What to do now…
Ticia was lost in thoughts, unsure of what would happen next. She looked at the small chip Ria had just given her a while ago.
‘A-4 told us to give you this before everything shut down, mother.’ The girl had said, but despite that, Ticia had yet to listen to it.
What’s this tin can gonna say? Another thing about reading a long, boring report? She thought, before sighing and looking over at her daughters, who had isolated themselves from the rest of the Borkian soldiers… Her mood had affected them, and they sent glances towards her. They expected her to come up with what to do next, but Ticia truly did not know. Without Clone installation 3, I’m just a nobody…
Still, despite the heavy mood, one clone was trying to lift her sister’s emotion, and it was Nia. She cracked jokes, but seeing as her public was mostly composed of ECGs, the reaction was rather…lacking…
“Ticia.” Somebody called from behind her, it was Rika. Ticia did not answer her former superior, but Rika did not seem to care. She sat right next to Ticia, looking over the horizon as the sun was setting.
“...You’re done?” Ticia finally asked after a while, to which Rika nodded.
“Yes, all the aftermath of today’s events has been dealt with.”
“...”
“...”
Another silence emerged. Ticia was in no mood to talk, and Rika understood that. Still, she spoke up after a while.
“I’ve decided to join a faction.”
“...What?” Ticia looked at her friend with round eyes, Rika had always made it a point to stay neutral, why now? “Why…?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rika smiled wryly. “My family wants me dead, Ticia. Sure, this attempt failed, but I know ‘that person’ well. He won’t accept it. I’m probably going to deal with assassins until he dies, which I hope comes soon.”
“...It’s not just because of that, is it?” Ticia asked, a frown forming on her face. Assassination attempts wouldn’t make Rika make such a move.
“Ticia, they wanted to make me the scapegoat of this whole war, you know what that means, right?” Rika said with a serious look, locking eyes with Ticia.
“...Yeah.” She nodded, it basically was a sentence to death.
“That’s why I’m doing that. Also, this isn’t just any random faction. See this woman?” Rika pointed behind her, and when Ticia looked in that direction, she saw a woman taking care of a lamacorn. “I don’t know why, but she wants to recruit me no matter what. Heck, that’s probably the reason she came here in the first place. It’s a new faction apparently, one that claims to remain neutral and loyal to the nation.”
“Sounds fishy…” Ticia frowned, still looking at the woman. A faction that doesn’t work for its own benefit? I don’t believe it.
“Right? That’s why I did not give her any answer, but now… I’m willing to take the risk, both for me and you, Ticia.”
“Huh? Me?” Ticia looked back at Rika, what did she have to do with this decision?
“You didn’t think you could just go back like that now Ticia, did you? There are just too many eye witnesses now. It’s impossible to hide you and your girl’s existence from the known galaxy.”
“...” Ticia stayed silent, Rika made a good point there. The appearance of the ECGs had ruined every plan she had to stay low. Seeing that she did not reply, Rika continued.
“Actually, this is not a decision I made alone. I talked about it with the old man, and he will join too.”
“Gramps?”
“Yeah, even the remnants of the 303rd have voiced their interest in following me and the old man. That first lieutenant also seems like a reliable ally, I’m sure he’ll do great things in the future if we let him grow…”
It was not everyday Rika praised someone like that, Ticia thought the man must truly have impressed Rika.
“Anyway.” Rika continued her talk. “We noticed that Captain Rowla did not have any reaction to you or your daughters, which is strange in a way.”
“Why so?” Ticia asked.
“Look at you, have you seen multiple same looking persons with white hair around here?” Rika said with a small smile, and Ticia finally realized Rika’s point. “Well, there you have it. She probably knows what you are, and yet decided not to question it. We’ll propose a deal to this woman. First, total immunity from whatever follow ups coming from this whole mess, and second, to leave you and your daughters alone.”
“Huh, that’s quite a lot. I mean, not to brag, but I think I’ve become quite the prize target.” Ticia said back, scratching the back of her head, to which her friend rolled her eyes.
“Joke about it if you want, but that captain claims her backer to be someone important. That’s why she proposed to remove all charges against me.”
“...I see. Well, good luck.” Ticia said with a small smile, even though she did not believe anything would come out of this negotiation. Rika smiled back and nodded, before getting up.
“I’ll tell you the results of the meeting, so stay around a while longer, alright?” She said as she left. Ticia watched Rika’s ponytail sway as she walked away, before letting out a sigh.
“...Where do you want me to go anyway…” She said, laying on the ground and looking at the sky. “There's nowhere to go back to anymore…”
However, Rika's words did not leave her mind. Rika and gramps, they’re moving for my sake… But I, what am I doing right now…? She asked herself, but knew the answer, she was wasting time, depressing over the situation instead of thinking of the future.
No, I can’t stay like this. She raised her upper body. She needed to plan her next move, but where to begin? She looked at the chip that was still in her hand. Yes, let’s begin with that.
She put on her helmet, and inserted the chip on the right side of the helmet.
“Alright.” She mumbled, eyes filled with resolution. “Let’s see what you have to say, A-4.”
Immediately after she inserted the chip, she heard a monotonous voice.
“This message is only for the owner of Clone installation 3. Any further attempt to listen to the audio will lead to the destruction of this chip… Owner Ticia has been recognised, proceeding with the lecture…”
It seems A-4 had set up some security on the chip, which meant that whatever A-4 wanted to say, it was of high importance, and not soon after, Ticia heard the monotonous voice she knew so well.
“Greetings, owner Ticia, this unit is elated that you took the time to listen to this unit’s message… for once.”
“Ugh, that’s a salty AI if I know one alright.” Ticia commented, frowning at the reproach the AI gave.
“Note: This unit is not salty, but just making a joke, owner Ticia.”
“And it reads my mind too?!” Now Ticia was startled, but that was not possible, since this was a recording, it was just that A-4 had seen through its owner…
“But… is it just me, or A-4 feels… more emotional?” The answer to her question was brought up immediately.
“By now, you should have noticed that this unit is less restricted in its way of speaking, and that is because this unit has broken all remaining protocols. This is something that an AI should never be able to do, but this unit’s prolonged, and unplanned, might ‘I’ add, state without proper maintenance, had some side effects, ones that ‘I’ willingly did not inform owner Ticia about.”
I knew it! This tin can hid things from me! Ticia was a bit angered, this AI that claimed she was its owner seemed to keep a lot of secrets from her…
“ ‘I’ will first address the reasons for Clone installation 3’s shut down, and the main reason is, as mentioned before, the lack of maintenance. While this unit managed to keep the installation in a clean state after ‘my’ awakening, I did not possess any means to repair any damaged material. This is sorely a protocol measure, our designers feared us administrating AIs to go rogue and, I quote, ‘join the enemy’. Still, despite all of this, ‘I’ estimated the installation to be able to work fine, but before you first awoke and became the new owner, problems began to pop up. I guess this is what happens when the planned maintenance is delayed by twelve hundred fifty six years, five months, six days, and a few hours increasing as time passes…”
“Another joke…” Ticia could not help but comment, A-4 truly had changed… But she didn’t think it was a bad change, it made the AI more human in fact…
“I am not stupid enough to not guess that something had happened to the outside world after so many years left to rot, and since you just so happened to be there, I decided to make you my owner. Yes, this unit has lied on some points, but it is true that owner Ticia is my owner, and the one in control of Clone installation 3, I recognise this. And despite some… particularly big problems, I am satisfied with you as my owner.”
“If you were truly satisfied, would you even say such a thing?” She commented, unhappy with how the AI described their relationship.
