Clone Girls

Null CG-01 was the first, the first to be created, the first of her class, the first to be born… as well as the first to meet their ‘big sis’. Her implanted knowledge had done a great job at telling her she was the first, and she was proud of it. Her sisters also respected her for being so, and recognized that she had some form of authority over them. 

As the very first clone girl, she wanted to be relied on, to show her sisters that she was someone they could put their faith under. She would not betray them, she would help them, and together, they would achieve their goal of being helpful to their ‘mother’. And yet, things did not happen as she expected.

 

***

 

On the very first day, just after opening her eyes, she saw and heard someone's voice for the first time, she also saw the wave of emotions that were passing on that person’s face. Those emotions left a deep mark on Null CG-01, she assessed this person as the ‘leader’, or rather her ‘mother’, and she swore she would follow her.

Her fateful meeting was cut short by the awakening of her little sister however.

As soon as Null CG-02 awakened, her ‘mother’’s attention was drawn to her, and before she knew it, her ‘mother’ had spoken words to her sister, the very first words she heard.

But… I’m the first… Why didn’t I receive ‘mother’’s first words? Such were the thoughts that immediately passed her mind as she stared at the interaction between the two. Still, it was, in the end, only a small thing, and, just like Null CG-02, she proceeded to check her own body. She then received help from her ‘mother’ just after Null CG-02, and she would concede this to her sister too, after all, her ‘mother’ was now helping her wearing her clothes first. From those interactions she felt the warmth coming from her ‘mother’, and it soothed her, she felt happiness for the very first time.

But it did not last long however, the small happiness was crushed by the following events. Null CG-11 awakened, it was a bit surprising, but nothing unexpected. What was unexpected to Null CG-01 however, was the reaction her ‘mother’ had to Null CG-11’s first actions. She immediately began to fawn over her sister and received the first hug! Something was building within her, and she did not know what it was, it wasn’t good, that she knew. Still, taking account that she was the eldest and the first, she would let Null CG-11 receive the honor of receiving the first hug, instead, she would help out her ‘mother’ by bringing clothes.

But then again, Null CG-02 stole this from her, her sister had been faster than her and immediately took clothes to their ‘mother’, and for that, she received praises and headpats.

But… I should have been the one who brought clothes… I wanted headpats too… She reached out, but unfortunately, before her ‘mother’ noticed her, the rest of the clone girls awakened. She watched on as her ‘mother’ welcomed each of her sisters. She should have been the one standing next to her at that moment, and yet… Null CG-02 was the one who was standing there, the place she thought rightfully hers, the closest to their ‘mother’, the privilege of the eldest… A pang of unknown pain hit her chest and a ball was blocking her throat. Now it was too late to join her ‘mother’, or at least that’s what she thought.

Still, each sister identified her as the eldest, and they followed after her, so not everything was bad. She still was the eldest sister. And for a reason she did not know, Null CG-11 stared at her often, she even hugged her when they first met each other, which made the pain go away.

But then, the incident happened. The youngest of them, Null CG-12’s pod, malfunctioned. She saw her ‘mother’ panic.

All the clone girls gathered around, despite being unable to show their emotions yet, they were all worried too. None of them wanted to lose their youngest like that.

What should we do? Null CG-01 asked herself as she looked at her sisters, most of them were asking themselves the same questions. They looked back at her, expecting her to take action. Null CG-01 however, was just as lost as them… What would be the help of a kid anyway?

It was after her ‘mother’ failed to force open the pod that again, Null CG-02 stepped out, followed by Null CG-05 and Null CG-06.

What? H-hey! What are you all doing! Come back here!

Null CG-01 stared at them, and catching her gaze, Null CG-02 turned her head and stared back, and after a brief instant, she just shook her head before continuing on. As for Null CG-05  and Null CG-06, they only gave her a glance.

W-why aren’t they following what I want? I’m the eldest! Such were her thoughts, and as if to console her, Null CG-11 hugged her yet again. Looking over at her younger sister, she could feel her worries about the current situation, and she refocused herself on what was happening.

With the help of her sisters, her ‘mother’ had managed to force open the pod enough to take Null CG-12 out, and after a tense moment not knowing whether she was fine or not, she weakly groaned. It was such a relief to everyone present that they followed Null CG-11’s exemple and all hugged their ‘mother’ and their youngest sister.

