Clone Girls

*Yawn*

"Are you tired, mother?" Lidia asked, looking at a tired Ticia.

The both of them were currently on the training ground, just after the clone girls had finished their regular training. Today was the day Ticia promised to take Lidia outside, and true to her words, she would do it.

The main reason why Ticia was tired was because she did not sleep. She spent her entire night within the South-West forest, making sure the place was thoroughly ‘cleaned’.

"I-I’m fine, Lidia, don’t worry too much about it." Ticia reassured, still unused to being called like this. True, she was tired, but it was to make sure Lidia’s outing would go without a hitch. 

"Now, before we go, we have to prepare ourselves first." Ticia began to walk towards the entrance, and Lidia just followed her, wondering what her mother was talking about.

After a while, they arrived at their destination.

"Eh?" Lidia was surprised. "Mother, what are we doing at the armory?"

That’s right, Ticia had led her to the armory. If it was because Ticia wanted to put on her armor, that would be fine, but she already had it on. As for the rest of her equipment, Ticia had already picked it up on the way there.

"Lidia" Ticia faced Lidia with a serious expression, and Lidia became tense. "I have already said it many times, but the outside is dangerous. There are a lot of bad people outside." Ticia then turned, entering the armory before going to the room on its left. As she did so, she continued talking to Lidia, who followed her.

"I cannot let you go outside in your current clothes. Your jersey is only for training, but if something happens… It won’t help you. That’s why." Ticia turned herself, facing Lidia again as she reached their destination. "I asked A-4 to make some preparations just in case you girls would need it." She said as she opened a drawer and took out a black piece of cloth from it. It was a skinsuit, one which fitted her current size.

"!!!" Lidia was surprised, she did not expect this. Still, she was overjoyed inside. Ticia cared so much about them that she prepared equipment for her and her sisters. All of this even though she vehemently refused to give one to Nia when the clone girl asked Ticia to get one of those!

In fact, there were more of those skinsuits stocked inside the drawer. As for the reason they were created, it was because those were a security measure both Ticia and A-4 had prepared, just in case of an emergency. With this, the clone girls would be able to endure at least two consecutive shots from a laser blaster if they encountered enemies.

"Thank you mother." Lidia said, trying to hide her emotions. She grabbed the skinsuit. However, Ticia did not let go, she simply smiled at Lidia, which made her alert, her instincts told her she was about to receive Ticia's overwhelming 'sisterly love'.

"Since this is your first time wearing a skinsuit, big sis will help you put it on~."

"M-mother, w-wait, I-" Before she could finish, Ticia had already grabbed her right hand and began pulling toward the changing room. There was simply no way out of that one.

 

***

 

After a while, Ticia emerged from the changing room, beaming, followed by a very embarrassed Lidia, whose face was red from shame.

It was not because she disliked it, quite the contrary in fact. She was happy her 'mother' wanted to be this close to her. Still, this did not mean it was not embarrassing. And Lidia, just like Nicia, had built a strong sense of shame.

"As expected, black suits you so well~" Ticia said, looking at Lidia with a proud look.

Lidia looked into the mirror which was, for some unknown reason, placed just outside the changing room. What was reflected was the image of a cute girl wearing a black skinsuit with her white hair with black tinges arranged into a low ponytail by a big red ribbon. The girl suddenly striked a pose, then another one.

"How cute~" said a voice coming from behind as another person appeared in the mirror's reflection. It was that of a beautiful young woman with a warm smile on her face, wearing the same skinsuit as the girl but with white armored plates attached to it. Standing next to one another, the two of them gave the impression of either two sisters, or a mother and a daughter.

"Now, now, enough admiration of your cuteness, Lidia, we still have things to do." Ticia said to a very embarrassed Lidia. Still, despite the shame of her actions, and Ticia’s light teasing, Lidia had a smile on her face.

They came back to the main room of the armory,  where they stopped in front of a shelf full of weapons.

"Lidia," Ticia said with a serious expression. "The outside is dangerous, and since there is no guarantee that I will be able to help you in case of an emergency, you must have something to defend yourself." She took one of the pistols that was stocked on the shelf. "This is a TP-100 laser blaster pistol, it’s very easy to use." She gave Lidia the weapon, Lidia expected Ticia to explain how it worked to her, since she had never even held one, but when she met Ticia’s gaze, she was met with a wry smile.