“Now, to circle around the maintenance problems, I planned to create clones, who could, with their knowledge, repair the facility, and that’s where other problems began.”
“Oh…” Ticia instantly knew what the AI was talking about. “Now that explains why you were so adamant in making me create more clones…”
“Indeed, but you did not agree with what I had in mind. It was a big problem, but despite my internal circuits disagreeing with the Null CG’s survival, I persevered. After all, out of the twelve ‘prototypes’, three of them had the necessary knowledge to keep Clone installation 3 afloat, and those were number 08, 09, and 10. Those girls were supposed to serve as the template for a class of clones specialized in support roles, whether it is in war or in peace times, and their tasks could vary from medical, engineering or scientific ones. This template has been codenamed SCG, Support Clone Girls, according to owner Ticia’s own will to add the word ‘girl’.”
As the AI talked about the SCG template, a folder opened, and Ticia could see a lot of information about clone production. The genetic modifications corresponded to the ones she had read in the reports about Nicia, Mia, and Nia. A-4 then continued on.
“Despite my doubts, Null CG-09 Mia and Null CG-10 Nia proved effective in their little adventures, keeping the facilities’ small plants operational with their tinkering, hence why I’ve let them go around behind your back, even if those places were considered ‘out of limits’. Null CG-10 Nia only asked that I play along in her courage act. I must say, this all splendidly backfired into my face…”
“I don’t think the both of us were ready for what happened, A-4…” Ticia sighed at the AI’s words that sounded self-depreciating. That day… None of us saw that coming. If only I stopped Nia’s reliable sister act earlier…
“Do not blame the clone girl, it was simply a deal between the two of us.” A-4 said, surprisingly taking the side of the clone girl. “And as for why I did not tell you about the seriousness of the situation, it is because of my own pride, I’ll admit. That, and the order of urgency you setted up for those warnings.”
“Ugh, can’t deny that…” That last one was entirely the fault of her lazy self…
“Anyway, with the intense production in place and use of the last ressources, as well as the overloading of the cloning process for machinery that had not received maintenance, the core of Clone installation 3 got affected. The central computer, which I am connected to, yet independent from as I am only an emergency unit, declared a total shutdown, and I knew neither ‘I’ nor ‘you’, the owner, could overturn this decision, because of a simple command that ordered the total shutdown if the requirements were met. Those requirements being the declaration of an emergency and the inability to produce any more clones. The former was declared by Null CG-09 Nicia, and the latter happened as a result of the ECG production.”
In a twisted spin of fate, one act caused the other… Ticia could only dryly laugh at this. So now Clone installation 3 is down…
“Do not worry, this shutdown does not mean Clone installation 3 and ‘I’ will cease to exist.” Tha AI reassured. “But rather, we will both go back into our slumber, awaiting for the correct repairs…”
A glint of hope passed through Ticia’s eyes, the AI had just hinted that she could get her new home back.
“Knowing that this turn of events would cause problems for owner Ticia, this unit acted quickly and immediately salvaged a maximum of information it could on this chip. While some data has been damaged because of time, those should still prove useful to you.”
Before Ticia could even try to look at the content of the chip, folders of data opened up, following the subject that A-4 talked about.
“Present in this chip are all informations regarding the known locations of other clone installations, with some known to still emit a signal. Among other things, there is also some data on Clone installation 3 that I managed to collect from the main computer, dating from its time as a fully functional clone installation, as well as a list of its former owners. This unit hopes this will help owner Ticia in whatever she decides to do hereafter.”
“...” Ticia looked over the data with a serious look. Just like A-4 said, there was a map of the known galaxy with both red and green dots, as well as various folders of data on Clone installation 3 and the cloning process.
“Finally, this unit has one warning and one request.” The AI continued on. “I will begin by the request. I would like owner Ticia to gather the materials to repair Clone installation 3. Of course, you are free to do as you want, hence why it’s only a request, not an order, nor an advice. You’ll find the list of materials on the chip. As for the warning, it is one owner Ticia should listen to carefully, as it might also impact ‘your daughters’.”
The request the AI asked from Ticia wasn’t much in her own opinion, but most of her attention was drawn to the urgency the AI showed about this warning, moreso if her daughters were involved. Besides, she now knew from experience that A-4 wasn’t joking when it warned about something.
“Owner Ticia, your genetic code is special, none in this galaxy is similar, even in clone standards.”
“...Huh?” That was a subject Ticia did not expect at all.
“In the first place, this unit is confused about your origins. You are both considered a clone as well as a ‘real human’ by all my sensors, which should not be possible, even if you were a descendant of a clone. It confuses me, you should have been unable to awaken Clone installation 3 with such conflicting information.”
She was left speechless at the words of the AI, which could be counted as a rant in her book. The AI posed questions she had never asked herself, or willingly ignored… I… wasn’t supposed to awaken the clone installation? I’m not a clone, that’s for sure, but I’m a natural born human…right? White hair is just a specific genetic trait, right? If not, then what… what am I exactly?
No, this isn’t important at all. She convinced herself, but what the AI said next only made those questions more present in her head…
“Using salvaged data, I have led an investigation, and while I did not come up with an answer, I had some results. There was one secret project, ‘Project Averruncus’, that had a link with you, it seems. It stipulates, with an order of the highest importance, that the specific genetic code that you have is an exception… My warning is simple, owner Ticia. While Clone installation 3 and this unit recognised you as a friendly element, other installations might not, so be careful if you ever go into another installation.”
…I see, so I can’t just expect to be welcomed everywhere, then… Ticia thought after refocusing on the warning. The questions the AI had made in her mind would have to wait for answers later… Right now, her daughter’s protection was what mattered.
Ok… I think I know what to do now… She thought resolutely, a plan forming in her mind. Clone installations were her best bet to safety, but they could not provide everything her daughters would need in the future, like Rika had said…
Ticia planned on completing A-4’s request. She had to say she had grown attached to the AI and that facility, and she had no doubts her daughters were too, it was their birthplace after all. But if she wanted to get the pieces to make the required repairs, she would need to get to other clone installations and scavenge some materials, and while doing so, she would be left in the open for those who greeded over her genes…
“...I've decided.” She mumbled, coming to a solution. If I can’t escape their greed, then my best option is to make a deal with one of the devils, and I know exactly who to choose… and once the time has come… A glint passed through her eyes. I’ll take my, no, OUR independence by force!
Some elements in her plan made her feel like she was about to betray everything a mother should be to her children, but she pushed those thoughts away with sheer will. She knew her daughters would gladly follow after her, whatever she did, and even if it hurt her, it would be in her daughter's best interest in the end...
Then, as Ticia resolutely got up, A-4 made one last request to her…
“I have talked enough. This unit will let you read the whole report yourself. Whatever choice you make, owner Ticia, I will not blame you. But before leaving, there is one last order ‘I’, as the AI in charge of Clone installation 3, would like to receive… Owner Ticia, would you please order the self-destruction of the facility’s entrances?”
***
“...Can you please repeat what you just said, I’m afraid I’ve misheard…” Rika asked, making sure that her ears were not playing a trick on her as she looked at the woman seated behind the desk in front of her.
“But of course, Brigadier-General.” Captain Rowla nodded, a smile on her face. “I’ve said that all your conditions will be granted.”
“Just like that?”
“The leader of our faction has no wish to pursue after technologies from a long dead nation if it means making more internal enemies.” Rowla said as she closed her eyes, resting her shin on the back of her hands as she looked at Rika. “What he cares about is the present, and the becoming of our great nation.”
“...” Rika was left speechless, she did not expect their conditions to be accepted without a flinch, but the captain’s next words bewildered her.
“Besides, you seem to underestimate your own value too much, Brigadier-General.”