Then, something Null CG-01, or rather, all the clone girls for that matter, did not expect happened.

"Nice to meet you… Vinia…"

""!!!"" It shook them to the core, their youngest had just received a name! And their ‘mother’’s look was so warm too!

A name, the clone girls had never thought of receiving one. To them, only their goal was important, and getting a name was not. And yet, just now, all of them thought the same thing.

A name… I want one…

It was a childish thought, but could they be blamed for it? Their main goal was to be of use to their ‘mother’, and if getting a name was a show of some recognition, then of course they would want one! That’s how they explained this sudden interest in getting names to themselves. Of course, that was only half true, and the clone girls would have to understand what those other emotions that built this interest were.

No fair… Null CG-01 felt pain again when her little sister got a name first, but then she shook her head. No good, I can’t think like that about my little sister! How could I think this as the eldest, I should be happy for her! She buried those negative thoughts deep within herself as she tightened the hug.

 

***

 

After some time, she got to learn her ‘mother’’s name, it was Ticia, and she made sure to remember it. She and her sisters felt happy when they heard Ticia call them all a family, she thought it would help their goal the closer they were to Ticia. It was a bit disappointing to the clone girls however that Ticia refused to see them as her daughters, but they all thought of this as a challenge for recognition instead.

Null CG-01 was now called Licia, and she was happy, Ticia had asked her to be the one in charge of taking care of her sisters. This meant she was trusted with the most responsibilities within the group.

There was a problem, though, Licia had a hard time expressing herself. Her face remained expressionless, and she spoke only a few words. Still, with the help of Null CG-02, Ria, she managed.

The first week passed without problems, but Licia remarked that as time passed, her sisters grew more and more independent from her. Now they would act on their own without consulting with her first. That in itself wasn’t a big deal, as she knew that her sisters were not binded to her in any way, they just respected her. But she felt very sad about it.

One day, some of her sisters came in an overjoyed mood to the playroom as Licia was playing around with Ticinia.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Sister, listen! Ria convinced big sis to train us!" Willia announced. Licia had never seen her this happy.

"...Train?" She mumbled to herself, of course she knew what her sister meant, it was part of the implanted knowledge. She looked at the perpetrator of all this.

"... I didn’t do it on my own, it’s because we all showed how much we wanted to train." Ria modestly said, to which Nia replied.

"But you’re the one who had the last word sis~. If not for you, she might have refused." The clone girls began to gather around Ria, praising her.

Licia just watched, the pain which she had tried to forget on the first day suddenly came back. Why… I should be happy we’ll receive training, and yet I don’t… I want to be the one being praised…

She suddenly felt the right sleeve of her cozy black hoodie pulled, and when she looked, Ticinia was there.

"Sister~, hug~?" She asked with big, innocent eyes, and Licia obliged, hugging Ticinia let her pain go away.

In the afternoon, they proceeded with training, Licia found out her sister’s abilities with that. She herself was one of the best, and was proud of that, but… the pain that bothered her came back. She felt it each time she realized the differences between her and her sisters, and each of those times, Ticia would look at the concerned clone girl with an even deeper smile.

What about me? Why are you not praising me like my sisters?  Licia asked herself, she had no special trait like her sisters, being the exact copy of Ticia, and yet despite that, she was the one who made the most efforts and managed to come out as the strongest of all her sisters. She felt pride in that, but… Ticia did not praise her much, simply nodding in acknowledgement before turning to the other clone girls. To Licia, It was as if she cared less about her.

Over the following days, Licia asked herself multiple times the same question. Why does mother seem to care less about me? The pain was now always present, and it frustrated her. This frustration ended up having consequences too, as she became less friendly towards her sisters, sometimes going as far as not even calling them by name. She knew that was rude, but those were the only words the ball in her throat allowed her to blurt out each time. She reasoned it was so that Ticia would notice her, and to add more credibility to it, she also began to ask the others not to call her name. But contrary to her childish expectations, Ticia did not seem to take notice, or did not care. Licia did not know which one it was…

Then, one day, Ria called for her alone in a hallway far from the clone girl’s usual hanging spots.

"Sister, I think we need to talk." She announced seriously.

"... Talk about what?" Licia answered with a cold voice, the pain in her chest throbbing. She was now at a point where her tone was always dry when speaking to some of her sisters.