"Don’t look at me like that dear, there is nothing for me to teach you about weapons since it’s already inside your head." Ticia said as she then flicked Lidia on the forehead, causing the clone girl to hold her forehead with her left hand, while pouting. She knew what Ticia was talking about. It was part of the knowledge implantation she and her sisters had received, and it was categorized as ‘basic knowledge’ for some reason. As such, the clone girls already knew how to use simple firearms such as a pistol or a rifle. Still, it did not mean Ticia would give them weapons however. Who in their right mind would give a child a weapon that could so easily kill after all?

Today however, it would seem that Ticia made an exception out of worry for Lidia’s safety.

I wouldn’t mind receiving a lesson from mother though. Lidia thought to herself, but unfortunately, Ticia had already passed onto something else, and Lidia had no choice but to follow. Ticia had taken out something else for her.

"Here, take those knives Lidia. It’s always useful to have some on yourself." She said as she gave Lidia three knives. "I know you always strike vital parts in a fight, so this works the best for you in close combat. Those knives can vibrate if you push this button on the side, and when they do so, they can cut very hard metals."

Lidia simply nodded, she attached one knife to her right forearm, one to her waist, and one to her left tibia, just before her ankle. This just felt natural to her, and when Ticia saw where she attached them, she just gave Lidia a knowing smile and a nod, not commenting on her choices.

"You’re ready to go now." She ended up saying, she then proceeded to lead Lidia to the first floor, where she took the hallway leading South.

Lidia looked at the condition of this hallway. Contrary to the plain white and thoroughly cleaned walls of the interior of Clone installation 3, this hallway was left withering itself, with mosses growing, and humidity leaving traces. This left a different impression. It was as if the hallway had not been taken care of, and was left abandoned.

In fact, this was because of Ticia. She had ordered A-4 to leave the hallways and entrances of the facility in this state. The main reason was that it would cost them too much precious resources to just fix them. And the other was that Ticia held the tiny hope that, should anybody break in, any intruder would make the assumption that there was nothing of value left, seeing the state of the hallways. It was more of a reassuring measure to herself though, as she knew from the bottom of her heart that, from the looks of things outside, there were some people placed high in power that knew the truth of this installation.

They continued to walk in silence within this long dilapidated hallway. With every step, Lidia’s tension and excitement grew, she was getting closer to the outside, and this fact made her happy. After some time, they finally reached massive, closed metallic doors.

From her side, Ticia, who had put her helmet on, finally broke the silence as she looked at Lidia. "We’re here, are you ready to take your first step outside?" She asked out of worry, Lidia could feel it even though she could not see Ticia’s face right now. She simply nodded with determination. She had already made up her mind long ago.

"Then, A-4, open the door please."

"Orders received."

After a short answer from A-4, the heavy metallic doors began to make a lot of noises. A crack of light began to appear within the dark hallway, forcing Lidia to close her eyes. And when she finally opened them…

"Whoa…" That was all that came out of her mouth as she took in the scenery in front of her. There were a lot of green and brown ‘things’ outside that she identified as trees from her implanted knowledge. But that was not all, as she took her first step outside, she raised her head, and was blinded again by light coming from the blue sky without clouds. It was similar to the one present within the training ground, but Lidia could tell from this one look, this one was real, it wasn’t an artificial light. She stared at the blinding sun for a while until a voice finally brought her back to reality.

"Fufu, if you keep staring at the sun like that, you’ll get dizzy."

Ticia’s light warning broke Lidia’s staring contest with the sun, and true to Ticia’s words, Lidia felt a bit dizzy, her head spinning. This made the only other person present release a sweet and warm laugh.

As dizziness faded away, Lidia began to notice something else. Various noises were coming from all around her, she realized she could not identify all of them, but one thing was sure, they were not alone in this forest. In fact, it was busy with outside life from other species.

"Mother… This, this is the outside world, right?"