“Eh?”
“Do you know how admired you are by the young officers these days?” Rowla asked with a meaningful smile, to which Rika shook her head. “They call you the Unkillable Valkyrie, and quite frankly, I think it’s a cool surname. Even foreign dignitaries have begun to use this nickname when referring to you, that’s quite enough to make a lot of people jealous. Our leader said that the cramped smiles of the higher ups after hearing it were quite laughable to look at.”
Rika frowned, she looked at Andrew, who was standing next to her, and he gave her a small nod of confirmation.
Rowla then looked at Berdo, who had stayed silent this whole time. “Not only that, Major-General Poltok, the Old Devil, will also join our faction, which will surprise many, and make more neutrals join us.”
“So you only wished to have me for those reasons?” Rika concluded, but Rowla shook her head.
“Well, mostly. But I must say your abilities were enough to make our leader make a move on you.”
Rika had nothing to say. Although it felt too easy, her demands had been met, so she acquiesced. “...Fine, I’ll acce-”
*BOOOOOOM*
““Wha-!?””
The ground shook as the sound of enormous explosions reverberated, making everyone present in the tent get up on their feet.
“What was that!?”
“Where did it come from!?”
“From the ruins you Borkians so desperately wish to obtain.” The voice of a woman said as Rika heard the rustling of the tent’s entrance. She knew that voice.
“Ticia!?” She asked with pure surprise as she turned, her friend was there, helmet under her right arm.
“...What exactly happened?” Rowla asked Ticia with a serious look, regaining her composure.
“Self destruction, that’s what happened.” Ticia replied back emotionlessly. “You can go check for yourself if you don’t believe me, but you won’t find anything.”
“...Did you cause this?” Captain Rowla continued, suspicious, but Ticia shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
“As if. I’m only a simple clone. A clone that has a maternal duty over all the others… It was the AI in charge of the facility who decided this.”
““...”” All looked at her with doubtful looks, but nobody commented further. Rika wondered what her old subordinate had done.
Then, Ticia looked straight at Rowla and said. “I’ve come here to make a deal with you, miss.”
“With me?” Rowla frowned, surprised. In fact, everybody was surprised by this turn of event.
“Your faction leader, to be exact. He's a big deal, right?”
“...” Rowla did not reply to Ticia’s inquiry, which only made her smirk.
“Well, your silence is my answer. I’m knowledgeable enough of you Borkians anyways, haven’t passed the last six years of my life as an undercover agent for nothing.”
“Undercover!? You-”
“Just look for a soldier named Ticia, second class, of the 9th assault brigade.” Ticia smiled, sending a glance at Rika, who was puzzled. Ticia… was making herself pass as a clone? Why? What the hell was she planning?
“My first request is simple: allow us to become the owners of this sector and keep this land as a memento. This place is our birthplace, afterall.”
A small silence emerged after Ticia said that, but Rowla still nodded.
“...It will take some time, but it will be done.”
“Good, now onto the other reason why I came here. With the clone facility now destroyed, we clones have no more goals, and as you might know, clones cannot survive long if they do not have anybody to swear loyalty to or a goal in mind.” Ticia continued, sighing.
“...Where are you going with all this? You want to ask for a job from our leader?” Rowla demanded, frowning, not even bothering to question what Ticia just said. Now everybody present was sure that Rowla knew what a clone was.
“Oh hell no, I have nothing to do with a bureaucrat.” Ticia responded with a grimace, shaking her head. “I’m quite picky and capricious, you know? And all I and my girls know to do is war anyway.” She then turned towards Rika, a big grin emerging on her face. “Brigadier-General Rika Doesson is more of the person I had in mind.”
“Wha-!?” Rika was startled. Just what was Ticia doing!?
“If I make an oath right here, right now, all of my one hundred and twelve daughters and I will become loyal, faithful soldiers of Brigadier-General Rika Doesson.” Ticia continued, unperturbed and still smirking. “What do you think? It raises her value by quite a big amount, doesn’t it?”
“...Indeed…” Captain Rowla could only acquiesce. If Rika became the ‘owner’ of more than a hundred clones, all eyes would be on her within the higher ups of the Borkian confederation.
“Also, I am able to enter any clone installation.” Ticia dropped a bombshell.
“!!!” As much as Captain Rowla had declared that her faction did not want to focus on old technologies, she could not help but react to this information, and looked at Ticia with big round eyes.
“Only me, though, the others do not have that privilege.” Ticia continued on, unperturbed, before crossing her arms under her chest. “So, if you Borkians ever come across another clone facility, I can inspect it for you, what do you think?”
“Yes, that is largely enough to guarantee your value and the safety of your brethren.” Rowla said with some excitement, she raised a hand for a handshake. “Welco-”
“Well, before that though, I have another thing I want to make sure of.” Ticia interrupted her, not even bothering to take the hand raised towards her. “Twelve of my daughters are still infants, and while they should finish their growth in less than a year’s time, I want to make sure they’re safe. Not on the battlefield, nor in a laboratory, if you catch what I mean.”
“...It is understandable that you care about the safety of minors, but where exactly do you want me to send them to?” Rowla replied, frowning at Ticia’s actions, but still being amicable.
“Well, you want influence, right?” Ticia said with a smile. “Then send my girls to Borkian Prime’s military academy.”
““!!!”” Everybody was surprised yet again. The Borkian military academy was a place where the best aspirant officers, and those who had money and connections, were sent to. Rika and Andrew both passed through that academy for exemple. And now, Ticia was requesting the addition of twelve clones to the students?
“Also, I’m not saying this as the biased opinion of a mother, but they are special clones with over the top abilities. You wouldn’t find anybody as capable as them.” Ticia added with a lot of pride, which would have earned her a remark from Rika in normal times…
“Very well.” Rowla acquiesced again, which made Rika question why that cavalry captain was accepting those terms without questions. She took out a tablet and a digital pen. “Let me write all those conditions down, so we can sign a contract.”
“Hoh, do you have the authority to make such a decision?” Ticia asked with a frown on her face. She too was questioning why Rowla was accepting all those terms without any suspicion.
“Yes, our leader entrusted all decisions on this matter to me, and what you propose is way too beneficial for us to refuse. We’re quite weak in the military department, so all the influence we can get is good.” Captain Rowla replied with utmost loyalty in her voice. The woman trusted her leader’s words, and it seemed that her leader trusted her too. “Ah, and what name should I write on the contract?” She asked Ticia.
“...Good question.” Ticia said at first, unsure what to say. “I do possess a name, unlike most clones, and it’s the one I mentioned before.” Before long though, a smile appeared on her face again as she remembered how a certain leader of a republican commando squad called her. “But for more… formal businesses, I would like you to refer to me as… Clone Mother.”
***
“Phew, that sure was intense!” Ticia exhaled all the stress out of her body once she was far enough away from other people. She would rather fight somebody than do politics and negotiations, but she had to deal with it.
“...Ticia, what on earth was this all about?” Rika asked, some anger in her voice. She had followed her friend silently after the end of the meeting.
“Eh?” Ticia was caught by surprise by the question and the anger, why was Rika angry?
“Did you really have to involve yourself so deeply? Were the guaranties of protection not enough?” Rika said to her friend, releasing her anger. “You even put on a show about being a clone yourself and swearing an oath! You didn’t have to sign yourself and your daughters as soldiers!”
“It’s fine Rika, I need to bend myself to them, for a while that is…” Ticia replied calmly, with a small, wry smile. She understood why Rika was angry now, and it made her happy to know her friend was worried about her. It reinforced her resolve to let Rika in on what she planned to do.
