s twintailled girl could read her emotions easily. She could tell how Ticia was feeling, the disappointment towards both herself and her daughters. As such, she was the hardest to face.

Ticinia was crying her eyes out, which got worse when Ticia finally entered her room. She profusely apologised to her mother, apologising for hurting her. In the end Ticia could not keep the cold act and hugged her crying daughter. She could only say that it was okay and that she was not hurt. In the end Ticinia’s punishment could be said to be the lightest of all the Nulls. Not because she was crying, but because Ticia could tell her daughter deeply regretted her actions and was reflecting. 

The same could be said to some of her other daughters too to a lesser extent.

“Being a mom is hard.” She whispered with a grunt to no one in particular.

“Well yeah.” Rika replied in a monotone voice, turning the wine in her glass.

That triggered Ticia.

“Oh, don’t give me that unconcerned look, miss ‘second mother’.” She said, smiling daringly.

Rika opened her eyes wide, but rather than backing down, she also smiled back.

“You’re bringing that up right now?” She said.

“Yes. So what punishments have you planned for them?”

“Fufu… The kind of  punishment deserved to soldiers who do not know how to take care of military material.”

“You're scaring me, Brigadier-General!”

The scary smile on Rika’s face sobered up Ticia real fast. She was already well aware what kind of punishment her former superior would give to people who broke her beloved bikes as she herself was one of the main people who broke them…

“Now, now, second class Tica, don’t take it like that. You did nothing wrong THIS time, did you?” Rika said back teasingly, but her smile still sent chills to Ticia’s back. Rika was really angry. She ended up sighing again.

“Ugh, well fuck, you actually managed to sober me up. Here, less talk, more drinking.” Ticia said as she took the wine bottle, ready to fill her glass when-.

“What exactly are the two of you doing this early in the morning?” A baffled, somewhat angry voice called out to them.

The two of them turned their heads.

“Oh, hey mom. We’re drinking?” Ticia said, tilting her head.

“I can see that, and from the number of empty bottles, I can tell this has been going on for a while. What is the meaning of this, Ticia?” Emily said, her arms crossed as she seemed slightly angry. Ticia simply raised her shoulders.

“What meaning? I’m just blowing out my stress.”

“That’s not a way to blow up stress, not a healthy one at least.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about this, ma’am. Ticia has a liver made out of durium.” Rika tried to side with Ticia, but it only made Emily frown.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Please don’t encourage her…”

“I’m not? In fact, I’m reducing the amount she drinks by drinking some myself.”

“Wait what? That’s the reason you keep drinking with me each time!?”

“...Gosh, what is this?” Emily sighed as she watched the surreal scene of her daughter and daughter’s friend bickering over alcohol.

She did not know how to feel about this.

“Anyway, what’s down, mom?” Ticia suddenly asked, as if avoiding the argument with Rika, who seemed to be winning.

“Not ‘down’... ‘Up’ Ticia, UP. It’s already way into the morning. Stop drinking and get some sleep.” Emily scolded.

“Nope! Who are you to say that anyway!”

“Your mom. Now give me that bottle.”

“No way!” 

A struggle began as Ticia tried to protect the bottle of wine from Emily, but the struggle was short as Emily quickly managed to grab the bottle.

“Nng… This is bullying… Rika, my mom is a bully!” Ticia ended up whining like a child, faking tears as she hugged Rika as if asking for her protection.

“I-I’m not!? I’m just doing this for your sake!” Emily was surprised by the act. This was the first time she had seen her daughter act like this and she did not know what to do!

Unlike her, Rika seemed very used to Ticia’s drunken antics.

“There there Ticia. I still have a lot of bottles back in my room.” She said as she patted Ticia’s head, who had her face buried in Rika’s chest. 

“Oh! Nice!” Seeing that she had Rika’s support, Ticia’s mood was raised again.

“Don't encourage her to drink! Also, don’t try to bring my daughter to your room like that!?” Emily panicked. This time she was really angry.

What was this way of inviting her daughter to her room!?

“It’s okay, ma’am, I’ll-”

“Please stop calling me ma’am, I feel so old…” Before Rila even had the time to explain herself, Emily stopped her. She ended up sighing as she rubbed her forehead. “Ugh, fine.”

“Yay!” Ticia jumped like a child.

“This is a bigger problem than I thought…” Emily mumbled to herself, looking over her newly found daughter with raised eyebrows and a worried look. She did not know what to do.

“I know this might seem bad, but this is a pretty rare sight, you know?” Rika said in a serious tobe, yet still smiling as she looked towards Ticia. “Usually Ticia keeps her calm even when drunk. It’s pretty rare to see her acting like a child.”

“L-like a child? Now that you mention it…” Emily had not even realized this was child behavior.

“We used to drink a lot before. Ticia and I stopped after she became the girls’ mom. You know, she wanted to be an example. Well, that did not stop us from drinking just a bit from time to time, but not to the point of getting this drunk.” Rika explained.

In the end, Emily gave up.

“Ok, I get it. Fine, I’ll let her have it for tonight.”

“Would you like a drink too?” Rika offered, but Emily shook her head.

“No thanks, I avoid drinking.”

There was a clear rejection of alcohol, which told Rika something had happened before…

Then suddenly, Ticia got up and approached her mother, a pouting angry look on her face.

“Hey, mom. What have you been doing to my babies?”

“Y-you mean the ECGs? I am keeping the promise I made, remember? I’m training them so that none would die on the battlefield.” Emily said back, a bit surprised by how cute Ticia’s pouting face was.

“Really? Then, can you do the same for the Nulls?”

“...No, I can’t.”

“Eh? why?”

Ticia was surprised. She expected Emily to gleefully agree.

