Clone Girls

"Uhm, a-are you sure we can be there, Nia?"

Mia said as she looked at the shelves with a hesitant look. Most of them were empty, but some of them had weapons or ammunition stocked. Mia and Nia were within the armory. The room appeared less empty than the first time Ticia was there. A-4 had since then resumed arms production following Ticia’s wishes, albeit at a slow rate.

"I’m sure, Mia." Answered a confident Nia in front of her. "If we could not be there, the AI would have stopped us, right?"

"I guess so…" Mia answered. Right now, the two of them were in the armory because Nia wanted to see more of their ‘big sis’’s equipment.

Ever since Nia had seen Ticia’s armor, she had been obsessed with technology. She would often ask questions to Ticia and A-4 about this and that, but since Ticia had been more and more busy, she had received less answers to her questions. As a result of that, Nia had begun to sneak out frequently out of view of other clone girls, exploring the diverse plants of Clone installation 3 to satiate her hunger for knowledge. It was really an unfortunate thing that Clone installation 3 did not possess a library, because if it did, Nia would be there everyday. Her curiosity and hunger for learning was just that strong.

"St-still…" Mia hesitantly said. "Wh-why am I h-here with you again?"

For some reason, every time Nia sneaked out, she took Mia with her.

"Eh? I thought you wanted to go with me? Was I wrong?" Answered a confused Nia.

"...N-no, you're n-not wrong." Mia finally admitted after a pause not even looking at her sister. Mia was the most timid of the clone girls. She was scared of asking Ticia or even A-4 the most basic questions. The only people she was somewhat at ease talking with were her clone sisters and that did not include Ticia, unfortunately. If she were to be put in front of a stranger, Mia would be unable to speak correctly and try to run away as soon as possible. Fortunately for her, there was nobody other than Ticia and her sisters within Clone installation 3. Some other clone girls would disagree with her about this, but she preferred it that way.

Still, despite that, she was interested in the various technologies present within the base. And Nia had seen through her about this fact. Hence, even though she complained, Mia was actually quite happy right now.

"This room is quite empty… I thought there would be more amazing things laying around…" Nia said as she was about to grab one of the laser blaster carbines exposed on the shelf, only to be stopped by Mia, who grabbed her arm.

"Y-you can’t! I-if you touch that, A-4 is g-gonna intervene!"

Even though the clone girls were free to roam around, Ticia had strictly told them that they should never touch weapons if she did not give them her permission. And since A-4 always had an eye on them through the various security cameras installed, it would immediately tell Ticia.

"Ah, you’re right, eheheh, my bad." Nia quickly excused herself before continuing ahead. "Let’s go to the next room!" Nia headed to the door on the left side of the armory, quickly followed by a panicking Mia.

"H-hey! Wait for me! D-don’t leave me alone there!"

"Hurry up then!"

The two clone girls arrived in front of the door. Fortunately for them, it opened. This meant that A-4 did not consider this room as out of the clone girls' reach. As the door finished opening, Mia and Nia took in the scene.

""Whoah…""

The room, which had been empty the first time Ticia came inside, was now packed with parts for her armored skinsuit. While the mannequins were still without anything on them, even the one Ticia usually displayed her armor on, since she was out ‘cleaning’, the shelves had different pieces of armor neatly arranged into sections.

"This is so cool!" Nia said as she rushed to one of the shelves.

"N-Nia! Wait for me!" Mia said as she too rushed to the same shelves as Nia.

"Hey, Mia! Look! Look! These are the same helmets as the one big sis is always wearing!" Nia said as she pointed out at a helmet on the shelves. Mia followed Nia’s finger, and saw the same helmet her ‘big sis’ wore. There were five of them displayed on this shelf. Then, to Mia’s surprise, Nia took one in her hands.

"W-wait, Nia!? Wh-what are you doing!?" Mia panicked, she thought A-4 would warn them to put down the helmet, but it did not.

"Yes! I was right!" Nia made a small fist pose. "The helmets aren’t considered outside of our permissions. I was sure this was the case since ‘big sis’ let me have a look at hers last time." She then took another one. "Here, Mia, take one too!"

Mia hesitantly took the helmet. "Wow…" She examined it like a treasure.

"See? I told you nothing would happen!" Nia said, and Mia slowly nodded her head. It appears that they could touch the helmets without getting into serious problems.

"Let’s try wearing them!" Nia suddenly put on the helmet. It was a little too big for her head. Still, the helmet’s HUD lit up, and the visor took a blue colored tint. "Oh it’s really working! It’s so cool! You should try it too, Mia!"

Mia nodded and put on the helmet. By this point, she had already been too captivated by the helmet to try to stop Nia. Same as Nia, her helmet also came to life once she wore it.

"Wow, there’s so much information…" Mia said as she looked at all the information her HUD was providing her.

"Right? Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we play a game?" Nia asked as she turned on herself and giggled. But she did not receive any response. "...Mia?"

Mia stood there, lost in her thoughts. Nia tried to get her attention by moving a hand in front of Mia’s visor. "Hey! Mia?"

"Oh, yes? What is it?" Mia finally answered her.