"About your current state, you’ve been acting weird for a while now."

"Don’t know what you’re talking about." Licia answered, feigning ignorance. She knew what her sister was talking about but right now, she just wanted to leave before the pain in her chest became unbearable. Ria did not let go however, and as Licia began to leave.

"Sister, please don’t avoid the subject. We can’t keep up like this! At least for Vinia’s sake, please speak up! What's the problem!? If we did something wrong to you, please tell us!"

Licia froze at the mention of Vinia, and the pain in her chest increased as she thought of her little sister. She had learnt what this pain was, it was jealousy. For some reason, she felt a strong jealousy towards her sisters, and Vinia was the one who received the most of it.

"...02" Licia stared at her sister as she said this, Ria flinched in reaction. "I have nothing to say to you, so I’m taking my leave."

"S-sister wait!" Ria panicked, she grabbed Licia’s sleeve, but perhaps she put too much strength in it, as a crack was heard, and the sleeve was slightly torn away.

"Ah" Ria’s face went pale, her usual calm demeanor had been utterly broken. This was Licia’s favorite hoodie that she always wore. "Sister, I-I’m sorry, I-"

"Leave me alone!" Licia finally snapped, she pushed Ria, and the latter fell on her butt, surprised by the outburst. Never had Licia yelled like that, moreover, her expressionless face had changed to a very angry face.

"First you steal my place next to mother, then you steal our sister's admiration from me, and now you’re breaking my things?!"

"N-no! L-Licia, listen I-"

"I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it! I refuse to have a sister like that! I don’t want you to speak to me anymore!" Licia exclaimed in a shaking, angry voice, she could not contain herself anymore. She only realized what she said when Ria’s face showed a very pained expression. Wait, did I just say… Oh no, I need to say something! Nothing came out of her open mouth however.

Ria did not get up, she only lowered her head so much that her hair hid her expression from Licia’s view.

"... I understand, eldest sister, I won’t speak to you anymore." Ria said this, before getting up, and running in the opposite direction from Licia.

"..." Licia was left alone in the silent hallway, she wanted to catch Ria and tell her she did not mean it, but another voice within her head called out at that moment.

Leave her alone, she’ll excuse herself sooner rather than later. You did nothing wrong, she is in the wrong, they are all in the wrong.

"...Yes, She’ll come back soon, I should leave her alone…" Licia recited to herself, as if to convince herself as the pain in her chest throbbed like never before…

Ria never came back to her however, and not only that, most of the clone girls now preferred to go see Ria rather than to ask help from her. The only ones left by her side now were Willia, Nillia and Ticinia.

Willia admired Licia’s strength and often asked for advice on how to improve. Nillia stayed with her because she herself did not mind the cold treatment from Licia, as for Ticinia, frankly speaking, Licia was thankful to her sister. Every time they would pass some time together, Ticinia would make her forget about the continuous pain in her chest. It was like Ticinia understood her pain.

This weird situation continued for a while, until now that is. Licia was training like usual with Willia when Miria, Tiria, Ticinia and Vinia came to the training room. After Willia chatted with them for a bit, she proposed they join in their spar.

"How about we all train together? That’s fine, right, 01?"

Licia nodded, she was very interested in helping her sisters improve! Moreso if it was Vinia, she was obsessed with her youngest sister, whether it was for good or bad reasons.

And so, a spar against both Ticinia and Vinia began, Licia thought of doing like Ticia, commenting from time to time, but her words seemed only to frustrate Vinia further.

If she were to be honest, right now, she was happy, she felt joy in this spar. Maybe that was the reason she did not realize her sisters’ state…

Needless to say that the result wasn’t what Licia expected in multiple ways…

 

***

 

""Vinia!""

Most of the clone girls exclaimed in panic as Vinia fell unconscious. Before she hit the ground, Licia supported her. Licia had a complicated expression as she looked at her unconscious sister, in addition to the blood to the side of her mouth, Vinia had a strong nosebleed. Whatever the reason was, it was worrying.

Suddenly, Vinia was violently snatched from her hands. She looked to see who the perpetrator was, only to be met by the death glares of Miria and Tiria.

"It’s all your fault!"

"We won’t forgive you!"