“I do not feel like I would be able to train them, Ticia, and I think they would prefer it if it was you who did it.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You have already taught them the basics of your own survival skills. The one you learned and honed by yourself, without help. I can only give advice to them now, just like I can only give you advice.”

Ticia remained quiet as she thought it over. Certainly, recently she had spent less time training with her daughters. From these words however, Ticia understood the underlying meaning of her words.

Emily felt guilty about the events that happened and her role in it. She had told Ticia on the way back about it.

Had she not said what she did to the Nulls and told them to go ahead with their ambitions to the Nulls the day before, perhaps this would not have happened.

She had already apologised, but Ticia said she was not responsible.

Even without their grandmother’s words, the Nulls would have acted like that, because this was how they did things. Together as a family.

…Ticia would have preferred to be included in this act rather than it being all done behind her back. Perhaps then the situation would have not escalated, but those were just futile thoughts.

“I think you are underestimating how much the girls love you Ticia.” Rika added. “I’ve trained them too, but it feels like something was always missing for them. It’s your touch, Ticia.” 

That last argument seemed to convince Ticia.

“I-I see… Got it, I’ll train them once again at full throttle!”

“But aren’t they punished right now?” Emily frowned, thinking about Willia. Willia would be more than delighted at more exercises.

“Hehehe… I’ll make it so that even Willia will beg me to stop…”

““Scary…””

Ticia’s eerie chuckles made both Rika and Emily back away a bit. Ticia was definitely planning something now…

The Nulls were in for something quite terrible, and that was not counting the personnel punishments Riley and Chloe had prepared to ‘avenge their honor’...

“Speaking off, I think we need the next batch of clones to dye their hair.” Just as fast  as she switched mood while drinking, Ticia once again took the conversation in another direction.

“For discretion's purpose? I mean, sure, but there are not many dyes that can actually colour our hair.” Emily said, frowning. Ticia could tell she disliked the act.

She would need to ask, but perhaps clones disliked dying the entirety of their hair. Perhaps a senseless sort of pride, or because it was their only one common physical trait aside from the colour of their eyes that changed from gene donors.

Still, Ticia judged it was a necessary measure now.

“I know one that’s pretty effective. I used it all the time before, and it’s pretty cheap.” She said, pointing at her hair.

“Really? Then we’ll see whether we can procure it.” Emily simply nodded, not commenting.

“I know it might be hard, but I’d also like the pace at which they are brought to be accelerated.” Ticia continued.

With the situation they were in, bringing more clones would be dangerous. The Senate would probably use it as an excuse to strike them first and plunge the Borkian confederation into a quick civil war. Ticia did not need that right now.

What the Senate could not do anything about was to block the flow of ‘tourists’ and ‘migrants’... 

“I’ll bring that up to Chloe and Otto. We’ll have to see what we can do, but I also agree it has become a necessity.” Rika caught on to the idea and decided to bring it up with the clones’ leaders.

“But we also need the money and the food.” 

““Ugh…””

Emily's comment stopped them in their tracks.

“Right, and now there are the cats too…” Rika felt a slight headache.

After a bit of petting yesterday, the Manuls seemed to have taken a liking to Ticia. As a result, they began following her everywhere.

However, since some were wounded, they needed rest and food. Ticia did not want to ask Nicia to treat them however. The girl was grounded after all. 

Fortunately there were two clones who knew how to deal with animals. They took care of the cautious animals with great attention. For them too, it was the first time seeing such an animal, though they did say Manuls existed before humans even set foot in the Pellian system…

As for the food matters… The Manuls had eaten all the meat they had in stock. And the milk. the Magnus variants could eat an entire cow by themselves…

The food question now became critical.

“We better contact Nillia’s friend, and fast. I hope she had lots of beef on sale, and milk.” Rika grunted.

“As for the money, we have no choice but to ask Meiko…” Ticia added, releasing a sigh. Now she wanted to drink even more. This time Emily did not comment.

“Speaking of, do you have any news from my mom?” Rika asked, to which Ticia nodded.

“Yes, she called about the events that happened. She asked if everyone was alright and gave me advice on how to deal with the girls.”

“She did? That man was always the one giving punishments…” Rika said the last part with a frown, referring to her father.

“Well, she did suggest spanking?” Ticia tilted her head as she spoke. Her words flaggerblasted Rika.

“Spanking? For real?”

“Oh, that’s a classic!” Emily suddenly said cheerfully.

““...”” 

“N-nevermind…” Under the weird looks given by her own daughter and her daughter’s friend, Emily felt embarrassed and slightly old…

“So, will you add that to the list of punishments?” Rika decided to continue, ignoring Emily.

“Only for Licia. The ‘mother’s love session’ will take place if she tries to sneak up to see the cats.” Ticia said matter of factly as she filled her glass with some wine.

“You’re speaking as if this will happen.”

“Because it will.”

“...” Rika did not reply. There was certainty in Ticia’s voice. 

Licia might feel guilty about the event and she might reflect, but it did not mean her obsession with felines would be resolved…

Ticia knew her first daughter better than anyone else. Licia would sneak around to try and see the Manuls. Because if Ticia was in her place and the same age she would do the same thing.

That of course was a secret to everyone. Ticia DID like cats, that was not a secret, but the fact that, were she younger, she might have reacted the same way as Licia WAS.

This was why Ticia could not allow Licia to do as she pleased. Because Ticia saw herself in Licia and she is trying to correct her. Of course, not in an obsessive way. She just wants to guide her daughter on the right path.

Just as such thoughts passed her mind and the others were also silent, she heard the ping of a notification. It came from Rika’s terminal.

Rika fiddled on her watch, reading the message. She crisped.

“What’s wrong?” Noticing the change in Rika’s behavior, Ticia called out.

“It’s from the Doessons… they want me to meet them.”