"Look! *ahem*" Nia took a pose, hands to her waist. "I’m Ticia, from now on I’ll be your big sis, bla bla bla…"

"Pft" Mia burst out laughing. "That was just like big sis, haha."

"Hehe, right?" The two of them continued laughing for a while, and Nia made other impressions of Ticia.

"Ah" Mia suddenly froze.

"What’s wrong, soldier? Do you want to do some extra laps?" Nia said, still playing her role. But then she heard a voice from behind her.

"If you are volunteering for some more training, why not, soldier. I think that’s a great idea!"

"Fugyah!?" Nia jumped and turned around. There stood Ticia with her armor on. "Bi-bi-bi-. Big sis?" Cold sweat ran behind Nia’s back. "Si-since when?!"

"Since the moment you began imitating me." Said Ticia with an emotionless voice.

"Geh." Nia could not defend herself now, still, she tried to bypass the subject. "What, what are you doing here? Haha…"

"I could ask the both of you the same thing. What are the two of you doing there? It's not a place where you can play." Ticia said with a stern tone. She had just come back from ‘cleaning’ some unwanted guests outside. Since it was relatively calm though, she quickly finished and then fastly came back. Of course, the reason was to pass more time with the clone girls. But because of the incident Ticia had with Nicia and Ria, Ticia took a staircase that was not used instead of the usual elevator. Thanks to that, she met nobody this time as she headed to the armory to put down her armor. 

But the last thing she expected was to meet two clone girls within the armory. Jeez… And just the day after Ria and Nicia saw me… She thought as she sighed in her mind. The conversation she had with Ria after that wasn’t something she wanted to repeat. Besides, the armory wasn’t a place where kids should play around. I thought A-4 had put it on the list of restricted areas. Guess we’ll have a talk later…

"Uhm, well, you see, hahaha…" Nia tried to search for the good words to explain why they were here, but she knew Ticia wouldn’t play her game.

"We’re sorry sig sis, we’re here because we were curious about your equipment." Mia suddenly said.

"M-Mia?!" Nia did not expect Mia, who would not talk to Ticia except when the latter prompted her to do so, to answer.

"...Is that so?" Ticia was also surprised. She removed her helmet and directed her stare at Mia. "Why are you so curious about it?"

"Because we wanted to know more about the technology and how it’s made…"

"Eh?"

""Eh?""

Ticia just let out a word, confusing the two girls. She can talk to me just fine now? Ticia had been worried about this. Mia had never talked to her so openly before, refusing to even make eye contact. Ticia ended up thinking the girl was scared of her. That’s why every time she talked to Mia, Ticia would direct her most tender look full of ‘sisterly’ love to Mia. Still, it would not work as she expected and Mia would always stutter. 

But… Just now… I heard her well, right? Ticia had a hard time believing it, that’s why she removed her helmet, believing something was wrong with it. She even made a stern expression while addressing Mia. When she made that kind of expression in front of the clone girls, Mia would usually hide behind the back of her sisters. Yet, this time, she stood still and answered clearly. What could be the reason?

That was when Ticia noticed the difference. Could it be…  "Mia, remove your helmet." She ordered.

Mia froze for a second, but listened to Ticia’s command.

"Eh? What about me? Can I keep it on?" Nia said, pointing at herself.

"No, you put it back on the shelf Nia, I'll deal with you later for imitating me…" Ticia said with a smile to Nia, but her eyes did not tell the same thing as her smile. Nia hurriedly put the helmet back on the shelf as her face palled. She thought she was definitely screwed this time.

"Now, Mia." Ticia said as she looked at Mia who had now removed her helmet, just like usual, Mia had a hard time meeting Ticia's gaze. "Can you tell me the reason again? Why were you curious about my equipment?"

The young girl tried to answer as she fiddled with her fingers, not even trying to look at Ticia anymore. "Be-because, uhm, w-we wanted, to know more, ab-"

"Stop. I get it now." Ticia said as she interrupted Mia who looked confused.

I remember now… Poor girl, she inherited one bad trait. Ticia thought. She knew what the problem was now. Mia had a speaking disorder and a fear of strangers, just like Ticia did when she was very young. It was pretty bad back then…  Ticia thought back. Ever since she could remember, she had a hard time speaking to others. The main reason for this was probably the constant bullying her shy younger self received at the orphanage. Back then, the other kids, and even the carers, would get violent when she tried to ask something, and everyone just hit her everytime she tried to talk back to them.

Then, one day, the orphanage just kicked her out. The six years old Ticia was now homeless, and she had to try to survive by herself. At first, she tried to ask people around her for help. ‘Tried’ being the right word, since she could hardly talk to anyone, she was ignored. Then, one day, a drunk man she was trying to talk to threw some old clothes at her face. The clothes had holes in them, so she could still see the man. She tried to call out to him to say thanks. And, to her surprise, she managed to say the words without stuttering.

This was the first time, unlike ever before, that her voice came out loud and clear. She quickly realized the reason why. It was because of the clothes on her face. They acted as a sort of mask. This ‘mask’ made her manage to speak, and look at other people eye to eye. It was as if her fear of getting hit again had disappeared thanks to the mask. Young Ticia cried on the spot when she realized that. She would no longer have problems talking thanks to this. As for the drunk man, he was already gone by that time.