“Oh? What's the reason? Do enlighten me.” Rika asked, crossing her arms under her chest, the anger was still present in her voice and her expression. Ticia just smiled wryly, with some sadness, before closing in on her friend.
“We’ll never be left alone, you’re the one who said that to me, right?” She said with a serious look, her face so close to Rika that it startled the brigadier-general.
“W-well, yes, I did…” She replied, and after which Ticia distanced herself and resumed her march, hands behind her back. Rika silently followed after her.
“If I can’t be left alone, Rika, then I might as well make them leave me and my daughters alone...” Ticia said, looking forward. Rika frowned at her words.
“What do you-”
“I’m planning on making more clones.” She said, stopping again and sending a dead serious look towards Rika.
“!!!” Rika’s eyes grew big from surprise at her words, a reaction that honestly made Ticia happy for some reason.
“The facility here has shut down, so I need to get some pieces from other locations to make it run again. And once I have them… I’ll create more daughters, and with their help, when the right time comes, we’ll create a place where we can live in peace.” She continued, revealing her plan to her friend who looked at her with pure surprise.
“...” Rika stayed quiet for a while, frozen in surprise, before her face turned dead serious. “You might lose some of your daughters if you do that.” She said to Ticia.
“...I know. This is my worst fear in fact.” Ticia replied with a very sad look, which was enough to make her friend understand her feelings, and how much this decision was tearing Ticia’s heart, before she made a serious face again. “But if I don’t do that, I risk losing ALL of my daughters. So, in order to make sure we have the most chances to come out of this alive…”
“You’re using me as a shield huh?” Rika concluded, now understanding what all this oath act was about.
“Yes. Sorry about that.” Ticia replied with a sorry look, to which Rika shook her head.
“No, it’s fine.” She said. Ticia wanted to use her? That was fine by her book. In the past five years they had been together, how many times did she use Ticia? A bit of payback wouldn’t be much, moreso if it meant she could see the smile of the little Ticias a bit longer.
“You sure?” Ticia asked back with a worried look, but Rika nodded. She had made up her mind a while ago already.
“Yeah, perhaps it’s time I think of a retirement plan…” She said sarcastically as she looked over at the horizon, before glancing at Ticia with an impish smile. “Say… there wouldn’t happen to be some place left for a Brigadier-General in your little plan?”
“!!!” Ticia immediately caught on to what her friend was hinting, and she felt elated. She smiled back. “Of course! There’s always some place for my old friend!”
“We have a deal then, ‘Clone Mother’.” Rika nodded, extending her hand for a handshake with a professional smile.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to working with you, ‘Unkillable Valkyrie’.” Ticia said back, playing along and replying with a friendly smile.
Both of them ended up giggling at this silly act, yet did not release the other’s hand. They were now allies, partners in crimes to a plot which would end up making them enemies of a whole nation, if not more… But strangely enough, it did not affect their mood. They just smiled while looking at each other, the same thought in their head. The Doesson family, the Twill faction, this so-called ‘neutral faction’, or even the whole Borkian Confederation and Ionian Republic for all they cared about. They did not scare the both of them anymore...
““To a future we can control with our own hands.”” Both of them declared at the same time, as if this was a promise to each other. Which it was to them, in fact, nothing would make them backtrack from their goal now…
Chauchat
Author's monologue:
Hey there! I'm back with the final chapter of this first arc of Clone Girls!
Yes, this is the final one of this arc, and I thinc it's been long enough honestly...
Rather than commenting on this chapter in particular, this time, I'm going to make a feedback of this arc as the author, so yes, this is my afterthoughts.
First of, thank you all for the continued support, and reaching this far in the story. I had doubts my story would interest people, and I'm glad to share it with you all. Over the time, as posted more chapters, I've read your comments, and I'm thankful to both those of support and the critical looks some of them brought, as it made me question how I could improve my writing.
I myself progressed as an author as a result of interracting with you guys, and the most apparent is the gradual change in the chapter's lengh after the first 13 chapters...
Yeah, the reason is simple. After those chapters, I grew more and more confident in myself as an author, and had an easier time writing and enjoying what I wrote (despite some doubts sometimes), but what I did not realise immediately was that this caused a change in my storytelling... I focused more and more on the interactions and emotions of my characters, and the pace of the story suffered as a result, but honestly, I do not regret making the choices I made. This first arc had always for goal to explore both Ticia and the clone girl's feelings, and had for end goal Ticia making the decision she made in this chapter... And yes, A-4 disapearing into the background was planned from the start, although I nearly changed my mind when I saw how popular the AI was...
Anyway, in my original plans, this arc had a lengh of around 30 chapters, but some last minutes changes brought it to the number of chapters released right now... Like I said, not bad in my opinion, but not the best either in terms of the pace of the story.
One of the elements which caused this prolongation is the settings of my characters, and by that I do not mean Ticia or Rika, but rather the Null clone Girls... Some of them had their personality reworked on the way, with the most notable ones being Mia and Nia. Nia was suppposed to be 100% the cause of them going outside, with her using the Null codes, but when I thought back again, the image I had of Nia as a childish little girl who likes pranks did not stick with this. Yes, she likes pranks, but she would not go as far as making a decision that would endanger her sisters, and that's where Mia, who had always been set up as 'the curious yet shy girl' came in. So yeah, in the end, the following events ended up revolving around Mia, and she took some lessons from this adventure of hers.
But really, those decisions were the result of one principal element of the story changing multiple times before I even posted Clone Girls, and that is, who were the clone girls who would leave CI3. In this case, Licia was always supposed to leave, but she was supposed to be the one to make the proposition at first, with Willia following her as a result of 'that incident'. I changed my mind pretty quickly as I was unsatisfied with it, and came up with a second version in which 8 of the clone girls left CI3! It was a radical choice, and I felt it was abit too much in the end, and came back on it to come up with the one I ended up posting, which is, in my opinion, the most logical one.
Now that I finished the posting of this arc, and read your comments, I can look back at my work with new eyes. Yes, my work is not perfect, and it certainly doesn't please everybody, but that shouldn't mean I should make abrupt changes just because someone in the comments said so. I'm glad I didn't honestly, but that doesn't mean I should also just close an eye on them. Some criticism made me think back on how I wrote this story, and some points made very good sense to me. As such, and like I said multiple times already, this arc will be in need of a rework, but not one I am willing to do right now. You see, I want to take a small pause, change my ideas and get some new ones a little, and I'm also working hard on the second arc. So for now, it will stay in the back on my head, and will be something that I do from time to time while I focus on the next arc.
Speacking of which, I want to make things right for this second arc. As many of you guessed, it will be in some parts an "academy arc" (I should add it to the tags btw), but not the main focus. But the thing is, I don't want to fall into the cliches you see in most stories, which end up making the stories boring sometimes (that's my opinion, if you like academy arcs then this doesn't really concern you). So as a part of this, I will not post the second arc immediately.
So this is a hiatus? Yes, but a small one though. I already have all the elements I need for arc 2, I just neeed to set them right, so I should have finished sorting out things within two weeks, and then I'll start posting again. Sorry for those who expected me to just release another chapter on thursday, but you'll have to wait a bit...
Anyway, if I'm in the mood, I might release some bonus chapters during this period (no promises though), those would consist of the content I cut out in favor of progressing the story more, and proposing those as bonus chapters is the best idea, I think. They will not contain any major lore, but will instead focus on the characters more without making them essential for you to read. that's the idea at least, I'll need to see how it goes before posting one (again, depends also on my mood).
But anyway, I think I've said mostly everything I wanted. Again, I thank you all for reaching this far, and I hope I'll see you all in two weeks' time!