"That it is, Lidia," answered a very pleased Ticia, enjoying every bit of Lidia’s reactions. The clone girl had not even realized she was not even hiding her emotions anymore under her usual mask. "What do you think, Lidia? Do you like it outside?"

"I love it!" Lidia exclaimed, not hiding her excitement anymore. "There’s so much… trees, and, the sky, a-and those noises, there are so many things happening outside!"

"Indeed, forests are very lively. Here, look to your right, there’s a rabbit there."

"Ah!" Lidia followed Ticia’s finger, who pointed at a white ball of fluff with two long limbs(?) growing out on the animal’s head. She identified those limbs as being the ears.

"S-so cute!" Lidia said, she then slowly, very slowly, approached the white rabbit, hoping to catch it and pet it. She had underestimated however the instincts of the wild animal. The white rabbit suddenly turned its head in her direction, before sprinting out of sight.

"W-wait! Don’t go!" Lidia cried out sadly, she had failed at sneaking out, something she was not ready to accept so easily since she was always good at it, except with Ticia that is…

Speaking of which, Ticia had burst out laughing the moment she saw Lidia's reaction to the rabbit fleeing.

"I-it’s not fun! Stop laughing, mom!" Lidia exclaimed, pouting. Ticia froze for a second at Lidia's use of the word ‘mom’, and she calmed down because of it. Still, she found Lidia’s reaction very cute.

"My bad, Lidia, that was too cute."

"G-geez, mother! Stop it!" Lidia was red  from embarrassment.

"Alright alright, I get it, I’ll stop. But you’re still cute, you know?"

Of course I am in your eyes, you stupid spoiling mother! Lidia thought as she sent her most deadly stare at Ticia, but its efficiency had to be questioned, as Lidia was too embarrassed, and her cheeks were still flushed red.

"Don’t look at me like that, I’m sorry okay?" Said Ticia, definitely not sorry. "How about I help you catch one?"

"Really?!" Lidia had bitten the hook, completely baited by Ticia.

"Yes, but after you pat it, we have to release it alright? Wild animals should be left in the wild. If you suddenly change their environment, it would be dangerous for them, you know?"

"...Yes" Lidia nodded reluctantly after thinking about it for a moment.

"Good girl" Ticia patted her head. "Leave it to your big sis, I’ll teach you how to erase your presence so the animals do not detect you."

Lidia nodded, and for some time after that, Ticia taught Lidia how to erase her presence within a forest, as well as teaching some useful advices on how to survive in the long term in the wild.

After failing twice at catching a rabbit, she finally succeeded in catching one on her third try.

"Yes! I finally caught one!" She exclaimed as she raised the scared rabbit in her arms to Ticia.

"Good job Lidia, I’m proud of you, but please be more careful with how you treat animals."

"Ah!" Lidia realized how she treated the poor rabbit. "Oh no, uhm, I’m sorry!" She then hugged the small white fluff ball to her chest, and it somehow calmed the rabbit which nestled into this position into her arms.

Lidia was melting, it would seem she really had a weakness for cute things. After this event, she would have no right to criticize Ticia  for wanting to hug what she found cute. She wanted to hold it in her arms forever, but she knew she had to release the rabbit. but before that, a thought crossed her mind.

I want to share this fluffiness with mother!

"Mother, let’s pat it to-"

"Shh, quiet." Ticia interrupted Lidia as she looked into a direction, her voice with the same seriousness she would usually have when she was training the clone girls. "... We have unwanted visitors."

Lidia tilted her head for a second, but if Ticia said so, it was not a good thing. She put down the rabbit, who fled immediately, and she came back to her usual expressionless face.

In this tense silence, Ticia took out her rifle and positioned herself, ready to fire at any time. Lidia stared at Ticia for a while, she wondered what to do.

I should concentrate too. Lidia thought as she emptied her mind, focusing only on the sounds around her. Her right hand unconsciously reached for the pistol hanging to her waist.

Then, she finally heard something unusual. Over there! She was about to warn Ticia, but her ‘mother’ had already reacted.

Two laser beams were shot consecutively, reaching the bush Lidia had focused on.

"Guh!" A grunt came back as a body fell to the ground, coming out of the bush.