Since then, Ticia kept a mask on her face. It helped her a lot in her daily life as a street urchin. And little by little, her speech disorder disappeared. By the time she was eight years old, she could talk normally without a mask on.

It's good that it can be healed quite easily. Ticia thought, getting back on track.

"Alright, I’ve decided what I’m gonna do with the both of you." She said.  Mia and Nia both gulped, awaiting judgment.

"Both of you are prohibited from sneaking out like this again, I will tell A-4 to make this area, and the ones you’ve been in before, restricted zones."

""..."" both girls had sad looks on their faces, of course, Ticia knew about them sneaking out. They waited for Ticia's next words while closing their eyes.

"Mia."

"Y-yes…"

"You can keep the helmet." Ticia unexpectedly said, catching Mia by surprise.

"Yes?!"

"This helmet." Ticia said as she crouched in front of Mia, she then took the helmet and put it on Mia's head. "It helps you to look at me in the eyes, right?"

"Huh?" Mia said with surprise. "Oh, you’re right! I can look at you now! I don’t even stutter anymore!"

"Hehe… Right?" Ticia said, smiling warmly. "You know, I…  Big sis was like you a long time ago…"

"Eh? You were?" Mia looked at Ticia with round eyes. This was the latest thing she expected to hear from Ticia, who showed so much confidence.

"Yes, I was." Ticia affirmed. "I couldn't even say two words without stuttering." Ticia stood up from her crouching position. "Keep the helmet. It will help you gain confidence in yourself, then you’ll be able to speak freely."

"...Will it work?" Mia hesitantly asked, to which Ticia smiled at her confidently.

"It worked for me. And since you are the same as me… It should also work on you. So keep the helmet as much as you need. You can even paint it if you want~."

Mia was happy that she could keep the helmet. She smiled. "Yes! Thank you very much!"

Ticia smiled, her thoughts were already going in a weird direction. After all, you’re cute when you wear a helmet~. It’s like cosplay~. But the voice of somebody made her refocus on the present.

"Wh-what about me? Can I keep the helmet too?" Nia asked hesitantly. To which Ticia smiled as she answered.

"No way~."

"Wh-why!?" Nia screamed. "It’s not fair! I want one too!"

"It's not a toy, Nia, I'm giving it to Mia because she needs it." Ticia said, and Nia pouted. Ticia sighed. "Are you that unhappy with my decision, Nia?" Nia nodded at Ticia’s question. "Then how about we play planes for a bit? It’s been a while since we last did it~."

"!!! On second thought, nevermind… I don’t need one." Nia suddenly made a U turn. Ever since Ticia had made her ‘fly’ during training, Nia had developed a phobia of flying. "Well, guess I’ll go, hahaha…." She tried to run away, but Ticia grabbed her shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going, soldier?” She said with a smile, a smile that made Nia very scared. “You still have four laps to do, now let’s get to it.” Of course, Ticia remembered that she had to punish Nia for imitating her.

"Noooooo~~~~~~!"

Mia quietly watched as her sister was literally dragged out of the room. She sent her prayers to her sister in her mind.

***

"Ehehehe~~"

Night time, Mia was laughing happily in her bed, the helmet in her hands. It now had green paintings in the form of multiple half circles that grew in diameter from the top of the visor to the top of the helmet. Ticinia had happily helped her do it and Mia was grateful to her. I should find a way to thank her later.

After Nia was pitifully dragged to the training ground, Mia showed her sisters Ticia’s gift and told them the reason why she got one. All of them were surprised at first, some were even jealous, but in the end, they were glad for her. With this helmet on, she could have a normal conversation with everyone.

"This might be the second best day of my life!" Mia exclaimed as she hugged the helmet.  Her first best day was, of course, the time Ticia gave her her name.

She remembered how warmly Ticia had been at a time where she was the only one who was courageous enough to ask Ticia why they would need a name. And she did not regret asking her.

From the time they were first born, each clone girl only had one personal objective. And it was to get as much attention to themselves from Ticia as possible. Incredibly enough, at that time, she came on top, followed by Vinia and Ticinia, who always gets the most attention from Ticia nowadays. Mia was not jealous of her little sisters, in fact, she was happy for them. The attention she had received on the first day was enough for her to feel satisfied.

However, because she could not look at Ticia in the eyes, she had felt Ticia being sad about it. This, and her speech disorder, which had not helped clear things, was something that bothered her the most.

But today, Ticia had found a solution for her.

"Now I can talk like everybody!"

Her joy was over the roof.

Not only that, Ticia had revealed that she too, had a speech disorder when she was young! She was just like her! Just knowing this fact made Mia happy.

Sleepiness soon came as she still held the hemet in her arms. As she slowly fell asleep, her thoughts were on Ticia.

Thank you very much, ‘Mother’. Even if you don’t want us to call you like that, that’s fine… You’ll always be my mother in my mind. Our one and only mother who cares about us all…