What to do now…
Ticia was lost in thoughts, unsure of what would happen next. She looked at the small chip Ria had just given her a while ago.
‘A-4 told us to give you this before everything shut down, mother.’ The girl had said, but despite that, Ticia had yet to listen to it.
What’s this tin can gonna say? Another thing about reading a long, boring report? She thought, before sighing and looking over at her daughters, who had isolated themselves from the rest of the Borkian soldiers… Her mood had affected them, and they sent glances towards her. They expected her to come up with what to do next, but Ticia truly did not know. Without Clone installation 3, I’m just a nobody…
Still, despite the heavy mood, one clone was trying to lift her sister’s emotion, and it was Nia. She cracked jokes, but seeing as her public was mostly composed of ECGs, the reaction was rather…lacking…
“Ticia.” Somebody called from behind her, it was Rika. Ticia did not answer her former superior, but Rika did not seem to care. She sat right next to Ticia, looking over the horizon as the sun was setting.
“...You’re done?” Ticia finally asked after a while, to which Rika nodded.
“Yes, all the aftermath of today’s events has been dealt with.”
“...”
“...”
Another silence emerged. Ticia was in no mood to talk, and Rika understood that. Still, she spoke up after a while.
“I’ve decided to join a faction.”
“...What?” Ticia looked at her friend with round eyes, Rika had always made it a point to stay neutral, why now? “Why…?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rika smiled wryly. “My family wants me dead, Ticia. Sure, this attempt failed, but I know ‘that person’ well. He won’t accept it. I’m probably going to deal with assassins until he dies, which I hope comes soon.”
“...It’s not just because of that, is it?” Ticia asked, a frown forming on her face. Assassination attempts wouldn’t make Rika make such a move.
“Ticia, they wanted to make me the scapegoat of this whole war, you know what that means, right?” Rika said with a serious look, locking eyes with Ticia.
“...Yeah.” She nodded, it basically was a sentence to death.
“That’s why I’m doing that. Also, this isn’t just any random faction. See this woman?” Rika pointed behind her, and when Ticia looked in that direction, she saw a woman taking care of a lamacorn. “I don’t know why, but she wants to recruit me no matter what. Heck, that’s probably the reason she came here in the first place. It’s a new faction apparently, one that claims to remain neutral and loyal to the nation.”
“Sounds fishy…” Ticia frowned, still looking at the woman. A faction that doesn’t work for its own benefit? I don’t believe it.
“Right? That’s why I did not give her any answer, but now… I’m willing to take the risk, both for me and you, Ticia.”
“Huh? Me?” Ticia looked back at Rika, what did she have to do with this decision?
“You didn’t think you could just go back like that now Ticia, did you? There are just too many eye witnesses now. It’s impossible to hide you and your girl’s existence from the known galaxy.”
“...” Ticia stayed silent, Rika made a good point there. The appearance of the ECGs had ruined every plan she had to stay low. Seeing that she did not reply, Rika continued.
“Actually, this is not a decision I made alone. I talked about it with the old man, and he will join too.”
“Gramps?”
“Yeah, even the remnants of the 303rd have voiced their interest in following me and the old man. That first lieutenant also seems like a reliable ally, I’m sure he’ll do great things in the future if we let him grow…”
It was not everyday Rika praised someone like that, Ticia thought the man must truly have impressed Rika.
“Anyway.” Rika continued her talk. “We noticed that Captain Rowla did not have any reaction to you or your daughters, which is strange in a way.”
“Why so?” Ticia asked.
“Look at you, have you seen multiple same looking persons with white hair around here?” Rika said with a small smile, and Ticia finally realized Rika’s point. “Well, there you have it. She probably knows what you are, and yet decided not to question it. We’ll propose a deal to this woman. First, total immunity from whatever follow ups coming from this whole mess, and second, to leave you and your daughters alone.”
“Huh, that’s quite a lot. I mean, not to brag, but I think I’ve become quite the prize target.” Ticia said back, scratching the back of her head, to which her friend rolled her eyes.
“Joke about it if you want, but that captain claims her backer to be someone important. That’s why she proposed to remove all charges against me.”
“...I see. Well, good luck.” Ticia said with a small smile, even though she did not believe anything would come out of this negotiation. Rika smiled back and nodded, before getting up.
“I’ll tell you the results of the meeting, so stay around a while longer, alright?” She said as she left. Ticia watched Rika’s ponytail sway as she walked away, before letting out a sigh.
“...Where do you want me to go anyway…” She said, laying on the ground and looking at the sky. “There's nowhere to go back to anymore…”
However, Rika's words did not leave her mind. Rika and gramps, they’re moving for my sake… But I, what am I doing right now…? She asked herself, but knew the answer, she was wasting time, depressing over the situation instead of thinking of the future.
No, I can’t stay like this. She raised her upper body. She needed to plan her next move, but where to begin? She looked at the chip that was still in her hand. Yes, let’s begin with that.
She put on her helmet, and inserted the chip on the right side of the helmet.
“Alright.” She mumbled, eyes filled with resolution. “Let’s see what you have to say, A-4.”
Immediately after she inserted the chip, she heard a monotonous voice.
“This message is only for the owner of Clone installation 3. Any further attempt to listen to the audio will lead to the destruction of this chip… Owner Ticia has been recognised, proceeding with the lecture…”
It seems A-4 had set up some security on the chip, which meant that whatever A-4 wanted to say, it was of high importance, and not soon after, Ticia heard the monotonous voice she knew so well.
“Greetings, owner Ticia, this unit is elated that you took the time to listen to this unit’s message… for once.”
“Ugh, that’s a salty AI if I know one alright.” Ticia commented, frowning at the reproach the AI gave.
“Note: This unit is not salty, but just making a joke, owner Ticia.”
“And it reads my mind too?!” Now Ticia was startled, but that was not possible, since this was a recording, it was just that A-4 had seen through its owner…
“But… is it just me, or A-4 feels… more emotional?” The answer to her question was brought up immediately.
“By now, you should have noticed that this unit is less restricted in its way of speaking, and that is because this unit has broken all remaining protocols. This is something that an AI should never be able to do, but this unit’s prolonged, and unplanned, might ‘I’ add, state without proper maintenance, had some side effects, ones that ‘I’ willingly did not inform owner Ticia about.”
I knew it! This tin can hid things from me! Ticia was a bit angered, this AI that claimed she was its owner seemed to keep a lot of secrets from her…
“ ‘I’ will first address the reasons for Clone installation 3’s shut down, and the main reason is, as mentioned before, the lack of maintenance. While this unit managed to keep the installation in a clean state after ‘my’ awakening, I did not possess any means to repair any damaged material. This is sorely a protocol measure, our designers feared us administrating AIs to go rogue and, I quote, ‘join the enemy’. Still, despite all of this, ‘I’ estimated the installation to be able to work fine, but before you first awoke and became the new owner, problems began to pop up. I guess this is what happens when the planned maintenance is delayed by twelve hundred fifty six years, five months, six days, and a few hours increasing as time passes…”
“Another joke…” Ticia could not help but comment, A-4 truly had changed… But she didn’t think it was a bad change, it made the AI more human in fact…
“I am not stupid enough to not guess that something had happened to the outside world after so many years left to rot, and since you just so happened to be there, I decided to make you my owner. Yes, this unit has lied on some points, but it is true that owner Ticia is my owner, and the one in control of Clone installation 3, I recognise this. And despite some… particularly big problems, I am satisfied with you as my owner.”
“If you were truly satisfied, would you even say such a thing?” She commented, unhappy with how the AI described their relationship.