Lidia observed the human for a moment, she somehow knew he was dead now, but it didn’t affect her for some reason. What did pick her interest however, was the person’s equipment. The man was wearing something that looked similar yet different from what Ticia was wearing, an armored skinsuit with a green camouflage.

"Of all people, it had to be Republican Commandos…" Ticia said as an exasperated sigh escaped her. Republican Commandos were a special elite branch of the Ionian Republic, they all wore armored skinsuits, and excelled in stealth missions.

"I messed up…" Frustration grew within her. It would seem that her little ‘cleaning’ process had finally come back to bite her… The republican high command must have sent them as a reaction. "It just had to be today of all days!"

"Mother…" Lidia said with a small, worried voice. She had no idea who those people were, but she knew they were the bad people Ria and Ticia had mentioned. She wasn’t scared of them at this moment, no, she wanted to help. How can I be useful to my mother right now?

"Lidia, there are other people like this one right there that will come, so listen to me." Ticia said as she looked at Lidia. Lidia met her gaze.

"While big sis makes the bad people go away, I want you to hide somewhere and to not come out, alright?"

"..." Lidia nodded, a bit disappointed, she wanted to help her ‘mother’, but she also understood that right now, she would just be a bother. She silently sneaked out to the side, quietly climbing on a tree, observing the situation.

She concentrated, wanting to know where the enemies were. Three more were coming from the front, while four others sneaked to the sides, encircling Ticia as they got closer.

Ticia did not say much, she just prepared herself, taking out a small ball that Lidia identified as a grenade. She then suddenly threw the grenade to the front before rushing to the left.

"!!! Grenade!" One said, and an explosion came quickly after. Lidia could not tell if the enemies were eliminated, but after said explosion, laser beams began to appear from everywhere.

"The target is moving aggressively! Quick! Find her loc-Gah!" She heard one of the men say, before he was interrupted by a clear laser hit to the side of his head. He dropped down, dead.

"Leader is down! I repeat! Leader is down!" The woman next to him exclaimed. She began to shoot accurately at Ticia’s position, but Ticia just did a roll to the side before shooting three accurate shots, taking the woman down.

"Whoa…" Lidia was impressed by Ticia’s performance. She had seen her ‘mother’ training, but this was on another level.

But then she noticed that two of the republican commandos, the one on her side, were right behind Ticia, just passing under her tree branch. Did Ticia not notice them? She probably did notice them, Lidia was sure, but if they continued like this, Ticia might end up injured by them!

I won’t let it happen! Lidia repositioned herself, aiming her pistol with determination in her eyes. She waited, not moving an inch, until the perfect moment to strike came. She fired three consecutive shots at the one farthest from her, hitting each time.

"Wha-" The second commando looked around in a panic as the first one fell to the ground, dead. It was under such tension that Lidia fell on her opponent, taking out one of her knives, and aiming for the neck.

"!!!" However, the commando found her, and while Lidia managed to land on his back, she failed to deliver her blow.

"What the hell!? Why is a kid here!?" The man yelled as he began to grab Lidia who was on his back, throwing the girl away as a yelp escaped her lips.

"Lidia!?" Ticia, who heard the yelp, immediately called out, and let her concentration slip. The enemies noticed that, but when they took action, it was already too late. Ticia had rushed to Lidia’s position, and with two clean shots, she took out the man.

"Are you alright Lidia!?" She asked.

"I’m fine, mother, I managed to catch my fall." Lidia immediately responded. Ticia wanted to make sure the girl was really fine, but she remembered that there were still enemies around.

However, when she looked around, nobody except those already dead were left, the enemies had fled.

"Damn it!" Ticia exclaimed. This was not good! The survivors would inform their headquarters about her existence, and countermeasures would be made against her.

"Mother…" A somewhat hesitant voice called out. Lidia stood next to Ticia. The girl had just killed somebody, and nearly got a second one. But this wasn’t the actual reason she answered so weakly. Lidia thought that in the end, her actions endangered Ticia more than it helped her.

"Lidia, thank god you’re fine!" Ticia turned on the girl, hugging her with all her might. Lidia opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, she heard Ticia’s weak, trembling voice.