"..." Licia opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She felt pain, a different one from usual. She was worried about Vinia and Ticinia’s conditions, but could not voice out her worries. She stood alone as the rest of the clone girls gathered around their unconscious little sisters, unable to move as she was lost in thoughts.

Then, Nicia barged into the room.

"What happened here!?" She yelled as she panted. She was at the infirmary when she received a call from A-4 to hurry with some first aid kits to the training ground.

"N-Nicia, h-help! Ticinia, she…" Willia managed to say between her sobs, she took Ticinia in her arms and rushed to Nicia.

"!!! Put her down! You might injure her further!" Nicia yelled at Willia who immediately put Ticinia on the ground.

Seeing Ticinia’s current state, Nicia gritted her teeth, she immediately knew what was the problem. She wanted to ask how it came to this right now, but she endured. The first thing she had to do was to immediately proceed with a medical check-up, but as she did, Miria and Tiria approached her with Vinia.

""Sister…""

"Vinia too!?" Nicia exclaimed, the situation was worse than she thought.

"I-I’m sorry, I just wanted to train with my sisters,*sniff* I never wanted this to happen!"

"... Let me guess, you entered berserk mode didn’t you?"

"Y-yes, how did you know?"

"I read it in the medical reports." Nicia said coldly. "And those said very clearly that Ticinia and Vinia could have big problems if they overdid themselves." She sighed, before angrily shouting to her sister. "What were you thinking, training this, training that, we’re not all muscle heads like you Willia!"

"I-I… Uwaaaah!" Willia bursted out, crying her heart out. And she wasn’t the only one in this mood. The other clone girls who were present also had tears in their eyes. All except Licia, who just stared at the whole process, and Nillia, who tried to act tough.

It was during such a chaotic scene that Ticia entered the room, quickly followed by Ria.

"B-big sis…" Mia, who had seen the two arrive, said, and all the clone girls suddenly looked in Ticia’s direction.

Ticia took in the scene, and as she did, her panicked expression transformed to an expressionless one. She did not spare a glance to any of the clone girls after that, only quickly walking next to Nicia who was checking her sisters' state, and crouched.

"How are they?" She asked in what seemed like a cold voice to the others, but only Nicia knew that she was asking for a report out of worry.

"It’s not good, big sis, they overused their ability too much. They need further medical attention!"

Ticia nodded, she then took Vinia into her arms and got up. "Nicia, you take Ticinia, we’re going to the infirmary."

"Yes," Nicia replied shortly before taking Ticinia into her arms.

"B-big sis, wait! It’s my fault! I-" Willia called out, wanting to accompany them, but froze when Ticia glanced at her with a cold gaze.

"...We’ll talk about this later." Those were the only words she left to the poor Willia, then she glanced at Ria.

"Ria, you’re in charge of your sisters, make sure nobody does something stupid like this again."

"Yes…"

As quickly as she came, Ticia left, this time followed by Nicia. Now the clone girls were left alone.

"Wuaaah~" Willia was inconsolable, she blamed herself for her sisters’ state, and Ticia’s glance had just worsened her mood. The rest of the clone girls were sad too, and some of them also began sobbing, they were not only worried about their sisters, but the look Ticia had just now haunted their minds. While the face did not say anything, the eyes did, and the clone girls identified it as a look of disappointment and anger.

"It’s alright, I’m sure everything is going to be fine…"

While Ria tried to console her sisters, Licia stood to the side. She too had been shocked to the core by that look. She was now reflecting on her actions. Sure, she felt jealous of Vinia the most. She was the first to receive a name, she had multiple gene enhancements, and Ticia spoiled her. Those were things Licia did not have, except the name that is. But would she hurt her sister just for that? No.

Willia had no fault in all this, as the eldest, she should have stopped the fight at the right time, and yet she didn’t, she enjoyed it too much. Licia had only herself to blame for this accident. And because of that, not only Vinia, but Ticinia, the sister who probably cared the most about her, was hurt.

"I know what you’re thinking, eldest sister." A voice came from the side, it was Nillia. "Don’t blame it all on yourself, we should have acted too since we were there. The fault is as much on you than it is on us."

"03… Thank you…" Rare words of thankfulness came out of her mouth. It was rare for her to say them, but since the incident, her jealousy had subsided, replaced by increasing guilt. How would she reconcile with her sisters over this matter? Worse than that, how would she gain her ‘mother’’s trust again?