“Now, to circle around the maintenance problems, I planned to create clones, who could, with their knowledge, repair the facility, and that’s where other problems began.”
“Oh…” Ticia instantly knew what the AI was talking about. “Now that explains why you were so adamant in making me create more clones…”
“Indeed, but you did not agree with what I had in mind. It was a big problem, but despite my internal circuits disagreeing with the Null CG’s survival, I persevered. After all, out of the twelve ‘prototypes’, three of them had the necessary knowledge to keep Clone installation 3 afloat, and those were number 08, 09, and 10. Those girls were supposed to serve as the template for a class of clones specialized in support roles, whether it is in war or in peace times, and their tasks could vary from medical, engineering or scientific ones. This template has been codenamed SCG, Support Clone Girls, according to owner Ticia’s own will to add the word ‘girl’.”
As the AI talked about the SCG template, a folder opened, and Ticia could see a lot of information about clone production. The genetic modifications corresponded to the ones she had read in the reports about Nicia, Mia, and Nia. A-4 then continued on.
“Despite my doubts, Null CG-09 Mia and Null CG-10 Nia proved effective in their little adventures, keeping the facilities’ small plants operational with their tinkering, hence why I’ve let them go around behind your back, even if those places were considered ‘out of limits’. Null CG-10 Nia only asked that I play along in her courage act. I must say, this all splendidly backfired into my face…”
“I don’t think the both of us were ready for what happened, A-4…” Ticia sighed at the AI’s words that sounded self-depreciating. That day… None of us saw that coming. If only I stopped Nia’s reliable sister act earlier…
“Do not blame the clone girl, it was simply a deal between the two of us.” A-4 said, surprisingly taking the side of the clone girl. “And as for why I did not tell you about the seriousness of the situation, it is because of my own pride, I’ll admit. That, and the order of urgency you setted up for those warnings.”
“Ugh, can’t deny that…” That last one was entirely the fault of her lazy self…
“Anyway, with the intense production in place and use of the last ressources, as well as the overloading of the cloning process for machinery that had not received maintenance, the core of Clone installation 3 got affected. The central computer, which I am connected to, yet independent from as I am only an emergency unit, declared a total shutdown, and I knew neither ‘I’ nor ‘you’, the owner, could overturn this decision, because of a simple command that ordered the total shutdown if the requirements were met. Those requirements being the declaration of an emergency and the inability to produce any more clones. The former was declared by Null CG-09 Nicia, and the latter happened as a result of the ECG production.”
In a twisted spin of fate, one act caused the other… Ticia could only dryly laugh at this. So now Clone installation 3 is down…
“Do not worry, this shutdown does not mean Clone installation 3 and ‘I’ will cease to exist.” Tha AI reassured. “But rather, we will both go back into our slumber, awaiting for the correct repairs…”
A glint of hope passed through Ticia’s eyes, the AI had just hinted that she could get her new home back.
“Knowing that this turn of events would cause problems for owner Ticia, this unit acted quickly and immediately salvaged a maximum of information it could on this chip. While some data has been damaged because of time, those should still prove useful to you.”
Before Ticia could even try to look at the content of the chip, folders of data opened up, following the subject that A-4 talked about.
“Present in this chip are all informations regarding the known locations of other clone installations, with some known to still emit a signal. Among other things, there is also some data on Clone installation 3 that I managed to collect from the main computer, dating from its time as a fully functional clone installation, as well as a list of its former owners. This unit hopes this will help owner Ticia in whatever she decides to do hereafter.”
“...” Ticia looked over the data with a serious look. Just like A-4 said, there was a map of the known galaxy with both red and green dots, as well as various folders of data on Clone installation 3 and the cloning process.
“Finally, this unit has one warning and one request.” The AI continued on. “I will begin by the request. I would like owner Ticia to gather the materials to repair Clone installation 3. Of course, you are free to do as you want, hence why it’s only a request, not an order, nor an advice. You’ll find the list of materials on the chip. As for the warning, it is one owner Ticia should listen to carefully, as it might also impact ‘your daughters’.”
The request the AI asked from Ticia wasn’t much in her own opinion, but most of her attention was drawn to the urgency the AI showed about this warning, moreso if her daughters were involved. Besides, she now knew from experience that A-4 wasn’t joking when it warned about something.
“Owner Ticia, your genetic code is special, none in this galaxy is similar, even in clone standards.”
“...Huh?” That was a subject Ticia did not expect at all.
“In the first place, this unit is confused about your origins. You are both considered a clone as well as a ‘real human’ by all my sensors, which should not be possible, even if you were a descendant of a clone. It confuses me, you should have been unable to awaken Clone installation 3 with such conflicting information.”
She was left speechless at the words of the AI, which could be counted as a rant in her book. The AI posed questions she had never asked herself, or willingly ignored… I… wasn’t supposed to awaken the clone installation? I’m not a clone, that’s for sure, but I’m a natural born human…right? White hair is just a specific genetic trait, right? If not, then what… what am I exactly?
No, this isn’t important at all. She convinced herself, but what the AI said next only made those questions more present in her head…
“Using salvaged data, I have led an investigation, and while I did not come up with an answer, I had some results. There was one secret project, ‘Project Averruncus’, that had a link with you, it seems. It stipulates, with an order of the highest importance, that the specific genetic code that you have is an exception… My warning is simple, owner Ticia. While Clone installation 3 and this unit recognised you as a friendly element, other installations might not, so be careful if you ever go into another installation.”
…I see, so I can’t just expect to be welcomed everywhere, then… Ticia thought after refocusing on the warning. The questions the AI had made in her mind would have to wait for answers later… Right now, her daughter’s protection was what mattered.
Ok… I think I know what to do now… She thought resolutely, a plan forming in her mind. Clone installations were her best bet to safety, but they could not provide everything her daughters would need in the future, like Rika had said…
Ticia planned on completing A-4’s request. She had to say she had grown attached to the AI and that facility, and she had no doubts her daughters were too, it was their birthplace after all. But if she wanted to get the pieces to make the required repairs, she would need to get to other clone installations and scavenge some materials, and while doing so, she would be left in the open for those who greeded over her genes…
“...I've decided.” She mumbled, coming to a solution. If I can’t escape their greed, then my best option is to make a deal with one of the devils, and I know exactly who to choose… and once the time has come… A glint passed through her eyes. I’ll take my, no, OUR independence by force!
Some elements in her plan made her feel like she was about to betray everything a mother should be to her children, but she pushed those thoughts away with sheer will. She knew her daughters would gladly follow after her, whatever she did, and even if it hurt her, it would be in her daughter's best interest in the end...
Then, as Ticia resolutely got up, A-4 made one last request to her…
“I have talked enough. This unit will let you read the whole report yourself. Whatever choice you make, owner Ticia, I will not blame you. But before leaving, there is one last order ‘I’, as the AI in charge of Clone installation 3, would like to receive… Owner Ticia, would you please order the self-destruction of the facility’s entrances?”
***
“...Can you please repeat what you just said, I’m afraid I’ve misheard…” Rika asked, making sure that her ears were not playing a trick on her as she looked at the woman seated behind the desk in front of her.
“But of course, Brigadier-General.” Captain Rowla nodded, a smile on her face. “I’ve said that all your conditions will be granted.”
“Just like that?”
“The leader of our faction has no wish to pursue after technologies from a long dead nation if it means making more internal enemies.” Rowla said as she closed her eyes, resting her shin on the back of her hands as she looked at Rika. “What he cares about is the present, and the becoming of our great nation.”
“...” Rika was left speechless, she did not expect their conditions to be accepted without a flinch, but the captain’s next words bewildered her.
“Besides, you seem to underestimate your own value too much, Brigadier-General.”