"Thank god you’re safe Lidia, if something happened to you, I…" The voice faded out, but for a moment Lidia thought she heard sobbing noises.

N-no! I didn’t mean to make mom cry! I simply wanted to help her!

"M-mother, please don’t cry! I’m sorry!" Lidia exclaimed, about to cry herself. Ticia took out her helmet as she let go of Lidia, there were indeed some tears appearing in her eyes.

"Lidia… Why did you do such a dangerous thing…"

"I… I wanted to help you, mother. T-they were going to shoot you from behind!" Lidia bursted out in tears as she said this. A wave of strong emotions had come up. All she wanted to do was to be of help to her ‘mother’, and not be considered as a child. But she had underestimated how childish she could still be. Even if she was a clone, she was, after all, just a child. She got scared of losing her ‘mother’, so she acted, risking her own life without a second thought, making Ticia panic as a result.

But this made her realize something else, as Ticia showed strong emotions too. Ticia, her ‘mother’, truly cared about her in the strongest sense possible. She realized that by getting hurt herself, she might hurt Ticia more. This was the sort of emotion you would feel for other members of your family you wanted to protect. This range of emotion and realizations made Lidia cry out loud, thinking it was her fault.

"There, there" Ticia hugged her, placing a hand at the back of Lidia’s head, caressing it soothingly. "It’s ok, I’m here, I’m fine, you’re fine. Nothing happened…" Ticia began to hum a lullaby, the same one that she hummed to Ticinia.

Ah, so soothing… This must be how it feels, between a real mother and daughter… Lidia slowly calmed down as she realized this fact. While Ticia herself might not call them her daughters, and recognize them as such, her care and love was definitely one of a mother for her child. This small moment just showed it to Lidia. We were wrong… She recognized us from the beginning, there’s no need to… prove ourselves… Lidia’s mind slowly sunk into darkness as tiredness overtook her body. But she had a very warm feeling in her chest, as her mother hugged her.

***

"This wasn’t something I expected today…" Ticia said as a sigh escaped between her lips. She had just put Lidia in her bed. Somehow, Ticia had escaped the sight of the other clone girls, and she managed to get Lidia a health check, before letting her rest in her bed. The clone girl was sleeping peacefully after the rollercoaster of emotions she just had.

"And it began so well…" Ticia thought back on the beginning of the day. Lidia had shown so much emotion, experiencing the outside for the first time, and Ticia enjoyed every moment of it more than she thought she would. "But then, those fucking bastards had to ruin it all."

She cursed, because of a slight miscalculation on her part, she had put Lidia in danger. She thought the republicans would not make a move if she eliminated all the soldiers within the forest, but it would seem that the Ionian Republic opted for another option…

“Damn it!”

*Bam*

Ticia hit the wall with her left fist, frustration growing inside her. A-4 did not comment on her actions, maybe the AI understood that it was better to leave her alone for a while.

"Because of me, Lidia had to…"

This was the most frustrating part to Ticia, she had sworn that the clone girls would lead normal childhoods, and yet, because of her miscalculation, Lidia killed somebody, and could have been killed too. This is definitely not something a child was supposed to do, and while Lidia did not seem to show any trauma, it did shock the small girl to see Ticia panic so much after Lidia put herself in danger.

"Agh, the worst! Truly the worst!  I’m…" Ticia did not finish, the words died in her throat. In the silence, she began to regulate her respiration, trying to calm down. "That’s right, I’ll gain nothing from blaming myself…"

A small period of time passed as she regulated her breathing. It was over now, the danger had passed. She repeated those phrases in her mind.

"Yes, there is no need to be so angry… It’s already done, and nobody was lost…" Ticia reassured herself with those words. Yes, Lidia was fine, and the other clone girls were fine too. She could still see their smile, and all she had to do now was pay attention to Lidia’s mental state after this.

"Yes, it didn’t become a worst case scenario, and it’s not like today could get any worse than that…" Ticia said to herself, but as she did so, A-4 suddenly spoke out with a tone of emergency.

"Warning: Null CG-11 Ticinia and Null CG-12 Vinia have been hurt! Current state is unknown, but possibilities of gene instability are high. Both Null class clone girls require medical assistance immediately!"