"Just go see big sis." Nillia advised.

"But…"

"It’s fine, the most important thing right now is to apologize. You’re worried about the youngests too, right?" Licia nodded. "Then go, I’ll take care of Willia."

"What about the others?" Licia asked, still hesitant to go.

"You can take care of this later, now, it’s time for you to have some time alone with ‘big sis’, so hurry."

After a bit of silence, Licia finally nodded, and ran out of the training ground. Meanwhile, Nillia sighed, now she just had to convince her sisters not to blame everything on Licia, and try to appease Willia. This is going to be tiring…

 

***

"Notice: Null CG-11 Ticinia and Null CG-12 Vinia are currently undergoing stabilizing procedures, please make sure there is no disturbtion."

Ticia finally released all her accumulated tension and slopped into a chair after hearing A-4. Today had been a long day full of emotions, and the lasts were really bad on her heart. They were within a special room within the infirmary, which had rows of beds. Two drones stood next to Ticinia and Vinia, who were both lying in a bed each. They were injecting some kind of product within the clone girls' veins.

"Big sis, are you alright?" Asked a worried Nicia from the side, she had followed every order she received from Ticia and A-4 without saying a word.

"... I’m okay, it’s just…" Ticia began, but did not finish her words. Instead, she just patted Nicia on the head and gave her a sad smile. "It’s nothing, thank you for your help Nicia, you’re doing a great job."

"It’s nothing, big sis." Nicia said, she should be happy about receiving such praises, but Ticia’s sad smile did not radiate its usual warmth.

"Now, go join Ria and see if she needs help."

"But…" Nicia hesitated, she knew something was wrong with her ‘big sis’.

"Please, just go see your sisters for a moment…" Ticia insisted with a sad smile, to which Nicia could only nod…

After she left the room, Ticia expired a very long sigh as she put her left hand over her eyes.

"What a day…" She thought back about the events of today, first was a very heartwarming moment she shared with Lidia, but that moment was broken by the arrival of Republican Comandos. Then, this happened while she was busy.

"Ugh, what should I say to them now…" The events of today had definitely shocked all the clone girls, and Ticia, who never had to take care of children before, did not know what to do. She knew that the clone girls had to be punished for this kind of event to never happen again, but how would she proceed? What kind of punishment should she give them? And how would she make sure all the clone girls did not get a trauma from all this… Ticia was lost, and very tired.

"Notification: Both clone girls are unconscious, owner Ticia’s voice will not reach them."

"I wasn’t talking about that!" She snapped at the poor AI, right now, she didn’t need a second opinion. She just wanted some calm to think.

"Notification: Owner Ticia’s sanity is estimated to be low. It is recommended that owner Ticia take a rest."

"Raaah, shut up for a bit! In the first place, all of this is your fault!” In the end, Ticia lashed out her frustration at the drone next to her, the pressure from the outside and the events that just happened finally came out. “I never wanted to take care of kids anyway! If it weren’t for you or this clone facility, I wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place!"

*thump*

"Eh?" Ticia heard a noise coming from the entrance of the room, she had forgotten the door was open. She quickly turned around.

"Licia?" She said in a trembling voice, her face paling. Licia was standing there, at her feet a bottle of water rolled. She had an expression that told Ticia she had just crushed the girl’s reality.

Licia suddenly turned around and ran.

"L-Licia! Wait!" Ticia was about to follow after her. She did not mean the words she just said! But then…

"Nnnngh" A grunt came from Vinia.

"!!!" Ticia immediately stopped in her tracks, she hesitated between staying close to the injured clone girls or chasing after Licia. In the end, she chose to stay.

It’s fine, Licia is just like me, she’ll be fine for now. I’ll check on her later. She convinced herself by thinking something that did not make sense as she closed in on Vinia’s bed. The clone girl was still unconscious, but she seemed to stir in her unconsciousness.

"I’m here, Vinia, don’t worry." Ticia said as she patted Vinia’s head, and it seemed to have an effect as she calmed down. But then, Vinia’s sleeptalk made Ticia freeze.

"...Mommy…"

There was a silence as Ticia opened her mouth, but could not seem to let her words out. Unable to answer Vinia’s call, she could only say with a sad voice.

"...I’m sorry…"