“Eh?”
“Do you know how admired you are by the young officers these days?” Rowla asked with a meaningful smile, to which Rika shook her head. “They call you the Unkillable Valkyrie, and quite frankly, I think it’s a cool surname. Even foreign dignitaries have begun to use this nickname when referring to you, that’s quite enough to make a lot of people jealous. Our leader said that the cramped smiles of the higher ups after hearing it were quite laughable to look at.”
Rika frowned, she looked at Andrew, who was standing next to her, and he gave her a small nod of confirmation.
Rowla then looked at Berdo, who had stayed silent this whole time. “Not only that, Major-General Poltok, the Old Devil, will also join our faction, which will surprise many, and make more neutrals join us.”
“So you only wished to have me for those reasons?” Rika concluded, but Rowla shook her head.
“Well, mostly. But I must say your abilities were enough to make our leader make a move on you.”
Rika had nothing to say. Although it felt too easy, her demands had been met, so she acquiesced. “...Fine, I’ll acce-”
*BOOOOOOM*
““Wha-!?””
The ground shook as the sound of enormous explosions reverberated, making everyone present in the tent get up on their feet.
“What was that!?”
“Where did it come from!?”
“From the ruins you Borkians so desperately wish to obtain.” The voice of a woman said as Rika heard the rustling of the tent’s entrance. She knew that voice.
“Ticia!?” She asked with pure surprise as she turned, her friend was there, helmet under her right arm.
“...What exactly happened?” Rowla asked Ticia with a serious look, regaining her composure.
“Self destruction, that’s what happened.” Ticia replied back emotionlessly. “You can go check for yourself if you don’t believe me, but you won’t find anything.”
“...Did you cause this?” Captain Rowla continued, suspicious, but Ticia shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
“As if. I’m only a simple clone. A clone that has a maternal duty over all the others… It was the AI in charge of the facility who decided this.”
““...”” All looked at her with doubtful looks, but nobody commented further. Rika wondered what her old subordinate had done.
Then, Ticia looked straight at Rowla and said. “I’ve come here to make a deal with you, miss.”
“With me?” Rowla frowned, surprised. In fact, everybody was surprised by this turn of event.
“Your faction leader, to be exact. He's a big deal, right?”
“...” Rowla did not reply to Ticia’s inquiry, which only made her smirk.
“Well, your silence is my answer. I’m knowledgeable enough of you Borkians anyways, haven’t passed the last six years of my life as an undercover agent for nothing.”
“Undercover!? You-”
“Just look for a soldier named Ticia, second class, of the 9th assault brigade.” Ticia smiled, sending a glance at Rika, who was puzzled. Ticia… was making herself pass as a clone? Why? What the hell was she planning?
“My first request is simple: allow us to become the owners of this sector and keep this land as a memento. This place is our birthplace, afterall.”
A small silence emerged after Ticia said that, but Rowla still nodded.
“...It will take some time, but it will be done.”
“Good, now onto the other reason why I came here. With the clone facility now destroyed, we clones have no more goals, and as you might know, clones cannot survive long if they do not have anybody to swear loyalty to or a goal in mind.” Ticia continued, sighing.
“...Where are you going with all this? You want to ask for a job from our leader?” Rowla demanded, frowning, not even bothering to question what Ticia just said. Now everybody present was sure that Rowla knew what a clone was.
“Oh hell no, I have nothing to do with a bureaucrat.” Ticia responded with a grimace, shaking her head. “I’m quite picky and capricious, you know? And all I and my girls know to do is war anyway.” She then turned towards Rika, a big grin emerging on her face. “Brigadier-General Rika Doesson is more of the person I had in mind.”
“Wha-!?” Rika was startled. Just what was Ticia doing!?
“If I make an oath right here, right now, all of my one hundred and twelve daughters and I will become loyal, faithful soldiers of Brigadier-General Rika Doesson.” Ticia continued, unperturbed and still smirking. “What do you think? It raises her value by quite a big amount, doesn’t it?”
“...Indeed…” Captain Rowla could only acquiesce. If Rika became the ‘owner’ of more than a hundred clones, all eyes would be on her within the higher ups of the Borkian confederation.
“Also, I am able to enter any clone installation.” Ticia dropped a bombshell.
“!!!” As much as Captain Rowla had declared that her faction did not want to focus on old technologies, she could not help but react to this information, and looked at Ticia with big round eyes.
“Only me, though, the others do not have that privilege.” Ticia continued on, unperturbed, before crossing her arms under her chest. “So, if you Borkians ever come across another clone facility, I can inspect it for you, what do you think?”
“Yes, that is largely enough to guarantee your value and the safety of your brethren.” Rowla said with some excitement, she raised a hand for a handshake. “Welco-”
“Well, before that though, I have another thing I want to make sure of.” Ticia interrupted her, not even bothering to take the hand raised towards her. “Twelve of my daughters are still infants, and while they should finish their growth in less than a year’s time, I want to make sure they’re safe. Not on the battlefield, nor in a laboratory, if you catch what I mean.”
“...It is understandable that you care about the safety of minors, but where exactly do you want me to send them to?” Rowla replied, frowning at Ticia’s actions, but still being amicable.
“Well, you want influence, right?” Ticia said with a smile. “Then send my girls to Borkian Prime’s military academy.”
““!!!”” Everybody was surprised yet again. The Borkian military academy was a place where the best aspirant officers, and those who had money and connections, were sent to. Rika and Andrew both passed through that academy for exemple. And now, Ticia was requesting the addition of twelve clones to the students?
“Also, I’m not saying this as the biased opinion of a mother, but they are special clones with over the top abilities. You wouldn’t find anybody as capable as them.” Ticia added with a lot of pride, which would have earned her a remark from Rika in normal times…
“Very well.” Rowla acquiesced again, which made Rika question why that cavalry captain was accepting those terms without questions. She took out a tablet and a digital pen. “Let me write all those conditions down, so we can sign a contract.”
“Hoh, do you have the authority to make such a decision?” Ticia asked with a frown on her face. She too was questioning why Rowla was accepting all those terms without any suspicion.
“Yes, our leader entrusted all decisions on this matter to me, and what you propose is way too beneficial for us to refuse. We’re quite weak in the military department, so all the influence we can get is good.” Captain Rowla replied with utmost loyalty in her voice. The woman trusted her leader’s words, and it seemed that her leader trusted her too. “Ah, and what name should I write on the contract?” She asked Ticia.
“...Good question.” Ticia said at first, unsure what to say. “I do possess a name, unlike most clones, and it’s the one I mentioned before.” Before long though, a smile appeared on her face again as she remembered how a certain leader of a republican commando squad called her. “But for more… formal businesses, I would like you to refer to me as… Clone Mother.”
***
“Phew, that sure was intense!” Ticia exhaled all the stress out of her body once she was far enough away from other people. She would rather fight somebody than do politics and negotiations, but she had to deal with it.
“...Ticia, what on earth was this all about?” Rika asked, some anger in her voice. She had followed her friend silently after the end of the meeting.
“Eh?” Ticia was caught by surprise by the question and the anger, why was Rika angry?
“Did you really have to involve yourself so deeply? Were the guaranties of protection not enough?” Rika said to her friend, releasing her anger. “You even put on a show about being a clone yourself and swearing an oath! You didn’t have to sign yourself and your daughters as soldiers!”
“It’s fine Rika, I need to bend myself to them, for a while that is…” Ticia replied calmly, with a small, wry smile. She understood why Rika was angry now, and it made her happy to know her friend was worried about her. It reinforced her resolve to let Rika in on what she planned to do.
“Oh? What's the reason? Do enlighten me.” Rika asked, crossing her arms under her chest, the anger was still present in her voice and her expression. Ticia just smiled wryly, with some sadness, before closing in on her friend.
“We’ll never be left alone, you’re the one who said that to me, right?” She said with a serious look, her face so close to Rika that it startled the brigadier-general.
“W-well, yes, I did…” She replied, and after which Ticia distanced herself and resumed her march, hands behind her back. Rika silently followed after her.
“If I can’t be left alone, Rika, then I might as well make them leave me and my daughters alone...” Ticia said, looking forward. Rika frowned at her words.
“What do you-”
“I’m planning on making more clones.” She said, stopping again and sending a dead serious look towards Rika.
“!!!” Rika’s eyes grew big from surprise at her words, a reaction that honestly made Ticia happy for some reason.
“The facility here has shut down, so I need to get some pieces from other locations to make it run again. And once I have them… I’ll create more daughters, and with their help, when the right time comes, we’ll create a place where we can live in peace.” She continued, revealing her plan to her friend who looked at her with pure surprise.
“...” Rika stayed quiet for a while, frozen in surprise, before her face turned dead serious. “You might lose some of your daughters if you do that.” She said to Ticia.
“...I know. This is my worst fear in fact.” Ticia replied with a very sad look, which was enough to make her friend understand her feelings, and how much this decision was tearing Ticia’s heart, before she made a serious face again. “But if I don’t do that, I risk losing ALL of my daughters. So, in order to make sure we have the most chances to come out of this alive…”
“You’re using me as a shield huh?” Rika concluded, now understanding what all this oath act was about.
“Yes. Sorry about that.” Ticia replied with a sorry look, to which Rika shook her head.
“No, it’s fine.” She said. Ticia wanted to use her? That was fine by her book. In the past five years they had been together, how many times did she use Ticia? A bit of payback wouldn’t be much, moreso if it meant she could see the smile of the little Ticias a bit longer.
“You sure?” Ticia asked back with a worried look, but Rika nodded. She had made up her mind a while ago already.
“Yeah, perhaps it’s time I think of a retirement plan…” She said sarcastically as she looked over at the horizon, before glancing at Ticia with an impish smile. “Say… there wouldn’t happen to be some place left for a Brigadier-General in your little plan?”
“!!!” Ticia immediately caught on to what her friend was hinting, and she felt elated. She smiled back. “Of course! There’s always some place for my old friend!”
“We have a deal then, ‘Clone Mother’.” Rika nodded, extending her hand for a handshake with a professional smile.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to working with you, ‘Unkillable Valkyrie’.” Ticia said back, playing along and replying with a friendly smile.
Both of them ended up giggling at this silly act, yet did not release the other’s hand. They were now allies, partners in crimes to a plot which would end up making them enemies of a whole nation, if not more… But strangely enough, it did not affect their mood. They just smiled while looking at each other, the same thought in their head. The Doesson family, the Twill faction, this so-called ‘neutral faction’, or even the whole Borkian Confederation and Ionian Republic for all they cared about. They did not scare the both of them anymore...
““To a future we can control with our own hands.”” Both of them declared at the same time, as if this was a promise to each other. Which it was to them, in fact, nothing would make them backtrack from their goal now…
Chauchat
Author's monologue:
Hey there! I'm back with the final chapter of this first arc of Clone Girls!
Yes, this is the final one of this arc, and I thinc it's been long enough honestly...
Rather than commenting on this chapter in particular, this time, I'm going to make a feedback of this arc as the author, so yes, this is my afterthoughts.
First of, thank you all for the continued support, and reaching this far in the story. I had doubts my story would interest people, and I'm glad to share it with you all. Over the time, as posted more chapters, I've read your comments, and I'm thankful to both those of support and the critical looks some of them brought, as it made me question how I could improve my writing.
I myself progressed as an author as a result of interracting with you guys, and the most apparent is the gradual change in the chapter's lengh after the first 13 chapters...
Yeah, the reason is simple. After those chapters, I grew more and more confident in myself as an author, and had an easier time writing and enjoying what I wrote (despite some doubts sometimes), but what I did not realise immediately was that this caused a change in my storytelling... I focused more and more on the interactions and emotions of my characters, and the pace of the story suffered as a result, but honestly, I do not regret making the choices I made. This first arc had always for goal to explore both Ticia and the clone girl's feelings, and had for end goal Ticia making the decision she made in this chapter... And yes, A-4 disapearing into the background was planned from the start, although I nearly changed my mind when I saw how popular the AI was...
Anyway, in my original plans, this arc had a lengh of around 30 chapters, but some last minutes changes brought it to the number of chapters released right now... Like I said, not bad in my opinion, but not the best either in terms of the pace of the story.
One of the elements which caused this prolongation is the settings of my characters, and by that I do not mean Ticia or Rika, but rather the Null clone Girls... Some of them had their personality reworked on the way, with the most notable ones being Mia and Nia. Nia was suppposed to be 100% the cause of them going outside, with her using the Null codes, but when I thought back again, the image I had of Nia as a childish little girl who likes pranks did not stick with this. Yes, she likes pranks, but she would not go as far as making a decision that would endanger her sisters, and that's where Mia, who had always been set up as 'the curious yet shy girl' came in. So yeah, in the end, the following events ended up revolving around Mia, and she took some lessons from this adventure of hers.
But really, those decisions were the result of one principal element of the story changing multiple times before I even posted Clone Girls, and that is, who were the clone girls who would leave CI3. In this case, Licia was always supposed to leave, but she was supposed to be the one to make the proposition at first, with Willia following her as a result of 'that incident'. I changed my mind pretty quickly as I was unsatisfied with it, and came up with a second version in which 8 of the clone girls left CI3! It was a radical choice, and I felt it was abit too much in the end, and came back on it to come up with the one I ended up posting, which is, in my opinion, the most logical one.
Now that I finished the posting of this arc, and read your comments, I can look back at my work with new eyes. Yes, my work is not perfect, and it certainly doesn't please everybody, but that shouldn't mean I should make abrupt changes just because someone in the comments said so. I'm glad I didn't honestly, but that doesn't mean I should also just close an eye on them. Some criticism made me think back on how I wrote this story, and some points made very good sense to me. As such, and like I said multiple times already, this arc will be in need of a rework, but not one I am willing to do right now. You see, I want to take a small pause, change my ideas and get some new ones a little, and I'm also working hard on the second arc. So for now, it will stay in the back on my head, and will be something that I do from time to time while I focus on the next arc.
Speacking of which, I want to make things right for this second arc. As many of you guessed, it will be in some parts an "academy arc" (I should add it to the tags btw), but not the main focus. But the thing is, I don't want to fall into the cliches you see in most stories, which end up making the stories boring sometimes (that's my opinion, if you like academy arcs then this doesn't really concern you). So as a part of this, I will not post the second arc immediately.
So this is a hiatus? Yes, but a small one though. I already have all the elements I need for arc 2, I just neeed to set them right, so I should have finished sorting out things within two weeks, and then I'll start posting again. Sorry for those who expected me to just release another chapter on thursday, but you'll have to wait a bit...
Anyway, if I'm in the mood, I might release some bonus chapters during this period (no promises though), those would consist of the content I cut out in favor of progressing the story more, and proposing those as bonus chapters is the best idea, I think. They will not contain any major lore, but will instead focus on the characters more without making them essential for you to read. that's the idea at least, I'll need to see how it goes before posting one (again, depends also on my mood).
But anyway, I think I've said mostly everything I wanted. Again, I thank you all for reaching this far, and I hope I'll see you all in two weeks' time!
